Nintendophiles

The latest Wii firmware update has been released, so find out all the new and improved features of Nintendo’s console. Plus, Nintendo file a patent for a motion-sensitive handheld, and a popular FPS franchise heads to the DS! All of this awaits you inside this week’s edition of Nintendophiles!

No sign of my broadband turning up, so once again I'm in an internet café. I'm obviously destined never to get my internet back. And BT Broadband have evidently never heard of the concept of ‘customer services' as I've spent the cumulative total of around 5 hours on hold. Joy.On the plus side, having no internet means I've had a ton of time to dedicate to my game of Final Fantasy VI, which just gets more and more amazing with each passing minute. It's far too early to say for sure, but I'm inclined to agree with those who say FF6 is the best of the bunch. So come on, Square Enix, a 3D DS remake isn't too much to ask for, is it?Since the passing of E3, things have been relatively quiet on the Nintendo news front, but the coming weeks should change all that. August 23rd-26th is the Leipzig Games Convention, where Nintendo have been known to make a few announcements, so I'm holding out hope for some good stuff this year. Perhaps a playable version of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, now that the hustle and bustle of E3 is over? Nintendo have just stated that they won't be holding an actual conference at the show, instead choosing to demo a select few of their titles. Whilst I'd imagine the E3 demos of Metroid Prime 3 and Super Mario Galaxy will be on display, I'd say Smash Bros. has a high chance of turning up, so as not to make the event seem like "E3-lite".Wii version 3.0Earlier this week, if you use the Wii Connect24 service, you'll have seen the blue light on the front of your Wii blinking away, signalling the arrival of a Firmware update.Whilst there hasn't been a dramatic overhaul this time, Nintendo have made some nice upgrades and updates to various parts of the Wii Channels service. In case you've yet to update your console, or in case you missed what the update was, allow me to break it down for you.On the main pageYou'll now find a handy digital clock situated just beneath the channel bar on the main menu. Like I said, that's nothing major in itself, but it's amazing how something so small can make the "Wii Experience" seem a lot more sleek and stylish. The thumbnail displaying the Forecast Channel window has received a pretty cool upgrade, as it will now display the current weather condition in your area, if you've already made note of where you live. Again, this just reeks of slickness, and makes the process much more user-friendly. Whilst it can be fun to go into the Forecast Channel and have a proper look around, this new update means that you'll only need to cast your eye over to the thumbnail to see what the weather's doing. Or, if you're totally crazy, you could just…you know…look out the window. But that would be pretty daring and extreme!The News Channel thumbnail has also been given a slight makeover, and will now show two scrolling headlines at a time. A handy way to keep track of Paris Hilton's latest escapades. Elsewhere, the "Today's Accomplishments" message is now highlighted in a white envelope to help it stand out from other regular messages. I'm a lonely Wiier, so I don't get many messages anyway, but for those of you with tons of buddies, I'm sure this feature will be appreciated. It's always fun to see just how long you wasted last night tinkering around, drawing rude pictures on family members on the Photo Channel. Not that I've ever done that…Finally, Address Book entries can be moved around via the Wii remote, making the proceedings more accessible and more easily organised. Good stuff.Shop ‘til you dropOf all the updates made in the Firmware 3.0 patch, the Wii Shop received some significant alterations which will make surfing for Virtual Console titles a breeze. First up is a brand new opening screen which displays a selection of 4 VC titles recommended by Nintendo. This is a great addition for newer Nintendo fans, unfamiliar with past titles and overwhelmed by the sheer number of VC titles already on offer. If you click on the title bar, a complete list of 20 recommended titles will be shown.Once inside the Wii Shop itself, a new Popular Titles page is available, featuring games from the entire catalogue. Expect favourites such as Super Mario 64 and the Zelda games to appear here.The Search function has been radically improved, as you'll be able to find games just by entering partial titles; handy if you can't quite remember that annoying subtitle. A genre category has also been added, so you can organise all Virtual Console games by genre, as well as a Publisher category, making it incredibly easy to complete your collection of old Capcom titles. Great job, Nintendo! Making the system more user-friendly will no doubt lead to more hits and thus more VC downloads.Illegal modders beware!Yes, if you've been illegally modding your Wii, Nintendo are on to you! Personally, I'd have to question why you'd bother modding it in the first place. Maybe I go to the wrong markets or something, but do copied Wii games even exist? Anyway, that's beside the point. Nintendo are obviously trying to crack down on this issue, and the latest firmware patch has been designed specifically to combat modded Wiis. The firmware update comes with a message from Nintendo which reads "If your Wii console has an unauthorized technical modification, this upgrade could cause inoperability of your console." Scary stuff. Of course, if someone had stolen your Wii, modded it, and then given it back to you, you do have one option; simply refuse the update by powering down the console, holding the ‘off' button for 4 seconds. But that's really not recommended. And you'd be missing out on all these great updates! Better go get yourself a valid, legal Wii, eh?The Adventures of Super Smash Bros.There have been a ton of updates on the official Smash Bros. site since I last mentioned the game in Nintendophiles, the most important of which is the unveiling of a massive single player Adventure Mode. Masahiro Sakurai, director of the upcoming Wii brawler, had the following to say in his update regarding the new mode:"More than anything, Smash Bros. is a competitive action game. People have been kind enough to praise its multiplayer, but we've never been able to create a fully fleshed out single-player game.This time, though, we've managed to create a complete side-scrolling action game. It's storyline isn't overwrought—it's hastened along by a bunch of quick movies.The Adventure mode also emphasizes character development. You'll see many famous characters persevering under the weight of their personal histories, shouldering their unique burdens... It's really something you won't see anywhere else.With so many wonderful characters appearing together, it's like a dream action game. We're putting tons of fighting spirit into making this game, so I hope you're all looking forward to it."Oh I'm looking forward to it, alright! Obviously, he's correct about the praise of Smash Bros. multiplayer, but it's an interesting comment about never being able to create a proper single player game. Smash Bros. Melee on the Gamecube had an Adventure Mode which I thought was pretty darn cool, but apparently it was regarded as not being "fully fleshed out." Which means the Adventure Mode in Brawl is going to rock! Check out some screens from the CGI movies between chapters:

That looks awesome, reminiscent of the movies from F-Zero GX on the Gamecube in that they're quick and painless, merely serving as a plot device to keep things moving. I also really like the sound of the emphasis on character development. For the first time ever, perhaps, we might see some true romance between Mario and Peach. Maybe Mario is truly in love with her, but can't stand her penchant for getting kidnapped all the time. We might also get to see a new side of Samus thanks to the Zero-suit Samus character, which could really flesh out what we know about her. Personally, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a meeting between Mario and Link, to see what kind of jealousy there may be between Nintendo's top two mascots. Anyway, it sounds like great stuff, I'm sure you'll agree, and now I'm even more excited about the possibility of a playable version of the game being on offer at the LGC later this month.Adventure Mode wasn't the only big news to come out of the Smash Bros. Dojo this week, however. A brand new playable character was confirmed in Fire Emblem's Ike. The series is no stranger to Fire Emblem characters, as Roy and Marth are Smash Bros. regulars, but Ike makes his debut in Brawl. Judging by the screenshot below, his signature Eruption move is not to be taken lightly!

Continuing with the Fire Emblem theme, a Fire Emblem stage was revealed just a few days ago, and whilst not being modelled on a particular level from past Fire Emblems, the stage is supposed to be an amalgam of typical scenes from the games. At first glance, it might look somewhat similar to the Mushroom Kingdom Castle from Melee, but the big difference is the interactive environment presented in this version. Catapults fling flaming cannonballs around the stage. Statues of fallen warriors can be shattered with the right throw. Things even go a bit Dead or Alive, as you can break through to a hidden underground area. Sounds like your opponent will be the least of your worries, as you'll have to keep an eye on your surroundings and make sure you don't get caught in the crossfire of the on-going battle. As always, keep an eye on the official Smash Bros site for the daily updates in case any other major news appears. Aside from that, let's all pray for a Smash Bros demo at Leipzig. Sure, we all know it LOOKS good... but come on, I'm dying to know if it plays as good as my expectations have made it out to be.The power of the Wii…in your hands!Credit: CVGSome potentially major news hit the internet earlier this week, as it was discovered that Nintendo had filed a patent for a motion-sensing handheld console; the next step in the evolution of the DS, perhaps?The patent describes how the portable device would function, and from the description, it seems to replicate the actions of the Wii remote. "The housing [console] incorporates an XY-axis acceleration sensor to detect an acceleration in an X-axis and Y-axis direction and a Z-axis contact switch to detect an acceleration in a Z-axis direction." Again, like the Wii-mote, the handheld would detect "tilt amount, movement amount, impact amount or the like".The patent was actually made back on March 30th, so in theory, Nintendo have already been working on this for some time. However, it's best not to go all crazy just yet, as it is *just* a patent, nothing else. The patent for the original concept of the Revolution was a lot different to what sits in our living rooms today, so this particular patent shouldn't be taken as concrete confirmation of what we'll see. And of course, we might never see anything of it; Nintendo could just be filing the patent to prevent competition from snatching up the idea.Personally, I wouldn't expect to hear any more on this for a few years, quite honestly. Nintendo have absolutely no reason to venture into this territory just yet. Developers have yet to fully realise the potential of the Wii, so throwing a whole new dimension at them in the way of a ‘handheld Wii' would just be ridiculous. There's also the matter of the DS, which is doing incomprehensibly well, and still selling by the bucket load, as evident by the fact it sells out in Japan every single time a new colour or design comes on the market. With the DS being quite so successful, Nintendo would be foolish to push it aside in favour of another handheld, at least at this point in time. There is a school of thought that this patent could relate to a future update of the DS, in which Nintendo would simply manufacture the DS with the technology included in it. I find this unlikely, as I don't see how the technology would work with the dual screen format, but it's certainly a possibility. Nintendo have yet to comment on the patent, but hopefully we'll get word from them soon. For the mean time, it's probably best to forget about the patent, as we're unlikely to see anything materialise for a year or two.Quake Arena comes to the DS!Credit: Cubed3Just a really quick little tidbit here, but something that is bound to please FPS fans. At this year's QuakeCon, iDSoftware's John Carmack said that the team are planning a DS version of Quake Arena. This will mark the series' first venture onto a Nintendo console since Quake II on the N64. The game will apparently utilise D-pad controls, as opposed to the touch screen method used in Metroid Prime: Hunters, which is probably a godsend to my hands, as I won't get ‘Clawhand' every time I play. Anyway, expect official confirmation in the coming weeks. Quake on DS= awesomeness. I can't fraggin' wait!The 411 Games CrewIn this week's Angry Gaming, Damian Sarcuni tackles the recent uproar over whether or not Resident Evil 5 is racist.Cory Moore's Press Pause takes a look back at some of gaming's most infamous TV spots. But wait a second! Where's the notorious Zelda "Willst thou get the girl…or play like one?" commercial? THAT'S the Nintendo Difference, baby!The Game Plan takes you to Hollywood in James McGee's latest edition of his column, looking at what the future holds for us gamers, should more Hollywood directors decide to try their hand at game development.Mike Minotti is back for another instalment of The Full Circle. In this week's 360 news report, Mike brings you news of a price cut for Microsoft's console, as well as a spot of bad news for GTA IV fans. Sorry guys!Vincent Chiucchi has more on the GTA IV delay, news of a Sony lawsuit, more Smash Bros. goodness, amongst a host of other topics. Check out the latest edition of The Select and Start News Report!UPDATE: Just as I was about to send this off, I received a phone call telling me my wireless broadband package is waiting for me at home. Hurray! Porn in my bedroom! Huh? I said, writing Nintendophiles in my bedroom! See ya next week