Amazon screws up for the second time with Wii pre-orders

For the second time in just a few weeks Amazon has put up the Nintendo Wii for pre-order without emailing it’s customers which signed up to be notified first. The first incident which took place on September 15th caused quite a stir on the Amazon community. People who had signed up for the notification where never notified. Instead, the Wii pre-order just showed up on the page and whoever was lucky enough to be reading message boards at that time was able to grab one.

After taking a considerable amount of heat, Amazon went into damage control mode and posted the following statement on their gaming blog:

For a brief period on Friday, we did offer pre-orders for the Wii, however, the rate at which pre-orders came in dramatically outpaced what we had anticipated, so we suspended pre-orders until we are able to get a firmer commitment from Nintendo regarding how many units we’ll have for sale.

Because the pre-order window was so brief, the e-mail many of you signed up for notifying you that pre-orders were available was never triggered to send out. We apologize and have fixed the system to ensure pre-order e-mail notifications are sent in advance.

So everyone who signed up waited for the email to arrive.

Breaking the promise of notifying customers once again, early this morning the Nintendo Wii appeared back on Amazon’s site available for pre-order. Once again, no one got email notified that had been on the list, and once more all the pre-orders were snagged up by people who were lucky enough to find out through message boards and blogs.

The Amazon community is in an uproar with angry messages and posts flying back and forth. For the second time Amazon has managed to anger, disappoint and let down everyone who signed up for to be notified.

What can you do about it? Absolutely nothing. You can try to email them, but more than likely you will just receive a cookie-cutter response back just like this one:

Thank you for writing to us at Amazon.com.

In addition to our large selection, one of the benefits we try very
hard to offer our customers is convenience, and we have not met that
standard in this case. Please accept my sincere apologies.

Again, we apologize for the inconvenience caused. We hope to see
you soon at Amazon.com.

Please let us know if this e-mail resolved your question:

Now, I do realize that this might not be a big deal to some, but I am sure that there are people out there which have not yet gotten their pre-orders in. Maybe they were depending on Amazon to come through with their promise and email them, so at least they would have a chance to place a pre-order.

Is Amazon too big to care if a few thousand people are pissed? Maybe. Regardless, this is awfully poor customer service.

Nintendo’s/Sony’s/Capcom’s Oopsy! – Lesson learned: Double check case covers

Here is an important lesson: Check and double check for typos, grammar and that you have the correct domain name on the back of the game’s box cover, before printing it and sending out to retailers.

The back cover of the Nintendo GameCube and Sony PS2 “Killer 7″ game is suppose to point gamers to the game’s website Killer-7.com. However, somehow, someone, seems to have missed the hyphen in the name. Unfortunately (or fortunately) the domain which it now points to is not exactly a family friendly site. (Check at your own risk – NSFW)

Here is the bottom of the Game Cube version of the box cover:

source

[Update]We have verified that the PS2 version of the game points to the same website.

Nintendo DS leads video game industry growth – Nintendo Press Release

Nintendo’s Latest Press Release:

NINTENDO DS LEADS VIDEO GAME INDUSTRY GROWTH
Touch Generations Titles are Expanding Audience to Female and Older Players

REDMOND, Wash., Oct. 13, 2006 – As both an entertainment and a business, Nintendo DS™ today is the powerhouse of the U.S. video game industry, driving nearly all industry revenue growth so far this year. Without this portable system, the video game industry growth overall would be nearly flat when compared with 2005, according to independent sales figures from the NPD Group of Port Washington, N.Y.

Through September’s end, the U.S. industry overall shows revenue growth of 11 percent when compared with the same period in 2005. Nearly all of the growth comes from the portable DS – without it, the industry would report a mere 1.6 percent growth over the past nine months. DS hardware and software units posted a robust gain of 203 percent when compared to the same period in 2005. The news is the same globally: Nintendo recently announced estimated full-year shipments for DS hardware will grow to 20 million units from 17 million units worldwide, while estimated DS software shipments increased to 82 million units from 75 million.

“Numbers dramatically show the value of reaching out to the masses with products that are compelling and comfortable,” says Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime. “And this perfectly sets the stage for our breakthrough Wii console, which appeals to both core players and current non-players with an intuitive control system and a price everyone can afford.”

The NPD numbers also indicate that during September, Nintendo DS lifetime U.S. sales surpassed more than 6.2 million units. That total includes more than 1.4 million units of the new Nintendo DS Lite systems, which launched just 16 weeks ago on June 11. It’s important to note these numbers represent Nintendo DS systems actually purchased by customers, not ones shipped only to stores.

“During a home console generation upgrade, consumer interest in existing consoles tends to drop as anticipation for new consoles increases. Hand-held game hardware and software revenues have kept the industry afloat,” says Billy Pidgeon, Program Manager, Consumer Markets: Gaming at IDC. “Hand-held gaming has spurred real industry growth, and Nintendo’s longstanding leadership in this space continues to drive this market.”

This summer, Nintendo launched its Touch Generations brand to help newcomers to video games identify which nontraditional and pick-up-and-play titles are appropriate for them. The response from consumers has been enthusiastic, as four of the top 10 best-selling Nintendo DS games are Touch Generations titles. Touch Generations games include Brain Age™: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day and the three versions of Nintendogs™. And at the same time, avid players also are fueling growth: the New Super Mario Bros.® title, exclusively for Nintendo DS, is the third best-seller among all video games this year, including console games.

Nintendo’s internal statistics show the Touch Generations brand continues to reach more women and older gamers. Nintendo statistics show a significant percentage of all Touch Generations software buyers are female and are age 25 or older, demonstrating the broad appeal of Nintendo titles like Brain Age and Big Brain Academyâ„¢, which provide engaging and entertaining content for baby boomers and seniors alike.

For more information about Nintendo DS, visit www.nintendods.com. For more information about Nintendo’s Touch Generations brand, visit www.touchgenerations.com.

The worldwide innovator in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Nintendo DSâ„¢, Game Boy® Advance and Nintendo GameCubeâ„¢ systems, and upcoming Wiiâ„¢ console. Since 1983, Nintendo has sold nearly 2.2 billion video games and more than 375 million hardware units globally, and has created industry icons like Marioâ„¢, Donkey Kong®, Metroid®, Zeldaâ„¢ and Pokémon®. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo’s operations in the Western Hemisphere.

For more information about Nintendo, visit the company’s Web site at www.nintendo.com.

Source: Nintendo

As this sales chart shows, Nintendo continues to dominate..

1. Nintendo DS Lite – 403.435 – (6.246.000)
2. PlayStation 2 – 306.517 – (34.612.000)
3. Xbox 360 – 259.458 – (2.672.000)
4. Game Boy Advance – 177.145 – (31.876.000)
5. PlayStation Portable – 153.353 – (5.175.000)
6. GameCube – 42.286 – (11.165.000)
7. Xbox – 6.495 – (14.302.000)

Nintendo Wii Pre-Orders selling out at GameStop & EB Games

Some people started lining up as early as 9PM last night. Accord to reports, the Nintendo Wii per-order turnout has been bigger than that of the Sony PS3. People are reporting crowds of as many as 40-50 people lining up and waiting for GameStop and EB Games to open their doors and announce how many systems they have available for pre-order. Some stores had as little as 8, while others up to 36.

Read more on NeoGAF

Nintendo World Store NYC taking Wii Pre-Orders

Last week we were able to head out to NYC and place a pre-order for a couple of Wii consoles at the Nintendo World store in NYC.

It looks like they are still taking pre-orders as of today, so if you are in the NY area head to Rockefeller Plaza to place your guaranteed launch day Wii. The Nintendo store is also offering pre-orders on Zelda and Excite Truck.

The minimum required deposit is $50 for the Wii and $10 for each game. There is a maximum of 2 console pre-orders per household.

As of right now, the Nintendo store does not know if they will be doing a midnight launch.

Review: Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis – Nintendo DS

Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis
Developer: Nintendo Software Technology Corp.
ESRB: E (Everyone) | Game Type: Action Puzzle

iBT Score: 80%

Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis, is much more than just a sequel to the original 2004 release of the Game Boy Advance title Mario vs. Donkey Kong. This time you take control of the Mini Marios that you frequently rescued in the original game. The best way to explain this game is by comparing it to Lemmings. If you like Lemmings, you’ll love this game! It’s far simpler with a few added twists. March of the Minis will provide you with hours of entertainment, and with simple game play.

Just like Lemmings the point of the game is to navigate your mini Marios through each level and reach the exit. You will have to manipulate their environment, and help them get around obstacles and enemies to exit safely.

There are 8 levels, and each level has 8 sections. Once you have successfully navigated through each section you will reach the boss stage of that level. The boss stage offerings are completely different from normal gameplay in which you will need to defeat DK.

The Story
It seems folks love those Mini Mario toys. So much so that the Mario Toy Company has expanded the line to include Mini DK, Mini Toad and Mini Peach figures to the series. With all these toys bringing him more money than he knows what to do with, Mario decides to fulfill his lifelong dream and open a theme park called Super Mini Mario World.

The opening-day crowd includes Pauline and Donkey Kong, who immediately falls head over heels for the lovely lass. The proud ape tries to show off his Mini DK toy to Pauline, but she picks the Mini Mario toy over his and the jealous Donkey Kong becomes enraged. He smashes the displays, destroys the toys and takes Pauline to the top floor of the amusement park. Players must find Pauline and save the day.

The Controls
Differing from the original game, this spin-off title is completely controlled by the touch screen simplistic and effective. The player controls the individual mini-Marios by tapping them in the direction then want them to move to put them in motion. You can also make them stop moving, or make them jump onto different objects. Tap a mini-Mario that is already in motion to make him stop moving.

Unlike Lemmings however, the minis can interact with each other by bumping into one another and setting minis which are standing still in motion. Once the minis bump into an object or another mini they’ll start moving into the opposite direction. Controlling the game becomes much more challenging when there is a large group of minis which all start to bump into one another. It can get rather frustrating at times.

The player can change the environment by tapping on specific blocks to remove them and place them in holding to use elsewhere when they are needed. You will have to build platforms, protective barriers, or whatever else is necessary to be able to safely navigate your minis to safety.

Graphics & Sound
March of the Minis has great presentation. However, the in-game graphics do not push the DS to it’s limits, nor do they really need to for a game such as this. The sounds are fun with a lot of speech and great music.

Lasting Appeal
This game is hours of fun. There are plenty of levels to go through, and each level has a boss stage. One of the most fun aspects of the game are the boss stages which can be just amusing. However, this is a puzzle based game and at times it does tend to get rather frustrating. You will have to try levels more than once to be able to complete them, but once you get the feel and understand the level and environment it’ll be doable.

The game also offers the “Construction Zone” which is a way to build your own map from the ground up, or just a template which you have unlocked from the main game. It takes some getting used to as there will be a learning curve before you can make your own levels quickly. Once you have made a level you can play it and share it with friends. The WiFi option allows you to swap your custom level with your buddies online.

In Closing
March of the Minis is a good mix between puzzle and action games. While the puzzles are not extremely hard to figure out, you will have to restart and try a lot of them many times. The fact that you can put the minis in motion, stop them and make them interact with different obstacles which you might be able to use to your advantage, makes this game much more than a simple puzzle game. It’s really hard not to make a Lemmings comparison with March of the Minis. So, if you are a fan of Lemmings or games alike, but you are looking for just a little more action.. this game is perfect for you.

iBT scores this game 80%
Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis is available for purchase now.

No PS3 or Wii Pre-Orders from Best Buy

It has been confirmed that Best Buy will not be offering pre-orders for the Sony PS3 or the Nintendo Wii.

Best Buy confirmed this week that they will not be taking pre-orders for the PlayStation 3 or the Wii. A company spokesman told me earlier this week that Best Buy has decided they would rather just sell both consoles on launch day because it’s more exciting that way. The Best Buy spokesman added he could not tell me how many of either console they would be receiving for launch day.

Source: Kotaku

With this news and GameStop/EB selling out of PS3 pre-orders nation wide in just hours, it looks like there will be high demand for camping gear this November.

Nintendo Fusion Tour and Nintendo Wii impressions

On Friday night we went to the Nintendo Fusion Tour at the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville NJ.

We got there about 5:40PM and the event was starting at 6:30. It was cold out. One of the staff members walking around had a DS download station attached to her. We were able to download a few demos and play them while we waited. They offered a demo level of the upcoming Elite Beat Agents, some dart game, and Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis.

March of the Minis was the most complete demo with quite a few levels open to play. Elite Beat Agents was a tease at best – a single part of one level! The dart game, well… you throw a dart, then the computer does. Then you throw a dart, then the computer does. You get the idea.

Once we made our way inside It became obvious very quickly that the venue was way too small to hold the Fusion Tour. The stage for the bands was straight ahead, and the Wii and DS stations were setup in the fairly small corner to the left.

We were one of the first people to get to the Wii demo stations. Unfortunately the very firs thing I noticed was that they only had room to setup 5 units. The games were Wii Play, WarioWare, Excite Truck, Wii Bowling and Wii Tennis. No Metroid. I was pissed. The place was too small to setup a Metroid station which would draw in the largest crowd.

First game was Excite Truck. I only had to wait about 15 minutes before getting my turn to play. The guy manning that particular station placed the strap around my hand, handed me the Wii-Remote and explained the controls.

Let me just say that holding the Wii-Remote(or WiiMote if you will), it just feels like it’s made by Nintendo. It’s solid, lightweight, compact, and very comfortable. You just know that it’s something that come out of Nintendo’s camp.

Excite Truck
This game was my very first impression of the Wii. Controls are basic. To steer left or right you simply turn the Wii-Remote at the direction which you want to turn, tilt back or forward to land your jumps, A for gas, and the D-Pad for turbo. People say that the turning controls are too sensitive. I didn’t find that to be the case. While you only had to turn the Wii-Remote a few degrees in either direction to steer, it definitely was not as sensitive as the impression that I’ve gotten from other people’s reviews. It probably took about 40 seconds to get the turning controls down. Once you understand how much to turn, it’s cake. I finished first in my race, and it ended up being a great first experience. Graphics wise it was at least on par with Game Cube games, if not a little better.

Wii Bowling
Immediately after Excite Truck I get on the Wii Bowling line. Wait time was around 10 minutes or so, and I met a few cool people while waiting on line. One of them had attended E3 and was telling me about the completely insane 5 hour line to get to play the Wii at E3. The controls for bowling are fairly simple as well. Hit A, and you can set where to place your character. Hit A again and you set in which direction to send the ball. Now you are ready. You hold the B button (the trigger), and make a bowling-like-motion, and release the trigger to let go of the ball. The faster you snap your wrist at the end, the more power the ball will have. You can also add a spin to the ball by twisting your wrist at the end right before you release. If you happen to release the trigger too early before your swing, you drop and send the ball rolling backwards. Each person got to play 5 frames. I got 2 strikes – Yeah, that’s right!

Wii Tennis
This game had the longest line at the event. If Metroid was there I am sure that it would had been at least 4-5 times as long. Wait time was about 25-30 minutes. The controls once again are super simple. Use the Wii-Remote like a tennis racquet. There are no buttons to press, just swing at the ball. Easy to play, lots of fun. I got to play against someone else, which made it more fun.

Wii-Remote
The Wii-Remote was spot on for the most part with all the games. Some of the tennis swings didn’t translate exactly. For example if you tried to lob the ball, it might do a normal swing. Other than that, it was perfect, sensitive to movements, and comfortable to hold. Unfortunately, the nunchuk was MIA as none of the games used it.

Unfortunately that is all that we got to play. By the time we got to the Wii Tennis line the bands started to play. This would have been fine if the place was bigger – and the music didn’t suck. It was extremely crowded, and way too loud, for such a small place, which made it very uncomfortable. Some people were walking around with ear plugs, which seemed like an excellent idea.

While a lot of the younger crowd was there for the bands, the crowd for the Wii demos was more mixed. I would say ages ranged from 15 to 45, easily. One surprising thing was the amount of girls waiting to play, which I would estimate 20-25%.

As far as the whole event, I’d have to say it was just “OK”, at best. A larger venue would have made to so much better. They definitely needed more room for additional Wii stations, and Metroid.

If the Nintendo Fusion Tour is coming around you, make sure it’s in a place which can accommodate large crowds and enough room to have more than 4-5 Wii stations setup. The price of admission was worth being able to try out the Wii.

Lastly, we were told that recording equipment and digital cameras were not allowed. A few people brought them in, and I could have used my cell phone, but I figured there’s no point in crappy pictures, especially since theres tons of great images everywhere. There was nothing new to take a picture of.

If you’ve had hands-on time with the Wii, feel free to tell us about it.

Review: Star Fox Command – Nintendo DS

Star Fox Command – Nintendo DS
Developer: Q-Games/Nintendo

iBT Score: 86%

In the spring of 1993 Star Fox was released to the SNES. It was the first game to include the Super FX chip, displaying complex 3D models with polygons which was still new and uncommon in console video games. Star Fox was a huge success and went on to become one of Nintendo’s major franchises with several sequels released since.

Star Fox Command marks the franchise’s first game on a portable system, as well as its first foray into online gaming.

Controls:
The entire game is played and controlled by the touch screen, which also doubles as the map and radar as it displays the location of the enemy. The aircraft follows the stylus around, making for a very interesting and new way to control your ship. Slide the stylus in any direction, and the aircraft will follow. Sliding the stylus to the left or right will make the aircraft turn. Sliding downwards to fall, and upwards to rise. You can double tap on the upper half of the screen to activate your afterburners, and double tapping on the lower half accesses your airbreaks to slow down.

Controlling your aircraft with the stylus might be a little disorienting at first. However, after a very short learning curve it becomes clear how advantageous to game play the new controls are. Aiming is completely accurate, and firing your primary weapon is done by the d-pad. The new control scheme makes the player feel like they have completely control of the ship.

Graphics & Sound:
The game looks great. Solid graphics all around, and it has the Star Fox look, feel and sound to it. The game has great presentation, and it’s very easy to navigate the menus. The sound stays true to the original Star Fox, with the characters speaking in their own language.

Lasting Appeal:
There are multiple endings to this game, which will make you go back and play over and over. Once you have finished the single player mode, you must hope on to mutliplayer. The multiplayer on Star Fox Command is a lot of fun and one of the highlights of this title. It’s basic, competitive and very well done. You basically go up against other aircraft in single player teams. It’s a Star Fox death match. You must take out the other players and take their star to eliminate them and win. You can play off-line with up to 5 other people, or take the battle online against 3 others. Star Fox Command offers hours and hours of fun game play.

Story:
Star Fox Command boasts a deep, branching storyline with memorable characters and multiple endings. The main plot of the story unfolds as follows… Years ago, a scientist named Andross went mad with power. Defeated by Star Fox and banished to the toxic planet of Venom, he dedicated his life to terraforming Venom into a lush, green world that his grandchildren would be happy to call home. Shut off from the rest of the galaxy and hated by all, Andross and his dream were eventually forgotten.

Fast-forward to the present day. A group of aliens called the Anglars, who discovered a way to survive in the toxic Venom Sea, launch an all-out assault on the Lylat system. The Cornerian military turns to team Star Fox for help but are shocked to find that personal issues have forced the team to disband. Fox McCloud, the team leader, agrees to take on the Anglar threat alone … but soon finds himself overwhelmed. After some consideration, he agrees to regroup the team and take another run at the Anglars.

But in order to enter the Venom Sea and take out the Anglars, team Star Fox will need to find the device invented by Andross so long ago. Can they do it? Will the team survive long enough to put aside their personal differences and fight as one? The world waits…

In Closing:
If you are a Star Fox fan, this game is definitely a must buy for you. However you do not have to be a Star Fox fan to enjoy endless hours of great game play. This game stays very true to the Star Fox universe and it’s tons of fun. Game difficulty varies, but it’s really only as hard as you want it to be. Make sure to check out the multiplayer (online or offline) on this game.

iBT scores this game 86%
Star Fox Command is available for purchase now.

No Nintendo Wii or Sony PS3 Pre-Orders from GameStop?

If you want to get your hands on a Nintendo Wii or a Sony PS3 you might have to start thinking about camping out overnight at your local electronics and gaming hardware retailer. It seems that GameStop which owns EB Games and Babbages, is considering not offering pre-sales for the PS3 and the Wii, after what happened with shipping shortages with last years release of the XBOX 360.

While some sources have said that pre-orders are going to start on October 10th, others have said that it will be up to each individual GameStop retailer whether to take pre-orders or not.

The PS3 hits store shelves on Nov. 17, and Sony has promised between 1 million and 1.2 million PS3s in the U.S. by the end of the year.

The Nintendo Wii follows two days later and is expected to be in greater supply than the PS3.

But sellouts of both consoles this year are virtually guaranteed.

As a result, GameStop has not yet decided when, or even if, it will offer pre-orders for the new systems.

Source

Get your camping gear ready!