Big N Radio

Friday, August 10, 2007

Live Metroid Prime 3 Corruption Feed

Express Yourself LIVE



Thursday, October 05, 2006

Big N Radio - Ep. 11!

Be sure to listen to this episode for a complete breakdown on everything that was announced over the 14th and 15th of September at the Wii events. Hear our very insightful commets pertaining to the price and release date, as well as everything else. Episode 11 features A-Zar, ill_masta, and KZero. Head over to the Big N Radio Podcast site or iTunes and listen today!

Monday, October 02, 2006

Big N Radio - Episode 10!

Big N Radio Ep. 10 has been up for about a week now, but I haven't been able to post here for some weird reason. Be sure to download it on iTunes or go to the Big N Radio Podcast site by clicking the link on the right sidebar. Episode 10 contains all of the info leading up to the September 14th Wii event.

Episode 11 should be up later today or tomorrow at the latest. This episode will include everyhing of importance from the NYC Wii event on the 14th, as well as the info from the Japan and London Wii events.

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Amazing Super Mario Theme

This guy manages to play two guitars at once and its the best fan theme I've ever heard.

Saturday, September 16, 2006

Watch the American Wii Event

Link

Japan and Europe Wii Launch

Japan will get the Wii on December 2nd for 25,000 yen. They will not see a pack in of Wii Sports, but they will be able to download the Wii Opera Browser for free until June.


Click here for more Wii interface footage!


And click here for even more!


The UK and Europe will get Wii on December 8th for £179 and 249 Euros respectuvely. Wii Sports will be packed in at launch.

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Nintendo American Event Information

Almost every question that we had about the Wii and it's launch state-side were revealed by NOA President, Reggie Fils-Aime last Thursday. The press conference confirmed what was already believed to be true by The New York Times earlier today. Wii will launch for $249.99 on November 19th, and only in white. It will come with Wii Sports, which boasts 5 games: baseball, golf, tennis, boxing, and bowling.

At the event on Thursday, Perrin Kaplin, NOA's Vice President of Marketing and Affairs, stated that the Wii system will not be region locked, and that all Nintendo first party games will be region free. However, at the Londin event the next day,
Nintendo UK's General Manager, David Yarnton, stated that the Wii WILL be region locked.

First Party games were confirmed to cost $49.99, and third paries may charge whatever they want. The Wii remote will cost $39.99 and the nunchuck will cost $19.99. There has been no mention of a bundle for the U.S yet. The Classic Controller will cost $19.999 as well.

Something new that we learned at the event was the announcement of Wii channels. There will be separate channels on the Wii when you start the system up. For example, games will be played on the disk channel and other channels will be included, such as an image channel, a Mii channel, the Virtual Console channel and a news/weather channel. The Opera Browser will be downloaded for a price in America, but Japan will get it for free until June. The Mii channel is the place where you can customize your avatar to look like you so that you can see yourself in all of the Wii Sports titles, Wario Ware, Wii play, and, "other Wii software compatable with the Mii channel." You choose from shape of the head, to type of eyes, hair color, etc. For the picture channel, you just load some pictures to the Wii through an SD card, and you can make them into puzzles, add effects, and play around with them. You can also play videos off of your SD card through Wii Photo. The weather channel will offer accurate weather forecasts throughout the day. Forget CBS and Fox, just turn on your Wii. The front flap on the Wii is where you load your SD card.

One of the coolest things about the conference was when Nintendo announced during the Mii demonstration that you can place your, "Mii's" on your Wii remote so that when you go to someone else's house with it, you'll have your Mii's right there. You can then transfer your Mii's to your friend's condole and it'll be there whenever you want.

Wii interface movie video of Mii and picture channels.


Another Wii Photo Video


Virtual Console games will cost $5 for NES games, $8 for SNES games, and $10 for N64 games. On launch day, you will be able to download Zelda, Mario, and Donkey Kong games. 10 new games will be available for purchase every month and by the end of the year, 30 games will be available. Different VC games that you have downloaded may be set to certain channels on Wii as shortcuts. Once you download the game, it will be available for rver. Nintendo will sell VC cards, similar to Xbox Live Points cards, as a form of payment.

Also announced at the event was that Metroid Prime 3 is now a 2007 game, but it was playable at the event with a revamped control scheme. There are plenty of new videos available to view as well, so check them out here.

Be sure to watch the latest videos of Wii Sports to check out Bowling and Boxing.

Wii've got a release date and a price!

***ALL OF THIS INFORMATION WAS CONFIRMED BY REGGIE TODAY***


The New York Times has revealed a release date and price of the Wii. November 19th for North and South America and it will retail at $250. The system will come packaged with one Wii, one Wii remote, one nunchuck, one AC-Adapter, an audio'visual cable, a sensor bar, a Wii standard stand, 2 batteries, and, just as I had predicted, Wii Sports. Wii Sports includes, baseball, golf, tennis, bowling, and boxing.


Japan will be getting the Wii on December 2nd, for 25,000 yen, which is a little bit cheaper.

More secrets were revealed as well, in regards to the interface and what software is built into the system. A image channel called, "Mii" is available, as well as the Opera Browser, and a news and weather channel. The Virtual Console dowloads will cost between $5-10, which isn't too bad. Seperately, the Wii-Remote costs $40, the nunchuck costs $20, and a Virtual Console Controller costs $20. First-party games will cost $50.

This information was posted in the New York Times, before Nintendo could announce anything in the American event, so stay tuned for tons of updates about the American event once it takes place.

Also check IGN and for more details, click these links:

-http://wii.ign.com/articles/732/732669p1.html

-Japanese Wii Site Pictures/Videos

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Japanese Wii Event is Starting Now!

Well, the greatest 2 days in recent Nintendo history have finally arrived. The Wii event in Japan is starting right now. IGN isn't offering live updates right now, so live info that is accurate is difficult to come by right now. Let's hope that this event is the mother of all Wii events!! We need to see:



-rlease date
-price
-region free?
-interface
-virtual console info
-price of games
-colors of console
-Online info
-WiiConnect24 info
-launch titles
-packaging info
-final secrets!!!

Monday, September 04, 2006

Another Wii Event

Well September is definately the month for Wii. On the 14th there will be a U.S. event, and the next day there will be a European event. Now, we know for sure that also on the 14th there is going to be a Japanese event. IGN has confirmed the rumor, and has said that the Wii will be playable and that many insiders are stating that release sate and price info are very likely.

At this point, since Nintendo said release date and price by September, it is very likely that we will hear release date/price info at one of the events, if not all of them. Right now I'm thinking that all of the release dates will be announced at each event, specific to the region it is going on in.

Less than two weeks to go!

Friday, September 01, 2006

Big Wii Events

Most of you are aware of the U.S. Wii event that is scheduled for September 14th. Reggie will be speaking and many people ae hoping to hear big announcements, such as the price, release date, and other system info.

Another event has been announced in Europe the day after. On September 15th, a Wii event will be held in London. A NOE rep has stated that, “Wii will be playable. Nintendo will be announcing new software at the event and there will be new announcements regarding the Wii console itself. The reports (of a delay) are entirely rumour and speculation. I can confirm that the Wii is very much on course for a Q4 release, as Nintendo originally stated.”

Finally, this is what we have been waiting for. And it's only 2 weeks away.

Sunday, August 27, 2006

Check Out the Big N Radio Forums!

As a new way for all of our listeners and readers to communicate about Nintendo, gaming, and the podcast, we decided to make a Big N Radio forum! There are several interesting discussions about the Wii, DS, and Classic systems, as well as Big N Radio Discussions!

You can find the forum right here. All you have to do is choose a username and register.

In the future when you want to visit the forums you can just click the link in the bar on the right. Hope to hear from you all soon and Happy Posting!

Saturday, August 26, 2006

Big N Radio - Ep. 9

In this packed episode, A-Zar and ill_masta are blessed with the return of Coop via skype. We discuss some major announcements about the Wii, including the Leipzig Game Conference, which took place on the 23rd. We take an in-depth look at a very revealing interview with Shigeru Miyamoto in Nintendo Dream Magazine, discuss some more Wii games, and talk about recent rumors and comments made by some pretty important people. For DS, we discuss recent announcmennts, such as the arrival of 2 new colors of the lite, and the many new games on the horizon. Tons of DS games are launching just around around the corner, such as the new, and somewhat strange RPG from Atlus entitled, Contact. To finish up, we include an interview with someone that Nintendo is trying to target in it's new marketing strategy; a casual gamer named Cheeks. Join us, and listen as we discuss the latest developments and conferences from Nintendo, as well as a few secrets! Keep it here for the latest news, info, release dates, and announcements, and for all Nintendo, all the time!

Feed issues are coming to an end

Hey Everyone,

I'd like to thank you for your patience as we switch sources.

The worst seems to be over and I have finally got our podcast feed working reliably. For those of you who have had to download our episode multiple times... I apologize.

The new feed, in a nontechnical manner,
-Puts us in control
-Gives us more flexibility
-Allows us to modify descriptions.

However,
-It is slower than the other feed (can't help that)
-No longer contains reviews (please help us with that!)

Thanks for your patience! As we mentioned before, Episode 9 was recorded last night and we welcome your feedback.

We want feedback!

Hey guys, we recorded Episode 9 last night, and since Episode 10 is approaching, we are looking for some feedback. We really want to know how you, the listeners/readers feel about the podcast, as well as the site. We want to know what you like about what we have done, as well as what you dislike. All of your comments are appreciated, and if you make a suggestion that we use, you will recieve full credit for it. You can contact us pretty easily via email, AIM, or even skype! We also have a Big N Radio forum in the works!

-Want to say something to all of us? Then you can email us at: bignradio@gmail.com

-Want to say something to only one of us?

A-Zar Contact Info:
Email: AZar27@gmail.com
AIM: AZar027














That's me 20 feet up!(No joke) ^


Ill_Masta Contact Info:
Email: theillmasta@gmail.com












That's the Ill_Masta. ^


I just wanted to note that our host troubles seem to be over for now, and you should able to get Ep-8 pretty easily now, with Ep-9 on the way soon!



Bold

Friday, August 25, 2006

New DS lite colors in America!!!

Finally, after months of waiting, the U.S. will be getting a black and pink DS lite on September 13th of this year. The official names of the 2 new systems are "Onyx" and "Coral Pink." I was hoping for Noble Pink, but I guess I'll live...

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Something to be Excited for?

September 14th. Mark that day down. It's the next date of a Nintendo Event. Here's a picture of an invitation to a Nintendo Event. Some parts of it are blurred out on purpose, so maybe it offers some good details that the public does not know yet. Could it be a Wii launch party?(Sarcasm)

Nintendo at LGC - "Wii Prove Our Promise"

Well I for one could not wait for LGC. I thought that the launch of the Wii was right around the corner, so Nintendo would have to give some pretty big details. Plus, Nintendo said the price and date of the system would be announced bySeptember, so what's the difference if it's about 2 weeks early? I was expecting a lot from LGC. Unfortunately, we learned almost nothing new, and for what we did learn, honestly, I really do not care.

The conference started out with a lot of DS talk. All of it was old news for us. Very old news. For example, Phoenix Wright will be launching soon in Germany. One good thing was mentioned, however, even though it doesn't really affect us. A pink, scratch that, "Noble Pink" DS lite will be launching in Europe on October 27th. There have been rumors lately about a black and pink DS lite launching here soon, so maybe we'll be seeing those around the same time.

After DS, they moved onto the Wii. They showed some old videos, as well as a new one that shows people playing Wii while jamming to hip hop music. Confusing, yes. Next, Bernd Fakesch, General Manager of Nintendo Germany who was doing the conference, introduced Super Mario Strikers: Charged. This is the sequel to Super Mario Strikers and it will be a Wii exclusive. Apparently, sports are all the rage right now, but only if Mario is in the game. For example, Mario Hoops, Mario Strikers: Charged, and now Mario Smash Football for Wii. Personally, if I want to play football, I'd either play a real game or if I wanted to play a video game of it I'd play Madden. Soccer I don't really care for either way, so neither one of these two titles for Wii appeal to me.















Mario Strikers: Charged Info

* Gameplay: Use the skill the Wii Remote and Nunchuk Controller provide to win the ball, score unstoppable goals and take control of the goal keeper to perform spectacular saves
* Characters: Mario is joined by other famous Nintendo characters who take on the role of captain. Players then select a host of popular teammates to make up the rest of the team.
* How to progress through the game: Players form an original team by combining one of 12 captains with three of eight sidekicks before competing in one of the games many modes. Anything goes in Mario Strikers Charged as players are allowed to utilize a variety of special abilities to clinch important goals.
* Super abilities/power ups/moves/features: Each captain has their own set of skills, super abilities as well as the ability to perform special shots called Mega Strikes, where the iron ball splits up to five balls and flies at the goal. The defending player must use the Wii Remote to target and aim at and shoot these balls out of the air before they concede a goal. In this game players can also charge energy to the metal ball, making it more likely to find its target when fired at goal.
* Stadiums: Each of the stadiums in Mario Strikers Charged have various characteristics and contraptions, which influence game play. Players must learn to use this to their advantage to truly dominate the pitch.
* Multiplayer: Mario Strikers Charged will not only feature an action packed multiplayer mode but will also support the Nintendo WiFi connection service, allowing players to take part in tournaments with people from all around the world.



Battalion Wars on GC was supposed to be pretty good, however, I never played it so I can't really say anything about it. The sequal was announced for Wii, and it will be abbreviated as, "BWii."













Battalion Wars Wii Info

-BWii - Battalion Wars 2
-Tricked into believing that the Solar Empire is developing a devastating super-weapon, Commander Pierce and Colonel Windsor of the Anglo Isles launch a pre-emptive strike on the Coral Atolls. The world is once again at war.
-Drive tanks, command ships, pilot planes and direct your troops into the heart of the action in the return of the popular tactical action game for Wii.
-3 Online Multiplayer ModesAssault: Instant CombatSkirmish: Tactical depthCo-op: Work with friends
-3 Theatres of WarCombine land, sea and air combat
-5 New Naval UnitsBattleship, Frigate, Submarine, Dreadnought, Transport
-6 Different Races, 5 Different EnvironmentsWith new vehicles for each side
-Wii-ControllerProvides intuitive, all-action gameplay
-Greater tactical depthCapture facility buildings to re-spawn units (HQ, Barracks, Factories, Airfield, Docks)Use Map Screen Commanding to order from afar
-Bigger and Better20+ single player missions AND 15+ mp missionsIncreased replay value


So, all in all, LGC was very dissapointing; at least Nintendo's conference was. Let's hope that the third party developers give some new details and that we're not going to be forced to wait for months for new info. One thing that keeps getting me nervus is whenever a Nintendo rep says, "When the Wii launches later this year..." Later this year makes me think of late November or December and after all the talk of an early Wii launch in October/first week of November, I wouldn't be able to handle another 3-4 month wait. I want to play Red Steel, Corruption, and TP now.

I'm not sure where Nintendo "Proved their Promise." Maybe it was when the 7-year-old girl came onstage to try Wii Sports Tennis to try to show that anyone could play Wii, and then she kept missing the ball. Or maybe it was when they asked the girl if she had a DS and she responded, "No." It's also possible that it was when the person onstage said, "Where am I? Am I winning? I don't know where I am." Sounds right to me.

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Wii for $170?

Last week, Nikko Citigroup of Tokyo said that the Wii would retail in Japan for what is $170 stateside. With all the guessing at what the price will be, I didn't think much of this story when I saw it, therefore, it was not posted. Now, however, David Gardner, executive VP and COO of EA's worldwide studios, said, "I've heard in Japan that the price is about $170, but I don't know if the price has been set in Europe yet." When a pretty big guy at EA comments on the price of the Wii I pay attention. Gardner also said, "Nintendo has come up with a very clever strategy. They've made a choice which is great for the consumer. Now we're going to have a choice whereby consumers can buy a Wii plus one other console." Sounds like he's trying to say, "Xbox Wii-60 might be cheaper than a PS3!!" So I helped him out.

If the price in Japan equals about $170 that would be amazing. I can't see the price actually being $170 here though because that's a pretty random number when it comes to price. Maybe it will sell for $179.99, but it will most likely be around $199.99. Just remember that out DS lite is cheaper than theirs, so if the Wii is a little more expensive here, that's alright with me.

Parts from Miyamoto Interview with Nintendo Dream Magazine

Nindori: 10 years of Famicom and Super Famicom. 10 years of N64 and GC. And now another ten years is starting with Wii?

Miyamoto: Yes, we’re starting from here.

N: Looking at the titles you’ve announced so far, it already seems like you’ll be releasing games at a faster pace than the N64 and GC.

M: That’s because the machine is based on GC. Dev tools are of course being upgraded, but GC code will basically run as is. Because of that, I’m also thinking I can remake some of my GC games for Wii, making use of the Wiimote.

N: So you think games will experience a rebirth thanks to the Wiimote…

M: Yes. Of course you can wander into a second hand shop and buy a lot of these games still, so I don’t think we can release these Wiimakes at full price. Since a lot of the development cost has already been accounted for, we’ll be able to release these at a much more affordable price. And if others also take advantage of this and release Wiimakes, there’s a high possibility of a lot of software from third parties also.

N: So, there’s a possibility of Nintendo doing this?

M: Yes, I strongly believe there is. For this reason, the next Zelda will be released for both Wii and GC simultaneously. It’s quite an interesting experiment.

N: Ah, I see.

M: Also, when we were working on it, some of the staff were saying “Since the Wii has more power than the GC, let’s polish the graphics up a bit too”, but Zelda’s fans aren’t expecting polish, they’re expecting a fun and exciting game, so I said it is better if we make it fun both on Wii and GC. And recently it’s been established that “Wii is not a machine that tries to deliver next-gen graphics”. Of course, since there are still games that demand high quality graphics, there will be separate paths of development depending on the software.



Twilight Princess controls changed for Wii!

In the same interview with Nintendo Dream Magazine, Shigeru Miyamoto revealed that the controls for The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess on Wii have been dramatically changed. At E3, we saw that the sword was controlled by pressing the B button, and the bow and arrow was fired with the D-pad. Many people were surprised and slightly dissapointed that the sword was not controlled as it is in other games, by swinging the Wii controller. Nintendo gave the reason that the player would become too tired from swinging the Wii controller as a sword, a point that everyone keeps making, and one that I fail to understand.

Now, it seems that the sword will in fact be controlled by swinging the Wii controller. The B button, now that it is free, was changed to control firing the bow and arrow. As far as we know, the parrying moves, downward thrusts, and backwards dodges are all still controlled by moving the Nunchuk forward, downward, and backward respectively, as it was at E3.

In regards to playing the game by swinging the Wii-mote as a sword, Miyamoto says, "Upon actually playing it, it's more interesting this way."

GameCube remakes on Wii!

While speaking to Nintendo Dream Magazine, Shigeru Miyamoto revealed some new details about games on the Wii. It seems that some GC games will be remade on Wii, and they will take full advantage of the Wii controller.

"The machine is based on GC," said Miyamoto. "We'll be upgrading the development tools, but GameCube code can be used for the most part as is. In that sense, I believe that it would be good to remake GameCube games for Wii, and that some titles would become better with the change to the Wii remote controller."

GC to Wii remakes will be sold at a very low price, much lower than retail price of GC games now. Miyamoto even hopes that third party developers will make new games for the Cube while using the Wii controller. "Even now," continued Miyamoto, " GameCube titles are sold at used shops, so we don't feel we could sell them for full price. However, development costs have been taken care of, so we could probably sell them at a more accessible price. If we make it so that such GC to Wii remakes can be produced quickly, it's possible that many titles will also be released from third parties."

The first game that was remade on Wii from GC was Zelda: Twilight Princess. The only thing changed about Zelda in the transition from GC to Wii were the controls. Developers of the game felt that the Wii version of Zelda should have more polished graphics than the original GC version, however Miyamoto, who knows that the Wii is certainly capable of kicking up the graphics, disagreed.

"At one point," he explained, "even members of our staff said 'the Wii is more powerful than the GC, so we'd like to polish the graphics.' However, Zelda players don't look forward to this polish, they look forward to an enjoyable game."

Miyamoto did state that not all titles will have the same graphics in their Wii versions, and that games that demand strong visuals will have to be made accordingly.

No new remake titles were announced at this time, but I think it is a given that we will see both Metroid Primes sometime soon. Metroid Prime Trilogy Box Set for Wii anyone?