Late Night Consoling

IGN Wii posted a number of Nintendo-related rumors today, apparently obtained directly from reliable sources in publishing and development. Soon after the news post went up, it was taken down and replaced by a statement indicating that IGN's sources do not wish to go to jail. A potential interpretation of this language is that the reported information fell under the domain of non-disclosure agreements and therefore holds some weight. Later, the post was replaced, with a few changes.

First up is the issue of the release date for the upcoming Wii. Apparently, Nintendo is telling launch title developers to have their games ready by mid-October or so for a launch on November 2; others believe the date may be November 12. Sources indicate that the machine will retail for $229 in the United States, though the contents of the package were not disclosed. It will be available in black and white, according to these sources.

In Nintendo's latest financial reports, the company stated that it plans to sell 6 million units of the console within the fiscal year ending March 31, 2007. Now, IGN's sources claim that the company has ramped up its expectations. The original IGN story claimed that the new figure is 5.5 million units by the end of the calendar year; the revised post replaces the quantity with "more than five million units."

Apparently, the console's region encoding will come via firmware rather than hardware; IGN speculates that this would result in an easier modification for gamers looking to play imported games.

One rumor, which IGN removed entirely for the reposted story, stated IBM may be working on a smaller version of the Wii's Broadway CPU for use in a portable console which would play GameCube discs. This has been rumored to be the approach taken with Nintendo's next Game Boy console, though past instances of this rumor did not come by way of apparently credible sources.

According to translated reports from Japanese news outlet Nikkei Business Online, RPG-oriented publisher and developer Square Enix may be moving into the hardware market, though just what kind of hardware is unknown. Company president Yoichi Wada spoke on the challenges of the changing video game market, and why Square Enix's traditional model is becoming outdated. "An exceptional creator can pull off rehashing the same material," he said. "This is what we've been doing for a long time, and in the process reached a profit rate of over 30 percent. However, this is what Square Enix did when the model was unchanging. Now things are different."

He then went on to the importance of creating games that differ from tradition, offering the Nintendo DS lineup as a prime example. In terms of creating an environment for new ideas through hardware, he pointed to Nintendo with its DS and Apple with its iPod. "The strategy behind Nintendo and the iPod, to create a new environment based on hardware, is completely valid," he said. "But, this is impossible if you don't have experience making hardware. ...This is one of the reasons Square Enix will collaborate with Taito, a company that produces physical hardware." Square Enix completed its acquisition of publisher Taito in September of last year. As far as the eventual hardware fruits of the companies' labor, Wada offered no hints other than it being "some 'thing'" and "not the sort of thing you expect from Square Enix."

The product may potentially be related to the mobile phone market. Square Enix has invested significant resources into mobile development recently, and has announced plans to move into content delivery platforms for mobile phones.

Canadian retailer Future Shop has posted a new Xbox 360 bundle deal, which includes the premium version of the console along with three months of Xbox Live Gold membership, a card worth 1250 Marketplace points, and a copy of Bizarre Creations' Project Gotham Racing 3. It all goes for CA$499.99 (US$443.84), the same price a premium unit already runs in Canada sans extras. Microsoft has now confirmed that this will be a standard bundle in Canada, starting this week. No similar plans have been announced for any other territories.

Following last week's confusion about Prince of Persia on Wii, resulting from an inconsistency between French- and English-language Ubisoft press releases, IGN has confirmed that Jordan Mechner's classic platforming icon will indeed be heading to Nintendo's upcoming console. Ubisoft gave no further details as to the content of the game, though many believe it is a compilation of the three games in the Sands of Time trilogy, updated to take advantage of the Wii's unique controller.

According to IGN, which seems to be overflowing with Wii rumors, a new iteration of Next Level's recent soccer game Super Mario Strikers (GCN) may well be headed to Nintendo's new system. IGN's sources suspect that the game will be showcased at Leipzig's upcoming Games Convention, where Nintendo is rumored to be presenting up to five new games in their "Wii prove our promise" press conference.

A post on the official Ubisoft forums by an Ubisoft community manager has revealed the new release date for the recently delayed Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Double Agent (PS2, Xbox, GCN, PS3, X360, PC). The game will now ship by October 19.

The Ubisoft employee also confirmed that there will be an Xbox 360 multiplayer demo released via Xbox Live, though no availability date was announced. The PC version of the game will also be receiving a single- and multiplayer demo.

Marek Bronstring at Adventure Gamers considers the potential for the adventure game genre on Wii.

Game Informer speaks to Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon about the recently announced Wii version of Mortal Kombat: Armageddon (Wii, also PS2, Xbox).