Nintendo has turned to James Bond and Mickey Mouse to help keep videogame players enchanted with the Wii as rival consoles debut motion-sensing controls.
“Bond is back,” Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime said during a press conference on the opening day of the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles.
Activision is reviving a long dormant franchise with GoldenEye 007 videogame for Wii consoles based on the film by the same name.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
Players will get the chance to “use the lethal, gritty style of Daniel Craig’s James Bond to outwit, outmaneuver and overtake an arms syndicate that threatens the world,” Activision said.
The game will also feature classic Bond movie characters, according to Fils-Aime.
A Disney Epic Mickey title will send the famous cartoon mouse on adventures in a virtual “Wasteland” of forgotten characters and places drawn from the iconic entertainment studio’s past.
Mickey will have the power to erase characters or restore them to glory, with his actions influencing the course of the game, said Warren Spector of Junction Point Studio, which is crafting the software.
“Mickey hasn’t been the videogame hero he was meant to be,” he said. “That’s about to change.”
Popular Nintendo characters returning in new Wii games include Zelda, Donkey Kong and Kirby. The company’s Mario character stars in his own sports game.
“E3 is the land of big screen, touch screen, button control, motion control and no control at all,” Fils-Aime said. “Technology is only a tool. The thing that matters is the experience.”
Wii launched in 2006 with innovative motion-sensing controls and became a must-have videogame console credited with expanding the market far beyond “hardcore gamers” devoted to shooter titles.
Sony is also at E3 demonstrating Move, which allows motion-control of games on PlayStation 3 consoles.
Sony’s Move motion-sensing controllers for PlayStation 3 will hit the US market in September ahead of Microsoft’s rival Kinect devices, as the firms prepare to battle for gamers’ affections.
“We think the PlayStation Move is the device that will bridge the gap between core and casual gamers,” Sony vice president Peter Dille said during a press conference on the E3’s opening day.
Move will hit the market in time for the year-end holiday shopping season and aims to tap into an enthusiasm for motion-sensing controls that made Nintendo Wii consoles marketplace superstars.
The Move controllers, which are reminiscent of small black flashlights topped with brightly colored orbs, allow gamers to control PS3 play with swings, jabs and other natural movements instead of the toggle-and-button commands that have been trademarks of play on PS3 and Microsoft’s Xbox 360.
Also See: Sports games come of age
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
SILICON VALLEY HUB: The office would showcase Taiwan’s strengths in semiconductors and artificial intelligence, and help Taiwanese start-ups connect with global opportunities Taiwan has established an office in Palo Alto, one of the principal cities of Silicon Valley in California, aimed at helping Taiwanese technology start-ups gain global visibility, the National Development Council said yesterday. The “Startup Island Taiwan Silicon Valley hub” at No. 299 California Avenue is focused on “supporting start-ups and innovators by providing professional consulting, co-working spaces, and community platforms,” the council said in a post on its Web site. The office is the second overseas start-up hub established by the council, after a similar site was set up in Tokyo in September last year. Representatives from Taiwanese start-ups, local businesses and
‘DETERRENT’: US national security adviser-designate Mike Waltz said that he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported. He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added. The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the
SHARED VALUES: The US, Taiwan and other allies hope to maintain the cross-strait ‘status quo’ to foster regional prosperity and growth, the former US vice president said Former US vice president Mike Pence yesterday vowed to continue to support US-Taiwan relations, and to defend the security and interests of both countries and the free world. At a meeting with President William Lai (賴清德) at the Presidential Office in Taipei, Pence said that the US and Taiwan enjoy strong and continued friendship based on the shared values of freedom, the rule of law and respect for human rights. Such foundations exceed limitations imposed by geography and culture, said Pence, who is visiting Taiwan for the first time. The US and Taiwan have shared interests, and Americans are increasingly concerned about China’s
RSS