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Nintendo introduces a range of budget-priced Wii games

Posted 21st of January, 2010 at 04:00 pm by Infernal Monkey Infernal Monkey is offline


Nintendo of Japan has just announced a budget re-release lineup, called the 'Everyone's Recommendation Selection'. Think of it as the new 'Player's Choice' (finally), except they'll be going about it a bit differently. Rather than basing the selection on sales alone, games are chosen by what user-rating they've received on the Wii's Nintendo Channel.

So basically, it's a way for Nintendo to help out third party titles that reviewed well, but perhaps didn't perform too crash hot at retail (Arc Rise Fantasia is a perfect example). The first wave includes seven games - all from third parties. They'll launch in Japan February 25 for Ľ2,800 ($34 AUD).

The packaging is classy! Hopefully this idea won't just be limited to Japan.

- Dragon Ball Z Sparking! Meteor (Namco Bandai, Bronze rating)
- One Piece Unlimited Cruise Episode 1 (Namco Bandai, Silver rating)
- Arc Rise Fantasia (Marvelous, Silver rating)
- Muramasa Demon Blade (Marvelous, Gold rating)
- Tales of Symphonia: Ratatoskr no Kishi (Namco Bandai, Bronze rating)
- 428 (SEGA, Platinum rating)
- Family Ski World Ski & Snowboard (Namco Bandai, Silver rating)


Thanks to TheChimp for the news tip!
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COMMENTS (27)

Posted 21st of January, 2010 at 04:13 pm by Parasyte Parasyte is offline
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Great idea on how the games are re-released. Very smart on Nintendo's behalf. With that being said, those box arts look god awful.
Posted 21st of January, 2010 at 04:20 pm by Quicksilver1111 Quicksilver1111 is offline
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FFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU for giving a bronze award to ToS II
Posted 21st of January, 2010 at 04:24 pm by Waveguider Waveguider is offline
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Letting the fans decide for once... I think they've finally got it right.

Is it only with third party games though?
Posted 21st of January, 2010 at 04:26 pm by TSPhoenix TSPhoenix is offline
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So what is the actual difference between the ratings? Are they all the same price?
Posted 21st of January, 2010 at 04:28 pm by RO(b)OB RO(b)OB is offline
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great idea, though i'm a bit too skeptical to think australia's choices will be as exciting to us as the japanese public's are.
Posted 21st of January, 2010 at 04:37 pm by stubbietubbie stubbietubbie is offline
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Those crappy game boxarts are getting in the way of all that red and gold.
Posted 21st of January, 2010 at 04:46 pm by Boo! Boo! is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TSPhoenix View Post
So what is the actual difference between the ratings? Are they all the same price?
They're all 2800 yen, yeah. Not really sure, probably just to indicate how highly it was recommended in the Nintendo Channel, but they could have just lumped them all together, really. Strange. Edit: I don't see any indication of gold/silver/bronze/platinum etc on the boxes, so that might just be extra information for PR from the Nintendo Channel.

Great idea and selection, though. I doubt this line will ever make it over here, but wow. Arc Rise, Muramasa, 428, these are quality games; would be awesome if we had something like that. I like that they're helping out third parties here.
Posted 21st of January, 2010 at 04:46 pm by Infernal Monkey Infernal Monkey is offline
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Posted 21st of January, 2010 at 04:49 pm by Boo! Boo! is offline
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Hey, they're all Dragon Ball Z! This lucky dip machine is rigged!
Posted 21st of January, 2010 at 05:53 pm by Toadsiliwraith
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Nintendo has pulled off a very clever move by implementing this re-release scheme. Not only does this give critically acclaimed but largely overlooked titles a second lease at life at a more attractive price, but the budget line itself serves as effective promotion for the Nintendo Channel itself, and thus some of the Wii's online functionalities. It really does appear that Nintendo is getting serious in addressing some of the key flaws surrounding their systems, which can only be a good thing for expanded audience and enthusiast gamers alike.

Here's hoping that a similar scheme is introduced for the rest of the world, as this is a golden opportunity for Nintendo to kill a few birds with one stone. Plus those covers are so alluring... :P
Posted 21st of January, 2010 at 06:51 pm by Dark Moogle Dark Moogle is offline
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Fantastic idea for a budget game lineup, especially since that whole New Play Control thing really did die fast.

That said, one thing that they should do again is reverseable covers. As nice and fancy as these new designs are, I hate that whole 'box in a box' thing they all do.
Posted 21st of January, 2010 at 06:58 pm by Scott
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Originally Posted by Infernal Monkey View Post
- Tales of Symphonia: Ratatoskr no Kishi (Namco Bandai, Bronze rating)
- Family Ski World Ski & Snowboard (Namco Bandai, Silver rating)
What...
Posted 21st of January, 2010 at 07:27 pm by Gookanheimer Gookanheimer is offline
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Wait, Nintendo did something that actually kind of makes sense??


Lawl, Infernal <3
Posted 21st of January, 2010 at 10:05 pm by futurefrog futurefrog is offline
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How about just re-release them as something akin to Playstation Platinum games and have the price really low. Makes more sense.
Posted 21st of January, 2010 at 10:19 pm by Gookanheimer Gookanheimer is offline
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You mean... do what they're doing?
Posted 21st of January, 2010 at 10:44 pm by Hyper the Metroid Hyper the Metroid is offline
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YO DAWG I HEARD YOU LIKE BOXARTS SO I PUT A BOXART IN YOUR BOXART SO YOU CAN BOXART WHILE YOU BOXART
Posted 21st of January, 2010 at 11:05 pm by Boo! Boo! is offline
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Originally Posted by Hyper the Metroid View Post
YO DAWG I HEARD YOU LIKE BOXARTS SO I PUT A BOXART IN YOUR BOXART SO YOU CAN BOXART WHILE YOU BOXART
:/ that was horrible. Sorry.
Posted 22nd of January, 2010 at 12:10 am by Dark Moogle Dark Moogle is offline
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Originally Posted by futurefrog View Post
How about just re-release them as something akin to Playstation Platinum games and have the price really low. Makes more sense.
Umm the prices are low compared to their initial release. In comparison to what Xbox/PlayStation are doing this might actually be more appealing to the hardcore audience. Xbox Classics/PS Platinum games are classified by sales figures, meaning a lot of shovelware and old sports games take priority over other games that slip through the crowds.

Nintendo however is basing these games on their popularity figures from their own rating channel on Wii. This approach may seem weird at first, but should hopefully give some more niche games a chance to reach the mainstream with reprints and what is essentially a more solid Nintendo Seal of Quality.
Posted 22nd of January, 2010 at 01:47 pm by Mop Mop is offline
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Originally Posted by futurefrog View Post
How about just re-release them as something akin to Playstation Platinum games and have the price really low. Makes more sense.
Why can't they do what the N64 did, and just include a single stamp on the front of the box without ruining the integrity of the original box-art? My oddly gray Player's Choice GC games look a little unsightly in my rack of otherwise black GC games.

I actually avoid Player's Choice games because of the gray box!
Posted 22nd of January, 2010 at 03:14 pm by Tayaun_Nintendo_ftw Tayaun_Nintendo_ftw is offline
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It'd look better if the boxes and the Wii logo were Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum respectively. They could put a picture of a coloured ribbon with "Everyone's Recommendation Selection" in the centre and fill the rest of the box with the actual size original art.

Great idea nonetheless
Posted 22nd of January, 2010 at 03:30 pm by Gookanheimer Gookanheimer is offline
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Oh yeah, I meant to say before... what's this 428 game? All the rest I've heard of, but not that one :/
Posted 22nd of January, 2010 at 04:21 pm by Leon
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Originally Posted by Gookanheimer View Post
Oh yeah, I meant to say before... what's this 428 game? All the rest I've heard of, but not that one :/
It's a highly acclaimed Japan only game that plays somewhat like a visual novel. I remember that 428 is one of the select titles that's managed to score a 40/40 in Famitsu.
Posted 23rd of January, 2010 at 05:07 pm by warpy warpy is offline
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they should make the cover double sided like they did with the gamecube rereleases, personally i find those boxes repulsive : /
Posted 23rd of January, 2010 at 07:47 pm by Adam Adam is offline
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Originally Posted by "Quicksilver1111
FFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU for giving a bronze award to ToS II
Yes, I know the feeling. Like you, I didn't think ToS2 was all that disappointing, at least not as disappointing as most made it out to be.

It's interesting how Arc Rise Fantasia got a Silver Award while ToS2 got a bronze... It makes me want to keep an eye out for and check out Arc Rise Fantasia.
Posted 23rd of January, 2010 at 07:57 pm by Quicksilver1111 Quicksilver1111 is offline
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Originally Posted by Adam View Post
Yes, I know the feeling. Like you, I didn't think ToS2 was all that disappointing, at least not as disappointing as most made it out to be.

It's interesting how Arc Rise Fantasia got a Silver Award while ToS2 got a bronze... It makes me want to keep an eye out for and check out Arc Rise Fantasia.
Exactly. At the very least they improved on the conversations:
Posted 23rd of January, 2010 at 08:19 pm by Adam Adam is offline
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Lolz, I obviously missed out on quite a few skits. I really loved the skits in ToS2 though... a lot of them had a pretty different sense of humour... Great memories. Oh, and, gees it's a big difference having them Voice Acted as well.

Anyhow, if this series translates to games that are perhaps a bit missed out on getting an extra chance at sales... then that's a good thing.
Posted 23rd of January, 2010 at 11:15 pm by Aerodrome Aerodrome is offline
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Originally Posted by futurefrog View Post
How about just re-release them as something akin to Playstation Platinum games and have the price really low. Makes more sense.
Err.

That's what they're doing... >_________>

Anyway, I think this is a good idea! Though, I never knew you could do anything on the Nintendo Channel. I thought it was just an annoying, useless channel Nintendo gave to us.