WiiWaa - Nintendo's Weird New Innovation

New Super Mario Bros. for Wii Trailer

The new trailer for the side-scrolling Wii Mario Bros. is out, and it makes the game look phenomenal. I know they're making a Super Mario Galaxy II, but that seems redundant, or wrong, somehow. Every Mario game gets bigger in scope - Brothers, Land, World, 64 (3-D), Galaxy - and to repeat it makes it look like they're out of ways to have Mario transcend humanity. However, the old-school take on the franchise looks like a good way to go. I, for one, am looking forward to it.

Cops Take a 'Wii' Little Break During Drug Raid

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The cops in the above video decided that, to combat the boredom of a DRUG RAID, they would relax and play Nintendo Wii Bowling. For NINE hours.

It's a shame, yes. A waste of taxpayer dollars, definitely. Understandable, considering? Oh, good grief yes. Wii Bowling used to be a-ddictive.

A Wii Price Drop?

Excellent video game blog Kotaku has been pointing to evidence (in such things as Target ads) that the Wii is heading toward a price drop.

This latest ad also fuels our suspicions that Nintendo will make a big price drop announcement during the Tokyo Game Show next week, despite the fact that the company does not have an official presence at the show.

Source: Kotaku

This kind of drop seems to have been coming for some time now, if the "Games" section of 411mania is to be believed:

Meanwhile the Wii's precipitous slide through 2008 continues, with Nintendo's console down 175,600 units year-over-year. Signs point to a $50 price drop for the console in October, which will yield a spike in sales but doesn't seem like enough to stave off continued sales declines. Consumers will have supported the Wii's $250 launch price point for a remarkable 35 months at that time, which may make a $50 reduction seem like an inconsequential drop.

Should the $50 price drop prove capable of a sustained spike in Wii sales, Nintendo's aim will - like Sony's - likely shift towards driving up third-party software sales. Despite Nintendo's overwhelming hardware lead, Microsoft has led in third-party software sales for every month of 2009. With third-party software sales amounting to free money through licensing fees, Nintendo would be able to offset slumping hardware sales with a marginal increase in third-party software sales.