The popular movie and TV streaming service, Netflix will be making it’s way on the Wii in the US.
The service, which already runs on both the Xbox 360 and PS3, offers subscribers to around 17,000 movies and television shows. Nintendo US president, Reggie Fils-Aime said:
"Our research shows that 86 per cent of all US Wii consoles are located in the living room. The Wii console is the social hub around which friends and family members gather to play games and have fun."
"Soon both new and long-time Wii owners will enjoy the benefits of Netflix - and a variety of informational and entertainment options - by being Netflix members and connecting their consoles to the internet."
It’s nice to see that the Wii is branching out into to different areas of entertainment, rather than just focusing on games, but with the Netflix service already on other consoles and the BBC iPlayer doing well on PS3, compared to Wii, we can’t help but think that Nintendo are just a little bit too late.
Not only will the next Medal Of Honor bet set in the modern day, but it will also be set entirely set in Afghanistan between 2001 and 2004 and EA believes the game's weapons and tactics set it apart from its rivals (i.e. Call of Duty).
UK magazine, GamesMaster managed to get an exclusive preview of the game at an early stage of development. They say that the gunplay is 'slick and smooth', with players doing battle with Chechen rebels.
The game will also feature an ‘Elite Ops’ mode similar to Modern Warfare 2’s ‘Special Ops’ mode, which are complemented by huge-scale 'Sledgehammer' campaigns which seem to bear to resemblance to Battlefield: Bad Company, which does make sense, seeing as the game is being developed by both EA Los Angeles and DICE. Medal of Honor’s executive producer, Greg Goodrich claims that this latest game in the long running series will 'set it apart' from its rivals (i.e. Call of Duty).
"I can't go into details, but let's just say you'll be surprised by how some of the enemies respond to you, both in terms of tactics and the weapons they use."
So will be seeing people ditching Infinity Wards’ Modern Warfare 2 in favour for this? We honestly don’t think so, but it’s nice to see EA trying to go in a different direction with a franchise that’s on it’s last legs.
As huge fans of the Dreamcast, we were so excited when we heard the rumours that Sonic Adventure could be heading to Xbox Live Arcade.
We're trying not to get too excited at the prospect as there's nothing more to go on than a picture of the game on the Xbox Live Arcade dashbaord, but if it is true then it looks like it will be getting some DLC in the form of an “Extended Package”. We’ll let you know if the rumours are true or false as soon as possible.
In other Sonic news, Sega has confirmed it will be revealing its next Sonic title, Project Needlemouse, sometime this week. The American Sega Blog has posted a details on the reveal including a list of characters who may be playable in the game, which it'll reveal later in the week.
 Nintendo US president, Reggie Fils-Aimé has told Zelda fans not to expect the forthcoming Wii adventure until it's perfect.
Speaking on the Nintendo Week (that's the weekly show on the US Nintendo Channel), Nintendo's US President said:
"Right now it's still in development but the key message that Mr Aonuma and Mr Miyamoto are telling us is that it really has to be perfect when it launches. That is what the fans are expecting.”
"So for all the Zelda fans out there right now, I'd say enjoy Spirit Tracks and know that the Zelda title for Wii is going to come out when it's perfect."
So when will it be perfect? Well, according to Nintendo president, Satoru Iwata we could be playing Zelda Wii some time this year. Fingers crossed!
Nintendo has announced the UK release date for Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver. The Gold & Silver remakes will be on sale on March 26, nearly two weeks after the US release on the 14th.
Originally released in 2001 for Game Boy, Pokemon Gold & Silver were hugely successful, selling over one million copies during its first week on sale in the US. The remakes have already sold over three million in Japan where they were released last year.
The game comes bundled with the Pokewalker accessory which is a bit like a Pokemon-themed pedometer. You can transfer a Pokemon from your party and as you walk around in real life, your Pokemon will earn Watts which can be used within the Pokewalker to find and catch Pokemon or items which can then be transferred into HeartGold/SoulSilver. Has anyone else realised that the whole Pokewalker is just another way of trying to keep people fit whilst playing games? Seriously, Nintendo; you’ve got to stop thinking about exercise.
 Microsoft's senior director of Xbox product management, David Hufford has said that there is "no need" to launch a new Xbox console with Natal on the horizon.
In an interview with The Guardian, Hufford talked about the long lifespan of Microsoft’s home console.
"I think it's important to say that the Xbox 360 is the console of the long future for us," he said. "There is no need to launch a new console, because we're able to give this console new life either with software upgrades or hardware upgrades like Project Natal.
"The Xbox 360 was designed for a long life, and I don't even know if we're at the midpoint yet."
Rather than release a new console, Microsoft is of course relying on motion cam Project Natal to bring new game experiences to the console, but if that doesn’t work out the way Microsoft planned then we could be expecting a new console sooner than we thought. Still, here’s hoping that Natal keeps the 360 going for a little bit longer.
We’ve still got a little while to wait until Final Fantasy XIII is released over here, but it’s already out in some countries and fans of the series can’t get to get hold of it. But one games reviewer from Hong Kong probably wishes that he’d never played it at all.
Calling it the “biggest swindle in gaming history” the Hong Kong magazine gave it a measly 4 out of 10 and said that it’s the "biggest joke of 2009." Here are some of his hilarious comments towards the game:
"The game is complete linearity until the open areas near the end, it's little more than riding an amusement park ride."
"For such a game to approach 2 million copies sold must be due solely to the strength of the Final Fantasy brand"
"A button mashing puzzle game with no real strategy or RPG elements and a plethora of annoying features, game as a whole is little more than a digital novel of sorts."
"I had heard the opinion that "It's amazing once you get to Chapter 11," but why should you spend 20 or 30 hours on a game to get to the only enjoyable part? Just how do they intend to make me play this? Do they think I'm some kind of masochist?"
So, will be still buy the game despite what this chap has to say, or are you having second thoughts?
We’ll hold our hands in the air and say that we knew nothing about a Metal Gear Solid movie in the works, probably because it such a top secret project that not even James Bond could have found out about it. But it looks as if a MGS movie will never happen.
The producer behind the film, Mike De Luca spoke in a recent interview with movie website, Collider and mentioned some of the reasons why work on the film has stalled.
"I don't think it's going to move forward because I got the sense that there may not be enough of a coordinated will at this point on the side of certain parties to see a movie get made.
"And I get it because the problem with a lot of these adaptations is it's such a huge franchise for the video game company. A movie can only hurt. If the movie's great, you're probably not going to sell more games. It's such a separate thing."
With the likes of Resident Evil, Tomb Raider, House of the Dead and Bloodrayne all turning into terrible films we’d hate it if the same thing happened to Metal Gear Solid. But if they were to go ahead with the film, then we’d nominate this man to play the role of Solid Snake. How friggin’ awesome would THAT be?
 It’s only been out for 4 months but Nintendo have announced that they will no longer be shipping out copies of Metroid Prime: Trilogy.
The news emerged after fans of the series couldn’t find the game on the retail website, Amazon and in an e-mail explaining exactly why it couldn’t be found, Nintendo said:
"Unfortunately, Metroid Prime Trilogy is no longer being shipped. Having said that, you may be able to find what you seek through the second-hand video game market."
"When first introduced, it was announced that there would be limited availability. However, a reason for this was not announced. That being said, you may still be able to locate a copy via stores that specialize in previously played or used games."
The game, which has both Prime and Prime 2: Echoes from the GameCube and Corruption from Wii crammed on the disc, has been highly recommended from critics and fans a-like. So if you manage to find a cheap copy then buy it, hold on to it for a few months and then sell it on eBay at an extortionate price. Cha-Ching!
Although it may not have sold many copies, Madworld could be in-line for the sequel treatment.
Shigenori Nishikawa, the director of Madworld, said that both he and Platinum Games would be interested in making Madworld 2.
"I think Madworld was very well received and was acknowledged for its innovative graphical style and gameplay. We would definitely be interested in making a sequel in the future," he said.
This completely contradicts what Sega of America’s Constantine Hantzopoulos (what a silly name) when he said: "are we going to do more mature titles for the Wii? Probably not." We’d certainly welcome a sequel to Madworld with open arms. Any game that lets you ram a pole through someone’s face, shove a bin over their head and throw them into the path of an on-coming train is alright with us.
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