News Blog

On Monday, we reported on the Wii Fit shortage. But believe it or not, the actual Wii console is still in short supply, a year and a half after its release. If you're like us, you figured that after the holiday season the overwhelming demand for the Nintendo Wii would finally let up and you'd finally be able to buy the console easily online and in stores. However, the Wii is still essentially sold out online; we couldn't find the console available to buy from major retailers like Amazon.com, Best Buy, and Circuit City. We did find a few places where you could buy a Wii, but they required you to buy an expensive bundle, like GameStop's $400 bundle or Wal-Mart's $500 bundle. According to Wii Tracker.com, you can't buy a Wii online for less than $390.

We contacted Nintendo for a comment on the persistant Wii shortages. Here's what the company said:... Read more

Updated at 6:27 a.m. with more details about the case. Updated again at 11:54 a.m. PST with Nintendo's statement.

Nintendo has been ordered to pay $21 million to a Texas company in a suit involving patents used in technology behind the company's Wii and GameCube systems, the Associated Press reported.

Anascape, a Lufkin, Texas-based company, sued Nintendo in 2006. A federal jury in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas ruled in Anascape's favor on Wednesday.

A Nintendo representative said the company plans to appeal the verdict.

"We also expect the trial court to promptly reduce the dollar amount of the verdict significantly, as the amount was actually incorrectly calculated," Nintendo spokesman Charlie Scibetta said. "The correct calculation will result in a judgment that is a fraction of the current verdict."

According to court documents, Anascape had asserted that Nintendo's Wii Remote, Wii Classic, and Wii Nunchuk controllers, along with its Game Cube controllers, infringe on U.S. Patent No. 6,906,700, which describes a "3D controller with vibration" and was filed in November 2000.

In the end, the jury found that the Wii Remote and Nunchuck controllers didn't infringe on the patent, but the Wii Classic Controller, WaveBird controller, and Nintendo GameCube controllers did.

Nintendo argued in its latest court filings that there wasn't sufficient evidence that its products infringed that patent and that other inventions--particularly Sony's DualShock 2 controller, which went on sale in the United States in October 2000 and has also been the subject of patent litigation--predated Anascape's patent filing, rendering it obvious and invalid. As recently as Wednesday, the company asked the judge to throw out the case.

Anascape had also also sued Microsoft over the patents but settled with the company on May 1, just before the case went to trial, according to court documents.

The Eastern District of Texas, where the suit played out, has earned a reputation for speedy trials and plaintiff-friendly juries, consequently drawing more patent lawsuits than most other jurisdictions.

News.com's Anne Broache contribued to this report.

The Wii Fit, when it made its debut last year: There was no mention of moms in the demo.

(Credit: Caroline McCarthy/CNET Networks)

If this report is true, then some marketing executives are even more out of touch with reality than we thought. And that's saying a lot.

According to Reuters, Wal-Mart is planning to make a huge push for the Wii Fit as "a perfect gift" for Mother's Day, splashing promotions for the game across its Web site this weekend. We won't even get into the fact that the holiday falls on May 11 this year, more than a week before the game is even available on the U.S. market. Rather, as always, it's the thought that counts--and in this case, it might be one that's gone badly awry.

Do you sign the card, "Dear Mom: Hope you lose weight"? You might as well go all out and get her a scale to go with it. If you really must go there, at least consider including a "Wii Party Station" to soften the blow.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, the largest contract chip manufacturer in the world, will crank up its MEMS foundry business. Micro-Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) technology is used in Apple's iPhone and the Nintendo Wii.

Nintendo Wii uses MEMS technology for motion detection

(Credit: Nintendo)

MEMS typically have a microprocessor and other components such as microsensors. For example, MEMS technology is used in the iPhone and Wii to allow these devices to detect motion and changes in orientation.

In the iPhone, a device called an accelerometer detects when the user rotates the iPhone from portrait to landscape modes, then automatically adjusts the display, so the entire width of a web page or a photo can be seen in its proper aspect ratio.

Hewlett-Packard also uses MEMS technology for its inkjet print-head that combines integrated electronics with microfluidic channels to control ink droplets when printing.

TSMC will provide manufacturing services such as surface micromachining and manufacturing processes for CMOS-MEMS integration and packaging, according to Nikkei's Tech-On. (CMOS stands for complementary metal oxide semiconductor, a common class of integrated circuits used in microprocessors.)

MEMS technology, which in the past was limited mainly to in-house manufacturing or automotive products, is now being applied to a raft of consumer devices and mobile phones, the Tech-On report said.

The MEMS industry was estimated to be worth US$5.95 billion in 2007 and it is expected to exceed US$10.771 billion in 2011, the report said.

TSMC will detail the company's MEMS business plan at a technical seminar in Tokyo on May 15, the report said.

Nintendo does not anticipate cutting prices on its popular Wii or DS handheld game systems, President Satoru Iwata told an analyst meeting on Friday.

"Our earnings projection for the year is not based on hardware price cuts, and I don't think we are going to need them," Reuters quoted Iwata as saying.

Earlier this week, Nintendo reported that operating profit for the year ended in March more than doubled against the previous year, and predicted a 9 percent gain this year to 530 billion yen ($5.08 billion).

The forecast was below analysts' expectations, but Iwata's comments are an indication that company is not concerned about slowing sales.

Once again, Nintendo released a quarterly earnings report that not only solidifies the company as a major player going into the next generation, but shows that it's certainly onto something with both the Wii and the DS. But according to that same report, not everything is perfect with the company's handheld system.

According to Nintendo, it's only forecasting 9 percent growth going forward as sales of the DS continue to slide and expectations of higher sales continue to dwindle. Nintendo contends that DS sales could fall to 28 million units from 30.3 million units sold.

Mario is coming in a big way to the DS.

(Credit: Nintendo)

And while some market analysts are disappointed with the news of the DS slowing and the company itself not growing as fast as they would like, they fail to fully understand the nature of the beast they're trying to gauge.

If analysts were worried about the Wii, I would probably agree. But why would anyone be worried about Nintendo's plans for the DS? Will it sell fewer units this year? Maybe. But if nothing else, I think that we'll soon find that Nintendo has something up its sleeve that will jump-start sales and send those same, misguided analysts into a frenzy.

(Credit: Jeff Bakalar/CNET Networks)

CNET was more than happy to attend an exclusive roundtable Q&A regarding Wii Fit with Nintendo mastermind Shigeru Miyamoto on Thursday afternoon at the Le Parker Meridien in New York. Miyamoto led the presentation with an in-depth look at the origin of Wii Fit and the challenges that came along in developing such an ambitious platform.

Interestingly enough, Wii Fit was conceived by Miyamoto in the process of his own personal awareness of his body weight. By graphing his weight over a period of time, he was able to see a visual representation of how it fluctuated. With his family encouraging him to keep in shape, Miyamoto did so by creating a personal game out of the whole thing--as a result, Wii Fit was born.

What separates Wii Fit from other "working-out-can-be-fun" concepts is that it creates a game around each person who plays it. Nintendo hopes that this personalized experience will attract people who would otherwise not be playing video games--and we think they're on to something. By making Wii Fit an easy-to-use, practical, and accessible device, it can appeal to just about anyone who can stand on a scale. Wii Fit may not have you dropping pounds as fast as intense exercise and dieting would, but it can definitely make keeping track of your progress a whole lot easier and definitely more entertaining. Miyamoto explained that Wii Fit makes you more aware of your body, which is the first step toward improving your health. Wii Fit is already starting to pop up in gyms across Japan and we'd imagine a similar response here in the states. ... Read more

(Credit: Nintendo)

Rumors have been circulating for several weeks that the upcoming Nintendo interactive fitness game, Wii Fit, which comes bundled with the Wii Balance Board peripheral (pictured), would be priced at $89.99. Well, now that number has become official along with the not-so-secret May 19 launch date.

According to Nintendo's press release, Wii Fit boasts, "A dynamic mix of more than 40 yoga, aerobics, strength training, and balance activities, Wii Fit provides consumers with a fun, easy, and affordable way to incorporate exercise into their daily routines. Using the included wireless Wii Balance Board accessory, every member of the household can step up and stay active, setting individual fitness goals and tracking their progress over time."

If you happen to live in or around New York, it's worth noting that from April 18 through 20, the "first 1,000 consumers who place a $5 deposit for Wii Fit at the Nintendo World store in Rockefeller Plaza will receive a limited edition Wii Fit T-shirt featuring the image and reproduced autograph of legendary Nintendo video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto."

Nintendo says it's already sold 1.4 million Fit kits in Japan and chances are the bundle is going to do very well in North America. Will Fit match the success of Guitar Hero and Rock Band, which also carry somewhat hefty price tags? Hard to say. What do you guys think? Can casual gaming translate into buns of steel?

It's only rock 'n roll, but Wii like it. Harmonix, the game developer acquired by MTV Networks to create the Rock Band video game, announced Monday that the software will be available for Nintendo's Wii console on June 22. Currently, versions of Rock Band have been created for Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3.

(Credit: Harmonix/MTV)

Rumors of a Wii edition of Rock Band first started to circulate early last month. The game was originally released in November amid the soaring popularity of Activision's Guitar Hero franchise, which had a Hollywood-worthy $115 million opening weekend for its most recent game, Guitar Hero III. MTV's Rock Band puts a spin on the concept by letting participants play bass, drums, and vocals in addition to guitar.

Despite the inherent similarities to Guitar Hero, Rock Band has been a huge hit, too.

But, just like a rerun of Behind the Music, the guitar-playing video game craze has been ridden with drama. Harmonix developed the original Guitar Hero, but MTV Networks acquired it in 2006 to create rival Rock Band and distribute it through gaming mega-publisher Electronic Arts. Meanwhile, guitar manufacturer Gibson Guitar has filed a lawsuit against the manufacturers of both Guitar Hero and Rock Band as well as six major retailers--according to Gibson, it's held a patent on a guitar-playing video game since 1999.

So far, none of the gaming console manufacturers--Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo--have been targeted by Gibson's suit.

The June 22 Rock Band Wii release will encompass the U.S. and Canada markets, and a core bundle (software, drums, microphone, and one guitar) will cost $169.99. Standalone instruments will also be sold. It'll feature a lineup of 63 songs, including five exclusive to the Wii.