Nintendo of Japan held its annual Fall press conference today and revealed a number of new Wii software titles, firmware updates, WiiWare details and more.
The major details of the conference have been separated into categories and bulleted below. Readers should note that some information may be subject to change due to rough translations.
Wii Software
- Monster Hunter 3 will be released for Wii
- Nintendo is developing Super Mario Stadium Baseball (tenative title) for Wii
- Super Smash Bros. Brawl will feature Sonic the Hedgehog as a playable character. Nintendo showed brief gameplay footage of him transforming into Super Sonic, and the game will include online functionality for both regular brawls and some form of co-operative play
- Brawl will be released in Japan on January 24, 2008; the American release date of December 3, 2007 still holds.
- Mario Kart Wii will introduce motorcycles to the gameplay and ship during Spring 2008
- Wii Fit will be released in Japan on December 1 at the retail price of 8,800 Yen
The Wii firmware has been updated to version 3.1, and updates to both the Everybody Votes Channel and the Internet Channel (details below) are available in the Wii Shop Channel.
- USB keyboard compatibility
- Links received on the Wii message board now open in Internet Channel
- Users can send links to friends
- Users can copy text from the page being viewed and paste it into a search
- Nintendo plans to establish a Wii version of the DS Download Station (found in many retail stores) so that users can download software demos to their Nintendo DS at home
- The WiiWare service will begin during March in Japan.
- Square-Enix will be providing an exclusive Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles game for the service subtitled The Young King and the Promised Land. Players will be able to build their own country in the game
- WiiWare games will be sold at a low price, according to Nintendo. The company did not provide specific details, but previous reports noted that WiiWare software is expected to cost no more than 10 USD (1,000 Yen)
- Nintendo announced Pokemon Bokujou, or Pokemon Farm. This WiiWare title will allow players to transfer their DS Pokemon to Wii and raise them in a farm-like environment
- New editions of Star Soldier R, Mojipittan Wii (popular puzzle game from Bandai-Namco) and Doctor Mario will be released on WiiWare
