Nintendo Wii U will arrive after April 1, better start saving now

Seriously, this thing is will not be cheap. During an interview with Forbes, Nintendo of America COO Reggie Fils-Aime said that its much-awaited Wii U console will not arrive until after April 1 of next year.

When asked about how Nintendo plans to market both the new console and its existing Wii at the same time, Fils-Aime said, "This is a device that will launch in 2012, after April 1st, so we will deal with that situation at the appropriate time."

The exec went on to further deny any rumors that the Wii U controller, a slate with several buttons surrounding a 6.2-inch touch screen, is a tablet. (Well, you kind of had to expect these questions, guys.) But more importantly, Fils-Aime revealed some interesting potential in the Wii U. When asked about whether the system can stream other content than games to the tiny screen wirelessly, specifically Netflix, he replied, "Theoretically, that's possible."

Nintendo recently revealed that it has big plans for the Wii U's approach to online gaming, namely social features. But in this interview, the company stated that it will largely leave online gaming up to its third party publishers with a platform that will change from game to game. Regardless of this loose end among others (like whether its price will scare casual gamers away), that little screen just became even more impossible to wait for.

[Via TechCrunch]

What are you most excited about when it comes to the Wii U? Do you think it will do as well as the original Wii did with its potentially steep price?

Idle Games shows first game Idle Worship's true social colors [Video]

Since co-founding social game hit maker Playdom, Rick Thompson has grown tired of the friend bar beneath Faecbook games. No, scratch that: He's grown tired of the way traditional Facebook games operate ... period. His contempt for this arguably tired form of Facebook game has helped spawn Idle Games and its first ever Facebook game, Idle Worship.

We first heard word of the potentially revolutionary social game way back in April, and Idle Games has launched the game into a closed beta test before presenting it to the audience of TechCrunch Disrupt, an event in San Francisco celebrating tech startups ran by TechCrunch. The overall gameplay of Idle Worship hasn't changed since we first heard about it, but now we have fancy video that reveals more of what the game is all about.

Through Idle Games's Idle Engine, Idle Worship does away with the friend found in almost all social games. Instead, your island of Mudlings (the people you oversee with either benevolence or tyranny) will be surrounded by not only your friends' islands, but players' islands based on how their Facebook profiles match up with your own.

Going even further, the game will slowly curate which of your friendships are stronger by bringing more active friends closer to your island, which is always at the center, and pushing your inactive friends away from your island. And, according to Idle Games CEO Jeffrey Hyman, your interactions with your friends will send ripples throughout the entire game in real time.

Through innovations like these, Hyman aims for Idle Games to become "the Pixar of casual games," according to TechCrunch. To better understand what we mean, check out Hyman's presentation below, and sign up for the ongoing closed beta test of the game right here.



Do you plan on signing up for the closed beta test of Idle Worship? What excites you most (or doesn't excite you) about the game? Sound off in the comments. 2 Comments