Nintendo, whose online presence is subdued compared to those of rivals Sony and Microsoft, will unveil community software for the Wii in the future.

"Nintendo has always had a vision on community," said Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime to Forbes' Chris Morris for his weekly column.

"The issue is that we define community differently than our competitors. ... Our consumers do want a sense of community, and we're going to deliver that--but in a way that is unique to Nintendo," he added.

Fils-Aime offered no further details on the community features, including a release date, but Morris projected that more will be known at E3 2009.

The executive also commented on the state of the Wii, which ... Read more

Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime has again answered negatively to questions suggesting that Nintendo might bring out a successor to the Wii more quickly than the average console life cycle.

"We believe the role of a new console, a new system, is to bring great new entertainment ideas to life. We launched those systems when we had great ideas that would benefit either from a touch screen or from a Wii remote," explained Fils-Aime to Reuters as noticed by CVG.

"We will consider the launch of new consoles when we have got great new entertaining ideas that can only be done with a new console," the executive elaborated. "As we sit here today the Wii console has a long run ahead of it," he added.

To say the Wii "has a long run ahead" is a vast understatement. The remote-waggling miracle box is still dominating hardware sales and Nintendo's own Wii software is flying off retail shelves as well, with Nintendo taking three of October's top 10 console games in North American sales charts.

For Nintendo hardware collectors itching to give the House of Mario their cash, Reggie did have some comforting news: "At some point we will launch the DSi here in the Americas." The updated version of the DS handheld is expected after April 2009.

Nintendo has filed for a mass of trademarks related to its DS handheld, signaling a wide variety of software that could be under contemplation at the company's headquarters in Kyoto, Japan.

Siliconera did a little sleuthing through the Japanese trademark database and found gems like DSiMovie, DSCommunity, DSmobile, and DSPhone.

It's worth noting that many trademarks are filed simply for protective purposes, and given the wide range of names that have been trademarked by Nintendo, that's very likely in this case.

Still, the revamped DSi handheld is predicated on new hardware like a camera and boosted wireless capabilities, which open up possibilities for a more connected device. Many of the trademarks include networking-related words like "news," "navi," or "net."

The full list of DS-related trademarks, reproduced from Siliconera, follows:

• DSiChannel
  
• DSiStation
  
• DSiNews
  
• DSiMovie
  ... Read more

Nintendo's voice chat accessory Wii Speak releases on November 16 alongside the village life sim Animal Crossing: City Folk, but the Wii Speak Channel, the software that allows voice chat without playing any game in particular, won't be available to gamers who buy the accessory used.

MTV Multiplayer received a press copy of the latest Animal Crossing, bundled with the voice chat peripheral, and found that attached was a Wii Download Ticket Number, a 16-digit code to be used to download the Wii Speak Channel.

The code "cannot be replaced by Nintendo or your retailer if it is lost or stolen," meaning that there will be one download code for every new Wii Speak microphone.

A Nintendo representative confirmed to MTV that the Wii Speak Channel won't be available in the Wii Shop Channel for purchase. While in-game voice chat for supported games will still work on a used device, it does mean that one of the accessory's major functions will be restricted to those who buy the hardware new.

While Nintendo has not stated its intentions, the move reflects a subtle jab at the used games trade, which is controversial for leaving game companies' potential profits in the hands of retailers. Publishers and developers have started to fight back by new-copies-only DLC and they may be at work on more radical methods.

Nintendo, which has been hit with a plethora of patent lawsuits in the last few years, has been served another: a "small Ohio technology company" called Motiva has filed a patent infringement suit against Nintendo for its motion-sensing Wii Remote.

"Motiva is not a patent troll," said Chris Banys from Lanier Law Firm in response to gamers calling out Motiva for filing intentionally vague patents then suing companies that use technologies resembling those patents. Motiva "worked hard" to secure its patent, claimed Banys in an interview given to Edge.

"Big companies don't like to be sued. They also don't like to pay small inventors when a small inventor actually has invented something," the firm representative asserted.

Banys continued to characterize Motiva as the rugged underdog. "Big companies would rather go out there without doing the right thing. They'd rather not buy the license, make a lot of money, and leave the person that actually invented the thing out in the cold."

"Nintendo I'm sure will have good lawyers who have interesting stories... Read more

Nintendo has weighed in with its latest financial results, revealing that the Wii hardware has sold 34.55 million units since it launched in 2006, with the Nintendo DS having sold 84.33 million units worldwide in the time since its 2004 marketplace debut.

The company has sold 10.1 million Wiis and 13.73 million Nintendo DS units in the past six months, with Nintendo elaborating that 299.85 million units of Wii software have been sold since 2006, with lifetime Nintendo DS software sales at 454.63 million.

That 84 million figure puts the Nintendo DS ahead of the previous Game Boy Advance hardware, which has sold 81.36 million units worldwide.

Rival Sony announced yesterday that its higher-priced PlayStation 3 hardware has sold 16.84 million units worldwide since its 2006 launch. Microsoft has... Read more

Nintendo is delivering on its promise to deliver more Wii consoles to retailers, with more units in production in fall 2008 than were being made in fall 2007.

"We're now producing 2.4 million units a month worldwide. Last year, we made 1.6 million a month. So we've made a 33% increase," said Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime to the LA Times.

That figure stands to grow even more headed into what could be the Wii's third sold-out holiday season. "While we're bringing 50% higher level of supply into the market this holiday, we don't know if the demand will be even higher than that."

Earlier this month, Fils-Aime attributed his unease to Nintendo's runaway success, saying, "We are selling hardware at rates no system [seller] has ever experienced." The system's phenomenal sales can largely be attributed to accessible games like Wii Fit, which took the #2 spot in September's top 10. "Only about 3 in 10 stores will have Wii Fit in stock," added the executive.

Nintendo design luminary Shigeru Miyamoto, the man behind Wii Fit and most recently Wii Music, believes that gaming is a necessary part of life--so long as it isn't needlessly violent.

"We need to eat in order to live. That's our first priority," Miyamoto conceded in an interview with England's Channel 4, "but entertainment and the enrichment of our souls must come in second."

Wii Music, the latest in Nintendo's trend toward the accessible and reasonably-priced

Miyamoto remained unphased by the recent economic downturn and kept his faith in Nintendo, saying the company's mission is to create "reasonable... Read more

Reports that a next-generation Wii will launch in 2011 and support high definition resolutions are nothing but "pure rumor and speculation," Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime has informed VentureBeat.

Word of a new Wii emerged from recently respected industry veteran and ex-EGM editor John Davison. He claimed to learn of the new hardware from multiple developers and publishers who had seen a presentation of new system.

However, Fils-Aime was clear that leaked information from confidential meetings was "not the way [the public] would find out" about Nintendo's plans.

Yet despite the denial, oft-cited Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter still believes that Nintendo is secretly tinkering away on a high definition-capable Wii.

"A Wii HD would really position Nintendo well, which is why I'm absolutely convinced there is a Wii HD coming," the analyst told AFP. "Businesswise, they can't have people saying that their machine is a toy for my mom."

Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime has said that while the digital distribution market is increasing, there will always be a need for the extra memory storage that retail games offer.

"[Digital distribution is] a nice added business model, but it's not something that's going to take over retail game sales," said Fils-Aime to VentureBeat.

One of the major additions to the Nintendo DSi is its extra memory capability, including on-board and SD card storage. This has allowed Nintendo to create an online store for the DSi that will offer digital downloads of games such as Brain Age.

"We'll be able to see the sales growth and plan for [the digital download market]," added Fils-Aime. "But I guess similar to home consoles, the consumer will want an experience that's best delivered through physical goods, simply because of the memory size required. There will always be those opportunities for big, in-depth games on retail products."

Resistance 2 creative director Ted Price recently made similar comments about the longevity of retail in an interview with Shacknews.

"I think that digital distribution is here to stay," said Price. "But at the same time, I think that there are enough people who appreciate the fondle factor, having a physical copy of the game in their hands, that games' retail will stick around for a long time too."

Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime commented on the company's strategy for shifting from its popular DS handheld to the newly announced DSi, hinting at Nintendo's big-picture goal and an American release date in the process.

"We would ideally want one DS to one person across the Americas," the executive told G4. "That's a huge, lofty goal, but that's certainly what we're trying to get to," he explained.

Fils-Aime also elaborated on his statement that the DSi won't hit American shores until "well into" 2009, saying that it won't come until "after April 2009," or after the start of Nintendo's next fiscal year. He again cited the DS Lite's non-stop success in the U.S. as the reason for the delay.

The popular frontman for Nintendo's American operations also seeked to quell early rumblings of the DSi's integrated camera and audio player not being quite up to snuff: "You shouldn't think of this as the world's best digital camera or the world's best audio player," he asserted. "You need to look at it through a lens of entertainment, and certainly through that lens it's going to over-deliver against expectations."

A sequel to Treasure's Japan-only Nintendo 64 shooter Sin and Punishment will hit North America next year, Nintendo has announced.

The original made its way to Europe and North America via the Wii's online Shop Channel earlier this year, and has sold so well that a Nintendo representative remarked, "We got the message."

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Included in today's bevy of Nintendo announcements was word that the recently unveiled Mario & Luigi RPG 3 (DS) will arrive in North America next year.

The series, which debuted on Game Boy Advance and received a Nintendo DS sequel, follows the humorous exploits of Mario and Luigi as they embark on whimsical quests.

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Following reports of a new multimedia-focused Nintendo DS, UK publication MCV claims the revised hardware will be unveiled at Nintendo's press event tomorrow.

MCV cites an "impeccable source" for the information, adding that the new model will indeed sport the previously reported camera and MP3 playback functionality.

Word of a new DS model appeared over the weekend via Japanese newspapers Yomiuri and Nikkei Net, both of which treated the story as confirmed fact. In response, Nintendo claimed the articles were based on "research and speculation," but said it could not comment further as new DS hardware has not been announced.

Nintendo is beginning to present its next generation hardware, dubbed Wii HD, to game developers and publishers, according to a report from What They Play.

Said to be "far more than a simple refresh of the current hardware," sources tell the site that the Wii HD is being billed as the true successor to the Wii and should launch by 2011. That fits with the predictions of key industry figures, who expect the next generation of consoles, including the PlayStation 4 and Xbox 720, to arrive by 2012.

Along with support for high definition resolutions, the new system is expected to sport backwards compatibility and a focus on digitally distributed content. Sources also indicate that Nintendo is once again placing special emphasis on the controller.

While these may seem like the ramblings of a no-name site attempting to gain traffic, especially as Nintendo is tomorrow throwing a a press event while word of a revised DS circulates, What They Play was co-founded by former EGM editor-in-chief John Davison. A long-time industry veteran, Davison also penned the report.

Davison further notes that something major is in the works at Nintendo, as the company has more than tripled its research and development costs since the Wii launched in 2006, with the company spending $370 million on R&D in 2007.

Nintendo has issued "no comment" statements in both Japan and the United States in response to weekend reports in Japanese newspapers that the company is about to unveil a revised version of its DS handheld with a camera and music playback among other improvements

"We are constantly developing new products but as we are not making any official announcements at this time, we cannot comment," read a statement on Japanese game site Famitsu.

Nintendo of America also chimed in, saying in a statement on MTV Multiplayer that "the Nikkei newspaper wrote a recent story about a DS solely based upon their own research and speculation, without interviewing Nintendo. While Nintendo is always working on new hardware, we have not made any announcement about a DS and we cannot comment on the Nikkei story."

That announcement could come later this week. Nintendo of Japan has plans for a press conference on Thursday where the company will announce "new products."

Nintendo has announced that it will release an upgraded model of its popular handheld, the Nintendo DS. Featuring a camera, music playback and more modernized features, it will come to market in Japan this year at a price not far above the current model.

According to reports from Japanese-language newspapers Yomiuri and Nikkei Net, pictures taken with the camera will be usable in games released for the system. Meanwhile, it is predicted that CDs and other music will be able to be imported onto the DS for playback.

The Wi-Fi antenna currently in use for multiplayer gaming is set to get a power boost, as well. The new wireless technology under the hood will be used to "more easily access news" and other up-to-date information such as weather.

The upgraded DS will be released in Japan this year at a price of "under 20,000 yen" ($189). For reference, the current DS sells in Japan for 16,800 yen ($159).

Nintendo will be holding a "Fall 2008 Conference" on October 2, where they will announce "new products."

The conference will come a week before the Tokyo Game Show, where Nintendo typically does not exhibit but does use for media briefings. The Wii, for example, was introduced at the 2005 TGS.

Nintendo was recently slammed by critics for an underwhelming showing at E3 2008. Nintendo apologized shortly after the conference and promised that 'core' games are on the way. The Fall Conference may play host to some announcements fulfilling that promise.

Today's announcement of pending announcements comes from the Japanese Nihon Securities Journal, which was spotted and translated by Kotaku.

Nintendo, riding high on the profits of its hardware and games sales, has a new statistic that was impressive until yesterday's Wall Street meltdown: Nintendo generates profits to the tune of $1.6 million per employee, a number over 30 percent higher than that of investment bank Goldman Sachs.

Goldman Sachs generated profits of $1.24 million per employee in 2007, its best year on record. The Financial Times, who estimated Nintendo's worth, puts that number in perspective by pegging stock market darling Google at $626,000 per employee.

That's not to say that Nintendo employees drive sports cars, however. Even Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo's design guru responsible for Mario, Zelda, and the Wii, is a humble "salaryman" with a dog and a garden instead of a yacht and a Ferrari. "We are not experiencing success," said a Nintendo employee to the Financial Times, "just increased overtime."

Nintendo raised its profit predictions for the year by a not-insignificant 26 percent, prompting the console maker's stock to surge on the Osaka Securities Exchange.

According to the Nintendo Co., Ltd. report, net income is set to climb 59 percent up to 410 billion yen ($3.8 billion) for the fiscal year ending in March 2009.

Nintendo credits strong sales of the Wii and DS systems for the increase. Nintendo's new estimate for DS sales pegs the system at over 30.5 million worldwide, a healthy increase over the previously estimated 28. The Wii is set to sell 26.5 million units instead of 25 million.

Also credited were strong software sales for both systems and exchange rates more favorable to Japanese companies. The announcement contradicts recent analyst predictions that DS sales were due to fall off, sparking rumors of a new DS.

The company's announcement comes less than a day after rival Sony CEO Howard Stringer confessed that Nintendo's business plan for the Wii "may be superior."