Tomy and D3Publisher of America today confirmed earlier rumors regarding a fighting game for the Wii set in the popular Naruto anime universe. Tentivly titled Naruto: Clash of Ninja MVZ, this Wii fighter will feature content created exclusively for the North American market when it ships this fall.

The game will be based on episodes from VIZ Media’s anime series Shohen Jump Naruto and will include 14 characters, including some that have never been featured in the Clash of Ninja game series. Naruto: Clash of Ninja MVZ will also take advantage of the Wii Remote in “fast-paced ninja action for up to four players in nine different gameplay modes.”

The fighting game will also sport new character animations, new special attack animations and for the first time new interactive environments. Developed by Eighting, Naruto: Clash of Ninja MVZ takes advantage of the Wii system by allowing players to launch attacks with the Wii Remote using “Ninja-like” movements, and features special mini-games created exclusively for use with the Wii remote.

OK, so maybe Nintendo isn’t being totally arrogant when it comes to embracing the need for online gameplay, though it is easy to jump to that conclusion. With only Elebits and the upcoming Pokemon Battle Revolution featuring any sort of online connectivity, it certainly feels as if Nintendo needs to shift gears and adopt a new solution to sooth gamers’ collective online woes. That solution, it would seem, is GameSpy.

Officials from GameSpy announced today that it will provide multiplayer technology to game publishers developing titles for the Wii. As part of an ongoing partnership with Nintendo, GameSpy has developed middleware technology to enable Wii titles to offer community features, such as friend rosters, matchmaking capabilities and comprehensive rankings data. The aforementioned Pokemon Battle Revolution will leverage off of this technology.

Prior to this development agreement for Wii, GameSpy and Nintendo also partnered to offer wireless online options for owners of the Nintendo DS.

“This partnership will expand our wireless community of players on Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection,” said Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime. “Millions of Nintendo DS users have already logged on using GameSpy’s technology, and now Wii owners will be able to do the same in a fun and easy-to-use environment.”

One of the highlights for me from last week’s Game Developers Conference was attending the independent Games Festival and its bigger cousin, the Game Developers Choice Awards. It was almost surreal, sitting at a table within spitting distance of industry luminaries such as Shigeru Miyamoto and Cliff Bleszinski. Not that I would have spat on them. My mouth was much too dry.

Anyway, besides the event’s comedic styling care of Tim Schafer, the event also was home to a handful of skits performed by the always funny (albeit uncomfortable) Mega64. The group’s newest video, which was shown for the first time during the event, is now up on YouTube, and I heartily suggest you check it out. The look on Shiggy’s face is priceless, as is Link, who steals the show.

And also from the world of the episodic narrative, Microsoft has let slip a few telling details regarding their plans to collaborate with Peter Jackson on episodic content set in the Halo universe. Actually they’ve got two series in the works, and only one is confirmed to be Haloish in form.

It will be interesting to see what Jacksons’ background in film brings to the project. Remember that pre-Lord of the Rings, Jacksons’ curriculum vitae was quite different that most multiple-Oscar winning directors. Can we hold out hope for an episodic Meet the Feebles platformer? We should be so fortunate.