European previews for Devil’s Third will likely be posted in bulk tomorrow, but one report has come online early. Read up on some story and gameplay details from Greek site Nintendo NeXt below.

Story

– Begins in an alternative present after the overthrow of socialism in the Soviet Union
– A group in favor of soldiers have defected from the new Russia plotting their revenge against the western world which was responsible for the upheavals in their country
– The name of this organization is called the “School of Democracy”
– The organization starts the attack in various parts of the world, causing serious damage in the process
– Central character is codenamed Ivan
– The other companions consisted of the top special forces of the Soviet Army
– Their code name are Big Mouse, Jane Doe, C4, Ludmilla, Grudla Saha
– This group is led by a shadowy figure who organized and trained the particular group using the ancient martial arts of his ancestors
– After many missions, the team has forgotten their original purpose which was to restore the former Soviet Union
– The latter mission they initiated the extermination of “dissidents” in a town in Latin America
– The Big Mouse and his team used chemical weapons to exterminate an entire city including the civilian population
– For Ivan, it was the straw that broke the camel back, which unleashed an internal conflict
– Ivan was then classified a traitor and ordered to be executed on the spot
– Ivan escapes with the intervention of UN forces which resulted with his arrest
– Ivan was imprisoned at Guantanamo high security facility and sentenced to 850 years in prison for crimes against humanity
– However, he came to an agreement and works for the US government as a liaison for the capture and destruction of his former group
– The “School of Democracy” set in motion their ultimate plan
– They aim for the destruction of all the satellites that were orbiting the planet, creating the so-called Kessler Effect
– They aim to destroy the communication network and weapons systems which the army of the allies of the western world were relying on

Gameplay

– Shooting and action
– There are situations where a gun is not helpful when facing an enemy close to you, so melee combat is necessary
– Ivan handles weapons like an iron beam, Japanese swords and other sharp objects
– Automatic rifles, pistols, rocket lauchers, are weapons
– Each has a different weight and utility in battle
– Ivan is relatively fast, but every time you carry a big gun it changes his behavior in battle
– Ex: when he holds a rocket, his evasion and jumping ability is lessened
– The opposite happens when you are in possession of light weapons
– Switch from third to first-person battles with the press of a button
– Online multiplayer not playable yet
– Once again, made with Unreal Engine 3
– Rough framerate

Source

More: details roundup, Devil's Third, Valhalla Game Studios

A few screenshots from 3D Sonic the Hedgehog 2 have been found on the Japanese 3DS eShop. Take a look at the images in the gallery below.

Source

More: 3D Sonic The Hedgehog 2, SEGA

Several new titles are coming to the Japanese eShop on July 22. Here’s a look at the upcoming digital downloads:

Wii U Download

Tetrobot and Co. (800 yen)

Wii U Virtual Console

Esper Dream (Famicom, 514 yen)
Mario Kart: Super Circuit (GBA, 702 yen)
Dungeon Explorer (PC Engine, 617 yen)
Genghis Khan II: Clan of the Gray Wolf (Super Famicom, 823 yen)

3DS Download

3D Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (864 yen)
Oh Gatchiman Ultimate (800 yen)

Source

More: Japan, Virtual Console

Nintendo has released a couple of Japanese commercials for Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer. Check them out below.

More: Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer, commercial, Japan

Nintendo released official videos for Paper Mario, Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa, and Majin Tensei on the Japanese Wii U Virtual Console. Watch them below.

Read More

More: Japan, Virtual Console

Catlateral Damage may have a shot of landing on Wii U. Chris Chung, the game’s creator, said on Twitter that he’s “seriously considering” making it happen.

Catlateral Damage is described as “a first-person destructive cat simulator where you play as a cat on a rampage, knocking as much stuff onto the ground as possible.” Sounds pretty fun, doesn’t it?!

Have a look at some gameplay below.

Source

More: Catlateral Damage, Chris Chung, indie

Dark Flame, a 2D action-RPG as part of the Metroidvania genre, could end up on Wii U. Creator Warren Smith wrote on Twitter today that an eShop version could be realized if there’s enough demand from gamers.

Smith’s tweet reads:

A pre-alpha trailer along with an official overview of Dark Flame are posted below.

Read More

More: Dark Flame, indie

We’ve previously talked about the online features in Fire Emblem Fates, but we hadn’t posted any actual gameplay. You can now see what Internet battles are like in the video below.

More: Fire Emblem Fates

A few weeks ago, the status of Devil’s Third in North America was entirely unclear. Nintendo of Europe and Japan had both announced a late August release date for the game, but there hadn’t been a peep about what was happening in North America.

Rumors eventually surfaced that Nintendo had dropped Devil’s Third in North America, though another publisher could step in. That was followed up by a recent report from Siliconera (a site with a reliable track record) indicating that a separate company had indeed picked up the title, and there were strong signs that the mystery publisher was none other than XSEED – a partner Nintendo had worked with for the launches of The Last Story and Pandora’s Tower in the states.

We mentioned that Siliconera had heard about Nintendo not handling Devil’s Third in North America. This is something that Nintendo Enthusiast previously reported on previously as well, in which they wrote:

At E3, we spoke with a very high level figure in Nintendo of America about Devil’s Third, who will remain anonymous. Their quote on the matter? “We aren’t handling that game”. At first, I didn’t know exactly what that meant, but the more I thought about it, the more damning it felt. In simple terms, it appears that Nintendo of America will NOT be publishing the game here.

Siliconera and Nintendo Enthusiast weren’t the only outlets that had received similar information. We’re also aware of a writer from a well-known gaming website who was also under the same impression regarding the fate of Devil’s Third in North America.

Well before the drama surrounding the game escalated, one person who obtained knowledge about the situation – who wishes to remain anonymous – reached out to a top developer at Nintendo. This developer works with Nintendo of America on a daily basis, and said that the company wouldn’t be publishing Devil’s Third in North America. He compared it to a potential Disaster: Day of Crisis situation. That Wii game did release in Europe and Japan, but never made its way to North America.

It did truly seem as though Nintendo wouldn’t be in charge of Devil’s Third in North America, and there were plenty of signs that pointed in this direction. It was strange, then, that Nintendo responded to the speculation – something the company rarely does – this past weekend and stated that they are “excited to bring the game to Wii U and will have more to share soon.” So what happened?

We’ve heard that concerns about the quality of Devil’s Third caused Nintendo to initially drop the game in North America. While it was initially thought that the title had moved to XSEED, things supposedly changed following backlash from gamers. Nintendo had been receiving a great deal of flack when rumors about the company not distributing Devil’s Third in North American began to pick up steam. Because of what transpired, Nintendo is now looking into publishing and backing Devil’s Third once again.

I can’t say that I know for certain what is happening inside Nintendo. However, all of the information that’s out there – as well as what I’ve heard personally – suggests that the original plan was to have XSEED handle Devil’s Third in North America. In the end, perhaps it doesn’t matter as we now have absolute confirmation that Devil’s Third will be launching in all major territories.

More: Devil's Third, top, Valhalla Game Studios

It’s looking like Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival will feature online play. In a tentative display box, it’s stated that players “can also party online with friends”. That may make the game a bit more enticing for some fans!

Source

More: Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival