Nintendo discusses how they increased the speed of the 3DS eShop compared to the DSi shop
Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 3 Comments
The 3DS eShop is a significant upgrade over the DSi’s shop. Whereas it took forever just to connect to the service on DSi, Nintendo has sped things up quite a bit for the 3DS.
You may be curious as to how Nintendo accomplished the upgrade in speed. Satoru Iwata and Kazuto Nakaya explained:
Iwata: Oh, I see. And one of the other goals from the start this time was to increase the speed with which the screen changes. The Nintendo DSi Shop was browser-based, so in order to change the screen, the server made information for the browser to read, and that was then constructed on the screen, so screen transition wasn’t very fast. What did you do to speed it up?
Nakaya: We used a method whereby a database of likely content for display is created, then assembled and read first—like with the Nintendo Channel.
Nintendo Video details – releasing “in the near future”, no video saving, more
Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 0 comments
The latest Iwata Asks focusing on upcoming Nintendo features is now available. Much of the discussion focuses on the eShop, but Iwata and a few other employees took some time to talk about Nintendo Video as well. Iwata says that the service will be released “in the near future”.
Iwata: Now I’d like to ask some questions to Imai-san. The video download service you are working on won’t be available when Nintendo eShop opens, but this service will become possible via software distributed through the shop in the near future, so I’d like to ask you about it here today.
The world has never seen anything like this service. How did you begin thinking about this?
Imai: This service allows your Nintendo 3DS system to use the SpotPass4 feature to download 3D videos, so users can view new 3D videos each day. Until now, people have only been able to see 3D images in movies. That experience will now become much closer to them. And what’s more, if SpotPass is activated, the videos come in automatically. So first of all, I wanted users to feel that increased accessibility. They don’t have to wear any special glasses to use it in the first place, and I want to make it so that people can use it without feelilng any obstacles at all!
Iwata: They come in before you know it, so you open your Nintendo 3DS system, and even if you’re somewhere unconnected to the Internet, you can watch new 3D videos every day.
Nintendo E3 2011 booth shots, game photos, Wii U images
Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Wii, Wii U | 0 comments
SEGA talks Aliens: Colonial Marines, upcoming Wii support
Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii, Wii U | 0 comments
This information comes from SEGA’s executive vice president of marketing Alan Pritchard…
“Aliens: Colonial Marines for the Wii U was part of Nintendo’s briefing, so that was great. And Sega and Gearbox have been fortunate enough to be involved with Nintendo from the start. It was a prototype, but we do have it playing on the [Wii U] dev kit. We need to know more about the exact launch timing [of the Wii U] and if it is something that will work for our Aliens franchise. Is it something that is going to be simultaneous? To be up there with the other first- and third-party tech demos…it’s good that we’re part of that thinking for the platform.
It was interesting that Nintendo didn’t really talk about the Wii [during its briefing], which is obviously a platform that is still important for most third-party publishers.
We have some big titles [for the Wii]. Mario & Sonic is a semi-first-party game so that’s going to be important for us this year. We do have some Wii games left in development, and we do have some Wii product in our product road map. We do have some future stuff. How the Wii lands compared to PS2…I don’t think we know though about that yet. They have potential future price drops up their sleeve. But it does need new content, as well as a catalog to drive the new hardware through. Obviously, it’s going to be big for this Christmas, and I think the Wii will be a very viable platform through next Christmas.”
Off-screen Reel Fishing 3D video
Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, Videos | 0 comments
Nintendo’s Scibetta talks Wii U and 3DS
Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News, Videos, Wii U | 0 comments
No Sonic Generations for Wii U… console due out in spring/summer 2012?
Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 6 Comments
Sonic Generations isn’t coming to Wii because the system can’t deliver HD graphics. However, things are obviously different with Wii U. Does that mean that the game will see a release on the console? Short answer: no.
The title is due out later this year, whereas the Wii U is at least a year away from launch. Some publishers are willing to create a separate Wii U version of multiplatform games coming late 2011 such as Warner Bros. with Batman: Arkham City. SEGA, however, does not think that strategy is reasonable.
SEGA’s executive vice president of marketing Alan Pritchard said in a recent interview:
“The timing just doesn’t work. Generations releases this November, and the Wii U is coming out next spring/summer. I think one of the things we don’t have to do, or reduce where possible, is we don’t want to port games. I think if there’s going to be a Sonic game for the Wii U, it needs to be built from the ground up. It’s more likely that it would be a separate stand-alone installment or in conjunction with a multiplatform release in the future. But to bring out Generations on a platform six or eight months after we release PS3, 360, and 3DS probably won’t be the best strategy.”
The other interesting quote from the comments above is that Pritchard indicated Wii U will launch in spring/summer of 2012. Nintendo hasn’t said anything officially about a release date other than the fact that it could ship anytime between April 1 and December 31. A few days before the console was announced, Japanese publication Nikkei said that it could make it to store in mid-2012.
Full-length Zelda Wii U demo
Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Videos, Wii U | 3 Comments
Rumor: No 3DSWare category for eShop
Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, Rumors | 1 Comment
A developer at E3 has apparently said that Nintendo has no plans to introduce a “3DSWare” category on the 3DS eShop. It’s true that the company filed a trademark for 3DSWare in the past, but that isn’t an indication that Nintendo intends to use it.
Some consumers feel that downloads categorized under the “Ware” brand offer inferior content compared to retail titles. This stigma is something that Nintendo would like to prevent by removing the name.
Nintendo looking to have eight players online and locally for Mario Kart 3D
Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 0 comments
This information comes from Mario Kart 3D producer Hideki Konno…
“…our goal right now is to have the same number of players for both local wireless and multiplayer over wi-fi.”
Eight players is fine with me! Mario Kart Wii did offer a few extra racers, but I really have no problem with eight racers. As long as all of the tracks are available (remember some of the DS tracks were randomly left out online?), I won’t mind.
