Rumor: Target’s inventory for new Smash Bros. amiibo, Splatoon, silver Mario, Marth restock
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Rumors | 4 Comments
The moderation team over on Reddit has posted unconfirmed figures for Target’s inventory of upcoming amiibo. Supposedly, the information was obtained from a trusted source, and indicates how much stock the retailer has for figures like the upcoming Smash Bros. and Splatoon figures.
As expected, Lucina and Robin will end up being the toughest to find. Marth’s restock also seems to be rather small, although that also isn’t a major surprise.
Update: Change in plans for China – Nintendo experimenting with mobile games first before introducing console in emerging markets
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 4 Comments
Update (5/11): Bumped to the top. It’s unclear if this is anything different than what Bloomberg already reported, but we’re hearing that Nintendo has changed its plans to produce consoles for the Chinese market.
Nihon Keizai Shimbun reports that Nintendo will not execute prior plan to manufacture consoles for the Chinese market.
— Dr. Serkan Toto (@serkantoto) May 11, 2015
Last year, we heard from Nintendo president Satoru Iwata about how the company planned on bringing completely new hardware to emerging markets in 2015. This was instead of selling cheaper versions of systems like the Wii U. Nintendo hasn’t given up on emerging markets, but its new device will be delayed in favor of experimenting in different countries with smartphone games.
Iwata mentioned during Nintendo’s financial results briefing this week that smartphone games will increase its chances for success in emerging markets. “Smart devices have lowered the barrier for people around the world to get to know our games and characters like Mario,” he said.
Iwata also confirmed that plans for emerging markets will be shared during a business strategy briefing later in the year.
Because of Nintendo stating that its pursuit of the mobile space will help double profit this fiscal year, the company’s shares rose the most in seven weeks. Bloomberg reports, “The stock rose as much as 9.5 percent as of 11:25 a.m. in Tokyo.”
Battleminer’s version 2.0 update still planned for North America
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS eShop, News | 0 comments
Battleminer’s new update came out in Europe last month. The patch added multiplayer, animals, and support for the New 3DS.
Wobbly Tooth is still planning on bringing the update to North America, but the developer has encountered a snag. There’s a chance that version 2.0 will be ready in June, but it’s also possible that it won’t be released until later down the line.
Wobbly Tooth recently shared the following in a Miiverse update:
More: Battleminer, indie, title update
Atelier Rorona Plus: The Alchemist of Arland gameplay video
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, Videos | 1 Comment
Gust Corporation uploaded a new video featuring footage from Atelier Rorona Plus: The Alchemist of Arland. Watch it below.
[Just a Chat] Splatoon Direct, Nintendo’s Universal deal, and financial results bits
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Just a Chat, Videos, Wii U | 0 comments
There was a great deal of Nintendo news last week, and Daan/I talked about it all! That includes the Splatoon Direct, the Universal partnership for theme park attractions, and latest financial results (including related tidbits).
Stuff:
[Developer Musings] The journey into the unknown: indies offer insight into Nintendo’s potential mobile strategies
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Developer Musings | 4 Comments
Nintendo’s entry into the mobile market through its partnership with DeNA is a natural fit, but moving forward it does beg a lot of questions. When you combine Nintendo’s notoriety for doing things their own way with the unforgiving nature of the mobile market outside of the already flooded free-to-play space, its not as simple as making a Mario endless runner and calling it a day. Nintendo has an interesting set of challenges put forward to them, as the kind of investment they make in this space could have some unprecedented consequences for their own handheld platform.
We reached out to developers Springloaded Software, Joost van Dongen, Rawkins Games, and Yazar Media Group for their take on the best way for Nintendo to get some of the mobile limelight and use it as a way to get more consumers back where they really want them – on their own systems. How can the two spaces co-exist without diminishing what’s already there with the 3DS? Is it possible for the mobile titles to exist as both good standalone products as well as a good entry point for Nintendo systems? Will Nintendo finally have to follow the trend rather than setting it when it comes to working on a platform that’s not their own? Having existed in both the traditional console and mobile spaces themselves, our guests this week offer some insight into some of the possibilities Nintendo has going forward.
[Let’s Talk] Do you care about amiibo?
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Let's Talk | 49 Comments
Let’s Talk #7: Do you care about amiibo?
Yesterday, Nintendo confirmed that over 10 million amiibo have been shipped worldwide. That’s a big number. A large majority of figures have made their way to the U.S. and Canada – a whopping 66 percent. Europe is second with 20 percent.
amiibo only just debuted last year, but we’ve already seen some extensive plans from Nintendo. A whole bunch of Smash Bros. figures have been released, with more on the way. Splatoon amiibo are due out this month, followed soon by Yoshi plushies. Animal Crossing amiibo cards are coming this fall.
While amiibo sales have been strong, not all has gone well. Many figures are tough to find in stores at the moment, and scalpers are taking advantage of that situation. There are many instances in which retailers open pre-orders only to sell out of stock within a matter of minutes.
All of that said, do you care about amiibo? Did you once care, but stopped after figures became difficult to find? Were you never interested in amiibo at all? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
So. Here’s my situation. When Nintendo initially announced amiibo, I didn’t care about the figures too much. I wanted Link, but that was about it.
… But I couldn’t help myself. I ended up ordering a few more amiibo from wave one after they launched, and once I started hearing that certain figures were becoming harder to find, I got caught up in the craze. I eventually told myself that I’d pick up every figure from the Smash Bros. line and likely stop there.
Well, now I don’t really have a game plan! I ended up purchasing Toad from the Super Mario Bros. line, and I secured the gold Mario as well. Something tells me that I won’t be able to resist the Yoshi plushie either. I suppose you can say that Nintendo has me hooked! I’m not even entirely sure why I’m collecting amiibo – figures and the like have never appealed to me much in the past. The stock situation has definitely been frustrating, yet I still have interest in amiibo – for now anyway!
Highlights from last week’s topic: Which character do you want to see in Smash Bros. for Wii U/3DS?
There were lots of fantastic comments and choices about last week’s topic, so it was really tough choosing a few highlights. Thanks for your participation – the discussion was great!
ronin4life
Isaac from Golden Sun. Nintendo’s GBA RPG has no reps whatsoever in Smash, even though Isaac was an assist in Brawl.
LordDisco
I still think the Mushroom Kingdom could be represented more amusingly. Waluigi, Daisy, and Toad would all be great additions to Smash Bros, in my opinion.
Waluigi would be hilarious. If they keep him the way he’s been developed over the years, he’ll be wildly interesting and much funnier than the toilet-humored Wario. Waluigi’s moveset can just be a crazy combination of his weird obsessions, and as long as he does the “suck it” gesture from Mario Strikers, he will become my favorite Smash character. hahaha.
Daisy is great too, because she’s basically a sassy and unprofessional princess. He’s basically the opposite of Peach personality-wise, and giving her her own Smash character can open up new possibilities for her as a character in general. She can be kind of a cheating character, which lots of funny moves, like pimp-slapping, headbutting, and throwing turnips like baseballs. I would love for her to be better represented than a simple skin for Peach.
Lastly, Toad would be awesome! His skins could be like Bowser Jr, where each skin is a different Toad, like Toadette, Captain Toad, and Toadsworth. He could be exceptionally small, too, like how Servebot was like in Marvel VS Capcom. And if Nintendo wanted to be really funny, they could just intentionally make Toad the weakest character by a long shot (Again, like Servebot) so people can brag heavily to their friends if they happen to win matches as Toad.
I would love for any one of these characters to be added in, and it’s not like it would be too difficult for Nintendo to pull off, honestly.
AquaBat
King K. Rool, of course!
link2metroid
I’d like to see Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Their moveset would be brilliant and they’d fit in well. Who here is old enough to remember TMNT: Tournament Fighters for the SNES? I thought that was a brilliant game. And more recently, TMNT: Smash Up, while not as good as Smash Bros. it too was a decent game. The different colours could be the different characters though having 4 characters could be a lot of work even though they’d have a lot of common moves. The only thing is deciding which style would be best. I prefer some of the older versions going back to their image rather than some of the more modern looks.
Mirai Akemi
The one I really, really want is Simon Belmont. I think he’s the one missing legend from the NES era. There’s other iconic characters form back then, but he’s the biggest one. There’s so much potential for his moves, a stage and definitely music. A very close second is Bomberman, also a gaming icon and a classic, and he also has potential, though not as much as Simon.
Realistically speaking though, and with Konami being, well, Konami, my most wanted character that actually has a chance is Isaac. I half expected him to be there from the start and still have faith that Sakurai removed him as an assist because he knew that even if they couldn’t work on every character they wanted for the release, DLC could still happen and he saw potential in him.
Pokemon devs on Mega Evolutions – criteria, Slowbro over Slowking more
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 1 Comment
This month’s issue of Nintendo Dream has a lengthy interview with some of the folks responsible for the Pokemon games. The magazine chatted with Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire director Shigeru Ohmori, Ken Sugimori (art director), Shigeki Morimoto (battle director), Kazumasa Iwao (game designer).
Some of the most interesting comments came about when the interview focused on the topic of Mega Evolutions. Nintendo Dream asked about things like criteria for Mega Evolutions, why Slowbro was chosen to go through the process rather than Slowking, and more.
Head past the break for our full translation of Nintendo Dream’s Pokemon Mega Evolution discussion.
Super Run for Money: Assemble! The Strongest Runaways trailer, commercial
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, Videos | 0 comments
Bandai Namco uploaded a new trailer and commercial for Super Run for Money: Assemble! The Strongest Runaways today. Both can be seen below.
Johnny Dynamite footage
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS eShop, Videos | 0 comments
Johnny Dynamite landed on the North American 3DS eShop this past Thursday. You’ll find some footage from the game below.
