Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News, Wii, Wii U | 0 comments

Activision’s Skylanders franchise just keeps on rolling. Yet another sales milestone was announced today – Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure and Skylanders Giants have collectively accumulated over $1 billion in retail sales worldwide. The feat was accomplished in 15 months.

Both Skylanders titles outsold the likes of Beyblades, Star Wars and Transformers toys in the US and Europe last year. Over 100 million Skylanders toys have been sold through January 2013.

Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing, commented on the news:

“The Skylanders franchise became the first kids’ videogame IP to cross the $1 billion mark in just 15 months, and I think we are still just starting to realize its potential. We knew that the simple, but magical idea, of bringing your toys to life in a video game could change both the video game and the toy industries, and more importantly, change the way kids play. And this fall, we’re looking forward to delivering to fans our latest break-through innovation, Skylanders SWAP Force, which lets kids customize their own characters, bringing toys to life to a whole new level.”

Source: Activision PR

Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, DS, News, Wii, Wii U | 0 comments

Wedbush and EEDAR have provided predictions for the January 2013 NPD report. The actual data will be made available on Thursday.

Predictions from both groups can be found below.

Wedbush / EEDAR December hardware sales estimates (change year-on-year):

360 – 180,000 (-33%) / 260,000 (-4%)
3DS – 160,000 (-7%) / 120,000 (-30%)
PS3 – 145,000 (-24%) / 120,000 (-37%)
Wii U – 125,000 (n/a) / 110,000 (n/a)
DS – 60,000 (-21%) / 31,000 (-59%)
Wii – 52,200 (-66%) / 39,000 (-74%)
Vita – 45,000 (n/a) / 35,000 (n/a)
PSP – 7,500 (-63%) / (n/a)
PS2 – 300 (-96%) / (n/a)
Total – 775,000 (-13%) / 715,000 (-20%)

Everybody’s favorite analyst Michael Patcher had this to say about Wii U sales:

“Nintendo must improve sell-through of its Wii U if it hopes to maintain significant market share in the next generation. The console received a tepid response from consumers, for a variety of reasons: first, we think that the console was misunderstood by many as a peripheral for the Wii; second, the price point for the Wii U is relatively high, and the launch was into a weak economy; and third, firstparty software support was thin, and third-party software was not sufficiently differentiated to convince many that they needed a Wii U as a replacement for their Xbox 360 or PS3. If the Wii U is to thrive, we think that Nintendo must market it more effectively, must speed up the pace of first-party development, and must convince third parties that they must support the Wii U or they will lose market share.”

Source

Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 0 comments

Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward has a troublesome bug. If encountered, players’ save data may be wiped.

North American publisher Aksys Games said last year that it was looking into the situation, but hasn’t provided any updates in a few months.

An Aksys representative explained why it has been taking so long for the glitch to be addressed:

“I asked the production team and what I was told is that the issue itself was very complicated and investigating the issue took a considerable amount of time. Added to that, the investigation itself required a lot of go-between with three parties involved, one of which was separated by a language barrier and time zone.”

As it stands, an imminent patch isn’t on the way.

“While we’ve made some progress in researching the issue alongside Spike Chunsoft and first party developers, we do not have anything as conclusive as a patch at the present time. We are still cooperating with the developers to find a solution, and I’ll update you as soon as any more details come to light.”

For some reason, this bug only seems to be appearing in US copies of Virtue’s Last Reward on the 3DS. The dev team hasn’t been successful in reproducing the bug in the Japanese version. Peculiar…

Source

Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Videos, Wii U eShop | 0 comments

Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 0 comments

LEGO City: Undercover is just a little more than a month away. Nintendo is starting to provide the press with more hands-on time, including the game’s different “acts”.

The latest Undercover details, posted below, cover a few bits of general information as well as “Act 2”.

– Game world is basically an amalgamation of all major United States cities
– Famous landmarks, bridges and locales are very much inspired by places from San Francisco and New York
– Areas include Brooklyn Bridge and Alcatraz Island-inspired locations
– One disguise gives you access to a grappling gun of sorts
– Can use it to shoot hooks in short bursts
– Can wall-jump, wall-run, and vault
– These are all done by pressing the same button in context-sensitive situations
– Anything clearly made of LEGO bricks can be smashed
– Super Bricks contribute to building other things, such as pads capable of summoning vehicles for Chase, elsewhere
– Act 2 sees players infiltrating a criminal organization by committing crimes
– Use the police audio scanner to find criminals
– Control the scanner with the GamePad directly
– Move the tablet around the world and see a wireframe version of LEGO City
– This lets you detect nearby conversations
– Lock onto a signal and listen to assess whether you need to hear more
– You’ll eventually join a manic, bi-polar mobster named Chan
– Need to distract guards by finding the necessary items to start a nearby party, stealing an expensive car and eventually escorting a VIP to a nearby event
– Some of this included the Lego franchise’s patented ‘break it and build it’ gameplay
– Variety in tasks
– This area apparently counts for roughly one percent of the game
– Vast array of collectibles and secrets
– Game has a quick travel system through LEGO City’s subways

Source

Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Videos, Wii U | 0 comments

Over the next few weeks, Warner Bros. and NetherRealm Studios will allow fans to vote on Injustice: Gods Among Us characters that would come out on top in a particular fight. Winners will be decided on Friday and new matchups will go live the following Monday. Characters that are victorious will be featured in new gameplay videos.

This week’s matchups are The Flash vs. Shazam and Joker vs. Lex Luthor. You can vote here.

Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Podcast Stories | 0 comments

This month’s digital rewards on Club Nintendo have gone live. Members can choose from Bird & Beans (3DS, 100 coins), Metal Torrent (3DS, 150 coins), Paper Mario (Wii, 200 coins), and Kirby Super Star (Wii, 150 coins). These rewards will last until March 10.

Visit this page to order a downloadable game.

Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 0 comments

Nintendo has published the latest entry in the Iwata Asks series on its Japanese website. This time around, Satoru Iwata, Dragon Quest creator Yuuji Horii, Square Enix’s Noriyoshi Fujimoto, ArtePiazza’s Shintarou Majima, and ArtePiazza’s Sachiko Sugimura participated in the discussion.

Read on below for a roundup of details from the interview.

Read More

Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS eShop, News | 0 comments

IGN published a bunch of new details about Renegade Kid’s next 3DS eShop release, ATV Wild Read. A summary of the latest information is posted below.

– Use the Circle or d-pad to maneuver your vehicle
– Different racers to choose from
– Can pull off tricks
– Press L or R along with various directions on the d-pad to pull off stunts
– Perform tricks as you launch off a ramp
– Speed boost given if you pull off a trick
– Online and local multiplayer
– World Tour: different racing tours to complete; improve your game and learn the tracks
– Quick Race: play through one course at a time
– Can adjust options such as number of racers, laps, CPU difficulty, and racing style in this mode
– 2-4 people on the track at a time including yourself
– Standard race or Elimination racing styles
– Elimination: axes whoever comes in last
– Time Trial mode included
– Freestyle mode: rack up points from tricks
– Can race on each track in its standard, reverse, extended or extended reverse form
– $7.99

Source

Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Podcast Stories, Wii U | 0 comments

Codemasters senior producer Clive Moody is a fan of what Nintendo is doing with the Wii U. Moody went as far as to say that he believes “it is the future.” He seems to be particularly big on the GamePad, since it is comparable to what Apple is doing with iPads, Microsoft’s Surface, and other technologies.

Moody stated:

“It works brilliantly, having played it. I think it is the future. I mean, you’ve got to look at what’s happening in the world of mobile, you’ve got iPads, Surface just came out from Microsoft. I think you’re going to see a lot more of that cross-over.”

Source