Sony Pictures allegedly landed rights to produce animated Mario film
Posted on 9 years ago by Patrick(@Patricklous) in General Nintendo, News, Rumors | 16 Comments
Several internal Sony e-mails have been leaking to the press over the last week following a particularly nasty hacking incident, and some uncovered by Buzzfeed appear to contain some interesting Nintendo-related details. According to leaked e-mails between producer Avi Arad and Sony higher-ups, Arad had landed the rights for Sony Pictures Animation to produce an animated film based on the popular Super Mario Bros. series:
“I am the proud father of mario the animated film [sic],” producer Avi Arad told Sony studio chief Amy Pascal in an email dated Oct. 23, 2014, with the subject line “Mario.” Arad then forwarded Pascal separate images of him with Mario Bros. creator Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata, the latter of which included the message, “Happy ceo, lets get together, it’s the mother load. [sic]”
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SEGA planning TV and film adaptations for Streets of Rage, Shinobi, Crazy Taxi, and more
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 20 Comments
SEGA has hired former Break Media executive Evan Cholfin to help adapt its videogames into other entertainment releases. “Altered Beast,” “Streets of Rage,” “Shinobi,” “Rise of Nightmares” and “Crazy Taxi” are planned for English-language live action and animated spinoffs. Additionally, “Virtua Fighter” and “Golden Axe” are part of the portfolio of properties.
Cholfin has been signed on as head of development and production at Stories International. SEGA and Hakuhodo DY Group – the world’s seventh-largest advertising agency – launched Stories back in 2011 to create films, TV shows and entertainment for digital platforms.
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Video: “All-Access Pass: Kat McNamara Nintendo Birthday Party”
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Videos | 7 Comments
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Animal Crossing behind the scenes with Emma, Annie & Hayley
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, General Nintendo, Videos | 0 comments
Club Nintendo Europe adds Mario Kart 8 unisex T-shirt
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 1 Comment
Yet another new reward has landed on Club Nintendo Europe. For 3,750 stars, the Mario Kart 8 unisex T-shirt can be yours.
The 100% cotton grey T-shirt comes in large, medium, and small sizes. It features the Japanese names of 12 popular racers from Mario Kart 8.
This #MK8 unisex T-Shirt is available right now in the #ClubNintendo Stars Catalogue! http://t.co/WvBZiv9xNq pic.twitter.com/IwBk9vbsxb
— Nintendo of Europe (@NintendoEurope) December 11, 2014
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Nintendo of America shares updated amiibo statement – some sold-out figures may return later
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 5 Comments
Nintendo of America has sent us an updated statement about the amiibo stock situation in the U.S., Canada, and Latin America. What the company says is actually encouraging, as the Big N notes: “Certain sold-out amiibo may return to these markets at a later stage.” Perhaps there’s some hope for Villager, Wii Fit Trainer, and/or Marth returning to retailers in the future.
In any case, here’s the full statement:
“Some amiibo were very popular at launch, and it is possible that some amiibo in the United States, Canada and Latin America may not be available right now due to high demand and our efforts to manage shelf space during the launch period. Certain sold-out amiibo may return to these markets at a later stage. We are continually aiming to always have a regular supply of amiibo in the marketplace and there are many waves of amiibo to come.”
Keep in mind that these comments do not come from a customer service representative. Rather, they’re from Nintendo directly.
Rumor: Some wave 2 amiibo delayed at GameStop, pre-orders closed, more talk of wave 1 discontinuations
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Rumors | 11 Comments
An internal notice from GameStop provides some insight into the retailer’s handling of amiibo figures.
Regarding wave 2, Diddy Kong, Zelda, and Little Mac should be released over the next few days. However, Luigi, Pit, and Captain Falcon “have experienced a shipping delay and will not be available until late December.” Pre-orders for all wave 2 figures are now closed.
We’re also seeing more talk of discontinuations for wave 1 amiibo. Marth, Villager, and Wii Fit Trainer appear to be gone – as expected.
Pokemon the Movie XY 2015 debut trailer
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Videos | 8 Comments
Koji Kondo on the difficulty making Super Mario Bros. 3’s theme, why the title screen didn’t have music
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments
In a recent interview with USgamer, Koji Kondo was asked about what soundtrack/piece of music gave him the most difficulty. Kondo pointed to one game: Super Mario Bros. 3.
As he explained:
The most challenging [piece] was the main theme for Super Mario Bros. 3. The [original] Super Mario theme itself was almost a little too empowering. That indelible impression it left in the user’s mind with how it matched up with what Mario was doing on the screen—that was a big mountain to climb when we started working on the music to Super Mario 3. I remember creating lots of different music in different styles, trying to come up with something that would match that game and be different enough from the original Super Mario theme. It was tough. It took me a long time to come up with something I thought would work, and it was really me and Mr. Miyamoto and Mr. Tezuka—the three of us—right up until the very last stages of development, listening to all of these different music pieces that I created, before we finally settled on what we ended up using.
Any time you’re working off of existing music, and you’re revamping it for the next title, that’s just always a tough gig. And that’s true for every title, starting from the first [one]. It’s tough for me, of course, but maybe even more so for the people on my staff, who are working on different arrangements of music they didn’t even compose. They’re working on music that I composed, and now they’re having to go back and do some rearranging to match [music from] current games. So if it’s tough for me, I think it’s even tougher for them.
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The Game Awards 2014 watched by nearly 2 million people
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 5 Comments
This year’s Game Awards were watched by 1.93 million viewers, according to Geoff Keighley. That’s more than a 75 percent increase over the number of viewers who tuned in for Spike TV’s Video Game Awards last year.
Keighley told Polygon:
“I was really happy with how things turned out. Certainly the audience numbers were well beyond my wildest dreams, and creatively I’m proud of what we put on the screen. Moments like the tribute to Ken and Roberta Williams and the Koji Kondo/Imagine Dragons performance were once in a lifetime experiences.”
Despite The Game Awards’ successful viewership, the event wasn’t exactly a financial success for Keighley. Only about 3,000 of the 4,000 available seats were filled, and only about half of attendees paid for tickets. If there are future Game Awards, costs for the show would likely be much less due to the elimination of start-up fees such as having WETA design the trophy, recording the show’s theme with Marty O’Donnell and building the show’s website.
As for the future, Keighley would only say:
“I’d definitely like to see it continue on if publishers and fans want to keep it going. But yeah, no idea what shape it will take.”
