Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Podcast Stories | 0 comments

Disney has decided to close the LucasArts games publishing division. Roughly 150 staffers will now need to look for new jobs, and upcoming projects such as the highly-anticipated Star Wars 1313 as well as Star Wars: First Assault have been canned.

A LucasArts company statement reads:

“After evaluating our position in the games market, we’ve decided to shift LucasArts from an internal development to a licensing model, minimizing the company’s risk while achieving a broader portfolio of quality Star Wars games. As a result of this change, we’ve had layoffs across the organization. We are incredibly appreciative and proud of the talented teams who have been developing our new titles.”

LucasArts seems to be an incredibly disappointing casualty from Disney’s new acquisition of Lucasfilm. Disney made the purchase on October 30 of last year.

Source 1, Source 2

Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments

In recent years, there has been concern about the Japanese gaming industry. Quite a few developers have admitted that technology in the west has outpaced the east, and there are some who have been very vocal about Japan’s impact overall.

You may remember a quote from Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune back in 2009: “Japan is over. We’re done. Our game industry is finished.” As of now, Inafune looks upon things less harshly, though he’s only slightly more optimistic.

Inafune told IGN:

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Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments

Square Enix has a new president, Yosuke Matsuda. Current president Yoichi Wada will be on his way out by June.

What lies ahead for Square Enix now that there’s a new man in charge? Matsuda gave a brief update during a briefing session:

“After having succeeded the important role as the president, I plan on reviewing all Square Enix duties, business and assets on a zero-based budgeting standpoint. Due to the radical change of environment, I’d like to fundamentally review what works and what doesn’t work for our company, then cast all of our resources towards extending what makes us successful and thoroughly squeezing out what doesn’t.

As far as a concrete plan on what to expect from us, I will further explain it on another briefing session in the near future, so I kindly ask for your patience. Thank you for your support.”

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Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in DS, GBA, General Nintendo, News, Podcast Stories | 0 comments

The 3DS has yet to see a new game in the Advance Wars series. In fact, there hasn’t been an entry since Days of Ruin’s release in 2008.

Although there haven’t been any new Advance Wars developments in a few years, there still is quite a bit of interest in the franchise.

In the Fire Emblem: Awakening 8-4 interview published today, Nintendo director Genki Yokota said:

“Well, whether it’s Fire Emblem or the Advance Wars, we never want to put an end to any series we’re involved with. We always want to make games that provide a lot of fun to gamers, so if we have the chance, we’d certainly like to make another [Advance Wars] title.”

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Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, General Nintendo, News, Podcast Stories, Wii U | 0 comments

So this is kind of an odd thing to talk about, but it is what it is.

We all know that Amazon has had a strained relationship with Nintendo when it comes to hardware. For whatever reason, the retailer won’t sell 3DS and Wii U systems in the US directly. Reggie Fils-Aime wouldn’t talk about the matter when asked about the situation in September of last year, and Amazon hasn’t said much either.

What’s interesting is that Amazon is now encouraging consumers to consider competitor products on Nintendo’s hardware pages. The 3DS listing tells visitors to “Also consider the PlayStation Vita” complete with a comprehensive banner at the top while the Wii U page informs buyers about the “just announced” PlayStation 4 and gives alternative console options to mull over. And in case you were wondering, there aren’t similar listings on the PS Vita, PS3, or Xbox 360 product pages.

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Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments

23,000 people flocked to the Moscone Center in San Francisco for the 2013 Game Developers Conference, making this year the most-successful and highest-attended show in the event’s history.

GDC 2014’s date has already been set. Once again, it’ll take place at the Moscone Center between March 17 and March 21.

Game Developers Conference general manager Meggan Scavio said:

“With the game development industry evolving at a faster clip than ever before, we find both the profile of the developer and the types of games represented at GDC also growing to include new and different people and interests. The response we’ve gotten to this year’s event makes us feel confident that the changes we’ve made, such as the introduction of the Advocacy Track and the Free to Play Game Design and Business Summit, have helped evolved the conference to be even more inclusive.”

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Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments

These days we tend to hear about the doom and gloom surrounding sales of particular gaming consoles. Moreover, some believe that traditional games could be on their way out due to the rise of mobile devices.

If you were to ask Electronic Arts chief operating officer Peter Moore about the situation, he’d tell you that consoles are here to stay. Speaking with Bloomberg TV, Moore noted that “The demise of console gaming is very premature as far as we’re concerned.”

He said:

“The console business is still a core part of our business; it’s the majority of our business. The demise of console gaming is very premature as far as we’re concerned. …And so, people still want core games. People want to sit back in their living rooms, take advantage of their HD TVs, and and play fully immersive games like [Battlefield 4].”

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Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments

It’s now April 1 in Japan. That means Square Enix has officially been around for ten years as a whole.

The company is celebrating the achievement with some sort of 10th anniversary teaser site. There’s not much to see at the moment, but the page does contain an interesting message:

As of April 1st we’ve reached our 10th anniversary!

We hope you’ll continue supporting us going forward as well!

We’re thinking of collaborations and a bunch of things that should make everyone a little bit happy.

It’ll be settled soon, so we’ll keep you posted.

You can access the teaser site here.

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Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS eShop, General Nintendo, News, Podcast Stories, Wii U eShop | 0 comments

It’s not often that a game launches on both Wii U and 3DS. But with Shovel Knight, developer Yacht Club Games intends to bring the indie release to both systems’ eShops.

So what will each version bring to the table? On Wii U, off-TV play will be supported, as would the 4-player battle mode – assuming the Kickstarter stretch goal is hit. The 3DS version would feature stereoscopic visuals, and both would offer similar touch screen mechanics.

According to Yacht Club founder Sean Velasco:

“We definitely want to have off-screen play for the Wii U version, and the 3DS will have eye-popping stereoscopic visuals. The touch screen / GamePad screen will likely serve similar functions, although we aren’t sure about that functionality yet. Finally, one of our Kickstarter stretch goals is a 4 player couch-play battle mode, which would not be available on 3DS. We want to take advantage of whatever each platform may offer, while still offering the same core experience.”

As far as future Nintendo support is concerned, Velasco said:

“Right now, more projects seem like a long time away, as we’re very focused on Shovel Knight and the Kickstarter. That said, our minds have often wandered onto follow-ups like Super Shovel Knight, or maybe even Shovel Knight 64! We also have ideas for totally different games, including a couple of projects we already have art and designs for. Recently, the Wii U and 3DS have captured our attention, so I would not be surprised if we ended up with another game on one or the other!”

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Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Podcast Stories | 2 Comments

While it’s true that three Banjo-Kazooie console games exist, the series never saw a true third entry. Rare mixed things up completely with the Xbox 360’s “Nuts & Bolts” by removing practically all platforming elements that had become a staple in the franchise.

The chances of Banjo-Kazooie returning to Nintendo platforms are very low at the moment. Microsoft owns the IP after all. But that doesn’t mean hopes and dreams have to die!

Series composer and ex-Rare employee Grant Kirkhope recently appeared on Game Grumps and relayed a desire to have former staffers reunite, form a new company, and make Banjo-Kazooie 3 for Nintendo on Wii U.

Kirkhope said:

“I keep wishing that all the ex-Rare staffers would just get together and form a company, and go to Nintendo and say ‘give us the money. We’ll make you Banjo 3 for the Wii U’ or whatever. …Just make Banjo 3 like it should have been made back then and it would be great, and it would be great on Wii U, and all the ex-Rare guys would be together again all happy and kissing each other. … I just keep thinking we should just give it a try.”