Nintendo UK executives James Honeywell and Shelly Pearce were in attendance for the Wii U’s launch last night. Of course, the event wouldn’t have been complete without a few interview questions!

Eurogamer spoke with the Honeywell and Pearce just before the console’s official release in the UK. The two commented on Wii U stock, the system’s price, potential confusion that using the Wii’s brand could bring, concerns about a possible price cut in the near future, and targeting the core audience at launch. There’s even some talk about the 3DS as well.

Check out the full Q&A below.

This is what Nintendo Power’s final cover looks like

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

Nintendo Power has finally come to an end. Subscribers should soon be receiving the magazine’s December issue, which is its last.

It seems that Nintendo Power decided to go in an old-school direction with the final cover. Take a look:

Does that look familiar to any of you? It should! Nintendo Power is paying tribute to its very first cover from 1988:

Via

3DS beats out lifetime sales of GameCube, closing in on N64 and SNES

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

Nintendo launched the 3DS worldwide in Q1 2011. That’s less than two years ago. Even though the portable hasn’t been around too long, it’s managed to make some impressive strides on the market.

First, the 3DS has already surpassed lifetime sales of the GameCube. It’s also reached two-thirds of the N64’s total sales, and almost half of the SNES’ sales.

Not bad, Nintendo.

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Peter Molyneux says Wii U is good, but not great

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

Peter Molyneux has all of the respect in the world for Nintendo, but he isn’t sold on the company’s newest console. Speaking with GamesIndustry, the Fable creator said Wii U is “good, but it’s not great.”

Molyneux feels that the two screen approach is “slightly confusing as a consumer.” He also seemed a bit down on the technology powering the system.

“I think the Wii U is good, but I don’t feel it’s great. I’ve played the experience, I’ve played Nintendo Land, I’ve played ZombiU, and they’re good. I find holding the device in my hand–looking up at the screen and looking down at the device–slightly confusing as a consumer. It’s good, but it’s not great. And we really need these new pieces of hardware to be great in today’s world, because the competition is not just consoles anymore. The competition is everything, all the technology. When you’re holding a Kindle Fire or an iPad in your hand, it’s just amazing technology. It really is. It’s expensive, but it’s amazing technology. And people like Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft need to match that. They need to match that in my mind, and exceed it. And I’m not sure the Wii U really did that.”

Molyneux may have his doubts when it comes to Wii U, but again, he has high praise for Nintendo in general.

“I’ve got unvelievable respect for Nintendo. They created our industry in a very real sense. I can remember everybody in the industry laughing and giggling about how stupid the Wii was, what a stupid name it was, and who would want motion control. And then it went on to sell what, 60, 70 million copies? It got people who never considered computer games to play them.”

Molyneux did make sure to point out his interest in Wii U’s asymmetric gameplay and attraction of its indie games. Because of the Wii’s huge success, Molyneux thinks it’s possible that his expectations could have been set too high. And in the end, Molyneux has “enduring faith” in Nintendo.

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Ubisoft survey asks about Assassin’s Creed co-op, interest in new game next year

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

A Ubisoft survey is floating around, which may give some insight into the company’s immediate plans for the Assassin’s Creed series.

One of the questions nabbed from the survey asks about the possibility of co-op play. The survey suggests that a separate player could jump right into your single-player campaign to provide assistance. It also asks about interest in another Assassin’s Creed game if it were to release next year.

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How HAL’s name is connected to IBM

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

There is an amazing little video game fact buried in the ZombiU Iwata Asks that has gone unnoticed, for the most part.

Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata, formerly the president of HAL, revealed how the company was named after IBM. He said that “HAL was named as such because each letter put us one step ahead of IBM”.

Here’s the relevant blurb from the discussion:

Iwata:
I feel like we were thinking in just the same way, but in totally different countries. (Laughs) I also started from a very small software development company.
Yves:
We were inspired to aim big by the small yet dynamic world that was the early days of the gaming industry.
Iwata:
We were exactly the same in that sense. Ubisoft was named after Ubiquity because you wanted to be everywhere in the world and HAL was named as such because each letter put us one step ahead of IBM! (Laughs)

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Iwata sorry for Wii U’s day-one update, Zelda/Mario Wii U, collaborating with others, lots more

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

There are a whole bunch of quotes from Nintendo president Satoru Iwata below. You’ll find talk about Wii U’s day-one update, which Iwata regrets, Zelda and Mario for Wii U, working with third-party developers and publishers, and more.

Head past the break for the quotes. Believe me, you’ll want to read this stuff.

Zelda: Hyrule Historia Collector’s Edition cover

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

Barnes & Noble posted the cover for The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia Limited Collector’s Edition. Take a look at the image below:

Gold nunchuck will return to Club Nintendo once again after the New Year

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

The gold nunchuck has sold out on Club Nintendo twice now. Those who missed out on the reward will be pleased to hear that the reward will come back in stock for a third time in 2013. A specific date hasn’t been announced, but Nintendo of America’s Twitter account stated that it will be back “after the New Year.”

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