General Nintendo

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

One of the worst-kept gaming industry secrets has been confirmed today. Black Ops 2 is the next Call of Duty title, and it’s launching in November.

A pre-order card has been located at a Target outlet, revealing a November 13, 2012 release date. Only PlayStation 3/Xbox 360 cards were found, but Black Ops 2 will almost certainly be coming to the PC and at least one Nintendo platform.

Activision is expected to officially announce Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 on May 1 during the first round of the NBA playoffs.

Source

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

The Guardian has published a mammoth, two-part interview with Shigeru Miyamoto. In the discussion Miyamoto touches on a few personal things, such as his daily routine, why he plays games, hiring new employees at Nintendo, and more. Interestingly, an the end of the interview, Miyamoto more or less said that he wouldn’t be playing games if he didn’t make them due to a lack of time and the difficulty in finding the right title to experience.

Miyamoto also commented on new Nintendo characters. He told the publication, “there’s a strong possibility we will introduce some new characters to the scene soon.”

Read on below for the full Q&A.

Read More

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

Update: Event appears to be over. You can find more updates on the home page and here.

As is typical for the company, Nintendo is holding a meeting with investors following the release of their fiscal results yesterday. When there was a briefing similar to this in January, we received some interesting information, such as individual accounts and NFC support for Wii U.

We’ll be keeping this post updated with all of the tidbits from the latest meeting. In one way, I guess you can say this is a live-blog! Keep checking back for updates, which come from David Gibson.

– Nintendo’s release schedule hasn’t changed much, but there are 3 Pokemon games on track for the U.S.
– 3DS sales post-Christmas have accelerated in Japan, but not overseas
– Next Smash Bros. games will be key in the U.S. and will have long-term demand
– “3ds has only 2, 3, 2 titles in top 20 in germany, france, spain respectively, 2 in UK”
– Again: Wii U shipping in the U.S., Europe, Japan, and Australia this year, with more details at E3
– Nintendo will not announce pricing information for Wii U at E3
– “3ds standard title globally include mario kart etc, but also monster hunter, fire emblem, kid icarus, plus pokemon titles on ds will help”
– Mario Kart is a core title for the 3DS globally, but so are Monster Hunter and Fire Emblem according to Satoru Iwata
– 3DS launching in Korea tomorrow
– Nintendo planning to bring the 3DS to other countries as well
– New Super Mario Bros. 2 will be sold at retail or full download to an SD card
– “Digital buys will also include retail as place for payment and download, but said ‘it does look complicated’ in demo”
– Because game life is getting shorter, retails carry fewer games
– Digital downloads will help retailers since the inventory risk will be reduced
– Retailers will sell titles digitally, so there won’t be a big pricing different in packaged/digital releases
– Downloading retail games digitally will be available for Wii U’s launch
– Digital packaged release prices will be set by retailers and not Nintendo
– Nintendo is focused on improving quality and having long-term relationships with customers
– “Overall focused on improving quality, and having long term relationship with customers, hopeful digital will long term +ve”
– Nintendo wants to find the Wii Sports equivalent for Wii U
– Regarding concerns that downloading games will take too long, consumers can purchase these titles directly or download them late at night
– “WiiU – will need to consider social game play, cannot say more”
– Nintendo not commenting on wholesale price to retail for digital vs. packaged software
– Regarding hardware, Iwata says consumers buy hardware for the software, not the console
– Again: Nintendo has learned from the 3DS’ launch, so Wii U will have a rich lineup from the beginning with a few rich titles
– Nintendo not worried about Japanese vs. international performance of the 3DS as overseas 3DS support was rising and will catch up to Japan by E3
– “Forecast profit this year is not nintendo type and not a satisfactory level”
– Demand for the 3DS in Europe/US has been weak
– 3DS’ third year will be crucial; if it surges, Nintendo will achieve Nintendo-esque profits
– Nintendo won’t go all out with digital since it doesn’t suit all users and the company wants a win-win relationship with retailers
– “Digital wholesale price will not be the same as packaged as inventory risk is different”
– “Iwata doesn’t think retail margins will be coming down as a result of digital”

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

Consider this update part news and part rumor.

An unconfirmed report from a South Korean newspaper suggests that online gaming giant Nexon has reached out to EA about a potential takeover bid.

Once the rumor circulated, EA shares rose nearly six percent. They rose $1.22, or 8.1%, to $16.23. According to Forbes, “stock lately has been trading close to a 52-week low”.

Source

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

During Nintendo’s last financial results briefing in January, president Satoru Iwata made it clear that the company was readying itself to sell Wii U and 3DS retail software through digital means.

These plans were reiterated today in Nintendo’s fiscal year earnings report.

The company wrote in the document:

Moreover, Nintendo will push forward with “Nintendo Network”, which is the network service for the “Nintendo 3DS” and the “Wii U”, and offers game experiences, which enable users to compete and interact with others all over the world, and provide add-on content by utilizing its network functions.

Furthermore, for the purposes of adapting to the changes in the environment surrounding the video game market and creating new business opportunities, Nintendo is envisioning the digital distribution of packaged software and is aiming at expanding the business.

It seems as though Nintendo will be implementing this functionality before April 2013. Nintendo’s hardware/software forecasts for the upcoming fiscal year – which ends on March 31, 2013 – “include the quantity of the packaged software by means of digital distribution.”

Source

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

Nintendo has provided information from its latest financial results. There’s a whole lot of sales mumbo jumbo and random statistics, so we’ll just post a summary of the information below.

– Net loss of 43,204 million yen on sales of 647,652 million yen
– Last year: net gain of 77,621 million yen on sales of 1,014,345 million yen
– Nintendo cited price reductions for the 3DS and Wii, stronger yen
– Operation loss was 37.3 billion yet
– Exchange loss of 27.7 billion yen brought Nintendo’s ordinary loss to 60.8 billion and net loss to the 43.2 billion noted above
– Sales of 820 billion yen and net profit of 20 billion yen expected for the current fiscal year ending March 2013
– Major releases for Nintendo this current fiscal year: New Super Mario Bros. 2, Animal Crossing
– New Brain Age hitting Japan this summer
– Wii U release still the same: on track for end of the calender year launch
– Hardware/software forecasts for the current year (previous year in parenthesis); Wii U included in Wii figures
DS: Hardware 2.5 million (5.1 million), Software 37 million (60.82 million)
3DS: Hardware 18.5 million (13.53 million ), Software 73 million (36 million)
Wii: Hardware 10.5 million (9.84 million) , Software 70 million (102.37 million)

Source 1, Source 2

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

Ubisoft has registered two domains for “Rayman Legends”. Both “RaymanLegends.com” and “Rayman-Legends.com” were acquired by the company yesterday.

Perhaps this will be the name of Ubisoft’s rumored Rayman Origins sequel. Then again, it could be a brand new Rayman unrelated to Origins. Or this could be nothing at all!

Source

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

Adam Sessler has been a part of G4 TV family for nearly fifteen years. He joined ZDTV in 1998, and stayed with the company as it transitioned into the network you see today.

Unfortunately, will be Sessler will be leaving G4 TV immediately. He’ll be hosting his final episode of X-Play tonight. As for the reasoning behind his departure, Kotaku reports that a contract dispute was involved and the two sides did not split on good terms.

Sessler’s representative issued the following statement:

“Television personality Adam Sessler and TV network G4 are parting ways, with Adam’s last episode as host of G4’s ‘X-Play’ airing on the network today, Wednesday, April 25. Adam has been hosting the show since it first aired as ZDTV’s ‘Gamespot TV’ in July 1998 and he also served as Editor In Chief of games content at G4. His current projects include starring as himself in the Summer 2012 movie ‘noobz’ and consulting with a film production company on theatrical feature adaptations of video games. Adam intends to stay in front of the camera and continue as a key voice within the games industry. He also sings and is available for weddings and bar mitzvahs.”

Source

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

A new report from Reuters indicates that Nintendo will announce its first ever operating loss tomorrow. This comes “after estimating a 45 billion yen deficit for the business year just ended.”

David Gibson, an analyst for Macquarie in Tokyo, offered some commentary as to why Nintendo has encountered struggles with the market:

“They have been beaten by smartphones and tablets, in particular, for consumers spending and, more importantly, time.”

Nanako Imazu, an analyst for CLSA in Tokyo, estimates that Nintendo will only be able to break even with the Wii U by selling it for roughly $350.

Read More

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

A unique reward has been added to the North American Club Nintendo website today.

Six different “Surprise Me Box” items are now available. Each prize costs 300 coins, but are worth a minimum of 500 coins. There are “at least two surprises” in the package.

Members can choose from Mario, Goomba, Luigi, Peach, Toad, and Yoshi boxes. The Mario and Yoshi boxes are currently sold out, however.

More information about the reward can be found here.