General Nintendo

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

Ocarina of Time on the left, Majora’s Mask on the right

It’s true that The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask uses the same game engine as Ocarina of Time. But did you know that the character models for Link were different in both games?

Link’s model in Majora’s Mask is more detailed – he has a strap for his sword, and there are differences in the ears, hair, boots, and tunic. In some ways, these are lots of subtle touches that really add up when you compare the two models side by side.

You might be interested to know that the Goron models are different in Majora’s Mask and Ocarina of Time as well.

Take a look at this comparison:

Ocarina of Time on the left, Majora’s Mask on the right

Thanks to Jake for the tip!

Via

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

Alison Whitney has been on Nintendo Week since the show premiered back in 2009. And now she’s done. Whitney announced at the end of this week’s episode that she’s moving on. Gary and Dark Gary, however, will still host the show.

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

Last year, Nintendo/Retro Studios hired employees from various Western studios, including Naughty Dog and Vigil. These weren’t the company’s only significant moves, however.

In September, Crytek’s Director of Technology Mark Atkinson joined Nintendo. Atkinson is currently a “Consultant Software Engineer”.

In addition to Crytek, Atkinson previously worked at Lionhead Studios and Ignition London.

Thanks to Jake for the tip!

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

We’re continuing our look at the lovely Hyrule Historia artbook. Today we take a look at the Zelda: Spirit Tracks art section. As always, there’s a bunch of great art to look at… including some a concept design for the Tingle train.

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

Unlike the past couple of months, only two new digital rewards have been added to Club Nintendo. January’s prizes have been swapped out for Art Academy: First Semester (150 coins) and Mario Party 2 (150 coins).

That’s a little disappointing, but on the bright side, you can also order a “3DS Game Card Case” for 250 coins. The case can hold up to 18 3DS or DS cartridges and it comes with four double-sided covers.

You can find a few photos of the 3DS Game Card Case above and a few additional details here.

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

Lots and lots of Nintendo goodies everywhere…

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

January is almost over. That means you have just a few hours left to grab Dr. Mario Online Rx, Zelda: Majora’s Mask, Kirby’s Dream Land, and Dr. Mario Express from Club Nintendo.

Nintendo will most likely swap out the game selection with new downloads sometime tomorrow, so head on over to the site now before the current rewards expire.

Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 13 Comments

Anyone remember this classic Nintendo Power issue? It’s pretty old – all the way back from April 1993.

At first glace, you may not pick up on anything particularly noteworthy. Upon closer inspection of the cover, however, you’ll notice that Fox’s legs appear to be made of metal… and he apparently lacks feet/legs.

Here’s where things get really interesting. Check out this blurb regarding legless pilots:

“Legless pilots can handle more Gs than their legged bretherin. When gravity forces blood from the brain to lower extremities, it causes the pilot to black out. But if you have no legs to force blood to, more blood can stay in the brain, and it’s easier for the heart to pump blood back to the brain.

“Their legs were probably voluntarily amputated as these are all trained pilots. Their futuristic society allows for prosthetics that allows them to walk and run normally so there’s no loss in performing these amputations.”

I will mention here that other titles in the series, such as Star Fox Command, make it seem as though the characters are wearing boots – see this picture for example.

So in the SNES game, the Star Fox unit’s legs were amputated so that they’d be more effective in the cockpit? With Nintendo, you never know! I’m not ready to believe this theory just yet, but it’s interesting nonetheless. Perhaps Nintendo was thinking about having the Star Fox crew lack feet/legs early on in the series, but later changed the “metal legs” to boots.

Thanks to Jake for the tip!

Via

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

Club Nintendo members who ordered the Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary Poster Set will soon receive a replacement copy. The Skyward Sword poster apparently contains a “design flaw”.

Nintendo will ship out new copies of the poster during the first week of February. A confirmation email will be sent once the poster has been mailed out.

“Dear Club Nintendo Member,

As you may have noticed, 1 of the posters in the Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary Poster Set that we sent to you contained a minor flaw. On The Legend of Zelda™: Skyward Sword poster, there is a design flaw on the outline of the loft wing, to the right of the sword.

We apologize for the mistake and will be shipping a replacement poster to you the first week of February. You can expect to receive a confirmation email when the package is shipped.

Again, we apologize for this error and we hope that you enjoy your new poster.

Thanks again for your membership and loyalty.

Sincerely,

Club Nintendo”

Thanks to Jake for the tip!

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

Satoru Iwata has commented on the role of graphics for Wii U and Nintendo’s stance on visuals in general.

In some instances, it will be necessary to create some titles that feature “very rich graphics” with long development times. When it comes to Zelda on Wii U, “fans must be looking for the graphic representations that they do not see as cheap at all when the title is released”.

On the other hand, according to Iwata, there is software that some games may not follow that route Rhythm Heaven Fever is an example of this.

Iwata said:

“You are asking for my comment as a judge, but I also need to think about the software content, so my remarks are two sided. Looking at the software for home console systems, there are certainly the software titles for which very rich graphics must be reproduced on HD displays and which demand a large number of developers to spend a very long time to develop. It is one of the truths that a certain number of such software titles must be prepared, or the consumers will not be satisfied. But we do not think that any and all the software must be created in that fashion. When you look at Nintendo’s software, extraordinary rich graphics, massive gameplay volume and astonishing rendition effects are not necessarily the appealing point. It is, in fact, important for us that our games are appealing in other ways as well. An example of this is the Wii software, ‘RHYTHM HEAVEN FEVER,’ that we released last year in Japan. It became one of the hits, but if we had adopted rich photo-realistic graphics, it would have lost much of its appeal rather than improving its appeal. Similarly, about the Japanese title ‘Tomodachi Collection’ for Nintendo DS, the developers themselves confirmed that this software is based upon the “cheap concept.” It is not necessary for us to deploy a huge number of people in order to develop such games. When we need massive power and have a lack of internal resources, we collaborate with outside resources and pour necessary resources to where they are needed. We are increasing the frequency of working with outside developers where Mr. Miyamoto and our internal developers alone used to develop. At the same time, however, we do not forget to ask ourselves in each such opportunity, ‘Isn’t this something our internal resources alone could sufficiently deal with?’ Also, when we have such a doubt in the development as, ‘Will such cheap pictures do in terms of today’s home console graphics’ standard?,’ sometimes we conclude that ‘showing such pictures are unique and rather appealing, so it’s OK.’ So, there are a variety of different ways to show the unique appeal of software. What’s important here is not to narrow down what we can do. Rather, we have to create the dynamic range of appeals that the consumers can appreciate. We decided to make a proposal of an additional screen into the Wii U controller because developers could think of a variety of different possibilities here and there of using both a big TV screen and a screen in a player’s hand. As we will showcase the Wii U at E3 in June this year, the detailed announcements must wait until then, but we are aiming to make a system which shall not be forced into competing with the others where the contenders can fight only with massive developer resources and long development times as their weapons. Having said that, however, as I mentioned, it is true that, in some software areas, we need to be engaged in the power games. Take The Legend of Zelda franchise, for example, the fans must be looking for the graphic representations that they do not see as cheap at all when the title is released for the Wii U. When it is necessary, we do not hesitate to role out our resources.”

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