General Nintendo

Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 18 Comments

Yesterday, we posted a number of tidbits coming from a Part Time Gamer interview with Nintendo Treehouse localization writer/editor Chris Pranger. If you missed that, you can read it right here.

Gamnesia has since transcribed Pranger’s comments about Super Smash Bros. director Masahiro Sakurai. Here’s what we said about the developer:

“Sakurai’s outlook on the games is very dire. He gets really sad when he finds out how people are reacting and he gets sad whenever there’s a leak, because he really wants to create. And he’s an auteur in the most crazy sense. He’s basically Vincent Van Gogh cutting off his own ear and we’re sitting there going ‘Frick! Stop doing that!’ And he’s like ‘You don’t get it, guys, my vision!'”

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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Videos | 0 comments

The latest episode of Nintendo’s Japanese show Nyannyan Neko Mario Time has now gone live. We’ve included it below.

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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 2 Comments

Banjo-Kazooie originally featured a very different partner. As revealed by former Rare staffer Gregg Mayles, Dinger the Dog was planned as Banjo’s partner during the game’s early days.

Steve Mayles, who was also working at Rare during Banjo-Kazooie’s development, mentioned that Dinger’s origins go back to the SNES. For those who are unaware, the studio was creating “Project Dream” for the SNES before it eventually became Banjo-Kazooie on the N64.

Source 1, Source 2, Via 1, Via 2

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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 3 Comments

During the third quarter of 2015, Disney’s interactive division took a bit of a sales dip. This division, which is responsible for games and game-like toys, dropped $58 million for a total of $208 million. Disney attributed the loss to the slowdown of Disney Infinity sales.

Now, this isn’t actually unexpected. Disney Infinity 2.0 launched last September, so it’s only natural that sales would decline. Things will likely pick up again once Disney Infinity 3.0 arrives.

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More: Disney Interactive, sales

Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Videos | 1 Comment

In what should be the last round of Animal Crossing amiibo unboxings for at least a little while, we have a look at the series’ new cards. Two videos showing the amiibo can be found below.

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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 10 Comments

The folks over at Reddit have secured additional details about GameStop’s amiibo pre-order event taking place on Saturday. If you missed out on the news previously, this will be your chance to reserve a 3-pack containing R.O.B., Duck Hunt, and Mr. Game & Watch.

First, here are some general details:

• Pro membership is required once again for the 1-hour early event.
• You can buy membership Saturday morning.
• There is no restriction based on when you became a Pro member.
• The price for the 3-pack is officially confirmed at $34.99. It is currently $99.99 in the POS but will be adjusted prior to the event.
• Minimum deposit is confirmed for $5, nothing more.
• On Thursday, stores will receive their store-specific allocation numbers.
• Stores will be displaying their allocation numbers on signs at their entrances. (Sound familiar?)
• Generally speaking, stocks will be put up the night before, when the last employee leaves for the night.
• 1 Retro 3-pack per customer.

Some other interesting tidbits:

• There are a total of 6 SKUs up for reserve on Saturday, including the 3-pack. (So 3-Pack + 5 Individuals)
• These additional SKUs may be Gannondorf, Zero Suit Samus, Olimar, Dr. Mario, and 30th Anniversary 8-Bit Classic Mario.

We also have the following information about returning your Pro membership:

• If somebody is planning on getting PUR Pro simply to pre-order and then return it, they are entitled to the return.
• The web site does list the 7 day return period, even though it does not list reasons required for a return. (This is why your mileage may vary)
• The employees are definitely going to say anything they can for you to keep it.
• In the end, it will most likely require the current manager on duty.
• While the majority of employees do not know how to properly return memberships, somebody will figure it out.
• Returning Pro membership brings you back down to a regular member, it does not remove you from the PowerUp Rewards program entirely.
• If you do decide to try and return your membership, please wait until later on in the day or the following day as to not hold up the line for your fellow amiigos.

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More: Amiibo, GameStop, pre-order

Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Wii | 13 Comments

Chris Pranger, who works at Nintendo Treehouse, appeared on the latest episode of the Part-Time Gamer podcast. Pranger shared a few interesting details about his position his position as well as working at the company as a whole.

You’ll find a summary of information from the podcast below. For the full discussion, visit this link.

– Nintendo’s media policy has recently changed regarding employees being more open about talking about their work but not spoilers or anything
– He is the voice of the first level boss in Star Fox Zero; also working on the game
– Talks about NOA using employees as voiceovers for fun and cheap work
– Nintendo has a game library where employees can check out games for all systems in order to be well-versed in gaming; this is how he played Bioshock Infinite
– Sakurai kills himself for his games; he is very sensitive to fan feedback
– Localization costs a ton of money and often the vocal minority of fans who want a game localized isn’t a large enough consumer base to justify the localization costs
– The original Xenoblade is an example he gives of this
– Nintendo of Europe ate the cost on that project

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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 10 Comments

Last week, rumors surfaced about GameStop potentially holding an amiibo pre-order event on August 8. This has now been confirmed.

Those who stop by GameStop on Saturday will have the opportunity to reserve a new 3-pack. R.O.B., Mr. Game & Watch, and Duck Hunt are being included in the bundle.

GameStop will be opening its doors at 9 AM. Consumers will need to put down a $5 minimum, and there’s a limit in place of one per customer.

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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 82 Comments

Examiner recently spoke with Scott Moffitt, executive VP of sales at Nintendo of America. One of the topics the two sides discussed was how Nintendo uses fan feedback and looks at industry trends.

Moffitt told the site:

“We like to be different, unique and tend to march to the beat of our own drum. I would never say we’re blind to the outside world, but we listen to our game fans a lot. We’re always curious to [see] their reaction to new games like Splatoon. We don’t use them as our sole inspiration but we certainly like to hear what they are saying, enjoying and appreciating about a game, in addition to what they would like in future iterations of that game. We take a broad look and always pay attention to what is going on beyond our walls with trends, but it starts with listening really carefully to our gamers.”

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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 29 Comments

Nintendo and Rare formed a tight relationship in the 1990’s. At one point, Nintendo held a 49 percent stake in the company. But in 2002, Nintendo as well as Rare co-founders Tim and Chris Stamper sold their stakes, and Microsoft took control of the game developer.

Some may wonder why Nintendo never ended up acquiring Rare. This is something that confounds Tim Stamper as well.

“I’ve no idea why they didn’t do that,” he recently said to Develop. “I thought we were a good fit.”

No matter who purchased Rare, Stamper did feel that change was necessary at the time. As he explained:

“The price of software development was going up and up with the platforms, and Rare works really well with a partner. We were looking for someone to help broaden our horizons.”

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