Nintendo’s online store unavailable until May 9
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments
Much like the physical rewards on Club Nintendo, Nintendo’s online store for the US is currently unavailable. Maintenance is being conducted on both services as the company upgrades its systems.
The Nintendo online store will return on May 9. As previously mentioned, Club Nintendo’s physical reward orders will be available again on May 13.
Here’s the message users are presented with when attempting to access Nintendo’s online store:
Nintendo Online Store is temporarily unavailable until May 9, 2014, as we upgrade our systems. We apologize for any inconvenience and look forward to serving you again soon.
Nintendo includes, then removes, mention of “new Nintendo system” on E3 website
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 82 Comments
Earlier today, Nintendo launched its official website for E3 2014. You can find it right here.
Until just a short while ago, the page included an interesting mention of a “new Nintendo system” in its source code. The strange thing? It’s gone now.
I wasn’t entirely sure if this was worth mentioning, but quite a number of you have brought it to our attention. Was it a mistake? Something more? Nothing at all?
By the way: in case you’re questioning the validity of the image above, I can confirm that it’s the real deal. I saw it earlier in the day myself!
More: E3 2014
Video: Nintendo reveals E3 2014 plans – hosting “Digital Event” on June 10, more
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Videos | 28 Comments
Update: Added in the official announcement after the break.
Today, Nintendo has unveiled its plans for E3 2014.
The company’s events are highlighted by a “Digital Event” taking place on June 10 at 12 PM ET / 9 AM PT. This is where fans can expect new games and announcements.
Nintendo will additionally host the Smash Bros. Invitational (tournament in Los Angeles), Smash Bros. Smash-Fest at Best Buy (game playable nationwide during E3), and Nintendo Treehouse Live @ E3 – featuring constant daily live streams from E3.
Kirby Triple Deluxe devs discuss the 3DS game, HAL’s relationship with Nintendo
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, General Nintendo, News | 0 comments
CVG has put up a new interview with Kirby Triple Deluxe director Shinya Kumazaki and Nintendo director Yurie Hattori. As you would expect, most of the discussion pertains to the upcoming 3DS game, but there’s also some interesting comments about HAL’s relationship with Nintendo.
For Shinya and Kumazki’s full comments, head past the break.
McDonald’s Happy Meals to offer Pokemon X/Y toys
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments
Nintendo must sure like McDonalds. After teaming up with the fast food restaurant to bring Mario toys to Japan and the UK, Pokemon X/Y toys are now coming to the United States. This new Happy Meal licensing deal includes a card and one of 12 toys from a selection including Pikachu, Venusaur, Charizard, Blastoise, Mewtwo, Chespin, Fennekin, Froakie, Helioptile, Pancham, Xerneas, and Yveltal.
Japanese hardware sales hit five-year low earlier this month
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, General Nintendo, News, Wii U | 3 Comments
During the week of April 14, Japan experienced its lowest gaming hardware sales in five years. Information provided by Media Create states that the downturn can be attributed to sluggish sales of Nintendo and PlayStation consoles.
The 3DS, for instance, dropped to 19,943 for the week, which Media Create believes could be related to Nintendo’s “monthly recommended software campaign”. This began on April 26. Consumers may have been hesitant to hold off on making a 3DS purchase until the campaign kicked off.
Media Create also has some insight into the low sales of other platforms. According to the sales tracker, this may have been due to new releases being unable to sell more than a combined total of 50,000 copies during the week.
More: Japan, Media Create, sales
Why Kirby looks angry on US game boxarts
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 9 Comments
Kirby tends to look “angry” more often than when shown on North American boxarts. Wondering why this is so?
Kirby Triple Deluxe director Shinya Kumazaki explained to GameSpot:
“For the Japanese versions we are, at [Kirby series developer] HAL, involved in everything throughout development, including the package design. The most powerful image of Kirby is that cute image, we think that’s the one that appeals to the widest audience.
“While it does start cute, we know there is a serious side to Kirby as well, and throughout the gameplay we see more and more of that, and the games themselves have quite a bit of depth. That being said, we recognise that Kirby’s cuteness is his biggest draw in [the Japanese] market.”
Kumazaki added that Nintendo of America handles things in North America, and provides HAL with “feedback and insight” into the market.
“What we have heard is that strong, tough Kirby that’s really battling hard is a more appealing sign of Kirby, so that’s what we feature in the US.”
More: interview, Kirby, Shinya Kumazaki, top
Iwata: “We Need To Redefine What Nintendo Must Do”
Posted on 10 years ago by Jarop(@gamrah) in General Nintendo, News | 30 Comments
It’s no secret that Nintendo’s president and CEO Satoru Iwata has been under the pump in recent months with the company’s current financial standing. In an interview with Japanese news outlet Diamond, Iwata had the following to say about the Nintendo going forward (translated by the folks over at Siliconera):
“Surely, a lot of people around the world must think ‘Nintendo is a company that is just for video games,’ about us, and I believe that there are more and more of our own employees who’ve begun to think like that,” said Iwata. “Some employees that are in charge of making things, are often kept positions where they have to think of how they can make the game in front of them more fun, so I don’t think it can be helped if others outside of our company think like that.”
“So, even if the fact that our focus being video games won’t be changing, I felt the need to take this occasion to say ‘Nintendo is a company that can do whatever they want’.”
“This subject came to light when Yamauchi passed away, but I felt that ‘our surroundings are greatly changing. We need to redefine what Nintendo must do, from this point on’. However, I felt that saying ‘Nintendo will do anything,’ was also the wrong idea for the company.”
“Yamauchi was one to always say ‘Nintendo is a company for entertainment, and it shouldn’t be for anything else,’ and he didn’t necessarily think that ‘entertainment = video games’. I’ve been wondering how to express Yamauchi’s feelings, and I’ve been thinking about it non-stop, even during the New Year’s holiday break.”
“Lately, the words ‘QOL’ (quality of life) have come up,” says Iwata. “Entertainment is there to improve people’s quality of life. After your basic needs, there’s entertainment. However, when it comes to ‘improving people’s quality of life,’ I didn’t know the difference between us and household appliance makers.”
“At the start of this year, I finally figured that ‘improving people’s quality of life with fun,’ with emphasis to the ‘fun’ would be perfect for Nintendo. And that’s when I decided to use this as a focus during the financial results meeting in January and wrote the manuscript for the presentation.”
More: Hiroshi Yamauchi, Satoru Iwata
Square Enix is working on next Dragon Quest game
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 9 Comments
At Niconico Super Conference 3 in Chiba, Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii stated that Square Enix is “making the next” entry in the series. Horii is almost certainly referring to Dragon Quest XI.
Once Horii mentioned this, Dragon Quest X producer Yosuke Saito as well as chief planner Anzai Takashi looked as though they weren’t expecting him to say that. They were, in other words, indicating that Horii said something he shouldn’t have said. Oops?
