Several years ago, Imagi Animation Studios created a pitch for a CGI Legend of Zelda film. Kotaku discovered a complete video (shown above) in an animator’s portfolio, which is dated early 2007.

Imagi Animation is the same studio behind 2009’s Astro Boy. The Zelda pitch came from the company’s American branch, which shut down in 2010.

Expectedly, Imagi Animation Studios was unable to obtain any sort of Zelda film rights from Nintendo.

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SEGA among those interested in Atlus parent company Index

Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 1 Comment

Twenty companies have shown interest in taking over Index’s business, Bloomberg Japan writes in a new report published today. SEGA Sammy Holdings is among the list of companies that have submitted bids.

Bids were initially thought to hold at 150 million dollars. However, in the recent tender, bids exceeded 200 million.

It is expected that candidates will be narrowed down next week. A deal could take place by the end of the month if all goes well.

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Oddworld dev: Nintendo has been “fantastic” to work with

Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Wii U eShop | 0 comments

Nintendo has been “fantastic” to work with, Just Add Water CEO and Oddworld Inhabitants development director Stewart Gilray has told us.

Stewart shared the information in an interview soon to be published on Nintendo Everything. He also officially confirmed that Dan Adelman, the man in charge of all things indie at Nintendo of America, specifically asked for Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath HD on Wii U. That was the starting point for the title’s presence on Nintendo’s new console, along with Munch’s Oddysee HD.

“Indeed, their developer relations man is a fan of the franchise so reached out to us to ask for that title specifically, that’s where the discussions started. In terms of what are they like to work with, they’re fantastic. I’ve NEVER had a problem with working with Nintendo in respect of their people and teams, it’s been a case of a problem in terms of the hardware and indeed the lack of a competent digital outlet, until now.”

Club Nintendo Japan gets Animal Crossing-themed pouches

Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, General Nintendo, News | 1 Comment

A new reward has popped up on the Japanese Club Nintendo site: Animal Crossing-themed pouches. Users can choose from two color variations. For 120 points, Nintendo will provide either a light blue or pink pouch. Both measure in at 13 × 20cm.

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team “Where Will Luigi Fall Asleep?” – video 1

Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, General Nintendo, Videos | 0 comments

Nintendo Treehouse on localizing Mario & Luigi

Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, DS, General Nintendo, News | 0 comments

The Nintendo Treehouse is behind pretty much all localized titles that Nintendo puts out on its systems. Mario & Luigi is no exception. Fortunately, senior localization manager Nate Bihldorff says that the characters only require a few tweaks – no major recreations of characters are required:

“Conceptually, all the characters are generally just one tweak away from being awesome. It’s a matter of making it fit better.”

Super Mario RPG designer not interested in revisiting the game’s world

Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Podcast Stories | 4 Comments

Way back in the day, Yoshihiko Maekawa worked on Super Mario RPG. 17 years later, he’s now with AlphaDream and is still making Mario RPG games through the Mario & Luigi series.

Recently, Maekawa took a moment to reflect on his past work while speaking Kotaku. Maekawa was asked if he has any interest revisiting the world of Super Mario RPG. His answer was pretty clear:

“Actually, I don’t feel like I want to return to that world and use those characters in another game. I feel like I was able to accomplish what I wanted to with that world and those characters and the gameplay ideas that came out of those, and now I mostly feel like I want to make something different.”

Question for you all: would you like to see Nintendo return to Super Mario RPG one day?

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Target advertises Wii U… by showing a Wii console

Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Wii, Wii U | 14 Comments

When the Wii U was first revealed, some people were confused as to whether the console was brand new or simply an add-on for the Wii. Things have become clearer since then, but the uncertainty hasn’t dissipated completely.

Retailer giant Target seems to be among those who remain confused about the Wii U – at least if a recent ad is to go by.

A new ad posted online indicates that Target used a Wii console to show the Wii U. As you can see in the photo above, a GamePad controller sits on top of a Wii system – not a Wii U console. Ah well… close enough.

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Pikmin keyrings added to Club Nintendo Europe

Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments

Starting today, Club Nintendo members in Europe can use their points to purchase a new reward. Nintendo has added in a pair of Pikmin 3 keyrings, priced at 1,700 points each. You can choose from either a “Red Pikmin Fruit” or “Yellow Pikmin Fruit” reward (or both!).

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Iwata doesn’t think Wii U’s concept and potential have been rejected, development talk

Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Wii U | 0 comments

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata recently conducted a wide-scale interview with Toyo Keizai Online. Among the topics discussed include the Wii U and his thoughts when it comes to being a developer.

You can find a few tidbits below, courtesy of Kotaku. We’ll have more quotes from the interview over the next few days.