You could say that Nintendo has been in the console gaming business for a very, very long time. And company president Satoru Iwata only sees a bright future ahead.

Speaking with Japanese newspaper Nikkei Shinbun, Iwata said:

“Coming from thirty years in the home console business, I don’t think we’re suffering.”

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Ubisoft won’t start a game unless it has franchise potential

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

Ubisoft has countless franchises at its disposal – Assassin’s Creed, Rayman, and Splinter Cell are just a few.

Watch_Dogs is one such IP that the publisher hopes can become a franchise of its own. That’s the approach Ubisoft took before giving it the green light.

Speaking with [a]list, Ubisoft’s senior vice president of sales and marketing Tony Key said that the company “won’t even start if we don’t think we can build a franchise out of it.” The comment came in response to [a]list asking if Ubisoft wants Watch_Dogs to be the foundation of a big franchise.

Absolutely. That’s what all our games are about; we won’t even start if we don’t think we can build a franchise out of it. There’s no more fire and forget – it’s too expensive.
We feel like we’re in a really good place with Watch_Dogs, but until we’re the biggest game of the year we’re not going to be satisfied.
Last year we cleaned up at E3 because we were pretty much the only next-gen game around. Watch_Dogs for us is really a franchise because we’re tapping into something people really care about, never more than when the NSA PRISM scandal broke.

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2013 Club Nintendo Elite status rewards revealed, order yours now

Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, General Nintendo, News, Podcast Stories, Wii | 15 Comments

Nintendo has revealed the rewards that are being made available to this year’s Platinum and Gold members.

Those who have reached Platinum can choose from a total of eight prizes. For Gold members, six rewards

Here’s the full lineup:

Three-poster set (Platinum only)
The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask Original Soundtrack (Platinum Only)
2014 Club Nintendo Calender (Gold/Platinum)
Super Smash Bros. (Gold/Platinum) – download on Wii
WarioWare: D.I.Y. Showcase (Gold/Platinum) – download on Wii
Zelda: Link’s Awakening DX (Gold/Platinum) – download on 3DS
Super Mario Land (Gold/Platinum) – download on 3DS
Sakura Samurai (Gold/Platinum) – download on 3DS

If you reached Platinum or Gold status this year, you can redeem your reward here. Downloadable items will be sent to you right away, but it’ll take a few months for physical products to ship.

Which reward will you be choosing?

Smash Bros. Melee becomes most-watched fighting game in history, thanks to Evo 2013 stream

Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in GameCube, General Nintendo, News, Podcast Stories | 2 Comments

Nintendo’s decision to allow for Super Smash Bros. Melee streaming at Evo 2013 was a good thing – especially for the event itself.

Tournament founder Tom Cannon announced on Twitter has become the most-watched fighting game in history. Over 100,000 people tuned in to see the game in action, and that count continues to rise.

For now, Smash Bros Melee is the most watched fighting game in history, with 100k concurrent #evo2013 viewers!
— Tom Cannon (@ProtomCannon) July 14, 2013

You can watch the stream above. At the moment, over 130,000 fans are connected to the stream.

Thanks to lmalafaia for the tip.

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A look at early Shantae sketches

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

With the 3DS VC release of Shantae on the way, Nintendo gave a look at some early sketches from the game on its UK 3DS Facebook page. The images, taken from series creator Matt Bozon’s sketch book, show first drawings designed by character creator Erin Bozon. View the gallery above for sketches developed while designing the game (1994-1999) and during production (1999-2002).

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Capcom bringing surprises, Mega Man 25th anniversary news to Comic-Con

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

To say the least, Capcom will have a large presence at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con.

The publisher’s intends to have Dead Rising 3, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies, Lost Planet 3, and DuckTales Remastered on display. Additionally, Capcom will be holding a number of panels at the expo.

Perhaps most significant is “The World of Capcom Games” session. Capcom will “share the latest details on all their upcoming games” and give some news about Mega Man’s 25th Anniversary, according to an official description that we came across. There are “a few other surprises” planned as well.

The World of Capcom Games panel will be taking place this coming Thursday at 3:30 PM. Other sessions include: Street Fighter with an appearance from producer Yoshinori Ono, DuckTales Remastered (there could be “a surprise or two”), and “The Art of Capcom”.

Miyamoto compares the Pikmin games, why Pikmin 3 was brought to Wii U

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

More quotes from Shigeru Miyamoto’s interview with 4Gamer have popped online. There still isn’t an official translation, but what we have will have to do for now.

The latest Miyamoto tidbits come with regards to Pikmin. First, he made a comparison between the series’ games:

When it came to Pikmin 2, I heard a lot of complaints with the first game that had to be fixed. However, if you fix every single issue that the audience is dissatisfied with, then what makes the game interesting (in the first place)? That is the unresolved question. Therefore, I reflected on the aspect of multiple endings that were originally in Pikmin 1, and with the thought of creating it properly again I made Pikmin 3.

Ubisoft CEO talks Wii U, says Nintendo might have a chance if they get strong brands out this year

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

“I would say that [the Wii U] didn’t do as well as we expected. But if Nintendo comes with good brands this year and takes advantage of the yen, then maybe they have a chance to have a machine that has high quality games and at a reasonable price.
“Because we believe a lot in the second screen and the touch possibilities, the fact that you have a different way to play. We learned a lot in doing that and we are already reusing that knowledge using companion apps on tablets, telephones and so on. What I see is we will be able to use a lot more of those devices on the big games we will create. The companion is going to step-by-step become another device to play that will be adapted to a larger audience and still be very interesting to gamers.

“You will be able to play with friends from outside of home and still have a big impact on what’s happening in the game. We will see a big increase in terms of that possibility over the next few years.”

“You can do a lot [with tablets]. What the Nintendo GamePad has is the speed of communication between the two devices, but if you manage to cope with higher latency [on other devices] you can still do many things. So you don’t want players to have to react too fast… it’s complementary to the experience.

“So when we add all of those possibilities, plus graphics and AI, we think that the [next-gen] games will be of a fantastic quality and give us a chance to deliver something different from what you had in the old generation.”

– Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot

Via CVG

Ubisoft asks for patience from Prince of Persia fans

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

Ubisoft senior vice president of marketing and sales Tony Key has addressed one of the company’s critical brands: Prince of Persia.

There hasn’t been a brand new entry in the series since 2010’s Forgotten Sands, and that likely won’t be changing anytime soon given the lack of announcements. But Key wishes to assure fans that Prince of Persia maintains “a really strong legacy with Ubisoft”. For now, Key hopes that people can be patient.

He said:

“Prince of Persia, it’s got a really strong legacy with Ubisoft and it’s still there. We have nothing to announce, but, you know, we haven’t sold it off or given it away, so be patient. I know that’s hard!”

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Nintendo attending GDC Europe for the first time, two sessions planned

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

GDC Europe – the “sister event” to Gamescom 2013, so to speak – will be attended by Nintendo for the first time. The Big N has two special sessions lined up for the events, but exact details haven’t been announced.

GDC Europe will take place between August 19 and August 21.

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