Nintendo has published a message from EarthBound creator Shigesato Itoi on the newly-opened Wii U VC site. In it, Itoi discussed what the SNES game means to him. You can either find the full message below or on the official site here.

Miyamoto talks Pikmin “anime”

Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 2 Comments

In the past, Shigeru Miyamoto has mentioned how he has been working on Pikmin “cartoons”. These videos never emerged, but they do seem to still be in the works – or at least something in the animation department is.

Miyamoto recently spoke with Japanese publication 4Gamer and discussed the “Pikmin anime” he’s been working on. Surprisingly, he mentioned: “The truth is for the past two years, I’ve been spending more time on the Pikmin anime than the game.”

Miyamoto said the following regarding the Pikmin anime:

“To that end I am currently working on putting all the elements that can’t be conveyed only by a game together in one package and am experimenting with making a Pikmin anime. The truth is for the past two years, I’ve been spending more time on the Pikmin anime than the game. (laughs) We’d like people to develop a more fond connection with the Pikmin themselves. In fact, at last year’s E3 many of the Pikmin things we passed around were made from elements we used for the Pikmin anime. Furthermore, since December of last year at Toho Cinema movie theaters there are Pikmin in the logo shown before movies. Even during the parts where they ask people to please put on their 3D glasses, there are Bulborbs running around. These are one piece of the things we’ve done in preparation for the anime.”

Regarding its availability, Nintendo is currently “considering how to release it.”

Source

Third portion of Miyamoto’s 4Gamer interview translated (unofficially)

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

Shigeru Miyamoto recently conducted an interview with Japanese publication 4Gamer. Two portions of the talk have been translated previously, and now the third and final piece has appeared

There’s still a bunch of discussion about Pikmin 3, naturally, but Miyamoto also speaks about the Wii U in general. You can find the full thing here.

Codemasters founder says there’s a “good chance” Nintendo will be fine, they’ve “always been a pioneer”

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

The original Wii was really innovative and Nintendo could very well do something like that again in the living room. Nintendo has always been a pioneer and has always been innovative, so there’s a good chance it will continue to do that.

Codemasters founder David Darling

Darling apparently went on to talk about how Nintendo could look into the realm of brain-controlled gaming with their next home consols, or perhaps something even later than that, and said that the tech is already being researched heavily at Warwick University.

Via NintendoLife

Video: “Play With Your Food – Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D Edition”

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

Nintendo to let users purchase digital content through PCs/smartphones by year’s end

Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Podcast Stories | 14 Comments

Nintendo has been emphasizing its “digital business” over the past few years, and it sounds like an even greater focus will be placed in this area going forward.

Recently, president Satoru Iwata stated, “It’s important for us to expand our revenue opportunities.”

Means of downloading content, other than the eShop, have been looked at. Nintendo officials have confirmed that a system will launch by year’s end so that users can purchase items from a PC or smartphone.

The company’s statement reads:

“By the end of the year, we will launch a system where you can purchase (content) from your computer or smartphone through strict account management.”

New Miiverse update highlighted by tags feature

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

A new update has gone live on Miiverse today. The changes are highlighted by the addition of tags.

You can find the full rundown below:

Miiverse Code of Conduct changed

– Addition: “Do Not Let Others Use Your Nintendo Network ID”.
– Information on Nintendo Network ID management was previously included in the Nintendo Network Agreement and Nintendo Network Privacy Policy, but now it can also be checked within Miiverse
– Changes and additions made to several other points

Despite analyst views, Nintendo is still keeping franchises off smartphones and tablets

Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 5 Comments

One of Nintendo’s most-recent high points – from a business perspective – was when the company churned out a profit of 555.2 billion yen for the year ending in March 31, 2009. This was also when the DS, Wii, and Mario franchise were all leading the way in terms of financial success.

Yet as of late, Nintendo hasn’t been able to reach the same kind of heights it achieved a few years ago. The Wii U has been struggling thus far, and overall business has seen a slight decline.

Nintendo has always been a hardware and software maker, but some analysts feel that this tradition should be broken. Among major overseas analysts, one of their sentiments is, “If Nintendo decided to cut loose from its hardware and software, their profit shares may increase 2 to 3 times.” Some also believe that if Nintendo considered leaving the hardware business and brought some of its IPs – such as Mario and Zelda – to smartphones, the company could experience a dramatic recovery.

Nintendo, however, is against such a move, with company officials expressing: “Performance is temporarily getting better, you can’t get a true feel for Mario on smartphone or tablet, and this would also lead to a decrease in brand value over the long term.”

Nintendo opens EarthBound Onett Times announcement community on Miiverse

Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Podcast Stories, Wii U | 9 Comments

Nintendo has gone ahead and opened an official announcement community on Miiverse for the Earthbound series. It’s home to the “official source for the latest EarthBound news and information.”

This naturally begs the question: what kind of news could Nintendo have in store for EarthBound?

You can visit the community here.