SEGA trademarks “Sonic Lost World” in Europe
Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments
Over in Europe, SEGA trademarked something called “Sonic Lost World” for use with video games. Could this be the next entry in the Sonic series?
SEGA has given Sonic a bit of a break over the past couple of years. New games came out annually between 2004 and 2011, but we haven’t seen a major release since Sonic Generations.
Animal Crossing: New Leaf director: Tom Nook “very misunderstood”
Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments
Tom Nook has been around ever since the first Animal Crossing game, but he’s not viewed as players’ favorite character in most instances.
Why is this so? Well, Tom Nook usually has players beginning their adventure by paying off a loan. A fairly significant one. And Nook makes sure to get those bells (the game’s currency) out of you in a somewhat pushy fashion.
At the end of the day, Nook is “very misunderstood”, according to Animal Crossing: New Leaf co-director Aya Kyogoku. Kyogoku said that Nook is “just passionate about his business.”
“We think he is very misunderstood. He’s just passionate about his business. He’s not like a loan shark. He doesn’t add a handling fee or anything like that. He can wait as long as it takes for you to pay back. He’s not as bad as other people might think he is.”
Nintendo responds to concerns over YouTube “Let’s Play” content claims
Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Podcast Stories | 0 comments
There’s been some concern that Nintendo has been cracking down on “Let’s Play” YouTube videos. The main issue? Users are sending in complaints regarding blocked videos.
Nintendo has since issued an official response to the situation. In a statement provided to GameFront, the company explained that some videos may now be accompanied by ads, but other than that, everything should be status quo.
As part of our on-going push to ensure Nintendo content is shared across social media channels in an appropriate and safe way, we became a YouTube partner and as such in February 2013 we registered our copyright content in the YouTube database. For most fan videos this will not result in any changes, however, for those videos featuring Nintendo-owned content, such as images or audio of a certain length, adverts will now appear at the beginning, next to or at the end of the clips. We continually want our fans to enjoy sharing Nintendo content on YouTube, and that is why, unlike other entertainment companies, we have chosen not to block people using our intellectual property.
For more information please visit http://www.youtube.com/yt/copyright/faq.html
Ubisoft teases two unannounced titles in latest financials
Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments
Ubisoft’s latest financial results are in, but there is one particular excerpt from the report that is of significant interest.
The publisher’s lineup up through April 2014 includes five titles. Ubisoft cited three games: Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, Splinter Cell: Blacklist, and Watch Dogs. The company also teased “two titles that have not yet been announced, including one new creation.”
That “new creation” term is likely alluding to a new IP of some kind. The other is probably based on an existing franchise.
The latest fiscal year ends on March 31. Both of these unannounced titles should be out by then.
Silicon Knights currently “working on legal issues”
Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments
Precursor Games has been receiving a lot of press as of late for Shadow of the Eternals. But Precursor was established from former members of Silicon Knights. Speaking of which, what are the staffers at Silicon Knights up to these days?
According to chief financial officer Mike Mays, the company is “mostly working on legal issues.” Mays wouldn’t say how many employees are at Silicon Knights, but it is “more than one.”
Mays commented on a few other things as well. Mays first clarified that when employees left Silicon Knights, they had the opportunity to buy art. While Denis Dyack did not make any purchases, other staffers – who are now at Precursor – did. Staffers were also given the option to “take computers”, but hardware was not removed immediately due to legal complications with Epic Games. Moved PCs needed to be fully wiped before they could be transferred out of Silicon Knights.
Finally, Mays told Game Informer that the studio possesses a very small amount of material from Eternal Darkness. That makes sense based on the fact that Nintendo owns the IP.
David Cox says changes were needed for Castlevania to keep the franchise going
Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments
Castlevania experienced a major change in 2010. Konami gave the series’ reigns to MercurySteam, who went on to make the 3D action game Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – and later, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate.
The game was quite the departure from other Castlevanias. Before its arrival, a trio of major 2D titles were made for the DS and Konami created each release in-house.
According to producer Dave Cox, the change was necessary. Cox told EDGE this month that the franchise “wasn’t going anywhere, sales were dwindling and it was appealing to only a very small hardcore base of fans.” Cox feels that Lords of Shadow allowed the series to survive. Without change, “it’s just going to be like Mega Man.”
“We needed to make a change, so we did. The Castlevania series wasn’t going anywhere, sales were dwindling and it was appealing to only a very small hardcore base of fans. That’s how franchises die. The success of Lords of Shadow proved to everyone that there’s life in the series yet and that people could accept us going in a new direction, and we can do that again. We have to take these risks if Castlevania is to survive, otherwise it’s just going to be like Mega Man.”
Molyneux would put Mario on the iPad
Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments
If Peter Molyneux had his way, he’d put Mario on the iPad.
Molyneux may be best known for his work at Lionhead, where he worked on the Fable and Black & White games. He most recently went on to establish 22Cans. The company’s first game was “Curiosity – What’s Inside the Cube?”, which saw release on iOS devices.
Molyneux is clearly a supporter of Apple’s tech, so when asked by Games Workshop co-founder and Fighting Fantasy writer Ian Livingstone if he would release Mario on the iPad in the latest issue of GamesTM, he enthusiastically said yes.
Ian Livingstone: I’m surprised there are so many people who want to get into hardware now, with the Steam Box, Nvidia getting into it, Ouya and the GameStick. Hardware has always been a bit of a mug’s game. If you were head of Nintendo wouldn’t you be tempted to say ‘Well, forget all of this stuff, let’s just put Mario on iPad.’ Would you put Mario on iPad?
Peter Molyneux: Of course I would!
Konami dates pre-E3 show
Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments
Update: GameSpot posted a few more details. The show will air at 10 AM PT / 2 PM ET and will offer “Konami news, game trailers, and exclusive interviews”. Behind the scenes footage of PES 2013 will be shown alongside Metal Gear Solid V and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2. A TV ad campaign will air on CBS stations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, Atlanta, Seattle, and Sacramento, plus CW stations in San Francisco, Atlanta, and Seattle beginning May 27.
Konami will be hosting its third annual “pre-E3 show” next month. The company announced on Twitter today that the event will be live-streamed on June 6 – that’s the week before E3.
Konami tweeted:
The Konami Pre-E3 show will stream live, June 6th on @gamespot, events.konami.com or GameSpot App on XBLA ow.ly/i/26NX4
— Konami (@Konami) May 14, 2013
I can’t think of any major upcoming Konami games other than Metal Gear Solid V and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2, so it’ll be interesting to see if any surprises are in store. Hopefully we’ll finally see some Wii U love. Amazingly, the publisher hasn’t brought any games to the console yet.
Take-Two planning WWE 2K14 for “all major platforms and distribution channels”
Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments
Could there be a bit of hope for WWE 2K14 on at least one Nintendo platform after all?
At the moment, the upcoming wrestling game has only been confirmed for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. But Take-Two Interactive’s earnings release notes states that WWE 2K14 will be published “across all major platforms and distribution channels.” Surely the Wii U (or Wii) is a major platform…right?
Should WWE 2K14 come to a Nintendo platform, you can expect it to arrive on October 29.
Thanks to Duce Stamina for the tip.
Federal Circuit Cout Vindicates Nintendo in ITC Patent Dispute
Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Wii | 0 comments
Nintendo Did Not Infringe Motiva’s Patents
REDMOND, Wash., May 13, 2013 – The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld Nintendo’s victory in a patent infringement case brought by Motiva, LLC against Nintendo at the International Trade Commission. The Court of Appeals agreed with the ITC that Motiva had failed to satisfy the agency’s domestic industry requirement. The ITC had also ruled that Nintendo did not infringe Motiva’s patents.
“We are very pleased with this result. The court confirmed that Motiva’s sole activity, litigation against Nintendo, did not satisfy the ITC’s domestic industry requirement,” said Richard Medway, Nintendo of America’s deputy general counsel. “Nintendo has a passionate tradition of developing innovative products while respecting the intellectual property rights of others. We vigorously defend patent lawsuits when we firmly believe that we have not infringed another party’s patent.”
For more information about Nintendo, visit http://www.nintendo.com.
Source: Nintendo PR