News

Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U eShop | 2 Comments

Dark Flame, a 2D action-RPG as part of the Metroidvania genre, could end up on Wii U. Creator Warren Smith wrote on Twitter today that an eShop version could be realized if there’s enough demand from gamers.

Smith’s tweet reads:

A pre-alpha trailer along with an official overview of Dark Flame are posted below.

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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, Videos | 7 Comments

We’ve previously talked about the online features in Fire Emblem Fates, but we hadn’t posted any actual gameplay. You can now see what Internet battles are like in the video below.

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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 15 Comments

A few weeks ago, the status of Devil’s Third in North America was entirely unclear. Nintendo of Europe and Japan had both announced a late August release date for the game, but there hadn’t been a peep about what was happening in North America.

Rumors eventually surfaced that Nintendo had dropped Devil’s Third in North America, though another publisher could step in. That was followed up by a recent report from Siliconera (a site with a reliable track record) indicating that a separate company had indeed picked up the title, and there were strong signs that the mystery publisher was none other than XSEED – a partner Nintendo had worked with for the launches of The Last Story and Pandora’s Tower in the states.

We mentioned that Siliconera had heard about Nintendo not handling Devil’s Third in North America. This is something that Nintendo Enthusiast previously reported on previously as well, in which they wrote:

At E3, we spoke with a very high level figure in Nintendo of America about Devil’s Third, who will remain anonymous. Their quote on the matter? “We aren’t handling that game”. At first, I didn’t know exactly what that meant, but the more I thought about it, the more damning it felt. In simple terms, it appears that Nintendo of America will NOT be publishing the game here.

Siliconera and Nintendo Enthusiast weren’t the only outlets that had received similar information. We’re also aware of a writer from a well-known gaming website who was also under the same impression regarding the fate of Devil’s Third in North America.

Well before the drama surrounding the game escalated, one person who obtained knowledge about the situation – who wishes to remain anonymous – reached out to a top developer at Nintendo. This developer works with Nintendo of America on a daily basis, and said that the company wouldn’t be publishing Devil’s Third in North America. He compared it to a potential Disaster: Day of Crisis situation. That Wii game did release in Europe and Japan, but never made its way to North America.

It did truly seem as though Nintendo wouldn’t be in charge of Devil’s Third in North America, and there were plenty of signs that pointed in this direction. It was strange, then, that Nintendo responded to the speculation – something the company rarely does – this past weekend and stated that they are “excited to bring the game to Wii U and will have more to share soon.” So what happened?

We’ve heard that concerns about the quality of Devil’s Third caused Nintendo to initially drop the game in North America. While it was initially thought that the title had moved to XSEED, things supposedly changed following backlash from gamers. Nintendo had been receiving a great deal of flack when rumors about the company not distributing Devil’s Third in North American began to pick up steam. Because of what transpired, Nintendo is now looking into publishing and backing Devil’s Third once again.

I can’t say that I know for certain what is happening inside Nintendo. However, all of the information that’s out there – as well as what I’ve heard personally – suggests that the original plan was to have XSEED handle Devil’s Third in North America. In the end, perhaps it doesn’t matter as we now have absolute confirmation that Devil’s Third will be launching in all major territories.

More: Devil's Third, top, Valhalla Game Studios

Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 18 Comments

It’s looking like Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival will feature online play. In a tentative display box, it’s stated that players “can also party online with friends”. That may make the game a bit more enticing for some fans!

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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, General Nintendo, News | 11 Comments

Japanese developer Yoot Saito posted a lengthy blog about the passing of Nintendo president Satoru Iwata yesterday. In it, he discusses his first meeting with Iwata, working on an idea or StreetPass way back in the day, how he came up with putting a speaker on the Wii Remote, and perhaps most surprisingly, confirmed that Seaman for 3DS once existed.

You may recall that Seaman was rumored for 3DS back in 2012. We now know that the project once existed, but Saito sadly gave up on the project.

Head past the break for Saito’s entire heartfelt message. The translation comes courtesy of Zefah.

I heard the tragic news about the passing of Nintendo’s president, Iwata-san… I can’t believe he’s gone.

I first met Iwata-san back in 1996, so it was a time before you would typically see him in a suit. It was at HAL in Kofu. I remember that he always carried around a Mac (PowerBook), which was quite rare in the games industry. I think that formed a bit of connection between us—a feeling that we shared the same interests. It was around the year after that when I saw him with a G3 PowerBook, which even I had hesitated to buy, and I remember thinking, “this guy really loves Macs.”

It wasn’t until a bit later that I got a chance to work with him. It was around the time when Seaman was taking the world by storm and I was really busy working on planning for the sequel and taking interviews and such.

Iwata-san got in touch and asked if we could meet, and he even came all the way out to the apartment I was renting in Tokyo to see me.

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More: Satoru Iwata, Seaman, top, Yoot Saito

Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 1 Comment

Nintendo updated the Iwata Asks homepage today with a special banner. It reads, “These installments of Iwata Asks remind us of our dear colleague, friend and mentor, Mr. Satoru Iwata, upon his passing.” You can check it out towards the top of the page here.

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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments

Camp Miiverse has come to a preemptive close. In an official post on the social network, it was announced that all future activities have been cancelled in light of Satoru Iwata’s passing.

“Please accept my deepest and most sincere gratitude to everyone who joined,” Nintendo’s Tom wrote. “We hope you had fun playing, and continue to do so playing our games. Thank you.”

Here’s the full message:

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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in GameCube, News | 21 Comments

Project X Zone 2 director Kensuke Tsukanaka, speaking with Siliconera, explained why Baten Kaitos isn’t represented in the games. Monolith Soft developed Baten Kaitos and its sequel along with the Project X Zone titles.

Tsukanaka was also asked if we’ll ever see Baten Kaitos again, even if it’s outside of Project X Zone.

Here’s what Siliconera was told:

“So, do you remember that KOS-MOS and T-elos, from Xenosaga, were in the first Project X Zone game? We didn’t include them just because Monolith Soft was developing Project X Zone, we put them in there because there were so many fans of their games on the team, and that they happened to make sense for the world of the game.

“The reason there’s not Baten Kaitos characters in the story is because they just didn’t seem to fit in anywhere. As for [Baten Kaitos] itself outside of Project X Zone, well, I can’t really say much about that yet, but I think we need some substantial feedback from fans before moving forward with a project like that. What do they want to see from it? What platform do they want to see it on? If we can gather more voices for Baten Kaitos, then maybe we can start something with Bandai Namco Entertainment. That’s about all I can say right now!”

I honestly never thought I’d be writing about Baten Kaitos in a news post. I have so much love for the first game, though I’m ashamed to say that its sequel is sitting in my never-ending backlog. I’d be a massive supporter of a third Baten Kaitos!

Source, Image source

More: Baten Kaitos, interview, Kensuke Tsukanaka, Project X Zone, top

Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 7 Comments

A short while ago, Amazon announced that it will be the exclusive retailer to be offering the Palutena amiibo in both the U.S. and Canada. A representative for the site has since shared some additional information about what to expect.

The rep stated:

A few things to keep in mind, that we learned before wave 4:

1) We want to avoid resellers as much as possible, so she’ll be limited to 1 per customer.
2) We’re going to let everyone know when she’ll go on sale ahead of time.
3) That time will be during “normal business hours” (No 2:30am releases).
4) We learned from wave 4 that the time “windows” aren’t much different from just announcing a time, so I think that’s what we’ll be doing.

Also, we have a lot more stock than we’ve had of any other amiibo yet. I know we’ll end up selling out, but I think it’ll be closer to the Splatoon 3-pack or Charizard or something rather than Lucina/Robin in terms of how long they’re available (~15 mins after available). If you show up on time, you should be able to get one.

The same rep added, “I know that there’s a lot of concern, but these are not going to disappear instantly like Lucina/Robin. I’m confident that if you show up when they go on sale, you should be able to get one.”

Amazon will be selling the Palutena amiibo on July 24. More specifics are due on July 22.

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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 1 Comment

Today, Activision announced another set of songs that will be included in Guitar Hero Live. Each one is listed below.

OneRepublic – Counting Stars
Paramore – Now
The Mowgli’s – San Francisco
Cypress Hill ft. Tom Morello – Rise Up
Asking Alexandria – The Final Episode
The Vines – Metal Zone
Wolf Alice – Moaning Lisa Smile
Disturbed – Down With the Sickness
TV On The Radio – Lazerray
Foster the People – Coming of Age

Activision has also confirmed a pre-order bonus for Guitar Hero Live. By pre-ordering the game at GameStop, consumers will receive a free 30 day Pandora One Premium Trial. Those who have already reserved Guitar Hero Live also qualify for this promotion. You can visit a local GameStop at which the pre-order was made and pick up a trial code from a Game Advisor.

Guitar Hero Live launches on Wii U this fall.

Source: Activision PR

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