Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, 3DS eShop, News, Podcast Stories, Wii U, Wii U eShop | 0 comments

Nintendo has sent out a new release schedule for North America that reveals numerous release dates for upcoming games on its platforms. The graphic above confirms release dates for LEGO City: Undercover, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon, and more. Nintendo additionally revealed “LEGO City Undercover: The Chase Begins”, a 3DS prequel to the Wii U game, which “follows the exploits of Chase McCain as a rookie cop.”

Also worth mentioning: Game & Wario, The Wonderful 101, Pikmin 3 and Wii Fit U are all scheduled to arrive in the first half of the year.

The graphic above shows the full lineup of dates. Head past the break for the official news straight from Nintendo.

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

ZombiU has racked up a significant amount of deaths since launch. Ubisoft Montpellier’s Guillaume Brunier told Nintendo World Report that over 300,000 have been recorded. That’s 300,000 zombies. How high can the total go?

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Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, DS, News, Podcast Stories, Wii, Wii U | 0 comments

Famitsu published a listing of the top 100 best-selling games in Japan of 2012. Enterbrain compiled the data based on sales between December 26, 2011 and December 30, 2012.

Keep in mind that games bought directly on digital platforms are not included, nor are download cards purchased at retail. Titles bundled in with hardware are included.

The full lineup can be found in the graphic below:

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

ZombiU features multiplayer gameplay, but you can’t team up with a friend inside the campaign. The team did consider multiplayer for the main mode, though quickly decided against it due to time concerns. Ubisoft wanted to get ZombiU out the door in time for the Wii U’s launch.

According to producer Guillaume Brunier:

“We did, but we ruled it out quickly as we thought we could not deliver it on time. How to bring a cooperative experience and still keep fear and tension is a question we would love to address though.”

When asked if the the push to launch ZombiU alongside the Wii U required some aspects to be left on the cutting room floor, Brunier said:

“Cooperative play would be one example. There are also things that we should have left on the drawing board like the tapping gameplays to nail barricades or open manholes.”

Brunier also discussed the topic of online multiplayer. The team didn’t consider this aspect for too long since the staff “had other issues to address.” However, Brunier did share one dream that the team has:

“We did not spend a lot of time contemplating online multiplayer as we had other issues to address. In our most exciting dreams, we would like to create an online experience where players never quite know where they stand between coop and player vs. player. Doubt is a great nest for tension and fear.”

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Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Podcast Stories, Wii | 0 comments

It’s official: the Wii RPG trifecta is complete in the states. XSEED has just announced Pandora’s Tower localization for North America.

Pandora’s Tower will arrive in the states this spring. XSEED reached an agreement with Nintendo for publishing rights, just as it did for The Last Story.

Wii (and Wii U) owners will now have access to the console’s last three major RPGs from Nintendo. Xenoblade arrived last year, and The Last Story followed a few months after. Pandora’s Tower was the final title waiting to be localized.

Head past the break for the official announcement.

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

Update: Bumped to the front page. Posted more details below along with translations from Nikkei’s article.

Nintendo’s handheld and console development divisions have been maintained as separate entities. Next month, however, the two will be unified in a new headquarters location.

Apparently this move will be the first large-scale development structural change in nine years.

The reasons for unification certainly make sense. Developers from both fields will be able to share know-how, basic skills, and optimize development. Nintendo is additionally looking to increase the link between handhelds and consoles, raise affinity with the Internet, and develop revolutionary hardware.

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

Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two has been a relative sales bomb in the United States. According to the Los Angeles Times, it sold just 270,000 copies last month following a mid November launch.

Thus far, Epic Mickey 2 hasn’t attained nearly the same success as its predecessor. Remember: the fist title sold 1.3 million units in its first full month in the US. Making matters worse, Epic Mickey 2 was released on four different platforms (with PC and Mac versions on the way) compared to Epic Mickey 1’s standalone Wii SKU.

Surely the dip in sales is as least somewhat related to the low-quality of Epic Mickey 2. Whereas the original was considered to be decent, “2” took a number of steps back.

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Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News, Podcast Stories, Wii, Wii U | 0 comments

Another round of Disney Infinity details have emerged. Below you’ll find information covering pricing (starter pack, individual figures, and discs), specific tidbits about the Wii U version, and even a confirmation that there are plans for a sequel.

The new details are as follows:

– Won’t work without the special figures
– 17 initial characters
– A few of these will come packaged with the game
– Figures will cost $13 each
– $75 starter pack
– Features three playsets
– More characters and playsets throughout the year
– Buying add-on collectible toys unlocks more playable characters and brand new levels
– Power discs are RFID chips set in a small piece of plastic
– When a player stacks these up on the interface device, they might add specific new items into the Toy Box mode
– Other discs can augment game characters when you place them between the figure and the interface
– Wreck-It Ralph disc: more strength
– Power discs will be sold in blind packages
– $5 for two random discs
– Figures will be sold in Disney Stores and theme parks
– Not easy to convince John Lasseter to put every property into a single video game
– Blackburn’s first pitch to John Lasseter involved “all different kinds of toys… childish versions that didn’t articulate, full action figure versions, plushies and stuffed animals. When you put them all together, it looked really weird.”
– Lasseter didn’t like it, but he told Blackburn that if he could create one single toy line where Jack Sparrow and Sully the monster could stand next to each other and look like they were meant to be together, he could get behind the idea
– “He said he didn’t like it, but then he solved the problem for us.”
– Online and local multiplayer
– Playing through the various “playset” levels will let you unlock hundreds of new toys and parts to play with in Toy Box
– Can’t self-publish your creation in Toy Box
– Can invite a friend to join you online and test your game in real-time
– Before other players can save your level to their hard drives, it’s got to go through Disney
– Disney will solicit content and publish the best of the best
– Intended to keep the game safe for kids
– New characters and playsets will be included on the disc that players buy
– Won’t be playable until the toys are released later in the year
– iOS companion app will be released
– Each figure will come with a unique “web code” that will unlock that character in the PC and iOS versions of the game
– The team wants to add two-player split-screen for the Wii U version
– One player would use the GamePad, another would play through the TV
– Avalanche only just finished its engine since the Wii U just came out
– The team is currently putting in all features it can for the Wii U game
– Only has about a month of development time left to do so
– Plans are in the works for Infinity 2
– Disney is out to build a “platform”
– Disney can release Infinity levels and characters to promote them without necessarily having to create entirely new videogames for each of those properties

Head past the break for commentary from Disney and developer Avalanche Studios.

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

Disney Interactive is in the process of hosting a press event to unveil the first official details about Disney Infinity.

While the event is on-going, lots of information has already been shared. Among the notable details: coming to all platforms, will feature a cross-platform experience, and Monsters University, The Incredibles, and Pirates of the Caribbean are the first confirmed worlds.

More tidbits about the game are posted below.

– Brings players into the worlds of their favorite characters from the past, present, and future
– Coming to all platforms
– Mobile, console, online
– Like Skylanders
– Brings players into the worlds of their favorite characters from the past, present, and future
– Coming to all platforms
– Mobile, console, online
– Like Skylanders
– Captain Jack, Sully and Mr. Incredible confirmed as figures
– Figures unlock unique experiences for players
– Cross-platform experience
– First three worlds: Monsters University, The Incredibles, and Pirates of the Caribbean
– More franchises will be at launch
– Phineas and Ferb are among the playable characters
– Game confirmed for at least Wii U and Wii
– Comes with 3 play sets
– Launch in June
– “Will allow you to play with all your favorite Disney characters, without limits.”
– “Quality is the best business plan.”
– Disney Infinity came out of the Toy Box mode in Toy Story 3 game
– Lasseter is a huge fan of the vinyl figure market, so that’s part of what he loved about making vinyl figures with the game
– “it’s one of the most creative things I’ve ever seen in the interactive world. I’m really proud of it.”
– Toy Story and Cars characters will be in Infinity
– All of the Disney characters are stylized and look like they belong in the same universe
– They made sure all the play sets within the game modeled and felt like the worlds in the films, and true to property
– Infinity has “playset” action game levels
– Can only use a certain franchise in these levels
– Toy Box lets you mash everything up
– ‘Monsters University’ sees the rivalry between Minsters U and Feartech; college hijinks game
– Pirates playset takes place during the first three films
– Can customize gameplay
– Logic Editor: create video games
– Games based on Donkey Kong, Ivan “Ironman” Stewart’s Super Off-Road shown
– Can edit the camera for your games: side-scrolling, top-down view, etc.
– 4-player, drop-in/drop-out multiplayer
– Goat-like character Mike is riding on in the screenshot is called Archie the Scare Pig
– In Toy Box, can make buildings, road, terrain types, sky colors, and more
– One designer recreated Mario Kart’s Bowser’s Castle
– Power Discs: get extra interactive characters that you can’t play as, but interact with
– Worlds can be uploaded online, and Disney will promote the best ones for others to download
– In the world pirates of the Caribbean you can decide how to equip your own pirate ship
– Multiplayer sees one player steer the ship, another on cannons. Or both on the offensive in a heated battle

Source

Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS eShop, News, Podcast Stories | 0 comments

Jett Rocket 3DS was originally subtitled “Super Surf”. Ultimately, this was nothing more than a codename.

Developer Shin’en confirmed on Twitter today that the eShop game will be known as “Jett Rocket II – The Wrath of Taikai”:

Source