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

Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition was the IP’s first foray on consoles. Microsoft currently has exclusive rights to the franchise, meaning it can’t land on other dedicated gaming devices just yet.

Eventually, Microsoft’s deal with Mojang will expire, and Minecraft could end up on additional platforms. But, unfortunately, Jens Bergensten says that a Wii U version is “very unlikely.”

According to Bergensten:

“Microsoft has an exclusivity deal for consoles. When it runs out we’ll consider Minecraft for PlayStation, but Wii U is very unlikely.”

Source, Via

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

Renegade Kid will be bringing three games to PAX East later this month: ATV Wild Ride 3D, Mutant Mudds Deluxe, and a new shooter for the 3DS. The latter two titles will be making their playable debuts.

Notice that Treasurenauts isn’t included in Renegade Kid’s PAX lineup. According to Renegade Kid co-founder Jools Watsham, the studio will have news about the project after the expo. Watsham said that the game is “not too far away”.

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

Ubisoft France boss Xavier Poix answered a whole bunch of questions in a new IGN interview. Topics include Ubisoft’s strategy when it comes to Rayman, Wii U NFC, and Beyond Good & Evil 2.

We’ve rounded up Poix’s comments below.

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

A new Wii U system update is now available for Wii U. Users can upgrade their console to version 2.1.3.

According to a notice posted on Nintendo’s official support site, the download makes “Further improvements to overall system stability.”

The page also confirms that a bigger firmware release – announced a few months back – is due out in April. It “adds new features and further improvements to the user experience”.

Source

Posted on 11 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in News, Podcast Stories, Rumors, Wii U | 0 comments

By NPD’s count, the Wii U had an absolutely abysmal January, selling somewhere between 49K and 59K units throughout the whole month. According to a source at Gamasutra, however, they may have been a little closer to 100K in actuality.

The source claims that about 100,000 units went off store shelves during the first month of the year, but nearly 40% of that was eventually returned by people who were planning on re-selling the system for a profit on eBat, Craigslist, and the like. Because demand is so low for the system, they were unable to re-sell. This is what caused the 50K-60K readout by NPD, despite the fact that 100K units had been sold in total without considering returns. Another source at Gamasutra helps confirm this, saying that for every 100 Wii U units sold in any given store this past January, roughly 40-50 of them were returned.

The only problem? If this is true, it arguably bodes worse for Wii U than if it’s not true. Having a 40% return rate on your console– regardless of why– is definitely not a good thing.

Via Nintendo Life

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

Is Xenoblade heading to Wii U? I personally wouldn’t bet on it. However, there are two retailers hinting at a Wii U version of Monolith Soft’s RPG.

Best Buy as well as Walmart list Xenoblade for Wii U. My guess would be that this is simply an error, as the listings were probably intended for “X” instead.

Although, given how difficult it is to find Xenoblade for Wii these days, re-releasing the game and in HD may not be such a bad idea…

Source

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

Nano Assault EX will be released in Europe (and hopefully North America) later this week. In addition to this, Shin’en is teasing “something for our longtime fans”.

The studio wrote on Twitter earlier today:

No idea what this is about… but it should be interesting!

Source

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

Vidyo, the company powering the Wii U’s chat application, appears to be working on new functionality for the console. An official PDF document from Vidyo suggests that “multi-party conferencing” and communication between a Wii U and a mobile device could be on the way. There’s also a mysterious mention of something labeled as “video-powered game experiences”.

Take a look at the relevant extract from the PDF below:

Focus on social networking around gaming
Now: video chat in Miiverse
Next: video-powered game experiences

Chat today, conferencing soon
Now: point-to-point
Next: multi-party conferencing

Extending to mobile devices soon
Now: between Wii U consoles
Next: between Wii U and mobile devices

Along with the hinted additions mentioned above, Nintendo has previously teased plans to improve Wii U Chat in other ways. For instance, in an Iwata Asks discussion, Satoru Iwata suggested that it may eventually be possible to chat with other system users without having to turn off a game.

Source

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

If you haven’t done so already, you can reserve The Wonderful 101 from a pair of notable retailers. Amazon has a pre-order page here, and GameStop’s product page is located here.

Nintendo has been keeping quiet when it comes to The Wonderful 101’s release date. The company has only confirmed that the Wii U game will be available in the first half of 2013.

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

We hate to say it, but Retro City Rampage is pretty much being sent to die on WiiWare. Perhaps that’s why Vblank Entertainment’s Brian Provinciano – creator of the project – called it a “$20,000 gift to the fans”.

At this point, the interest in WiiWare has deteriorated significantly. It probably would have made more sense to bring the game to the Wii U eShop – but things aren’t that easy.

In order to make a Wii U eShop port possible, Vblank “would need to be completely ported from scratch”, according to Provinciano. It would also require “a new round of paperwork, platform requirements, e-manuals, game ratings, store metadata and assets, submission and certification.” Another port would require a great deal of work, and at present, the amount of versions Provinciano has worked on “left me very drained and physically sore after the long hours at the computer”.

“The problem is that the Wii U is a completely different system. You can’t just plop Wii code onto it, add some Wii U features and call it a day. It would need to be completely ported from scratch. On top of that, it means a new round of paperwork, platform requirements, e-manuals, game ratings, store metadata and assets, submission and certification. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t simply be a week’s work or such. Much of this was already done for the WiiWare version when the Wii U came along, so switching platforms still would’ve meant almost double the work. I’ve already ported the game to more systems than any one man developer has in history, and it’s left me very drained and physically sore after the long hours at the computer – over three years without a vacation or a day off. My mousing shoulder and neck is seized up right now from all of the time at the computer. So, no plans for more ports, I need to let my body rest without putting in the long hours for a while. Fortunately, WiiWare games can still be purchased and played on the Wii U.”

Source