Last month we reported on some unfortunate muscle pains that were plaguing Smash Bros. director Masahiro Sakurai, but this month we have some even worse news: Doctors say the issue is more severe than originally thought, and he’ll have to cease using his right arm almost entirely in the coming weeks. Don’t take my word for it, though, here’s Sakurai himself explaining the issue in a weekly blog he writes for Famitsu:

“I think the one word I’ve said the most this year, by far, is ‘Ow!’. Not only am I getting calcific tendonitis, but they’ve also found what are apparently several ruptures in the muscles. There’s no instant cure for it, so all I can do is either block the pain with injections or put my arm in a cast to keep the ruptures from spreading. I was told that the important thing was to keep my arm as rested as possible.”

“If this disorder lingers, or if it never gets fixed, there’s no telling what impact that would have on the project. I’ve had to control two characters at once in a lot of game projects up to now, so as long as I keep it to simple moves, this works well enough. It doesn’t go that easy with the Nintendo 3DS version, though, and the debug camera is pretty hard to control. Still, now I realize how important it is to have your health. I’m glad I’m still in good enough shape to work.”

– Kirby, Smash Bros. Creator Masahiro Sakurai

Well… at least we know the 3DS version has a debug camera now! Best of luck to Sakurai, and I think I speak for a lot of folk when I say I hope he gets better both for Smash Bros. and for his own sake!

Via Polygon

LEGO Batman games sell 14.4 million units

Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, DS, News, Wii | 0 comments

Two LEGO Batman games have shipped since 2008. Collectively, LEGO Batman and LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes have sold a total of 14.4 million units. The latter title has moved over 3.4 million copies since launching in June.

Warner Bros. hopes to continue building off of LEGO Batman 2’s success. A Wii U version of the game is planned for spring.

Source

GameStop ad (2/27 – 3/5)

Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, DS, News, Wii, Wii U | 0 comments

This week’s GameStop deals are as follows:

Media Create hardware sales (2/18 – 2/24)

Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, DS, News, Wii, Wii U | 0 comments

The latest Japanese hardware sales from Media Create are as follows:

3DS LL – 49,317
3DS – 25,412
PS3 – 18,529
Vita – 11,456
Wii U – 9,633
PSP – 8,981
Wii – 1,317
Xbox 360 – 473

For comparison’s sake, here are the hardware numbers from last week:

3DS LL – 66,139
3DS – 31,832
PS3 – 16,934
Wii U – 10,744
PSP – 10,501
Vita – 8,044
Wii – 1,655
Xbox 360 – 506

Light Blue, Gloss Pink 3DS colors announced for Japan

Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News, Podcast Stories | 0 comments

Update: These colors are for the original 3DS. Sorry for the confusion!

Two new 3DS color variations are making their way to Japan. On March 20, the country will be receiving the “Light Blue” and “Gloss Pink” hardware models. Each will be available for 15,000 yen.

Thus far, all Japanese 3DS systems have come with a 2GB SD card. Nintendo will be packing in a 4GB card for the Light Blue and Gloss Pink releases.

A couple of photos of the new colors are posted above.

Super Robot Wars UX character trailer

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

4-minute Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon trailer

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

Namco Bandai the latest company with a boxart screwup

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

Capcom has been notorious for its boxart screwups in recent years. There was the “Resident Evil: Revelaitons” spelling error. And don’t forget the IGN watermark on Okami Wii’s box!

But Capcom isn’t alone. Other companies mess up boxarts as well – like Namco Bandai. The publisher is just a week away from launching Naruto Powerful Shippuden, though appears to have incorrectly spelled the game’s title.

Take a look at a photo of the 3DS box:

Something tells me that Namco Bandai meant “Naruto”…

Source

Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan launch trailer

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

Soul Hackers voice acting “cut back just a touch” for US release

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

Devil Summoner Soul Hackers features a ton of voice acting. Atlus did manage to localize the game to its fullest, but voices have been “cut back just a touch” for the North American version.

According to Atlus’ Alex Armour:

“We did not shy away from making the game fully English voiced. It’s almost as much as the JP version but it is cut back just a touch. It’s still a very robust production for voicing.”

Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers is due out in April. The 3DS release will mark the first time that the game will be available in North America.

Source