Nintendo wins patent case filed against 3DS and other handheld systems
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, DS, GBA, News | 13 Comments
Nintendo has announced that the company has come out victorious in another patent case. Quintal Research Group, Inc. had filed a lawsuit against Nintendo with the assertion that the 3DS, DSi, DS, Game Boy Advance, and four other systems infringed a patent. On July 17, Judge Armstrong dismissed the case after determining that this was not so.
Devon Pritchard, Nintendo of America’s General Counsel and Senior Vice President of Business Affairs, said of today’s news:
“We are very pleased to have this case dismissed. The result in this case continues to prove that Nintendo will vigorously defend its innovations against patent lawsuits and will not pay to settle cases simply to avoid litigation. Nintendo continues to support patent reform efforts that reduce the unnecessary and inefficient burden cases like this one place on technology companies in the United States.”
Source: Nintendo PR
Yoshi’s Woolly World 3DS theme out in Japan next month
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 1 Comment
Yoshi’s Woolly World is getting a new 3DS theme. In an email sent out to Japanese fans, Nintendo confirms that this will be available sometime next month. It should eventually release in both North America and Europe as well.
More: 3DS themes, Japan, Yoshi's Woolly World
Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer getting Monster Hunter and 7-Eleven collaborations in Japan
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 3 Comments
Nintendo is planning two collaborations for Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer. In Japan, players will be able to participate in opportunities from Monster Hunter and 7-Eleven.
With the Monster Hunter collaboration, a new Felyne character will be available. Players will be able to obtain different items in relation to Capcom’s famous series.
7-Eleven’s collaboration also provides players with a new character known as 7 Gou. This event gives items based on the store as well. It’s possible to participate in the 7-Eleven collaboration by visiting a local store and using a hotspot.
Famitsu review scores (7/21/15)
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 5 Comments
This week’s Famitsu review scores are as follows:
Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer (3DS) – 9/8/9/9
Prince of Stride (PSV) – 9/9/7/7
Zettai Meikyuu Himitsu no Oyayubi-hime (PSV) – 8/7/8/7
Fushigi no Chronicle: Furikaerimasen Katsu Madewa (PS4/PSV) – 7/8/8/7
Klap!! Kind Love and Punish (PSV) – 8/8/7/7
Wan Nyan Animal Hospital (3DS) – 7/7/7/7
Princess PreCure: Sugar Kingdom and the Six Princesses (3DS) – 7/7/7/6
Daisenryaku Exceed II (PS3/PSV) – 7/5/6/6
More: Famitsu, Famitsu scores
Super Robot Wars BX main characters revealed
Posted on 9 years ago by Matt(@OnePunchMaz) in 3DS, News | 0 comments
The next installment in the Super Robot Wars franchise will be released in Japan on August 20th. Famitsu revealed the two main characters in their latest issue:
(translations courtesy of Gematsu)
- Youta Hiiragi (Protagonist, voiced by Yoshitsugu Matsuoka) – He appears more grown-up than he actually is, and holds high respect for the Super Robot Army and Earth Federation Army that protect the public order. He doesn’t have any special abilities, but he’ll throw himself into battle in the name of justice. His robot is named Falsaber and is voiced by Masaki Terasoma
- Yuki Hiiragi (Heroine, voiced by Mai Nakahara) – A girl who lost her memory and has been living at Youta’s house for the past six months. She has a bright and straightforward personality, but is a bit estranged from the ways of the world and common knowledge due to her memory loss. She does show a deep interest in historic ruins and ancient civilizations, however.
More: Japan, Super Robot Wars BX
Interview with the producer of Metroid Prime: Federation Force
Posted on 9 years ago by Matt(@OnePunchMaz) in 3DS, News | 19 Comments
CGMagazine recently interviewed Kensuke Tanabe, the producer of the upcoming 3DS title Metroid Prime: Federation Force. Here are some excerpts from the interview:
Where did the concept of Blast Ball come from and how did you kind of come to the concept of taking Metroid Prime and enter it into a competitive shooter type thing?
So first off, I’d like to let you know that Blast Ball is part of a game within Federation Force. So when I was working on the Prime series, I always thought of looking at the game from a different perspective. So as you’ve seen Prime Hunters, that’s my attempt to bring different bounty hunters into the series. So the Metroid series itself belongs to Mr. Sakemoto, but within the Metroid Prime series, I haven’t seen anything that was focusing on the Galactic Federation against the Space Pirates so it’s sort of that balance. So that’s one of the things I thought and felt like the fans were curious about. They wanted to see a little more about that and that’s sort of the idea behind the creation of this game, and I have always been thinking about it. I’m finally able to accomplish it after 10 years or so. As such, that’s sort of how I decided to have the co-op mode with up to four players.
So with the co-op in mind, I also understand that the first person shooting games, there are different levels of game players. Some of them are very good; they’re very advanced, and some of them are not so good at it. So I wanted to have a mode where people can all play together on the same reign basically, and so that’s sort of the idea behind Blast Ball. So if you have a survival mode where you have to kill each other, obviously the advanced player is going to blast through the other players. There’s no chance for the beginners to move. If you take a look at that huge ball in the middle of the field, it’s much easier for you to target it and puts everyone on the same playing field no matter the skill level. Another thing to note is that if players experience this mode, then they’ll be able to learn the controls and be able to apply that to the main story itself. So while they have a lot of fun playing this game, with this mode they will also be able to learn how to play without any complicated tutorials.
Now when it comes to the world of Metroid Prime, I know a lot of fans are very loving of that series. Will you be carrying over any of the references or things people might love from the series into this game or will this be a completely new experience with no mention of the Metroid Prime games?
So the core game system itself is pretty much a brand new thing. I’d like to clarify it. So you can play as a solo player or up to four players. Each player will be given a mech with all the same base specs. It is then up to them to pick a load-out before they go on to a mission. You’d be able to choose items such as missiles or repairs or other things like that. However, the player would also have to consider that there’s a weight limit to the mech. The super missile is something that’s very powerful but because it’s so heavy, you’ll only be able to carry one or two at most at a time. As opposed to that, a repair capsule is pretty light so you’ll be able to carry multiples. So depending on how the player feels, they might choose to bring a powerful weapon like a super missile or some other people might choose to be more like a healer type to bring in repair capsules. So the load-outs will basically give players the choice to choose what type of character they will be in that mission.
So Samus will be in the game in some element?That’s for sure. You will see her in some way. I feel like that’s something nice about this game. It’s kind of like a mix.
Check out the full interview here.
A closer look at Yo-Kai Watch Busters’ strong sales debut in Japan
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 2 Comments
Yo-Kai Watch Busters sold 694,000 copies in its first two days on the Japanese market. Media Create reports that the White Dog Squad earned 423,000 of those units while Red Cat Team moved the remaining 271,000 copies. Yo-Kai Watch Busters also became the best-selling game in Japan this year in terms of first week performance (previously Dragon Quest Heroes).
There were 1.159 million pieces of software sold between July 6 and July 12, which was brought about thanks to 3DS titles like Yo-Kai Watch Busters. It’s the first time in roughly 3.5 months that this happened on the Japanese market.
It’s true that Yo-Kai Watch Busters sold 52.67 percent compared to Yo-Kai Watch 2’s debut, which is roughly half. However, there is a difference in the sales period, and Busters isn’t a numbered title and instead a game mode from Yo-Kai Watch 2 that received an independent release. It can be thought that mostly old fans of the series bought Busters.
Media Create also notes that Yo-Kai Watch didn’t do much for 3DS hardware sales, and that strengthens the assumption that mostly existing users bought the game.
More: Japan, Level-5, Media Create, sales, Yo-Kai Watch Busters
Monster Hunter X devs explain the game’s title
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 2 Comments
Capcom has a number of new Monster Hunter games on the way, including Monster Hunter X. This one is actually pronounced “Monster Hunter Cross”.
How’d Capcom end up settling on the name? This is something that members of the development team touched on during an interview with Famitsu.
Monster Hunter X producer Shintaro Kojima started out with the following:
“Just as we said earlier, old and new elements cross over together [in the game]—so it bears the connotation of mingling. Moreover, the letter X looks like it divides the given space into four… so four hunting styles, four large main monsters, four villages. They’re all crossing.”
Producer Ryozo Tsujimoto then chimed in:
“We actually hesitated a lot [when coming up with the title]. Many title candidates were brought up, but ultimate it was the power of the letter’s appearance… the force one feels from the ‘Cross’ that led to [the choice of X].”
Finally, we have these words from director Yasunori Ichinose:
“It isn’t as though there was a particular reason for the number four; it just came about naturally through discussions. It was the same when creating the main monster. Usually, we only create one monster to highlight, but by making four of them we could think about creating monsters we couldn’t make so far.”
“The same goes for the hunting styles. We though that bringing out the individual play styles of players and increasing the amount of freedom through several play styles would be nice… and that’s how the different elements diversified and each of them just so happened to total up to four. It wasn’t predetermined, but personally speaking, I feel things worked out rather nicely in the end.”
Update: Amazon price-match – Best Buy: $10 off Smash Bros, Mario Kart 7, Pokemon X/Y, Luigi’s Mansion, Mario Party 10
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News, Wii U | 2 Comments
Update (7/20): Bumped to the top. These prices have been price-matched on Amazon. See here
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Best Buy has discounted a number of Wii U and 3DS games. The following titles are seeing a $10 discount:
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U – $49.99
Super Smash Bros. for 3DS – $29.99
Mario Party 10 with Mario amiibo bundle – $49.99
Mario Party 10 – $39.99
Mario Kart 7 – $19.99
Pokemon X – $29.99
Pokemon Y – $29.99
Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon – $29.99
You can give Best Buy’s sale a look here. It should last through July 25.
Diancie to be distributed for Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire this week
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 1 Comment
Pokemon Omega Ruby and Pokemon Alpha Sapphire will be taking part in a distribution for Diancie this week. Between July 24 and July 27, those in North America and Europe can obtain the Pokemon via the Nintendo Network.
Diancie features a number of moves, including Diamond Storm, Moonblast, Dazzling Gleam, and Protect. When you receive it, Diancie should come with its Mega Stone to allow for Mega Evolution.
Check out a trailer for the Diancie promotion below.
