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
Uchikoshi has high aspirations for Zero Escape, wants the series to appeal to mainstream gamers
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, DS, News | 10 Comments
Zero Escape director Kotaro Uchikoshi has high hopes for the series. Speaking with Gamaustra, he mentioned how he wants it to reach the same sort of success as TV dramas like Lost and 24.
Uchikoshi also said that wouldn’t be satisfied with Zero Escape only being a cult hit, and he’d like for the franchise to “appeal to mainstream gamers.”
Uchikoshi’s comments in full:
“Compared to other media, I feel like fans support us feverishly. It’s very humbling and I appreciate it very much. The full impact is just beginning to hit me.”
“… if you look at TV dramas such as Lost, 24, and Prison Break, those are considered to be very successful. You have to be that big to consider yourself to be successful. I know you might laugh, thinking, ‘Wow, you’re comparing yourself to a different scale,’ but with my development staff, [publisher] Aksys’ help, and our fans’ continued support, I feel like it’s a possibility to reach that level.”
“Rather than being ‘a cult hit that only core players know,’ we are constantly thinking how we can appeal to mainstream gamers. Therefore, if we want to make our project even bigger, we need to work on it.”
Video: A look into the development of Metroid Prime Hunters, Dread, Federation Force
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, DS, General Nintendo, Videos | 7 Comments
Liam Robertson has created a new video that looks back on three Metroid projects. It mainly focuses on the troubled development of Hunters and the cancelled Dread game, thought there’s a tiny bit on Federation Force as well. Check out the video below.
Zero Escape 3 – more philosophical, answers questions from Virtue’s Last Reward, importance of fans
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, DS, News | 5 Comments
Zero Escape creator Kotaro Uchikoshi shared a few more details about the series’ third entry while speaking with IGN.
Uchikoshi started out by saying that moral elements “will be the main theme” for this new project.
“Your way of thinking, values, virtues will be intensely [shaken] during this game, This game is even more philosophical than the past volumes. Of course it’ll be entertaining too!”
Uchikoshi confirmed that Zero Escape 3 will answer all remaining questions from Virtue’s Last Reward. He added that “as a story [Zero Escape] will definitely end at Volume 3.”
“I intend to answer every mystery left during VLR and the mysteries in ZE3 would be solved as well. This game will not end in a cliffhanger. However please take it as one break…if there are still fans requesting, I can not deny that there will not be new incidents arriving either.”
Finally, Uchikoshi talked about how the fan responses led to 999 becoming a trilogy.
“I wasn’t thinking of doing a continuation during 999. However thanks to fans world wide giving the game a high praise it grew into a series. I am very thankful for this. Especially for Volume 2 and 3, my intentions were them being paired as a set so I really wanted to make Volume 3 happen.”
Monolith Soft: From A to Xeno (Part 2)
Posted on 9 years ago by Patrick(@Patricklous) in DS, Features, Game of the Month, Wii | 8 Comments
As June draws to a close, I’m back with a second look back at the history of Monolith Soft and the games they created over the last generation of Nintendo consoles – with the exception of the actual Game of the Month. This was a period of change for the company and saw the release of several more experimental titles. Bandai Namco sold the majority of their stock in Monolith Soft to Nintendo in 2007 and while they wouldn’t become a first-party developer until later, all games from this point on would be on Nintendo consoles. Despite this, Monolith would still keep close ties with their previous owner, who took on publishing duties for some of their more niche games. Following the release of Baten Kaitos Origins there was a gap of two years before Monolith Soft’s next title – Soma Bringer.
Video: A look at how Metroid Prime: Federation Force stacks up to Hunters
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, DS, Videos | 6 Comments
Metroid Prime: Federation Force – made with New 3DS in mind, thought about Wii U, tried multiplayer Metroid game for DSi
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, DS, News, Wii U | 11 Comments
Engadget has published a new interview with Nintendo’s Kensuke Tanabe about Metroid Prime: Federation Force. Tanabe discussed the game’s origins, revealed that a Wii U version was considered, and spoke about how Nintendo tried making a multiplayer Metroid game for the DSi. There’s that and much more in the interview roundup posted after the break!
More: interview, Kensuke Tanabe, Next Level Games, top
Rumor: Asda to no longer carry 3DS, Wii, and DS products
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, DS, Rumors, Wii, Wii U | 1 Comment
Asda, a retailer in the UK, will apparently stop selling 3DS, Wii, and DS games. This supposedly includes Wii U as well, which is strange since Asda was seemingly done with the console in 2013.
This is all part of a range change taking place in eight weeks. Stores are being advised to clear through stock at discretion with sale stickers.
Star Fox Command’s initial prototype was “very much like the original Star Fox”
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in DS, News | 1 Comment
Star Fox Command could have ended up as a very different game. Initially, the plan was to make it “very much like the original Star Fox,” according to developer Dylan Cuthbert.
So what happened? Cuthbert recently stated that Shigeru Miyamoto “specifically told us to take the game in the direction of Star Fox 2”. He wanted the game “to be more experimental” and to use the “DS’ tow screens in as interesting a way as possible.”
Cuthbert’s comments in full:
The initial prototype we made was very much like the original Star Fox, but Miyamoto specifically told us to take the game in the direction of Star Fox 2 and I was happy to explore those more strategic themes. Miyamoto told us to be more experimental, using the DS’ two screens in as interesting a way as possible. Takaya Imamura was stationed in our office permanently during development and created the story lines and other character-based parts to the game.
More: Dylan Cuthbert, interview, Star Fox Command
A look at the cancelled DS game Initial D EX
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in DS, News | 0 comments
SEGA was once developing Initial D EX for the DS. Unseen64 reports that the company’s “Rosso” department was working on the street racing game back in 2007/2008.
Interestingly, Initial D EX was never actually announced. We only know of its existence thanks to a few images that briefly appeared on the SEGA Rosso website.
A screenshot from Initial D EX can be found above. Unseen64 has a few additional ones here.
