GameStop still says Wii U sales have been “disappointing”
Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Podcast Stories, Wii U | 0 comments
GameStop CEO Paul Raines once again said that Wii U sales have been “disappointing” even though the console’s November launch “exceeded our expectations” during a post-earnings financial call today. Wii U sales have slowed since the start of 2013, according to Raines.
Two reasons were cited for the system’s poor performance. Raines first noted how Nintendo’s marketing has “not broken through the way that it needs to” and that consumers haven’t been able to fully grasp its features, such as the GamePad.
“We still have an education process we need to go through.”
Raines also pointed to the absence of big system-sellers on Wii U. While New Super Mario Bros. U was a compelling release from Nintendo, interesting titles have been missing in action over the past few months.
Raines said:
“We’re seeing the ramifications of that today.”
Injustice: Gods Among Us Black Adam trailer
Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Videos, Wii U | 0 comments
Assassin’s Creed III devs on cross-studio work and its advantages
Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Wii U | 0 comments
During a GDC panel yesterday, the developers behind Asssassin’s Creed III discussed how four different studios came together to make last year’s action-adventure game. Ubisoft Quebec game director Marc-Alexis Cote, Ubisoft creative director Alex Hutchinson, Ubisoft game director Damien Kieken, Ubisoft Montreal senior producer Francois Pelland, and Ubisoft Singapore senior producer Hugues Ricour participated in the discussion.
Ubisoft Montreal was mainly in charge of Assassin’s Creed III’s core design and main missions. Singapore handled naval battles while Annecy tackled multiplayer. Finally, Quebec “tried to create the sense of the American Dream”, according to Hutchinson.
Having numerous studios work on a project has numerous advantages. Adopting this process does, for instance, let developers polish certain aspects to their fullest potential. It also allows for issues to be solved, sometimes overnight.
“When you are a co-dev partner, you will focus on a limited amount of features. Those features, you will be able to polish them. It’s not easy. It’s not rainbow land. It’s something that you need to work hard at to make it work. But if you do that, I really think it holds the keys to next generation development.”
Lots of details from the Japanese Iwata Asks: Game & Wario
Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 0 comments
Nintendo has published the next entry in its Iwata Asks discussion series. This time around, Satoru Iwata sat down with Yoshio Sakamoto, Masamichi Abe, and Naoko Mori for a chat about Game & Wario.
An English version isn’t available currently, but NeoGAF member “StreetsAhead” did translate a significant amount of points from the interview. There’s talk about how the Wii U title wasn’t always planned as a Wario game, how Nintendo of America influenced the naming of the project, and more.
Head past the break for the full summary.
DICE explains reasoning behind lack of Battlefield 4 Wii U, says Frostbite isn’t supported currently
Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Podcast Stories, Wii U | 0 comments
What started out as a simple question ended up turning into a complicated answer.
You may remember how at Nintendo’s E3 2011 press conference, EA CEO John Riccitiello – now gone from the company – essentially promised Battlefield for the Wii U. He teased: “Imagine a shooter, like Battlefield, with jaw-dropping graphics and smooth character animations of the Frostbite engine, brought to you on a Nintendo system with that breakthrough controller.” Now along with Battlefield 3, Wii U won’t be getting Battlefield 4.
So what exactly is preventing a Wii U port? DICE was approached by Eurogamer in search of some answers.
You can read up on the company’s reasoning below, which also includes a confirmation that the game’s Frostbite engine currently isn’t supported on Wii U.
Listing covers Nintendo’s involvement with LEGO City: Undercover
Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Podcast Stories, Wii U | 0 comments
LEGO City: Undercover was developed by TT Fusion, but Nintendo certainly played a role in the game’s development. Of course, the Big N did publish the title, though the company typically hasn’t been too involved with titles created by outside studios.
The amount of Nintendo staff who worked on LEGO City: Undercover may surprise you. Producer Masakazu Miyazaki, co-producer Azusa Tajima, executive producer and Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, and countless others contributed to the Wii U release.
You can find a complete listing of Nintendo staff who worked on LEGO City below.
Details from the Nintendo Web Framework GDC session
Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Podcast Stories, Wii U | 0 comments
A few hours ago, Nintendo held a session at GDC to show off its new Nintendo Web Framework for the first time. Polygon was at the event and has a write-up of the proceedings. We’ve posted a summary of the report below.
– Nintendo first showed Wii Street U
– This is one of the first apps built from the Nintendo Web Framework
– Nintendo Web Framework uses WebKit as a core
– Compatible with existing apps
– Framework can help make apps that run on the GamePad, TV, or both
– Can also be used to port games made using web technology much faster than it would take to port over a game by actually coding it for the Wii U specifically
– Gunman Clive isn’t a Nintendo Web Framework game, but it’s an example of how a game available on other platforms can benefit from being on a Nintendo system and having access to more precise control methods
– Nintendo senior software engineer Ryan Lynd took over the presentation to show off some of the specific steps in the Nintendo Web Framework process
– Simple video-on-demand app was first demonstrated
– This shows the software’s ability to make changes, refresh, and see them reflected on the GamePad or TV screen instantly — the same way a web developer would work on a web app
– Sketch Ball: simple platformer made entirely in Javascript and ported to Wii U with the Nintendo Web Framework
– Lynd showed off the ability to quickly create new stages using HTML backgrounds as well as the option to use the GamePad’s camera and accelerometer
– Sketch Battle will be included in the Nintendo Web Framework SDK as a demo for developers to mess around with and learn from
– Nintendo Web Framework’s codename was Bamboo
– Name was chosen since the plant grows quickly over a short span of time
– In an effort to live up to that name, Nintendo is pursuing some aggressive developer-friendly policies with Nintendo Web Framework
– Devs can obtain the Framework SDK for free after signing an agreement
– Only necessary to purchase a dev kit
– Nintendo will not require concept approval so that developers can choose their own price and release date for apps
– Will also allow for use of freemium models in apps developed in the Nintendo Web Framework
– Nintendo also has plans for Unity game engine support on the Wii U
– More Unity Wii U details this week
