After leaving Maxis in 2009, Chris Hecker began work on a new indie title known as “SpyParty”. The game has been in development for quite awhile, but an early-access PC beta finally kicked off earlier this year.

Wii U owners may be interested to read that SpyParty could come to the console. Hecker told GamesMaster that he has access to a devkit and will “find out if SpyParty works on it fairly soon.”

“They sent me a devkit, actually, and it’s sitting right here, so we’ll find out if SpyParty works on it fairly soon. The design challenge is going to be, ‘how much does it matter that the Spy can see the Sniper’s screen?’ Obviously the Spy needs to be on the controller, but that means the Sniper’s view is on the TV, and I’m not sure how much that matters yet. I think the Spy will be pretty busy looking at the controller screen, but even a glance up at the TV will affect the game, so it’s going to take some design work and play-testing to figure out.”

SpyParty still has a long ways to go before its official release. It doesn’t have a ship date yet, but perhaps we’ll hear about a concrete date next year.

Thanks to joclo for the tip.

Tank! Tank! Tank! gets downloadable version in Japan, including free basic pack

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

Namco Bandai has dated Tank! Tank! Tank! for Japan, and is doing something rather interesting for the downloadable version.

The game is hitting retail on February 21 for 5,040 yen. But those who are interested in a downloadable version won’t have to wait nearly as long. Tank! Tank! Tank! will hit the Japanese Wii U eShop on December 26 – yes, tomorrow.

Here’s where things get interesting. A “basic pack” containing a city level with Free for All, Team Battle, and Giant Monster modes (in addition to multiplayer) will be free, but can only be played three times per day. It sounds like the limit can be removed once players purchase one or more pieces of DLC.

Other pricing information:

– Beach, canyon, volcano maps for 200 yen each
– My Kong mode: 1,000 yen; sale price of 200 yen through January 31
– Campaign mode: 2,200 yen
– 4,800 yen to upgrade to the full game
– 5,600 yen if you wait until the My Kong sale is over
– Full downloadable version of the game coming 5,040 yen on February 21

Source

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate Wii U runs at 38 FPS on average

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

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate doesn’t run at 60 frames-per-second on Wii U. In actuality, it maintains an average of 38 FPS.

An analysis done by one Japanese blog indicates that Ultimate experienced a minimum frame rate of 32 FPS. The maximum FPS came in at 47 FPS. MH3 Ultimate doesn’t appear to suffer from any screen-tearing.

Source

Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge Kasumi screenshots

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

Looks like Wii U GamePads are region-locked as well

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

Nintendo implemented a region-lock on the Wii U console. As a result, titles purchased in North America won’t work on a system in other countries (and the same goes for other territories).

The region-lock seems to goes beyond this. It appears that GamePad controllers are also locked to their country of origin.

News floating around Japanese blogs indicates that a GamePad purchased overseas won’t work on a Japanese Wii U. This is almost certainly the case for other territories as well.

It’s worth noting that all GamePads contain region codes in the model number. That should be the key when it comes to determining if a controller will work in a certain territory.

Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge Kasumi DLC now available

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

Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge players can now download a new character to their game. Kasumi is now available through a free update.

You don’t need to do anything special in order to add Kasumi to the game. Simply boot up Razor’s Edge and data should be automatically downloaded.

Trine 2: Director’s Cut update now set for January

Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Podcast Stories, Wii U, Wii U eShop | 0 comments

Trine 2: Director’s Cut’s update has been pushed back slightly. It’s now on track for a release in early January.

When the update is approved, it will go live in North America and Europe at around the same time. Europe may get the update a couple of days earlier though.

According to Frozenbyte’s Joel Kinnunen:

“It’s being tested by Nintendo. Right now the holiday period doesn’t help though – we were hoping to get it approved and released by Friday but alas, looks like it has to wait until early January now. (Pretty much the same goes for North America, although we did make one mistake with that build so it might be a couple of days later than Europe – but this isn’t exact science so who knows.) Sorry!”

Source

Famitsu review scores (12/25/12)

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

This week’s Famitsu review scores are as follows:

White Album 2: Shiawase no Mukougawa (PS3) – 10/9/9/9
New Super Mario Bros. U (Wii U) – 9/9/9/9
Nintendo Land (Wii U) – 9/8/9/9
Glass Heart Princess (PSP) – 9/8/8/7
Tokyo Yamanote Boys Portable (PSP) – 8/8/7/7
Black Wolves Saga: Last Hope (PSP) – 8/7/7/7
Daiya no Kuni no Alice: Wonderful Wonder World (PSP) – 7/7/7/6
Suiheisen Made Nan Mile? (PSP) – 7/7/6/6
Yaneura no Kanojo (PSP) – 6/6/6/5