Wii U

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

Given the success of Activision’s Skylanders franchise, it isn’t surprising to hear that a third entry in the series is most likely on the way.

Skylanders Giants features a post-credits scene that essentially confirms another sequel. If you’d like to read up on the details from the scene, head past the break. Beware of spoilers!

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

If you had any sort of doubt that Pikmin 3 wouldn’t be releasing during the Wii U launch window in North America, that should dissipate once you finish reading this post.

Basically, Nintendo published a tiny blurb in the latest Iwata Asks discussion that said that Pikmin 3 would be released in Spring 2013. That set off a firestorm of concern that the game could be missing the launch window.

The notice has since been updated and now reads:

“Pikmin 3 is scheduled for release for the Wii U console in the spring of 2013 in Japan, and during the Wii U launch window, from system release thru 3/31/2013 in the US. (Editor’s note 10/19/2012: We originally published the article citing only the expected release timing in Japan. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused.)”

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

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

Straight Right is working on a AAA port of a multiplatform Square Enix game for Wii U. We still don’t know which title this is, but you can cross one off the list.

Crystal Dynamics’ Meagan Marie confirmed that there still aren’t any plans for a Wii U version of Tomb Raider.

She said:

“Tomb Raider is in development for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. No Wii U at this time!”

And thus the guessing game continues. Hitman: Absolution? Sleeping Dogs?

Anyone have their own guess?

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

If there is a new Mass Effect game (it’s really a matter of when, right?), it won’t star Commander Sheppard at all. BioWare would look to take the franchise in a different direction with a brand new hero.

BioWare Montreal producer Fabrice Condominas explained:

“There is one thing we are absolutely sure of – there will be no more Shepard, and the trilogy is over. This is really our starting point. Now the Mass Effect universe is vast, and very, very rich. So at this point in time, we don’t even know what kind of time frame we’re going to be in. All we’re doing is more gathering ideas from the teams, gathering feedback to see several things. So first, we don’t want to make ‘Shepard 2?, or Mass Effect 4 with like, ‘oh there’s no more Shepard but you’re a soldier in the universe’. So this will be a very, very different context for sure, and nothing has been decided on the rest.”

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

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

I’m posting this with some (okay, a lot actually) hesitancy. The source code on Demon’s Tribe initially listed Wii U, but all signs since then have pointed to an iOS release.

So we are posting this trailer, but this may be the last time you hear about it on here – unless SEGA confirms that this is in the works for Wii U.

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

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

Update: Or maybe not. This is getting complicated again!

As NE reader Jake directed to us, PDP said the following about their afterglow headsets:

“Afterglow wireless headsets are compatible with Wii U. If the game chat utilizes the USB port of the Wii U console then the AG headset can receive the chat audio wirelessly. If the chat audio is directed through the 3.5mm audio jack on the Wii U pad then user can plug in the provided chat/game audio cable. It depends on how the game / chat audio is designed.”

So it looks like this will be another game-by-game basis thing again. With Black Ops II, wireless chat won’t be possible since it uses the the 3.5mm jack. As far as other games go? Guess we’ll have to wait until the console is actually out to know for sure. But it looks like it will certainly be able to work with a wired connection, and some games may be able to take advantage of the headset wirelessly.

One of the big, negative points made about the Wii U’s handling of voice chat is that the console won’t make use of wireless headsets. Mad Catz’s products are wired, as are the headsets made by Turtle Beach.

These two companies may be out of the picture for now, but PDP does offer a solution of its own. If you’d like a wireless experience on Wii U, it looks like you can purchase the “Universal Afterglow Wireless Headset”.

It’s not a Wii U-exclusive product – it also works with the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Wii, PC, and mobile devices.

GameStop is selling the headset for $89.99. It’s expensive, but it should get the job done.

Thanks to Metaldave for the tip.

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

Skylanders Giants is coming to the Wii U this year, though it won’t be taking advantage of the console’s NFC functionality.

Toys for Bob studio head Paul Reiche has indicated that the team is interested in the feature. At the same time, he feels that the Skylanders portal will continue to act as a “fundamental” aspect for Activision’s IP.

“The problem is, if you look at the NFC, it’s in the GamePad, which is really convenient if you want to do the traditional ‘swipe your card’, but trying to set a toy on there, it slides off. At first, we looked at the NFC feature before we got the hardware specs and we were, like, ‘Uh-oh, now everybody can do this’. Then we saw the Raving Rabbids and the video that showed them putting the toy on the GamePad. Unfortunately, [Ubisoft] dropped that feature, and I think for potentially the same reasons, which is – for an ongoing game mechanic, it didn’t seem well-suited, as you are holding the GamePad.”

Reiche went on to further discuss the relationship between the LightCore toys – which light up when close to a portal and do not require batteries – and NFC:

“If you take any of our new LightCore toys – any of our toys that have lights – and if you take them up to any NFC field, they’ll start to glow. There’s definitely a relationship between them in the future that we could use. The ability to take your toy into your mobile and play with them somehow seems really compelling, but we don’t have that yet.”

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