There’s been no shortage of Wii U and 3DS maintenance as of late. In a few hours, Nintendo will keep things going with more downtime for its two platforms. Wii U and 3DS online play, rankings, and other network services will be affected.

The first period is actually only for Wii U. Maintenance will begin at the following times:

– 4:50 PM PT (Tuesday) – 6:30 PM PT (Tuesday)
– 7:50 PM ET (Tuesday) – 9:30 PM ET (Tuesday)
– 12:50 AM in the UK (Wednesday) – 2:30 AM in the UK (Wednesday)
– 1:50 AM in Europe (Wednesday) – 3:30 AM in Europe (Wednesday)

More Wii U and 3DS maintenance will begin a couple of hours later:

– 8 PM PT (Tuesday) – 1 AM PT (Wednesday)
– 11 PM ET (Tuesday) – 4 AM ET (Wednesday)
– 4 AM in the UK (Wednesday) – 9 AM in the UK (Wednesday)
– 5 AM in Europe (Wednesday) – 10 AM in Europe (Wednesday)

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Wii U facing some supply issues in Japan

Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 55 Comments

The Wii U is having a tough time with supply in Japan at the moment. It has sold out at one chain completely (Yodobashi) and is not available online at Amazon or Tsutaya. With Yodobashi, only backorders are available. That’s all mixed in with users reports on Twitter.

Gamerlife speculates that production may not have kept up with demand following perhaps unexpectedly good sales during the holiday season. We’re not talking about a phenomenon like the Wii during its early days, but there does seem to be a lack of supply currently.

Source, Via

Sakurai talks about trying to keep Smash Bros. fresh with new fighters

Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News, Wii U | 56 Comments

Last week, Nintendo brought out the final DLC characters in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS. Director Masahiro Sakurai gets reflective in his Famitsu column with development having wrapped up. His piece is about exhaustion and stimulation. Based on what’s written, it seems to refer to a cycle with continuous updates, where a game starts being exciting, but over time people may get a little bored (exhausted), and that’s when the development staff have to think about new things (schemes) and implement them into the game so that it becomes exciting again (stimulant).

Sakurai starts off by touching on Smash Bros. DLC just slightly. Aside from Lucas and Roy – who have been represented in Smash before – the DLC characters were made to offer unique gameplay. Sakurai refers to Corrin with his transformation and super range as well as Bayonetta who makes use of special combos, gun shots, and Witch Time.

More: Famitsu, Masahiro Sakurai, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U/3DS, top

Scans roundup – Ace Attorney 6, new Story of Seasons, Zelda: Twilight Princess HD, more

Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, Images, Wii U | 2 Comments

This week’s Famitsu scans are now available. Highlighted games include Ace Attorney 6, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD, Shin Megami Tensei IV Final, and Story of Seasons: Good Friends of Three Villages. Scans of each title can be found in the gallery below.

More: Famitsu, scan

Zelda: Twilight Princess HD tweet (2/8/16)

Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 20 Comments

“Malo” is back with his latest Twilight Princess HD on the Japanese Zelda Twitter page. Today, the character talks a bit more about Hero Mode.

Here’s our translation:

“…It’s Malo. In Hero Mode, the world becomes horizontally reversed… You also take twice the damage… You look so glad aren’t you… then stack it up with Ganondorf’s amiibo… You’ll take 4 times more damage then. …You look really glad now. So you have such a hobby eh…”

Source

More: Tantalus, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD

Big Red Button reflects on Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric, SEGA on Sonic’s future and more

Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 50 Comments

Today, Polygon published a massive piece about Sonic’s history. The site chronicled the series’ early times all the way up through Rise of Lyric as well as the future (in general terms).

We highly suggest giving the full article a read here if you’re a fan of Sonic. But after the break, you can find a breakdown of comments from Big Red Button CEO and co-founder Bob Rafei about Rise of Lyric as well as other comments from SEGA about the franchise.

More: Big Red Button Entertainment, interview, SEGA, Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric, Sonic the Hedgehog, Takashi Iizuka, top, Yuji Uekawa

UK software sales (Week ending 02/06/2016) – Wii U/3DS charts

Posted on 8 years ago by Matt(@OnePunchMaz) in 3DS, News, Wii U | 0 comments

This week’s Wii U/3DS-specific UK software sales are as follows:

Wii U

1. Lego Marvel Avengers – Warner Bros. Interactive
2. Splatoon – Nintendo
3. Super Mario Maker – Nintendo
4. Mario Kart 8 – Nintendo
5. Yoshi’s Woolly World – Nintendo
6. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U – Nintendo
7. Xenoblade Chronicles X – Nintendo
8. Bayonetta 2 – Nintendo
9. Mario Party 10 – Nintendo
10. Just Dance 2016 – Ubisoft

3DS

1. Lego Marvel Avengers – Warner Bros. Interactive
2. Mario Kart 7- Nintendo
3. Pokemon Alpha Sapphire – Nintendo
4. New Super Mario Bros. 2 – Nintendo
5. Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer – Nintendo
6. Pokemon Omega Ruby – Nintendo
7. Animal Crossing: New Leaf – Nintendo
8. Tomodachi Life – Nintendo
9. The Legend of Legacy – NIS America
10. Mario Party: Island Tour – Nintendo

Source: Chart-Track