Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash team on HD development, new characters, amiibo, and online play
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 23 Comments
Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash finally launched in Japan last week. To celebrate, Famitsu spoke with a few developers who worked on the game. The lineup includes director Shugo Takahashi and producer Hiroyuki Takahashi from Camelot as well as Nintendo producer Toshiharu Izuno.
Our complete translation of the interview can be found after the break. The staff touched on topics like approaching HD development for the first time, how new characters were selected, amiibo integration, and online play. There’s also an interesting bit about how Nintendo was initially opposed to including Boo in Mario Tennis 64.
Online Wii U maintenance next week
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 0 comments
More online Wii U maintenance is set for early next week (online play, rankings, etc.). This will be taking place on Tuesday for folks in North America, and just as Wednesday begins in Europe.
Here’s the schedule:
– 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)
This isn’t the only maintenance happening next week. The Wii U and 3DS eShops, Wii Shopping Channel, and DSi Shop will be down on Monday.
More: maintenance
Metacritic’s 2015 game publisher rankings – Nintendo at #6
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News, Wii U | 40 Comments
Nintendo was the top-rated publisher in Metacritic’s 2014 rankings. In 2015, the company came in at the sixth spot.
Nintendo’s best overall release last year was Mario Kart 8’s second DLC pack, which earned a 90 percent average (also users’ favorite at 9.2). On the other end of the spectrum, Devil’s Third was the worst with an average of 43 percent from critics. Splatoon was the best new IP with 81 percent.
Here’s the analysis from Metacritic:
“It wasn’t a good year for the Nintendo brand. A year after finishing first in our rankings, Nintendo saw its average Metascore decline by nearly five points and its percentage of games receiving positive reviews fall from 56% to just 41%. The company once again released more unique titles than any other publisher, but too few of them connected with critics. The duds seemed to be spread fairly evenly among Nintendo’s two platforms, with its Wii U titles averaging 71.3 and its 3DS games averaging 71.9.”
And here are the overall 2015 rankings:
More: Metacritic
A look at the cloth map included with the Zelda: Twilight Princess HD Collector’s Edition guide
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 6 Comments
Coinciding with the launch of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD month is a guide from Prima. Along with a standard version, a collector’s edition is also in the works.
Those who opt for the collector’s edition will have a special book with a gold foil stamped hardcover and feel—plus gilded pages. Additionally, a cloth map will be included, and we have our first look at it above.
The Zelda: Twilight Princess HD Collector’s Edition guide is currently $15 off on Amazon. You can pre-order it here.
Zelda: Twilight Princess HD frame rate test
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Videos, Wii U | 51 Comments
Digital Foundry’s latest video takes a look at the frame rate in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD. For the most part, it maintains a steady 30 frames per second. There are only small dips here and there. Check out the full video below.
Splatoon – Ancho-V Games has a poster for a mini-game that doesn’t currently exist
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 13 Comments
Splatoon has a few mini-games, most of which are unlocked via amiibo. There are only four included at the moment… but could another one be on the way?
In Splatoon’s final map, Ancho-V Games, players have noticed that a poster can be seen showing a non-existent mini-game. Since most mini-games are unlocked with amiibo, some believe this is further evidence that more figures are on the way. There have been rumors surrounding Squid Sisters amiibo, though nothing has been confirmed at this time.
More: Splatoon
Media Create software sales (1/25/16 – 1/31/16) – Top 50
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News, Wii U | 10 Comments
This week’s expanded Japanese software sales are as follows:
01./00. [PSV] Dragon Quest Builders: Alefgard o Fukkatsu Niseyo #
02./00. [PS4] Dragon Quest Builders: Alefgard o Fukkatsu Niseyo
03./00. [WIU] Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash
04./00. [PS3] Dragon Quest Builders: Alefgard o Fukkatsu Niseyo
05./00. [PSV] Uta no Prince-Sama: Music 3 #
06./01. [PS4] Yakuza: Kiwami
07./00. [PS4] Romance of the Three Kingdoms 13 #
08./02. [PS3] Yakuza: Kiwami
09./06. [3DS] Monster Hunter X #
10./00. [PS3] TV Anime Idolm@ster: Cinderella Girls G4U! Pack Vol.8
11./00. [PS3] Romance of the Three Kingdoms 13 #
12./03. [3DS] Hyrule Warriors Legends #
13./08. [WIU] Splatoon #
14./00. [PSV] Gakusen Toshi Asterisk Festa: Houka Kenran #
15./10. [3DS] Yo-Kai Watch Busters: Red Cat Team / White Dog Squad
16./11. [PSV] Minecraft: PlayStation Vita Edition
17./09. [3DS] Monster Strike
18./04. [PS4] Just Cause 3
19./13. [WIU] Super Mario Maker #
20./26. [PSV] Mobile Suit Gundam Extreme Vs-Force #
More: charts, Japan, Media Create, sales
Zelda: Twilight Princess HD tweet (2/5/16)
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 1 Comment
A new Twilight Princess HD tweet has been posted by the Japanese Zelda Twitter page. This time, Malo provides some information and observations about the Wolf Link amiibo.
Here’s our translation:
“…It’s Malo. It’s the amiibo brought by the bearded pops (Aonuma). It’s rare [to see] an amiibo that’s jutting out from its pedestal… The pedestal also has a Triforce mark drawn on it… Speaking of which that pops comes to my store quite often… Hey you’re not busy, are you? Go back to your work.”
Super Mario Maker – Paranormal Research Event Course, Professor E. Gadd costume now live
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 0 comments
Super Mario Maker has added another new Event Course called “Paranormal Research”. After completing it, players can unlock the Professor E. Gadd costume.
Here’s the official course description:
“Professor E. Gadd works tirelessly day and night on his studies of spooky spirits.
‘I fear there may be a new breed of ghost lurking somewhere in this old mansion! Hurry and investigate! You’ll have to wait for yourself what haunted secrets await!'”
And a look at the level as well as the new outfit:
More: Super Mario Maker
Zelda: Twilight Princess HD tweets (2/4/16)
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 2 Comments
Three more Twilight Princess HD tweets have hit the Japanese Zelda Twitter page. Malo once again provides the information, and today he focuses on some of the game’s new features.
Below are the translations:
“…It’s Malo. The information about the world I live in and the new features added this time have come… You can also look thoroughly at Wolf Link’s amiibo, so I guess I shall go [see it] after closing up my shop…
…It’s Malo. The stamps that can be used in Miiverse are sleeping inside dungeons and all over the field… There are also Hyrule alphabet stamps, so please do find them…
…It’s Malo. So with the GamePad screen, you can freely shift the items, huh… It can also be changed to showing maps that also show the destination point, so the screen at your hand will be of much help in both fields and dungeons…”
?????HD?…????????????????????????????????…?????????????????????????????????????????????????????… pic.twitter.com/wr4laqlhRn
— ?????? (@ZeldaOfficialJP) February 4, 2016
