Planes: Fire & Rescue and Violetta games heading to Wii, 3DS, DS
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, DS, News, Wii | 0 comments
Little Orbit is teaming up with Disney Interactive to bring two new titles to Nintendo platforms.
Planes: Fire & Rescue is due out this fall while a Violetta video game based on the tween telenovela, Violetta, from Disney Channel will launch in late summer. Both titles will be available on Wii, 3DS, and DS.
Planes: Fire & Rescue is releasing in North America, Europe, and Australasia. Little Orbit intends to bring the Violetta game to Europe and Australasia, and South America.
Overviews of both games are as follows:
Planes: Fire & Rescue will extend the storyline of the film, taking fun to the skies with action-packed fire-fighting. Players can embark on adventures with all their favourite characters from the movie.
Violetta will take players on an all-star experience as they experiment with music and rhythm and to become a star performer. Players will collect points to unlock costumes, art and more to customize their musical experience.
Rumor: Disney Infinity 2.0 to launch in August
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Rumors, Wii, Wii U | 1 Comment
A couple of tidbits about Disney Infinity 2.0 have appeared from a report on the official Disney Fan Club D23 – including a release window.
D23, which has since pulled its post, stated that Disney Infinity 2.0 will launch this August. The game will feature “familiar Marvel characters, objects, and vehicles”.
Official details about Disney Infinity 2.0 will be shared during a reveal event on April 30.
Activision initially approached Nintendo to partner on Skylanders
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii, Wii U | 25 Comments
During the early stages of Skylanders’ development, Toys for Bob and Activision approached Nintendo in hopes of finding a partner for its new IP. Toys for Bob traveled to Nintendo of America’s offices and presented its idea, co-founder Fred Ford told Polygon.
He said:
“We had been directed towards thinking about something that would play well with Nintendo. I think there was some co-marketing money and the Wii was doing well. They had some success with peripherals.”
“They spent a long time looking and looking. They were just like ‘we have never seen anything like this before.’ I’ve always wondered about the full meaning of that comment [laughs].”
Polygon adds that there there was a limited co-marketing deal, but Nintendo didn’t want to make a full commitment to Skylanders.
“We have no idea why. Clearly, they have got properties well suited to this world. Why it is that they didn’t rush in here will probably haunt them for the rest of their days.”
More: Activision, Skylanders, top, Toys for Bob
CyberGadget releasing Wii U GamePad “Handle Stand” in Japan
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii, Wii U | 0 comments
CyberGadget will be releasing a “Handle Stand” for the Wii U GamePad in Japan next month. Essentially, it turns the controller into a wheel which can then be used for racing games. The package also comes with a more traditional wheel that has a slot for a Wii Remote.
The Cyber Handle Stand will be out sometime next month. Pricing is set at 4,298 yen.
More: CyberGadget, Japan
Nintendo gives Wii Remote Plus controller the royal treatment
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii, Wii U | 3 Comments
A few months ago, Nintendo released special Mario and Luigi Wii Remote Plus controllers. Peach is now joining in on the fun as well.
Starting in late April, consumers can purchase a special pink controller featuring a crown design over the speaker, blue buttons that echo Peach’s royal jewelry, and a golden-yellow plus pad that evokes her regal crown. Pricing is set at $39.99.
Source: Nintendo PR
More: Mario, top, Wii Remote Plus
New Skylanders game reveal to take place next week
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii, Wii U | 4 Comments
Activision will reveal the next entry in its incredibly successful Skylanders series next week. The company has started sending out invites for a media event being held on April 23 to debut “the latest innovation from the franchise that created the toys-to-life category.”
More: Activision, Skylanders, top
Star Wars not currently planned to join Disney Infinity
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii, Wii U | 0 comments
Recently, the Disney Store posted a Darth Vader figurine photo on Facebook, which features a base similar to the existing Disney Infinity toys. This led to questions regarding the possibility of Star Wars joining the popular sandbox game.
The Disney Store has since clarified that the photo is not at all connected to Disney Infinity, noting that there are “no plans for Star Wars to join Disney Infinity at this moment in time”.
The full message reads:
“Whilst there are no plans for Star Wars to join Disney Infinity at this moment in time… please do continue to check back for more exciting updates to our Star Wars collection.”
Disney and Marvel to unveil Disney Infinity collaboration later this month
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii, Wii U | 0 comments
We got a first glimpse of Disney an Marvel’s collaboration for Disney Infinity last week. Later this month, we’ll be seeing the full extent of their partnership.
Disney has started sending out media invitations for an event set to take place on April 30. The company plans to show off “the latest chapter of Disney Infinity”, though it’s unclear if this refers to a brand new game or an add-on to the existing title.
More: Disney Infinity, Disney Interactive, Marvel, top
Cancelled Darth Maul game started out as a Nintendo exclusive
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, General Nintendo, News, Wii, Wii U | 27 Comments
Some time after the release of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II, Nintendo and LucasArts were discussing the possibility of creating a new intellectual property for Wii, 3DS, or Wii U. Game Informer reports in its latest issue that the negotiations led to a Darth Maul game.
Red Fly began handling prototype work in 2010 under the code name “Damage”. Ultimately, the project became a multiplatform release and shifted development to the Wii U, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC “due largely to Nintendo not meeting financial demands to make it a first-party project.”
As for the game itself, Red Fly’s original idea was to create a title that would explore the origin story of Maul’s transformation into a Sith Lord. A number of ideas were considered such as creating a title focusing on stealth and action. George Lucas also stepped in at one point and changed the project’s direction, resulting in a story that would have Darth Maul and Darth Talon facing off against Darth Krayt and his Sith army.
Several prototypes later, LucasArts felt that Red Fly was in a position to create the project. LucasArts also considered the possibility of purchasing the studio.
Sadly, in June 2011, LucasArts ceased its communications for unspecified reasons and eventually sent out a letter stating that the game had been terminated. Red Fly Studios did manage to continue on despite Darth Maul’s cancellation and lack of funding, though the team did end up having to lay off about 70 percent of its staffers.
More: LucasArts, Red Fly Studio, top
New console from China comes with a blatant Wii Remote rip-off
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Wii | 3 Comments
Throughout the Wii’s lifecycle, we saw various rip-offs of the console, many of which originated from China. We’ve moved on to Wii U now, but copycats continue to surface – like the “G20”.
Chinese online retail giant Alibaba and electronics company Xiao Bawang are teaming up to produce the new console. The system itself isn’t a complete Wii rip-off, but it does make use of a controller that possesses some blatant Wii Remote similarities.
