So much for yesterday’s tease! Batgirl won’t be in Batman: Arkham Origins, despite a note from WB Games Montreal’s Eric Holmes at Comic-Con yesterday that seemed to hint at the character’s possible inclusion. Speaking with IGN, Holmes flat-out confirmed that Batgirl will not be appearing in Origins. Oh well…
NeoGAF member “ash_ag” has come across… something interesting on the 3DS eShop. His post would probably be much clearer than anything I could produce, so here’s his explanation:
I entered the Nintendo eShop to download a game that was releasing today and happened to be on my watchlist. A notification lead me right into it as soon as I entered, but due to not having enough empty space, I first had to delete something (via the eShop option). When I returned to download the game, it said I should live 3DS to charge a bit more (as it does when the battery is almost dead) and lead me to the main menu which was, well, different.
There are several minor UI updates as well as listings of Wii U games and collections. An error occurs when trying to get more info on a Wii U game, while collections seem to lead to unrelated 3DS categories (for example, ‘Wii U Demos’ leads to ‘Nintendo 3DS (Cart/Download)’ if I recall correctly).
‘Menu’ is mostly the same, though the top screen visuals are a bit different I think. Wii U games listings lead to the Wii U game (with its price, but no images), much like Earthbound. Also, 3DS VC listings had vanished, and Wii U ones seemed to be appearing instead (like Metroid and Kid Icarus, which much like Earthbound weren’t downloadable).
We’ve heard talk of Nintendo Network IDs coming to the 3DS, and people have speculated about Nintendo linking the Wii U and 3DS eShops. Maybe this is one step closer to that? Or is this nothing more than some random glitch?
While the Wii U may not be doing so well in the UK, it’s a completely different situation for the 3DS. Nintendo says that the portable is now outselling the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 week-by-week, MCV reports.
The 3DS’ strong performance can be partially attributed to the release of Animal Crossing: New Leaf, plus other hit titles. Amazingly, 3DS is the only gaming platform to sell more software compared to the previous year.
Nintendo UK’s head of consumer marketing James Honeywell said:
“Software sells hardware. You must have heard that from us a lot. And the same can be said for Wii U as we move into peak season. With such a strong line-up of titles that are so critically acclaimed, it is just a perfect storm. It has made it the format of the moment. Sometimes 3DS, or handheld in general, suffers because people tend to focus on the home console market. But 3DS is really doing the numbers right now.”
Despite the lack of news surrounding Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse, WayForward creative director Matt Bozon has confirmed that development “has not slowed at all.” If all goes well, fans will be playing the game this fall.
WayForward apparently has “some pretty big surprises to reveal.” The studio hopes to share more news soon, but for now, Bozon hopes that players can experience the original Shantae, which just launched on the 3DS eShop.
Bozon said:
“…Development on Pirate’s Curse has not slowed at all. From the start we’ve have a dedicated team working full time unlike in past years where we’d put Shantae on hold while we worked on licensed games. At our current size we can have many games in development, which has been critical to keeping this game on schedule. Currently we’re looking at a Fall release in 2013. …the game looks beautiful and we’ve got some pretty big surprises to reveal. Like BIG surprises, and I’m really looking forward to sharing more! For now, please support us by picking up the original Shantae, which is currently on Virtual Console at $4.99. Think of it as a $1,995.00 off sale compared to the recent eBay price!”
