Nintendo Everything

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.”

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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!”

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Picross e2 is officially set for release in North America. Developer Jupiter sent out an announcement today, confirming that the game will be available at the end of this month (next Thursday, one would assume).

That’s not all: if you’re looking for even more Picross, you’ll be pleased to know that Picross e3 is also on the way. According to Jupiter, it will be hitting the North American and European 3DS eShops in September.

Source: Jupiter PR

SEGA has a pair of Sonic Lost World accessory sets lined up for Japan. First, the “Sonic Character Case Set”, priced at 2,980 yen, includes a 3DS XL case, pouch, and soundtrack CD. SEGA will also release the “Earphone Set” for 2,480 yen. This comes with official earphone jacks.

Game Freak, developer of the Pokemon RPG titles include Pokemon X/Y, has opened a new teaser site. Access it here.

We don’t know much at the moment, but text included on the page seems to be talking about some kind of surprise collaboration and a classic game. Stay tuned for further details.

Some gamers feel that the Assassin’s Creed games have lacked satisfying endings. Perhaps the “cycle” will be broken with this year’s release, Black Flag.

Assassin’s Creed IV lead writer Darby McDevitt recently took to Twitter and said that the upcoming title will in fact be satisfying:

You’ll be able to place your own judgement on Black Flag’s ending when it launches in October.

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