Rain Games has confirmed its upcoming puzzle-platformer, Teslagrad, for Wii U. It’s coming to the eShop in Q4. The Wii U version will release alongside the other versions – PlayStation 3, PC, Mac OS X, and Linux.
For the official announcement, a bunch of screenshots, and a couple of videos, continue on below.
Last night’s 3DS firmware update introduced a major bug in Europe (and possibly Japan). The new StreetPass content included with the upgrade appears to have resulted in crashes for a significant portion of the 3DS population. Some users who attempt to access the new “Shop” section and purchase one of the four mini-games are unable to do so.
Thankfully, Nintendo is looking into the situation. A Nintendo UK spokesperson said:
“We are aware of some reports of technical difficulties which are occurring and are currently investigating the situation.”
Square Enix made a surprise announcement during Sony’s E3 2013 press conference last week. Kingdom Hearts III, a title fans of the series have been dying to see for many years, was finally revealed. It was later confirmed that an Xbox One version is in the works as well.
Sadly, Square Enix’s tradition of not releasing Kingdom Hearts games on Nintendo home consoles will likely continue. Tetsuya Nomura all but ruled out a Wii U version of Kingdom Hearts III at Square Enix’s Future of Final Fantasy E3 event a few days ago. When asked about the title possibly coming to Wii U, Nomura explained that the team is developing it using DirectX 11. Square Enix can only bring the game to hardware that is “appropriate” for Kingdom Hearts III.
The Wii U’s inability to properly support DirectX 11 is apparently one of the major reasons third-parties pointed to when asked why their PlayStation 4/Xbox One games aren’t planned for Wii U. That could be a significant problem for the console and Nintendo going forward.
The last Metal Max game, Metal Max 3, launched as a DS game back in 2010. Kadokawa Games will be continuing the series on Nintendo’s next portable later this year.
Today, Famitsu revealed Metal Max 4: Moonlight Diva for the 3DS. Only one tidbit has emerged thus far: Metal Max 4 will offer downloadable content.
Metal Max 4: Moonlight Diva is hitting Japan this fall.
It has been made clear that Nintendo was unable to deliver all of its intended software for Wii U on time. Nintendo has cited a number of reasons for development days, such as the difficulties in making the jump to the HD era. It’s also true that more time than usual was needed to bring some 3DS content to market.
Nintendo president Satoru Iwata also pointed out during the Q&A portion of Nintendo’s E3 2013 analyst briefing that the company must polish its games to the highest level. With the popularity of games on smart devices and other recent trends, Iwata feels that “it is becoming increasingly more difficult to have consumers understand and appreciate the value that a particular game offers than ever before.”
Putting out the highest-quality products is therefore essential. Nintendo feels the need to “improve and re-polish any game that we feel is still lacking in quality.” If Nintendo were to release poor software, consumers’ trust could be lost and the brands of popular franchises could be damaged.
Nintendo has some free-to-play software in the works. What exactly the company has planned is unclear, but we do know that it will have nothing to do popular franchises such as Mario and Pokemon.
Putting out free-to-play software provides Nintendo with “greater flexibility in terms of how we offer our products to consumers and how to monetize them”, president Satoru Iwata explained during an E3 2013 analyst briefing. However, Iwata warned that unbalanced such software “could result in some consumers paying extremely large amounts of money, and we can certainly not expect to build a good relationship with our consumers in this fashion.” Balanced and reasonable free-to-play games are needed so that Nintendo can maintain “a favorable long-term relationship” with consumers.
Iwata estimates that we’ll be seeing Nintendo’s first free-to-play title this fiscal year.
Asymmetric gameplay was intended to be one of the Wii U’s key features. Yet, it hasn’t caught on with consumers just yet.
This is something that Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata acknowledged during Nintendo’s E3 2013 analyst briefing Q&A. Iwata also feels that Nintendo Land hasn’t been able to step into the same role as Wii Sports did for the Wii.
To remedy the situation, Nintendo will continue to release titles in order “to show how convenient and delightful it is to have the Wii U GamePad controller, and how it changes the gaming experience.” The company hopes that will games such as Pikmin 3, consumers will begin to think, “Indeed it is good to have a GamePad.”
Last week, Nintendo held an analyst briefing at E3 2013. It was led by Nintendo global president Satoru Iwata. Following the presentation, Iwata conducted a brief Q&A, and one analyst pressed the CEO further about third-party support on Wii U.
Iwata iterated two points: the plan to bring Nintendo games to the console one after another to create momentum for the platform and that “third-party software developers actively working on software for Wii U right now.”
Iwata also pointed out how, if the Wii U gains momentum and other third-parties do well, people will begin to “definitely question” those who do not support the system.
