We now have the full details on Nintendo’s plans to expand StreetPass availability in western markets.
Nintendo president Satoru Iwata announced today that 28,000 Wi-Fi access points in the US and 24,000 access points in Europe will be installed in areas such as Starbucks and McDonald’s to increase the number of connections experienced by 3DS owners. These spots act as relay stations and will be able to automatically connect to any system following a system update.
Here’s how it works: you walk into a Starbucks, and your 3DS – in Sleep Mode – reaches an access point and sends StreetPass data to a server. While this is happening, the same 3DS receives the data of another user from the server. It’s more like indirect communication as opposed to connections taking place between 3DS users a few feet apart.
In Japan, we’re seeing more and more developers coming out with major releases, some of which are based on major brands. For instance, Atlus just published Shin Megami Tensei IV on the system a few weeks ago, a series that has primarily launched on consoles when it comes to mainline entries.
Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said during an analyst event at E3 today that many Japanese companies are assigning their employees to develop new titles for the 3DS. He also reiterated that it is working with third-parties to bring their Japanese-centric games to the west.
As handheld devices occupy a large share of the video game market and Nintendo 3DS has become popular in Japan, Japanese software developers are eagerly assigning their top teams to develop Nintendo 3DS titles.
Many of these titles have sales potential for the Western markets as well. Nintendo is working hard to publish such titles in those regions.
Satoru Iwata discussed the situation when it comes to the 3DS’ first-party lineup during Nintendo’s E3 2013 analyst meeting earlier today.
Iwata first noted how consistent software releases have affected the system’s performance positively. Bringing games out back-to-back since March have led to an increase in hardware sales.
Iwata went on to speak about Nintendo’s development status for the 3DS. He explained that its various teams “are now at a stage where we can expect software launches without too many intervals.” Iwata also teased: “We still have many unannounced game titles. Therefore, we expect to release a sufficient number of first-party titles for the platform next year as well.”
As we have explained during Nintendo Direct and other means, here is the specific software release schedule.
Nintendo 3DS has been gaining momentum since March of this year due to our back-to-back releases of key titles. I think we have been able to take advantage of Nintendo’s unique position of being able to provide markets with a strong first-party software lineup to energize its hardware sales.
Some worry that an intensive release pace this year might result in a poor first-party software lineup next year.
However, our internal software development teams are now at a stage where we can expect software launches without too many intervals. We still have many unannounced game titles. Therefore, we expect to release a sufficient number of first-party titles for the platform next year as well.
EA originally said a few weeks back that it wasn’t making any Wii U games. It was later clarified it wouldn’t rule out the console completely going forward.
So what’s the latest? Try to make out what you can from EA Labels president Frank Gibeau’s latest comments:
“We didn’t make it easy for the market to figure out our stance on the Wii U, that’s for sure. We’re not announcing any new Wii U titles at E3, but that doesn’t preclude us making games for it going forward. Do we have developers inside Electronic Arts that are watching the Wii U and understanding how it’s developing? Yes, we’re absolutely doing that. Do we have active development of Wii U titles that we’re ready to publicly announce right now. No we do not.”
Yoshi has never been a more important character for Nintendo. He’s starring in two new games for the Wii U and 3DS – Yarn Yoshi and Yoshi’s New Island. You can expect him in the new Smash Bros. games as well.
But maybe another Yoshi title can be considered for the future – specifically, a new project from Shigeru Miyamoto.
When asked if he is interested in bringing any forgotten Nintendo characters back into the spotlight, he said:
“Not really. I guess this year we’re working on a number of Yoshi games, but I myself haven’t done a whole lot with Yoshi recently; maybe I’ll make a super original Yoshi game.”
Yie Ar Kung-Fu will be hitting the Japanese eShop as a Famicom download on June 19 for 500 yen. Screenshots of the game can be found above.
Speaking with Official Nintendo Magazine at E3 2013, Miyamoto said:
In an interview with ONM, Shigeru Miyamoto revealed that Nintendo had once been working on Pikmin versions for the Game Boy Advance and 3DS. Miyamoto wasn’t happy with either, so both were likely sent to the scrapheap. It was with Pikmin 3 that Miyamoto “felt like I was able to create the Pikmin game that I wanted to create.”
“We did actually create versions of Pikmin on 3DS and Game Boy Advance, but they were versions that I wasn’t really happy with until we came to this version on the Wii U and I finally felt like I was able to create the Pikmin game that I wanted to create.”
Miyamoto also spoke about how Pikmin 3 is the type of game that everyone can find something to enjoy:
“Pikmin 1 as you recall was around a 30 day time limit and it was designed to be a game that you played within that 30 days and discovered the story, and what we were hoping was that players would use that limit and set their own objectives. So maybe I want to beat it within 30 days or beat it within 20 days or beat it without having a single Pikmin die. But what we found is that people would play though it once and not return. With Pikmin 2, what it became was an easier to play Pikmin game, and with Pikmin 3 we wanted to try and broaden the appeal of the gameplay. So if you’re someone who likes to go after high scores there’s something for you there, or if you want to explore the world and play through the story you can do that, or for people who want to use the multiplayer there’s something for you there, too. And so Pikmin 3 has really become sort of a version of Pikmin that, regardless of what your personal play style preferences, you’ll be able to find something in there for you.”
I’ve typically shied away from posting these kinds of things, but X is looking amazing and deserves any attention it can get, and the trailer’s latest music was pretty great!
Thanks to Al for the tip.
