From here on out, Pokemon X/Y will be highlighted on the Japanese television show Pokemon Smash every week up until launch. The news was shared during the latest episode shown earlier today. While there are no guarantees that brand new content will be shown each week, fans can look forward to a steady stream of updates.
SEGA is working in partnership with Nintendo on three Sonic games: Sonic Lost World, Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, and an unannounced project. Could that last one be some kind of racer from Sumo Digital, the maker of Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed?
Sumo executive producer Steve Lycett sent out a few very interesting tweets last month. Lycett’s messages allude to the fact that he’d like to follow-up Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed with a new game that “could finally settle some arguments” such as “Who’s really win a kart race”. When one user mentioned a Pac-Man World Rally crossover, Lycett said he “was thinking there are bigger rivals” – like Mario and Sonic, maybe?
I can imagine two possibilities: a completely brand new game involving Mario and Sonic, or some kind of appearance in Mario Kart’s new Wii U outing. On the other hand, it’s possible that this is nothing at all and we’re completely looking into things.
Thanks to Jake for the tip.
Update: The 38,000 figure seems to be pretty much spot on. Analyst Michael Pachter all but confirmed it to be the real deal on Twitter:
@icallitfutile Yes, close. Off on 3DS/DS, though
— Michael Pachter (@michaelpachter) May 18, 2013
A rough estimate of US Wii U hardware sales for the month of April is in. Data provided by the ever-reliable NPD leaker “creamsugar” indicates the console sold between 30,000 and 40,000 units last month. Another leak from 2ch puts the system at around 38,000 units.
Amazingly, the Wii outsold the Wii U once again. The older console sold between 50,000 and 40,000 units in the US last month.
Amazon Canada is listing Deadpool for Wii U. Other than the retailer’s product page, though, there isn’t any sort of hint that Activision plans to bring the game to the system.
The ESRB still only lists Deadpool for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC. A quick look at other popular retailers in the US also make no mention of a Wii U version.
It’s possible that Amazon Canada’s listing could be a simple mistake. If Activision provides a comment about the situation, we’ll have it right here.
The European Animal Crossing: New Leaf website contains a neat little Easter egg. Hidden on the front page is none other than Totaka’s song!
Try finding it by hitting up the Animal Crossing: New Leaf site here.
Can’t find it? Head past the break for its location.
You may know Silicon Studio as the team behind Bravely Default and 3D Dot Game Heroes. The company does more than game-making, however.
Silicon Studio has a full game engine at its disposal known as Paradox and Yebis 2. Its middleware is also compatible with the Wii U, so they’re pretty knowledgeable in the technical realm.
Speaking about the Wii U, Silicon Studio president Takehiko Terada said:
“Wii U has very specific characteristics. Some game designers will like it. Some others will have a hard time to port their game. There are pros and cons. We are very close to Nintendo, so we were working on Wii U for a long time. We almost got the maximum performance with the hardware. Since we are working closely with the Nintendo support team they gave us a lot of useful information.”
And principle engineer Ian Graham added:
“I think it was a bit of having a headstart and there was a lot of continuity from the Wii in terms of architecture. They added a significant amount of horsepower, but there was no revolution needed at the engine level to take advantage of it.”
When asked if other people will be using Silicon Studio’s tools, Terada noted that it won’t be happening just yet since the company only recently began selling it on Wii U.
“Not yet, I think. We have an internal development team, but we just started to sell it on Wii U.”
Ubisoft still keen on supporting Wii U, positive Nintendo will do what’s needed to make it a success
Ubisoft has been of the Wii U’s strongest supporters. But in light of troubling sales, you never know when a publisher will pack its bags and leave the console behind.
Still, there’s no reason to worry about Ubisoft at the moment. The company has plenty of titles coming out for the system this year, and a spokesperson said that “it takes some time to grow an established base.”
The spokesperson provided GamesIndustry with the following statement:
“As with any new console, it takes some time to grow an established base. Ubisoft has a varied and high-quality line-up for Wii U, with more big titles on the way including Rayman Legends, Watch Dogs, Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag and Splinter Cell Blacklist. We’re confident that this will help in continuing to attract gamers to the Wii U system and that Nintendo will take steps to ensure that the Wii U is successful in the market.”
