Just in case you were wondering, Toki Tori 2 is a 531MB download. It should be able to fit on either the Wii U Basic Set or Deluxe Set.
Toki Tori 2 releases next Thursday. The game is priced at $14.99, but those who purchase the title from the eShop at launch will receive a 10% discount.
GameStop CEO Paul Raines once again said that Wii U sales have been “disappointing” even though the console’s November launch “exceeded our expectations” during a post-earnings financial call today. Wii U sales have slowed since the start of 2013, according to Raines.
Two reasons were cited for the system’s poor performance. Raines first noted how Nintendo’s marketing has “not broken through the way that it needs to” and that consumers haven’t been able to fully grasp its features, such as the GamePad.
“We still have an education process we need to go through.”
Raines also pointed to the absence of big system-sellers on Wii U. While New Super Mario Bros. U was a compelling release from Nintendo, interesting titles have been missing in action over the past few months.
Raines said:
“We’re seeing the ramifications of that today.”
During a GDC panel yesterday, the developers behind Asssassin’s Creed III discussed how four different studios came together to make last year’s action-adventure game. Ubisoft Quebec game director Marc-Alexis Cote, Ubisoft creative director Alex Hutchinson, Ubisoft game director Damien Kieken, Ubisoft Montreal senior producer Francois Pelland, and Ubisoft Singapore senior producer Hugues Ricour participated in the discussion.
Ubisoft Montreal was mainly in charge of Assassin’s Creed III’s core design and main missions. Singapore handled naval battles while Annecy tackled multiplayer. Finally, Quebec “tried to create the sense of the American Dream”, according to Hutchinson.
Having numerous studios work on a project has numerous advantages. Adopting this process does, for instance, let developers polish certain aspects to their fullest potential. It also allows for issues to be solved, sometimes overnight.
“When you are a co-dev partner, you will focus on a limited amount of features. Those features, you will be able to polish them. It’s not easy. It’s not rainbow land. It’s something that you need to work hard at to make it work. But if you do that, I really think it holds the keys to next generation development.”
CIRCLE Entertainment has confirmed that Witch & Hero will be hitting the European 3DS eShop next week. A North American launch is coming soon.
Witch & Hero is an action game featuring an 8-bit style, 20 stages, two difficulty settings, along with Trial and Infinite modes. Players will be battling lots of monsters and leveling up along the way.
Nintendo has approved Gaijin Games’ first Runner2 patch. It’s unknown when exactly the update will be available, but it’s coming “very soon”.
THIS JUST IN! The Wii U Runner2 eShop patch has been approved by Nintendo! Still awaiting a launch date for it, but should be very soon!
— CommanderVideo (@BitTrip) March 28, 2013
Runner2’s patch will address lock-up issues and other items. The full patch notes are posted here.
In the wake of Famitsu’s Devil Survivor 2: Break Record unveiling, Atlus has opened an official site for the game. Access the page here. There isn’t much to see at the moment, but expect updates on the site down the road.
Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed is seeing a $10 discount on the Wii U eShop. For the next few days, SEGA’s racer can be purchased for $29.99. The sale ends on March 31, so take advantage of the deal while you can!
The folks at Sunbreak Games launched a Kickstarter last week for a new game called “Buddy & Me”. What makes this campaign particularly interesting is that studio founder Jason Behr previously lent his talents to Metroid Prime as lead level designer.
At this point you’re probably wondering if Buddy & Me has a shot of landing on the Wii U eShop. Behr is “personally a fan of what the Wii U’s trying to bring to the living room console experience” and also approves of Nintendo’s “recent loosening of their indie developer requirements”, but said that the team’s small size means the developer has to “pick our battles very carefully.” A Wii U version is certainly a possibility “if things are wildly successful”, but for now, the team is concentrating on putting out a quality experience on tablet and mobile platforms.
Regarding Wii U, that’s a great question, you’re not the first to ask. I’m personally a fan of what the Wii U’s trying to bring to the living room console experience (it’s conceptually very similar to how the DS evolved the handheld experience), and what kind of gameplay experiences the extra touch-screen interface might bring. I’m also happy to read about Nintendo’s recent loosening of their indie developer requirements.
But at the moment, Sunbreak is still a very small indie team with limited resources, so we have to pick our battles very carefully. Each additional platform beyond the initial iOS release takes more time, money, testing hardware, special-case assets, etc… So, yes it’s a possibility if things are wildly successful (either via Kickstarter or initial sales), but right now our #1 priority is focusing team resources 100% towards a quality release on tablet/mobile, before considering expansion to traditional consoles.
You can find more information about Buddy & Me on the official Kickstarter page here.
