The latest Japanese hardware sales from Media Create are as follows:
3DS LL – 251,949
3DS – 159,323
Wii U – 122,843
PSP – 65,859
PS3 – 47,626
Vita – 21,266
Wii – 13,049
Xbox 360 – 1,689
PS2 – 928
DSi – 454
DSi LL – 291
For comparison’s sake, here are the hardware numbers from last week:
3DS LL – 206,973
Wii U – 126,916
3DS – 112,052
PS3 – 42,976
PSP – 33,002
Vita – 14,446
Wii – 10,346
Xbox 360 – 1,760
PS2 – 1,102
DSi – 320
DSi LL – 221
Color Commando is the next title from Goodbye Galaxy Games. We heard about the project briefly around a week ago. Since then, first screenshots and new details have surfaced. Look for the updated content below.
– New puzzle platformer
– Hunt for treasure
– Evil color monsters block your path
– Pick up color blobs and try to outsmart the monsters
– Can use a paint blob to paint a big paint-spot on the world
– If an monster of the same color comes into contact with the paint-spot, the monster will dissolve into the spot
– When this happens the monster cannot harm the player
– The monster also cannot follow normal physic laws anymore
– Ex: if you put a paint spot over a wall, the monster will be able to walk through it
– Starts out easy, but players will eventually be surrounded by many different types of color monsters in all different colors
– 5 worlds
– 4 normal levels each
– 1 star level each
– Unlock the star level by getting all the treasure in the other 4 levels
– Cost: likely 200 points
– 1.5 – 2 hours of gameplay
Charles Martinet, the voice of Mario, plays a role in Runner 2. That’s great and all, but why did developer Gaijin Games decide to bring him on board?
Founder Alex Neuse explained:
“We wanted to get Charles because obviously he’s recognizable. We like him, he’s funny, and silly, and great, and awesome. We wanted to have a whimsical character voice that’s reminiscent of old cartoons. You remember those old Looney Tunes when they would do ‘the car of the future!’ …I think that Mike [Roush, Gaijin Games co-founder] and I were both really excited about it, because our games have been on Nintendo platforms and it kind of felt like … it’s a home, the Nintendo stuff, and he’s part of that home, even though he was living in another room until now.”
Martinet plays himself in the game, rather than another character. Neuse talked about this decision:
“We wanted him to be ‘Charles Martinet’ and not just some no-name narrator for a few reasons. Primarily, because we loved Seaman. Do you remember when Leonard Nimoy introduced Seaman? I liked Seaman a lot and I thought the whole game was fun, but I thought that was almost the funnest part of the game. It was so out there.”
Martinet’s work pertains to narration of cut-scenes, interstitial videos, and fake product placements that appear during the beginning of Runner 2. Some of the ads were born out of input from Martinet himself. You can watch one of the ads – titled “Burger Mouth – in the video above.
After leaving Maxis in 2009, Chris Hecker began work on a new indie title known as “SpyParty”. The game has been in development for quite awhile, but an early-access PC beta finally kicked off earlier this year.
Wii U owners may be interested to read that SpyParty could come to the console. Hecker told GamesMaster that he has access to a devkit and will “find out if SpyParty works on it fairly soon.”
“They sent me a devkit, actually, and it’s sitting right here, so we’ll find out if SpyParty works on it fairly soon. The design challenge is going to be, ‘how much does it matter that the Spy can see the Sniper’s screen?’ Obviously the Spy needs to be on the controller, but that means the Sniper’s view is on the TV, and I’m not sure how much that matters yet. I think the Spy will be pretty busy looking at the controller screen, but even a glance up at the TV will affect the game, so it’s going to take some design work and play-testing to figure out.”
SpyParty still has a long ways to go before its official release. It doesn’t have a ship date yet, but perhaps we’ll hear about a concrete date next year.
Thanks to joclo for the tip.
Namco Bandai has dated Tank! Tank! Tank! for Japan, and is doing something rather interesting for the downloadable version.
The game is hitting retail on February 21 for 5,040 yen. But those who are interested in a downloadable version won’t have to wait nearly as long. Tank! Tank! Tank! will hit the Japanese Wii U eShop on December 26 – yes, tomorrow.
Here’s where things get interesting. A “basic pack” containing a city level with Free for All, Team Battle, and Giant Monster modes (in addition to multiplayer) will be free, but can only be played three times per day. It sounds like the limit can be removed once players purchase one or more pieces of DLC.
Other pricing information:
– Beach, canyon, volcano maps for 200 yen each
– My Kong mode: 1,000 yen; sale price of 200 yen through January 31
– Campaign mode: 2,200 yen
– 4,800 yen to upgrade to the full game
– 5,600 yen if you wait until the My Kong sale is over
– Full downloadable version of the game coming 5,040 yen on February 21
Through last week’s Japanese Nintendo Direct mini, we learned that Square Enix would be launching Dragon Quest X version 1.2 within the next few days. At Jump Festa 2013, the company confirmed a final date. Version 1.2 arrives this Wednesday – tomorrow – in Japan.
The new update adds a whole slew of new elements, including a Magic Labyrinth, new jobs, and more. You can find more details about additions here.
Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate doesn’t run at 60 frames-per-second on Wii U. In actuality, it maintains an average of 38 FPS.
An analysis done by one Japanese blog indicates that Ultimate experienced a minimum frame rate of 32 FPS. The maximum FPS came in at 47 FPS. MH3 Ultimate doesn’t appear to suffer from any screen-tearing.
PLATFORM: Nintendo 3DS™
GENRE: Action/Fighting
RELEASE: March 2013
DEVELOPER: Inti Creates
PUBLISHER: NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc.
PLAYERS: 1 Player
RATINGS: E10+
URL: http://naruto.namcobandaigames.com/JOIN NARUTO & ROCK LEE IN TWO FUN ADVENTURES!
A whole new side-scrolling NARUTO game developed exclusively for the Nintendo 3DS™ focused on cutesy presentation, comical character style and easy to pick-up-and-play gameplay for fans of all ages.
