Nintendo TVii is live on Wii U. You don’t have to download any special update – simply boot up the app and you’ll be good to go. Nintendo TVii is completely free to use.
“Technically speaking, the Goblin Menace expansion is not “exclusive” to Wii U as such. It’s exclusive as of right now because we haven’t had enough resources to look into getting it to XBLA and PSN. The levels in the expansion are quite a bit more demanding than the original campaign, so we’re not quite sure if we can squeeze them onto the older consoles properly. We probably could if we did some minor changes to the levels, but that can end up as quite a bit of work…”- Joel, Frozenbyte team
I know that technically speaking it’s better for more people to have access to a game, but man, it sure does feel good to hear stuff like this! He also went on to say that they don’t really like PSN or XBLA, and definitely prefer the Wii U’s eShop for releasing content:
“Truth be told we’re not very big fans of XBLA nor PSN at the moment, their processes are a bit too heavy to our liking and we also need to go through the XBLA/PSN publisher ATLUS, so it’s all a bit more complicated. And frankly there’s a big psychological factor as well – We had a very stressful time getting the game onto XBLA and PSN, and we feel like it wasn’t really up to us, so we dread having to do that again.”
There are a lot more comments from Joel, but I’ve yet to read through them all. As I do I’ll post em up!
Art Academy: Lessons for Everyone! users can download a free lesson starting today. The Goomba lesson is free through January 10.
King of Pirates was announced well over a year ago, but it isn’t until now that we’re starting to see content from the game. The scan above shows first screenshots (which are admittedly blurry and off-centered) and a bit of art, and direct-feed images will likely be published soon. King of Pirates will also be present at this year’s Jump Festa.
“When we developed the DS, we started from the question, ‘If we make a high spec Gameboy Advance, is it something people will want?’ If you make the same sort of thing, there’s no uniqueness to it. When there’s nothing unique, all you get as a result is a price war. [Former Nintendo President] Mr. Yamauchi had no direct input in the development of the Wii U, but indirectly, you could say his idea from the DS is connected.” – Shigeru Miyamoto
The idea Miyamoto is referring to is Yamauchi’s philosphy of adding something new and unique to every console or handheld, a concept he applied to the original Nintendo DS, and then carried over (more than just functionally!) to the Wii U. I’d say this has worked out for the better so far for Nintendo, and– sales notwithstanding– it looks like it’s going to work out well for Wii U as well!
What’s this? Wii U sales on the North American Wii U eShop?! It’s true!
Three titles have now been discounted on the store as part of today’s update. Trine 2: Director’s Cut can be purchased for $15.99 through January 7, Little Inferno is available for $9.99 until January 4, and Chasing Aurora can be downloaded for $7.49 up through January 3.
Nintendo has published the much-anticipated Reggie Asks: Nintendo TVii discussion. This is the first time Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime has participated in a talk focusing on the development of a product.
You can read the discussion here.
