With video game sales declining in the US, the Wii U will breathe fresh air in a market that some would say is suffering from a stagnating console generation. The system signals the beginning of a new cycle with brand new hardware, games, and the possibility for lots of sales.
Naturally, the prospects of a new console launch would entice retailers – especially GameStop. The retailer has expressed great excitement about the release of Wii U.
GameStop President Tony Bartel said:
“We’re very excited about the Wii U launch. We’re looking forward to that release, we’re looking forward to taking pre-orders. What we’re really excited about is it’s really the first part of the next console launch.”
The WayForward-made Hotel Transylvania game now has a release date. Publisher GameMill Entertainment has announced a September 18 launch for the title. It will be available on the 3DS and DS for $29.99 each.
Hotel Transylvania features action-adventure gameplay. There are a number of different locations to explore, puzzles to solve, and bosses to defeat.
Take a look at the first screenshots in the gallery above.
Source: GameMill PR
For the First Time, Shoppers Can Either Buy the Packaged Game in Stores or Purchase and Download the Full Version Wirelessly from the Nintendo eShop
REDMOND, Wash.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Nintendo has launched both an exciting new game and a cool new system to play it on. U.S. residents can now get their hands on two of the hottest video game products of the year: New Super Mario Bros. 2 and the new Nintendo 3DS XL portable system. Nintendo 3DS XL offers screens that are 90 percent larger than the original Nintendo 3DS, and sells at a suggested retail price of $199.99.
The newest game to play on the system – or the original Nintendo 3DS system – is New Super Mario Bros. 2, the follow-up to the best-selling Nintendo DS game of all time, which sold more than 10.3 million in the United States alone. For the first time, Nintendo is giving consumers a variety of ways to buy the game. Shoppers can purchase a packaged game as usual at retail locations nationwide. They can go to a participating retailer and buy a code to download the game directly to their Nintendo 3DS system over a broadband Internet connection. Or they can simply purchase and download the game on their own from the Nintendo eShop using a wireless broadband connection. Regardless of purchasing method, the game sells at a suggested retail price of $39.99.
A new SpotPass notification from Nintendo reveals more stats about New Super Mario Bros. 2.
Thus far, 35 billion coins have been collected worldwide. 30 billion of those come from Japan.
Japanese players have obtained an average of 2 billion coins per day. Players still have 150 million remaining in the country.
Most had assumed this at this point, but XSEED won’t be localizing Retro Game Challenge 2.
The company released the first entry in North America a few years back. Sadly, the game’s sales were a disappointment.
When asked which game was XSEED’s biggest flop, Jessica Chavez replied:
“Don’t know exactly which, but Retro Game Challenge and Half-Minute Hero were not particularly popular. …Sorry. Know many of you love and supported it when it came out, but it was a pretty unpopular game with the fans overall.”
And when asked about the possibility of localizing Retro Game Challenge 2, Chavez wrote:
“Sorry, man. That ship has sailed.”
3DS Demo
LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes
3DS VC
Donkey Kong Jr. – £4.50
NES Open Tournament Golf – £3.60
DSiWare
Rummikub – £7.20 / 800 points
Wii VC
2020 Super Baseball – 900 points
Theatrhythm Final Fantasy DLC – £0.90 each
The Royal City of Rabanastre / Town Ward Upper Stratum (FF12 – FMS)
Crystal Cave (FF03 – FMS)
Ragnarok (FF11 – BMS)
Challenge (FF10 – BMS)
Nintendo Video
Nintendo Video Sports Highlights – fourth/fifth clips
Source: Nintendo PR
Long after their original Japanese releases, Xenoblade and The Last Story have finally launched in North America. But there remains one “big” Wii RPG that remains “unlocalized”: Pandora’s Tower.
Pandora’s Tower has been translated into English already. Nintendo localized the title for Europe earlier this year.
Unfortunately, there don’t appear to be any plans to bring the title to North America. Chances are Nintendo won’t ship Pandora’s Tower in the states, and XSEED Games, the publisher of The Last Story, isn’t considering localization at the moment.
XSEED’s Jessica Chavez said:
“…As for Pandora’s Tower, I don’t believe it’s in consideration right now.”
If you’re interested in Pandora’s Tower, you’ll likely have to import and… do some things to your Wii.
Masahiro Sakurai delivered a speech at this year’s CEDEC developers conference today. The session, called “Why Do You Make Games?”, lacked Smash Bros. news for the most part. Although, Sakurai did share one small nugget.
Famitsu transcribed the following quote from Sakurai:
“It’s fun making new skills for new characters.”
Well then… Geno confirmed for the next Smash Bros,! Ah, just kidding.
Namco Bandai has opened an official website for Dragon Ball Heroes: Ultimate Mission. At present, there are only a few screenshots and art to view – you can find those above.
Visit the teaser site here. Expect more content to be added over the coming months.
Dragon Ball Heroes: Ultimate Mission launches in Japan in Spring 2013.
