Retro City Rampage will be one of the pricier games on WiiWare. Vblank’s Brian Provinciano revealed a $15 price point in an interview with PocketNext.

Even though Retro City Rampage will be slightly expensive for a downloadable title, Provinciano believes the game’s large amount of content warrants the price of admission.

Provinciano told PocketNext:

“There are so many devices out there, and you can reach a huge market; it’s unimagineable on other platforms. Unfortunately, with that comes the downside of a race to the bottom: the 0.99-cent app problem. The race to the bottom is a terrible, terrible thing. With Retro City Rampage, I felt very strongly that it was a fifteen-dollar game, and that’s what I’m charging; in fact, it’s bigger than Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, and that launched at $40. And I’ve questioned, do I have to launch it at $15 because of the ‘race to the base?’ And I’ve tossed [and turned] about that, but no. It’s a fifteen-dollar game, at least.”

Retro City Rampage will be available for WiiWare, as well as Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, and PC in May.

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Epic Games VP Mark Rein has apparently seen both Batman: Arkham City and Aliens: Colonial Marines running on the Wii U.

Sadly we don’t have any concrete details to share about these two titles. But at GDC last week, Epic Games VP Mark Rein did tease how Arkham City makes “fantastic use of the touch controller. Rein also said that the Wii U version will not be a straight port.

Batman: Arkham City will presumably launch alongside the Wii U later this year.

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Interviews with Koichi Hayashida continue to pour in from GDC. There are a few duplicate questions/answers below, which makes sense given how many interviews were conducted with the Super Mario 3D Land director.

We do get a few interesting pieces of information though, such as a confirmation that the 2D Mario game recently announced by Nintendo president Satoru Iwata is not made by EAD Tokyo. This shouldn’t come as surprise given the fact that the studio has only handled the 3D Mario’s in the past, but it’s nice to know for sure!

Once again, head past the break for the full Q&A breakdown…

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Epic Games VP Mark Rein has fired off a slew of comments about Wii U.

Rein first commented on his overall thoughts about the system. He said that he likes Wii U, noting that “E3 will be a big-eye opener for people.” Rein even hinted how it’s possible to accomplish more with the console than what was shown with the “gorgeous” Zelda HD experience.

He said:

“I like the Wii U. I think E3 will be a big eye-opener for people. I played Batman: Arkham City on the Wii U and they are doing some really cool stuff with the controller. Do you remember the Zelda demo they had on it? Would you not buy a Wii U just to play that? Of course you would. That’s what Nintendo is all about. Their hardware is the software delivery service for their great content. That Zelda demo was gorgeous and we can do even more than that with Unreal Engine 3. I think it will do great.”

Next, Rein talked about how Nintendo’s stable of franchises will boost sales. Additionally, Rein expressed confidence that parents are prepared to upgrade their children’s Wii’s. Even though he would’ve liked Wii U to be in store shelves last year, he’s still excited about it.

He said:

“It’s a great brand that a lot of parents really trust and they’re probably ready to buy their kids an HD Wii that does that much more than just being an HD Wii. I’d love it if they’d done it last year, but I’m excited for them to do it this year. I’d be shocked if it doesn’t do well. Did you play that Battle Mii game? Two players would play with a Wii Remote and Nunchuk and one would play with the Wii U controller? I would buy a Wii U to play that game in a heartbeat. And I hope people make those kind of games with our technology. I think we’ve yet to really see what the Wii U can do and I think at E3 this year they’re going to shock us.”

Epic’s confidence in Wii U means we’ll be seeing support from the company, right? Not so fast.

Rein said the following when asked about supporting the system:

“If I had 10 development teams I’d make a game for every single platform and make that the special game for that platform. If you’re the special game on that platform you do really, really well. Gears was one of the special ones on Xbox 360. Infinity Blade is a special game on the iPhone and iPad. Shadow Complex was a special game on Xbox Live Arcade. But we don’t have 10 development teams so it’s just a matter of picking and choosing what we do and doing the best thing we can for the idea that we have.”

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Zen Pinball developer Zen Studios is teasing “big announcements” that will be shared later this week.

The company said on its Twitter account:

“There are some BIG announcements coming this week. Hope you are all ready!!!”

It’s currently unclear if these announcements will be Nintendo-related. We’ll be sure to post any relevant information here, but you can always tune in to our sister site if the news turns out to be for other platforms!

Software

1. Super Mario Bros.
2. Dillon’s Rolling Western
3. Mario’s Picross
4. Punch-Out!! Featuring Mr. Dream
5. Pushmo
6. The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening DX
7. 3D Classics: Kirby’s Adventure
8. Metroid
9. Photo Dojo
10. Sakura Samurai: Art of the Sword
11. Radar Mission
12. GO Series Undead Storm
13. Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins
14. Cut The Rope
15. Freakyforms: Your Creations, Alive!
16. Plants vs. Zombies
17. GO Series 10 Second Run
18. Super Mario Land
19. Mario Clock
20. Bloons TD

Videos

1. Mario Tennis Open Video
2. Nintendo Direct: March 8, 2012
3. Super Mario Bros. Video
4. Dillon’s Rolling Western Launch Trailer
5. Kid Icarus: Uprising Game Overview Video
6. Sonic the Hedgehog Triple Trouble Video
7. Mario & Sonic: London 202 Olympic Games Video
8. Metroid Video
9. nintendogs + cats: Golden Retriever Video
10. Kid Icarus: Uprising Multiplayer Video
11. Nintendo Direct: February 22, 2012
12. Crush3D Story Video
13. Dillon’s Rolling Western Walkthrough
14. Kid Icarus: Uprising Weapons Video
15. Nintendo Direct: February 23, 2012
16. Crush3D Announcement Video
17. Mario Party 9 Video
18. 3D Classics: Kid Icarus Video
19. Sonic Generations Video
20. Pokedex 3D Video

Another day, another interview with Super Mario 3D Land director Koichi Hayashida.

Hayashida has opened up about Mario in general, such as his thoughts about the franchise seeing yearly releases like Call of Duty. He also discussed the possibility of a level editor for Mario games.

Regarding Super Mario 3D Land, Hayashida was asked about a sequel, DLC, how the Tanooki Suit made it into the game (and revealed how he was pulling for Cape Mario), and more.

As usual, Hayashida’s comments can be found after the break.

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