The latest issue of Nintendo Power contains a one-page preview for Mario Party 9. There are a bunch of new details inside the magazine.
You find find a summary of Nintendo Power’s article below.
– All players ride together in a vehicle rather than moving around the stage separately
– Only the player whose turn it is reaps the benefits of landing on a particular space
– Collect as many Mini Stars s possible before reaching the end of the stage
– Prizes are spread throughout the path
– Also earn prizes by landing on special spaces and competing in mini-games
– Mini Ztars remove Mini Stars from your inventory
– You’ll find a variety of dice blocks, which adds in some strategy
– Dice blocks include those that roll only high numbers or roll only a 0 or a 1
– They allow you to better plan where you travel
– Stage example: Toad Road
– One of the main attractions is broken
– All players need to roll a sufficiently high number
– Doing so allows you to jump a broken bridge
– If you fail at this, the car drops into a Mini Ztar-filled canyon
– Stage example: Bob-omb Factory
– This stage has conveyer belts that change your course
– You’ll fight a Whomp; this requires each player to stand on a rotating platform while attempting to avoid being flattened
– Every stage has a mini-game and a final boss
– Dozens of new mini-games
– Memory mini-game example: quickly count a horde of Goombas as they rush into their homes
– Button pressing mini-game example: swing the Wii Remote to throw toppings on a pizza
Kenichiro Takaki hasn’t given up hope on a localized version of Senran Kagura. However, if it is brought overseas, he understands that “some adjustments” will need to be implemented.
Senran Kagura’s producer said:
“If we can bring it out overseas, we will do it. But, things like moe and the cultural appeal and fetishes between Japan and America are different in many ways. If we brought it out we may have to make some adjustments so it has broader appeal…”
I personally don’t see this game coming to North America or Europe. Stranger things have happened, though! I just feel like it’d be a complete bomb if it did come out in other regions…
Yeah, there’s no chance that this game will be leaving Japan.
2011 software totals for Japan are now available. The figures are based on Enterbrain data collected between December 27, 2010 and December 25, 2011.
01. [3DS] Mario Kart 7 – 1,082,391
02. [3DS] Super Mario 3D Land – 1,042,511
03. [PSP] Monster Hunter Portable 3rd – 1,021,457
04. [3DS] Monster Hunter Tri G – 809,322
05. [PS3] Final Fantasy XIII-2 – 697,146
06. [PSP] Final Fantasy Type-0 – 696,428
07. [Wii] Rhythm Heaven Fever – 633,429
08. [PS3] Tales of Xillia – 632,151
09. [Wii] Wii Sports Resort – 612,807
10. [Wii] Wii Party – 584,545
The next Game Night is scheduled for Friday, January 13 at 7:30 PM EDT. I unfortunately couldn’t fit it into my schedule this evening.
I’ve been thinking about some way to organize a Game Night when I’m not around. I mean, you guys aren’t children that need to be supervised! I’ll see what I can come up with.
2011 hardware totals for Japan are now available. The figures are based on Enterbrain data collected between December 27, 2010 and December 25, 2011.
3DS – 4,135,739
PSP – 1,960,177
PlayStation 3 – 1,467,261
Wii – 937,451
Nintendo DS – 711,204
PlayStation Vita – 402,794
Xbox 360 – 114,075
Shigeru Miyamoto is working on Pikmin 3, Luigi’s Mansion 2, and a third mystery project. ZoomIn says that it is “an undisclosed, original title.”
Could this be the game that Miyamoto hopes to unveil this year?
Fans have started to translate the many, many pages of Hyrule Historia. There are two specific, noteworthy excerpts at the end of the book.
First, Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma commented on the completion of Skyward Sword’s development and how Nintendo is receiving feedback from players. They’ll be using this as “energy for the next voyage.”
Aonuma then stated that “to tell the truth, we’ve already set sail in a new voyage.” He could be referring to the new Zelda project that is in development for the 3DS.
“The long sailing time of creating Skyward Sword, a game to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Zelda series, has just come to an end. The voices of those who’ve played it from around the world reach us. We hear their admiration comments, and their criticism too. All those voices become energy for the next voyage. Well, to tell the truth, we’ve already set sail in a new voyage.”
Aonuma also reminded fans that Nintendo will always be more concerned with creating engaging gameplay for Zelda titles rather than focusing on the story elements.
“Chapter 2, ‘The Full History of Hyrule,’ arranges the series in chronological order so it’s easier to understand, but from the very beginning, Zelda games have been developed with the top priority of focusing on the game mechanics rather than the story. For example, in Ocarina of Time, the first installment of the series I was involved in, the main theme was how to create a game with pleasant controls in a 3D world. Or in the DS game, Phantom Hourglass, the focus was having comfortable stylus controls. Finally, in the most recent game, Skyward Sword, we focused on an easy way to swing the sword using the Wii motion plus.”
