It’s an end of an era! The Wii U will not support GameCube functionality in any fashion. The console doesn’t have a memory slot or controller ports, of course, and it therefore will be unable to play any GameCube games.
You lucky, lucky Europeans. You’ll be able to play Xenoblade Chronicles later this year, but it doesn’t sound like North American gamers will have the same opportunity. Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime said he had “nothing to announce” about bringing the title stateside in an interview with Kotaku.
The same also goes for The Last Story and the recently released Japanese title Pandora’s Tower. Technically there’s still a chance that all three games could end up in North America sometime down the line, though you shouldn’t count on it for now…
Monolith Soft’s new game, which we reported on late last year, seems to be progressing well. The company posted a new notice on their website earlier today noting that the project is expanding and that they are looking for additional staff to assist with development.
Monolith is hoping to add programmers, planners, 3D CG designers, 2D designers, effect designers, motion designers, office staff and system management staff. Those interested in the 2D designer position should have experience with character and mech design experience while the programmer position will be filled by developers who have worked with Havok engine and shaders.
Nintendo’s been set on minimizing the importance of the actual console. Instead, they’ve been promoting Wii U’s controller.
Time for you guys to chime in: How do you guys like the build of the console?
ACE COMBAT® 3D (Working Title), and PAC-MAN PARTY™3D to Release in Stereoscopic 3D
SANTA CLARA, Calif., (June 7, 2011) -Leading video game publisher and developer NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc. today announced that ACE COMBAT®3D and PAC-MAN PARTY™ 3D are in development for Nintendo 3DS™. These titles illustrate the company’s commitment to bringing its most popular gaming franchises to all new and emerging platforms. Leveraging the power of the Nintendo 3DS system, each of the games takes full advantage of the system’s unique features, bringing a new dimension to these classic series.
“The Nintendo 3DS presents us with a great opportunity to craft captivating game worlds for players to enjoy in full 3D, bringing them closer to the action than ever before,” says Carlson Choi, vice president of marketing, NAMCO BANDAI Games America. “From the arcade to portable devices, we’ve strived to give loyal fans the best gameplay experience and look to expand this proud legacy by bringing some of NAMCO BANDAI’s most cherished IPs to the Nintendo 3DS.”
Well, since this game is coming to Wii U, I guess it’s okay to post these screenshots! Of course, the images aren’t from Nintendo’s console, though the title should look fairly similar. I’ll probably be doing the same thing with future posts (Metro Last Light, Aliens: Colonial Marines, etc.).
This information comes from Gearbox’s Randy Pitchford…
– Can play through the entire game with the television off
– Play through the game while someone else is watching TV
– Pitchford says there are very neat things players can do with the controller
– The controller will sometimes be the game’s motion tracker
– The tracker is a device in the Alien universe that can track the location of enemies and friendlies by their motion
– Might be asked to sweep the controller around, looking for approaching enemies
– They’ll show up as blips on the controller display
– Controller will sometimes be a fully interactive map
– Play with a full map of the area similar to what has been seen with Private William Hudson doing in the movie Aliens
– Use the display on the controller to play a mini-game used to hack doors
– Pitchford: “The Wii U is really bad ass. We have a lot of great ideas that we’re already working on.”
– Pitchford said that his studio’s game won’t be on the 3DS as of now
