Update: Bumped to the top. Both versions of the New 2DS XL are up for pre-order now here.
Original: Amazon Germany is taking pre-orders for the new Zelda amiibo. The Twilight Princess, Majora’s Mask, and Skyward Sword Link figures can be reserved here. Note that the first two can be shipped to the US – the Skyward Sword amiibo won’t right now for whatever reason.
First 4 Figures is now taking pre-orders for the recently-announced Amaterasu Life Size Bust from Okami. As usual, there are two versions to choose from. The regular edition is here and the exclusive edition is here. Both are rather pricey, coming in at $675 and $725 respectively.
One difference seems to separate the two versions. First 4 Figures says the exclusive version is the “latest product from our newly branded CORE label – Okami Amaterasu LOGO cap (White version)”.
Listings on the official BitSummit site indicated that Earth Atlantis and Dusty Raging Fist will be heading to Switch. Another potential game for the system has appeared as well. Going off of the same BitSummit site, Springloaded will be bringing GORSD to Switch.
Here’s a brief overview:
“A frantic local PVP title intended for 2-4 players huddled together around a screen. The core of the game revolves around painting tiles and shooting. Featuring different game modes, a variety of characters and unique maps to choose from, the gameplay is frenetic, tactical and tense!…Whether playing with friends or exploring the single player campaign, get ready to enter the Grid of Ridiculous Sudden Death.”
And a teaser:
In order to celebrate the release of the Guardians Rising TCG set, several stores in Europe will start to distribute a special Lycanroc in its Midnight Form for Pokémon Sun & Moon.
In the UK and Spain it will be distruted by GAME stores from May 5th, while at the same date Gamestop will do the same in Italy. According to Serebii.net, Micromania will be in charge of the distribution in France from May 13th to June 12th.
This Lycanroc has the moves Stone Edge, Fire Fang, Sucker Punch and Swords Dance, with the ability No Guard and the item Life Orb.
Sadly, there’s no word on other international distributions, yet.
This information comes from Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima, as stated during the company’s financial results briefing Q&A…
“As I discussed during the previous Corporate Management Policy Briefing, we will release the Animal Crossing application for smart devices during this fiscal year. We will announce the specific release date before we commence distribution.”
This information comes from Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima, as stated during the company’s financial results briefing Q&A…
“Takeda expressed interest in retiring and passing the torch when his term of office expires this period. Takeda’s guidance has fostered many technicians over the years, particularly in the technical development departments. Ko Shiota, who we have mentioned as a candidate for the new director, was one of those Takeda mentored while developing our business.
Even after his retirement, we hope to continue seeking advice from Takeda as Special Corporate Adviser such as in terms of how we should look into new technology and play. Takeda’s knowledge, experience and personal connections cannot be easily transferred. We plan to take over those over time in consulting with him. We hope to progress to the next stage by combining Takeda’s advice and support (as Special Corporate Adviser) with the new skills of our young employees.”
This information comes from Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima, as stated during the company’s financial results briefing Q&A…
With regards to our Nintendo 3DS business, our software sales figures in the last fiscal year were boosted significantly by titles, such as Pokémon titles, which helped increase hardware sales, and led to an overall year over year growth in sales of both hardware and software. And as discussed during our presentation, high demand for Nintendo 2DS is driven by an attractive price point on top of its hardware appeal. This is what gives Nintendo 2DS the largest growth rate out of the entirety of our Nintendo 3DS business.
We are planning to launch New Nintendo 2DS XL during this fiscal year. New Nintendo 2DS XL has screens that are the same large size as the New Nintendo 3DS XL, and can play more than 1000 Nintendo 3DS titles already released, at a very desirable price point. Our expectation is that if we are able to continue to provide enjoyable software, we will always meet the needs of consumers who want to continue playing on the existing Nintendo 3DS series. To that end, we are always thinking about what kinds of software consumers are going to want, and evaluating our hardware cycles to
make sure that we are meeting that need.
This information comes from Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima, as stated during the company’s financial results briefing Q&A…
Our vision for Nintendo Switch is to release one title after another with no gaps following the March launch, reach a large number of consumers during the holiday season, and continue to expand the business. Along the way, we found that a lot of consumers were looking forward to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild being released simultaneously with the hardware, which led to our stronger-than-anticipated hardware launch.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was getting good press leading up to its release and it continued to generate buzz about the fun of this game after it hit the market. The fact is that people who had enjoyed past titles in the Zelda series were playing this latest entry alongside a large number of consumers who had never played any of the Zelda games, which truly expanded our consumer base. And just today, we released Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, which is a title that families can all play together, so we are making sure that this translates into good sell-through, given that our shipments are already higher than we anticipated. Likewise, upcoming releases like ARMS and Splatoon 2 are very easy for anyone to pick up and play, which further broadens our player base while still offering a deep gameplay experience for serious game fans. We will also have Super Mario Odyssey out in time for the year-end shopping season, and there may be some more titles we will be able to introduce. By releasing a variety of software titles in this way, we expect to expand the user base for Nintendo Switch to families, children, and any other consumers who have not had much contact with video games in the past.
This information comes from Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima, as stated during the company’s financial results briefing Q&A…
We set this fiscal year’s 10 million shipment forecast for Nintendo Switch based on the fact that we were able to ship 2.74 million units during the last fiscal year, which was well above our initial forecast of 2 million units, combined with the response our sales offices around the world have reported from retailers and consumers about the software we will be releasing during this period.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was released today and although we did not cover it when creating our sales plans, it has gotten especially positive reviews. Feedback from consumers at our ARMS and Splatoon 2 preview events has been positive, as well. We have also gotten good feedback about 1-2-Switch, which has already been released, and offers consumers a new gaming experience that takes advantage of the unique strengths of Nintendo Switch. All this together gives me the sense that Nintendo Switch is going to outperform our initial expectations.
This information comes from Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima, as stated during the company’s financial results briefing Q&A…
We priced the Nintendo Switch hardware to have no negative impact on overall earnings. As for the profitability of the hardware, our production quantities will need to reach a certain level before we see any cost reductions. Volume efficiencies will start to emerge once we produce the 10 million units we expect to ship this fiscal year, but we will not get the benefit of this right away. Looking ahead, we do expect that the number and variety of the Nintendo Switch accessories will help grow our business. With regards to promotional activities, it can be difficult for consumers to really get to realize how compelling the new play style Nintendo Switch offers is through traditional marketing. That is why we have launched new initiatives, including traveling to a variety of different locations to let consumers experience the unique fun of playing Nintendo Switch for themselves, while continuing to advertise proactively in this fiscal year. Our paid online service for Nintendo Switch is scheduled to start in the latter half of this fiscal year.
Again, we will not necessarily see results from these different strategies immediately at the outset of this fiscal year, but I believe we will see profitability continue to increase alongside the growth of our business as we move forward according to our sales strategy, especially if we do well during the year-end shopping season.
