The Pokemon Sun & Moon anime has been running for a couple of weeks now, and its reception on the internet has been fairly positive. Alongside the anime’s 8th episode, which aired today, broadcaster TV Tokyo released a short preview video which shows a couple things that will happen over the next weeks and months in the anime. Take a look if you don’t mind spoilers:
Dragon Quest VIII is only about a month away from its release in the West, and Nintendo of Europe has just updated the game’s website. There, you’ll find some new screenshots along with some updated info about the game’s story, changes to the 3DS version compared to the PS2 original, details on the game’s combat system and other gameplay features such as item mixing, and more.
An Ace Attorney novel, Turnabout Idol, arrived in Japan this past summer. A new one now appears to be in the works.
Amazon Japan is listing Turnabout Airport as a sequel to the previous novel. In it, Apollo is arrested for the murder of a politician.
Mie Takase is returning as the book’s writer. Takase also has experience working on novelizations of games like Kirby and Fire Emblem.
Ace Attorney – Turnabout Airport is currently scheduled for February 15 in Japan.
Level-5 hosted a sale on the North American 3DS eShop last month as a means of celebrating Black Friday. Now that the holidays are here, discounts are once again available.
Here’s the full lineup of Level-5 games on sale:
Aero Porter – $2.99 (was $4.99)
Attack of the Friday Monsters! A Tokyo Tale – $2.99 (was $7.99)
Bugs vs. Tanks! – $2.99 (was $7.99)
Crimson Shroud – $2.99 (was $7.99)
Inazuma Eleven – $9.99 (was $19.99)
Liberation Maiden – $2.99 (was $7.99)
The Starship Damrey – $2.99 (was $7.99)
Weapon Shop de Omasse – $2.99 (was $7.99)
All prices listed above are valid until December 27.
After Inti Creates brought out the latest patch for Azure Striker Gunvolt (the original, not the sequel), an unfortunate issue came about. Players reported problems with Special Mission 5 after applying the patch.
Thankfully, Inti Creates became aware of the situation and created another update. You should be able to access version 1.4 tomorrow – December 22. Once downloaded, Special Mission 5 should work without any issues.
Speaking of Azure Striker Gunvolt, character artist Yoshitaka Hatakeyama made a special wallpaper for Christmas. That’s located at the source link below.
This week’s 3DS eShop charts are as follows:
Software
1. Pokemon Sun
2. Pokemon Moon
3. Pokemon Yellow
4. Super Mario Maker for 3DS
5. Mario Kart 7
6. Super Mario Bros. 3
7. Super Mario World
8. Pokemon Red
9. Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D
10. Dragon Ball Fusions
11. Zelda: A Link to the Past
12. Animal Crossing: New Leaf – Welcome amiibo
13. Pokemon Blue
14. Super Smash Bros. for 3DS
15. Super Mario Bros.
16. EarthBound
17. Super Metroid
18. Demon’s Crest
19. The Legend of Zelda
20. Smash Controller
Videos
1. Super Mario Maker for 3DS – Overview Trailer
2. Pokemon Sun/Moon Special Demo Version Video
3. Dragon Ball Fusions
4. Super Mario Maker for 3DS – Play everywhere.
5. First look at Nintendo’s new home gaming system
6. Pokemon Sun/Moon – Top 7 Features
7. Starter Pokemon Z-Moves in Pokemon Sun/Moon
8. Animal Crossing: New Leaf – Welcome amiibo
9. Pokemon Yellow Trailer
10. Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice Trailer
11. Pokemon Rumble World Trailer
12. Super Mario World Trailer
13. Pokemon Bank Trailer
14. Our Adventure Begins in the Alola Region – Nintendo Minute
15. Mario Party: Star Rush E3 2016 Trailer
16. IronFall Trailer
17. Zelda: Breath of the Wild E3 2016 Trailer
18. Super Smash Bros. – Final Video Presentation
19. Mario Kart 7 Video
20. My Nintendo Introduction Video
Source: 3DS eShop
Data collected by internet-data firm SimilarWeb reveals that Nintendo-related terms grew to triple the size of PlayStation/Xbox-related searches. Pokemon GO helped contribute to the growth during the summer, but the biggest spike resulted from Switch’s announcement in October. The NES Classic Edition and Super Mario Run then added further to Nintendo’s buzz.
GamesBeat shares the following statements from SimilarWeb:
“The growth in Nintendo’s search traffic over 2016 is so big that when comparing its search traffic in November 2016 to January 2016, it multiplied its search traffic by [a factor of] 60.”
“In January 2016, we were able to identify a total of 39 keywords generating traffic for these brands. Nintendo had 6, Xbox had 16, and PlayStation had 17. While in November 2016, we were able to identify 183 of such keywords. [And now], Nintendo had 101, Xbox had 30, and PlayStation had 52.”
SimilarWeb’s report is limited to search items related to console products from the big three console manufacturers, so terms such as “Pikachu” don’t count. However, it seems that online users are searching for more Nintendo-related terms compared to the competition.
In an interview conducted by The New Yorker, Shigeru Miyamoto was asked about the piece of advise late Nintendo president Satoru Iwata gave to him which he cherishes the most.
Miyamoto thought about the question for a bit, and then went on to mention that Iwata “had this unique ability to rally people around a vision.” Iwata was able “to take something, give it shape and then to motivate people.”
Miyamoto also spoke about how unique Iwata was from the standpoint of a programmer. Although such developers may tell designers why something would be impossible, Iwata was the opposite, and “would say he was going to figure out how to make it work.”
You can listen to Miyamoto’s full comments on Iwata below.
With the third SEGA 3D Reprint Archives collecting launching in Japan, three new themes based on the series are out now coming in at 200 yen each. Each one is based on the different boxarts. Videos for all themes can be found below.
Later this month, Nintendo will be releasing new Pokemon Playing Cards in Japan. Fans will be able to choose between two versions based on Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon. The two packs cost 540 yen each.
Each pack will have some different Pokemon. But as for the Joker cards, there are two kinds which are available in both.
