Data collected by market researcher App Annie indicates that Pokemon GO has become the fastest mobile game to reach $600 million in revenue. That was done between July and the end of September, or 90 days.
To compare, Candy Crush Saga needed more than 200 days to hit $600 million. Puzzle & Dragons was next at 400 days, followed by Clash of Clans at more than 500 days.
App Annie also reveals that the total time spent in Pokemon GO was almost as much as the next 19 games combined. Additionally, it comprised 45 percent of the time spent in Android games in the third quarter, as opposed to 55 percent for the next 19 titles.
App Annie went on to praise Pokemon GO for managing to convert a ton of a player’s non-mobile time to mobile time. Instead of taking time away from other mobile apps, users were more inclined to spend more time overall on their devices.
This week’s North American Nintendo Downloads are as follows:
Wii U Download
Mr. Pumpkin Adventure – $3.99
Pirate Pop Plus – $4.99 (cross-buy with New 3DS)
Retro Road Rumble – $3.99
Shooting Range by Thornbury Software – $12.95 (available Friday)
SteamWorld Heist – $14.99 for two weeks; then $19.99 (also 10% loyalty discount if you own SteamWorld Dig or SteamWorld Heist on Wii U/3DS)
Super Destronaut 2: Go Duck Yourself – $1.99
Wii U Virtual Console
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks – $9.99
Update (10/21): More maintenance announced for next week!
First up, eShop maintenance:
– 3 PM PT (October 24) – 4 PM PT (October 24)
– 6 PM ET (October 24) – 7 PM ET (October 24)
– 11 PM in the UK (October 24) – 12 AM in the UK (October 25)
– 12 AM in Europe (October 25) – 1 AM in Europe (October 25)
And more maintenance for Wii U / 3DS:
– 5:50 PM PT (October 25) – 7:30 PM PT (October 25)
– 8:50 PM ET (October 25) – 10:30 PM ET (October 25)
– 1:50 AM in the UK (October 26) – 3:30 AM in the UK (October 26)
– 2:50 AM in Europe (October 26) – 4:30 AM in Europe (October 26)
Original (10/20): It’s been light on the maintenance front this week, but Nintendo already scheduled some maintenance for next week. Wii U and 3DS will be impacted by a couple of hours on Monday/Tuesday, affecting certain network services such as online play and rankings.
The schedule is as follows:
– 5 PM PT (October 24) – 7 PM PT (October 24)
– 8 PM ET (October 24) – 10 PM ET (October 24)
– 1 AM in the UK (October 25) – 3 AM in the UK (October 25)
– 2 AM in Europe (October 25) – 4 AM in Europe (October 25)
According to the Financial Times, Japan’s Financial Services Agency is considering the regulation of Pokemon GO’s PokeCoins. The in-game currency would be under the jurisdiction of the Payment Services Act if this were to happen. Niantic would also need to disclose the balance of unused in-game currency held by users in March and September every year. Assuming the total surpassed more than 10 million yen, the company would need deposit as much as 50 percent of the unused currency balance in yen in a Japanese bank account as security.
The Financial Times mentions that FSA and Niantic are talking about the situation currently. Analysts say the decision could impact other games in Japan involving purchasable in-game currency.
Update 2: Added a weather video after the break.
Update: Added YouTube links for both videos below.
Original: Ahead of the NX reveal later today where the game might be making an appearance, Nintendo has slightly updated the Japanese website for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
While no new information has technically been added, the website now plays two new videos, titled “In this World” and “In This Era”. Both mostly show footage from the plateau we’ve seen plenty of at E3, but it’s nonetheless nice to see the game in motion.
The rise and fall of Nintendo’s stocks over the last couple of years has been interesting, to say the least. After declining for years following the tepid response to the Wii U, shares have been surging lately once Nintendo entered the mobile gaming market. The company’s various smartphone ventures, including Super Mario Run and Pokemon GO (despite Nintendo’s limited involvement with that one), caused tremendous increases to Nintendo’s stock values.
However, it seems like shareholders are excited by more than just mobile news – following last night’s announcement of the reveal trailer for the NX, Nintendo’s shares have risen by 4.6%, which added more than $1 billion in market value.
Of course, the is just the prelude to the main event. Will the actual NX reveal see shares rise even more, or will they drop back down?
As we’re getting closer to the release of Pokemon Sun & Moon, more and more Pokemon are being revealed – intentionally or not. In truth, the entire Pokedex has already been laid bare via datamining the demo that was released on Tuesday, but if you’re just sticking to the official channels, you don’t know everything just yet.
Another new Alola form has today been revealed, somewhat accidentally, via the cover of the official Japanese Alola Pokedex guide book. Among a variety of new Pokemon and Alola forms, you can also see the Alola form of Persian. Given Alolan Meowth, the existence of Alolan Persian is not exactly a surprise. For spoiler reasons, head past the break for a picture of it.
Via their official blog, Platinum Games announced today that both volumes of the official The Wonderful 101 Original Soundtrack won’t be available on digital storefronts after December 31st. Platinum Games did not state a reason for this. Nonetheless, some key figures at Platinum Games took this chance to reminisce about the soundtrack. First up is director Hideki Kamiya:
I’m sad to say that TW101’s soundtrack is being taken out of distribution. I hope, though, that this announcement reaches as many people as possible and introduces new fans to TW101 and its soundtrack. I’d like to apologize in advance to anyone who, years from now, finds out about TW101 and gets disappointed to see that its original soundtrack isn’t available.
I’ve said this before, but if there’s one phrase that sums up TW101’s soundtrack, “hymns to heroism” would be it. As you’ve probably figured out if you’ve played TW101, I’ve loved superheroes ever since I was a kid. I’ve been blessed with several chances to make games about them throughout my career, even before TW101. But TW101 is the game where I really crammed in as much as I could of what makes heroes so appealing – both their aesthetics, and how they inspire us and give us something to aspire to – to capture what heroes mean to me.
So of course we put special care into the background music that colors the game as well. Superheroes shoulder the burdens of the whole world, and they risk their lives to fight for those weaker than themselves. Their souls shine bright. We aimed to express this through a symphonic orchestral sound, and the result of all our composers’ hard work was a lot of brilliant music.
The tracks appear on the soundtrack in the same order they’re used in the game, so you can experience the heroic story of the Wonderful Ones and their thrilling battles just by listening to it. This goes out to people who’ve played the game, of course, but also to people who haven’t played it yet: Please close your eyes and listen, imagining the heroes’ brief but tumultuous journey, and rally your own fighting spirit to Unite Up and face tomorrow.
…And oh yeah, please share this announcement with everyone you can, because again, I’d love for it to reach as many people as possible. Let’s give everyone a chance to get this special soundtrack before it’s gone.
Head past the break for a comment from Hiroshi Yamaguchi, the game’s composer:
Atlus’ Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse and 7th Dragon III Code: VFD have been out in North America for a while, whereas their release in Europe was still facing difficulties for a time. Then, Deep Silver announcing that it would be publishing Atlus games in Europe going forward, and set a “Winter” release date for Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse and 7th Dragon III Code: VFD. Today, Deep Silver finally announced a concrete release date: both games will be released in Europe on December 2nd. In addition, Dragon III Code: VFD will come with a bonus art book.
Check out new trailers for both games below:
RPG Maker Fes was featured in the latest issue of Famitsu, and new details were provided for designing enemies, dialogue, and maps.
For enemies and combat, there are six main elements: Fire, Wind, Water, Ground, Light, and Darkness. There are also nine status conditions that enemies can be resistant to: Poison, Burn, Paralysis, Sleep, Confusion, Silence, Blind, Slow, and Death. You can also edit the look, name, stats, abilities, drops, and more for enemies.
For cutscenes and dialogue, players will be able to choose text, adjust facial expressions, and character movement. Players can also adjust areas on the map that are off-limits, so that characters won’t be able to walk through walls or off cliffs, for example. This will also let players make secret paths.
There are also a number of screenshots of these features, which you can view below:
