One year ago, late Nintendo president Satoru Iwata passed away. He was just 55.
Iwata passed away on July 11 (it’s now that same day in Japan) of last year. We actually didn’t know about what had happened until a couple of days later. Out of nowhere, Nintendo put up an official notice on its investor relation’s website about the situation.
Looking back on that time, everything felt so surreal. I still remember seeing that notice on Nintendo’s website and questioning if what I was looking at was legitimate. We knew Iwata was dealing with a health issue, but I just couldn’t believe it. I hadn’t seen the news floating around anywhere else, so I was just hoping that it was somehow untrue.
It was an extremely sad period around this time for everyone last year. For me, Iwata’s passing really had an impact – more so than I could have ever imagined. Even though I never knew him personally, I just felt incredibly sad knowing that he wasn’t here with us anymore.
There’s no question that Iwata has been missed over the past 12 months, and that will continue. All we can do is keep his memory alive, remember all that he did for the gaming industry, and how many people he impacted.
Thank you for everything, Satoru Iwata.
Update: Some of the figures have been price-matched on Amazon.
As part of its “Deal of the Day”, Best Buy has discounted a ton of Disney Infinity products. The 3.0 Starter Pack is on sale for just $23, and a bunch of different figures have seen their prices slashed. These offers expire at the end of the day.
More footage is in for Konami’s new free-to-play 3DS game Yu-Gi-Oh! Saikyou Card Battle. View another 48 minutes of gameplay below.
Wii U had long been a target platform for Road Redemption. In fact, the system was included in the game’s Kickstarter campaign.
But now it looks like things aren’t meant to be. DarkSeas said last month that Wii U support is being re-evaluated with NX on the horizon.
The studio further explained the decision on Kickstarter, writing:
“We like the Wii U as much as you guys do, if not more. Smash Bros and Mario Kart 8 are some of our favorite games. Zelda: Breath of the Wild looks awesome and a great direction for the series, in my opinion. Some of my best gaming memories are playing Goldeneye and Mario Kart 64 battle mode in splitscreen, and we were very excited about using the Wii U’s 2nd screen for local Road Redemption multiplayer.”
Ultimately the choice comes down to two factors:
Taiko Drum Master: Dokodon! Mystery Adventure came out a few weeks ago in Japan, but we never got around to posting footage from the final version. We’re changing that now with plenty of footage from 3DSCapture. Around 2 hours of gameplay is below.
According to the official San Diego Comic-Con 2016 schedule, a Pokemon GO-related panel will be held at the expo.
Niantic CEO John Hanke will be leading the proceedings. Hanke “will examine the past, present and future of extending games beyond the screen and re-imagining reality through the lens of Ingress and Pokemon GO.”
Niantic’s panel will take place on July 21 between 5 PM and 6 PM.
In one of its recent issues, Japanese magazine Nintendo Dream conducted an extensive interview with some of the developers behind Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice. Motohide Eshiro (producer), Takeshi Yamazaki (director), and Takuro Fuse (co-director) participated in the discussion.
There was a ton of talk about the 3DS game in Nintendo Dream’s interview spawning over 10 pages. The developers touched on topics like Maya’s return, ideas left on the cutting room floor, and more.
Head past the break to read up on our translation.
We recently learned that Journey to Kreisia is due out on the European 3DS eShop on July 14. Based on a listing from Nintendo’s website, North America will have it on the same day. No word on pricing yet, but it’ll likely be around $10.
Below is an overview of the RPG from Nintendo’s website:
While attempting to skip out on a homework assignment and meet up with his friends at the arcade, a teenager by the name of Yusis is suddenly enveloped in a blinding light and transported to Kreisia- a world where fantasy meets reality.
Soon after, he learns he has been summoned as a Savior to deliver Kreisia’s people from the threat of the Overlord. Thinking everything happening around him is simply a dream, Yusis readily agrees to the task of saving the world and begins preparing for what is inevitably to be far more than he ever bargained for!
Blazing a new trail in classic RPGs, Journey to Kreisia is bound to please fans of the genre with plenty of engaging features such as hunting for hidden treasures, testing one’s strength in challenging battle arenas, and taking up a variety of subquests! Customize the fighting technique by raising weapon levels, equipping various orbs, and using extremely handy monster guide when in need of more information to perfect your battle skills!
Pokemon GO only just came out a few days ago. Of course, new features will be added to the game over time.
One feature Niantic will be interested in bringing in the future is trading, which company CEO John Hanke acknowledged as a “core element.” It’ll tie into the app’s virtue of players interacting with each other in virtual and real worlds.
Aside from that, Tech Insider reports that other new elements planned include more ways to play with Pokestops and Gyms. Currently, Hanke stated that they’re only in Pokemon as “very most basic versions”, though in the future, it’ll be possible for players to “customize their functions in other ways.” Niantic is also working on a global leaderboard so that players can see who’s the top trainer.
That’s not all though. Improvements are also on the way for the AR technology. Hanke said what’s currently in the app is “great first step,” but there’s more they can do. Regarding Pokemon GO on dedicated AR devices, Hanke teased: “That may be a fun thing to take advantage of.”
