A new advert for Sonic the Hedgehog’s 25th anniversary has been spotted in the latest issue of ToyWorld Magazine, which is posted above. Information about SEGA’s plans is also included. It doesn’t reveal too much, but there are a few interesting takeaways.

Here’s the main highlight:

“2016 will be a a celebration of Sonic’s 25th birthday throughout the year. New Style Guides and new collaborations across toy, gift apparel, branded events and bespoke retail events initiatives will be on offer throughout the year.”

In other Sonic news, the previously-announced movie is still happening. That information comes from writer Van Robichaux, who told one fan the following on Twitter:

Source 1, Source 2

More: SEGA, Sonic the Hedgehog

Nintendo has joined plenty of social media sites over the years, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. The Big N is now on Tumblr as well. If you’d like to keep up with their posts, visit Nintendo’s page here.

More: Tumblr

During a Reddit AMA yesterday, Oculus founder Palmer Luckey was asked for his thoughts about the Virtual Boy. Luckey was mostly down on the system, but had a positive comment regarding its LED display.

Luckey personally doesn’t consider the Virtual Boy to be a VR device. He finds this to be a “shame”, as he says Nintendo’s product “hurt the industry in the long run.” Luckey also acknowledged the Virtual Boy’s LED display – the first in a consumer device – and noted that it was “probably the best contrast of any display up to that point”.

Below are Luckey’s full comments:

“Not really a VR device, IMO. No head tracking, low field of view, essentially a monochrome 3DTV.

A real shame, too, because the association of the Virtual Boy with VR hurt the industry in the long run.

It did have the first LED display in a consumer device, though – probably the best contrast of any display up to that point!”

Source, Image source

More: Oculus, Palmer Luckey, Virtual Boy

Kevin Bayliss was at Rare for over 20 years. Now he’s with Playtonic, the developer behind Yooka-Laylee. It actually sounds like he’s been assisting the team for some time, but he’s joining them in an official capacity.

Bayliss was one of Rare’s first employees. As graphics director, he helped come up with characters for well-known titles such as Battletoads, Killer Instinct, Diddy Kong Racing, and Star Fox Adventures. Bayliss also worked with Shigeru Miyamoto to create the modern Donkey Kong and sidekick Diddy for Diddy Kong Country.

Source

More: Kevin Bayliss, Playtonic

Log Games has announced Epic Dumpster Bear as its next game for the Wii U eShop. The action-platformer takes inspiration from the 16-bit era and has players taking on the role of a dumpster bear with a chip on his shoulder. After an evil corporation destroys his forest – forcing him to eat dumpster food to survive – it’s now the bear’s turn to take out the trash.

Log Games promises over 70 levels containing bosses, secret exits, and unlockable puzzle levels. Here’s a rundown of the title’s features:

– Classic platforming action
– Smooth 60fps gameplay and precise control
– 7 worlds and over 70 levels to complete
– Off TV play
– Bonus levels that take advantage of the Wii U GamePad
– Unlockable Miiverse Stamps

Epic Dumpster Bear will be released on the Wii U eShop in North America, Europe, and Oceania this spring. Watch a trailer below.

More: Epic Dumpster Bear, indie, Log Games

In a new developer blog, Juicy Beast stated that Toto Temple Deluxe “didn’t sell very well”. The developer shared some potential reasons as to why the game didn’t perform as well as the studio had hoped.

Here’s a notable excerpt from the piece:

There’s a good possibility that the game didn’t have good enough “hooks” to captivate people’s attention. Sure, “fighting your friends to put an egg-laying goat on your head” sounds funny and weird, but it doesn’t really give you a clear idea of what it’s like to play Toto Temple Deluxe.

At the end of the day, we think the biggest factor is because it’s a local-multiplayer game with no online play. The game is aiming at a pretty niche audience by requiring actual human friends to play, and we can’t ignore the impact it has on sales. A quick look at comments on YouTube, Reddit and such, and it’s obvious that a lot of people are simply not buying the game for this very reason (that along a lack of solo experience).

On top of all this, we also think the game came out almost 2 years too late. Back in 2014, when the local-multiplayer boom was happening, Toto Temple Deluxe’s development felt more logical. Today, it feels a bit out of place, as we think a lot of player might have bought popular local-multiplayer games in the past, then realised that they would play them less and less frequently. We definitely can’t blame them, since it’s pretty much the same for us.

There’s plenty more about the creation of Toto Temple Deluxe in Juicy Beast’s post. You can read the full thing right here.

More: indie, Juicy Beast, sales, Toto Temple Deluxe

The 3DS version of Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games will arrive in NOrth America on March 18, Nintendo has announced.

A new tweet just published on the company’s Twitter account reads:

It’s not yet known when Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games will be available for Wii U. However, it should release sometime this year (thanks DJMusicClues).

Source

More: Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, SEGA, top

Lightwood Games announced today that Word Puzzles by POWGI will be available on the European eShop on January 28 (North America to follow). The title was only previously confirmed for 3DS, but a Wii U version has now been revealed as well. It’ll be launching for both platforms on the same day.

Word Puzzles by POWGI features a collection of six different word games and allows users to generate custom puzzles by tapping an amiibo. This marks the first independent game to support every single amiibo figure and card.

Below are trailers for the two versions:

Source: Lightwood Games PR

More: Europe, indie, Lightwood Games, Word Puzzles by POWGI

Nintendo UK’s store has started taking pre-orders for the Lucas amiibo and second wave of Animal Crossing amiibo. All of the upcoming figures can be reserved here. They’re all due out later this month.

More: Amiibo, pre-order, UK

Update (1/11): Bumped to the top. You can finally pre-order the blue version here.

Original (12/28): We don’t post about items from Play-Asia too often, but I thought that some of you might be interested in importing the new Pokemon 2DS bundles from Japan. Most are now live on the website, aside from the blue version.

Below are links to each:

Nintendo 2DS [Pocket Monster Red Limited Pack]
Nintendo 2DS [Pocket Monster Pikachu Limited Pack]
Nintendo 2DS [Pocket Monster Green Limited Pack]

All three of these 2DS bundles launch on February 27.

More: 2DS, Play-Asia