Update (9/30): Bumped to the top again. Lucario, Shulk, and Greninja are now in Best Buy’s DC warehouse. It shouldn’t be much longer before you can purchase these figures at the retailer. Additionally, Marth, Little Mac, Captain Falcon, and Fox have been spotted, which makes sense given Nintendo’s announcement earlier today about the amiibo restock.
Update (9/28): Bumped to the top. The tag below was spotted at Toys “R” Us, giving more credibility to the talk of these three amiibo no longer being exclusive.
Original (9/26): Retailer exclusives for amiibo have been going on for awhile now. Shulk, for instance, has long been a GameStop exclusive. The same goes for both Greninja and Lucario at Toys “R” Us.
At least for these three amiibo, they may soon become more widely available at stores. Shulk, Greninja, and Lucario have all been spotted in Best Buy’s system. Could that mean their exclusivity period will soon be ending?
Kotaku has posted a new video showcasing the first five minutes from the new game Armikrog. View it below.
Picross 3D 2 supports several amiibo. By using compatible characters, players can unlock certain puzzles based on Nintendo’s franchises. Get a look a the Kirby puzzle below.
This week’s North American Virtual Console release has been revealed through Nintendo’s website. Tomorrow, Wii U owners can purchase River City Ransom for $4.99.
River City Ransom takes place in River City, where our heroes, Alex and Ryan, find a letter on Ryan’s locker from a guy named Slick. The letter says that Ryan’s girlfriend, Cyndi, has been kidnapped, and Slick has taken River City hostage with the help of countless gangs and evil bosses. It’s up to our heroes to save poor Cyndi and free River City from the clutches of Slick and his underlings. You can play as Alex and take on the challenge alone or battle as Alex and Ryan simultaneously with a friend. Kick and punch to fight your way through gang members, evil bosses, and other goons. Or use a variety of weapons ranging from a chain whip, brass knuckles, and a tire, to name a few. Raise your stats by eating right, and gain new techniques by reading books. With your fighting prowess and never-ending spirit, the bad guys won’t know what hit them!
River City Ransom is also available on 3DS. Arc System Works brought out the portable Virtual Console version in November 2013.
Although a little bit of doubt has been cast on the future of the Chibi-Robo series, there is at least one developer out there who wants to see the series continue, and in its traditional form. Chibi-Robo!: Zip Lash assistant producer Risa Tabata told USgamer in an interview that she’d like to see another adventure-style entry.
Tabata’s words in full:
“I actually wouldn’t call this ‘smaller’ at all, especially in terms of the game’s scope. I think a lot of people will be more than satisfied with it. Personally, however, I think it’d be great if we could release another adventure-style Chibi-Robo.”
Nintendo has tried a few different concepts with Chibi-Robo over the years. We know that it started out as an adventure game of sorts, but the series has since dabbled with photographs and now platforming. This is all intentional, as Nintendo seems to have struggled making the character a mainstream success.
Kensuke Tanabe, a producer from the company, recently spoke with The Verge about how it hasn’t been easy making Chibi-Robo resonate with all players. He also suggested that Zip Lash could be the last entry in the franchise if it doesn’t perform well.
“To be honest, this might be the last chance for us.”
“I’ve continually thought about ways to build this into a mainstream success. We’ve challenged ourselves in assorted ways along those lines, but I can’t say that we’ve found the answer yet.”
Tanabe went on to discuss Zip Lash’s origins:
“The first thing we decided upon was that we’d make an action game that took advantage of his plug and cord. We then placed the core of the gameplay on using it like a grappling hook, throwing it into a faraway edge and using that to traverse gaps and so on. As we kept thinking about ideas, we naturally settled on the 2D side-scrolling format. If the character can gain more recognition, I believe we’ll have a chance to produce another adventure-style game for a large number of people. I’m hoping that we made the right choice for this game’s play style.”
“Instead of trying to come up with a character we thought would be a commercial success, it was more like we first had the Chibi-Robo character, and then we thought about what kind of game we could make that’d portray this character in as attractive a way as possible. It’s kind of fun along those lines, like taking an artist I’ve found and trying to mold him into a famous creator. That, of course, also creates its own unique challenges.”
If Chibi-Robo does manage to capture success, it’s possible that he’ll appear in other places… liker Smash Bros. perhaps? Tanabe said: “If we receive an offer, we’ll think about it.”
A number of amiibo will soon be returning to retailers in North America. Little Mac, Greninja, Shulk, Lucario, Fox, and Captain Falcon will all be back on store shelves in the near future. No exact date, but keep an eye out on additional updates!
Look who’s back! Little Mac, Greninja, Shulk, Lucario, Fox & Captain Falcon will be restocked @ select retailers soon pic.twitter.com/PPVOvbjih0
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) September 30, 2015
Many games in Japan these days receive their own soundtrack, and that’s no different with Monster Hunter X.
On December 16, Capcom will ship the two-disc Monster Hunter X soundtrack, which comes with a total of 42 songs. Pricing is set at 3,000 yen.
Uratani Reo, coming from BlackLute, is leading the way on the soundtrack. Confirmed tracks include Beruna Village, Ancient Forest, and songs for the four main monsters.
Nintendo has now released Picross 3D 2 in Japan, and extensive footage from the puzzle title is now available. We have over 30 minutes of gameplay below.
Monster Strike’s new 3DS game has some serious writing talent on board. As was announced on his Twitter account, Jiro Ishii is the scenario writer.
Ishii is behind the acclaimed Wii title 428 and also wrote for the 3DS game Time Travelers. In January, he went freelance and noted that he was writing the story for the Japanese animation Under the Dog.
