Nintendo Everything

Alph is included in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS as a palette swap for Olimar. Interestingly, it seems as though he was once considered as a full-blown clone character.

That information is based on design documents that come straight from Masahiro Sakurai (and translated by Source Gaming). For the modeling team, Sakurai has a note about Olimar which states: “Consider including Alph (Pikmin 3 protagonist) as a clone character.”

Ultimately, Alph didn’t make it onto the Smash Bros. Wii U/3DS roster. Maybe he’ll be considered again for the series’ next entry…

Source

The Wii U version of Badland: Game of the Year Edition finally hit the eShop last Thursday. For a look at the game, check out the video below.

The latest issue of Famitsu has shared a listing of the top 30 best-selling games in Japan for the month of June 2015. You can check out the full results below.

1. [WIU] Splatoon – 368,538 (348,557 physical, 19,981 digital)
2. [3DS] Rhythm Heaven: The Best Plus – 232,459 (225,296 physical, 7,163 digital)
3. [3DS] Tobidasu! Nyanko Daisensou – 97,189 (N/A physical, 97,189 digital)
4. [3DS] Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butoden – 88,707 (86,338 physical, 2,369 digital)
5. [3DS] Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai DX – 54,544 (51,574 physical, 2,970 digital)
6. [PS4] The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – 52,890 (45,912 physical, 6,978 digital)
7. [3DS] Return to PopoloCrois: A Story of Seasons Fairytale – 47,146 (44,902 physical, 2,274 digital)
8. [PSV] Minecraft: PlayStation Vita Edition – 45,077 (38,146 physical, 6,931 digital)
9. [WIU] Mario Kart 8 – 44,470 (42,762 physical, 1,708 digital)
10. [PS4] Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition – 37,804 (30,757 physical, 7,047 digital)
11. [PSV] Shiren the Wanderer 5 Plus – 30,887 (22,088 physical, 8,799 digital)
12. [3DS] Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition – 27,164 (25,272 physical, 1,892 digital)
13. [PSV] The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky FC Evolution – 27,034 (24,984 physical, 2,050 digital)
14. [3DS] Stella Glow – 23,857 (22,294 physical, 1,563 digital)
15. [3DS] Girls Mode 3 – 19,125 (17,611 physical, 1,514 digital)
16. [PS4] Natsuiro High School: Seishun Hakusho – 17,840 (14,294 physical, 3,546 digital)
17. [3DS] Assassination Classroom: Grand Siege on Kurosensei – 16,912 (15,556 physical, 1,356 digital)
18. [3DS] Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire – 15,406 (14,690 physical, 716 digital)
19. [3DS] Downtown Nekketsu Jidaigeki – 15,064 (13,403 physical, 1,661 digital)
20. [3DS] Super Smash Bros. for 3DS – 13,955 (12,127 physical, 1,828 digital)
21. [PSV] Cross Ange: Tenshi to Ryuu no Rondo tr. – 13,691 (12,904 physical, 787 digital)
22. [PS3] Natsuiro High School: Seishun Hakusho – 13,475 (10,515 physical, 2,960 digital)
23. [3DS] Yo-Kai Watch 2: Shinuchi – 11,645 (11,205, 440 digital)
24. [PSV] Possession Magenta – 11,571 (11,007 physical, 564 digital)
25. [3DS] Animal Crossing: New Leaf – 10,919 (9,715 physical, 1,204 digital)
26. [3DS] Atelier Rorona Plus: The Alchemist of Arland – 10,773 (9,908 physical, 865 digital)
27. [PSV] Nobunaga no Yabou: Souzou with Power-Up Kit – 10,458 (9,360 physical, 1,098 digital)
28. [PS3] Minecraft: PlayStation 3 Edition – 9,362 (N/A physical, 9,362 digital)
29. [PS4] Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster – 8,991 (7,642 physical, 1,349 digital)
30. [3DS] BoxBoy! – 8,879 (715 physical, 8,164 digital)

Note that these sales are based on data between May 25 and June 21.

Nintendo released Kirby’s Return to Dream Land on the North American Wii U eShop on Thursday. A bunch of footage from the Wii game is now posted below.

Below are the latest titles that can be currently pre-ordered at retailers:

Wii U

Snoopy’s Grand Adventure – Amazon, GameStop
Skylanders SuperChargers Dark Edition Starter Pack – Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop
Shovel Knight – Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop
Star Fox Zero – Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop
Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash – Amazon, GameStop
Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival – Best Buy
Just Dance 2016 – Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop
Skylanders SuperChargers – Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop
Adventure Time: Finn and Jake Investigations – GameStop
Disney Infinity 3.0 – Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop
Mighty No. 9 – Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop
Guitar Hero Live – Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop
Super Mario Maker – Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop
LEGO Dimensions – Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop
Rodea: The Sky Soldier – Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop
LEGO Marvel’s Avengers – Amazon
Terraria – Amazon
Shin Megami Tensei x Fire Emblem – Best Buy
The Legend of Zelda – Amazon, Best Buy
Xenoblade Chronicles X – Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop
Yoshi’s Woolly World – Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop
Devil’s Third – Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop

3DS

Final Fantasy Explorers (new) – Amazon, GameStop
Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice – Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop
Gravity Falls: Legend of the Gnome Gemulets – Amazon, GameStop
Snoopy’s Grand Adventure – Amazon, GameStop
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Master Splinter’s Training Pack – Amazon, GameStop
Zero Escape 3 – Amazon
Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright – Amazon, Best Buy
Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest – Amazon
Shovel Knight – Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop
Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butoden – Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop
Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam – Amazon
The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes – Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop
Metroid Prime: Federation Force/Blast Ball – Amazon
Hyrule Warriors Legends – Amazon
Yo-Kai Watch – Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop
Chibi-Robo!: Zip Lash – Amazon, GameStop
Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer – Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop
The Legend of Legacy – Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop
Stella Glow – Amazon, GameStop
Return to PopoloCrois: A Story of Seasons Fairlytale – Amazon, Best Buy
LBX: Little Battlers eXperience – Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop
Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon – Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop
Skylanders SuperChargers – Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop
Adventure Time: Finn and Jake Investigations – GameStop
Project X Zone 2 – Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop
Senran Kagura 2: Deep Crimson – Amazon, GameStop
Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold: The Fafnir Knight – Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop
Rodea: The Sky Soldier – Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop
LEGO Marvel’s Avengers – Amazon
Terraria – Amazon
Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai DX – Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop

The Nintendo CSR Report 2015 was recently published. In the digest version, there’s a big focus on amiibo, including a few interviews.

One portion of the report features an interview with Nintendo’s Masaki Amano. He spoke about the challenges faced in developing amiibo at one point, noting:

Nintendo has developed a variety of game systems such as Wii U and Nintendo 3DS. However, amiibo development was extremely challenging because we couldn’t use our existing knowledge at all and had to proceed through everything by trial and error.

For example, when we make a game system we usually make a mold of each part by cutting the metal directly from 3D data using a drill or some other tool. For a figure, however, you use almost no machinery at all to make the mold, and do everything by hand instead. For amiibo, we started by creating a master. We then took this master apart to consider how to easily coat colors or create each mold. Link, for example, has 24 separate pieces.

We took a cast of the first mold by pressing clay into each part of the master and then coating it with silicon. Finally, after repeatedly duplicating the mold with harder substances, we used iron to create a metal mold. Although we could not apply our existing knowledge or experiences, we learned along the way as we pursued absolute quality.

That wasn’t the only notable element from the Nintendo CSR Report 2015. We also get a look at how Nintendo tests amiibo for safety and reliability. See the image below.

Rodea: The Sky Soldier was originally slated for a September release. However, in June, NIS America said that the game would be shipping in October instead. Now it may have slipped to November.

Last Wednesday, I received an email from Best Buy stating that Rodea: The Sky Soldier’s launch date had been changed to November 10. I didn’t make too much of it at the time, since one retailer isn’t enough to make any sort of conclusion about a delay. But other prominent retailers like Amazon and GameStop have since modified their listings to this date as well.

Obviously we still don’t have a confirmation about what’s happening with Rodea: The Sky Soldier. These could be retailer mistakes, or the game may have been pushed back for a second time. We’ll try and see if we can get a response out of NIS America.

Thanks to zanmadyne for the tip.

The folks over at Giant Bomb published another video from The Swindle with 23 minutes of footage. You can watch it below.

The Nintendo CSR Report 2015 has now been published. You can find it in full here, and the digest version here.

The digest version of the CSR Report has a message from Satoru Iwata, as well as several interesting interviews about amiibo. We’ve broken the report down into the gallery pages below.

Courses uploaded by the community in Super Mario Maker will feature different difficulty labels. For the most part, this is chosen dynamically as more players try out the level. As an example, if a course has only been completed 10 times out of 150 attempts, you’ll probably notice that it’s in the hard category.

This isn’t the only way that a course in Super Mario Maker will earn its difficulty label. Engadget reports, “user-created levels are also vetted by Nintendo moderators to determine level difficulty before it’s available for anyone to download.”

Source