Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Rumors, Wii | 0 comments

Could North America end up getting Pandora’s Tower, the final game in the Wii RPG trinity? Short answer: Possibly.

NinTemple has posted an alleged audio recording of a conversation held with a GameStop manager, hinting at a potential announcement.

If it’s reliable, pre-orders will begin in June. Apparently an internal GameStop message informed employees to tell customers about The Last Story and Pandora’s Tower when they purchased Xenoblade Chronicles last Friday.

One issue is that we can’t confirm the validity of the recording. The manager also mentioned some inaccurate information, including how Xenoblade Chronicles and The Last Story are GameStop exclusives. We all know this isn’t true.

We’ll mark this as a rumor for the time being.

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Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Rumors | 0 comments

Capcom usually has at least one Nintendo game announcement or update to share at Captivate. In 2011, for instance, we received a new trailer and screenshots for Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D.

It looks like things will be no different this year.

When asked if some of tomorrow’s “Capcom goodness” will be Nintendo-related, IGN editor Rich George said,

“There will be something that interests you, I think.”

You know what would be nice? A Monster Hunter Tri G localization announcement.

We’ll be here tomorrow morning at 11 AM of course, so stay tuned for any announcements – assuming there are any! We’ll definitely have a huge update on Gaming Everything as well.

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Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Rumors, Wii U | 0 comments

Forget The Box published a new speculatory report about the Wii U’s pricing today. The site’s “sources closely involved with manufacturing and distributing Nintendo products” claim that the console’s various parts total roughly $180. The Wii U’s controller, meanwhile, apparently won’t cost more than $50 to produce.

The same source believes a minimum $300 price tag should be expected, adding:

“Cutting production costs to maximize profits is Nintendo’s main concern with the Wii U. They are cutting costs in the Wii U’s hardware to build back confidence in investors. Nintendo wants investors to view Wii U as a less risky proposition. ”

One of the Wii U’s touted features, fear field communication (NFC), is essentially “a drop in the bucket”. The source says that this functionality should cost $5 at most:

“NFC capabilities are a drop in the bucket for Nintendo. As NFC becomes more mainstream in mobile devices, the price for NFC implementation will rapidly decline. Nintendo is jumping on NFC because of a projected cost decline in the technology.”

The source said the following regarding the controller’s other manufacturing costs:

“The cameras in the Wii U controller are an estimated manufacturing cost of $6. They are slightly better quality than the 3DS and DSi cameras. The touch screen has a manufacturing cost estimated at $14.”

And on the hardware overall:

“Nintendo chose an economical GPU and CPU that could keep up with the performance of today’s current consoles, but keep hardware costs down to maximize profits. Nintendo got a bargain price on the custom GPU and CPU that the Wii U uses. There is a bigger focus on downloadable content, applications, video content, digital distribution, and services to create a stream of revenue. Investors will be ecstatic with the news.”

Concerning the Wii U tablet, Forget The Box believes the “cost of materials would be slightly less than what Kinect cost when it was first released for the Xbox 360.” A breakdown of Microsoft’s accessory added up to approximately $56 following launch.

As is the case with each rumor we post on the site, take this report with a few grains of salt.

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Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Rumors | 5 Comments

It’s no secret that SEGA has been experiencing significant financial troubles. Perhaps as a result of this, SEGA may be considering a potentially “massive” and “total” reboot for Sonic in 2014. SEGA and Team Sonic would be looking to monetize the IP which would provide the company with more capital.

That’s all according to a new rumor published on TSSZ News, who warns the reboot “is allegedly still in the exploratory phase”. The site also has speculatory information of possible gameplay changes for Sonic – including a change in structure similar to an open-world, a new universe, and more.

Head past the break for a rundown of TSSZ News’ report.

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Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Rumors, Wii U | 0 comments

You know the drill by now. There are some unnamed “key developers” out there who have spoken with CVG, and these folks are saying some concerning things about the Wii U.

One developer source told the site:

“Assumptions that Wii U games will look like ‘up rezzed’ current-gen titles with better textures aren’t quite right. They’ll look just as good, but not better. You shouldn’t expect anything special from a graphics point of view.”

And a second source:

“We’re still working on dev machines but there have definitely been some issues [in porting PS3/360 games]. It’s not actually a problem getting things up and running because the architecture is pretty conventional, but there are constraints with stuff like physics and AI processing because the hardware isn’t quite as capable.”

“I suppose you don’t need sophisticated physics to make a Mario game.”

I’m not sure about you guys, but all of these rumors, unnamed sources, and random quotes are starting to become quite agitating. In the search for new Wii U information and details about the system’s power, there sure have been a lot of contradictory reports flying around…

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Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Rumors, Wii U | 0 comments

There’s been a rumor going around that the Wii U will launch in North America on November 18. I’ve been careful not to post such speculation here as the original source is extremely dubious.

However, IGN believes they’ve obtained a piece of evidence that supports the rumor.

The photo above comes from an email sent by a GameStop Regional Manager. IGN says it “seems to support the notion that the Wii U very well might release on November 18 as speculated.”

Not so fast. If you look at the title of the email, it says, “Wii U North American and Japanese Release Date Leaked?” It appears that this person was merely basing the content of his message off of the original speculation.

I don’t get the impression that he/she has any insider knowledge. What do you guys think?

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Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Rumors, Wii U | 0 comments

The latest report in the Wii U power saga comes from GamesIndustry, who was collected a number of quotes from unnamed developers. Two of these folks are in agreement when they say that the Wii U isn’t as powerful as the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360.

One developer said:

“No, it’s not up to the same level as the PS3 or the 360. The graphics are just not as powerful.”

A second developer echoed the same thoughts. The person below believes that the console “just can’t quite keep up” even though “some things are better, mostly as a result of it being a more modern design.”

“Yeah, that’s true. It doesn’t produce graphics as well as the PS3 or the 360. There aren’t as many shaders, it’s not as capable. Sure, some things are better, mostly as a result of it being a more modern design. But overall the Wii U just can’t quite keep up.”

A third source has weighed in on the Wii U’s controller, expressing some concern:

“The whole thing about the tablet controller is that you only get one of them, and you can only use one and it’s not completely independent. The base console has to be on, and you have to be in range. Other controllers are just Wiimotes, or other Wii controllers. They may change the form factor or looks a bit, but it’s the same controller.”

I think it’d be best to take this with a grain of salt. We simply don’t know who these developers/sources are, are there have been a number of contradictory statements that conflict with this report.

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Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, Rumors | 0 comments

Maxconsole is claiming that Nintendo is readying a 3DS update for launch in just a few days. There would be a number of features in the firmware, such as a “Game Preview” mode on the eShop, a Nintendo Network application, and more.

A full listing of the functionality included in the rumored update is as follows:

* Ability to access Nintendo eShop account from other internet enabled devices including computers and smartphones.
* This system update will allow users to take pictures of QR codes with the 3DS from the other device’s screen to redeem purchased content.
* This update will add the application “Nintendo Network” to the 3DS.
* Ability to update physical Nintendo 3DS Games via Nintendo Shop (DLC feature).
* A “Game Preview” Mode for the Nintendo 3DS system Nintendo Shop.
* Enhances the speed of the handheld.
* Increases the system security with automatic security updates.
* Nintendo Zone will be automatically added to European 3DS owners.

We’ll be able to determine if this rumor is legitimate or not soon. If nothing becomes available within the next few days, that would be a pretty good sign that the above speculation is fake!

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Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, Rumors | 0 comments

We’ve been hearing lots of gossip about Epic Mickey 2 being made for the Wii (possibly Wii U as well), PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. According to the latest speculation, though, there’s also a “companion” game of sorts in the works for the 3DS.

Not much is known about the rumored project. Nintendo Magazine France says that it will contain 2D elements, but this hasn’t been confirmed.

If this is the real deal, we may hear about it on this week’s GameTrailers TV episode, Nintendo Power, or Disney’s upcoming conference.

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Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, Rumors | 0 comments

Word on the street is that Rayman Origins has been pushed back on Europe. The new release date is apparently June 7.

As far as North America goes, Best Buy shows a March 20 launch for the game. Yep – that’s next Tuesday.

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