PDP and Hori had a number of Nintendo accessories on display at this year’s E3. You can get a look at the lineup in the video below.
Solitaire Dungeon Escape hit the North American Wii U eShop this past Thursday. For the game’s trailer, check out the video below.
Even though Nintendo is now in the toys-to-life business, the company has yet to come up with a game that truly takes advantage of amiibo. There’s nothing really out there right now from the Big N like Skylanders or Disney Infinity. As for what the future holds, perhaps Nintendo will explore a dedicated amiibo game in the future.
In an interview with GameSpot (watch the full interview here), Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime said that he – along with the Treehouse team – have told the developers in Japan that “there’s a strong opportunity for a dedicated amiibo-centric game”. Reggie is sure that the different teams “are thinking about it”, and how they’re give such a title “the unique Nintendo spin”.
Reggie’s comments in full:
So I’ve got nothing to announce today in that space, but I’ll tell you the Treehouse team, myself we visit Japan very frequently. And all of us share our wishes with the development team of what we’d love to see. And it’s not saying anything out of school to say that we’ve communicated that we think there’s a strong opportunity for a dedicated amiibo-centric game where it’s all about the magic that happens with amiibo. And so I’m certain that the developers are thinking about it, and thinking about what’s the unique Nintendo spin that would come in that type of gameplay.
GameSpot has put up an 18-minute interview with Reggie Fils-Aime, president of Nintendo of America. Topics include fan feedback, the Nintendo World Championships, Zelda Wii U, amiibo, EarthBound, and more.
You can watch the interview in full below. We also have a summary available for the entire interview.
– Nintendo sees how people are reacting to the Digital Event through real-time social media, what people are commenting on
– Reggie says Star Fox Zero has been showing really well, big lines on the show floor
– Super Mario Maker, Yoshi’s Woolly World did well also
– Reggie says Metroid Prime: Federation Force “is a tough concept”
– Nintendo tried to communicate that there’s no Samus, gameplay is different in the Digital Event
– Since they heard that it wasn’t entirely clear, Nintendo spent time on Metroid Prime: FF during Treehouse Live
– Reggie heard that the reaction to Blast Ball “has been quite fabulous” from those who have played it
– Nintendo World Championships targets for simultaneous views, VOD views immediately after
– Both of those targets were blown away
– Nintendo doesn’t have a formula for E3 that is locked in for years
– Super Mario’s anniversary, Super Mario Maker, Splatoon made sense for the Nintendo World Championships to return
– Feedback of the NWC was phenomenal, so Nintendo will consider how they might do it more regularly
– Nintendo wanted to showcase games launching in the 6-9 months at E3
– Reggie said Nintendo breaks its own rules “all the time”, but this is generally the company’s mentality
– Nintendo was worried that “showing wonderful footage” of Zelda Wii U “would lead to further disappointment on behalf of the fans”
– Nintendo will have many opportunities to show Zelda Wii U
– Reggie has seen how Zelda Wii U has been progressing, and it will be “wonderful”
– Nintendo also feels that it had more than enough content for E3, so they didn’t want to pour salt on wounds
– “The state of the Wii U is quite strong”, had a strong year
– Nintendo feels that if it continues putting out great software, it’ll drive the install base
– “The support we’re getting from third-parties continues to be there”
– Reggie says the Skylanders announcement “has been incredibly well-received”
– Splatoon “performing exceptionally well”
– Strong sell-through for Splatoon globally
– Nintendo’s online presentations are done internally, though they have some external support
– For Nintendo’s E3 2015 announcement video, there was a script, but some things were made up as they went along like Reggie firing Bill (this was unscripted)
– With the Nintendo Direct Micro, they thought it’d be fun for Bill to be small, working his way up
– Nintendo is “extremely pleased with amiibo”
– Nintendo knows there is some frustration with amiibo, and is committed to improving the flow of product, which Reggie says they’re delivered on
– During the 30-day time period for the most recent amiibo launch, Nintendo sold through about 1 million units
– Nintendo is now looking forward to the different forms of amiibo
– Nintendo will continue experimenting with the amiibo form factor
– For a dedicated amiibo game, Nintendo isn’t announcing anything
– However, the Treehouse team and Reggie visit Japan and share their wishes with the developers, and have communicated that there is a strong opportunity for an amiibo-dedicated game
– Nintendo will continue delivering unique, compelling, and differentiated experiences
– Tomodachi Life was one of last year’s big surprises
– EarthBound: Nintendo knows about the love for the franchise, thought Beginnings was a great way to service the fans
– Nintendo knows the love is there for EarthBound, and will see what happens
– In terms of releasing Beginnings, there are a lot of consumers who don’t know the fundametal series, and thought it’d be best to bring them back to the beginning
– Reggie says the industry loves focusing on the shiny new thing, which is currently virtual reality
– Reggie believes that VR will take off when it’s inherently fun and socialable/shareable
Amazon has dropped the price of Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth – The Wild Cards Premium Edition once again. It’s now down to $47.36, the lowest price yet. You’ll be saving $33 ($32.63 to be exact) with a purchase.
Those who are interested can check out Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth – The Wild Cards Premium Edition on Amazon here.
It’s not often that we see titles from Nintendo that put the creation tools in players’ hands. So why did Shigeru Miyamoto decide to make Super Mario Maker?
During a recent press event, Miyamoto said: “I still just love making games, it’s my favorite thing.” In developing Super Mario Maker, he wanted “to let other people enjoy the experience of making games themselves.”
Super Mario Maker launches for Wii U on September 11.
Nintendo finally unveiled Star Fox Zero during its Digital Event that aired on Tuesday. In creating the game, Shigeru Miyamoto has said that the team decided to focus on the gameplay and a purposeful visual style. Miyamoto feels that, these days, the realistic look of games causes them to “all look the same”.
As reported by The Wall Street Journal:
In a press event Sunday, Miyamoto said that the point of Star Fox Zero is the gameplay and the visual style of the game, which is somewhat cartoony. It was made that way with a purpose. “A lot of games nowadays look so realistic that they all look the same,” Miyamoto said.
Star Fox Wii U is due out this holiday for Wii U. PlatinumGames is working with Nintendo on the game’s development.
Let’s Talk #13: Your thoughts on Nintendo’s E3 2015 performance
Well, that’s it! Another E3 is in the books. Now it’s time to talk about it all.
Just like last year’s E3, Nintendo did quite a bit in conjunction with the show. The Smash Bros. presentation kicked things off on Sunday morning, followed by the Nintendo World Championships later that night. The Nintendo Digital Event was on Tuesday, and the Treehouse Live streams lasted for three days.
As it was where the big announcements were made, I’ll be focusing on the Digital Event. You guys can feel free to discuss any part of Nintendo’s E3 presence, however!
To recap, below were the big announcements from the Nintendo Digital Event:
Wii U
– Star Fox Zero revealed, PlatinumGames working on the project
– Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival announced, out this holiday, amiibo figures revealed
– Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash announced, out this holiday
– Skylanders SuperChargers is getting Bowser and Donkey Kong figures that also act as amiibo
– Super Mario Maker: out September 11, new amiibo officially revealed
– Xenoblade Chronicles X: out December 4
– Yoshi’s Woolly World: out October 16
– New Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem trailer, reconfirmed for 2016
3DS
– The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes announced, out this fall
– Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam announced, out spring 2016
– Metroid Prime: Federation Force revealed, out in 2016
– Hyrule Warriors Legends confirmed, out Q1 2016
– Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer: out September 25
– Yo-Kai Watch: out this holiday
– Fire Emblem Fates gets its final name, reconfirmed for 2016
So that was the big stuff. Looking back on everything, how do you guys feel about what was shown? I’ll kick things off with my own thoughts below.
Man, there is a whole lot to talk about concerning the Digital Event. The general impression, unfortunately for Nintendo, seems to be leaning towards the negative side.
Once the Digital Event ended, I was a bit disappointed myself. For a few reasons.
For one thing, there wasn’t much new announced for Wii U. Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival and Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash were the only games we didn’t know about before for the console. Both are due out later this year. What do we have to look forward to in 2016 aside from Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem? I hope we see some announcements later on in the year!
Metroid Prime: Federation Force is a strange thing for me. On one hand, I’m happy that we finally have a new Metroid. On the other hand, it doesn’t feel much like a Metroid game right now. I’m not personally liking how it looks currently, but I’m very much willing to give it a shot. Let’s see what happens as development progresses.
Looking back on it and really reflecting on things, the Digital Event wasn’t awful in my opinion. Don’t forget we had E3 presentations like in 2008, which featured a whole lot of Shaun White Snowboarding and Wii Music. It definitely wasn’t Nintendo’s strongest, and last year’s event was much more exciting by comparison.
Some other random thoughts: where was Devil’s Third? Did anyone else feel like the Digital Event was missing “one other game” or “one big title”? After the Mario Maker bit, I was hoping Nintendo would have one final title to reveal. The puppets were lovely, but some segments felt like they ran on too long. Considering Yoshi’s Woolly World was featured in last year’s Digital Event and is launching extremely soon in Europe in Japan, a trailer probably would have been enough.
Okay, that’s enough from me. I better stop now. My brain has melted from E3 coverage, so I’m probably just rambling on too much at this point. Let us know what you thoughts about Nintendo at E3 2015 in the comments below!
Highlights from last week’s topic: E3 2015 hopes and dreams
Timppis
In order of preference.
New IP – Large scale JRPG but with more fantasy settings than Xenoblade games. FF9 or White Witch -style.
Paper Mario – Have to have this. The rumors must be true
Star Fox open world game – Not going to happen unfortunately
New line of Mario Sports games, highlighted by Mario Strikers 3 with HUGE career mode – Also not going to happen.
Mario sports games in general – Baseball, Rugby/American football mashup, Basketball, anything. -Not happening
Super Mario Sunshine HD – Plausible
Resurrection of any of these franchises – Waveracer, Golden Sun, 1080 Snowboarding, Advance Wars, Earthbound… – Also not going to happen
Im going to be so disappointed this year… I just know it ;_;
AJK
A new Metroid is the dream really. Ideally a new Prime type game.
Also please please please don’t let Starfox be underwhelming. I have waited since Starfox 64 for a decent Starfox shooter. My fear is that they might try something gimmicky instead of sticking to what made the first 2 games so great.
My final wish would be a new Golden Sun game on 3ds.
Vorsun
I’m probably alone on this, but I really wanna see more of Devil’s Third. That game is shaping up to be a really fun 3rd-person hack-and-slashooter. And of course I want Nintendo to be playing another trick on me and show a trailer for Zelda U, even though I’m sure there won’t be one.
As far as games I want them to announce, I would love for Retro’s new game to be Metroid Prime 4/Dread/whatever, but I’m torn because I also want them to do their own IP. I want Platinum’s game to either be Vanquish 2 or Wonderful 102 or… dare I ask for God Hand 2? With Bayonetta 2 being Wii U exclusive, the possibilities are astounding. And of course, as always, my greatest desire is Custom Robo U/3DS. I will not be satisfied with some cardboard cutout trying to be Custom Robo. I need the real steel deal.
icecreamperson
So I want a couple of things….
An hd remake for zelda for wii u
a new big 3d mario game announced in the vain of galaxy, sunshine or 64 fr wii u
a new paper mario announced for wii u
diddy kong racing for wii u announced
Nintendo and Koei Tecmo officially revealed Hyrule Warriors Legends during the Digital Event that took place on Tuesday. In an interview with Famitsu this week, producer Yosuke Hayashi shares more information about what we can expect from the game.
In one of his responses, Hayashi notes that planning started for the 3DS version after the Wii U title released. He said:
That was after the release of the Wii U version. The Wii U version got a positive reception from people who played it, but as there are already many Zelda titles on the Nintendo 3DS, many Zelda fans said “I’d like to play this on 3DS”. The development of the Nintendo 3DS version took off from there.
