It was recently revealed that Akari Uchida and Mino Taro have left Konami. Both staffers played a significant role in the creation of the LovePlus and Tokimeki Memorial titles.
Konami followed up with an official notice today, and said that the LovePlus series will continue despite the departure of Uchida and Taro. The full message reads:
Thank you for your continued interest in our product line.
Given the resignations of Akari Uchida and Mino Taro as staff members who were formerly in charge of production on the Love Plus and Tokimeki Memorial franchises, we are aware of everyone’s concerns about the future of both franchises.
Love Plus and Tokimeki Memorial are both series of games that are deeply important to us and have earned your love and adoration for many years and as such, production of them will continue unabated and it is our sincere hope that you will likewise maintain your enduring support moving forward.
If there are still any remaining points that you wish to see clarified, you may reach us at our customer service line.
Koei Tecmo has confirmed speculation that Atelier Rorona Plus: The Alchemist of Arland has been delayed. It was previously slated for March 26, but the game will now launch sometime this spring. A final release date has not been announced.
In today’s notice, Koei Tecmo apologized to those who have been looking forward to Atelier Rorona Plus. More time is needed to wrap up the project.
The latest Japanese hardware sales from Media Create are as follows:
PS4 – 33,826
Vita – 20,103
New 3DS LL – 19,668
PS3 – 7,221
New 3DS – 7,164
Wii U – 7,054
3DS – 2,666
3DS LL – 2,590
Vita TV – 688
Xbox One – 307
For comparison’s sake, here are the hardware numbers from last week:
PS4 – 33,753
New 3DS LL – 21,402
Vita – 19,757
New 3DS – 7,661
PS3 – 7,645
Wii U – 7,379
3DS – 2,566
3DS LL – 2,321
Vita TV – 621
Xbox One – 445
And here are the software charts:
1. [PS3] Yakuza Zero – 145,823 / NEW
2. [PS4] Yakuza Zero – 90,506 / NEW
3. [PSV] Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth – 76,760 / NEW
4. [PSP] Uta noPrince-sama All Star After Secret – 67,237 / NEW
5. [WIU] Mario Party 10 – 50,212 / NEW
6. [PS3] Dragon Quest Heroes – 33,448 / 426,408
7. [3DS] Assassination Classroom: Grand Siege on Kurosensei – 25,494 / NEW
8. [3DS] Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D – 15,941 / 381,702
9. [PS4] Dragon Quest Heroes – 14,744 / 319,473
10. [PSV] Harukanaru Toki no Naka de 6 – 13,601 / NEW
11. [3DS] Yo-Kai Watch 2: Shinuchi – 11,701 / 2,539,885
12. [3DS] Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire – 10,768 / 2,559,923
13. [PSV] God Eater 2 Rage Burst – 10,406 / 299,945
14. [PSV] Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Sui – 9,879 / NEW
15. [3DS] Super Smash Bros. for 3DS – 6,965 / 2,180,208
16. [PS3] Winning Post 8 2015 – 6,943 / NEW
17. [3DS] Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate – 6,100 / 2,498,432
18. [3DS] LEGO City Undercover: The Chase Begins – 5,993 / 19,277
19. [PSV] Winning Post 8 2015 – 5,933 / NEW
20. [PSV] Samurai Warriors 4-II – 5,729 / 39,423
REDMOND, Wash.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–On March 20, you are invited to the biggest and baddest bash of the year: Mario Party 10 for Wii U! In addition to a power-packed lineup of new features, new boards and new mini-games, new revelers join the Mario Party fun in the game’s ground-breaking Bowser Party and amiibo Party modes. When bad guy Bowser crashes the party to playfully torment up to four additional players on Team Mario, the franchise’s social experience takes an unprecedented and deviously good turn. In amiibo Party mode, which requires at least one compatible amiibo figure to access, you and up to three other players can tap amiibo to the Wii U GamePad controller to play with and customize your amiibo, and change a portion of the board to match your character.
To add more fun to the Mario Party 10 game, a new set of amiibo called the Super Mario series will also launch simultaneously on March 20. The Super Mario series features the amiibo debut of Toad, as well as new designs for Mario, Luigi, Bowser, Princess Peach and Yoshi. The new “Super Mario series” Mario amiibo design will be available exclusively in a Mario Party 10 bundle that also launches on March 20 at a suggested retail price of $59.99. The other amiibo figures will be sold separately at a suggested retail price of $12.99 each.
Nintendo will release its next fiscal year earnings release on May 7, the company announced today. This period will cover the fiscal year ending March 31. When May rolls on in, we should hear more about Nintendo’s Quality of Life plans, as well as further usage of its character IP.
Hyper Light Drifter has already been confirmed for release on the Wii U eShop but now we are learning that we might not see a release until 2016.
In a recent interview with TiC Podcast Team, Alex Preston the games creator has some updates on the progress of the game and when we can expect a release.
We have not yet announced the release date. We have only said 2015 for PC first. Consoles take some time so, for example, Xbox One has a certification process that you have to go through. There are hundreds of things on that list you have to make sure are good to go on that system. It takes time. We’re a small team to do that. We want to get it out the door on PC first and we will give ourselves the correct amount of time after. Sometimes it takes months, sometimes it takes much longer depending on the certification process. It’s all about getting it on the platform as quickly as we can, but doing it the right way. That stuff can be really intense and expensive.
We’re trying to get it all out as quickly as possible. We can’t rush the certification process. We don’t want to release a broken game. We don’t want to release a bad game. We’ll take the time that we need to. Those are the realities of it and those are the goals.
As far as pricing for the upcoming title Alex stated:
As far as price goes, we’re stating that it’s $19.99 so it’s a big game. The pre-order price starting out was $15 way back when, but since we had enough funding and a larger team, it’s become a much bigger experience. We’ve put years of work into it at this point. It’s well-worth that amount, if not more.
On the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Nintendo shares are seeing their highest increase since June 2011.
This positive performance comes on the heels of the recent announcement of a future new console, customer membership program, as well as a partnership with DeNa.
There is no telling at this time whether or not the latest news will have a sustained affect on their shares, however we are sure to be seeing much more news coming our way over the next few months.
Square Enix has decided to remove Chousoku Henkei Gyrozetter from the Japanese 3DS eShop.
Originally released in 2013 at retail and through the eShop, the game was about cars that turned into robots and had an anime to support the story as well. Neither game nor anime did very well and the anime was cancelled shortly after the release of the game.
Chousoku Henkei Gyrozetter will be removed from the eShop on March 31st.
