Pandora’s Tower is out now in Japan as the next downloadable Wii title for Wii U. For those curious about the game’s file size, it takes up about 2,700MB.
Several new titles are coming to the Japanese Wii U and 3DS eShops next week. Here’s a look at the upcoming digital downloads:
Wii U Download
Teslagrad (1,500 yen)
Wii U Virtual Console
Mr. Driller A (702 yen, GBA)
Ganbare Goemon 2 (514 yen, Famicom)
3DS Download
Thorium Wars: Attack of the Skyfighter (700 yen)
The games above will be available on March 11.
IGN went hands on with SteamWorld Heist at GDC 2015 this week, and has now posted a preview covering the demo. The site’s article contains plenty of new information about Image & Form’s indie game.
We’ve rounded up the various tidbits below. For the full preview, head on over to IGN.
– Out in August
– Takes place 100 years in the future
– Control a robot squad
– Some bad stuff happens between the events of SteamWorld Dig and Heist that forces the Steambots into space
– Recruit other bots to join your squad mid-mission or inside intergalactic saloons
– Develop a team and choose between multiple classes
– Classes have their own weapons and abilities
– The heists take place from a familiar 2D perspective
– Move the camera with the right stick and take a quick glance of all the enemies in a room
– Move characters with the d-pad
– The turn-based aspect adds a special set of rules
– While you move the cursor, it highlights a path the Steambot will take to its next position
– Gold path means it can still fire its weapon at enemies during the same turn
– Blue path means you’d be open to attack once the turn ends
– Can take cover behind barrels and other structures
– Firing weapons happens in pseudo real-time and requires careful aim and execution
– Can shoot through floors
– It’s also possible to miss shots
– Control Pipper and Sea Brass in the demo
– Piper is the taller of the two
– Piper’s gun is weak, though it has a capable sight that can be used to ricochet bullets off of walls to hit enemies
– Sea Brass can use a hand cannon that dishes out large damage at close range, but requires you to use your own line of sight to area
– Pipper’s peashooter won’t do much damage (even with a headshot), but Sea Brass’ powerful cannon easily takes out enemies
– Recruit another robot during the mission that looks like a robotic fihs
– He fires an Uzi that recoils wildly and affects his aim
– Lots of enemy variation
– These include grunts, snipers, automated turrets, and big burly robot bosses with lots of health
– All missions in the game have a procedurally generated map
– Multiple pathways in the map
– Need to consider which teammates to bring to the battle since characters are class based
– Ex: an engineer robot can repair broken pathways and help your squad reach hidden areas to claim more swag (treasure you’re trying to collect)
– When a teammate dies, it is significant, but not as unfair as permadeath
– Image & Form tried out permadeath, but ultimately wanted a system similar to the one used in SteamWorld Dig
– The robotic fish died during IGN’s demo, but another version of him can be recruited somewhere else in the game
– Recruit allies and mission in intergalactic saloons
– In the final game: recruiting robots to join your squad, space travel between jobs and intergalactic saloons, and upgrading a squad to be stronger and more resilient than your opponents
Walmart opened online pre-orders for the gold Mario amiibo last week. However, in just a few minutes, reservations sold out. If you’re one of the people who missed out on the pre-orders, there’s no need to panic… yet.
Nintendo said on its Facebook page today that Walmart’s pre-orders “represent just a small fraction of product made available in advance of the launch.” Consumers will still be able to find gold Mario at Walmart stores.
Remember preorders are just a part of the Mario #amiibo Gold Edition story. Pick one up at a @Walmart store on 3/20. pic.twitter.com/6aPAKubu9k
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) March 3, 2015
Looks like there won’t be just one North American Mario Party 10 commercial! Here’s another showing off Bowser Party.
Update: Interestingly, Unity 5 isn’t available for Wii U just yet. We’re not quite sure why. Unity told one developer: “We don’t have any information on a release time frame right now.” Stay tuned!
Unity 5 was announced and released today. Given the engine’s strong support for Wii U, it comes as no surprise that this latest version will also work on the console. We won’t delve too far into the technical aspects, but Unity 5 features elements like a new physics engine, more flexibility with animation, and is more efficient compared to previous versions.