We knew that Marth would be back on store shelves sometime this year thanks to an announcement made during the most recent Nintendo Direct. Today, Nintendo shared a specific timeframe as to when the restock is taking place.
Those living in North America will be able to get their hands on Marth once again in late April. Nintendo confirmed this on Twitter through the following message:
Planning to pick up Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. and don’t have a Marth amiibo? More are headed to stores in late April! pic.twitter.com/3CV0EkFWt1
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) March 2, 2015
The attached video gives us a look at Etrian Mystery Dungeon’s first-print bonus in Japan. It’s the “Marukatsu Super Famicom 2015 Revival Edition”. This magazine published its final issue over two decades ago, but is returning for Etrian Mystery Dungeon’s launch. It includes 52 pages of various information and artwork, plus an original soundtrack disc featuring six tracks.
This is another Twitch recording, meaning you’ll need to head past the break for the video. Darn you, auto-play!
tinyBuild’s Mike Rose held a panel at GDC 2015 today titled “The Turning Tide: Independent Game Sales in 2015”. During the session, Rose touched on the performance of indie titles across a variety of platforms, including the eShop.
On Wii U, it seems that the lowest number developers can expect lies between 300 and 1,000 units. This would be a game that receives poor reviews, lacks marketing, or is exclusive to the platform. The best-case scenario allows games to see sales at around 60,000 copies, with most revenue coming from other platforms.
The situation is apparently much brighter on 3DS. The low-end of the spectrum falls between 1,000 and 5,000 units (poorly rated, no marketing), while the high-end is 50,000 to 200,000 copies (big exposure from Nintendo, multi-platform).
Rose also mentioned in his same talk that developers who ported their games to 3DS and received Japanese localization saw sales that exceeded expectations. Those who ported titles to Wii U via Unity felt it was worth it since the process was relatively easy.
In an issue published towards the end of last year, EDGE included an article that provided insight into the development of No More Heroes (see what was said about the series’ future here). That piece has now been published online in full. Creator Suda51, battle programmer Toru Hironaka, and senior character artist Takashi Kasahara shared the No More Heroes commentary.
We’ve rounded up some of the interesting comments from EDGE’s article below. You’ll also find a few pieces of art. For the full piece, head on over to GamesRadar.
A message posted to the Japanese Miiverse community provides a brief update on Mario Kart 8’s downloadable content. Development of the second DLC batch is now in the final stages, which makes sense given that it’s targeted for launch in May. Those in Japan can also use this link to purchase DLC from mariokart.tv.
Zoë Mode, in partnership with Activision, was once working on DJ Hero: After Party. The game was slated for Wii, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360.
DJ Hero: After Party was intended to be “an alternative approach to the formula”, according to Unseen64. A developer who worked on the project said that it “had a very different vibe to it than the other games”, with a more ” relaxed and laid back” vibe.
For whatever reason, Activision did not go further with DJ Hero: After Party and rejected the pitch in October 2009. However, the publisher held on to their concepts – some of which were used in DJ Hero 2.
