Update: Walmart’s tweets have now been pulled. Make of that what you will!
A tweet from Walmart Canada officially confirms the existence of Nintendo’s gold Mario amiibo, though it was pretty much a sure thing at this point.
In one tweet, the retailer says that the figure will be sold in stores. A release date still hasn’t been determined.
@whosfourm Thanks for asking! We are getting the gold Mario amiibo in stores but we don't have a date yet.
— Walmart Canada (@WalmartCanada) February 25, 2015
A second tweet from Walmart Canada seems to confirm that there won’t be pre-orders for the gold Mario amiibo:
@AmiiboLover Hi there. We're not having a pre-sale for the gold Mario amiibos.
— Walmart Canada (@WalmartCanada) February 25, 2015
I imagine that things won’t be any different for Walmart stores in the United States. However, if we hear otherwise, we’ll be sure to let you know.
Serenity Forge’s new game “The King’s Bird” will be released on Wii U, the studio has confirmed.
The King’s Bird is a 2D platformer “with gameplay that seamlessly combines parkour with the ability to glide through the wind, create bursts of wind, and ultimately achieve flight with flocks of magical birds.” Players will be able “to feel the joys of flow, flight, and freedom.”
Serenity Forge is currently focusing on the PC version of The King’s Bird, but the plan is to eventually port it to Wii U. We’ll keep you updated as things progress.
Scam Kitty developer Dakko Dakko is creating a new Wii U title. Rhodri Broadbent, speaking with Eurogamer, shared the news. Specifics were not revealed.
Broadbent also discussed his “love” for Wii U and how the system “always brings a lot of new potential to gameplay, because you think about things in a different way.”
Broadbent’s words in full:
“I love it! It’s still a little joy box to me. As a developer, I’m still working on a project right now I can’t talk about now on the Wii U. It always brings a lot of new potential to gameplay, because you think about things in a different way. It’s always nice to have more control options, and more weirdness in your hardware in terms of being able to inspire new ideas in a developer. I’m sad it hasn’t reached the market it was supposed to, or I expected it to. But in terms of delivering good games I think it’s doing well.
“I’m a big fan of all crazy hardware. As a kid, and as a developer, I’ve always been interested in things that use hardware and interesting ways, and interesting hardware that brings new interesting experiences. That is the essence of gameplay for me, that fusion of the hardware and software together – when the hardware’s more quirky, the software can become so.”
MixedBag Games originally hoped to have forma.8 out last year. That didn’t happen, but the extra development time has been used wisely. MixedBag managed to give forma.8 a visual and technical overhaul over the past few months.
According to MixedBag, the team “decided to raise the bar and boost the game in every aspect, changing our technology (boring stuff) and redesigning all the backgrounds, effects and creatures from scratch (fun stuff!).” The game’s progress will be shown at GDC 2015 next week.
Our gallery below contains some screenshots showing forma.8’s change. Head on over here for MixedBag’s full blog.
Destructoid has revealed “Dot Arcade”, a new project from WayForward designer/director James Montagna. You can check out a few images above, and a summary of information below.
– Game is already done, rated by the ESRB, and approved by Nintendo
– Montagna is now deciding on a release date
– Programmer and composer Andrew Lim also worked on the game
– Began as a physical system prototype
– Started off as a wooden box with an 8×8 LED grid and a SNES controller plugged in
“We wanted to find some way we could share the dot games with the rest of the world, and Wii U seemed like the right fit. It was important that the experience emphasize the more intimate GamePad screen, but also beneficial to broadcast gameplay to others in the room on T… and taking it a step further, share scores with friends anywhere through Miiverse! So we started development on the collection of games, Dot Arcade.”
– 3 games included
– Mr. Snake, Dodge Club, and Rally Driver
– The games use the same 8×8 screen of virtual flashing lights to display the action
– Each game has it’s own “cabinet artwork” created by a featured guest artist like Jordan Canales and Jeremy Hobbs
– Dot Arcade may launch next month
– Plans for the series: “…secret extra cabinets for each game” and a plan to make “…Dot Arcade into something like a bit Generations series and introduce Dot Arcade Vol. 2 with three new games/featured artists… and so on, as long as there’s an audience with interest!”
– “The end result is a bit tricky to describe”
– “static screenshots don’t seem to do the games justice”
– Dot Arcade is “…the most raw form of video game — there’s no story other than what’s implied by the cabinet art, and there’s no real game graphics to speak of, just a focus on having fun manipulating an object on the screen. They’re entertaining in a way that’s shared only with the most vintage of video games.”
You can find a full report on Dot Arcade over on Destructoid.
Glover 2 was originally supposed to happen. Interactive Studios, the developer of the first game, was originally signed on to create the sequel. But as you may know, Glover 2 ended up seeing cancellation.
Believe it or not, Glover 2’s cancellation came about due to the first title. Publisher Hasbro ended up ordering 300,000 units since Nintendo had a special on N64 cartridges at the time. Rather than going for 150,000 units – a standard amount which was also suggested by Interactive Studios – Hasbro went with 300,000 units at a slightly reduced cost.
Chris Stockman, the design director of Saints Row 1, is said to have been making an open-world game for Wii U. The project was being made in partnership with Nintendo.
Unfortunately, Stockman’s title was cancelled one day before production kicked off. It’s unknown why this occurred, though Nintendo’s management apparently pulled out at the last minute.
All of this information comes from Unseen64’s Liam Robertson. The site consistently digs up information on cancelled game-related projects.
