Ninja Pig Studios’ next Wii U game, Jumpy Cat, was slated for the North American Wii U eShop this Thursday. But in light of accusations that the game includes artwork taken from a tutorial featured on Photon Storm’s blog, the game’s launch could be either postponed or cancelled.
The situation started when Photon Storm’s Richard Davey posted a message on Twitter in which he petitioned Nintendo of America to halt Jumpy Cat’s release.
Hi @NintendoAmerica who do we contact to get this game removed from Wii U shop? It's using our stolen art http://t.co/TyXCnPQoUg
— Richard Davey (@photonstorm) January 20, 2015
Ninja Pig Studios’ Jordan Schuetz responded soon after, though the situation was not settled.
@photonstorm we found it on open game art. The license said we were allowed to use commercially + we changed the coloring and style.
— Jordan Schuetz (@ninjapigstudios) January 20, 2015
Davey seems to have taken issue with the fact that images from Photon Storm’s tutorial can only be used in projects that are entirely free. Ninja Pig Studios would have asked consumers for 99 cents with its Jumpy Cat title.
Nintendo’s official page for Jumpy Cat has been pulled. The game’s current status is unclear.
GetClose developer Wombat Source is starting to tease its next title for Wii U. It’s now been made known that the project is titled “Placards”… and that’s about it! You can find a teaser site here. Expect more news in the near future.
Rumors regarding The World Ends with You DLC for Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call have now been confirmed. A selection of new tracks are out now in Japan, including Twister (battle music) and Calling (field music).
There are a few other new DLC tracks as well. Square Enix has added World Revolution and Wind Scene from Chrono Trigger, Liberi Fatali from Final Fantasy VIII, and Last Battle from Romancing SaGa 3.
Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse finally has a release date for Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. WayForward confirmed on its Twitter account today that the game is due out on February 5. This applies to both versions of Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse – Wii U and 3DS.
#PiratesCurse EU/AUS/NZ releases simultaneously February 5th, 2015 on #WiiU & #3DS! #New3DS update coming soon. pic.twitter.com/pPbCBgiSwH
— WayForward (@WayForward) January 20, 2015
New information from sales tracker Media Create indicates that gaming sales in Japan decreased during the second week of January, which is generally designated as the end of the “holiday season”.
As Siliconera points out, children usually spend their New Year’s money during January’s first week. This is accompanied by a drop in hardware and software sales in later weeks.
As expected, software sales lowered to 62.91 percent compared to the same period in January 2014. 3DS led the market in terms of holiday software sales, and the industry as a whole was affected when numbers for the portable dropped. There were also no significant titles during the second week of January. Kirby Triple Deluxe debuted last January and sold 214,000 copies in its first week.
Wild Gunman has received a rating through Australia’s classification board. These types of listings usually pertain to the Virtual Console, so perhaps we’ll be seeing this one on the Wii U soon! We’ll let you know if we hear anything official about Wild Guns on the eShop.
Nikki, known for her appearance in the terminated 3DS application Swapnote, will soon be starring in her own game.
As part of today’s Club Nintendo discontinuation announcement, it was revealed that members of the rewards program in Japan will be able to access “Nikki’s Travel Quiz” for 80 points.
Specific details about the title were not shared. It’s currently unknown when Nikki’s Travel Quiz will release, and if it will come to North America and/or Europe.
