This week’s UK Wii U/3DS specific software sales are as follows;
Wii U
1. Super Smash Bros. – Nintendo
2. Mario Kart 8 – Nintendo
3. New Super Mario Bros. U – Nintendo
4. Super Mario 3D World – Nintendo
5. Just Dance 2015 – Ubisoft
6. Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham – Traveller’s Tales
7. Bayonetta 2 – Nintendo
8. Hyrule Warriors – Nintendo
9. Nintendoland – Nintendo
10. Disney Infinity 2.0 – Avalanche Software
3DS
1. Pokemon Omega Ruby – Nintendo
2. Pokemon Alpha Sapphire – Nintendo
3. Super Smash Bros. – Nintendo
4. Tomodachi Life – Nintendo
5. Mario Kart 7 – Nintendo
6. New Super Mario Bros. 2 – Nintendo
7. Frozen: Olaf’s Quest – 1st Playable
8. Animal Crossing: New Leaf – Nintendo
9. Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham – Traveller’s Tales
10. Luigi’s Mansion 2 – Nintendo
This week’s Nintendo downloads are as follows:
Wii U
Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (from January 2nd) – €39.99/£34.99
Wii U VC
Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones (GBA) – €6.99/£6.29
F-Zero GP Legend (GBA) – €6.99/£6.29
Wii U Special Offers
New Super Mario Bros. U & New Super Luigi U – €59.99/£49.99 (Ends January 8)*
*New Super Luigi U is a free download if you buy New Super Mario Bros. U off the eShop until January 8th
Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate – €29.99/£24.99 (Ends January 8)
Shovel Knight – €9.99/£8.66 (Ends January 8th)
3DS Themes
Pokémon: Slowpoke – €1.99/£1.79
NES Fire-Breathing Bowser – €1.99/£1.79
3DS Special Offers
Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate – €22.49/£19.99 (Ends January 8)
Shovel Knight (Yacht Club Games) – €9.99/£8.66 (Ends January 8)
Nintendo has a notorious reputation when it comes to iterating their handhelds and in the past it has created an environment with a unique set of issues to consider for developers. Whether it was the Game Boy to Game Boy Color, DS Lite to DSi and now the 3DS to New 3DS, every generation there’s always questions among fans regarding the value and longevity of each new system. You don’t have to look very far to see how fans react to mid-cycle announcements like these, but how do developers react when a new system emerges from Iwata’s coat pocket?
We reached out to developers Stuart Ryall, Brjann Sigurgeirsson, and Ken Patterson to offer their thoughts on the announcement of the New 3DS and what implications it has on each of their development processes, if any. Will focusing on the extra processing power and C-stick split their player base too thin? Do these new units put too much pressure on fans to upgrade and consequently put pressure on developers to focus on the new units? How do these iterations impact the overall life of a console generation? Our guests this week help shed some light on the impact these mid-cycle hardware announcements have on developers, and what questions they have to ask when developing with these challenges in mind.
(Unsure as to what Developer Musings is about? Check out our first entry here for an explanation.)
It’s time for the latest Famitsu’s most wanted games chart! Final Fantasy XV, Bravely Second, Persona 5, Dragon Quest Heroes, and Tales of Zestiria are the new top five.
Head past the break for the full chart. All votes were cast between December 11 and December 17.
Yet another translation has come in from 4Gamer’s interview with Nintendo president Satoru Iwata.
In this latest excerpt, Iwata discusses hardware frustration and attempting to fix things Nintendo couldn’t do on previous systems. With the Game Boy Advance SP for example, Iwata pushed for sleep functionality when the system closed. This sadly didn’t make it into the final build. However, Iwata did inform the hardware team that implementing sleep mode into Nintendo’s next system (which would end up being the DS) was a necessity.
What may be even more interesting is what Iwata said about the Wii U. Soon after the console came out, Dwango’s Nobuo Kawakami provided some feedback.
“I had a similar feeling of frustration to the GBA SP situation then,” Iwata said, as he believed that Nintendo will need to implement some of Kawakami’s suggestions in future hardware. Iwata ended by saying, “because of that frustration, not only do we want it to connect with features next time, we are actually working to fix it for next time.” Hmm…
Below are the latest titles that can be currently pre-ordered at retailers:
Wii U
Shin Megami Tensei x Fire Emblem – Best Buy
The Legend of Zelda – Amazon
, Best Buy
Xenoblade Chronicles X – Amazon
, Best Buy
Yoshi’s Woolly World – Amazon
, Best Buy, GameStop
Splatoon – Amazon
, Best Buy, GameStop
Kirby and The Rainbow Curse – Amazon
, Best Buy
Mario Party 10 – Amazon
, Best Buy, GameStop
Devil’s Third – Amazon
, Best Buy, GameStop
3DS
Devil Survivor 2: Record Breaker – Amazon
, GameStop
Etrian Mystery Dungeon – Amazon
, Best Buy (new), GameStop
The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D – Amazon
, Best Buy (new) GameStop
Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate Collector’s Edition – Amazon
, GameStop
Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate – Amazon
, Best Buy (new), GameStop
Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. – Amazon
, Best Buy, GameStop
Fossil Fighters: Frontier – Amazon
, Best Buy, GameStop
Story of Seasons – Amazon
, Best Buy (new), GameStop
Amiibo
Meta Knight – Best Buy
Sonic – Best Buy, GameStop
Toon Link – Amazon
, Best Buy, GameStop
Sheik – Amazon
, Best Buy, GameStop
Shulk – GameStop (exclusive)
Mega Man – Amazon
, Best Buy, GameStop
Bowser – Amazon
, Best Buy, GameStop
King Dedede – King Dedede
, Best Buy, GameStop
Ike – Amazon
, Best Buy, GameStop
Zelda – Amazon
, Best Buy, GameStop
Diddy Kong – Amazon
, Best Buy, GameStop
Luigi – Amazon
, Best Buy, GameStop
Little Mac – Amazon
, Best Buy, GameStop
Pit – Amazon
, Best Buy, GameStop
Captain Falcon – Amazon
, Best Buy, GameStop
* Note: since some of the latest amiibo figures are releasing on different days at different retailers, we’ll still list pre-order links for the next few weeks.
Thanks to Jake for the tip.
Denpa Ningen no RPG Free continues to rake in downloads. The free-to-play title has now been downloaded by over 1.7 million 3DS owners in Japan.
Developer Geninus Sonority is promising further content additions for 2015. Specifics, however, have not been revealed.
