Nintendo Everything

Let’s take a trip down memory lane… back when Nintendo was about to release Super Mario Strikers. Print magazines were still going strong, and there needed to be ads to promote the GameCube title.

The image above is one such ad that Nintendo was apparently considering. I hope I don’t have to spell out why it was rejected!

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Update: Some clarification (and partial corrections) via the source below: the Creative Endorsement Program was originally created by Niconico and its parent company Dwango – not Nintendo. It was originally started in 2011 to reward creators who made highly-viewed videos. Nintendo’s announcement was that its games will soon be eligible for the program.

Fans will be able to create and post derivative works without any concerns. It’s not limited to Let’s Plays, but game music covers and song covers as well.

Nintendo games will be eligible for the Niconico program starting December 1. Once that date rolls in, we should receive more information!

Dwango has revealed Tokaigi “Game Party Japan” 2015, which is all about playing games together. It will take place on January 31 and February 1 next year.

Some extremely notable Nintendo information has come through the initial announcement. Nintendo will be a special sponsor of the event, and president Satoru Iwata appeared in a video. He stated that the company now officially gives its permission for anyone to use their properties for derivative works – Let’s Plays, music covers, fan art, and more were specifically showcased.

Additionally, Iwata announced a “Creative Endorsement Program”. This will allow Nintendo to provide revenue to creators who produce well-received work. At the moment, this program is only available on Niconico, as it is a subsidiary of Dwango.

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GameStop’s Black Friday 2014 ad has gone live.

Unfortunately, there aren’t a whole lot of notable deals here. You can save $10 on Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric… but you’d probably be better off not buying the game at all.

In any case, you can find the Nintendo-related items from GameStop’s Black Friday ad above.

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This week’s Famitsu review scores are as follows:

Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire (3DS) – 9/10/9/9
Etrian Odyssey II Untold: The Knight of the Fafnir (3DS) – 9/9/9/9
Phantasy Star Nova (PSV) – 9/9/9/9
Hero Bank 2 (3DS) – 9/9/8/8
NBA 2K15 (PS4/PS3/XBO/360) – 8/8/8/10
Minecraft: Xbox One Edition (XBO) – 8/8/8/10
Code:Realize – Sousei no Himegimi – (PSV) – 9/8/8/8
Great Edo Blacksmith (PSV) – 8/7/7/8

Between November 24 and December 21, Nintendo will be visiting 16 malls across the U.S. and will offer hands-on time with Wii U and 3DS games. Consumers will also have an opportunity to check out the company’s amiibo figures. A Mario Kart 8 tournament and free giveaways are planned as well, including the Nintendo Holiday Gift Guides.

On Wii U, Nintendo is bringing Super Smash Bros., Mario Kart 8, Hyrule Warriors, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, Super Mario 3D World, Skylanders: Trap Team and Nintendo Land. Playable 3DS titles include Super Smash Bros., Pokemon Omega Ruby, Pokemon Alpha Sapphire, Mario Kart 7, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, Kirby: Triple Deluxe, Tomodachi Life, Yoshi’s New Island and Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal.

Nintendo’s holiday shopping experience will be hosted at the following locations:

Oak Park Mall in Overland Park, Kansas
Arrowhead Towne Center in Glendale, Arizona
Queens Center in Elmhurst, New York
Tysons Corner Center in McLean, Virginia
Washington Square in Portland, Oregon
Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota
Memorial City Mall at Memorial City in Houston
The Florida Mall in Orlando, Florida
Grapevine Mills in Grapevine, Texas
King of Prussia in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania
South Shore Plaza in Braintree, Massachusetts
Woodfield Mall in Schaumberg, Illinois
Westfield North County in Escondido, California
Westfield Southcenter in Seattle
Westfield Valley Fair in Santa Clara, California
Westfield Culver City in Culver City, California

Source: Nintendo PR

Nintendo posted screenshots of a few 3DS themes coming to Europe this week. View all of the images below.

Last week following Xenoblade Chronicle X’s website launch, Executive Director Tetsuya Takahashi encouraged fans to follow the official Xenoblade Twitter account for potential updates on the upcoming open-world RPG. For the first time since then, he has opened up on the title and the folks over at Siliconera have translated his first bunch of tweets on the game, which he said he’ll be sharing 2-3 times a week:

“Apologies for the wait,

I’m thinking of rambling here 2 or 3 times a week from now on. This time, I’ll start by talking briefly about how the Xenoblade X project began.”

“After the completion of the previous Xenoblade, when I told [Hitoshi] Yamagami-san’s team at Nintendo that I wanted to create something a little more sci-fi usingXenoblade as a base, they said it could be worth the challenge.”

“So then, we began thinking about what updates would be possible with the Wii U (such as making the maps seamless, having the game connect online etc.) and started to research. When everything seemed feasible, that’s when actual development began.”

The latest Wii U/3DS-specific UK software sales are as follows:

Wii U

1. Mario Kart 8 – Nintendo
2. New Super Mario Bros. U – Nintendo
3. Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham – Traveller’s Tales
4. Nintendo Land – Nintendo
5. Disney Infinity 2.0 – Avalanche Software
6. New Super Luigi U – Nintendo
7. Hyrule Warriors – Omega Force
8. Bayonetta 2 – Platinum Games
9. Skylanders Trap Team – Beenox
10. Just Dance 2015 – Ubisoft (France)

3DS

1. Tomodachi Life – Nintendo
2. Super Smash Bros. – Sora Ltd.
3. New Super Mario Bros. 2 – Nintendo
4. Mario Kart 7 – Nintendo / Retro Studios
5. Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask – Level 5
6. Super Mario 3D Land – Nintendo
7. Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham – Traveller’s Tale
8. Frozen: Olaf’s Quest – 1st Playable
9. Animal Crossing New Leaf – Nintendo
10. Fantasy Life – Level 5

Source 1, Source 2

This week’s UK software sales are as follows:

All Formats

Individual Formats

Source 1, Source 2