Nintendo has responded to this month’s NPD report and dished out some impressive statistics about its platforms and games.

The company’s PR is highlighted by lifetime US sales of Mario Kart 8. The game moved another 470,000 units last month, bringing total sales to 885,000 copies.

Mario Kart 8 helped boost Wii U sales. Hardware and software in June 2014 were up 233 percent and 373 percent respectively compared to June 2013. First half Wii U hardware and software sales are up by 48 percent and 129 percent respectively over the same period last year.

Let’s not forget about 3DS as well. The handheld’s hardware sales for June increased by more than 55 percent over May. Tomodachi Life was a success having sold over 175,000 combined physical and digital units.

You’ll find Nintendo’s full NPD response below.

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NPD Group has released a listing of the top ten best-selling games in the U.S. for the month of June 2014. The results can be found below.

1. Watch Dogs (PS4, 360, Xbox One, PS3, PC)
2. Mario Kart 8 (Wii U)
3. Minecraft (360, PS3)
4. UFC (PS4, Xbox One)
5. FIFA 14 (PS4, 360, Xbox One, PS3, Vita)
6. NBA 2K14 (360, PS3, PS4, Xbox One, PC)
7. Wolfenstein: The New Order (PS4, Xbox One, 360, PS3, PC)
8. Call of Duty: Ghosts (360, PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Wii U, PC)
9. Tomodachi Life (3DS)
10. Grand Theft Auto V (360, PS3)

You can find more details from this month’s NPD report over on GamesBeat.

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With 1.3 million copies sold in its first week, Youkai Watch 2 experienced the highest debut for any game in Level-5’s recent history.

At the moment, Inazuma Eleven, Professor Layton, and The Little Battlers are Level-5’s other big franchises. Here’s a look at the highest openings from each of these series:

(2008) Professor Layton and the Unwound Future – 347,360
(2010) Inazuma Eleven 3: Lightning Bolt/Bomb Blast – 505,161
(2011) The Little Battlers – 166,187

As you can see, none of these games come close to the success of Youkai Watch 2.

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Thanks to Jake for the tip.

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They don’t have any audio, but you can find a few additional cips from Fatal Frame: The Black Haired Shrine Maiden above (no audio). The game’s website is located here.

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Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley features a new tool system that works in conjunction with player actions, upgrades, and the item bag.

The 3DS game introduces context-sensitive tools for the first time. For instance, if you’re standing in front of a tree and you have an axe in your inventory, the game will know that you want to chop down the tree and there won’t be a need to open a menu to select and equip a tool. This works with other tools and actions as well.

Players won’t be upgrading tools in Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley. Instead, Harvest Sprites act as tool upgrades. Simply ask the Harvest Sprites for help and they’ll be able to water their crops, mine material stone, collect lumber, and more.

Lastly, the player’s bag is capable of storing up to 255 of each item. You won’t have to run back to your house, get items from the tool box or refrigerator, and so on, since everything can be kept in the bag.

Speaking about Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley’s tool changes, producer Taka Maekawa stated:

“When we sat down to design Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley, we wanted to really study what made the game fun. We wanted to maintain the core value of hard work leading to great rewards, while minimizing anything that may detract from a fun game. We took a long, hard look at the tool system and decided to go back to the drawing board. We came to the conclusion that gameplay should flow, so we made three core changes to the tool system.”

Source: Natsume PR

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Wales Interactive confirmed on Twitter today that Master Reboot is due out on the Wii U eShop next week. The game is slated for July 24 in both North America and Europe.

Wales’ tweet is as follows:

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Late last month, Funbox Media announced an October launch for Jett Tailfin in Europe. Hoplite Research Games made an announcement of its own today and confirmed that the Wii U title will be available in North America this month.

A specific date was not revealed.

As a refresher, here’s a look at what Jett Tailfin offers:

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