This information comes from Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime…
– Mario Kart 8 had a “significant impact” on Wii U console sales
– Wii U console quadrupled the week after the release of Mario Kart 8, compared to the week prior
– 18 percent of all Wii U console owners purchased a copy of Mario Kart 8 in that first weekend, compared to between two and seven percent for previous versions of the game during their weekend releases
– Reggie said the impact of Mario Kart 8 on console sales will likely be felt through the year.
“It’s one of the things I have to do with certain media, remind them, look, for us, the drive toward the holiday began a couple of weeks ago with Mario Kart 8. And that’s off to a fantastic start. For us, on a global basis, and certainly here in the United States, it’s driving hardware, which is great to see.”
The Wii U Virtual Console releases of Pac-Land and Pac-Man Museum arrived on the North American Wii U eShop yesterday. Note that these games are also available in Europe, along with their launch discounts.
This information comes from Eiji Aonuma, speaking with IGN…
“One thing I have to say is, I never said that wasn’t Link. I said ‘No one ever said that was Link.’ Every game needs to have a protagonist. You have to have a main character, so we create one that is ultimately supposed to become the player. With each iteration of Zelda, we make this main character and it’s not as though this protagonist is not the same character all the time. It’s just a role within the game that the player occupies.”
“That’s something that I tell my designers when they create the character. Certainly, as part of a series, maybe people will think it’s the same main character but, ultimately, it’s the player character. It’s the person with the controller in their hands, if that makes sense. This kind of information can just exponentially grow, so I just wanted to make that clear.”
“I’m interested in seeing something like that (princess being a hero), but I think one of the charm points of this particular franchise is that fact that it’s called ‘Legend of Zelda’ but Zelda is not the main character. She’s not the protagonist. But if you ask me what that is, I don’t know. I can’t really explain it. Maybe if she’s the main character, then maybe the title needs to change.”
I wonder if @Sony is aware of this interesting development ??? pic.twitter.com/L58N9w1C5h
— Peter Moore (@petermooreEA) June 12, 2014