More information has emerged regarding Sony’s potential acquisition of the factory that’s producing Wii U’s eDRAM. You can find the latest below.

– Sony is now considering an acquisition plan that would require an initial purchase investment of seven billion yen (67 million dollars)
– A further investment of 30 Billion Yen (287 million dollars) is being considered to convert production to CMOS sensors for smartphones
– Sony will likely decide on the pros and cons of the acquisition by January’s end
– An acquisition would save the jobs of about 70% of the 1000 employees, excluding those working on semiconductors for automotive, as the factory was scheduled to close before Sony’s intervention
– The low final purchase price has been determined due to the fact that Renesas is planning to move part of the facilities and equipment of the Tsuruoka factory to its main plant at Naka, in the Ibaraki prefecture
– This leads to multiple possible long run outcomes for Nintendo
– Nintendo still hasn’t announced official plans to relocate the production of Wii U’s embedded DRAM
– If Sony converts only part of the production at Tsuruoka to CMOS sensors and retains the ability to produce the DRAM, Nintendo could acquire the chip from the rival
– If Renesas manages to restore production of the DRAM at Naka, Nintendo could continue to receive stock from there
– In this case, Nintendo would just change the location of manufacturing
– If Sony fully converts the production of Tsuruoka to CMOS sensors and Renesas doesn’t manage or intend to restore production of the DRAM at Naka, Nintendo will have to find another supplier for the long run
– Nintendo’s in-house stocks of the chip are expected to last at least for a while

Source 1,

Game Freak director Junichi Masuda shared a whole bunch of development information about Pokemon X and Y in a new blog post. You can find a roundup of information below.

– Took roughly 3.5 years to make
– Basic concepts for the games were “beauty,” “bonds,” and “evolution”
– Developed with the idea of players “raising their Pokémon with love”

“There’s an even bigger theme to the game, however; one that I’m always thinking about when I’m directing Pokémon games, and one that I think applies to the real world: ‘Let’s create a better world together’.”

– Masuda feels that the one’s life depends on the chance encounters that they have with other people
– Encounters based on your age or interests or other factors
– These encounters shouldn’t be about fighting, but rather about making a better world together

“The titles ‘X’ and ‘Y’ come from this idea. The letters ‘X’ and ‘Y’ suggest lines on an axis. The lines of both letters head in different directions, but there’s a point at which they cross, or intersect. I used the letters with the idea of intersection in mind; the idea of the common points we share with one another, rather than our differences.”

“It took three and a half years to develop this game. Taking into account the localization groups for each language, more than five hundred people were involved in the development.”

Source, Via

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Club Nintendo members have weighed in on the top 10 games for Wii U and 3DS of 2013. The results can be found above.

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Some have dubbed Supercell as “The Finnish Nintendo” due to the studio’s huge success, not to mention financial backing by Japanese telecoms giant SoftBank.

However, CEO Ilkka Paananen tells EDGE that the company isn’t looking to compete. Paananen instead talked about his overwhelming love for Nintendo, saying:

For me, if I think of Nintendo, the first thing that comes to mind is I love their games. I love their brands, their characters, how they’ve always focused on gameplay, how they’ve always taken their own route no matter what anybody in the industry thinks. If you mention Nintendo in front of people, you get a smile. If in 30 years I say ‘Supercell’ and the reaction is similar, then I think we really will have achieved something. I don’t even want to compete against them. They are an inspiration. It took Nintendo 100 years to get there, so it’s possible it will take us 100 years to get there, and that’s why we need someone like SoftBank as a partner — someone who is willing to see us through the next 100 years.

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Atlus has shared a couple of music previews for Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth.

First up, here’s a glimpse of the battle theme when using Persona 3 protagonist:

And background music from one of the game’s fields:

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Capcom has announced a major update coming to Monster Hunter Frontier G known as “Monster Hunter Frontier GG”. The extra “G” is for “genuine” in this case.

Among Capcom’s plans for Monster Hunter Frontier G in 2014 include the introduction of the “Tonfa” weapon type. Capcom is also introducing Felyne companions, plus some sort of mysterious tower (check out the art above).

Monster Hunter Frontier GG launches in spring.

More: Capcom, Japan, Monster Hunter Frontier G, Monster Hunter Frontier GG

Nintendo finally confirmed Princess Zelda for the new Smash Bros. games today. How does her model compare to previous entries? You can find out by checking out the comparison above.

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This week’s North American Nintendo Downloads are as follows:

Wii U Download

• Dr. Luigi – $14.99 (available Dec. 31)
• CastleStorm – $9.99

Wii U VC

• Super Punch-Out!! – $7.99

3DS Download

• Pokemon Bank – free (available Dec. 27) with a 30-day trial; $4.99 after for annual fee
• Bird Mania Christmas 3D – $1.99
• Cubit The Hardcore Platformer Robot – $2.99
• EDGE – $1.99

3DS VC

• Mario Tennis – $5.99

Free Access

• Wii Sports Club – free from Dec. 31 at 12:01 a.m. PT until 11:59 p.m. PT on Jan. 1

eShop sales

• Ubisoft Wii U Sale – Get 30 percent off select Ubisoft titles, including, Assassin’s Creed III, Just Dance 4, ZombiU, Rabbids Land, Your Shape: Fitness Evolved 2013 and ESPN Sports Connection, in the Nintendo eShop on Wii U. Download now before this promotion ends on Dec. 31.
• Ubisoft Nintendo 3DS Sale – Get 30 percent off select Ubisoft titles, including Rayman Origins, Rayman 3D, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Shadow Wars, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell 3D, Rabbids Travel in Time and Petz Fantasy 3D, in the Nintendo eShop. Download now before this promotion ends on Dec. 31.
• Atlus Sale – The holidays may be over, but Atlus wants to continue giving away gifts into the new year. Now through 9 a.m. PT on Jan. 6, Shin Megami Tensei IV, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor: Soul Hackers, Etrian Odyssey IV: Legend of the Titan, Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millennium Girl, and Code of Princess are all on sale in the Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS.

Source: Nintendo PR

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Update: Nintendo claims that Pokemon Bank will still be out tomorrow in North America through its weekly Nintendo Download report.

Nintendo has been facing a tremendous amount of problems with its online services for well over a day now. To alleviate some of the stress placed on its network functionality, the company has removed Pokemon Bank from the Japanese eShop. Nintendo wrote on Twitter that the app was pulled due to the connection problems.

Pokemon Bank launched in Japan yesterday, which is when many of the online problems began appearing. It was scheduled for release in North America and Europe tomorrow as well, but it now seems unlikely that the overseas launch will go ahead as planned as both eShops now list a “TBA” date.

Source 1, Source 2, Source 3

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