Have you ever played Cookie Clicker or one of its hundreds of clones? Planetra is one of those idle games, now on your Wii U and 3DS. You harvest fruit, berries, eggs, manure – the whole gambit of things that come out of a farm, for gold. More gold means investing more resources into the farm. More resources yields larger quantities of produce to sell for yet more gold. Watching numbers tick up at a growing pace then releases dopamine in your brain.

More: highlight, Plantera, Ratalaika Games, top, VaragtP

Niantic adding new features to Pokemon GO soon, wants to hold events, tracker not returning

Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Mobile, News | 16 Comments

At the start of July, Pokemon GO will be celebrating its first anniversary. The game has no doubt been an incredible success so far over the past several months, but players have been waiting on new features, including the ability to trade Pokemon.

Speaking with Waypoint, Niantic CEO John Hanke did say that new features are due out soon in “an abbreviated form”, with more complete versions to follow later.

Hanke told the site:

“It has far surpassed our expectations in just turning everybody onto the potential for games that break out of the screen. But the priority for Pokémon Go now is to build in those things that reward co-operative gameplay, and make experiences available that offer more depth than just the capturing mechanic.”

More: interview, John Hanke, Niantic, Pokemon GO, top

Splatoon 2 producer talks a ton about weapons, mobile app usage, graphics, HD Rumble, more

Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 33 Comments

Splatoon 2 producer Hisashi Nogami shared a bunch of information about the game in an interview with 4Gamer last week. Famitsu published its own interview with Nogami in the magazine’s latest issue, and surprisingly, had a ton more to say.

First, Nogami went in-depth about what’s planned for Splatoon 2 in terms of weapons. He also further clarified how Switch’s new mobile app will work for online play, spoke about improving the visuals this time around, and confirmed HD Rumble. If that wasn’t enough, Nogami also noted that Splatoon on Wii U won’t have its online play discontinued anytime soon.

You can continue on below for our full translation (note: some small parts omitted due to being covered in the 4Gamer post, old, or not being relevant to anything). Strap yourselves in, since this is a pretty lengthy one.

More: Famitsu, Hisashi Nogami, Splatoon 2, top

Nintendo – third-party Switch announcements coming, price and power, online service, 3DS games in 2018, more

Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News, Switch | 41 Comments

The Telegraph has put up a pretty lengthy interview with Nintendo’s Yoshiaki Koizumi and Shinya Takahashi all about Switch. Topics include third-parties, talk of the system’s price and power, paid online service, and more. Additionally, we hear some comments that Nintendo is planning 3DS games for 2018.

Notable excerpts from the interview can be found below. For the full interview, head on over to The Telegraph.

More: interview, Shinya Takahashi, top, Yoshiaki Koizumi

Paper Mario: Color Splash devs on the color theme, Koopalings, music, and more

Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 8 Comments

In a recent issue of Nintendo Dream, Nintendo and main developer Intelligent Systems spoke in-depth about Paper Mario: Color Splash. Representatives from both companies were asked about the color theme, why the Koopalings appeared, the music, and more.

We’ve prepared a translation of the noteworthy comments from both Nintendo and Intelligent Systems. If you’re interested in reading up about the game for additional insight, continue on below.

More: Intelligent Systems, interview, Nintendo Dream, Paper Mario: Color Splash, top

Splatoon 2 Global Testfire announced for late March

Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 12 Comments

Before Splatoon released for Wii U, Nintendo made something known as the “Splatoon Global Testfire”. It was a limited online demo which allowed fans to get a taste for what the game had to offer at certain days / times. For Splatoon 2, Nintendo has announced that this will be returning.

Splatoon 2 Global Testfire will be hosted in late March. Players will be able to try out four different main weapons, including the new Splat Dualies, plus remixed versions of the iconic Splat Roller and Splat Charger.

The relevant days / times for Splatoon 2 Global Testfire are as follows:

More: Splatoon 2, top

BoxBoy! devs on the series’ origins, third game’s features, amiibo, and more plus Switch

Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 1 Comment

Nintendo released Goodbye! BoxBoy! in Japan last week. In turn, Famitsu caught up with a few of the game’s developers for a wrap-up interview. Director Yasuhiro Mukae, level designer Yutaka Watanabe, graphic designer Yusuke Ota, and programmer Takaaki Kawahara participated in the discussion.

The initial part of Famitsu’s interview touches on the start of the BoxBoy! series. Originally, the first game came about from a planning document Mukae created as part of a competition within HAL. He ended up as the series director, and determined how the project would be and what content it would have.

More: Famitsu, Goodbye! BoxBoy!, HAL Laboratory, interview, top

Links from Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, Tri Force Heroes could have been swapped

Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 25 Comments

Toon Link began to be associated with portable Zelda games since Four Swords. The character was then featured in both Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks on DS, before going on to be included in Tri Force Heroes on 3DS.

Interestingly, Nintendo even considered Toon Link for A Link Between Worlds. Designer Yoshiki Haruhana revealed this nugget in the new Zelda: Art & Artifacts book, stating that there was “a long debate” about which Link should be in the game. Some members of the team carried the opinion that it should be Toon Link since it was a handheld game, while others felt it should be the original from A Link to the Past, which was ultimately selected.

That wasn’t all though. Originally, Link from A Link Between Worlds (and A Link to the Past) was originally going to be used in Tri Force Heroes. This suddenly changed when series producer Eiji Aonuma declared one day that Toon Link would be used instead.

More: interview, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes, top, Yoshiki Haruhana

[Let’s Talk] What are you playing? – February 2017

Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Let's Talk | 19 Comments

Since there was so much to talk about in January, we didn’t really have a chance to dedicate a Let’s Talk topic to the games everyone is actually playing. So now we want to know: what has your attention right now? Have you started up something new recently? Or maybe you’re continuing something you started a little while back? Whatever the case, let us know in the comments below!