Former Rare dev on redesigning Donkey Kong, Star Fox Adventures changes, meeting Miyamoto, more
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in GameCube, General Nintendo, News | 11 Comments
Kevin Bayliss left a huge mark on Rare during his nearly 20-year run at the studio. As a designer and art director, he contributed to Donkey Kong Country, Diddy Kong Racing, Star Fox Adventures, and much more.
UK magazine GamesTM spoke with Bayliss (who is now at Playtonic) this month, and asked him plenty of interesting questions about his time at Rare. The topics we’re mainly interested in focus on Nintendo specifically. Bayliss commented on the process of redesigning Donkey Kong for Donkey Kong Country, the initial changes that Star Fox Adventures went through, meeting Shigeru Miyamoto, and more.
We’ve included Bayliss’ comments below. You can pick up GamesTM now for the full interview.
More: interview, Kevin Bayliss, Rare, top
Kimishima talks more about Nintendo on mobile, offers up different comment on amount of yearly releases
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Mobile, News | 1 Comment
Kyoto Shimbun published a new article about Nintendo’s mobile plans yesterday, which included comments from president Tatsumi Kimishima. Sankei has now followed up with its own report.
Kimishima previously mentioned to Kyoto Shimbun that the company was looking at two or three mobile titles each year starting in 2017. However, Sankei has a different quote from him in which he says that Nintendo is always considering pushing out three, and maybe even more than that per year.
More: Tatsumi Kimishima, top
New Zelda: Breath of the Wild concept art shows cold weather tunic
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Images, Switch, Wii U | 2 Comments
Nintendo is back with more concept art from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. This time, we have a good look at Link’s cold weather tunic. Check it out above.
Super Mario Run surpasses 50 million downloads
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Mobile, News | 0 comments
Super Mario Run has reached another big milestone within the past week. Just announced by Nintendo, the game has now surpassed 50 million downloads.
Today’s news is being celebrated with a special gift for players. Nintendo is handing out 10 Rally Tickets to everyone. After receiving the gift, you’ll need to restart Super Mario Run.
More: Super Mario Run, top
Kimishima says Nintendo is looking to release 2-3 mobile games per year, talks Super Mario Run
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Mobile, News | 11 Comments
Nintendo began its mobile efforts earlier this year with its first app Miitomo. And just last week, the company’s first true game arrived on the Apple Store – Super Mario Run.
Speaking with Kyoto Shimbun, Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima talked a bit more about the company’s mobile plans. He said that, starting in 2017, they hope to bring out two or three mobile games each year.
More: Super Mario Run, Tatsumi Kimishima, top
First 80s Overdrive footage, planned for Q1 / Q2 2017
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS eShop, News, Videos | 0 comments
The first actual footage from 80s Overdrive has finally been shown. It may only last for just over a minute, but we’re able to really see the racer in action – snazzy music and all.
Here’s the clip:
As for when we’ll be seeing 80s Overdrive on the eShop, we sadly still have a long ways to go. The developer mentioned on Twitter that the game is targeted for Q1 / Q2 2017.
More: 80's Overdrive, indie, Insane Code, top
The Art of Splatoon coming to North America and Europe in June
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Wii U | 14 Comments
Update (12/22): The Art of Splatoon is also coming to Europe. Amazon UK is listing the book here for June 13.
Original (12/19): Dark Horse Comics has announced The Art of Splatoon, a new book filled with artwork from the Wii U game. It will come packed with 2D and 3D illustrations of characters, maps, concept art, weapon and gear design, storyboards, sketches, hand-drawn comics, and more. Behind the scenes notes will be included as well.
The Art of Splatoon launches in North America on June 23. It’s already up for pre-order on Amazon here. You can also nab it on Amazon Canada here.
Get a good look at the original DS prototype
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in DS, Images | 9 Comments
When the DS was initially introduced during E3 2004, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime walked out on stage with hardware that looked different from the final design. The big differences between the initial model and the one at launch are the shoulder buttons.
Now we have a better look at the DS prototype thanks to Evan Amos, who unearthed a few photos from Nintendo’s FCC filing. We’ve rounded them up below. Since this was only a filing, it doesn’t look quite as “nice” as the model shown at E3 all those years ago.
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Nintendo Download (12/22/16, North America) – Shantae, Mario Party 2, more
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS eShop, News, Wii U eShop | 0 comments
This week’s North American Nintendo Downloads are as follows:
Wii U Download
Radiantflux: Hyperfractal – $2.99
Shantae: Half-Genie Hero – $19.99
Wii U Virtual Console
Mario Party 2 – $9.99
More: Nintendo Download, top, Virtual Console
Nintendo sees huge boost in search traffic
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 23 Comments
Data collected by internet-data firm SimilarWeb reveals that Nintendo-related terms grew to triple the size of PlayStation/Xbox-related searches. Pokemon GO helped contribute to the growth during the summer, but the biggest spike resulted from Switch’s announcement in October. The NES Classic Edition and Super Mario Run then added further to Nintendo’s buzz.
GamesBeat shares the following statements from SimilarWeb:
“The growth in Nintendo’s search traffic over 2016 is so big that when comparing its search traffic in November 2016 to January 2016, it multiplied its search traffic by [a factor of] 60.”
“In January 2016, we were able to identify a total of 39 keywords generating traffic for these brands. Nintendo had 6, Xbox had 16, and PlayStation had 17. While in November 2016, we were able to identify 183 of such keywords. [And now], Nintendo had 101, Xbox had 30, and PlayStation had 52.”
SimilarWeb’s report is limited to search items related to console products from the big three console manufacturers, so terms such as “Pikachu” don’t count. However, it seems that online users are searching for more Nintendo-related terms compared to the competition.
