Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 2 Comments

The latest Yooka-Laylee comes from Polygon, who sat down with Grant Kirkhope and Andy Robinson to discuss the 3D platformer. The two commented on topics such as not wanting to copy Banjo-Kazooie, taking inspiration (and elements) from Donkey Kong Country, and more.

Head past the break for a roundup of the Q&A. You can find Polygon’s original piece here.

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More: Andy Robinson, Grant Kirkhope, interview, Playtonic, top, Yooka-Laylee

Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 72 Comments

Speaking with Polygon, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime discussed the Wii U’s slow launch. It all came down to one notable issue: the system lacked big games.

Reggie explained:

“This industry is all about content. I can map out why the Wii took off at launch, it had two killer pieces at launch: Twilight Princess, Wii Sports. Look at our DS business. Our DS business was OK, but it was the launch of DS Lite, the launch of Nintendogs, the launch of the first New Super Mario Bros. where that system sort of dramatically took off.”

“So what happened with Wii U? Once the software came that showcased the capabilities of the system, guess what happened? The hardware took off.”

“I think it began holiday of 2013 as we prepped those launches that gave us some momentum. Then Mario Kart 8 hit, then it was Smash. I think it really was holiday of ’13, when we started to get the momentum.”

Reggie also pointed out that something similar happened with the 3DS. When Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D and Mario Kart 7 launched, the system’s sales began to pick up.

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Posted on 8 years ago by Matt(@OnePunchMaz) in 3DS eShop, News, Wii U eShop | 0 comments

This week’s European Nintendo Downloads are as follows:

Wii U Retail

Yoshi’s Woolly World – €39.99 / £34.99

Art Academy: Atelier – €29.99 / £24.99  (€26.00 / £21.40 if you own Art Academy: SketchPad on the same Wii U)

Wii U Download

Cube Life: Island Survival – €6.99 / £5.39

Shiftlings –  €14.99 / £13.99

Wii U Virtual Console

Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training: How Old is Your Brain? (Nintendo DS) – €6.99 / £6.29

Kirby: Mouse Attack (Nintendo DS) – €9.99 / £8.99

Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards (Nintendo 64) – €9.99 / £8.99

3DS Retail

Samurai Warriors Chronicles 3 – €39.99 / £29.99

Garfield Kart – €29.99 / £24.99

3DS Download

Tappingo 2 – €2.99 / £2.39

3DS DLC

Samurai Warriors Chronicles 3: Extra Edit Parts 1 (Koei Tecmo, €3.99 / £3.99)

Samurai Warriors Chronicles 3: Extra Edit Parts 2 (Koei Tecmo, €5.99 / £5.99)

Samurai Warriors Chronicles 3: Extra Edit Parts 3 (Koei Tecmo, €6.99 / £6.99)

Samurai Warriors Chronicles 3: Extra Edit Parts 4 (Koei Tecmo, €6.99 / £6.99)

Samurai Warriors Chronicles 3: Extra Edit Parts 5 (Koei Tecmo, €6.99 / £6.99)

Samurai Warriors Chronicles 3: Extra Edit Parts Set (Koei Tecmo, €21.99 / £21.99)

Samurai Warriors Chronicles 3: Extra Special Edit Parts 1 (Koei Tecmo, €0.99 / £0.99)

Samurai Warriors Chronicles 3: Extra Special Edit Parts 2 (Koei Tecmo, free until July 22nd, then €0.99 / £0.99)

Samurai Warriors Chronicles 3: Extra Mount Pack 1 (Koei Tecmo, €1.99 / £1.99)

Samurai Warriors Chronicles 3: Extra Mount Pack 2(Koei Tecmo, €1.99 / £1.99)

Samurai Warriors Chronicles 3: Extra Mount Pack Set (Koei Tecmo, €2.99 / £2.99)

Samurai Warriors Chronicles 3: Extra Old Costumes 1 (Koei Tecmo, €2.99 / £2.99)

Samurai Warriors Chronicles 3: Extra Old Costumes 2(Koei Tecmo, €1.99 / £1.99)

Samurai Warriors Chronicles 3: Extra Old Costumes 3 (Koei Tecmo, €1.99 / £1.99)

Samurai Warriors Chronicles 3: Extra Old Costumes 4 (Koei Tecmo, €1.99 / £1.99)

Samurai Warriors Chronicles 3: Extra Old Costumes Set (Koei Tecmo, €6.99 / £6.99)

Samurai Warriors Chronicles 3: Extra Special Costumes 1 (Koei Tecmo, €7.99 / £7.99)

Samurai Warriors Chronicles 3: Extra Special Costumes 2(Koei Tecmo, €7.99 / £7.99)

Samurai Warriors Chronicles 3: Extra Special Costumes 3(Koei Tecmo, €7.99 / £7.99)

Samurai Warriors Chronicles 3: Extra Special Costumes 4(Koei Tecmo, €7.99 / £7.99)

Samurai Warriors Chronicles 3: Extra Special Costumes 5(Koei Tecmo, €3.99 / £3.99)

Samurai Warriors Chronicles 3: Extra Special Costumes Set(Koei Tecmo, €29.99 / £29.99)

Samurai Warriors Chronicles 3: Extra BGM Set (Koei Tecmo, €2.99 / £2.99)

Samurai Warriors Chronicles 3: Extra Scenario Set (Koei Tecmo, €4.99 / £4.99)

Samurai Warriors Chronicles 3: Extra BGM Set (Koei Tecmo, €2.99 / £2.99)

eShop Sales

Wii U

Paper Monsters Recut – €3.29 / £2.79 until 2nd July (Regular price €6.49 / £5.49)

Knytt Underground – €4.49 / £3.99 until 2nd July (Regular price €8.99 / £7.99)

Pure Chess – €2.99 / £2.49 until 2nd July (Regular price €5.99 / £4.99)

Stick It To The Man – €3.99 / £3.49 until 2nd July (Regular price €7.99 / £6.99)

Puzzle Monkeys – €1.49 / £1.49 until 23rd July (Regular price €2.99 / £2.99)

3DS

Shin Megami Tensei IV – €9.99 / £8.99 until 2nd July (Regular price €19.99 / £17.99)

Pure Chess – €2.99 / £2.49 until 2nd July (Regular price €5.99 / £4.99)

Van Helsing sniper Zx100 . €3.49 / £3.49 until 19th July (Regular price €6.66 / £6.66)

Aqua Moto Racing 3D – €3.99 / £3.39 until 2nd July (Regular price €7.99 / £7.19)

Special promotion

If you download Yoshi’s Woolly World on the eShop, you will receive a free download code for Yoshi Touch & Go. Deal available until July 23rd, free code valid until August 20th.

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More: Europe, Nintendo Download, top, Virtual Console

Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS eShop, News | 1 Comment

In a recent issue of Famitsu, BoyBoy! director Yasuhiro Mukae, executive producer Satoshi Mitsuhara, and design lead Haruka Ito spoke about the 3DS game. There were some very interesting comments shared by the three developers, so we went ahead and translated a good portion of the interview.

Topics include:

– Different visual styles they experimented with
– Why Kirby wasn’t chosen as the main character
– An initial idea to have the obtainable crowns required to beat the game
– Development difficulties
– The story

Head past the break for our full translation!

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More: BOXBOY!, Famitsu, HAL Laboratory, interview, top

Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS eShop, News, Wii U eShop | 2 Comments

Axiom Verge creator Tom Happ has revealed that the title is “probably” making its way to Wii U next year. 3DS, meanwhile, would be “quite a bit more difficult since the hardware is so completely different.”

As stated by Happ:

I can’t commit to anything, but Axiom Verge will *probably* be available for Wii U in 2016. 3DS is quite a bit more difficult since the hardware is so completely different. Should Nintendo be reading this and decide to lend me a hand, that’d be VERY appreciated!!

The major roadblock preventing Axiom Verge on Wii U is all on the technical side. The game was built with the MonoGame engine, which is something that Nintendo’s console doesn’t seem to support currently. Porting Axiom Verge to C++ was one option in bringing Axiom Verge to Wii U.

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More: Axiom Verge, indie, Tom Happ, top

Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 13 Comments

Even though Nintendo is now in the toys-to-life business, the company has yet to come up with a game that truly takes advantage of amiibo. There’s nothing really out there right now from the Big N like Skylanders or Disney Infinity. As for what the future holds, perhaps Nintendo will explore a dedicated amiibo game in the future.

In an interview with GameSpot (watch the full interview here), Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime said that he – along with the Treehouse team – have told the developers in Japan that “there’s a strong opportunity for a dedicated amiibo-centric game”. Reggie is sure that the different teams “are thinking about it”, and how they’re give such a title “the unique Nintendo spin”.

Reggie’s comments in full:

So I’ve got nothing to announce today in that space, but I’ll tell you the Treehouse team, myself we visit Japan very frequently. And all of us share our wishes with the development team of what we’d love to see. And it’s not saying anything out of school to say that we’ve communicated that we think there’s a strong opportunity for a dedicated amiibo-centric game where it’s all about the magic that happens with amiibo. And so I’m certain that the developers are thinking about it, and thinking about what’s the unique Nintendo spin that would come in that type of gameplay.

Source

More: Amiibo, interview, Reggie Fils-Aime, top

Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News, Videos, Wii U | 52 Comments

GameSpot has put up an 18-minute interview with Reggie Fils-Aime, president of Nintendo of America. Topics include fan feedback, the Nintendo World Championships, Zelda Wii U, amiibo, EarthBound, and more.

You can watch the interview in full below. We also have a summary available for the entire interview.

– Nintendo sees how people are reacting to the Digital Event through real-time social media, what people are commenting on
– Reggie says Star Fox Zero has been showing really well, big lines on the show floor
– Super Mario Maker, Yoshi’s Woolly World did well also
– Reggie says Metroid Prime: Federation Force “is a tough concept”
– Nintendo tried to communicate that there’s no Samus, gameplay is different in the Digital Event
– Since they heard that it wasn’t entirely clear, Nintendo spent time on Metroid Prime: FF during Treehouse Live
– Reggie heard that the reaction to Blast Ball “has been quite fabulous” from those who have played it
– Nintendo World Championships targets for simultaneous views, VOD views immediately after
– Both of those targets were blown away
– Nintendo doesn’t have a formula for E3 that is locked in for years
– Super Mario’s anniversary, Super Mario Maker, Splatoon made sense for the Nintendo World Championships to return
– Feedback of the NWC was phenomenal, so Nintendo will consider how they might do it more regularly
– Nintendo wanted to showcase games launching in the 6-9 months at E3
– Reggie said Nintendo breaks its own rules “all the time”, but this is generally the company’s mentality
– Nintendo was worried that “showing wonderful footage” of Zelda Wii U “would lead to further disappointment on behalf of the fans”
– Nintendo will have many opportunities to show Zelda Wii U
– Reggie has seen how Zelda Wii U has been progressing, and it will be “wonderful”
– Nintendo also feels that it had more than enough content for E3, so they didn’t want to pour salt on wounds
– “The state of the Wii U is quite strong”, had a strong year
– Nintendo feels that if it continues putting out great software, it’ll drive the install base
– “The support we’re getting from third-parties continues to be there”
– Reggie says the Skylanders announcement “has been incredibly well-received”
– Splatoon “performing exceptionally well”
– Strong sell-through for Splatoon globally
– Nintendo’s online presentations are done internally, though they have some external support
– For Nintendo’s E3 2015 announcement video, there was a script, but some things were made up as they went along like Reggie firing Bill (this was unscripted)
– With the Nintendo Direct Micro, they thought it’d be fun for Bill to be small, working his way up
– Nintendo is “extremely pleased with amiibo”
– Nintendo knows there is some frustration with amiibo, and is committed to improving the flow of product, which Reggie says they’re delivered on
– During the 30-day time period for the most recent amiibo launch, Nintendo sold through about 1 million units
– Nintendo is now looking forward to the different forms of amiibo
– Nintendo will continue experimenting with the amiibo form factor
– For a dedicated amiibo game, Nintendo isn’t announcing anything
– However, the Treehouse team and Reggie visit Japan and share their wishes with the developers, and have communicated that there is a strong opportunity for an amiibo-dedicated game
– Nintendo will continue delivering unique, compelling, and differentiated experiences
– Tomodachi Life was one of last year’s big surprises
– EarthBound: Nintendo knows about the love for the franchise, thought Beginnings was a great way to service the fans
– Nintendo knows the love is there for EarthBound, and will see what happens
– In terms of releasing Beginnings, there are a lot of consumers who don’t know the fundametal series, and thought it’d be best to bring them back to the beginning
– Reggie says the industry loves focusing on the shiny new thing, which is currently virtual reality
– Reggie believes that VR will take off when it’s inherently fun and socialable/shareable

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More: interview, Reggie Fils-Aime, top

Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Let's Talk | 42 Comments

Let’s Talk #13: Your thoughts on Nintendo’s E3 2015 performance

Well, that’s it! Another E3 is in the books. Now it’s time to talk about it all.

Just like last year’s E3, Nintendo did quite a bit in conjunction with the show. The Smash Bros. presentation kicked things off on Sunday morning, followed by the Nintendo World Championships later that night. The Nintendo Digital Event was on Tuesday, and the Treehouse Live streams lasted for three days.

As it was where the big announcements were made, I’ll be focusing on the Digital Event. You guys can feel free to discuss any part of Nintendo’s E3 presence, however!

To recap, below were the big announcements from the Nintendo Digital Event:

Wii U

– Star Fox Zero revealed, PlatinumGames working on the project
– Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival announced, out this holiday, amiibo figures revealed
– Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash announced, out this holiday
– Skylanders SuperChargers is getting Bowser and Donkey Kong figures that also act as amiibo
– Super Mario Maker: out September 11, new amiibo officially revealed
– Xenoblade Chronicles X: out December 4
– Yoshi’s Woolly World: out October 16
– New Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem trailer, reconfirmed for 2016

3DS

– The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes announced, out this fall
– Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam announced, out spring 2016
– Metroid Prime: Federation Force revealed, out in 2016
– Hyrule Warriors Legends confirmed, out Q1 2016
– Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer: out September 25
– Yo-Kai Watch: out this holiday
– Fire Emblem Fates gets its final name, reconfirmed for 2016

So that was the big stuff. Looking back on everything, how do you guys feel about what was shown? I’ll kick things off with my own thoughts below.

Man, there is a whole lot to talk about concerning the Digital Event. The general impression, unfortunately for Nintendo, seems to be leaning towards the negative side.

Once the Digital Event ended, I was a bit disappointed myself. For a few reasons.

For one thing, there wasn’t much new announced for Wii U. Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival and Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash were the only games we didn’t know about before for the console. Both are due out later this year. What do we have to look forward to in 2016 aside from Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem? I hope we see some announcements later on in the year!

Metroid Prime: Federation Force is a strange thing for me. On one hand, I’m happy that we finally have a new Metroid. On the other hand, it doesn’t feel much like a Metroid game right now. I’m not personally liking how it looks currently, but I’m very much willing to give it a shot. Let’s see what happens as development progresses.

Looking back on it and really reflecting on things, the Digital Event wasn’t awful in my opinion. Don’t forget we had E3 presentations like in 2008, which featured a whole lot of Shaun White Snowboarding and Wii Music. It definitely wasn’t Nintendo’s strongest, and last year’s event was much more exciting by comparison.

Some other random thoughts: where was Devil’s Third? Did anyone else feel like the Digital Event was missing “one other game” or “one big title”? After the Mario Maker bit, I was hoping Nintendo would have one final title to reveal. The puppets were lovely, but some segments felt like they ran on too long. Considering Yoshi’s Woolly World was featured in last year’s Digital Event and is launching extremely soon in Europe in Japan, a trailer probably would have been enough.

Okay, that’s enough from me. I better stop now. My brain has melted from E3 coverage, so I’m probably just rambling on too much at this point. Let us know what you thoughts about Nintendo at E3 2015 in the comments below!

Highlights from last week’s topic: E3 2015 hopes and dreams

Timppis

In order of preference.

New IP – Large scale JRPG but with more fantasy settings than Xenoblade games. FF9 or White Witch -style.

Paper Mario – Have to have this. The rumors must be true

Star Fox open world game – Not going to happen unfortunately

New line of Mario Sports games, highlighted by Mario Strikers 3 with HUGE career mode – Also not going to happen.

Mario sports games in general – Baseball, Rugby/American football mashup, Basketball, anything. -Not happening

Super Mario Sunshine HD – Plausible

Resurrection of any of these franchises – Waveracer, Golden Sun, 1080 Snowboarding, Advance Wars, Earthbound… – Also not going to happen

Im going to be so disappointed this year… I just know it ;_;

AJK

A new Metroid is the dream really. Ideally a new Prime type game.

Also please please please don’t let Starfox be underwhelming. I have waited since Starfox 64 for a decent Starfox shooter. My fear is that they might try something gimmicky instead of sticking to what made the first 2 games so great.

My final wish would be a new Golden Sun game on 3ds.

Vorsun

I’m probably alone on this, but I really wanna see more of Devil’s Third. That game is shaping up to be a really fun 3rd-person hack-and-slashooter. And of course I want Nintendo to be playing another trick on me and show a trailer for Zelda U, even though I’m sure there won’t be one.

As far as games I want them to announce, I would love for Retro’s new game to be Metroid Prime 4/Dread/whatever, but I’m torn because I also want them to do their own IP. I want Platinum’s game to either be Vanquish 2 or Wonderful 102 or… dare I ask for God Hand 2? With Bayonetta 2 being Wii U exclusive, the possibilities are astounding. And of course, as always, my greatest desire is Custom Robo U/3DS. I will not be satisfied with some cardboard cutout trying to be Custom Robo. I need the real steel deal.

icecreamperson

So I want a couple of things….

An hd remake for zelda for wii u

a new big 3d mario game announced in the vain of galaxy, sunshine or 64 fr wii u

a new paper mario announced for wii u

diddy kong racing for wii u announced

More: highlight, top

Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 34 Comments

Nintendo and Koei Tecmo officially revealed Hyrule Warriors Legends during the Digital Event that took place on Tuesday. In an interview with Famitsu this week, producer Yosuke Hayashi shares more information about what we can expect from the game.

In one of his responses, Hayashi notes that planning started for the 3DS version after the Wii U title released. He said:

That was after the release of the Wii U version. The Wii U version got a positive reception from people who played it, but as there are already many Zelda titles on the Nintendo 3DS, many Zelda fans said “I’d like to play this on 3DS”. The development of the Nintendo 3DS version took off from there.

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More: Hyrule Warriors Legends, interview, Koei Tecmo, Omega Force, Team Ninja, top, Yosuke Hayashi

Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 11 Comments

Xenoblade Chronicles X has a feature that allows players to obtain and fly various mechs known as “Skells”. Just don’t count on gaining access to a Skell right away. Speaking with IGN, senior director and chief creative officer Tetsuya Takahashi said that it takes about 30 hours before mechs become accessible.

He said:

“The reason we decided to do that was because the scale of the game changes once you get a Skell. We wanted to make sure that the initial difficulties you might have had maneuvering across terrain or trying to figure out how to reach a certain spot would be something you had a full sense of before you got the Skell.”

“We didn’t want people from the very beginning being able to be to zip towards the exact opposite end of the continent. We wanted people them to have the experience of knowing that distance first hand by running it. Once you do have the opportunity to control a Skell, it really does change the feel of the game. And we feel like these are gradual steps that ease you into that process.”

“When people hear 30 hours of gameplay, they might be reacting to that number a little bit. But I think that something that’s going to be familiar to MMO players is the idea that 30 hours is not necessarily a really long time if you think about the total gameplay time that might pick up. Now, certainly in traditional JRPG terms that may feel like that’s quite a ways out, but I think that we’ve designed the content in such a way that it feels fast as you’re going through it.”

Xenoblade Chronicles X launches in North America and Europe in December.

SourcE

More: interview, Monolith Soft, Tetsuya Takahashi, top, Xenoblade Chronicles X