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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS eShop, News | 6 Comments

Pokemon Picross was announced during this month’s Nintendo Direct. We knew it would be coming in December, but we didn’t know when specifically.

A date has now been finalized for North America and Europe. On Twitter, the official Pokemon account confirmed that the game is launching on the eShop on December 3 – next Thursday.

Here’s the tweet:

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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS eShop, News, Wii U eShop | 6 Comments

In just a couple of weeks, the European eShop will be open for business in several new European territories. These countries include Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Slovakia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, and Romania.

The opening date is set for December 10. Consumers will need to pay in Euros, and the shop will be displayed in English.

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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS eShop, News, Wii U eShop | 27 Comments

Nintendo has kicked off a new set of eShop “Cyber Deals” in North America. Wii U and 3DS owners can save up to 50 percent on Wii U and 3DS titles.

Here’s the full lineup of games on sale:

Wii U

Zelda: The Wind Waker HD – $34.99 (was $49.99)
Metroid Fusion – $4.79 (was $7.99)
Don’t Starve: Giant Edition – $7.49 (was $14.99)
Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker – $27.99 (was $39.99)
Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse – $9.99 (was $19.99)
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze – $34.99 (was $49.99)
Rayman Legends – $19.99 (was $39.99)
Adventures of Pip – $7.49 (was $14.99)
Pushmo World – $4.99 (was $9.99)
Kirby’s Return to Dream Land – $12.99 (was $19.99)
Teslagrad – $7.49 (was $14.99)
Chariot – $7.49 (was $14.99)
Star Fox Command – $4.99 (was $9.99)
Never Alone – $5.99 (was $14.99)
SteamWorld Dig – $4.99 (was $9.99)
Pikmin 3 – $38.99 (was $59.99)
Art of Balance – $4.49 (was $8.99)
Trine 2: Director’s Cut – $9.99 (was $19.99)
The Wonderful 101 – $19.49 (was $29.99)
Mario Golf – $4.99 (was $9.99)
Child of Light – $7.49 (was $14.99)
Blek – $2.99 (was $5.99)
Little Inferno – $4.99 (was $9.99)
Mutant Mudds Deluxe – $4.99 (was $9.99)
Scram Kitty – $4.99 (was $9.99)

3DS

Fire Emblem Awakening – $27.99 (was $39.99)
Metroid – $2.49 (was $4.99)
Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate – $23.99 (was $39.99)
Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D – $20.99 (was $29.99)
Azure Striker Gunvolt – $7.50 (was $14.99)
Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon – $27.99 (was $39.99)
BoxBoy! – $3.49 (was $4.99)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy – $20.09 (was $29.99)
Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse – $9.99 (was $19.99)
Crashmo – $4.49 (was $8.99)
Kid Icarus: Uprising – $24.49 (was $34.99)
Rune Factory 4 – $19.99 (was $39.99)
3D Sonic the Hedgehog – $2.99 (was $5.99)
3D Out Run – $4.19 (was $5.99)
Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move – $6.49 (was $9.99)
Punch-Out!! Featuring Mr. Dream – $2.49 (was $4.99)
SteamWorld Dig – $4.99 (was $8.99)
Mario Golf: World Tour – $20.99 (was $29.99)
1001 Spikes – $9.99 (was $15.00)
Inazuma Eleven – $9.99 (was $19.99)
Retro City Rampage DX – $4.99 (was $9.99)
Mutant Mudds – $4.49 (was $8.99)
Siesta Fiesta – $2.99 (was $5.99)

This sale runs through December 2 at 11:59 AM ET / 8:59 AM PT.

Europe will be seeing its own set of holiday deals starting on Friday and lasting through Monday. We’ll let you know about those when they go live.

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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 49 Comments

GameSpot has posted another feature with Monolith Soft head Tetsuya Takahashi. In today’s interview, Takahashi commented on things like making games that will appeal to both Japan and the west, the “mass” hiring the studio had in October (which carries a rather interesting response), the possibility of additional Xeno games, and more.

Continue on below to read up on Takashi’s comments. You should also give GameSpot’s original piece a look here.

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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, New Nintendo 3DS, News, Wii U | 17 Comments

The latest Japanese hardware sales from Media Create are as follows:

PS4 – 29,052
New 3DS LL – 28,257
Wii U – 14,684
Vita – 12,258
New 3DS – 5,859
PS3 – 1,624
3DS – 1,012
Xbox One – 889
3DS LL – 596
Vita TV – 583

For comparison’s sake, here are the hardware numbers from last week:

PS4 – 27,311
New 3DS LL – 21,800
Wii U – 17,921
Vita – 11,821
New 3DS – 5,264
PS3 – 1,751
3DS – 968
Vita TV – 680
3DS LL – 561
Xbox One – 524

And here are the software charts:

1. [PS4] Star Wars Battlefront – 123,908 / NEW
2. [PS4] Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book – 30,759 / NEW
3. [PSV] Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book – 25,805 / NEW
4. [PSV] Omega Labyrinth – 25,113 / NEW
5. [WIU] Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival – 20,303 / NEW
6. [PS4] Call of Duty: Black Ops III – 19,355 / 206,801
7. [PS4] Sword Art Online Game Director’s Edition – 18,342 / NEW
8. [WIU] Splatoon – 17,681 / 802,117
9. [3DS] Sumikko Gurashi Omise Hajimerun Desu – 16,464 / NEW
10. [3DS] Yo-kai Watch Busters – 14,700 / 1,744,440
11. [WIU] Super Mario Maker – 13,184 / 391,793
12. [PSV] Girl Friend Beta Kimi to Sugosu Natsuyasumi – 12,959 / NEW
13. [PS3] Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book – 11,542 / NEW
14. [3DS] Disney Magical World 2 – 11,530 / 104,959
15. [PSV] Grand Kingdom – 10,720 / NEW
16. [3DS] Pokemon Rumble World – 10,120 / NEW
17. [PS4] Assassin’s Creed Syndicate – 7,247 / 39,325
18. [PSV] Minecraft: PlayStation Vita Edition – 7,182 / 404,329
19. [3DS] Project X Zone 2 – 7,050 / 47,995
20. [3DS] Zelda: Tri Force Heroes – 5,909 / 100,045

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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Switch, Wii U | 21 Comments

The only Yo-kai Watch title we’ve seen from Level-5 on a Nintendo console is the upcoming Yo-kai Watch Dance: Just Dance Special Version. But could the studio expand its efforts to bring a proper title to Wii U, or even NX? Company CEO Akihiro Hino is certainly open to the possibility.

Hino said he “would definitely want to proactively consider it,” if Level-5 has a title that would make sense as a Wii U game. Taking things further, Hino expressed interest in potentially making games for NX if it can “bring Level-5 games to as many kids as possible.” Speaking broadly about Level-5, he added that if the company finds this to be the case, “it wouldn’t be impossible” to see its games on the system.

Hino also addressed Pokemon again, which has seen some comparisons to Level-5’s Yo-kai Watch series. He believes the two can coexist peacefully. Hino mentioned: “If kids are willing to buy both of them, I couldn’t be happier.”

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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 12 Comments

Back in the day, Nintendo and Sony once attempted to work with each other. The SNES PlayStation prototype is evidence of that. Had the two sides collaborated, Sony would have come out with its own SNES-CD peripheral for the console.

NES designer Masayuki Uemura, in an interview with Gamasutra, spoke about Nintendo and Sony’s failed partnership during a NES celebration at The Strong Museum of Play’s International Center for the History of Electronic Games. Whereas companies like Sony began to focus on graphics and the technological side of gaming at the time, Nintendo still pushed for innovation with design.

Uemura said:

“You might know that we tried to collaborate with Sony once. We knew what Sony was thinking and what kinds of things they were trying to develop. During this time when Sony and other companies started launching products, people started realizing how difficult it is to create a game with great mechanics. Since the time of Game & Watch, Nintendo was doing their best to create game design mechanics that fully utilize the limited technological specifications. What happened was when they started launching those products with high quality graphic design they started emphasizing the graphics processing power – in other words, it wasn’t just the game mechanics they had to focus on but they also had to focus on graphic expression and sound design, not just game design. That’s how the market got saturated with all these kinds of products.

“By contrast, Nintendo was always trying to push the limitations of new types of play. That was a difference between Nintendo product lines and the others. With the maturity of the game industry…it was time to start thinking about redefining the importance of mechanics and design. So for a couple decades the game publishers and hardware manufacturers were focusing on graphics processing power and sound effects and so forth and not focusing much on innovating in game design and mechanics.”

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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS eShop, News | 11 Comments

Update: Wii U should still be on the table, but 3DS is essentially confirmed. It’s hidden in the copyright bits towards the end of the game’s trailer.

Vblank Entertainment has finally announced its next game: “Shakedown Hawaii”. The project is a follow up to Retro City Rampage, but now features 16-bit visuals.

Here’s a brief overview:

“Shakedown Hawaii brings the Vblank open world universe into the 16-bit era, powered up with destructible environments and an arsenal of supercharged weapons. Taking place some thirty years after the events of Retro City Rampage, the game follows The Player as he comes out of early retirement to rebuild his neglected corporate empire.”

Shakedown Hawaii is said to be heading to Nintendo platforms. Presumably, that should mean we’ll be seeing it on either Wii U and/or 3DS.

A trailer for Shakedown Hawaii is posted below. More information will be shared at the PlayStation Experience next weekend.

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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 25 Comments

GameSpot sat down with a pair of developers behind Xenoblade Chronicles X. The site chatted with executive director Tetsuya Takahashi as well as art director Norihiro Takami. During the discussion, Takahashi and Takami commented on the complex nature of Xenoblade Chronicles X, the Xeno name, how the Wii U game is a culmination of ideas held onto for a very long time, and more.

We’ve rounded up a number of Takahashi and Takami’s statements below. Additional comments can be found in GameSpot’s piece here. Some concept art is also in the gallery below.

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Posted on 9 years ago by Matt(@OnePunchMaz) in News, Wii U | 13 Comments

Nintendo originally announced near the system’s launch that you would eventually be able to buy the Wii U Gamepad separately and use two of them with the system. Well, support for more than one Gamepad at the time still hasn’t happened and probably will never happen, but you can in fact now buy a new Gamepad directly from Nintendo of Japan’s online store.

The standalone Gamepad costs 13,824 yen. If your old Gamepad broke and your warranty expired and you don’t want to pay for repairs, buying a new one is now an option. Note, however, that the Gamepad itself is region-locked, so it won’t work with your PAL or NTSC Wii U.

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