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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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More: indie, Shakedown Hawaii, top, Vblank Entertainment

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

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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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS eShop, News, Wii U eShop | 1 Comment

KnapNok’s Anchel Labena has commented on a number of topics pertaining to Affordable Space Adventures as part of an interview with Nintendo Life.

Regarding the game’s reception, Labena said that the game has received “some pretty amazing reviews”, which came as a bit of a surprise given its “quirky nature”. Sales were strong out of the gate, though “things slowed down a bit during the months after.”

Labena’s comments in full:

“We’ve been getting some pretty amazing reviews, which we are obviously really happy about. It really caught us by surprise, since Affordable Space Adventures is such a quirky title that we didn’t know what the press would think about it. I guess that all the positive press really affected sales at launch, because we saw a sudden surge of interest from players, YouTube streamers and other media outlets who hadn’t heard about the game before its launch.

While sales kicked off to a great start, things slowed down a bit during the months after launch. We still keep selling units on a daily basis though. It doesn’t come as a surprise either. We are, after all, a digital-only release, and presence in the Wii U eShop is crucial for us. Every time our game shows up in the eShop front page (like a banner, a Nintendo Highlights video or being included in a list of indie games for example), we have a considerable spike in sales. The new update is surely going to get a new surge of interest in the title, so we hope to keep the momentum going with that. We also just launched in Japan, and that’s definitely a super interesting market to get into. You have to think different in how you approach the audience there. Luckily, there are also fans there. One of them posted a drawing on Miiverse and it took as a while to understand that her handwriting said “I’ve been waiting for a year for this game since Knytt Underground” (Knytt Underground being the previous game of Affordable Space Adventure’s Game Director, Nicklas Nygren). What I can tell you, however, is that the game has definitely been a success for us and we are quite happy about how it is performing.”

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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 64 Comments

Speaking with Game Watch Impress, Shigesato Itoi commented on why Mother 4 is unlikely to happen. He told the site:

“Among big-time popstars, if they, you know, put out ten albums, around the fourth album, they can’t make very good songs. The albums sell, but everyone at the concerts wants to hear songs from those first three albums. Everyone. I’m glad that video games are not my profession. If it was my job, I would’ve already made 4 and 5.”

“When I made 3, I thought I could do it, so I did it,” Itoi added. He went on to say that 4 is “totally impossible.”

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Posted on 9 years ago by Matt(@OnePunchMaz) in 3DS, News, Wii U | 1 Comment

This week’s UK software sales are as follows:

Individual formats

All formats

Source 1 Source 2

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Posted on 9 years ago by Matt(@OnePunchMaz) in 3DS eShop, News, Wii U eShop | 8 Comments

This week’s European Nintendo Downloads are as follows:

Wii U Retail

Kung Fu Panda: Showdown of Legendary Legends – €29.99 / £24.99 / CHF 38.90

Monster High New Ghoul in School – €29.99 / £24.99 / CHF 38.90

Wii U Virtual Console

Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stones (NES) – €4.99 / £3.49 / CHF 7.00

Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos – €4.99 / £3.49 / CHF 7.00

Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom – €4.99 / £3.49 / CHF 7.00

The Adventures of Bayou Billy – €4.99 / £3.49 / CHF 7.00

3DS Retail

Kung Fu Panda: Showdown of Legendary Legends – €29.99 / £24.99 / CHF 38.90

Monster High New Ghoul in School – €29.99 / £24.99 / CHF 38.90

Fireman Sam To The Rescue – €29.99 / £24.99 / CHF 31.90

3DS Demo

I Love My Pony

Johnny’s Payday Panic

3DS Themes

Splatoon: Squid Sisters – €1.99 / £1.79 / CHF 2.80

Yoshi’s Woolly World: Yoshis on Parade – €1.99 / £1.79 / CHF 2.80

Hello Kitty Merry Christmas – €0.99 / £0.89 / CHF 1.40

Hello Kitty Crystal Princess – €0.99 / £0.89 / CHF 1.40

Hello Kitty Gingerbread – €0.99 / £0.89 / CHF 1.40

Hello Kitty Ice Skating – €0.99 / £0.89 / CHF 1.40

Hello Kitty Once Upon A Time… – €0.99 / £0.89 / CHF 1.40

Hello Kitty Sweet Winter – €0.99 / £0.89 / CHF 1.40

Hello Kitty Bundle – €3.99 / £3.59 / CHF 5.60

eShop Sales

3DS

Atlantic Quest – €5.59 / £3.99 / CHF 5.59 until 10/12/2015, regular price €6.99 / £4.99 / CHF 6.99

Jett Rocket II: The Wrath of Taikai – €6.70/ £5.70 / CHF 8.30 until 17/12/2015, regular price €8.99 / £7.66 / CHF 11.08

Real Heroes: Firefighter 3D Download Version – €4.99 / £4.49 / CHF 7.00 until 03/12/2015, regular price €9.99 / £8.99 / CHF 14.00

TOYS VS MONSTERS – €0.99 / £0.99 / CHF 1.22 until 17/12/2015, regular price €3.99 / £3.99 / CHF 4.99

Undead Bowling – €5.59 / £3.99 / CHF 5.59 until 10/12/2015, regular price €6.99 / £4.99 / CHF 6.99

Source: Nintendo PR

More: Europe, Nintendo Download, top, Virtual Console

Posted on 9 years ago by Vincent Ward in Reviews, Wii U | 22 Comments

System: Wii U
Release date: November 13, 2015
Developer: Nintendo / Nd Cube
Publisher Nintendo

With Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival, I find myself having trouble translating my opinion into words. From a party game standpoint it has everything with fun multiplayer games and some single-player content sprinkled in. For an Animal Crossing spin-off title, it still has a lot to offer, too. It feels like an Animal Crossing title focused around being a party game instead of vice-versa, which is exactly how it should be. But I can’t help but get the impression that there’s something missing from the overall experience that is leaving the picture unfinished, and with a source material as large as Animal Crossing, I have to admit it ends up leaving a sour taste in my mouth.

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