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

MCV had the chance to sit down with Chandra Nair, Nintendo UK’s marketing manager, to talk about Splatoon. Some excerpts from the interview:

On why a new IP was needed for this game:

“If that idea is best realised with an existing set of characters and an existing universe then perhaps that’s the direction the project will go in. It’s all about the idea and how it’s best turned into a great game. With Splatoon it just so happens that the mechanic of travelling through ink before bursting out and shooting begged for Inklings and Octopians, and for a very different premise to what other Nintendo IP could provide. And so, we have a brand new IP.”

On the fact that Splatoon targets a similar audience to Mario Kart 8 and on Nintendo’s marketing push:

“And by that I mean everyone. We have TV campaigns for kids, 12 to 25 year-old boys, Nintendo gamers and the wider gaming fraternity. We’re targeting Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros owners but we’re using this opportunity to talk to lapsed Nintendo fans, too. Wii U has a fantastic software line-up and there really is something for everyone. There are a whole load of non-Wii U owning, lapsed Nintendo fans out there who will be tipped over the edge by Splatoon.”

On amiibo:

“I genuinely don’t know what the magic element is. It’s classic Nintendo though, that spark of magic that you can’t quite explain but just is. As soon as I saw the Inkling Amiibo I wanted them in the same way that I wanted the Yoshi’s Wooly World Amiibo; the same way I needed Charizard and Toon Link… and all the others. Aaarrgghh, damn you Amiibo.”

On the game’s singleplayer modes:

“But there will be a satisfying single-player aspect that sees characters taking part in more traditional challenges. Three Amiibo also unlock a further 60 challenges. Splatoon is a game that you can enjoy on your own or with a friend in the same room. But it comes into its own online.”

Check out the full interview here.

Source

More: Splatoon, top

Posted on 9 years ago by Matt(@OnePunchMaz) in 3DS, News | 6 Comments

3 home menu themes for the Nintendo 3DS were just added to the European Club Nintendo catalogue. The Nintendo Consoles, Loads of Toads and Club Nintendo Hanafuda themes cost 500 stars each. Club Nintendo is closing on September 30th, so make sure to buy these themes (or any other rewards) soon! Check out the rewards here.

Source

More: 3DS themes, Club Nintendo Europe, top

Posted on 9 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

Baila Latino – €29.90 / £24.90 / CHF 38.90

Wii U Download

Shiny the Firefly – €6.99 / £6.29 / CHF 9.80 (Ends June 20th, regular price €9.99 / £8.99 / CHF 14.00)

Swords & Soldiers II – €18.99 / £16.99 / CHF 24.99

Kirby’s Epic Yarn – €14.99 / £13.49 / CHF 21.00 (Ends May 28th, regular price €19.99 / £17.99 / CHF 28.00)

Wii U Demo

Shiny the Firefly

Wii U Virtual Console

Paper Mario (N64) – €9.99 / £8.99 / CHF 14.00

3DS Demo

Adventure Bar Story

3DS Themes

Code Name S.T.E.A.M. – €1.99 / £1.79 / CHF 2.80

eShop Sales

Wii U

Stealth Inc 2: A Game of Clones – €6.99 / £6.49 / CHF 7.00 (Ends June 4th, regular price €13.99 / £12.99 / CHF 14.00)

Thomas Was Alone – €6.99 / £6.49 / CHF 7.00 (Ends June 4th, regular price €13.99 / £12.99 / CHF 14.00)

Lone Survivor: The Director’s Cut – €5.99 / £4.99 / CHF 8.40 (Ends June 4th, regular price €11.99 / £9.99 / CHF 16.80)

The Swapper – €7.49 / £5.99 / CHF 8.99 (Ends June 4th, regular price €14.99 / £11.99 / CHF 17.99)

OlliOlli – €4.99 / £3.99 / CHF 7.00 (Ends June 4th, regular price €9.99 / £7.99 / CHF 14.00)

Master Reboot – €5.99 / £4.99 / CHF 8.40 (Ends June 18th, regular price €11.99 / £9.99 / CHF 16.80)

3DS

3D Game Collection – €4.99 / £3.69 / CHF 4.99 (Ends June 4th, regular price €6.99 / £4.99 / CHF 6.99)

Funfair Party Games – €4.99 / £3.69 / CHF 4.99 (Ends June 4th, regular price €6.99 / £4.99 / CHF 6.99)

Gardenscapes – €5.99 / £4.49 / CHF 5.99 (Ends June 4th, regular price €7.99 / £5.99 / CHF 7.99)

Jewel Match 3 – €4.99 / £3.69 / CHF 4.99 (Ends June 4th, regular price €6.99 / £4.99 / CHF 6.99)

Safari Quest – €4.99 / £3.69 / CHF 4.99 (Ends June 4th, regular price €6.99 / £4.99 / CHF 6.99)

URBAN TRIAL FREESTYLE – €1.99 / £1.69 / CHF 2.80 (Ends June 4th, regular price €4.99 / £4.49 / CHF 7.00)

Zombie Panic in Wonderland DX – €4.99 / £4.49 / CHF 6.99 (Ends June 21st, regular price €7.00 / £6.30 / CHF 9.80)

Conception II: Children of the Seven Stars – €14.99 / £13.49 / CHF 21.00 (Ends May 28th, regular price €29.99 / £24.99 / CHF 38.90)

Source: Nintendo PR

More: Europe, Nintendo Download, top, Virtual Console

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

The most recent issue of Famitsu has an interview with Tetsuya Takahashi, the executive director for Xenoblade Chronicles X. One of the topics the magazine touched on regularly was the Skells – otherwise known as Dolls.

Regarding what Monolith Soft ordered from Skell designer Takayuki Yanase, Takahashi said: “We ordered frame structures that are easy to design, easy for us to create and easy to turn into 3D.”

Read More

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

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

Xenoblade Chronicles 3D debuted on the New 3DS last month as the system’s first “exclusive” game. How did it perform on the market?

Xenoblade Chronicles 3D didn’t make the top ten NPD chart, but Nintendo said it was the fifth best-selling game in the U.S. during April if you do not combine sales for platforms. Thanks to “creamsugar”, who often leaks sales data, it’s also now known that the game sold under 75,000 copies.

All things considered, Xenoblade Chronicles 3D sold fine. The New 3DS has a very small userbase, and Xenoblade is more of a niche game. It’s also a port of a game that’s a few years old.

Thanks to Jake for the tip.

Source

More: NPD, sales, top

Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Just a Chat, Videos | 53 Comments

No weekly Just a Chat, but you can catch up on the E3-specific discussion Austin and I held earlier this week. It’s probably a good thing we got that in on Wednesday since whatever I’ve come down with has taken a lot out of me. Being sick isn’t fun!

Nintendo shared some pretty big news about its E3 2015 plans today, so Brian and Austin talk about it all in this episode of Just a Chat. That includes the Nintendo World Championships and Digital Event. There’s also some discussion about what Nintendo may/may not show during its presentation and more!

Stuff:

Brian’s Twitter
Austin’s Twitter

More: highlight, top

Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Let's Talk | 14 Comments

Let’s Talk #8: Your thoughts on Splatoon

Splatoon’s release date is fast approaching. Actually, two weeks from today, the game will finally be out on store shelves. How exciting is that?!

Splatoon is a pretty big deal. It’s a new IP from Nintendo, and it’s something different from the Big N. Nintendo itself seems to be promoting it fairly heavy with various commercials in all regions, a dedicated Direct (though it’s true they do that for most games), and even a special demo.

Since we’re so close to Splatoon’s launch, I thought it could be nice to hold a discussion about the game. How do you feel about Splatoon? Has your opinion changed since the original reveal at E3? What’d you think of the Splatoon Global Testfire? Sound off in the comments below!

Just a few quick thoughts from me since I’ve been feeling sick the past couple of days!

I feel like this isn’t the popular opinion, but I’m actually looking forward to playing the single-player campaign more than the multiplayer modes. Don’t get me wrong: I’ll definitely be trying out the various multiplayer offerings. However, I’ve always been more of a lone gamer. That’s just the way I tend to enjoy games!

Everything we’ve heard about Splatoon’s single-player thus far sounds very interesting. I love hearing that it has a lot of variety, and some people have even compared it to Super Mario Galaxy in a way – which is certainly a good thing.

Obviously multiplayer is going to be what carries Splatoon forward. I managed to get in a few rounds last week, and I think what I played managed to sell me on those multiplayer aspects more. I just need more time with the game.

Highlights from last week’s topic: Do you care about amiibo?

Diortem

I care about amiibo! I’m sick of hearing people complain about them. They’re not DLC- they’re figurines. If you don’t want it for your shelf, DON’T BUY IT. I love the way a lot of them look and I think the in-game bonuses are fantastic and not even CLOSE to DLC. I have a nice collection of the ones I love the most and I have the Splatoon 3-pack pre-ordered.

By the way- just spent the hour playing the Splatoon demo- WOW! They hype is VERY real. That was amazingly fun.

Garrett Austin Boyle

I have 18 on my shelf with seven preordered. I think I kind of like them.

??

In a strange ironic twist, I have only one amiibo and no real motivation to complete a collection, despite being a completionist (in collections as well as games) to a debilitating point xD

I think several things turned me off from it, namely the modeled appearance versus the actual thing. Of course it was too much to actually assume every factory model one would appear in such a lovely way. The other thing was the one-file-at-a-time functionality makes it a little limiting…

Seeing other comments, I am more than happy to let others who truly enjoy Amiibos buy them (at non scalped prices none the less) rather than buying them and trying to convince myself that I need or want them.

ArsonDoctor

I do, though it didn’t really start until I bought a Peach amiibo for my niece. At first, I decided I was only going to get amiibo for my mains in Smash Bros., Captain Falcon and Shulk, and Sonic since I grew up playing his games, but then my nieces got interested, and then a Pikachu amiibo happened, and then a Zelda, and then Samus too. I’m only really interested in the Smash Bros. line as of right now, but of course that could change in the future. I want a Mewtwo amiibo really, REALLY bad though.

I got the Captain Falcon and Shulk ones BTW, my Gamestop is awesome!

Locky Mavo

I’d love to see Nintendo make a Amiibo game, like Disney Infinity and Skylanders,
Amiibo-land maybe? (seeing as Nintendoland is taken). Give Amiibos more of a use, instead of just unlocking costumes, weapons, abilities and Smash AI saves. Maybe even have it so they can be added into the Nintendo version of Disney Infinity, Skylanders and Lego Dimensions, that’d be awesome!

Maybe something will be announced at E3?

More: highlight, Splatoon, top

Posted on 9 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Site updates, Wii U | 10 Comments

Hello. Everyone. (say this like Iwata does in the Nintendo Directs)

Nintendo was very kind to send us a pre-release build of Splatoon for review, and Brian and I wanted to try and get some video content about the game up before its release in a couple weeks. We were going to do a simple Q&A about the game, but since GameXplain already covered a ton of the more common desired information (as comprehensively and eloquently as they always do), we thought we’d ask first: is there anything more detailed you want to ask about the game? How mechanics interplay? How it feels to only have two maps in rotation? Something very specific about online play or whatever?

If you’ve got anything you want to ask, post a comment below, send us an email with the subject “Splatoon Question”, or tweet at us with the tweet beginning with “Splatoon Q:”.

Thanks everyone! We’ll look at the questions soon and decide if there’s reason enough for our own Splatoon Q&A video. Either way, we’ll have a video review when the embargo lifts and more video content before launch as well.

~Austin

More: highlight, Splatoon, top

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

Nintendo has started sending out invitations for a “business presentation” that will be held at this year’s E3. The company plans on discussing what lies ahead through Holiday 2015 along with “a sneak preview of what’s coming in 2016”.

Nintendo’s business presentation will take place on June 16 between 9 AM and 10 AM PT. It’ll be happening during the same time as the Nintendo Digital Event, for what it’s worth.

Source

More: E3 2015, top

Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 7 Comments

Nintendo of America just shared another update about the status of amiibo on its Facebook page.

According to the message, a number of amiibo are returning to stores “over the next few days”. These figures include Marth, Meta Knight, and Ike. Keep in mind that there will be “limited quantities”.

Nintendo’s full message states:

Heads up! Marth and a few other amiibo like Meta Knight and Ike will be hitting shelves in limited quantities over the next few days.

For more information on timing and availability, be sure to visit your local retail stores or check out their websites.

Source

More: Amiibo, top