Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 23 Comments

Without any sort of announcement on Nintendo’s part, it appears that the prices of physical rewards on Club Nintendo have been reduced. Items like the Fierce Deity Link Jigsaw Puzzle, Majora’s Mask 3D Messenger Bag, and Retro Mario T-shirt are discounted by up to 50 percent.

All of the new prices are shown above. Here’s a look at how much each of the items costed previously:

Mario & Luigi Greeting Cards – 300 coins
Nintendogs Greeting Cards – 300 coins
3DS Game Card Case: 2015 Edition – 400 coins
2016 Desktop Calender – 400 coins
3DS XL Pouch: The Legend of Zelda – 600 coins
Retro Mario T-Shirt – 700 coins
Fierce Deity Link Jigsaw Puzzle – 800 coins
The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D Messenger Bag – 800 coins

North American Club Nintendo members can redeem their coins up through June 30 at 11:59 PM PT. The site will then be shutting down, though a new Nintendo rewards membership service will launch later this year.

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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 28 Comments

Castlevania has a long-standing history on Nintendo platforms. So the hope was that the next game from Koji Igarashi, one of the series’ main creator, would end up on a Nintendo system.

Igarashi finally announced “Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night” today in partnership with Inti Creates after several days of teasing. The current plan is only to make the project for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. However, a Nintendo version hasn’t been ruled out entirely.

On the game’s Kickstarter page, a statement from the Q&A says the following about why the campaign doesn’t include support for Nintendo systems:

Our budget left us with two options: Build the biggest, most beautiful game we can, or make sure it runs everywhere from the start. As things stand today, we can’t afford to create the two separate versions of this game that would be necessary to make it run on every console. That said, we’ve heard legends about a remarkable treasure hidden in the castle basement…

That sounds somewhat encouraging! Perhaps if the Kickstarter campaign clears its initial stretch goals, a Nintendo version might be something that will be given greater consideration – especially given that last sentence, and how the stretch goals are constructed at present:

You can check out Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night on Kickstarter here. If there’s any concrete news about a Nintendo version, we’ll have it right here on the site.

More: Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, Inti Creates, Koji Igarashi, 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 Download

Ultratron – €8.49 / £6.50 / CHF 8.99 until 28.05.2015 22:59 UTC (Regular price: €9.99 / £7.99 / CHF 10.59)

Nihilumbra – €6.99 / £5.49 / CHF 6.99 until 28.05.2015 22:59 UTC (Regular price: €8.99 / £6.99 / CHF 8.99)

Wii U Virtual Console

Mega Man Zero 4 – €6.99 / £6.29 / CHF 9.80

Mega Man Battle Network 2 – €6.99 / £6.29 / CHF 9.80

3DS Retail

Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. (available on May 15th) – €39.99 / £34.99 / CHF 51.90

3DS Download

3D Thunder Blade – €4.99 / £4.49 / CHF 7.00

3DS Themes

Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. – Free download code for the Nintendo 3DS HOME Menu theme “Code Name: S.T.E.A.M.” included with every purchase of Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. from Nintendo eShop (available until 11/06/2015).

eShop Sales

Wii U

Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams – €7.49 / £5.99 / CHF 9.99 (Ends May 21st, regular price €14.99 / £12.99 / CHF 21.00)

Ducktales: Remastered – €6.69 / £5.39 / CHF 9.45(Ends May 28th, regular price €14.99 / £11.99 / CHF 21.00)

Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara – €5.99 / £4.79 / CHF 8.40 (Ends May 28th, regular price €14.99 / £11.99 / CHF 21.00)

Resident Evil Revelations – €14.99 / £11.99 / CHF 17.70 (Ends May 28th, regular price €49.99 / £39.99 / CHF 59.00)

Guac’ a Mole – €2.69 / £2.39 / CHF 3.67 (Ends June 11th, regular price €3.50 / £3.19 / CHF 4.90)

Wooden Sen’SeY – €2.99 / £2.39 / CHF 3.59 (Ends May 21st, regular price €9.99 / £8.00 / CHF 12.00)

3DS

Animal Hospital – €14.99 / £11.99 /CHF 18.99 (Ends May 28th, regular price €24.99 / £19.99 / CHF 31.90)
I Love My Horse – €14.99 / £11.99 / CHF 18.99 (Ends May 28th, regular price €24.99 / £19.99 / CHF 31.90)
I Love My Pets – €17.99 / £14.99 / CHF 23.99 (Ends May 28th, regular price €29.99 / £24.99 / CHF 39.99)
My Exotic Farm – €4.10 / £3.70 / CHF 5.80 (Ends May 28th, regular price €6.99 / £6.29 / CHF 9.80)
My Farm 3D – €4.70 / £4.10 / CHF 6.50 (Ends May 28th, regular price €7.99 / £6.99 / CHF 10.99)
Resident Evil Revelations – €9.89 / £8.24 / CHF 12.80 (Ends May 28th, regular price €29.99 / £24.99 / CHF 38.90)
Resident Evil The Mercenaries 3D – €3.99 / £3.59 / CHF 5.60 (Ends May 28th, regular price €9.99 / £8.99 / CHF 14.00)
Super Street Fighter IV 3D – €7.99 / £7.19 / CHF 11.20 (Ends May 28th, regular price €19.99 / £17.99 / CHF 28.00)
BIT.TRIP SAGA – €4.99 / £4.49 / CHF 7.00 (Ends May 21st, regular price €19.99 / £17.99 / CHF 28.00)
Hakuoki: Memories of the Shinsengumi – €11.99 / £11.99 / CHF 15.50 (Ends May 21st, regular price €29.99 / £29.99 / CHF 38.90)
Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Towns – €9.99 / £8.99 / CHF 14.00 (Ends May 21st, regular price €19.99 / £17.99 / CHF 28.00)
Hometown Story – €14.99 / £14.99 / CHF 19.45 (Ends May 21st, regular price €29.99 / £29.99 / CHF 38.90)
Virtue’s Last Reward – €9.99 / £7.99 / CHF 12.50 (Ends May 21st, regular price €24.99 / £19.99 / CHF 31.90)

The following price reductions only apply to the UK:

Best Friends – My Horse 3D – £14.99 (Ends June 4th, regular price £24.99)
Cats and Dogs 3D – Pets at play – £14.99 (Ends June 4th, regular price £24.99)
Horse Vet 3D – £14.99 (Ends June 4th, regular price £24.99)
Life with Horses 3D – £14.99 (Ends June 4th, regular price £24.99)
Mahjong 3D – Essentials – £1.79 (Ends June 4th, regular price £2.99)
Mahjong 3D – Warriors of the Emperor – £9.99 (Ends June 4th, regular price £17.99)
Me & my furry patients 3D – £14.99 (Ends June 4th, regular price £24.99)
Me & My Pets 3D – £14.99 (Ends June 4th, regular price £24.99)  )
My Baby Pet Hotel – £14.99 (Ends June 4th, regular price £24.99)
My Foal 3D – £14.99 (Ends June 4th, regular price £24.99)
My Life on a Farm 3D – £14.99 (Ends June 4th, regular price £24.99)
My Little Baby 3D – £14.99 (Ends June 4th, regular price £24.99)
My Pet School 3D – £14.99 (Ends June 4th, regular price £24.99)
My Riding Stables 3D – Jumping for the Team – £19.99 (Ends June 4th, regular price £34.99)
My Vet Practice 3D – in the Country – £14.99 (Ends June 4th, regular price £24.99)
My Western House 3D – £19.99 (Ends June 4th, regular price £34.99)
Outpack Pet Rescue 3D – £14.99 (Ends June 4th, regular price £24.99)
Pets Resort 3D – £14.99 (Ends June 4th, regular price £24.99)
Riding Stables 3D – £14.99 (Ends June 4th, regular price £24.99)
Riding Star 3D – £14.99 (Ends June 4th, regular price £24.99)
Top Model 3D – £14.99 (Ends June 4th, regular price £24.99)
 

Source: Nintendo PR

More: Europe, Nintendo Download, top, Virtual Console

Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Just a Chat, Videos, Wii U | 0 comments

There was a great deal of Nintendo news last week, and Daan/I talked about it all! That includes the Splatoon Direct, the Universal partnership for theme park attractions, and latest financial results (including related tidbits).

Stuff:

Brian’s Twitter
Daan’s Twitter

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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Developer Musings | 4 Comments

Nintendo’s entry into the mobile market through its partnership with DeNA is a natural fit, but moving forward it does beg a lot of questions. When you combine Nintendo’s notoriety for doing things their own way with the unforgiving nature of the mobile market outside of the already flooded free-to-play space, its not as simple as making a Mario endless runner and calling it a day. Nintendo has an interesting set of challenges put forward to them, as the kind of investment they make in this space could have some unprecedented consequences for their own handheld platform.

We reached out to developers Springloaded Software, Joost van Dongen, Rawkins Games, and Yazar Media Group for their take on the best way for Nintendo to get some of the mobile limelight and use it as a way to get more consumers back where they really want them – on their own systems. How can the two spaces co-exist without diminishing what’s already there with the 3DS? Is it possible for the mobile titles to exist as both good standalone products as well as a good entry point for Nintendo systems? Will Nintendo finally have to follow the trend rather than setting it when it comes to working on a platform that’s not their own? Having existed in both the traditional console and mobile spaces themselves, our guests this week offer some insight into some of the possibilities Nintendo has going forward.

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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Let's Talk | 49 Comments

Let’s Talk #7: Do you care about amiibo?

Yesterday, Nintendo confirmed that over 10 million amiibo have been shipped worldwide. That’s a big number. A large majority of figures have made their way to the U.S. and Canada – a whopping 66 percent. Europe is second with 20 percent.

amiibo only just debuted last year, but we’ve already seen some extensive plans from Nintendo. A whole bunch of Smash Bros. figures have been released, with more on the way. Splatoon amiibo are due out this month, followed soon by Yoshi plushies. Animal Crossing amiibo cards are coming this fall.

While amiibo sales have been strong, not all has gone well. Many figures are tough to find in stores at the moment, and scalpers are taking advantage of that situation. There are many instances in which retailers open pre-orders only to sell out of stock within a matter of minutes.

All of that said, do you care about amiibo? Did you once care, but stopped after figures became difficult to find? Were you never interested in amiibo at all? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

So. Here’s my situation. When Nintendo initially announced amiibo, I didn’t care about the figures too much. I wanted Link, but that was about it.

… But I couldn’t help myself. I ended up ordering a few more amiibo from wave one after they launched, and once I started hearing that certain figures were becoming harder to find, I got caught up in the craze. I eventually told myself that I’d pick up every figure from the Smash Bros. line and likely stop there.

Well, now I don’t really have a game plan! I ended up purchasing Toad from the Super Mario Bros. line, and I secured the gold Mario as well. Something tells me that I won’t be able to resist the Yoshi plushie either. I suppose you can say that Nintendo has me hooked! I’m not even entirely sure why I’m collecting amiibo – figures and the like have never appealed to me much in the past. The stock situation has definitely been frustrating, yet I still have interest in amiibo – for now anyway!

Highlights from last week’s topic: Which character do you want to see in Smash Bros. for Wii U/3DS?

There were lots of fantastic comments and choices about last week’s topic, so it was really tough choosing a few highlights. Thanks for your participation – the discussion was great!

ronin4life

Isaac from Golden Sun. Nintendo’s GBA RPG has no reps whatsoever in Smash, even though Isaac was an assist in Brawl.

LordDisco

I still think the Mushroom Kingdom could be represented more amusingly. Waluigi, Daisy, and Toad would all be great additions to Smash Bros, in my opinion.

Waluigi would be hilarious. If they keep him the way he’s been developed over the years, he’ll be wildly interesting and much funnier than the toilet-humored Wario. Waluigi’s moveset can just be a crazy combination of his weird obsessions, and as long as he does the “suck it” gesture from Mario Strikers, he will become my favorite Smash character. hahaha.

Daisy is great too, because she’s basically a sassy and unprofessional princess. He’s basically the opposite of Peach personality-wise, and giving her her own Smash character can open up new possibilities for her as a character in general. She can be kind of a cheating character, which lots of funny moves, like pimp-slapping, headbutting, and throwing turnips like baseballs. I would love for her to be better represented than a simple skin for Peach.

Lastly, Toad would be awesome! His skins could be like Bowser Jr, where each skin is a different Toad, like Toadette, Captain Toad, and Toadsworth. He could be exceptionally small, too, like how Servebot was like in Marvel VS Capcom. And if Nintendo wanted to be really funny, they could just intentionally make Toad the weakest character by a long shot (Again, like Servebot) so people can brag heavily to their friends if they happen to win matches as Toad.

I would love for any one of these characters to be added in, and it’s not like it would be too difficult for Nintendo to pull off, honestly.

AquaBat

King K. Rool, of course!

link2metroid

I’d like to see Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Their moveset would be brilliant and they’d fit in well. Who here is old enough to remember TMNT: Tournament Fighters for the SNES? I thought that was a brilliant game. And more recently, TMNT: Smash Up, while not as good as Smash Bros. it too was a decent game. The different colours could be the different characters though having 4 characters could be a lot of work even though they’d have a lot of common moves. The only thing is deciding which style would be best. I prefer some of the older versions going back to their image rather than some of the more modern looks.

Mirai Akemi

The one I really, really want is Simon Belmont. I think he’s the one missing legend from the NES era. There’s other iconic characters form back then, but he’s the biggest one. There’s so much potential for his moves, a stage and definitely music. A very close second is Bomberman, also a gaming icon and a classic, and he also has potential, though not as much as Simon.

Realistically speaking though, and with Konami being, well, Konami, my most wanted character that actually has a chance is Isaac. I half expected him to be there from the start and still have faith that Sakurai removed him as an assist because he knew that even if they couldn’t work on every character they wanted for the release, DLC could still happen and he saw potential in him.

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

This month’s issue of Nintendo Dream has a lengthy interview with some of the folks responsible for the Pokemon games. The magazine chatted with Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire director Shigeru Ohmori, Ken Sugimori (art director), Shigeki Morimoto (battle director), Kazumasa Iwao (game designer).

Some of the most interesting comments came about when the interview focused on the topic of Mega Evolutions. Nintendo Dream asked about things like criteria for Mega Evolutions, why Slowbro was chosen to go through the process rather than Slowking, and more.

Head past the break for our full translation of Nintendo Dream’s Pokemon Mega Evolution discussion.

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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 27 Comments

Update: This is slightly related (using IP outside of games), so I’ll leave this here. Iwata also mentioned that when meeting with Universal, he was “surprised” by the company’s “extremely detailed” plans for Nintendo attractions at Universal Studios. Once the meeting finished and he returned to Japan, Iwata immediately talked things over with Miyamoto. Eventually, Universal’s attraction engineers met with “veteran Nintendo producers” multiple times on how to go about making Nintendo-themed attractions.

Nintendo has been heading into some interesting directions over the past few months. The company started to dabble with ventures that aren’t gaming-specific like figures, mobile games, and even theme park attractions thanks to a partnership with Universal. Things may not stop there.

While speaking at the Q&A portion of Nintendo’s latest financial results briefing, CEO Satoru Iwata hinted at the company potentially expanding to “films and video content”. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem as though Iwata elaborated much on this.

Source, Via

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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Mobile, News | 17 Comments

Nintendo will be releasing its first mobile game this year. We don’t know what exactly is planned, but don’t expect to hear about anything at E3 2015 next month.

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, speaking at the company’s latest financial briefing, confirmed that there are no plans to discuss smartphone games. That’s because they realize the event is for “dedicated gaming systems”.

Source, Via

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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News, Switch, Wii U | 67 Comments

Update: Fairly accurate translation is below.

Removing region-locking from current game machines presents various issues, so we don’t consider that to be very realistic. However, regarding NX, given the customer feedback and proposals from the market, while nothing has been decided yet, we’re currently investigating internally what problems there would be in realizing it. You can think of that as the current situation. I understand your desire, so I’d like to look at it optimistically going forward.

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata addressed the topic of region locking during the Q&A portion of the company’s latest financial results briefing.

Iwata stated that Nintendo is thinking internally about what steps need to be taken to make NX region-free. Additionally, the Big N is aware that people want a region free system, and he is “thinking positively” about region free. A decision has not been made internally about whether or not NX will be region-free.

Iwata was also quick to point out that doing away with region-locking for current hardware is “unrealistic”.

Source, Via 1, Via 2

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