Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Podcast Stories, Wii U | 8 Comments

Nintendo has lifted a new embargo on Mario Kart 8, and several press previews are now starting to arrive.

– Retro tracks have been given a noticeable upgrade
– 16 returning tracks
– 16 new courses
– Largest selection of playable characters
– Confirmed characters:

Mario
Luigi
Peach
Daisy
Yoshi
Bowser
Donkey Kong
Toad
Toadette
Koopa Troopa
Wario
Waluigi
Rosalina
Baby Mario
Baby Luigi
Baby Peach
Baby Daisy
Larry Koopa
Morton Koopa Jr.
Wendy O. Koopa
Iggy Koopa
Roy Koopa
Lemmy Koopa
Ludwig von Koopa
Metal Mario
Shy Guy
Lakitu

– Retro courses feature anti-gravity sections
– Glider and underwater additions return
– Toad’s Turnpink, Moo Moo Meadows, Mario Circuit are back
– Toad’s Turnpink features ramped lorries that flip you onto new vertical track sides and let you storm past swaths of traffic hazards
– Moo Moo Meadows now has an elegant skybox, dynamic lighting and lush green fields
– GBA Mario Circuit has been altered so that part of track is tilted to a 45 degree angle
– Split screen with up to 4 players
– 30 FPS in split-screen
– At least 2 new weapons
– Piranha Plant item from last year’s Super Mario 3D World included
– The pot will gobble up passers-by
– Mario’s Boomerang Flower power-up is included for the first time as a three-shot weapon with homing abilities, able to pick off anyone in a large radius
– Earn coins from item boxes
– Up to 10 to collect in a race
– Can no longer pick up additional items while holding a weapon behind your kart
– Horn is still present on the GamePad
– Options to toggle between a live view of the main screen, a map of the track layout and a list of the current player rankings
– Edit Highlight Reel option at the end of each race
– Select parameters to automatically generate a video of your playthrough
– Choose the clip length, specific characters for the camera to follow and a focus on key racing moments such as item use or stunt jumps

Source

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Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Videos, Wii U | 0 comments

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Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Videos, Wii U | 8 Comments

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Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Videos, Wii U | 4 Comments

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Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Screenshots, Wii U | 5 Comments

Along with today’s screenshot, Sakurai passed along the following message on Miiverse:

Pikachu’s Thunder now starts off with a thundercloud that deals a Meteor Smash! From left to right, you can see this combo starting with Pikachu throwing the opponent upward, Meteor Smashing with the lightning strike, and then directly attacking. Foes can dodge, of course, so the attack won’t hit consistently, but when it does, it sure feels good!

More: Masahiro Sakurai, Miiverse, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, top

Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 4 Comments

Several months ago, Shin’en revealed that the company was hard at work on its second-generation engine for Wii U. Both of the studio’s upcoming titles for the console – Art of Balance and FAST Racing Neo – are taking advantage of the upgraded tech, Manfred Linzer confirmed to us.

Linzer, CEO of Shin’en, said that the two games are actually just using “a subset of our new engine”. However, “we are pretty happy with the results,” he told us.

Linzer explained, “With FRN we wanted to get more realism. That was not possible with our old tech. So we implemented a lot of new stuff that allows us to get there. We are still learning but we think we are on a good way to create a really special Wii U game.”

While Art of Balance and FAST Racing Neo are taking advantage of the new engine, “Art of Balance is more on the ‘stylized’ side and FAST more on the realism side.”

We are sworn to secrecy regarding the engine’s capabilities, but know that Shin’en has managed to implement a number of improvements and a few new graphical effects. Some of these were previously used “in an ad hoc way, and not in a unified system.” According to Linzer, “Now everything blends nicely together which we need to get on a new level.”

More: Art of Balance, FAST Racing Neo, Manfred Linzer, Shin'en, top

Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U eShop | 3 Comments

Nintendo Insider has put up a new feature about GBA Wii U Virtual Console games covering brightness, smoothing, resolution, and manuals. You can find an overview of the information below.

– GBA games were artificially brightened back in the day
– VC games have been altered to compensate for the over brightening
– With the GamePad, it will seem noticeably darker
– On TV, most probably won’t notice
– Can smooth the screen with GBA VC games
– GBA resolution was originally 240×160, meaning it is blown up considerably when brought to the TV and the individual pixel placement is incredibly noticeable
– The picture will be smoothed when activating the feature
– All diagonal lines will look less blocky and curves will look curved
– Activate in real time by pressing down on the right stick
– Games don’t take up the whole screen
– Instead, it’s a block of 1620×1080
– Virtual Console settings menu will let you choose Original Resolution, which runs on the TV screen
– Upscales it to the largest whole factor it can on the screen
– 1440×960 making it 6×6 pixels for every 1 original pixel
– This doesn’t affect the resolution on the GamePad
– Not possible to run a toggle in real time for this
– Touch the small “?” icon on the GamePad screen to bring up the game’s manual
– Can scroll through the pages using the touch screen on the GamePad
– Zoom in as well
– Can view the manual while still playing the game on the TV screen

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Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS eShop, News, Wii U eShop | 3 Comments

Prior to today’s console and Kickstarter announcement for Cult County, the good folks over at Nintendo Life caught up with Renegade Kid co-founder Jools Watsham to discuss the project. Watsham tackled topics pertaining to the 3DS version, taking to Kickstarter, Unity, and more.

Check out the Q&A below. You can also find Nintendo Life’s full interview here. 

Read More

More: Cult County, indie, interview, Jools Watsham, Kickstarter, Renegade Kid, top

Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U eShop | 0 comments

Update: Kickstarter is now live. You can donate here. The goal is set at $580,000.

Cult County, a Renegade Kid project first announced as a 3DS eShop exclusive, is now coming to Wii U, PlayStation platforms, Xbox One, and PC via Steam. This is indeed related to the studio’s Kickstarter set to go live in just a short while.

Nintendo Force reveals the news in its latest issue. “It’s an ambitious upgrade in scope and complexity, and one that will require extra capital to accomplish,” the magazine writes.

Cult County will launch in 2015 – assuming the Kickstarter goal is met.

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Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 2 Comments

This week’s Japanese software sales are as follows:

1. [PSV] Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F 2nd – 98,628 / NEW
2. [3DS] Mario Party: Island Tour – 78,098 / 210,767
3. [PS3] Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F 2nd – 59,965 / NEW
3. [3DS] Youkai Watch – 48,345 / 662,724
4. [PS3] Sengoku Musou 4 – 46,490 / 166,942
6. [PS3] Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes – 38,617 / 158,232
7. [3DS] New LovePlus+ – 31,258 / NEW
8. [PS3] J-Stars Victory Vs. – 25,300 / 143,540
9. [PSV] J-Stars Victory Vs. – 24,825 / 122,646
10. [PSV] Hakuoki SSL: Sweet School Life – 21,640 / NEW
11. [PSV] Sengoku Musou 4 – 19,596 / 59,193
12. [PS3] Winning Post 8 – 19,156 / NEW
13. [PS3] Dark Souls II – 17,771 / 310,253
14. [PS3] Pro Baseball Spirits 2014 – 16,897 / 80,795
15. [PSP] Pro Baseball spirits 2014 – 14,877 / 42,700
16. [3DS] Kirby Triple Deluxe – 14,564 / 530,459
17. [3DS] Fossil Fighters: Infinite Gear – 12,966 / 120,379
18. [PS4] Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes – 12,374 / 104,277
19. [PSV] Winning Post 8 – 12,120 / NEW
20. [PSV] Ayesha no Atelier Plus – 11,663 / NEW

More: charts, Japan, Media Create, sales, top