Art of Balance and FAST Racing Neo are using Shin’en’s second-gen Wii U engine
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
More GBA Wii U Virtual Console details – brightness, smoothing, resolution, manuals
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
More: top, Virtual Console
Renegade Kid explains why Cult County is no longer on 3DS, taking to Kickstarter, using Unity, game details, parity on all platforms
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.
More: Cult County, indie, interview, Jools Watsham, Kickstarter, Renegade Kid, top
Cult County heading to Wii U, no longer planned for 3DS
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.
More: Cult County, Renegade Kid, top
Media Create software sales (3/24 – 3/30)
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
Media Create hardware sales (3/24 – 3/30)
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News, Wii U | 60 Comments
The latest Japanese hardware sales from Media Create are as follows:
3DS LL – 52,124
Vita – 39,752
PS4 – 23,327
PS3 – 17,154
Wii U – 13,026
3DS – 12,508
PSP – 4,206
Vita TV – 2,115
Xbox 360 – 304
For comparison’s sake, here are the hardware numbers from last week:
Vita – 35,374
PS4 – 30,201
3DS LL – 28,291
PS3 – 15,455
3DS – 11,985
Wii U – 9,982
PSP – 3,563
Vita TV – 1,754
Xbox 360 – 288
More: charts, Japan, Media Create, sales, top
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U screenshot (4/2/14) – Gust Bellows
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Screenshots, Wii U | 1 Comment
Along with today’s screenshot, Sakurai passed along the following message on Miiverse:
The Gust Bellows can blow opponents away with its powerful wind blasts. When someone drops it, though, the gusts run wild! Out of the new items, more than a few will be from The Legend of Zelda series. We’ll take the most interesting and straightforward ones and reformulate them to match the Smash Bros. world.
Tales of the World: Reve Unitia revealed for 3DS
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 20 Comments
Bandai Namco is finally bringing the Tales series back to 3DS. “Tales of the World: Reve Unitia” is in development for Nintendo’s portable, Jump reveals this week.
Tales of the World: Reve Unitia is a simulation role-playing game with strong ties to the smartphone game Tales of the World: Tactics Union. Both titles contain the same world and characters. Reve Unitia will offer “a dream world linking the Tales of franchise together.”
Jump confirms that the game is set in Revaria, the world that dreams made. It’ll feature four popular characters from past Tales of games as playable characters, complete with full voicing of dialogue: Natalia Luzu Kimlasca-Lanvaldear (Michiko Neya) from Tales of the Abyss, Meredy (Omi Minami) from Tales of Eternia, Yuri Lowell (Kousuke Toriumi) from Tales of Vesperia, and Jade Curtiss (Takehito Koyasu) from Tales of the Abyss.
Daigo Okumura handled designs for two characters: the timid, gentle-hearted Terun and the strong, big-brother-like Nahato. Tales of Graces F’s Asbel Lhant (voiced by Takahiro Sakurai) and Tales of Symphonia’s Lloyd Irving (Katsuyuki Konishi) will fight alongside each other in the game.
Go pink with 2DS Pink + White – releasing in tandem with Kirby Triple Deluxe on May 16 (Europe)
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 0 comments
Join Kirby on a new adventure for the Nintendo 3DS family of systems – complete with colourful worlds and hidden collectibles galore!
2nd April 2014 – A magical tale of a giant Dreamstalk and the kidnapping of a king awaits on 16th May when Kirby: Triple Deluxe releases for the Nintendo 3DS family of systems. In order to mark the imminent return to action for this famous pink hero, Nintendo has today revealed a new colourway to its Nintendo 2DS staple in the form of Nintendo 2DS Pink + White*, giving fans the choice to represent the Kirby colours when gaming on the go.
Nintendo 2DS Pink + White will launch on the same day as Kirby: Triple Deluxe, 16th May, and in true Kirby style, presents itself in an eye-catching pink design, complete with a white stripe across the side and back of the system. Also accompanying the release of Nintendo 2DS Pink + White will be a new silver Nintendo 2DS Carrying Case, available for purchase separately from 16th May.
More: Europe, press release, top
Peter Moore apologizes for “unacceptable” April Fools’ tweets made on Frostbite account poking fun at Wii U
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Wii U | 46 Comments
I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not a big fan of April Fools. That’s one of the many reasons why we shy away from posting related content each year.
That said, one attempted April Fools’ joke did spiral a bit out of control earlier today, and developed into a more mainstream piece of news worth covering.
Essentially, a few tweets were posted on EA’s official Frostbite Engine Twitter account earlier today, which completed backfired. They are as follows:
