REDMOND, Wash.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–One month from today, Mario Kart 8 will be driving players wild with anti-gravity racing action. To get people revved up for the Wii U game, Nintendo released a new Nintendo Direct video that announced some additional news nuggets, including a Mario Kart 8 Wii U bundle, a free downloadable game offer for Wii U owners who buy Mario Kart 8, details about online features, cool new characters and devastating new items.
“Everyone loves Mario Kart,” said Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “It’s a franchise that brings people together for fun at a family gathering, a frenzied race against friends or just an afternoon break at the office. The numerous new features of Mario Kart 8 make this the most ambitious version yet, and one that will have players of all skill levels racing for the checkered flag.”
To view the Nintendo Direct in its entirety, visit http://www.nintendo.com/nintendo-direct. Some of the new information announced today included:

More: Mario Kart 8, press release, top

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U screenshot (4/30/14)

Posted on 10 years ago by Jarop(@gamrah) in Screenshots, Wii U | 4 Comments

Today’s screenshot details a new item, the Super Leaf. Sakurai explains:

With the Super Leaf, any fighter can have ears and a tail. You can also float in the air by pressing the jump button. We’re still figuring out whether you’ll be able to attack with the tail…

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

[Weekly Screenshot] Art of Balance Wii U #3 – Perfect Imperfections

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

As we’ve done for the last two weeks, today we have another exclusive screenshot of the upcoming Wii U eShop game Art of Balance from our friends at Shin’en. They’ll be showing off some genuinely neat stuff this time around, including some changes to the core user-interface and some of the small graphical touches that their known for putting in all of their games. Like before, the following quote comes from Mr. Manfred Linzer over at the developer, and you can look at the screenshot he’s talking about above:

Hi guys! Another week, another screen from our upcoming beautiful Wii U game called “Art of Balance”. This time I’ll show you a screen from the 2nd world.
When creating the Wii U version we thought about how we could make the game feel more ‘real’; a subtle but nice change was how to pick the shapes. On 3DS and Wii, the shapes were simply picked from a 2D HUD Layer and then projected into the 3D screen. On Wii U, we placed the shapes directly on the table, so you can select them with your GamePad or Wii Remote. This feels very natural and gives a more ‘solid world’ feeling.
Also we wanted the game to feel ‘gemuetlich’ as we say in German, so the levels should feel warm and inviting. Besides choosing the correct lighting and props, we figured out that it was important not to have that typical ‘clean’ computer rendering style, so we tried to give everything little imperfections. Just look at the table – all of the little scratches and variations in particular. This is used on every asset in the game. It’s very subtle, but gives that little extra touch we wanted.

More: Art of Balance, highlight, Manfred Linzer, Shin'en, top

Pokemon Art Academy announced for Japan

Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 1 Comment

Pokemon Art Academy is in the works for the 3DS, Nintendo has revealed. The game will be available in Japan on June 19 as a retail and digital product for 3,619 yen.

Pokemon Art Academy includes more than 40 lessons. 3D will not be supported.

Source

More: Japan, Pokemon Art Academy, top

Video: Nintendo reveals E3 2014 plans – hosting “Digital Event” on June 10, more

Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Videos | 28 Comments

Update: Added in the official announcement after the break.

Today, Nintendo has unveiled its plans for E3 2014.

The company’s events are highlighted by a “Digital Event” taking place on June 10 at 12 PM ET / 9 AM PT. This is where fans can expect new games and announcements.

Nintendo will additionally host the Smash Bros. Invitational (tournament in Los Angeles), Smash Bros. Smash-Fest at Best Buy (game playable nationwide during E3), and Nintendo Treehouse Live @ E3 – featuring constant daily live streams from E3.

More: E3 2014, top

Kirby Triple Deluxe devs discuss the 3DS game, HAL’s relationship with Nintendo

Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, General Nintendo, News | 0 comments

CVG has put up a new interview with Kirby Triple Deluxe director Shinya Kumazaki and Nintendo director Yurie Hattori. As you would expect, most of the discussion pertains to the upcoming 3DS game, but there’s also some interesting comments about HAL’s relationship with Nintendo.

For Shinya and Kumazki’s full comments, head past the break.

More: HAL Laboratory, interview, Kirby Triple Deluxe, Shinya Kumazaki, top, Yurie Hattori

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U screenshot (4/29/14)

Posted on 11 years ago by Jarop(@gamrah) in Screenshots, Wii U | 8 Comments

Today’s screenshot gives us a look at tether recovery! Sakurai had the following to say alongside the picture:

Tether recovery? Yes, you can! And from even longer range than before. Multiple fighters can latch on–who actually grabs hold is determined by the same rules as the standard ledge grab.

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

Why Kirby looks angry on US game boxarts

Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 9 Comments

Kirby tends to look “angry” more often than when shown on North American boxarts. Wondering why this is so?

Kirby Triple Deluxe director Shinya Kumazaki explained to GameSpot:

“For the Japanese versions we are, at [Kirby series developer] HAL, involved in everything throughout development, including the package design. The most powerful image of Kirby is that cute image, we think that’s the one that appeals to the widest audience.
“While it does start cute, we know there is a serious side to Kirby as well, and throughout the gameplay we see more and more of that, and the games themselves have quite a bit of depth. That being said, we recognise that Kirby’s cuteness is his biggest draw in [the Japanese] market.”

Kumazaki added that Nintendo of America handles things in North America, and provides HAL with “feedback and insight” into the market.

“What we have heard is that strong, tough Kirby that’s really battling hard is a more appealing sign of Kirby, so that’s what we feature in the US.”