Tag Archives: Nintendo

Nintendo officially confirms Xenoblade Chronicles for North America

Written by Daryl Heard on December 2, 2011 at 5:10 pm

This morning a mysterious image of Gamestop’s release schedule featuring Xenoblade Chronicles, as a Gamestop exclusive to boot, popped up. Later Nintendo themselves confirmed that the long awaited Wii JRPG is finally coming to North America in April 2012! Nintendo is finally doing it! After all of the requests and complaints Nintendo is finally doing it! The bad news is that Xenoblade Chronicles will be exclusively sold at Gamestop, otherwise you have to order online from Nintendo themselves. Who cares though? The game is finally arriving and that’s that. Nintendo was even nice enough to show off a trailer for the game, featuring the English voice acting retained from the EU version.

Operation Rainfall must be feeling pretty good about themselves now eh? They’re campaign played a huge part in this, now people just have to buy the game. Lets hope Nintendo follows up with The Last Story and Pandora’s Tower if sales turn out well.

Via Nintendo

3DS beats DS’ first-year sales in eight months

Written by Matthew Tomich on December 1, 2011 at 1:37 pm

As far as hardware releases go, Nintendo’s 3DS got off to one of the more rocky starts in recent memory. An early reveal and a rushed release left consumers with an underwhelming list of launch titles earlier this year, not to mention a hefty asking price and health concerns from its 3D component. In spite of all this, Nintendo of America’s Reggie Fils-Aime revealed that the console has eclipsed it’s predecessor’s first-year sales in just eight months.

“3DS has been having positive momentum since the digital content came onboard with the eShop, the launch of Ocarina of Time and obviously the price reduction,” he said in a recent interview with Time Magazine. “In sales through this past Saturday—8 months—[the 3DS] has outsold the full 12 months of the original DS. During that 12 months time, the original DS sold 2.37 million and we just surpassed that this past Saturday, so we’ve got real good momentum going into the holidays.”

An impressive feat, considering the success of the DS over the past few years. Speaking of which, though its successor has been on the market for nearly a year, Nintendo are looking to continue supporting the DS for the foreseeable future.

“As we introduce …

SUPER MARIO GALAXY 2 – The Double Dip Awful Edition Review

Written by Fernando Cordeiro on November 13, 2011 at 8:40 am

SUPER MARIO GALAXY 2 is a videogame developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Wii. It was directed by KOICHI HAYASHIDA.

I’ve played Super Mario Galaxy 2 from start to finish. That was probably the mistake, as the more you play this game, the less you like it – and I believe the optimal stopping point would be somewhere before World 5. By the time the game opens up its Second Quest, where you must collect 114 Green Stars, my enjoyment of the game had already become a downwards slide towards an endless abyss.

This is not, like Tom has suggested, a good game whose main flaw is being too “artificially perfect”. Super Mario Galaxy 2 gives the impression it was “surgically assembled in a laboratory”, yes, but this doesn’t imply that the result was the Fifth Element (i.e. Milla Jovovich) instead of the Bride of Frankenstein (i.e. shrieking woman who will never love you back). So here is the bottom line: Super Mario Galaxy 2 is the Bride. It is schlock.

Let’s start with its greatest mystery: Starship Mario.

The goal of the game is to collect Power Stars in …

Sequels that should have been: Doki Doki Panic

Written by Tom Auxier on November 11, 2011 at 3:56 pm

Somewhere, if we ascribe to the comic book based theory of alternate worlds, in another earth we are playing Doki Doki Galaxy instead of Mario Galaxy. In America, we would have localized it to Heartbeat Galaxy, and we would be flying around with Mama, Papa, Imajin, and Lina on a giant, pulsing heart, doki doki, doki doki the only sound effects.

For the unacquainted, Doki Doki Panic is known as Super Mario Brothers 2 outside of Japan. It’s not really a Mario game—while Doki Doki Panic characters have migrated into Mario games (the Shy Guys, Birdo), mechanically it’s night and day to the traditions of Mario. Levels tend to scroll vertically, you kill enemies by picked up turnips and radishes, and if you’re not being chased by horrible floating masks count yourself lucky.

It’s also Arabian themed, as opposed to the Italian plumber and whimsey of the Mario universe. No Mushroom Kingdom, yes Prince of Persia.

Doki Doki Panic, however, would make a fantastic modern game. In terms of ideas, it might as well have been ten years ahead of its time. Originally, it was a multiplayer platformer where you could pick up and throw your friends.

This idea sounds familiar to anyone who’s …

Review: Kirby’s Return to Dreamland

Written by Tom Auxier on November 10, 2011 at 2:08 pm

Suddenly, with little warning, a new Kirby game. And not just a new Kirby game: the first great Kirby game since the underappreciated Kirby: Canvas Curse.

Watching it at E3, there were doubts in my mind how Kirby would take to multiplayer. “Four player Co-Op?” I asked. “This is madness.” Sure, it worked in New Super Mario Bros., but that was different. That was Mario, he who makes all novel ideas he touches old and comfortable. This was Kirby, a pink puff ball whose most recent game, Kirby’s Epic Yarn, wasn’t even intended to be a Kirby game and inspired the whole of the internet to call it Kirby’s Epic Yawn. Because we are so clever.

And yet, here we are with Kirby’s Return to Dreamland, a game with no marketing punch but that succeeds so utterly.

The core of the game will be familiar to Kirby vets. Suck up enemies, absorb their powers, beat enemies with cool powers. But instead of doing it alone, four friends join you split-screen, as Meta Knight (the nerd), King DeDeDe (the jock), and Waddle Dee (the spastic one who achieves perpetual motion when he flies). This isn’t the frantic, near-competitive coop of New Super Mario Bros …

New Skyward Sword trailer features Link’s inevitable sword upgrade

Written by Jordan Hedges on October 31, 2011 at 12:29 pm

Link eventually obtaining the Master Sword is not exactly a spoiler. In the previous games it was a huge treat to see Link heft the mighty blue-hilted blade with its timeless theme music solidifying his eventual triumph over evil, but the impact of Skyward Sword’s version of this moment seems to have been lost in this trailer. Perhaps the scene in its entirety will hold true in the final game. Thankfully, this new trailer also has some more glimpses at the supposedly large amount of cinematics (a feature only Nintendo still seems to advertise these days) that players will bet treated to along with a few snippets of gameplay. Some other highlights include the ESRB’s silly “comic mischief” classifier, landscape color correction and a glimpse of NPCs that actually look more disturbing than the great fairies from Ocarina of Time.

Gah!

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword will be released on November 20th; also known as the day the Wii in my apartment is powered on for the first time in months.

Source: Gametrailers

Wild Pokemon Gray Domain Spotted

Written by Jordan Hedges on October 19, 2011 at 9:59 pm

In spite of its development being denied earlier this year, a domain name has been registered for Pokemon Gray. While this could be a simple case of protecting the name for the future, it wouldn’t be a surprise given Nintendo’s habit of pumping out a middle ground game with each generation of Pokemon.

This shouldn’t be taken as hard proof of the game’s existense, but these domain registration stories often turn out to be true. Since we don’t know anything else for the moment, let’s talk about where that lobster and chicken Ash is eating came from.

Valve’s Steam Voted Easiest Platform for Indies

Written by Tyler Clark on October 4, 2011 at 4:00 pm

In a recent survey of 100 indie studios, 64% said that Valve’s Steam service was the easiest to develop for, thanks to both the tech itself and the support from Valve. However, 28% claim developing for Steam was “so-so” while 8% claim that it’s difficult. None claimed it was excruciating.

After Valve came Facebook, Apple iOS, and Google Android, in that order. Facebook with a 57% “very easy” and 47% “so-so”. Apple with 54% “very easy” and 46% “so-so”. No developer found either “difficult” or “excruciating”. Google pulled 27% “very easy”, 45% “so-so”, 18% “difficult”, and 9% “excruciating”.

Following them, came the three console publishers: Sony(PSN), Nintendo(WiiWare), and Microsoft(XBLA), in that order. The majority of developers found developing for PSN “so-so”, Wiiware “difficult”, and XBLA “excruciating”. Nobody found working with Microsoft to be “very easy”.

After them came cell phone carriers, with 57% saying developing for them is excruciating, and 43% said it was difficult.

This data was collected by Ron Carmel, co-founder of independent studio 2D Boy, developer of World of Goo

This news is re-enforced by past stories, like Cthulu Saves the World ”thriving” on the PC, indie developers turning their backs on XBLA, and gives a bit of weight to Team Meat’s …

Zelda News Blast: Sword-Wielding Miyamoto Dishes Skyward Sword Details, Dialogue Options Revealed

Written by Jordan Hedges on September 30, 2011 at 3:29 pm

Shigeru Miyamoto has taken up sword and shield once again to talk about the latest Zelda game. This presentation of Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword has revealed the absolutely staggering amount of content and variety the game will feature. Some impressive uses of the way directional slicing of the sword is integrated into gameplay are demonstrated, including the ability to slice an opponent’s shield. I nearly spilled my coffee when I saw Link going Shadow of the Colossus on a hairy boss monster. With all of the content shown, Miyamoto’s statement that the game could last 50-100 hours seems to have merit. Although some familiar mechanics like the dual hookshots from Twilight Princess and shooting switches with the bow are present, it’s pretty clear that this game is well beyond being just another Ocarina of Time. If nothing else, it’s pretty amusing to watch Miyamoto mimic sheathing a sword using a WiiMote. He has declared that he considers Skyward Sword “amazing” and a true showcase to all 25 years of Zelda game development. After watching this video, I’m pleasantly surprised to say I’m beginning to get excited about this game.

However, the most surprising Zelda news of today comes from Games …

Nearly A Third of Players Think the Nintendo 3DS is Better Without the 3D

Written by Matthew Tomich on September 25, 2011 at 11:43 am

You would think that most 3DS owners would play the handheld largely for, you know, the 3D part. After all, it’s the first gaming device to sell itself on 3D – without glasses, no less – and despite the criticisms hurled against its rushed release and lack of launch titles, it’s an impressive technical feat. Yet a recent survey from research firm Interpret LLC found that over a quarter of respondents thought that 3-dimensionality made the handheld worse.

Speaking at the 3D Gaming Summit in California last week, Interpret’s Dan Casey revealed that 28% of the 1,600 players who took the survey felt that 3D detracted from the experience, while only 22% thought it improved gameplay. 13% of players used the handheld device with the 3D completely switched off.

Casey also revealed that players much prefer the prospect of an immersive, big-screen TV 3D experience – 56% cited a playable console connected to their television as an ideal 3D experience, while only 7% would prefer handheld 3D gaming.

Awareness for the 3DS was up by 60% – which is kind of a given, seeing as how it wasn’t around a year ago – but when there are more people actively avoiding the main …

Archives

Tag Archives: Nintendo

Meta

Blogroll

Tags

Archives