Nintendo News/Rumors Thread

[Daniel]

http://www.siliconera.com/2013/01/23/sh ... -to-wii-u/

Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem Crossover Coming To Wii U

Nintendo and Atlus are developing a crossover game together—Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem for the Wii U. Nintendo announced the game today. More information will be announced at a later date.

[Daniel]

Wii U Sysem Updates To Reduce Load Times, Virtual Console Coming After Spring

Two significant system updates are coming to the Wii U in the spring and summer, says Nintendo president, Satoru Iwata. Among other features, loading times on Wii U for launching software will be improved incrementally in both updates.

Additionally, the Virtual Console service will launch on Wii U after the spring update. The entire lineup of Virtual Console games will not be available at launch, but Nintendo will prepare a selection of NES and Super NES games for its launch. Other platforms such as Game Boy Advance will be released in the future as well.

You’ll be able to play these Virtual Console titles on the Wii U GamePad, as well as access Miiverse communities for Virtual Console games, since the Wii U versions are being developed separately from the original Wii versions.

Finally, if you bought these games on the Wii Virtual Console service, you’ll receive a discount on the Wii U versions.

http://www.siliconera.com/2013/01/23/wi ... er-spring/

[Daniel]

New 3D Mario, Super Smash Bros., Mario Kart For Wii U To Be Revealed At E3

A new 3D action Mario game for Wii U is in development at Super Mario Galaxy development team, EAD Tokyo, as well as a new Mario Kart game. Both titles will be shown in playable form at E3.

In addition to these, the first screenshots for Super Smash Bros. will be shown off at E3 as well, although Iwata didn’t share any new information about any of these games.

Additionally, Nintendo president, Satoru Iwata, revealed in a Nintendo Direct presentation today that a new party game for Wii U is being worked on by the team of developers that works on Mario Party.

http://www.siliconera.com/2013/01/23/ne ... led-at-e3/

[Daniel]

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker Remake Coming To Wii U; Looks Gorgeous

Nintendo are bringing two Zelda games to Wii U—one remake and one original title.

The first to be released will be the remake, which is The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, which is going to see a huge visual upgrade on Wii U and is slated for release this fall.

Nintendo president, Satoru Iwata, says that part of the reason The Wind Waker was chosen is because the platform it was originally on, the Gamecube, wasn’t a very widespread system and so, several gamers may not have gotten to try the game.

Read more at http://www.siliconera.com/2013/01/23/th ... -gorgeous/

[Daniel]

Wii U Virtual Console Feature Recap

The Wii U is getting its own Virtual Console service this Spring, of which Nintendo president, Satoru Iwata, announced details this morning via a Nintendo Direct presentation. Here’s a recap of features for the Wii U Virtual Console:

Coming this spring.
Wii U Virtual Console games will be separate from Wii.
NES and SNES games to be available initially. GBA coming as well.
Play on Wii U GamePad without TV.
Discount prices if you already own these games on Wii.
Transfer Wii versions to Wii U to avail discounts.
NES prices: $4.99 – $5.99 | SNES prices: $7.99 – $8.99
Discount prices: NES prices: $1.00 | SNES prices: $1.50
Will allow for fully customizable button layout on Wii U.
Miiverse implementation for Virtual Console titles.


Additionally, a Virtual Console trial campaign is kicking off this month to celebrate the Famicom’s 30th anniversary. One new Virtual Console title will be made available each month, starting this month, and lasting until July. The following titles will be available:

January – Balloon Fight
February – F-Zero
March – Punch Out! Featuring Mr. Dream
April – Kirby’s Adventure
May – Super Metroid
June – Yoshi
July – Donkey Kong

Each title will be available for $0.30 for 30 days. After the campaign is over, these titles will return to their normal price. If you own these games on the Wii, you’ll still be able to buy them at a discount. The January title, Balloon Fight, is available now.

http://www.siliconera.com/2013/01/23/wi ... ure-recap/

[z3kEn]

3DS save data transfer tool announced for Japan
Physical to digital game save transfers coming in March

Nintendo will released a save data transfer tool for 3DS in Japan in March.
The firm made the announcement with a video broadcast on the Japanese 3DS eShop.

The video featured Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata who, according to Nintendo World Report translations, revealed that the tool will allow 3DS owners to transfer save files from physical game carts to the 3DS internal SD card for use with a digitally-downloaded copy of the same game.

No price details were announced, and a Western release is yet to be confirmed.

The video is below, but it contains no English.

[/b] cvg

[z3kEn]

Wii U sales top 3 million, Nintendo cuts full-year forecast
Company also reduces annual 3DS sales guidance

Worldwide Wii U sales topped three million units between the console’s launch and the conclusion of Nintendo’s third financial quarter ended December 31, 2012.

Software sales for the system totalled 11.7 million during the same period, with Nintendo Land hitting two million and New Super Mario Bros. U 2.3 million, the company said today.

For the business year ending March 31, Nintendo cut its Wii U sales forecast from 5.5 million units to four million, and its software sales target from 24 million units to 16 million.

Nintendo also said it now expects to sell 15 million 3DS units by April, having previously estimated 17.5 million sales.

The downwardly revised sales guidance has resulted in the company forecasting a full-year operating loss of 20 billion yen (£139m / $220m). It previously anticipated making an operating profit of 20 billion yen.The company also cut its annual revenue forecast by 17.3 per cent, although it raised its net profit forecast from six to 14 billion yen (£97.5m / $154m).

Lifetime Wii sales now total 99.38 million units, with 863.53 million games sold. Lifetime 3DS hardware sales stand at 29.84 million units, with 85 million games sold. And DS has now sold 153.67 million units and 930.55 million software units.

gamesradar

[z3kEn]

Nintendo to help Japanese devs bring 3DS games overseas
'We will increase the number of such games in the U.S. and Europe.'

Nintendo will help Japanese game developers bring their 3DS titles to the overseas market, company president Satoru Iwata has said during the company’s latest financial results briefing.

“As the handheld devices occupy a large share of the video game market and software for handheld devices is important in the video game business in Japan, Japanese software developers are eagerly assigning their top teams to develop key titles for Nintendo 3DS,” said Iwata.

He continued, “We therefore plan to more actively support the Japanese software developers in distributing their key titles overseas this year.”

Among those games developed and published in Japan, there have been some games Nintendo has already published in Europe, such as the Professor Layton series.

“We will increase the number of such games for the U.S. market as well as in Europe,” he said. “We are also willing to flexibly assist third-party developers in distributing their valuable games overseas.”

What 3DS games would you like to see Nintendo help localize?

gematsu

Layton 6??

[OnceAnAngeL]

Iwata Implies He May Resign Over Poor Business Performance

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has implied to investors at the recent analysts meeting that there is a chance that he may resign if he is unable to achieve 100 billion yen (US$1.09963 billion) in operating income for the next fiscal year. Iwata apologised to investors due to the company seeing two years of consecutive losses and said that he feels greatly accountable for this severe outlook. When asked how he would take responsibility if the goal is not met, Iwata emphasized his strong determination by saying, “Please understand that [achieving it] is my commitment.”

http://mynintendonews.com/2013/01/31/iw ... rformance/

[Daniel]

http://www.siliconera.com/2013/01/30/fu ... re-and-os/

Future Nintendo Consoles And Portables Will Share Architecture And OS

Earlier in the month, Nikkei.com reported that Nintendo have plans to unite their home console and portable hardware development divisions. The new division that they form will be called the “Integrated Research & Development Division,” according to Nintendo president, Satoru Iwata.

As previously reported, the goal of this new division is to enable Nintendo to develop future hardware that will “turn heads” and will also increase the interoperability between their home consoles and portable systems.

“What we mean by integrating platforms is not integrating handhelds devices and home consoles to make only one machine,” Iwata explained at the company’s third quarter financial results briefing.

He elaborated: “What we are aiming at is to integrate the architecture to form a common basis for software development so that we can make software assets more transferrable, and operating systems and their build-in applications more portable, regardless of form factor or performance of each platform.”

In a nutshell, that means that the architecture, services and even operating systems will be shared between Nintendo’s future devices, regardless of whether they’re portables or home consoles. One of the positive effects this will have, Iwata says, is that it will help avoid software shortages that tend to happen after the launch of new hardware.

“Although it has not been long since we began to integrate the architecture and this will have no short-term result, we believe that it will provide a great benefit to our platform business in the long run,” Iwata stated.

[Daniel]

http://www.siliconera.com/2013/01/30/de ... -about-it/

Developing Consoles Games Is Expensive; Here’s What Nintendo Plan To Do About It

Nintendo are collaborating heavily with third-party developers and publishers to create games for the Wii U. PlatinumGames are working on Bayonetta 2 and The Wonderful 101, TT Games on Lego City Undercover, Namco Bandai on Super Smash Bros. and Atlus on a Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem crossover RPG.

In a recent Nintendo Direct presentation, company president, Satoru Iwata, said that other such collaborations are underway as well. The reason Nintendo are going out of their way to do these collaborations, he explained in a financial results briefing this evening, is that game development costs are on the rise, and it’s becoming harder for companies to develop exclusive games for a single console.

“As the developing cost of games for home consoles has been high, it has been very difficult for third-party developers to take a risk by developing games only for one home video game console,” Iwata said. “We therefore have had various discussions with software developers for the projects.”

He added later: “We are willing to actively cooperate with software developers to produce something new beyond the traditional licensing business. We believe that this is possible because Nintendo is not only a platform holder but has a powerful in-house software development team.”

In addition to these collaborations, Iwata adds that Nintendo also plan to make it easier for independent developers to create Wii U games using web technologies like HTML5, JavaScript and Unity. Nintendo will demonstrate their efforts to bring these technologies to Wii U at GDC.

[Daniel]

http://www.siliconera.com/2013/01/30/ni ... -the-west/

Nintendo To Help Japanese Developers Bring Their 3DS Games To The West

The Nintendo 3DS is selling like hot cakes in Japan, having crossed 10 million in sales in under two years, but it isn’t doing as well in the west. In the U.S. and Europe, 3DS sales are below expectations, and Nintendo need to do something about it.

What they’ll do, according to Nintendo president, Satoru Iwata, is release more games that widen the system’s appeal. This involves releasing around ten key games in the near future that will help sell the 3DS to more people.

“We plan to intensively and actively sell approximately 10 key titles on our own in order to change the Nintendo 3DS system from a handheld device just to play the Mario series to the one to enjoy a variety of games,” Iwata stated at the company’s third quarter financial results briefing.

He added: “Naturally, we will keep the momentum of already-released titles with much sales potential by, for example, having them digitally distributed.”

Iwata doesn’t name all ten 3DS games that Nintendo have pegged their hopes on, but he does name six of them—Fire Emblem: Awakening, Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon, Brain Age: Concentration Training, Lego City Undercover: The Chase Begins, Animal Crossing: New Leaf and of course Pokémon X/Y.

Additionally, Iwata says that third-party developers in Japan are assigning their top teams to develop big games for the 3DS, and that Nintendo will help distribute their key games overseas.

Iwata stated: “Among those third-party titles both developed and published in Japan, there have been some games which Nintendo published in Europe, including the Professor Layton series. We will increase the number of such games for the U.S. market as well as in Europe. We are also willing to flexibly assist third-party developers in distributing their valuable games overseas.”

[z3kEn]

RUMOR: Is this artwork from Monolith Soft’s 3DS project?

Monolith Soft updated its Facebook page with new artwork from Yasuyuki Honne for a new project in development at its Kyoto studio.

The image text reads that the developer is seeking staff to work in its Kyoto studio. Specifically, they’re recruiting 3D CG designers, motion designers, and effect designers, according to the Facebook description.

gematsu

[z3kEn]

Activision CEO: We're Somewhat Disappointed with the Launch of the Wii U

In Activision's post-earnings call, company CEO Bobby Kotick touted the sucess of their Skylanders franchise, has acknowledged concerns about the franchise's impact on NIntendo's next-gen console the Wii U; and has even admitted that they were "somewhat" disappointed with the console.

As you know, we were somewhat disappointed with the launch of the Wii U...And I think it's a challenging environment this year, and one of the things we are concerned about is what the install base of hardware will be like for 6-11-year-olds. But we have a lot of confidence in the franchise in the long term. I think we're delivering another great product this year.

Later in the same call, Kotick talked a bit about next-gen, how 2013 is a "transitional year," and how they publisher isn't immune to unfavorable market dynamics.

While we had a strong 2012, we recognize that 2013 is a transition year as we enter the ninth year of the current generation of console video game systems...We encounter new threats from unproven business models, and we compete against new category entrants. We aren't immune to unfavorable market dynamics, but we have navigated these transitions many times before, and we are prepared to do so again.

This hasn't been a very good week for the Wii U. Not only is the world's biggest videogame publisher disappointed with their next-gen console, but one of their former exclusives -- Rayman Legends -- is now being delayed and is even set to appear on other platforms, too.

gameranx

[Seraph011]

RUMOR: Is this artwork from Monolith Soft’s 3DS project?

Monolith Soft updated its Facebook page with new artwork from Yasuyuki Honne for a new project in development at its Kyoto studio.

The image text reads that the developer is seeking staff to work in its Kyoto studio. Specifically, they’re recruiting 3D CG designers, motion designers, and effect designers, according to the Facebook description.

gematsu

Looks nice...sana talaga pang 3DS para naman mapakita din yung graphics prowess ng 3DS not just with using the 3D effect.

[z3kEn]

Crytek: "Crysis 3 on Wii U had to die"

Cevat Yerli reveals a lack of Nintendo and EA support for title
Crytek

Outspoken Crytek CEO and president Cevat Yerli has revealed that the Wii U version of its super shooter Crysis 3 was cancelled after a lack of support from both the platform holder and the publisher.

"We did have Crysis 3 running on the Wii U. We were very close to launching it," he told GamesBeat.

"But there was a lack of business support between Nintendo and EA on that. Since we as a company couldn't launch on the Wii U ourselves - we don't have a publishing license - Crysis 3 on Wii U had to die."

Today the game was revealed as the number one title on the UK software charts.

Yerli was more careful when discussing the recent launch on the Sony PlayStation 4, choosing not to pass judgement on the capabilities of the machine just yet, but praising the timing of the reveal.

"I have less of an opinion about the next-gen consoles and more about the fact that-I think going out and talking about it was a good thing for the market. I'm not about to judge it at this stage."

It was a contrast to comments he made two weeks ago, when he explained that consoles would never again be able to technically compete with the PC platform.

"If you predict how hardware evolves at the current speed of evolution, and then take consumer pricing evolution, already two years ago you could see, whatever launches in 2013 or 2014 or 2015, will never beat a PC again."

[/b] gameindustry

Wii U needs to sell more, says Ubisoft CEO

Yves Guillemot praises Nintendo's latest console, but says sales must increase; Watch Dog team ramped up after E3 unveil.

The Wii U must sell more units, according to Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot. Speaking to MCV, the executive praised Nintendo's latest console, but said sales must increase.

"We think Wii U is a great machine. But it just has to sell more," Guillemot said.

As of December 31, the Wii U has officially globally sold 3.06 million hardware units and 11.69 million software copies since launch. The system reportedly sold only 57,000 units in the United States during January.

Guillemot also commented on Watch Dogs, saying after the cross-dimensional game's unveiling at the 2012 Electronic Entertainment Expo, the published increased resources for developer Ubisoft Montreal.

"E3 was a great revelation for Watch Dogs," Guillemot said. "It gave us a chance to increase the whole project, giving the studio the chance to have bigger teams to help them achieve this goal they have. You always have great ideas, but you need enough people to bring it to life. After E3, we really made sure they had all the teams they needed and all the capacity they wanted to fulfill their dream.

Watch Dogs is currently in development for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii U, and PC. Set in Chicago, the game puts players in the shoes of Aiden Pearce, a hacker who uses his smartphone to break into the city's central operating system to control things like security cameras and also to obtain personal information.

[/b] gamespot

[z3kEn]

Diablo III May Not Be A Sony Exclusive After All

Blizzard appears to be considering its options

Diablo III was shown off this weekend at PAX East and up to now it had appeared that it was a Sony exclusive, given that it's only been announced for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4.

However, this may not actually be the case as in an interview with Penny Arcade Report, the game's lead designer Joshua Mosqueira clarified Diablo III might actually make it onto other systems as well.

We don't have any announcements to make at this time. But we're not necessarily a Sony exclusive.

Blizzard Entertainment's Chris Metzen announced back in February that the developer had entered into a "strategic partnership" with Sony to bring Diablo III to its home consoles, but it now seems likely that it will eventually be made available on other systems. Could it be feasible for it to make an appearance on Wii U? Only time will tell.

The action RPG has been out on PC since May 2012 and was an online-only experience. The console versions, however, will allow for offline play.

nintendolife

[Seraph011]

Pansin ko yung mga lumalabas na new first party titles for the 3DS, ang prices nila are $34.99. Permanent na kaya ito? Sana!

[Seraph011]

Super Smash Bros 3DS coming soon...

http://www.zeldauniverse.net/zelda-news ... ng-soon-2/

[z3kEn]

RUMOR Exclusive Legend of Zelda Wii U Info Surfaces in Swedish Magazine

A Swedish gaming magazine, Level 82, has put together what appears to be an exclusive feature on the new Legend of Zelda for the Wii U—details of which have yet to be revealed anywhere else. It doesn't appear to be a late April Fool's joke, nor is it anything to laugh about as the feature graces the cover of the magazine. It might just be a very elaborate joke, so we suggest taking it with a heavy pinch of salt.

Reddit user Jejmaze has a copy of the magazine and he managed to provide a translation for it—much to everyone's disbelief of its content—detailing what may be the next Legend of Zelda title from Nintendo.

According to the magazine, the game is set to be the biggest and most expensive game Nintendo has already produced, with every single region in the game larger and more detailed than all of Ocarina of Time. A quote in the preview says something of the game's compass, which its writer found useful:

"I search my pocket for the compass. The item that previously had a pretty much useless function has become my best friend. I wouldn't survive a day without it in this enormous unforgiving world."

The magazine goes on to state that the game is set to take place before Ocarina of Time, and Link's mission to help reunite the races of Hyrule, as tensions are simmering.

The part where the whole story gets fishy is that suggests the main character can choose to play as any race you want, with each race having a different storyline and offering a different playstyle for the player to experience. According to the magazine, this allows puzzles in the dungeons to have multiple solutions.

That sounds alright, but Link has always been a Hylian and to make him any other race doesn't sound like something Nintendo might do with the story. Assuming it's real, it's an interesting direction for the studio to take.

[/b]