Hardware Review Retro Duo Portable V2.0
NES, SNES and Mega Drive on the move
Rumour The Recent Wii U System Update Has Boosted Clock Speeds
CPU and GPU both got a bump, according to uncredited source
News Four New Pokémon Make CoroCoro Appearance for Pokémon X & Y
Basic character customisation also outlined
News SEGA Planning Seven Releases for Wii U in the Coming Year
Same number as PS3, more than the Xbox 360
News Club Nintendo Rewards Updated for May
The fresh batch brings giant, talking, castle-impaling swords
News - 2013, Week 19
Sunday12th May 2013
Review SpeedX 3D Hyper Edition (3DS eShop)
Lightspeed Lite
Last year's SpeedX 3D brought Gamelion's endless tunnel racer from the mobile phone market to the 3DS, adding a third dimension and physical controls and proving that mobile games can make excellent eShop experiences. Now the race returns with SpeedX 3D Hyper Edition, and while it's still a whole lot of fun, it's neither the sequel...
News Eternal Darkness Will "Definitely" Be Discussed For The Wii U, Say Precursor Games
Let's not get our hopes up
We reported last week that Shadow of the Eternals - the "spiritual successor" to GameCube spook-'em-up title Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem - would make its way to the Wii U next year should its crowdfunding campaign prove to be a success. We know developer
Review Pac-Man (Wii U eShop / NES)
Pac is back!
When Pac-Man hit arcades in 1981, it was a phenomenal success. Spawning clothing, cereals and even a hit song, the game took the world by storm. It saw a rash of home console and personal computer releases during the 80s — some better than others — but it wasn't until the NES release in 1985 that the game finally saw a replica close...
News Super Mario Bros. 2 Hitting The North American Wii U Virtual Console Next Week
Time to take on Wart once more
The Wii U Virtual Console launched a couple of weeks back with SNES classic Super Mario World being available from the off, and it seems we won't have to wait much longer for another dose of Mario as Super Mario Bros. 2 is on its way to the North American eShop. Released back in 1988 on the NES, Super Mario Bros. 2...
Talking Point The Increasing Relevance of Kickstarter
We speak to successful crowdfunders
Kickstarter, as regular readers of Nintendo Life have no doubt noticed, is becoming increasingly visible in the gaming media. It's not just here that the crowdfunding site is gaining a lot of web space, as increasing numbers of fundraisers begin to emerge, gain significant support and, of interest to us here,...
News A.N.N.E Reaches Kickstarter Target, Ten Days Left To Hit Wii U Stretch Goal
$150,000 is a big ask
Late last month we reported that a new Kickstarter campaign had emerged for "Metroidvania-style platformer" A.N.N.E, a 16-bit art style game with plenty of 2D exploration. Developer Gamesbymo has now successfully reached its target goal of $70,000 for the project this weekend. To secure a release for the Wii U, it must reach...
News CIRCLE Entertainment Will Make A Publisher Dream Sequel Should It Be Successful
All it needs is 888 "votes"
CIRCLE Entertainment's DSiWare title Publisher Dream is now available in both Europe and North America and it seems there may be a sequel on the way should the game do well. The publisher recently announced on its Twitter account that if the game hits "888 votes" in the US eShop a sequel will "definitely" be lined up for...
News Swords & Soldiers 3D Arriving In The North American 3DS eShop Next Week
Ready for battle
Last week we caught a glimpse of CIRCLE Entertainment's upcoming strategy title Swords & Soldiers 3D and North Americans won't have to wait much longer for it to be released as it'll be arriving next week. The game is a port of a 2009 WiiWare title, which was developed by Ronimo Games. Naturally, this adaptation
Saturday11th May 2013
News Four New Pokémon Make CoroCoro Appearance for Pokémon X & Y
Basic character customisation also outlined
Yesterday we reported that more details were incoming for Pokémon X & Y, particularly in an upcoming episode of Pokémon Smash on 19th May, in which Junichi Masuda will feature. We also suggested, courtesy of Serebii, that details were likely before then with the publication of the latest issue of...
News Insomniac Not Working On Wii U, Considers It More "Current Gen" Than "Next Gen"
Here we go again
Insomniac Games — the studio behind Ratchet And Clank, Resistance and Spyro — has a history of working on Sony systems, but has recently gone multi-platform with the forthcoming Fuse. However, the company has ruled out creating games for the Wii U. Speaking to IGN, Insomniac CEO Ted Price said: Wii-U is something I'd consider...
News C-Wars Smashes Kickstarter Stretch Goals to Confirm Wii U and 3DS Releases
All stretch goals hit, including "Cyber-Lover Mode"
Earlier this week we reported that the developers of C-Wars had been approved as 3DS developers, while its Kickstarter fundraiser was close to its 3DS stretch goal. The good news is that the game isn't only coming to 3DS, it's coming to Wii U as well. The real-time-strategy title, that
News Dylan Cuthbert of Q-Games - Nintendo and Wii U Need a "New Super IP"
"They always come up with something"
It's only natural that, when asked about the current state of affairs in the games industry, developers are at some point drawn to discuss Nintendo and, often, the Wii U. Dylan Cuthbert, President of Q-Games, gave his brief view on what he feels is imperative to the system in an interview with Siliconera,...
News Harvest Moon: A New Beginning Has Been Rated in Europe
European farmers rejoice!
Japanese 3DS owners have been farming through Harvest Moon: A New Beginning since February of last year and Natsume brought the title to North America in October. Europe is yet to get its farm-hands on it, but it is coming soon as Germany's USK ratings board has given the game classification. Interestingly, this Harvest...
News Warren Spector: "I've Personally Saved Hyrule Many, Many Times"
Believes video games can tell stories like no other medium
Warren Spector is well known for developing stories within games. He believes the gaming medium is perfect for expanding plots and offering players choices that have an impact on their overall experience. Speaking at the UC Santa Cruz's Inventing the Future of Games convention - which was...
News Wii Street U Finds Some Miiverse Support
Find a spooky house and tag it as "scary"
The Wii Street U app on Nintendo's system, which is anxious to remind you that it's "powered by Google", is a nice freebie that lets you explore the world, famous locations and, of course, to spy on friends, enemies and neighbours. Some of the images may be out of date, but you can still find a foe's house...
News Ubisoft: Watch_Dogs Single Player Can Be Played "Completely Offline"
You won't need the internet to enjoy this one
A lot has been made of the connectivity features in Ubisoft's upcoming title, Watch_Dogs. The game blends single player with multiplayer, allowing others to jump - or 'hack' if you will - into your game to manipulate your surroundings. There's also the ability to connect to the game even when you're...
Developer Interview Island Officials on Kickstarting "Orion's Odyssey"
"Nintendo has been nothing but supportive"
You may not have heard of Island Officials, but this New Jersey-based development studio has been supporting Nintendo handhelds for years, and is currently running a Kickstarter campaign to fund its DSiWare puzzler, Orion's Odyssey: A Pattern Blocks Adventure. We chatted with Island Officials' Ryan Morrison...
News Kokuga Looks Set To Be Released In PAL Regions
It's been given Australian classification
A couple of weeks back we reported on the possibility of 3DS 'shmup' Kokuga making its way to the West after it was found to have been rated by Germany’s USK board. Kokuga is the latest game from Hiroshi Iuchi, the creator of the intense Dreamcast (and later, GameCube) top-down polarity shooter Ikaruga...
Friday10th May 2013
Rumour The Recent Wii U System Update Has Boosted Clock Speeds
CPU and GPU both got a bump, according to uncredited source
Everyone loves a good rumour, right? Well this one is a doozy, so grab as much salt as you can before reading. According to a poster on TV Tropes — who doesn't give a source — the recent Wii U system update has upped the clock speed of both the CPU and GPU: The CPU and GPU are built...
News SEGA Planning Seven Releases for Wii U in the Coming Year
Same number as PS3, more than the Xbox 360
Plenty of companies based in Japan are currently releasing their yearly financial results, with SEGA Sammy — the larger organisation that includes the developer / publisher — joining in the fun. The results highlight just how valuable other areas are to the company, such as Pachislot and Pachinko...
Rumour Rockstar Won't Be Bringing WWE Or Grand Theft Auto To The Wii U
More positive news, then
According to a post on 4chan (the source alone may well set alarm bells ringing), Rockstar Games is not looking to support the Wii U in any meaningful way. The poster — who claims to be working on the next iteration of the official WWE game — had this to say: There's no plans to ever bring a WWE game to the Wii U...
News More Pokémon X & Y Details Expected in the Coming Week
Pokémon Smash and CoroCoro gear up
Pokémon X & Y, as would be expected of a new generation title in the famous franchise, is enjoying a particularly lengthy, teasing buildup ahead of its anticipated October release. The most recent snippet of information was a new Mewtwo Form that'll be gracing the title; as that reveal was a month ago, we can...
News Shovel Knight's Order of No Quarter Boss Lineup is Finalised
A motley crew
Of the many crowd-funded projects to align themselves to Nintendo systems in recent times, perhaps Shovel Knight has been the most prominent success. The first title to come from Yacht Club Games — founded by former employees of WayForward Technologies — has attracted rave previews and waltzed past its Kickstarter target with...
Weirdness Own The Manual To ClayFighter Sculptor's Cut? You Could Be Sitting On A Grand
Super-rare game has an even rarer instruction booklet
We'll forgive you for not being aware of this — because we certainly weren't — but ClayFighter Sculptor's Cut was a Blockbuster-only rental in North America. The 2D fighting title is therefore pretty rare already, but it's near-impossible to find with a mint instruction manual, mainly because...
Developer Interview Dark Tonic Games On The "Awesome Potential" Of The Wii U
"Nintendo has been making it easier and easier for smaller studios"
Dark Tonic Games may be a young studio, but it's made up of seasoned developers with plenty of experience under their belts. We can exclusively reveal that Dark Tonic has been approved as a Wii U eShop developer, and we've secured an interview with Creative Director Eric Boosman...
Weirdness Capcom UK Celebrating Resident Evil Revelations With a 'Blood' Swimming Pool
Oh Capcom, you crazy beast
So, you've got a survival horror / action game to promote that involves fighting a lot of zombies but-not-actual-zombies in scary environments, that's also the latest in a well-known franchise known for crazy story-telling. What do you do, Capcom? Do you hide and then lose fake severed limbs made with chicken livers, like...
Weirdness Just How Much Cash Do You Need To Buy The Legend Of Zelda's Hyrule Castle?
Around $113,807,400, apparently
Have you ever wished that you could live in Hyrule Castle? Does the thought of enjoying the scenic views of one of gaming's most iconic locations whilst enjoying a nice cold Lon Lon Milk appeal to you? If so, then you might want to start saving those pennies, because a recent infographic over at Movato Blog estimates...
News Road Redemption Hits Its Kickstarter Target
Let's not be rash, we have a bit of a wait
In recent weeks we've brought Road Redemption to your attention, a Kickstarter project that's promised Wii U as a platform alongside releases on PC and Mac. It's another title made possible by Nintendo's increasing openness to indie developers, as well as the Unity engine support included on the Wii U...
News Watch_Dogs Team Aiming For "Nuance" in its Storytelling Approach
Manipulating the "smart city" is the core of the game
When Watch_Dogs was unveiled by Ubisoft at E3 2012, it successfully turned a lot of heads due to its impressive visuals and the showcase of a lead character manipulating technology to cause chaos. Since then we've been given a clearer picture, including the recent unveiling of the ability to...
News Rumours Of The Demise Of Silicon Knights Are Greatly Exaggerated
Founder Denis Dyack joins Precursor full time, but studio is still "alive"
Silicon Knights chief financial officer Mike Mays has refuted claims that the studio is all but dead, telling Polygon that it is "very busy" and "definitely alive". The studio remains embroiled in a legal battle with Epic Games, and insider reports suggest that focus on...
Thursday9th May 2013
News Nintendo Has A Sense Of Humour About Poor 3DS Battery Life
Animal Crossing: New Leaf pokes fun at the poor stamina of handheld
One of the few things that really irks us about the 3DS is the poor battery life. The demands of powering two screens (one of which is 3D), running a wireless connection and juicing up those stereo speakers is clearly too much for the console's internal power supply, and as a result...
Nintendo Download 9th May 2013 (North America)
Mario and DK team up, X-rated speed, game development dreams and more
It's that time again, North America, when your Nintendo systems are updated with new downloadable delights to sample. The humble Wii is the only platform to miss out, and overall you have Virtual Console titles to consider, a retail demo and some fresh games to contemplate. Let's...
News Capcom Describes Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate as a "Smash Hit"
Monster Hunter 4 focus still seems to be on the Japanese market
Capcom has recently revealed its annual financial results, ultimately reporting profits both in terms of net and operating incomes. It was the company's revelations on game sales that were perhaps the most interesting, with Resident Evil 6 hitting 4.9 million units but failing to hit...
Review Publisher Dream (DSiWare)
This game development biz is confusing...
CIRCLE Entertainment has published a good variety of games on DSiWare, covering almost any genre that can feasibly work on the ageing service. Its own take on the sim style began with Bookstore Dream, which while owing much to similar smartphone games was a solid effort. Unlike that book publishing title,...
News Tomodachi Collection: New Life Features Same-Sex Marriage For Men, But Not Women
Suggestions that a patch is on the way
Tomodachi Collection: New Life has been merrily selling a huge number of copies in Japan, with the title still top of the Japanese software charts — at the time of writing — with overall sales of 758,575. While not a particularly familiar brand in the West, Nintendo's quirky Mii-based life-sim is big...
News Klei Entertainment Would Like To Bring Don't Starve To 3DS
Has no concrete plans, however
Klei Entertainment's latest title is Don't Starve, a game which sees you take control of a gentleman scientist who gets transported to a freaky and mysterious world by a demon. It's currently only available on PC but a fan of the game recently asked Klei Entertainment founder Jamie Cheng on Twitter about the...
News This Famicom GamePad Skin is a Thing of Beauty
A retro reminder every day
So, who is it says that the Japanese market gets all of the coolest limited edition Nintendo hardware and accessories? Well, lots of people, including us at Nintendo Life — because it's often true. The latest example is the pictured Famicom skin on the way to lovingly cover Wii U GamePad controllers in Nintendo's...
Video This New Project X Zone Trailer Pulls No Punches
O. M. G.
We'll be honest and say that, at times, our reporting around Project X Zone has been a little breathless and excitable, particularly when it was first announced for Japan. It's a crossover of Capcom, SEGA and Namco Bandai IPs that names Monolith Soft — of Xenoblade Chronicles fame, to name just one — as a developer on the project. And...
News Pokémon Tretta Lab Coming to the 3DS This Summer in Japan
Includes a large Tretta Scanner
Last year, Nintendo and Marvelous AQL joined forces to develop an arcade game for Japan, Pokémon Tretta. Players collect different Tretta - small discs that you scan into a machine - call out whichever Pokémon it features and send them off to battle; if you win, you get more Tretta. It has come to light that the...
Talking Point DLC's Increasingly Important Role for Nintendo
Games are a bit less 'final' than they used to be
It's not so long ago that Sony and Microsoft's platforms began to drown in DLC (downloadable content) while, for Nintendo gamers, it was largely restricted to the occasional Guitar Hero or Rock Band track on Wii. Nintendo had an attitude of adopting online trends and practices in its own sweet time,...
News Activison Anticipating Rough End To 2013, Wii U Partly Responsible
Playing the blame game?
Super-publisher Activision has posted better than predicted financial results for the first quarter of the year, but CEO Bobby Kotick has stated that he expects the latter part of 2013 to be less fruitful — and the poor commercial performance of the Wii U is partially to blame. Net revenues were $1.32 billion during the...
More details emerge for Eternal Darkness successor
Precursor has revealed some details about how it intends to distribute its Eternal Darkness "spiritual successor" Shadow of the Eternals. Speaking on the company's official site, Technical Director Sean Thompson had this to say: Our plan is $5 / episode, via digital delivery. However other...
News Mutant Mudds Deluxe Submitted To Nintendo of America
Renegade Kid hoping for a June release
Earlier in the week we reported that Mutant Mudds Deluxe was in the final stages of development and would hopefully be on its way to Nintendo of America for a check-up very soon. Well, Renegade Kid co-founder Jools Watsham has taken to Twitter to reveal the game has now been submitted and that it is on target...
News Life of Pixel Could Make It To Wii U Should It Meet Kickstarter Stretch Goal
The Vita platformer is hoping to jump onto other systems
UK-based developer Super Icon is behind the fun-looking Life of Pixel, which is available to download now on PlayStation Vita. It plays like a platform game and allows you to progress through several eras of gaming by giving you a broad selection of levels based on various classic old-school...
News Dress To Play: Magic Bubbles Coming To North America On 16th May
Clothes and bubbles galore
Coder Child and Enjoy-Up games have today announced that upcoming 3DS eShop title, Dress To Play: Magic Bubbles, will burst onto the virtual store in North America this month, on 16th May. Similar to Dress To Play: Cute Witches, the game allows you to accessorise your own character - male or female - as you wish. There...
Wednesday8th May 2013
Review Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move (3DS eShop)
Don't Panic
At times it feels like Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move is designed as a time trial to measure the shortest amount of time in which players will fling a 3DS across the room. Once the game is afoot, every trick in the book is deployed to trigger urgency: Constant unstoppable motion, ticking clocks, shaking tiles and frenetic music...
News First Generation Pokémon Visualised By 151 Artists For Charity
Welcome to the Rare Candy Pokémon Gallery
It's amazing how people can interpret their own version of what lies in front of them. One particular music song can inspire a variety of covers, each musician adding their own characteristic and making it their own. Artists visualise a certain object, theme or feeling and try to explain what's on their...
News Club Nintendo Refunds Coins To Wii U Owners Who Picked Up Super Metroid
It'll be 30c on the Wii U Virtual Console soon
For many Nintendo fans racking up reward coins - or stars in Europe - has been part of their gaming lives for a while now. The idea is people can use their Coins to purchase Nintendo goodies and sometimes the rewards catalogue even features a few games for people to pick up. The North American Club...
Profile Kazumi Totaka - The Man Behind Animal Crossing's K.K. Slider
Jazz Hounds
It's barely more than a month before Animal Crossing: New Leaf finally hits western shores, and whilst we impatiently wait to get our paws on it we thought we'd take a look at the history behind one of the village's favourite regulars: K.K. Slider. With his country guitar and unique vocal style (who could forget such hit lyrics as...
Review Balloon Fight (3DS eShop / NES)
Balloons don't float forever
In Balloon Fight you manipulate a little fellow who can flutter through the skies thanks to a pair of balloons strapped to his back and vigorous arm flapping. The world is a dangerous place for the intrepid defier of gravity, particularly when it comes to jealous birds — also illogically equipped with balloons — who...
News Delta Six Gun Controller Starts A Kickstarter Campaign
Perfect for FPS fans
The video game market isn't short of first person shooters these days. With franchises like Call of Duty being released on a yearly basis there's clearly a lot of demand out there for the genre. However, it's easy to see how people may feel that they can't get into the game with a normal controller, and for this reason inventor...
News 3D Sonic The Hedgehog Spinning Onto The Japanese 3DS eShop Next Week
Sonic's debut is getting a 3D makeover
Sega has confirmed that the next entry in its "3D" range is Sonic The Hedgehog — an auto-stereoscopic re-imagining of his first 16-bit outing. It will launch on May 15th and will cost 600 Yen. The game will boast 3D visuals which take advantage of the console's unique display, and will also come with...
News Precursor And Nintendo In "Constant" Contact Regarding Eternal Darkness Successor
"They have been very supportive of our endeavour"
Following the announcement of Eternal Darkness "spiritual successor" Shadow of the Eternals, many fans expressed concern regarding the game's link to the Silicon Knights' GameCube classic. If this was a true sequel — as the involvement of Denis Dyack would suggest — then why not call it Eternal...
News Rest Easy, Injustice: Gods Among Us DLC Will Be Hitting The Wii U This Summer
Better late than never?
Yesterday we reported that Wii U owners who had purchased Injustice: Gods Among Us were being left out of the DLC love-in currently being lapped up by PS3 and 360 players. Warner Bros. has — up to this point — been reluctant to divulge any details on when (or if) the downloadable content will be made available to Wii U...
News Just Cause Dev Thinks Wii U Is "Cool" But Has No Immediate Plans To Support It
Dev kits gathering dust, Nintendo hard to get in touch with
Just Cause developer Avalanche has revealed that its Wii U dev kits are gathering dust and that it has found Nintendo a difficult company to pin down. Speaking in an interview with Pressfire, Avalanche founder Christofer Sundberg had this to say when asked if he had any plans for...
News East Meets West In RPG Festival Of Magic, And It's Coming To The Wii U eShop
Creator SnowCastle Games is now a registered Wii U dev
Nordic developer SnowCastle Games has gained approval to produce games for the Wii U, and has confirmed that its RPG Festival of Magic is coming to the console's eShop. Described by the developer as "a Nordic take on an Eastern genre", this adventure RPG looks absolutely stunning, as you can...
News Assassin's Creed Creator Fired From Ubisoft Less Than Two Months After Rejoining
"I intend to fight Ubisoft vigorously for my rights"
Patrice Désilets has been fired from Ubisoft less than two months after rejoining the company following the collapse of THQ. Désilets was one of the leading figures in the creation of the million-selling Assassin's Creed series, and departed Ubisoft in 2010 in order to take some time out from...
News Capcom Not Turning Its Back On Home Console Development
"Home video game software" is the "core segment" for the firm
Capcom has released its annual financial results, and the figures pretty much match the company's somewhat dismal April forecast. The company posted a profit of £19.42 million, which is down 56 per cent year-on-year. Capcom had previously stated that "excessive outsourcing" had led to a...
News Creator of The Sims, Will Wright, Shares His Admiration for Shigeru Miyamoto
Next project will aim to "intersect your reality"
Will Wright is a well known and highly respected figure in the video game industry, credited as the creator of The Sims, while many will also be familiar with his work on the early SimCity games; he also co-founded that series' development studio, Maxis. Appearing at the Game Horizon conference in...
News Road Redemption Developer Has No Legal Worries Regarding Road Rash Comparison
"EA does not hold a copyright or patent on motorcycle combat"
DarkSeas Games has stated that Road Redemption is an attempt to resurrect the kind of action made famous by the Road Rash series, but could this potentially lead to legal issues? Apparently not. Speaking to The Jace Hall Show, DarkSeas Games stated that it has nothing to be concerned...
News Disney Interactive Suffers Financial Loss in Q1
The only Disney division to not turn a profit
The House that Mickey Built made a strong financial showing in the first quarter of 2013, but the Games that Mickey Makes can’t share in the good news. While Disney as a whole reported a 32 percent increase in its net income to $1.5 billion, Disney Interactive saw a loss of $54 million for the same...
News Crash ‘n the Boys Are Roughhousing Their Way To Western 3DS Consoles
NES sporting title gets an OFLC rating
Crash ‘n the Boys: Street Challenge — part of the famous Kunio-kun series in Japan — has been given an OFLC rating, which would suggest a 3DS Virtual Console release very soon. Known in its native homeland as Bikkuri Nekketsu Shin Kiroku! Harukanaru Kin Medal, Crash ‘n the Boys: Street Challenge is a...
Tuesday7th May 2013
Hardware Review Retro Duo Portable V2.0
NES, SNES and Mega Drive on the move
Clone systems are growing in popularity with each passing year, with several different companies all producing consoles which ape the performance of vintage hardware and aim to satisfy the needs of retro-lovers everywhere. We've already seen Hyperkin's SupaBoy bring portable SNES gaming to the masses, and now...
News CNN Money: Nintendo Is "Tone Deaf" To Industry Trends And Has "Lost Touch With Reality"
Time for more gloomy predictions
Toot toot! The Doom & Gloom Express is pulling into the station, making another stop en route toward the predicted potential downfall of Nintendo! Who’s that stepping up to get their ticket punched? Why, it’s tech writer Adrian Covert at CNN Money! In a piece entitled “Nintendo’s big problem”, Covert...
News Michael Biehn Is Pretty Bummed Out That Nobody Liked Aliens: Colonial Marines
"I never really heard too much about it"
'80s movie icon Michael Biehn has been speaking to Major Nelson about his role in Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, and appears to be pretty pleased with how the game went. He has revealed that "around a hundred" fans have already been in contact to tell him how much they like the game, and that he has high hopes for...
News Wii U Owners Shunned Again As Warner Refuses To Reveal Injustice DLC Release Date
"We have not made any DLC announcements for Wii U"
If you own Injustice: Gods Among Us on the Xbox 360 or PS3, then you can enjoy some nice additional downloadable content right now. However, if you bought the same game for the Wii U — for the same price, naturally — then you're out of luck as far as DLC is concerned. At the time of release,...
Feature Ten Smartphone and Tablet Games We'd Like to See on Wii U
Oh yes, we're going there
Earlier this week we reported on a story in the Japanese media that Nintendo is providing developers with software to convert smartphone games to Wii U. If true that could potentially have various implications, but until Nintendo reveals more — the source report was a little vague and quoted anonymous "company sources"...
News DICE Tested Its Frostbite Engine On Wii U, Wasn't Enamoured With The Results
Dat "unprecedented relationship"
DICE's Johan Andersson has hinted that the company's future Star Wars titles won't be making their way to the Wii U. Speaking about the new publishing agreement between Disney and EA on Twitter, Andersson stated that the company's titles will be built using its Frostbite 3 game engine — which means that there's...
News Pachter: Nintendo Made The Right Decision In Skipping E3 This Year
“I think that Nintendo gave this a lot of thought"
Nintendo's decision to not hold its traditional E3 press conference this year resulted in a some rather mixed emotions, with many fans crying foul and almost as many stating that it made sense, given the current state of the market and the impending launches of the PS4 and Next Xbox. Analyst...
News Pokémon: DP Battle Dimension Shows Now Available via Nintendo Zone in Europe
Watch some cartoons while in the pub
Nintendo Zone, the 3DS service that connects to thousands of Wi-Fi hotspots to deliver exclusive content, is included primarily to encourage us to take our portables on the road with us — it can't be accessed via a domestic internet connection. As part of the incentive the feature includes trailers or content...
News Ubisoft Shanghai is Developing The Wii U Version of Splinter Cell: Blacklist
Ubisoft Toronto has drafted in some help
Splinter Cell: Blacklist has been in production for a while now and was confirmed as a Wii U title not so long ago. While the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC versions are being developed by the newly opened Ubisoft Toronto, the Wii U edition is in fact being made by Ubisoft Shanghai. Ubisoft Shanghai has...
News The Starship Damrey's EU Release is Forgotten Until 16th May
[Insert sad face here]
Yesterday, as normal on a Monday, we provided the full details of this week's European Nintendo Download update, which features quite a few 3DS eShop titles to enjoy. While Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move is probably the biggest profile game coming on 9th May, we were also intrigued and pleased to see that The...
News Nintendo Invites Media to Wii U Software Showcase at E3
"Come play with us"
Nintendo's plans for E3 have become a little clearer today, after the surprising recent announcement that the company is skipping its annual major presentation — all while Sony and Microsoft merrily carry on. While we're still not sure what the big N plans to amuse the wider public with — assuming it plans to do so at all —...
News This Is What A New Streets Of Rage And ESWAT Could Have Looked Like
Backbone pitched the ideas to Sega
Former Backbone Entertainment artist Arvin Bautista has published art from Streets of Rage and ESWAT titles which were pitched to Sega — presumably with little success. Bautista — who has also worked on Capcom titles Commando: Wolf of the Battlefield and 1942: Joint Strike — has released the concept art on...
Video Super Mario Slug X - It's As Crazy As It Sounds
Explosions, fireballs and madness
YouTube can be a funny, strange and at times silly place, and video game culture delivers some of its quirkiest videos as talented animators and directors mess around with gaming conventions. With such a prominent history in the industry, Nintendo naturally features in plenty of cameos and mash-ups, occasionally to...
News Wolfenstein: The New Order Can be Added to the 'Maybe on Wii U' List
Bethesda's playing it cool
Wolfenstein: The New Order was officially announced today, after publisher Bethesda lifted the lid on the teasers that it had tweeted over the weekend. The franchise, which is perhaps best known for the original and iconic Wolfenstein 3D that was released on, among many others, Super NES. There have been more titles...
News LEGO City Undercover: The Chase Begins Still Investigating the UK Top 10
Luigi's Mansion 2 also haunting the top 10
While LEGO City Undercover on Wii U only made a brief appearance in the UK software charts before dropping away, 3DS prequel LEGO City Undercover: The Chase Begins has shown much better momentum. With a 7% increase in sales over last week, the portable title retained 8th place in the all-format chart, which...
News The Force Is Strong In EA's New Star Wars Publishing Agreement
But will Nintendo fans see any benefit?
EA has signed up "exclusive" rights to Star Wars video games following the closure of LucasArts last month. The multi-year deal appears to cover original games, rather than those linked to the forthcoming movies. To confuse things further, Disney has retained the rights to certain mobile, online and tablet...
News Orion's Odyssey: A Pattern Blocks Adventure Reboots Kickstarter Campaign
If at first you don't succeed...
A few weeks ago, we reported on a DS Kickstarter project from developer Island Officials called Orion's Odyssey: A Pattern Blocks Adventure. The ambitious Kickstarter goal was to raise enough funds to release a limited run retail edition of the unreleased, finished puzzle title. For various reasons, the lofty goal...
Monday6th May 2013
News Club Nintendo Rewards Updated for May
The fresh batch brings giant, talking, castle-impaling swords
It’s that time when Club Nintendo’s North American branch clears its shelf and refreshes its selection of downloadable rewards. Mario’s first foray into the RPG realm is up for the taking on the Wii Shop — which can also be redeemed via the Wii Mode on Wii U — as is a...
Talking Point The Wii U Virtual Console Has Started, But Not With a Bang
Oh for the days of that Revolution reveal
The Wii U Virtual Console is well and truly up and running, which its greatest supporters will say is a more-than-welcome boost of old-school goodies to fill out the Wii U lineup, and the greatest cynics may say it's another example of Nintendo mastering the art of selling very old rope. Based on the...
Feature Animal Crossing: New Leaf Has Atrocious Fish Puns
Nibbling away at good taste
This is the first part of our man Jon's personal Animal Crossing: New Leaf diary, which is part of a Nintendo-organised "Mayor Program". You can read all about how we came to be involved in this article, where we also explain our reasoning for participating. With that out of the way, we hope you enjoy this first despatch...
Nintendo Download 9th May 2013 (Europe)
Moving Minis, an adventurous starship, a commando, retro goodies and more
It may be a Bank Holiday in some parts, but the European Nintendo Download waits for no-one, with this week's update being a fairly meaty offering featuring every current platform. We have some high-profile arrivals on the 3DS eShop, an assortment of retro treats and even a...
Review Mario's Super Picross (Wii U eShop / SNES)
The in-game tutorial, the greatest puzzle
The early batch of Wii U Virtual Console games have followed a bit of a trend, in that they serve up familiar retro goodies with a few Wii U specific extras. For Europeans there's been the extra treat of getting these classics in their 60Hz variety, but in the case of Mario's Super Picross the treat is...
Jumping the Shark
The Nintendo Video service on 3DS has played host to a number of original series since its inception, including CollegeHumor's BearShark. These 3D animated comedic shorts tell the story of a rather unlucky man named Steve, doomed to be forever hunted by the most fearsome predators of both the land (Bear) and sea (Shark). The show's...
News Violent Video Games Blamed for Knife Attack in Scotland
14-year old viciously assaulted after "an argument about Xbox games"
Violent video games are getting more bad rep this week, after a senior Scottish Police officer blamed them for a recent knife attack in Clydebank. The perpetrator — who is only 13 years old and apparently already a father — is reported to have slashed the throat of a 14-year...
News Abandoned Pixel Perfect Punch-Out!! Book Has a Knockout Ending With Mike Tyson
Public release failed due to licensing issues
While we cover a fair share of Kickstarter development fundraisers, one that's worth a mention is the Pixel Perfect: Mike Tyson's Punch Out!! book project, which was to raise money to enable public distribution for a limited run of 200 copies. The book itself was finished, an unofficial encyclopedia for...
Weirdness Legend of Zelda's Triforce Gets Carved Into A Japanese Tombstone
A Link to the Afterlife
It's not uncommon for people to have poignant messages carved into their headstones when they eventually shake off their mortal coil, but you've got to go a long way to beat the legendary Triforce when it comes to tributes to the dead. According to Twitter user mahosyouzyo, when a relative passed away she was asked to create...
Rumour Nintendo Helping Developers to Convert Smartphone Games to Wii U
A smart idea, or a bit phoned in?
As a new financial year picks up steam, and with Nintendo no doubt co-ordinating efforts ahead of a major Wii U marketing push in the coming months, we're likely to see a variety of initiatives to assist the home console. One that's being reported by the media in Japan is that Nintendo's providing developers with...
Review Armageddon Operation Dragon (DSiWare)
Armageddon outta here
The year is 2037 and there's an asteroid as large as the moon headed directly for Earth. Since there is no weapon known to man that is powerful enough to eradicate such a massive rock, salvation can only be achieved by harvesting an all powerful energy that resides outside of the solar system. No need to call Bruce Willis,...
News Mega Man FPS "Polarized Opinions" Within Capcom As Well
Maverick Hunter divided opinion internally
Recently we reported on Maverick Hunter, Capcom's abandoned Mega Man first-person shooter. The game — which was developed by former Retro staffers at Armature — was eventually cancelled following Keiji Inafune's departure from the company where he made his name. Since then, there's been a lot of...
News C-Wars Developers Officially Approved for 3DS, Stretch Goal in Sight
Wii U target needs a late surge
We've already told you a little bit about C-Wars, the pixel-based, roguelike tower defence mashup currently fundraising on kickstarter, with a positive being that the promising title has rather attainable stretch goals to make the leap from PC to 3DS and Wii U. One of those goals is definitely in sight as it...
News Super Ubi Land Is Set For A Name Change
Notion Games reveals Ubisoft has been in touch
Notion Games is bringing Super Ubi Land to the Wii U eShop in the near future, with the help of Maestro Interactive Games. However, though it will eventually find itself in the eShop, it's likely it won't be going by the name Super Ubi Land as it seems Ubisoft has taken issue with it. Notion Games...
News Watch_Dogs Enables Players To Connect To The Game Via Their Mobile Phone
Connectivity is "a core pillar"
Ubisoft's upcoming title Watch_Dogs sees you take control of Aiden Pearce as he wanders around the streets of Chicago, hacking into all kinds of devices and connecting with a plethora of electronics. It seems that this connectivity is something Ubisoft wants to build more on as the company has revealed in a YouTube...
Video Check Out This Footage For Swords & Soldiers 3D On The 3DS eShop
Slash your sword into the port's first trailer
CIRCLE Entertainment's port of strategy title Swords & Soldiers has received its first trailer for the 3DS eShop this week. Originally developed by Ronimo Games for WiiWare back in 2009, the title looks to have made the transition to 3D rather well, with the touch screen being used in place of the...
News Mutant Mudds Deluxe in Final Preparations for eShop Submission
Planned for submission to Nintendo of America this week
Mutant Mudds Deluxe, the Wii U eShop expansion of popular 3DS namesake Mutant Mudds, is getting increasingly closer to its arrival on the platform. That should be good news for fans of the original, as not only will it include the main levels and free "Granny" DLC, but also spruced up HD...
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Talking Point The Wii U Virtual Console Has Started, But Not With a Bang
