Tag: Nintendo - Page 143
News Remixed Pilotwings Soundtrack Takes Flight
Music to your ears?
SNES classic Pilotwings had a pretty good soundtrack, and it sounds better now it's been remixed. Pilotwings: Take Flight is a seven track project from OCRemix-ers halc and group Insert Rupee, available for free download now. We'd recommend it on the strength of its track names alone — You Don't Talk About Flight Club and The...
News Nintendo Reveals Console and Software Sales Statistics
DS top of the pile
Nintendo's released updated sales figures for all its consoles, and it's certainly a lot of numbers. The company's three current platforms — 3DS, Wii and the DS family — sit at a combined global sales figure of 264.5 million consoles sold. That figure's dwarfed by the software statistic: over 1.76 billion games have been sold...
News Nintendo Still Envisions Selling Retail Games Digitally
On the way
Nintendo is sticking to its plan of putting full retail games on its digital storefronts, but hasn't given any further information of when the switch might occur. The company just posted its first ever annual loss and is keen to convince investors it can move with the times, stressing the importance of its digital functions for 3DS and...
News Nintendo Sets 10.5 Million Wii U Sales Target
The power of two
Nintendo expects to sell as many as 10.5 million Wii U consoles in the machine's first financial year. The company provided combined sales targets for Wii and Wii U for the upcoming financial year, targeting combined sales of 10.5m consoles and 70m software units across both machines. It hasn't revealed precisely how many Wii U...
News Worldwide 3DS Sales Reach 17 Million
Nintendo wants that number doubled
Since its Japanese release on 26th February 2011, Nintendo has sold 17.13 million 3DS consoles around the world, a number it wants to beat in the next financial year. Between 1st April 2011 and 31st March 2012, Nintendo sold 13.52m consoles worldwide, missing its target of 14m. Originally the company set a target...
News Nintendo Posts First Annual Loss in 30 Years
But lower than expected
Nintendo made a 43 billion Yen net loss in the past financial year. A straight currency conversion puts the loss at $529m USD or £327m GBP. The company had originally predicted a 65 billion Yen net loss, but clawed back some of the deficit with strong software, particularly in Japan. The Yen also devalued compared to the...
News Nintendo to Distribute Heroes of Ruin Across Europe
Once more, to arms
Nintendo's sales, marketing and distribution teams are getting a good run-out with third-party support on 3DS, having already lent their support to Resident Evil Revelations, Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition, Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D and more. The platform-holder's just signed a similar deal with Square Enix to promote...
News Nintendo Dominates UK's All-Time Top 10
Mario Kart on the podium
Trade and industry magazine MCV has posted a top ten of the biggest-selling single SKUs of all time, and Nintendo's on top. An SKU is a "stock-keeping unit" — a product with a unique barcode — and is used to separate the same game on multiple formats. MCV's list looks at the biggest-selling SKUs in UK history,...
News Peek Between Your Fingers at a Project Zero 2 Trailer
Horror story
Tecmo Koei's enhanced Project Zero 2: Wii Edition is coming to Europe this June, but Nintendo is starting the scares early with a new trailer. What starts out all sweet and lovely eventually gives way to the kind of twisted sights we've come to associate with the Project Zero (aka Fatal Frame) series over the years. It's also got plenty...
News Nintendo America Registers Fire Emblem 3DS Domain
And relax
So far only Nintendo Japan and Nintendo Europe have confirmed their plans for Fire Emblem Kakusei (aka Fire Emblem: Awakening), but it looks like Nintendo of America will be right behind them. The North American arm registered the domain FireEmblemAwakening.com, which currently redirects to Nintendo.com. The wing also registered domains...
News Europe, What Do You Make Of Your Beat the Beat Box Art?
It's certainly... yellow
The North American release of Rhythm Heaven Fever has one of the most deliriously colourful box arts we've ever seen, but Nintendo of Europe has taken a very different approach with its cover, as you can see. Art for the European version — known as Beat the Beat: Rhythm Paradise — tones down the golden theme of the...
News Take On Kid Icarus Multiplayer Masters at HMV Stores
Consoles up for grabs
Can't get enough of that wonderful Kid Icarus: Uprising multiplayer? Get thee to a select HMV store and take on Nintendo's team of crack players, and you could win a set of AR cards. The participating stores are: hmv Oxford Circus – Saturday 28th Aprilhmv Reading Oracle – Saturday 5th Mayhmv Birmingham Bullring – Saturday...
Talking Point Could AR Games Drive eShop Sales?
Augmenting profit
Nintendo made a big deal of augmented reality at 3DS' launch, but it's all gone a bit quiet on the gaming-on-your-table front aside from scant appearances as extra modes in titles like Kid Icarus: Uprising, or in its various uses in horror games that don't cut it. The 3D overlay technology, through which games and avatars can...
News Pikmin 2 Finally Reaches North American Wiis Soon
About time
Hey, New Play Control! Pikmin 2 — what took you so long? The latest issue of Nintendo Power claims the motion-controlled strategy game is finally going to reach North America later this year, presumably to tide you over until Pikmin 3 and remind gamers who Olimar and Louie actually are. The enhanced Pikmin 2 originally hit Europe...
News Nintendo UK Launches Repair Website
One stop shop
Nintendo console owners in the UK have a new resource at their disposal: Nintendo Service Centre. The website offers troubleshooting tips and also allows users to book in consoles for repair. Video tutorials also talk you through things like setting up parental controls, spending Nintendo Points and browsing digital stores. So there...
News Animal Crossing Tobidase Reaches Japan This Fall
Come inside
Animal Crossing 3DS has an official title and release window for Japan, those lucky blighters. Its full Japanese title is Doubutsu no Mori: Tobidase. Tobidase means 'jumping out' of something, a phrase often used to describe the 3DS's 3D capabilities but which Nintendo president Satoru Iwata says also refers to the game's wireless...
News Mario Kart 7 To Get Shortcut-Fixing Patch
Part of new update
Nintendo will add the ability to patch software later this month, with Mario Kart 7 due to get an update in July. Satoru Iwata revealed that Nintendo will release a patch to fix issues with shortcuts that cause problems with online play, though didn't specify which shortcuts would be affected. Previously Nintendo has said it has...
News MDK2 Dev Will Never Develop for Nintendo Again
Beamdog out
BioWare's MDK2 was ported to WiiWare by independent studio Beamdog, but you won't be seeing that name on any other Nintendo formats in the future, according to studio president Trent Oster. Asked on Twitter if Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition could come to Wii U, Oster's response was... less than positive: We don't do Nintendo...
Feature The Odd One Out in Operation Rainfall
Time to open Pandora’s Limited Edition box?
Friday 13th April saw the final part of the Operation Rainfall JRPG trilogy hit European shelves, with Pandora’s Tower following in the footsteps of Xenoblade Chronicles and The Last Story. Pandora’s Tower does feel like a rather odd member of what has become, in the eyes of most, a linked trio of...
News Super Mario 3D Land Director Shares Level Design Inspirations
Similar to four-panel 'Kishōtenketsu' comics
Super Mario 3D Land has been the recipient of critical acclaim and big sales figures. It was also the first 3D Super Mario title developed exclusively for a handheld, posing interesting challenges for Director Koichi Hayashida and his team, such as finding a way to provide short levels that are also...
News Double Spooky Photo Action Hits Europe on 29th June
Wii and 3DS owners beware
Nintendo's planning a double dose of ghostly goings-on on 29th June, as augmented reality fright fest Spirit Camera: The Cursed Memoir and Wii spooker Project Zero 2: Wii Edition will both reach Europe. Nintendo UK slipped the Wii release date at the bottom of a press release about Spirit Camera — out today in North...
News Nintendo Back in the GAME with Pandora's Tower
Back to business
Pandora's Tower is the first Nintendo-published game to come back to the newly reformed GAME. The Wii action RPG is available online for £49.99, with GAME claiming it's "very limited and the last print run." GAME hasn't stocked a Nintendo-published or distributed title since Resident Evil Revelations way back in January,...
News Sing Along to The History of Nintendo
Start Friday right
The talented folks at long-running webcomic Brawl in the Family have used their 400th strip to celebrate Nintendo's life and times in a catchy tune. From hanafuda cards to Wii U, it crams some good detail into its 3:42 running time and will no doubt get stuck in your head for a good few hours. It also scores bonus points for...
News Pandora's Tower Inspired By Lunch on a Train
Don't eat the sandwiches
The final part of Nintendo's RPG trio, Pandora's Tower, reaches Europe this Friday. Developer Ganbarion recently spoke to Official Nintendo Magazine about the game's creation and revealed the inspiration for its disgusting monster meat system. Director Toru Haga revealed the idea came to him while eating his lunch on the...
News Rhythm Thief Misses UK Charts
Oh, Raphael...
Funky Parisian 3DS game Rhythm Thief & the Emperor's Treasure has failed to land a foothold in the UK Top 40 charts in its first week. Price cuts and Easter promotions led to increased sales of older titles, which may have contributed to keeping Raphael's groove on the down low. Top of the charts was the much-hyped Kinect Star...
News Nintendo Buys Supermario4.com Web Domain
An intriguing choice, yes?
The news that Nintendo recently purchased a Mario related web domain is not always interesting, especially as big companies often buy web addresses just to prevent others using them. When we saw that supermario4.com was a recent acquisition for Nintendo, however, we were definitely intrigued. It may be rampant speculation,...
Feature The Super Mario Renaissance
We've never had it so good
When we think about Mario's glory years, it's easy to get lost in nostalgia. We might think back to the first time we played Super Mario Bros. and learned what a platform game was really capable of. We might think back to Super Mario World, which expanded upon the ideas of its predecessors in so many ways that felt natural...
News Add Tennis Balls to the List of Things Goombas Hate
Everything's a weapon
It's not just feet that pose a serious threat to eternal whipping boys the Goombas; tennis balls cause them serious harm too. Nintendo's new trailer for Mario Tennis Open showcases some of the new special games, from a Super Mario Bros.-inspired romp through World 1-1 and 1-2 to a Super Mario Galaxy face-off against a Luma. You...
News Nintendo UK Unleashes 2012 Tour Dates
Try before you buy
It's that time of year when Nintendo takes its wares on the road across the UK, with the first three events dated. Visitors to the tour can try out Mario Tennis Open, battle and trade AR cards for Kid Icarus: Uprising and play Pandora's Tower. The first three people into the show — steady on, Nintendo — will each take home a...
News Let the Pokémon Conquest Trailers Begin
Strategise open
Yesterday's announcement of Pokémon Conquest — that's the English name for Pokémon + Nobunaga's Ambition — for North America now brings with it a brace of trailers. The first is the opening movie you can expect to watch on your DS come 18th June, while the other is an introduction to the gameplay mash-up of grid-based strategy,...
News Nintendo: "Experience of Playing", Not Tech Specs, Key to Wii U
It worked for Wii
As the release of Wii U approaches, much focus seems to be on its technical capabilities, particularly its graphical prowess. Comments from anonymous developers that Wii U is less powerful than PS3 and Xbox 360 have raised the issue about how capable the machine 'needs' to be in terms of the graphics it's producing: we've already...
News Nintendo Gives Mario a New Website to Call Home
It's-a-me, Mario.com
Mario isn't exactly a little-known figure, with the mustachioed mascot being arguably the biggest icon in the video game industry. That doesn't mean he doesn't need more visibility in the public eye, though, as Nintendo has now given its hero a new website to show off his games. For gamers interested in what titles feature Mario...
News Pokémon Conquest Heading to DS in June
Japanese feudal warlords, anyone?
Nintendo of America has revealed Pokémon Conquest is coming to the continent on 18th June. The translated version of Pokémon + Nobunaga's Ambition will arrive on Nintendo DS this summer, bringing a different form of strategy to the table. Update: Nintendo of Europe has responded to our email, saying: We have...
News Nintendo Reveals Playable PAX East Line-Up
Anyone for tennis?
PAX East is just a few short days away, and Nintendo of America has revealed the games attendees can get to grips with in Boston this weekend. Kid Icarus: Uprising players eager to expand their AR card collection might want to head to the show as there'll be a scavenger hunt and the ability to trade, share and collect new cards...
News Nintendo UK Pushes Wii RPGs with New Trailer
Wii's legacy?
With a shade over two months until we hit the Wii U information motherlode at E3, Wii's time is just about over. While the mainstream will likely remember it for introducing motion control and kickstarting the party and fitness game crazes, Nintendo UK wants you to think fondly of its contributions to the adventure and roleplaying...
News Kid Icarus Ignites 3DS Sales Spike in Japan
Up nearly 50%
Kid Icarus: Uprising is doing the business for Nintendo in Japan, as hardware sales following its release increased nearly 50% week-on-week. As Masahiro Sakurai's game sold 132,526 units in Japan to top the software chart, 3DS hardware sales hit 94,011, up almost exactly 30,000 on the previous week's tally of 64,017. 3DS accounted for...
News Five Glorious Minutes of Fire Emblem: Awakening Video
What more do you need to know?
It's all in Japanese, but that won't stop you enjoying this video of Fire Emblem: Kakusei (aka Fire Emblem: Awakening), will it? From dialogue and cut scenes to battles and maps, it's got all the daily Fire Emblem nutrition you need. The game's out in Japan next month. Nintendo of Europe has confirmed it'll release the...
News Mobile Dev: "Iwata Makes Me Fear for Nintendo's Future"
Troubled times
Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said last year that Nintendo is not interested in producing free-to-play software, displeasing Ben Cousins, director of free-to-play software company Ngmoco. Speaking to Develop, Cousins discussed his belief that console manufacturers are frightened of free to play games: The only platform where...
News A New Pandora's Tower Trailer Is Here
Contains classic witch voice over
Upcoming — for Europe, anyway — Wii RPG Pandora's Tower is just a few weeks from launch, so Nintendo has some footage from the English version of the game to show off. The trailer below is a little lighter on the English accents than we've come to expect from recent RPGs Xenoblade Chronicles and The Last Story,...
News Potzol's Puzzle SpeedsThru Europe on 5th April
Block it out
SpeedThru: Potzol's Puzzle — known as Ketzal's Corridors in North America — will reach Europe on 5th April, Nintendo's announced. The 3D puzzler is a follow-up to WiiWare title ThruSpace, with 90 stages and multiplayer included in the digital download. European 3DS owners can check out a 3D trailer in the eShop later today to get...
News UK PokéPark Treasure Hunt Set for Saturday
Toys 'r' you
PokéPark 2: Wonders Beyond launches in Europe this week, and Nintendo UK is kicking off the party with a treasure hunt this Saturday. The Toys 'R' Us store at Brents Cross will host the expedition on 24th March, starting at 10am. Be one of the first 25 people to find toys of the game's four playable Pokémon — that's Oshawott, Tepig,...
News Nintendo Leaves BAFTA Empty-Handed
Not a Tanooki statue in sight
Last night saw the GAME British Academy Video Game Awards in London, with Nintendo's brightest and best up for several awards. Shame the Big N didn't actually win any, then. Arguably the biggest upset came in the Mobile & Handheld Game category, where iPad title Peggle HD beat Super Mario 3D Land to take the title...
News Mathematics Proves That Mario Games Are Difficult
Mario + Retro = Hard
Many gamers, including those of us who consider ourselves to be accomplished gaming ninjas, find older Mario titles such as Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World difficult to finish. Thanks to scientific research, we no longer need to feel shame when the dreaded 'Game Over' screen appears. According to an analysis of the...
News Michael Pachter Suggests That Wii U Could Struggle
Too early to know
Earlier today we reported that the Gears of War developer expects Wii U success, so it would be remiss of us to not report the alternative viewpoint of well-known Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter. On his regular GameTrailers show, Pachter answered a question about whether Wii U would face a similar fate to Dreamcast, an...
News Nintendo Reportedly Has 812.8 Billion Yen in the Bank
Steak dinners are on Satoru Iwata
It's well known that Nintendo is set to announce losses for this financial year, with its latest projections from earlier this year predicting a loss of 45,000 million Yen. While that may seem like a grim statistic, a feature in UK magazine Nintendo Gamer has sifted through Nintendo's bank accounts and found an...
News Be Careful When Watching This Kid Icarus Medusa Trailer
It might turn you to stone
Haven't had your fill of Kid Icarus: Uprising media after the 3D anime and 3D screenshots, here's some — 2D — footage of the game in action. The Medusa trailer below is one of the better videos Nintendo's released, with new bosses, weapons and wizards of various foods on display. At 4:38 it's got everything you could...
News Super Mario 3D Land Could Have Had Skateboarding
Cockroaches too
Super Mario 3D Land director Koichi Hayashida took to the stage at Game Developers Conference and revealed some of the stranger ideas Nintendo's EAD team cooked up but ultimately left out of last year's platformer. Among the oddball ideas were a pro skater Mario, where the plumber rode a Koopa shell around a half pipe; an elongated...
News Take a Good Look at Ketzal's Corridors
They're through here
It's not long until you'll be able to download Ketzal's Corridors for 3DS, and Nintendo has released a new trailer for the game showing what you can expect. It'll all look pretty familiar to anyone who's played ThruSpace on WiiWare, but hopefully the 3D screen will add something fresh to the experience. Nintendo of America's...
Feature Nintendo's Biggest Blunders
Even Mario gets it wrong sometimes
They say true love triumphs over any hardships. If that is the case, then we must really love Nintendo, for it's provided us with plenty of chances to test our devotion throughout the years. Here is a selection of moments where it all went topsy-turvy, even if our commitment never wavered: You Can't Play That:...
News Here's a Dog Playing Nintendogs + Cats
Barking mad
Nintendo's first "spokesdog", Uggie from Oscar-winning movie The Artist, is chilling out after his success by playing Nintendogs + Cats on a pink 3DS. The canine actor's career hits a new high in these photos as he pretends to understand the console's autostereoscopic display and touch screen interface. We know the dog's smart,...
