Tag Archives: Nintendo

Train2Game News: Games Industry News – 01.03.13

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It’s the end of the week so it is time for a round up of news from Train2Game!

Ubisoft revealed the name of the next instalment in the Assassin’s Creed saga, Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. The evidence is all pointing towards a Pirate theme but whether the Assassin is a Pirate or battling Pirates waits to be seen. Ubisoft are releasing more information on Monday.

Two weeks ago, 11 bit studios offered gamers a chance to buy its secret next game at half price. Today, that secret game was unveiled as 11 bit studios announces Anomaly 2, the sequel to the award-winning strategy game, Anomaly Warzone Earth. Anomaly 2 will deliver a hardcore real-time strategy experience with exceptional tactical variety, intense multiplayer and remarkable visuals. You can view the trailer, here.

2K and Gearbox Software announced today that the Borderlands 2: Add-On Content Pack is now available in stores. The pack is a single packaged product that adds hours of additional gameplay with Borderlands 2’s first two add-on campaigns, Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate’s Booty and Mr. Torgue’s Campaign of Carnage, as well as a fifth playable character, Gaige the Mechromancer. In addition, bundled in the pack is The Creature Slaughter Dome battle arena, unique weapons including the Gearbox Gun Pack and Skyrocket Grenade, some extra heads and skins for your character and a Golden Key to unlock the chest in Sanctuary.

The previously canadian-exclusive console, the Wii Mini, has found its way to UK online retailers. Both Amazon and Game are listing the console at £79.99. The Wii Mini is essentially a stripped Wii in that online functionality and Gamecube games support has been removed. The console only supports disc-based games. It will be released in Europe on March 22.

Finally Microsoft are having a huge games sale at the moment. The sale started on February 26 and will run to March 4. The sale is seeing up to 75% off big games such as the Halo, Resident Evil and Call of Duty titles. The games on sale change daily so make sure you keep an eye on it or you might miss something you want at a low, low price.

Train2Game News: Explore the world with your Wii U

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Wii-Street-U

Coming to the Nintendo eShop on Wii U as a free download* today is a new application that brings Nintendo and Google together to allow users to travel the world using their Wii U GamePad controller. Wii Street U powered by Google offers the map data and 360° panoramic Street View images gathered by Google for a unique form of virtual exploration only possible on Wii U.

The Wii U GamePad is integrated with Street View in innovative and accessible ways: use the touch screen to type in exact addresses to fly to your favourite places, and thanks to the motion sensors inside the controller you can move it 360° to enjoy the entire view of sights around the world. The whole family can join in, as your 360° window on the world is displayed on the TV screen in the living room. Wander around wherever you fancy going or ask Nintendo to be your guide, with recommended places to visit built into the application for easy access.

The Wii U console from Nintendo has a Wii U GamePad controller which offers more choice and variety of gameplay than ever before. The Wii U GamePad offers an integrated second screen and can also be used independently of the TV set with certain software; it also features motion controls, an inbuilt camera, microphone and stylus for more detailed touch screen controls.

Street View is a popular feature of Google Maps that allows users to virtually explore and navigate a neighbourhood through panoramic street-level images. In order to provide such 360° panoramic imagery, Google developed their own camera systems and now have a number of platforms for capturing imagery. The most common of course is the Street View car but they also have Snowmobiles and Tricycles, and most recently, they introduced the Trekker, a wearable backpack with a camera system on top. Since being launched in 2007, Street View imagery is now available for more than 3,000 cities across 47 countries and even includes a slice of Antarctica.

Wii Street U powered by Google launches across Europe for Wii U today and is free to download for a limited time* via the Nintendo eShop, so grab your Wii U GamePad and enjoy exploring the world and many other Wii U games from the comfort of your home.

You can view the application in action in the video below

* The application is free to download for a limited time and will be available only as a paid download afterwards. The application is currently planned to be available for download and use until 31st March 2016.

For further details:

Wii U website http://wiiu.co.uk

Nintendo eShop website http://www.nintendo.co.uk/eshop

Wii U (UK) on Facebook http://facebook.com/WiiU.co.uk

Nintendo UK on Twitter https://twitter.com/nintendouk

Nintendo UK on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/NintendoUK

Train2Game News: Play As A Pokémon In 3D

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Pokémon Mystery DungeonPokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates To Infinity To Be Launched Across Europe On 17th May

The popular Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series appears in vibrant and colourful 3D for the first time on Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo 3DS XL

The European launch of the all-new Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity game on Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo 3DS XL introduces a vast world populated only by Pokémon. Here, you too have become a Pokémon and can choose to play as Pikachu, Snivy, Tepig, Oshawott, or Axew as the game makes its European debut on 17th May 2013.

It is your mission to battle your way through Mystery Dungeons that have sprung up across this world, and to uncover a fiendish plot that threatens your new home and its Pokémon inhabitants. No dungeon will appear in the same way twice, so an infinite number of possibilities can unfold.  

In this new game, players can discover Mystery Dungeons accessible only through Magnagates, mysterious portals activated when the Nintendo 3DS system’s cameras are used to scan round objects in the real world, such as footballs or clock faces. Once a Magnagate is discovered, the player becomes a different Pokémon to step through it and tackle the Mystery Dungeon that lies beyond. Items and money that players receive through successfully completing a dungeon revealed by a Magnagate can be used in the main adventure, too.

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity also introduces wireless multiplayer features, allowing as many as four people to work together to battle through dungeons.

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity will be available at retail and also as a download on Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo 3DS XL from 17th May. For more information, visit: www.pokemon.co.uk/MysteryDungeon.


For more information:
Official Pokémon UK Website: http://www.pokemon.com/uk
Nintendo 3DS Guided Tour: http://guidedtour.nintendo.co.uk

Nintendo 3DS on Facebook: https://facebook.com/Nintendo3DSUK

Nintendo UK on Twitter: https://twitter.com/nintendouk

Nintendo UK on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/nintendouk

Train2Game News: Smart device games outselling handheld

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Smart devicesGames on smart devices are outselling games on Nintendo and Sony handheld consoles. This is excellent news for Train2Game students looking to break in to the industry.

The final quarter of the year’s sales are normally the best for devices such as the 3DS and VITA, thanks to all the package deals around Christmas time. This time however iOS and Android games completely eclipsed the games sales of the consoles.

A breakdown of the data also indicates that iOS games made three-and-a-half times more money than Android ones over the period but Android games are growing at a faster rate.

The data covers global sales between October and December 2012 and comes despite the fact that games for the PlayStation Vita and 3DS typically cost more than their smartphone equivalents. In-game ad revenues were excluded.

Despite the findings, the researchers said they believed the Japanese firms would release further handhelds.

The Portable Gaming Report by IDC and App Annie is the first of its kind produced by the companies. It helps build on NPD’s influential monthly study of US games sales which does not include smartphone and tablet games.

IDC’s Lewis Ward said “If you rewind the clock a year you will find the dedicated handhelds were clearly ahead, and this year they are more or less tied with an edge going to Android and iOS games.

“If we fast forward to the end of 2013 we should see a decisive edge for smartphone and tablet gaming.

“I think a further version of the Vita could be the last dedicated handheld from Sony, but I suspect Nintendo will continue for a while. They are three to four times as large as Sony in this business and I think they have a much more defensible niche.”

All this data is good news for Train2Game students as the mobile market is much easier to develop for than the console market and with the mobile market growing to even bigger and better heights there should be more chance of developing a financially successful game.

Train2Game News: Nintendo Direct announces future Wii U games

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Wii UNew Nintendo Direct looks at Nintendo’s vision for Wii U, including launching Virtual Console and how Miiverse and second-screen gaming features will continue to evolve

Nintendo President Satoru Iwata unleashed Wii U news in an instalment of Nintendo Direct today as he outlined Nintendo’s future plans for the console. Iwata revealed how the Wii U launch line-up will be bolstered by a long list of top game franchises headed for the new console. These are games that long-time players and newcomers alike will love to play, and everyone will be experiencing them in new ways, thanks to the integrated second-screen experiences enabled by the Wii U GamePad controller.

Iwata also detailed a number of enhancements designed to make the Wii U game experience more social, even if people are not playing in the same room. “The fun of video games is not only just playing games, but also sharing experiences together with people – even though they live far away, their skill levels are different or their experience does not happen at the same time,” Iwata said. “We want Wii U to be the system that brings everyone together.”

To view the Nintendo Direct in its entirety, visit http://nintendo.co.uk/nintendodirect.

The many announcements included:

Game News

  • Two Zelda Games: Eiji Aonuma, the producer of The Legend of Zelda series, revealed two entries in the series for Wii U.

  • Super Mario is on His Way: The Nintendo EAD Tokyo Software Development team that created Super Mario games such asSuper Mario Galaxy for Wii and Super Mario 3D Land for Nintendo 3DS is working on a new 3D Mario action game for Wii U. The game is scheduled to be playable at this year’s E3.

  • Racing Ahead!: Nintendo is also working on a new installment of the hit Mario Kart franchise. This game is also planned to be playable at E3.

  • Yarn Yoshi: The team that created Kirby’s Epic Yarn is hard at work on the first console game to feature Yoshi as the main character since 1998’s Yoshi’s Story for Nintendo 64. Takashi Tezuka, director of Yoshi’s Island and Yoshi’s Story, is supervising the development of the new game, which is set in a fanciful world of yarn and textiles.

  • Wii Fit U Communities: New features coming to Wii Fit U include letting players create user communities on Miiverse from within the game. Community members can discuss exercises, BMI or weight changes and other health topics with other players as a way to encourage one another to reach their fitness goals. Similar functionality for other games is also planned.

  • Pikmin 3 Photos: The upcoming Pikmin 3 game includes a feature that lets players use the Wii U GamePad as a camera to share the same perspective as Pikmin and take close-up pictures of landscapes and creatures in the game and share them in Miiverse.

  • The Party Continues: A new installment in the Wii Party franchise is planned to launch this summer. The game features various play styles, including one that lets both players compete head-to-head using just the GamePad.

  • RPG Mash-up: Nintendo has begun many collaborations with outside development partners to bring the best franchises and experiences to Wii U. In one such partnership, Nintendo and Atlus are working on a collaboration that features the Fire Emblem and Shin-Megami Tensei franchises. A video trailer for the game was shown in the Nintendo Direct.

  • A New Game from Monolith Soft: Tetsuya Takahashi and the team at Monolith Soft that worked on Xenoblade Chronicles for Wii are working on a new game. A video trailer for the game was shown in the Nintendo Direct.

  • More on the Way: Iwata shared a new trailer for The Wonderful 101. That game and GAME & WARIO are scheduled to launch in the first half of 2013. Iwata also showed a new video for Bayonetta 2. That game and the new Super Smash Bros. installment are still on the way, but will need more development time before details can be revealed.

Virtual Console

  • Virtual Console for Wii U: A spring system update will add Virtual Console software to Nintendo eShop on Wii U. The service will launch right after the spring update and will include a selection of NES and Super NES games, with Game Boy Advance games to be added in the future. The prices for NES and Super NES Virtual Console games for Wii U will be the same as they were for the Virtual Console on Wii. People who have already purchased the Wii version of a certain NES or Super NES Virtual Console game and transferred it to their Wii U console can buy the enhanced Wii U version of the same game for the reduced price of £0.99 for NES games and £1.49 for Super NES games.

  • Classic Games for 30 Pence To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the release of the Famicom in Japan (which was known as the NES in Europe), Nintendo is making one NES or Super NES game available each month now through to July at the anniversary price of just £0.30. Each game will be available at that price for 30 days, and the first is the NES game Balloon Fight, which is now available in the Nintendo eShop for Wii U.

Social and System Enhancements

  • Miiverse Expands to Smartphones: Starting this spring, people will be able to browse Miiverse from their smartphones. Initially the experience will be browser-based, but Nintendo plans to create a dedicated Miiverse app in the future.

  • System Updates: Two major updates are on the way, one in the spring and one in the summer. The updates will introduce a wide range of functionality, such as Virtual Console capabilities and shortening the time it takes users to launch software or return to the menu screen.

For further details:
Nintendo Direct website http://nintendo.co.uk/nintendodirect
Nintendo Direct on Ustream http://www.ustream.tv/NintendoUK
Wii U website http://wiiu.co.uk
Nintendo of Europe on Twitter https://twitter.com/nintendoeurope
Nintendo UK on Twitter https://twitter.com/nintendouk
Wii U (UK) on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/WiiU.co.uk
Nintendo UK on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/user/nintendoukofficial

Train2Game News: Mid-week round up – 30.01.13

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It’s time for another Train2Game mid-week round up!

As the Kickstarter draws to a close for the Gamestick console, images of the android gaming machine have been released. You can visit the Kickstarter site to view the console and add to the cause if it takes your interest. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/872297630/gamestick-the-most-portable-tv-games-console-ever

In previous Bioshock games, the moral decisions have been to choose whether the Little Sisters lived or died. In Bioshock Infinite, the decisions you have to make are more powerful and less commonplace. BioShock Infinite will still present plenty of moral quandaries, but these are not tied to a specific system that in turn determines what ending you’ll get.

Google is to provide UK schools with 15,000 free Raspberry Pi Model B computers. Qualifications awarding body OCR will also create free teaching and learning packs to go with each Raspberry Pi. Responding to the news, games industry veteran Ian Livingstone said: “Putting Raspberry Pis into the hands of children on this scale is potentially the most positive initiative to spur digital creativity since the advent of the BBC Micro in the 1980s.”

Lifetime Xbox 360 sales look certain to overtake those of current-gen leader Nintendo Wii in the UK. Microsoft’s console was less than 200,000 sales behind Wii at the end of December, having sold over four times more units than Wii in 2012. Nintendo UK confirmed before Christmas that around 8 million Wii consoles had been sold in the UK. Despite a reported 33% decline in video game console sales last year, Xbox 360 is said to have outsold its current-gen rivals by a “significant margin” in Britain during 2012. Nintendo DS and PlayStation 2 remain the UK’s first and second best selling games consoles respectively, with Wii and Xbox 360 currently in third and fourth spots.

Temple Run 2 has been released for iOS and now Android. The sequel to the hit game has hit 20,000 downloads on iOS alone. Developed by Imangi Studios, the app rushed to the top of the free App charts on iOS in just eight hours, and also hit number three in the Top Grossing chart. In its first week on sale, Temple Run 2 racked up 210 million sessions and 1,775 years of gameplay.

Train2Game News: Nintendo open to the idea of Free-to-play

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Satoru IwataCompany President, Satoru Iwata has revealed Nintendo is open to the idea of using a free-to-play business model for new franchises.

Nintendo’s leader pledged that he won’t add free-to-play or micro-transaction elements to existing series such as Mario or Pokémon, during an interview with Japanese newspaper Nikkei.

“We, as an industry, can now do distribution by digital means as well as micro-transactions, and the ways to obtain money through supporting entertainment have increased.

“I have no intention of denying charged games or the free-to-play model. If we were to talk about if Nintendo were to do that, however, I do not have much inclination to do that with Nintendo’s established well-known products.

“We will not have a proverbial door to full enjoyment that can only be unlocked via payment. However, this is separate from, say, having something where because there are people who want more stages to play in Mario games, we will create new courses for those people and charge for them.”

This all changes for new game franchises, though. Iwata said that for fresh ideas he is open to the idea of other methods of payment.

“For new titles with no established base, if, in the process of development, we found it to suit the free-to-play model, we might follow that route, or we might do something like ‘cheap-to-play'” he explained.

“Our sales methods have been freed up and I have no desire to extinguish that freedom. If we were to release something like that, it is not a betrayal but the birth of an interesting idea through our new found freedom, that’s all. I am not talking about changing how we sell Mario or Pokémon.”

It seems that Nintendo have seen how powerful Free-to-play can be but most certainly doesn’t want to risk their well established franchises on the new business plan.

Train2Game News: Mid-week round up – 09.01.13

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Xerneas and YvetalThe first news in this weeks Train2Game Mid-Week round up is a follow up to the Pokémon news from yesterday. The two legendary creatures that are briefly seen in the trailer have been named. They are Xerneas and Yveltal.

Video games had the highest total amount pledged out of all other categories on Kickstarter last year.  561,574 backers made 1.3 pledges totaling $83 million. Out of 2,796 video game projects launched, 911 were funded. Video games had almost double the amount of pledges than Films, the second most successful category. They make up nearly a quarter of Kickstarter’s total backers and total money pledged.

Valve have given the first glimpses of  what could be, the media named Steam Box. Code-named “Piston”, the system is still in a development stage and Xi3Coporation states the system will be “optimized for computer game play on large HD televisions”. The specifications have not been released yet, but will be built on Xi3′s Modular Computer chassis which is grapefruit sized, and will support both Steam and their recently released Big Picture mode.

Following the demise of City Of Heroes last year, Missing Worlds Media have decided to create a new superhero MMO, currently named Project Phoenix. Their aim is to build a Superhero game from the ground up and take what was successful from past games and build on it with new technology. If you are missing the super being you created, this could be one to keep an eye on.

Microsoft have sold 60 million Windows 8 licenses to date. The figure represents cumulative sales of Windows 8 including upgrades and sales to original equipment manufacturers for licensing. Windows 8 sales are following a similar trajectory to that seen with Windows 7, according to Windows chief marketing and financial officer Tami Reller. Microsoft also said that over 100 million apps were downloaded from the Windows Store in the two months following the digital distribution platform’s launch with Windows 8 and Windows RT. There are now more than 1,700 certified systems for Windows 8 and Windows RT.

Train2Game News: New Pokémon game announced

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Pokemon X & YTrain2Game and other Pokémon fans around the world were delighted to hear the next generation of the popular game is being released in October with some big changes.

The Pokémon Company and Nintendo announced that the next generation of Pokémon video games, Pokémon X and Pokémon Y, will launch worldwide in October for the Nintendo 3DS system. This is the first time in the history of the series the game will be released around the World on the same day. The game introduces new Pokémon, a new storyline set in a spectacular 3D world, and dynamic battles.

Tsunekazu Ishihara, CEO of The Pokémon Company said “The worldwide launch of Pokémon X and Pokémon Y this October allows players to begin their adventures at the same time. Now, Pokémon fans across the globe can discover the secrets of Pokémon games and can collect, battle, and trade with each other immediately.”

Junichi Masuda, video game director at Game Freak Inc. added “We brought Pokémon into an entirely new dimension and we’re incredibly excited to bring Pokémon X and Pokémon Y to fans. The stunning visuals, a completely redesigned environment, game scenario, music, and communication features will bring smiles to the faces of video game players around the world.”

Pokémon X and Pokémon Y will be the blueprint for an exciting array of new animation, Pokémon TCG, and toys debuting around the world.

Train2Game News: Coming soon in 2013

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DeadpoolAs big as 2012 has been, 2013 has more to come.

The first thing of 2013 to be keeping an eye on will be how well the Wii U does following it’s release and the Christmas rush. Will it be as big a hit as Nintendo hopes or will it fail to reach expectations?

A number of new blockbusters are coming next year with a lot of new sequels. For example 2013 will see the release of Rockstars GTA V and 2Ks Bioshock: Infinite. From what has been released of the games so far they both look stunning and both have been pegged as being big hits.

There are also two reboot games coming out next year. The first being the new Devil May Cry, being developed by the English based Ninja Studios and Tomb Raider being published by Square Enix. I played both games at Eurogamer, Tomb Raiders graphics are truly jaw dropping and Devil May Cry looks to be very action packed with good effects.

A new IP that could be a wild card is Deadpool. The game based on the Marvel Comics star.  The game is being developed by High Moon Studios and is due to be published by Activision in 2013. Regular Deadpool comic writer Daniel Way will pen the script, and Nolan North, who has voiced Deadpool in other media, will reprise his role. This could go either way, this is definitely a wait and see game.

There are a lot of big goings on in 2013 that should lead the gaming industry in to bigger and better things. It’s going to be exciting.