animal-crossing-new-leaf
Latest
Give your 3DS a Mario paint job with new themes, out now
3DS users can spice up their portable lives with new Home Menu themes, available now not just in Japan but in North America and Europe too. There are five free themes that give the startup screen a basic splash of color, but if you're after something with more pizazz there are purchasable themes too. These themes don't just change the menu wallpaper, but also alter icons and folders as well as sound effects and music. The Zelda: A Link Between Worlds theme, for example, features the game's "Hyrule Main Theme" as its menu music, while the top and bottom screens display the mirror worlds of Hyrule and Lorule. The current selection, with each theme priced between a buck or two, includes liveries for Mario & Luigi, other Nintendo stars like Yoshi and Peach, and "Geometric Patterns" for those who prefer stripes and polka dots on the go. To start sprucing up your portable following a quick system update, go to the Change Theme menu via the Home Menu button on the top left of the startup screen. There's a specific shop for the purchasable themes, but if you're not prepared to pay you can go with a simple red, blue, yellow, pink or black look, or stick with the default white. Heads-up: aqua blue 3DS plus simple blue theme equals lovely blue loveliness. Also, if you're holding out for other styles, Nintendo of Europe says an Animal Crossing: New Leaf theme should hit the shop towards of the end of the month.
New 3DS themes invade Japan in October firmware update
Do you hate the staid, utilitarian aesthetic of the Nintendo 3DS' Home screen? Do you live in Japan? Come next month, Nintendo may have a solution for your woes. When the handheld's next firmware update rolls out, it will include access to a selection of 50 themes designed to alter the appearance of the 3DS' Home screen. Prices on these themes range from 100 to 200 yen (roughly $0.90 to $1.80) and alongside various color-coordinated designs, the themes also feature standout Nintendo characters, such as Mario and the anthropomorphic critters of Animal Crossing. It's currently unknown if Nintendo has plans to launch the themes outside of Japan, and our attempts to pry further information from the company's representatives was met with a boilerplate "no comment." However, if you can contain your jealousy, you can visit Nintendo's Japanese website to view the themes for yourself. [Image: Nintendo]
Nintendo posts $229M loss, Wii U estimates down by 60 percent
Nintendo fell slightly short of the reduced financial projections it set in January, with the Wii U reaching 2.72 million shipments for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2014. However, the system remains way off Nintendo's initial projection of 9 million, so it's no surprise to see more conservative estimates for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2015 of 3.6 million units. That's 60 percent less than Nintendo originally projected for the previous year. Total Wii U shipments are now up to 6.17 million, nearly a year and a half after the console launched. On the software side, Nintendo revealed figures of 32.28 million units to date, with New Super Mario Bros. U (4.16 million), Nintendo Land (3.09 million) and Super Mario 3D World (2.17 million) leading the way.
Animal Crossing: New Leaf moves into 7.38 million homes worldwide
Animal Crossing: New Leaf has reestablished the concept of being financially indebted to a shopkeeping raccoon, with 7.38 million copies sold worldwide. Animal Crossing series creator Katsuya Eguchi shared the sales data during a panel at GDC 2014, adding that the 3DS itself has found 42.74 million homes in Nintendo's global audience. [Image: Joystiq]
2DS sells 2.1 million, Animal Crossing: New Leaf gets 7.38 million
The Nintendo 2DS has made it into the tiny hands of 2.1 million customers worldwide since its launch on October 12, according to Nintendo's financial highlights (PDF link). The 3DS, which launched in February 2011, has shipped 42.7 million units, while the DS family has shipped 154 million units in total. Nintendo has sold 7.38 million copies of Animal Crossing: New Leaf worldwide since its initial Japan release in November 2012. New Leaf launched in North America, Europe and Australia in June 2013: From April 2013 to December 2013, the game sold 2.79 million units outside of Japan, and 730,000 copies in the country. Nintendo posted a year-over-year net profit decline of 30 percent in the nine months leading to December 2013, with numbers dragged down by weaker-than-expected Wii U sales and console price cuts. Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata and board members are taking smaller salaries for a temporary period, French news outlet AFP reported.
Best of the Rest: Mike's picks of 2013
Team Joystiq is barging into 2014 with a celebration of last year's best games. Keep reading throughout the week to see our assembly of ingenious indies and triple-A triumphs. FIFA 14 Regardless of any indicator that 2013 was a "tune-up" year for EA Canada's ongoing soccer sim series, FIFA 14 arguably remains the best sports gaming has to offer for another year. Retaining the elements of unpredictability with the game's ball physic, introduced in FIFA 13, the developer improved teammate AI and slowed the game's pace to force more deliberate, tactical on-field play. The result couldn't be any clearer in the PS4 and Xbox One versions of the game, which saw significant improvements graphically, particularly in the crowd's character models. While it may not be a top-ten game of the year, FIFA 14 was easily one of the most enjoyable.
Best of the Rest: Susan's picks of 2013
Team Joystiq is barging into 2014 with a celebration of last year's best games. Keep reading throughout the week to see our assembly of ingenious indies and triple-A triumphs. Puppeteer Come one, come all, to hear the remarkable tale of Kutaro and the magical scissors, Calibrus! Come, see the evil Moon Bear King as he tries to cast the world into nonstop darkness! Come, see his 12 generals steal the power of the Moon Goddess! And see young Kutaro ... basically get mixed up in the whole thing by accident. Wrong place, wrong time, delicious-looking head. You know how it goes. Puppeteer commits to its puppet show aesthetic with gusto, crafting every character, object and bit of scenery out of paper, wood, string, or fabric. The narrator provides the exposition with the nuanced delivery of someone who's attended one too many acting classes, and the cast does their best to remember their lines while the audience murmurs in appreciation. The entire setup is bonkers, keeping its tongue placed firmly in its cheek as you cut down the Moon Stone-hoarding generals one by one and eventually square off against the rotund MBK himself. With sly writing, a spectacular soundtrack and gorgeously detailed locations that include neatly manicured gardens, a Halloweentown, a swamp and outer space, Puppeteer is a gaming experience to savor, rather than rush. Of course, it will take multiple run-throughs to find all of the collectible puppet heads, so you'll have more than enough opportunity to catch every joke and notice every secret. As a PS3 exclusive at the end of that console's cycle, Puppeteer didn't get nearly as much attention as it deserved, but this is a real gem. Hunt it down and play it. Your audience awaits.
Cast your Animal Crossing character in resin, never feel lonely again
Animal Crossing enthusiasts who want to pluck their characters from the game world and transport them to our physical dimension can now do so for a small fee, as Etsy user RezArmy is now offering custom-made resin figures of Animal Crossing: New Leaf's human characters. The examples above are pre-built based on New Leaf's template options, and are priced starting at $40. RezArmy is also taking custom-painted orders, allowing you to fully recreate your character's roguish good looks and tousled hair at an added cost.
Five 3DS games shifted millions in the last six months
Animal Crossing: New Leaf and Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon are among five 3DS games that each shipped more than a million copies between April and September. The three other members of Nintendo's million-high club are Tomodachi Collection, Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, and Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D. It's New Leaf that led the way over the last six months, shipping 2.49 million worldwide and just over 2 million in the West; it came to Japan back in November 2012, before heading West in June. The cutesy sim's life-to-date figures are an impressive 6.35 million. Meanwhile, despite being released at the end of March and just before the start of Nintendo's fiscal year, Dark Moon came in second with 1.91 million. More significantly, its life-to-date total is 3.13 million. The remaining three all came in beneath the 2 million mark: the Japan-only Tomodachi Collection at 1.63 million, Dream Team at 1.37 million, and Country Returns 3D at 1.19 million. Together, the five 3DS games shipped 8.59 million units in those six months, contributing 31 percent of the system's total software shipments. If you're not all statted-out by that, here's a final bit of info for you: New Leaf's figures would put it fourth on the handheld's all-time list, behind the plumber triforce of Super Mario 3D Land, Mario Kart 7, and New Super Mario Bros. 2. That's based on figures from March 2013, though, and the new Poke-games must be closing in after selling a crazy 4 million worldwide in just two days.
Wii U ships 300,000 units worldwide in Q2, still hurting Nintendo profits
Nintendo shipped approximately 300,000 Wii U units worldwide across the three months of July to September, nearly double what it did in the previous quarter. Despite the marked improvement, the company noted the the "Wii U hardware still has a negative impact" on profits, particularly because of the price cuts made to the system in the west. Nintendo reduced the Wii U Deluxe's North American price to $300 in August, after shifting just 160,000 units worldwide in its first fiscal quarter. The Wii U's lifetime shipments are now up to 3.91 million, a figure almost matched by the 3.89 million 3DS units shipped across the first six months of Nintendo's fiscal year alone. Nintendo shipped around 2.5 million units of its handheld across Q2, while Animal Crossing: New Leaf and Tomodachi Collection posted six-month figures of 2.49 million and 1.63 million units. The total six-month figure for 3DS software shipments is 27.38 million, up considerably from the 11 million or so for the first three months. The Wii U shows further improvement here, up to 6.3 million across six months compared to just over 1 million in the first three. Nintendo's net profit across the first six months of its fiscal year is ¥600 million ($6.1 million). That's down considerably from the approximate $88 million net profit posted for the the first three months, and translates an operating loss of of ¥23.2 billion ($236 million). The company attributed this to advertising initiatives to increase sales, as well as research and development on software for the Wii U. Update: Removed mention of 2DS, which was not yet on the market.
3DS StreetPass relay points upgraded, content distribution events planned
Nintendo's 3DS StreetPass relay point functionality will soon be improved, allowing players to access data at Nintendo Zone locations from more 3DS owners at once, Nintendo announced during today's Nintendo Direct presentation. "Starting in a few days," players that pass through Nintendo Zone locations with their 3DS systems in sleep mode will access data from up to six other passers-by instead of the usual one, greatly improving their chances at completing puzzles and other StreetPass games. Additionally, Nintendo noted plans for special StreetPass distribution events for game content in October and November, starting with an Animal Crossing: New Leaf fedora chair on October 1, then a sushi platter on October 15. Other 3DS games receiving bonus content via StreetPass include Mario Kart 7, Kid Icarus: Uprising and Super Mario 3D Land. Relay points were added to the system in an August firmware update, though numerous reports indicated that it didn't function properly in early September. Nintendo's paid StreetPass games made $4 million in one month, so the relay point update seems appropriate enough.
UK celebrates National StreetPass Day on September 28
3DS aficionados in the UK looking to gorge themselves on the StreetPasses of strangers will find a veritable smorgasbord later this month. Nintendo has declared Saturday, September 28 to be National StreetPass Day in the UK, and will host a couple of gatherings for folks to come and exchange Miis. The two meet-ups will be held at Waterloo Station in London and Manchester Piccadilly. There, Nintendo representatives will set up games, give out prizes and generally attempt to keep the rambunctious lot corralled. The Eurogamer Expo, which will be held that weekend in Earls Court, London, will also have special StreetPass Day stands to celebrate the new national holiday. 3DS Streetpass is a built-in feature of the 3DS that allows users, when in close proximity to one another, to exchange content while the handheld is in sleep mode. Game-specific Streetpass functionality also exists – for example, in Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Streetpasses allow you to visit strangers' homes in a specific part of town, through which you can then order furniture.
Nintendo's sales figures for August include many zeros, plumbing heroes
Following the NPD Group's analysis of August's overall sales data comes a handful of extra statistics from Nintendo. When taking both physical and digital sales into account, Mario & Luigi: Dream Team has sold "nearly" 190,000 units since its release on August 11. Meanwhile, Pikmin 3 has sold "more than" 115,000 since August 4, while New Super Luigi U has sold "nearly" 120,000 units since refreshing the Year of Luigi on August 25. Nintendo also updated on its year to date: More than 6.47 million pieces of 3DS software have been sold in 2013, with Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon being the best-selling of the lot at 863,000 physical/digital copies. Animal Crossing: New Leaf is a close second, however, having moved 739,000 units in three fewer months on the market.
Toys R Us buy one, get one 40% off sale on hundreds of games
Toys R Us is holding a massive game sale, spanning 3DS, Xbox 360 and PS3. Simply buy one game at full price, add another game from this list to your order and a 40% discount will be applied to the second game. Eligible games include Saints Row 4, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Splinter Cell Blacklist, The Last of Us and hundreds of others. Toys R Us is even including pre-orders in the promotion, so you can add upcoming games like GTA 5, Call of Duty: Ghosts, Madden NFL 25 and Destiny to the list of what's on offer. The only exclusions are Disney Infinity starter packs, Skylanders, and Kid Icarus: Uprising and Star Fox 64 3D on the 3DS. This deal can't be combined with any other ongoing discounts.
July NPD: NCAA Football and Minecraft lead software, 3DS still on top
The NPD Group has released its report on sales in the physical retail channel of the games industry during the month of July, with both predictable and surprising results. On the predictable side of things, all three segments (Hardware, Software and Accessories) continued their downward year-over-year decline, with total Hardware sales suffering a 34-percent decrease: $99.4 million this year as compared with $150.9 million over the same period in 2012. Despite this industry-wide decline, Nintendo's 3DS saw a 14 percent year-over-year increase in sales as it held its spot as the best-selling piece of hardware for a third month in a row. This is the first time a handheld has topped the market for such a lengthy period since the Nintendo DS' three month streak in the fall/winter of 2010, according to NPD Group analyst Liam Callahan. Meanwhile, the Xbox 360 remained the best-selling home console for the thirty-first month in a row. As per usual, the Accessories segment suffered the least amount of market fluctuation, experiencing only a three percent year-over-year loss and bringing in $133.4 million in sales. Also maintaining the status quo, this segment's stability continues to be attributed to steady sales of digital currency and subscription giftcards.
Animal Crossing Plaza community launches on Wii U
Nintendo announced an Animal Crossing-themed app for Wii U during its Nintendo Direct presentation this morning. The app, titled Animal Crossing Plaza, allows players to post messages with screenshots and QR codes from 3DS game Animal Crossing: New Leaf via SD card to the series' new Miiverse community. The plaza itself is similar to the Mii Plaza, except adorable critters from the Animal Crossing series now run around instead of Miis. The Animal Crossing Plaza is available now for free in the Wii U eShop. Nintendo says the service will be available through the end of 2014.
Minecraft blocks top spot on UK charts, Pikmin 3 takes a dive
A relatively quiet week on the UK charts allows for some meditative crafting, with Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition squarely in first place. The Last of Us moves up to the second of us again, as Pikmin 3, which debuted last week in second, drops all the way off the top ten and into ... still looking ... still looking ... there it is: 15. It's not all bad news for Nintendo, as Animal Crossing: New Leaf moves up into third this week and Mario & Luigi: Dream Team stumbles ever so slightly from fifth to eleventh. The Smurfs 2 occupies fifth place, with a sales increase of 115 percent following its debut two weeks ago. That's just smurfed-up. Check out the UK top ten after the break.
Nintendo posts Q1 net profit, Wii U shipped 160K worldwide
Despite a 3.8 percent year-on-year drop in revenue, Nintendo posted a healthy ¥8.62 billion net profit in the first quarter of fiscal year 2013, or just under $88 million. However, the concern for the company must be the new low Wii U shipments dropped to. The console only shifted 160,000 units across the three months, less than half the figure of the previous quarter, leaving it at 3.61 million shipped to date. Nintendo attributed the Q1 net profit to substantial currency exchange gains due to the depreciating value of the yen, although it also noted better profitability on 3DS hardware contributed to increased gross profit. Nintendo forecasts its net profit to rise to ¥55 billion by the end of the fiscal year, around $562 million. The Wii U, which Nintendo noted still sells at a loss, struggled severely, as did its games with just over 1 million software units shifted worldwide in the three months ending in June 2013. Nintendo put its poor performance down to "few key first-party titles this quarter to strongly drive the hardware sales," and reiterated its intent to amend that in the second half of 2013 and through to next year. Nintendo still forecasts 9 million Wii U shipments across the fiscal year of April 2013 to March 2014. News is rosier on Nintendo's portable side, with the 3DS shipping 1.4 million hardware units and just over 11 million software units in Q1. A significant contributor to the software numbers was Animal Crossing: New Leaf, which after coming to the west this summer added just over 1.5 million worldwide across the quarter. Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon was another important asset, shipping 1.43 million units. Animal Crossing: New Leaf now has life-to-date global figures of 5.4 million, while Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon is at 2.65 million. Finally, the Wii reached a significant landmark, shipping a further 210,000 units worldwide to take it to the 100 million mark.
Animal Crossing: New Leaf sales surpass 500K in June
Nintendo announced this evening that Animal Crossing: New Leaf has sold over 505,000 copies between physical and digital versions in June. Nintendo says over 20 percent of sales (around 101,000 downloads) went through the Nintendo eShop, which it claims is the second-highest ratio of digital delivery "behind only Fire Emblem Awakening." The company says, "Nintendo's internal trackers show that sales of the game continue to be strong in July as well, indicating that Animal Crossing: New Leaf is poised to be one of the biggest games of the summer." The Tom Nook debt crisis, in other words, is nowhere near being abated.
June NPD: 3DS still on top, Ouya sales 'light' [update]
The NPD Group has published its monthly report outlining the performance of the physical sector of the video games retail market, with unsurprising results with respect to both the industry's overall performance and which games sold the most between June 2 and July 6. Nintendo's 3DS remained the best-selling piece of hardware for its second month in a row with "nearly 225,000" units sold according to Nintendo, while the Xbox 360 held its spot as the best-selling home console by moving 140,000 units. The overall industry brought in $593.3 million from the sale of hardware, software and accessories (read: Skylanders toys and digital currency giftcards) at brick and mortar retail locations. This was a 15 percent year-over-year decrease from the $700.6 million the industry brought in during the same period in 2012. The hardware sales segment and its collectively accumulated $142 million suffered the most severe year-over-year loss out of the three subsections, down by 30 percent from last year's $201.5 million. June was also the first month of availability for the Ouya, the Kickstarter-funded Android microconsole that kicked off a growing craze for Kickstarter-funded Android microconsoles. "Retail sales for Ouya (not counting direct sales through ouya.tv) and were relatively light for a new console," an NPD analyst Liam Callahan said in a statement. "This may be due to the lack of a major marquee title driving consumers to seek out the console, low awareness due to Ouya being a new brand, or low inventory volume due to manufacturing constraints." The period's 10 best-selling games were lead by three different console exclusives: The Last of Us, Animal Crossing: New Leaf and the physical SKU for Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition. New physical sales of console and portable games in general were down 10 percent from last year, ringing up $296.1 million at the end of the period.
