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Nintendo rides are coming to Universal's theme parks
Over the years, Nintendo has crafted a diverse roster of beloved video game characters. They're colorful and instantly recognisable, so inevitably some fans have wondered whether a Disney-style theme park could be built around them. Well, wonder no more. Nintendo announced today that it's teaming up with Universal to build new rides in some of its theme parks. It's staying tight-lipped on the details, but says to expect "spectacular, dedicated experiences" based on Nintendo games, characters and worlds.
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.
Skylanders Swap Force Wii U bundle assembling in November
Nintendo has another Wii U bundle slated to arrive in November: a Skylanders Swap Force pack. Priced at $299, the bundle includes a white Wii U basic system with 8 GB of storage space, a copy of Nintendo Land and a Skylanders Swap Force starter pack. Nintendo Land was recently dropped in price to $30 in addition to being replaced in Nintendo's Wii U Deluxe set with New Super Mario Bros. U and New Super Luigi U, another $299 bundle. The Skylanders Swap Force starter pack includes a copy of the game, three Skylanders figures, a "portal of power" dock and collectible stickers, trading cards and a poster. A stand-alone starter pack can currently be purchased for $130 on Amazon. The Skylanders Swap Force Wii U holiday bundle will be available on November 15.
Mario-themed Wii U deluxe bundle to replace Nintendo Land line
Nintendo of America is replacing the base Wii U 32GB Deluxe set that includes launch game Nintendo Land with a bundle featuring New Super Mario Bros. U and its standalone expansion New Super Luigi U. The Mario-themed set arrives at stores on November 1, a date that also sees Nintendo Land reduced to a suggested retail price of $30. The NSMB U Wii U bundle is priced at the recently lowered price of $299. The new set essentially offers two games rather than one; New Super Luigi U can be played without purchasing NSMB U, even though it's an expansion of the original game. For the record, the two games will be included on one disc in the Wii U bundle. Technicalities aside, it's definitely a better value bundle that Nintendo will hope entices more buyers to the system over the holiday period.
Three new Wii U bundles hit the UK next month
Nintendo is gift-wrapping three new Wii U bundles for the UK, including one 32GB Premium bundle and two 8GB Basic ones. The trio launch across consecutive weeks in November, and going by Nintendo's new web store they're each priced £250. The new 32GB Premium is first to reach Her Maj's Kingdom on November 8, bundling in New Super Mario Bros. U and its New Super Luigi U expansion on a 2-in-1 disc. Going by the Nintendo store it features the Legend of Zelda GamePad as per the Wind Waker HD bundle, as well as usual extras including Nintendo Network Premium membership. A Wii Party U bundle follows on November 15, featuring the not-yet-forgotten 8GB model. If one party game isn't enough, the bundle includes launch game Nintendo Land. Finally, November 22 sees the arrival of a Just Dance 2014 pack. Like the other 8GB bundle, it chucks in Nintendo Land. Nintendo's site lists both 8GB bundles as "limited," underlining the publisher's plans to focus on the 32GB model.
gdgt's best deals for August 7: Best Buy gift cards with Xbox 360, Wii U purchases
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Wii U shipments miss targets at 3.45M, projected 9M for next fiscal year
The Wii U shipped 3.45 million units worldwide as of March 31, a figure well short of the 4 million projected in January, itself adjusted from initial forecasts of 5.5 million. That means the Wii U only shipped around 390,000 units worldwide in the last three months.In a financial statement, Nintendo said its console failed to "maintain the initial sales momentum" due to delays of subsequent games, and the company aims to remedy this in the second half of this year through to next year by "releasing key Nintendo titles." The company believes this'll help the Wii U attain its projected shipping figures of 9 million for the next fiscal year (April 1 2013 to March 31 2014).Nintendo's fiscal year net profits came in at almost half the company's projections, down from a projected ¥14 billion to just over ¥7 billion, or around $71 million. The figure nonetheless represents significant turnaround from the ¥43 billion net loss posted for the previous fiscal year. Nintendo forecasts net profits of ¥55 billion for its next fiscal year.3DS shipping figures continue to climb, with the handheld now at 31.09 million, up over a million in the last quarter. The Wii remains short of the 100M mark at 99.84 million. The Wii outperformed the Wii U in the last quarter, shipping 70,000 units more at 460,000.
Wii U Premium bundle with ZombiU down to £200 at participating HMV locations
British retailer HMV is the latest outlet across the pond to drop the Wii U's price, lowering the console's Premium SKU and ZombiU bundle down to just £199.99 at participating locations. On its own, the Premium SKU typically retails for £299.99, and that's without ZombiU thrown in for good measure.HMV did not clarify to Joystiq whether this price reduction is temporary or permanent, so if you're British and in the market for the Wii U that's worth owning, now may be the right time.
Nintendo cuts hardware sales targets after shipping 3M Wii U consoles in 2012
Nintendo adjusted its annual net profit outlook from ¥6 billion to ¥14 billion (around $154 million) on the back of a weakening yen, with the company posting a nine-month operating loss of ¥5.8 billion ($63.7 million) compared to the corresponding figure of ¥48.4 billion for the last fiscal year. However, Nintendo's end-of-fiscal-year hardware targets took a big hit on the back of shipping 3.06 million Wii U consoles in 2012.Nintendo now projects a figure of 4 million for Wii U by the end of its fiscal year on March 31, down from the 5.5 million the company predicted in October 2012. 3DS shipments are now expected to hit 15 million for the year, down from initial projections of 18.5 million.Nintendo has now shifted 29.84 million units of its handheld since launch. Meanwhile, the Wii's life-to-date figures are up to 99.38 million, with 3.53 million units shipped across the nine month period.Regards software, Nintendo shifted 11.69 million Wii U games since the console's launch on November 18, The best-performing games were the bundled-in Nintendo Land and New Super Mario Bros. U, coming in at 2.33 million and 2.01 million respectively.On the 3DS front, Nintendo shipped 39.56 million units of the handheld across the nine months. Pokémon Black/White 2 soared to a total of 7.63 million on the back of almost 3 million sales in Japan alone, while New Super Mario Bros. 2 is at 5.96 million. Animal Crossing: New Leaf sits at 2.73 million, largely thanks to its popularity with Japan's female demographic. All figures are as of December 31, 2012.
Wii U Basic bundled with Nintendo Land at Best Buy
The Wii U's Basic Set is bundled with Nintendo Land at Best Buy for the next few days. SideQuesting took note of the bundle, which has the basic set at the standard $299.99 price with Nintendo Land included. The sale runs until December 29.What you'll be missing out from the Wii U's Deluxe version is the charging cradle, Wiipad stand and 32GB hard drive. Despite the free Nintendo Land, the Deluxe is better future-proofed for the extra $50.
Wii U sold 308,570 units across first two days in Japan
Nintendo sold 308,570 Wii U units over the console's opening two days in Japan, according to Enterbrain data. That places the new console 17 percent behind its predecessor, the Wii shifting 371,936 units in its first two days on sale. On the other hand, the Wii U sits comfortably ahead of corresponding launch figures for Xbox 360 (62,135) and PS3 (88,400).Leading the console's software charts was New Super Mario Bros. U, the platformer selling 170,563 units across the launch weekend. Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate and Nintendo Land clocked in at second and third, racking up figures of 110,159 and 78,461 respectively.
Nintendo Land review: Controller coaster
Nintendo Land is not Wii Sports, but it occupies a similar territory in the lineup of its new console: it's a pack-in (with one particular bundle), it's a minigame collection, its games are designed to teach players how to use Nintendo's latest weird controller, and, most importantly, it acts as a statement of intent for the console as a whole.For Wii Sports, that meant simple games, based on familiar real-world sports and built around real-world movements, all designed to be comprehensible and fun to people who had never played a video game before, and, it would turn out, would probably never play another.But the Wii was a console designed to be less complicated than any previous, whereas the Wii U is in fact more complicated. Nintendo Land, accordingly, expects a deeper video game background and a more complex skillset from its players. Wii Sports wouldn't be caught dead with dual-analog shooter controls, for example. Nintendo Land demands a more literate audience.That's not a condemnation. It may not be for every single person on the face of the Earth like Wii Sports was, but if you can find four other people who know what Pikmin are or will recognize the two cops from Animal Crossing, you will have ridiculous fun.%Gallery-157153%
Nintendo Land features Yoshi, F-Zero, and 'Octopus Dance' games
The three last "attractions" to be unveiled in the Wii U's virtual Nintendo theme park, Nintendo Land, are Yoshi's Fruit Cart, Captain Falcon's Twister Race, and Octopus Dance. In Yoshi's Fruit Cart – which sounds more like a concession stand between rides than a ride itself at first – players use the WiiPad to draw paths for a Yoshi Cart to pick up fruit, coordinating between the WiiPad and TV views of the scene.In Captain Falcon's Twister Race, the F-Zero character gets out a Twister mat and tells you to show him some moves you tilt the GamePad to control a top-down F-Zero style race, avoiding spikes and hitting checkpoints. And in Octopus Dance, which we suppose is probably based on the Game & Watch game, players, uh ... "use the GamePad to mirror dance moves performed by a deep-sea dance instructor." The screenshots Nintendo sent out along this announcement are all for other attractions, so you'll just have to visualize the dancing octopus for now.%Gallery-169547%
These are the 23 games launching with the Wii U on November 18
Nintendo's nailing down a specific date for nearly half of its Wii U "launch window" lineup, and it's the same day that the console arrives in North America: November 18. 23 games will land at retail alongside the Wii U this November, including Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, New Super Mario Bros. U, and FIFA Soccer 13. Minigame collection Nintendo Land will launch with the 32GB, $350 version of the Wii U console, and will also be available separately on Nov. 18 -- all Nintendo first-party games will be available digitally at launch as well. Earlier this month, the company revealed just over 50 titles planned for the Wii U's "launch window," which comprises November 18, 2012 through March 31, 2013. The full list of all titles is just below.%Gallery-165242%
Latest Nintendo Land trailer shows off 'Mario Chase,' 'Metroid Blast' and 'Pikmin Adventure'
A new trailer for Nintendo's Wii U mini-game extravaganza Nintendo Land dropped this morning during Nintendo's Wii U press conference, and with it came the announcement of several new "attractions" within the game's virtual amusement park.As seen above, competitive multiplayer offerings now include Mario Chase, which appears to be some kind of Toad sprinting simulator. Metroid Blast has been added to the team multiplayer selection, wherein Miis in Power Suits run around shooting and grappling, as Samuses often do. Additionally, Pikmin Adventure was revealed, though its multiplayer machinations aren't explicitly obvious in the trailer above.Also demonstrated are The Legend of Zelda: Battle Quest, Balloon Trip Breeze, Donkey Kong's Crash Course, Takamaru's Ninja Castle, Luigi's Ghost Mansion and Animal Crossing Sweet Days.%Gallery-165270%
Nintendo Land features Balloon Fight-inspired game
"Balloon Trip Breeze," one of the "attractions" in the Wii U minigame collection Nintendo Land, is inspired by the side-scrolling "Balloon Trip" adventure found in the NES' Balloon Fight. In Balloon Trip Breeze, players direct a floating balloon rider by swiping with the stylus and tapping to break blocks, to guide him safely through the obstacle-laden airways.Check out a trailer of the crafty-looking minigame on Game Informer's site – and, if the remixed music doesn't quite work for you, enjoy.
Experience the Wii U in our Nintendo booth video tour
I stormed Nintendo's E3 booth yesterday to try some real Wii U games. Because simply seeing screens is no longer enough -- you have to see screens and the controller, with its screens -- I brought a camera crew with me.Join us for gameplay snippets of Nintendo Land's "Takamaru's Ninja Castle" and "Animal Crossing: Sweet Day" minigames, Ubisoft's survival-oriented ZombiU, and ... Just Dance 4, in which I am the victim of the "Puppet Master." This is pretty embarrassing.
A jaunt through Nintendo Land
We took a quick stroll through Nintendo Land today, shortly after Nintendo implicitly positioned the game as the Wii U's educational answer to Wii Sports. It's launching alongside the hardware this holiday – though not necessarily inside a bundle – and breaks down all of the Wii U's standout features into friendly, easily digestible mini games.Unlike the tennis and bowling in Wii Sports, the games here are embellished with Nintendo's vibrant characters and history, set within the context of an elaborate theme park visited by your Miis. When you enter the The Legend of Zelda section, dubbed Battle Quest, you and your friends don Link's iconic tunic in green, red and blue.%Gallery-157153%
