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1.84M New 3DS units shipped in 2014, Wii U up to 9.2M
The New 3DS is off to a "good start" according to Nintendo, after the enhanced handheld shipped 1.84 million units by the end of 2014. The company launched the New 3DS and its XL variant in Japan back in October, before bringing them to Australia the following month. The New 3DS' arrival helped take the "3DS family" beyond the 50 million mark, and as of December 31, 2014, the 3DS total is 50.41 million units shipped worldwide. On the other hand, Nintendo says 3DS sales haven't grown sufficiently in North America and Europe this fiscal year; both regions are waiting for the New 3DS to launch there next month. Between April and December 2014, Nintendo shifted 7.08 million 3DS systems worldwide. While the Wii U has gathered steam in recent months, it's still tracking a long way behind its handheld sibling. Nintendo shifted 1.91 million consoles worldwide during the busy holiday quarter of October to December 2014, taking its nine-month figures to 3.39 million, As of the end of 2014, its two-year lifetime total is 9.2 mllion systems and 52.87 million software units.
Nintendo: Amiibo sales outpace Smash Bros. Wii U
Mario Kart 8 sold 1.7 million copies in 2014 both digitally and at retail in the United States according to the NPD Group, Nintendo revealed in a press release. The publisher also noted that Super Smash Bros. for Wii U sold 1.3 million copies during the year, though sales of the company's amiibo figurines were "nearly twice" that of Nintendo's Mario brawler on Wii U. Nintendo said that total hardware and software sales increased "by more than 29 percent and more than 75 percent, respectively, over sales in 2013." As of December, the publisher said that amiibo sales were "approximately equal" to that of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. On the handheld side of Nintendo's lineup, Super Smash Bros. for 3DS eclipsed 2 million copies sold since the game launched this past fall. Pokemon Alpha Sapphire and Omega Ruby also combined to sell 2.6 million copies in the remastered games' first six weeks. Nintendo recently offered a worldwide launch date for the company's new 3DS system during this week's Nintendo Direct presentation; the C-Stick-sporting console will arrive on February 13 for $200. The improved console will be accompanied by The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D and Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate along with each game's respective special edition 3DS systems. [Image: Nintendo]
New Nintendo eShop releases: Pokemon Pinball Ruby and Sapphire
To complement the recent launch of Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, the latest Nintendo eShop update is headlined by Pokemon Pinball Ruby and Sapphire. For those unfamiliar, Pokemon Pinball Ruby and Sapphire is, as its name suggests, a pinball adaptation of Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire, the same games that provided the basis for the recent Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire remakes. In Pokemon Pinball players are still working toward catching all the Pokemon available, but the core series' lengthy adventures are replaced by complex table layouts and bouncing silver balls. Pokemon Pinball Ruby and Sapphire is now available from the Wii U eShop for $8. The other half of this update is the GameBoy Color platformer Bionic Commando: Elite Forces. It's not the best in the series, but it's also not the worst, and it is notable for relatively novel gameplay and what the developer's were able to do with the aging handheld hardware. Bionic Commando: Elite Forces is priced at $6. Capping off the update are a list of sales. Joystiq favorite Shovel Knight is 33 percent off on both Wii U and 3DS until January 8, Unepic is 30 percent off on Wii U until January 29 and the 3DS eShop is hosting 50 percent discounts on both Dress to Play: Cute Witches! and Dress to Play: Magic Bubbles! until February 1. [Image: Nintendo]
Pokemon Alpha Sapphire, Omega Ruby soundtracks now on iTunes
If you found an iTunes gift card stuffed in your stocking this week, feel free to think of it as a real-world Master Ball from the Pokemon series. Why? Because you can use it to capture Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre (or at least their theme songs) thanks to the recent release of the Pokemon Omega Ruby and Pokemon Alpha Sapphire soundtracks. There are 160 songs waiting to be captured by your iPod/computer hard drive, all for $9.99. We gave the games four and a half stars in our review, writing that, "Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire do little to overhaul the major pillars of a series that's long relied on the same set of classic ideas, but they don't have to. The core mechanics of Pokemon remain immensely addictive, and Game Freak's latest coat of polish only enhances an already captivating adventure." [Image: The Pokemon Company/Nintendo]
Nintendo: Amiibo sales on par with Smash in the US
Nintendo's amiibo toys are selling 1 for 1 in the US with Super Smash Bros. Wii U, according to the publisher. In November, the console fighter sold "nearly 710,000" units going by NPD data, and Nintendo of America said amiibo sales are "approximately equal" to those of the game. This week's seen Nintendo tiptoe around the subject of some amiibo not returning to market, but the company's kept firm on the most popular toys staying available. Nintendo of America reported the best-sellers to date are, in order, Link, Mario and Pikachu. Sorry, Wii Fit Trainer.
Report: Pokemon Omega/Alpha ships 7.7 million worldwide
Pokemon is turning Ruby and Sapphire into gold again, after the 3DS remakes reportedly hit 7.7 million shipments worldwide. According to an announcement published by Famitsu (via Siliconera), last week's European arrival of Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire provided a boost in the form of 35 percent more launch sales compared to Pokemon X and Y. While Joystiq's Earnest "Nex" Cavalli didn't see the conversion factor in Pokemon ORAS, he did see plenty of "evolution and refinement" in the GBA games' remakes. "Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire do little to overhaul the major pillars of a series that's long relied on the same set of classic ideas, but they don't have to," Nex concluded in his review. "The core mechanics of Pokemon remain immensely addictive, and Game Freak's latest coat of polish only enhances an already captivating adventure."
Omega Ruby, Alpha Sapphire score Pokemon's biggest UK launch
In Brit-news, Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire out-debuted Pokemon X and Y by 17 percent, earning the series' biggest launch in UK charts history. The 3DS remakes hit 3 million sales in 3 days ahead of last week's launch in Britain, where they topped DS titles Black and White to capture the country's Poke-record. The two games landed in sixth and seventh in this week's charts, but combined they'd have charted in third. As for the rest of the top ten, it was a case of big-selling musical chairs at the summit and underwhelming debuts for exclusives. Starting at the top, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare took back the No. 1 spot from Grand Theft Auto 5, which fell to third with FIFA 15 up to second. Lower down, PS4 racer Driveclub rose to eighth with a massive 999 percent jump in sales on the back of Black Friday console promotions. November 28 wasn't as prolific a day for two big-profile launches, though. Super Smash Bros. only rose to 13th following the arrival of its Wii U version, while LittleBigPlanet 3 came in even lower in 18th.
Report: Pokemon ORAS tops three million sales in three days
If the past two decades of endless merchandising, cartoons and video games haven't tipped you off, people really like Pokemon. So much so that the latest entries in the core roleplaying series, Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, have reportedly sold over three million copies in their first three days of availability. Famitsu reports (via Siliconera translation) that between the game's November 21 launch and November 24, Japanese consumers purchased over 1.5 million copies of either Pokemon Omega Ruby or Pokemon Alpha Sapphire. Other regions, including North America and Australia, contributed another 1.5 million sales, bringing the three-day total to above three million units sold. Those impressive sales figures could have been even higher, but Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire won't be released in Europe until November 28. Not just a sales success, our recent review awarded Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire 4.5 of 5 stars. "Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire do little to overhaul the major pillars of a series that's long relied on the same set of classic ideas, but they don't have to," it reads. "The core mechanics of Pokemon remain immensely addictive, and Game Freak's latest coat of polish only enhances an already captivating adventure." [Image: Nintendo]
New Nintendo eShop releases: Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Pokemon Omega Ruby / Alpha Sapphire
In the case of Nintendo eShop's new releases this week, size does indeed matter. With just a smattering of games on Wii U, one of them a late spring PS4/Xbox One hit and another being an obscure Game Boy Advance curio, you'd think the console would be on shaky ground. Not so. It's got big, big goods. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, with all its 8-player insanity and high definition glory, finally comes home. That's the good news. The bad news is that, unlike the other eShop releases this week, you'll have to wait until Friday, November 21 to play it. If you have a Nintendo 3DS, though, you can tide yourself over with plenty of other, admittedly slower fights. Pokemon Omega Ruby and Pokemon Alpha Sapphire, new 3D remakes of classic GBA Pokemon games are available to download. If you absolutely need to see Charizard burn something on Thursday, they're perfect options. Poke-shenanigans are the top options on 3DS, but Wii U does have those aforementioned Smash Bros. boosters in the wings. First is the long-awaited, rumored-to-be-cancelled Watch Dogs from Ubisoft. Finally, Wii U Virtual Console gets yet another Game Boy Advance game in its library with puzzle game DK: King of Swing, wherein you swing Donkey Kong around from an overhead view. It's trickier than it sounds.
GameStop plans pre-Black Friday Family Weekend event
Because one day of rampant consumerism just wasn't enough, GameStop has announced plans to launch a weekend-long sales event prior to its already revealed Black Friday sales. The ubiquitous games retailer has yet to outline its full discount plans, but they include $20 discounts on the normally $75 Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes starter packs and $15 off the usually $40 Disney Infinity 2.0 Edition Marvel's Ultimate Spider-Man, Guardians of the Galaxy or The Avengers. Continuing the Disney theme, anyone who purchases GameStop's Disney Infinity PlayStation 3 bundle will receive a $25 gift card. Further discounts are still being hammered out on a store-by-store basis. GameStop's pre-Black Friday Family Weekend event will kick off on November 21 and run through November 23. All GameStop stores are participating, though discounts may vary between locations. If you need one last reason to visit your local games retailer this weekend, GameStop is planning midnight launch events for both Super Smash Bros. Wii U and the excellent Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire on November 21. [Image: Disney]
Pokemon Omega Ruby / Alpha Sapphire review: A real gem
It's been 18 years since Nintendo first introduced humanity to a world of adorable monsters that would capture the hearts of millions and grow into the sort of media juggernaut that usually involves a teenaged British wizard or an especially smug Robert Downey Jr. Despite nearly two decades of success, the series' core - the handheld Pokemon role-playing games - have remained perennially good, if not particularly revolutionary. The biggest leap in series history arrived last year with Pokemon X and Y, and while our review of those games was glowing, they weren't without flaws. Now, developer Game Freak is ready to take another shot at it, using the same enhanced graphics technology, but leaning on the existing plot found in the 2003 GameBoy Advance releases Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire. It might seem lazy to rehash these old storylines, but after working my way through the remakes, it's clear that it was a wise decision that allowed the developer to forgo writing a new plot and instead focus on the aspects of Pokemon games that truly matter to players: combat, the expansive world and, of course, the Pokemon themselves. If Pokemon X and Y were Game Freak's first tentative steps into the world of 3D monster taming, Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire are proof that the studio has mastered the technology.
Pokemon Omega/Alpha anime short doesn't really need English
With Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire out this Friday, November 21, why not commemorate the 3DS remakes with a snippet of anime? It may be in Japanese, but at this point Pokemon is all but its own language anyway.
Meet the legendaries of Pokemon Omega Ruby, Alpha Sapphire
Like previous Pokemon games, Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire will feature appearances by legendary pokemon, though instead of one, two or three legendaries, Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire offer players access to the entire swath of developer Game Freak's overpowered, nigh-godlike pocket monsters. [Image: Nintendo]
Report: Pokemon 3DS remakes notch a million pre-orders in Japan
Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire are already major hits in Japan, despite the fact that neither game will reach store shelves until November 21. Dengeki Online (courtesy Siliconera translation) reports that the two games have already attracted over a million pre-orders in the island nation alone. For those keeping score at home, that puts Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire - remakes of the 2003 GameBoy Advance hits Pokemon Ruby and Pokemon Sapphire - on a pace to beat the pre-order tallies for 2013's Pokemon X and Y. Both of those games sold like gangbusters even months after they first debuted, and Nintendo should be pleased with the hype its latest Pokegames are generating. [Image: Nintendo]
Crystal Red and Blue Nintendo 2DS available Nov. 21
Nintendo announced today that its Crystal Red and Crystal Blue 2DS units, which were previously announced for Europe, will also be available in North America later this month. The units will launch on November 21 at $99. That just happens to be the same day Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire hit stores. What a total kawinkydink! As Tiny Cartridge posted late last week, the 2DS has been showing up in retail circulars at the new price point. General reminder that the New 3DS will launch outside of Japan next year. Meanwhile, Japan receives Poke-themed New 3DS for the game's launch.
Pokemon Omega/Alpha 'dual pack' has healing powers [Update]
Nintendo is packaging both versions of its upcoming Pokemon remake together, though the benefit to buying both games in one box isn't monetary. While both Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire will debut next month for $40 each, the "dual pack" bundle will still cost $80. The catch to Nintendo's two-for-two-in-different-packaging deal is that both games come with individual download codes that give players 100 potions in each game, making the familiar journey a tad easier. Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire were announced for 3DS in May as "fresh takes" on the 2003 Game Boy Advance games. Like last year's Pokemon X and Y, the games feature a load of mega-evolved versions of existing 'mon. Players can still obtain a download code to access the game's demo in the next few days by purchasing one of a handful of apps or games. Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire will launch on November 21. Update: As a minor point of clarification, the dual pack is exclusive to Best Buy stores. [Image: Nintendo]
How to get demo codes for Pokemon Omega Ruby, Alpha Sapphire
Nintendo will release a playable demo of Pokemon Omega Ruby and Pokemon Alpha Sapphire on November 7, but you'll have to put in some effort to play these games before their official November 21 launch. According to Nintendo, there are several methods for obtaining a demo download code. From November 7 to November 13, several cinemas and games retailers will be distributing codes at no charge. If you'd rather not leave the house, you can also acquire a code by purchasing Pokemon Art Academy from the 3DS eShop, or either Pokemon Puzzle Challenge or the Pokemon Trading Card Game from the eShop Virtual Console. Pokemon Art Academy is out on October 24 while Pokemon Puzzle Challenge and the Pokemon Trading Card Game hit Virtual Console on November 6 and 13, respectively. Nintendo plans to issue demo codes for Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire on October 31. If you can't score a code by then, your final option is to attend Nintendo's holiday mall tour from November 24 to December 21. Staff members will be on hand demonstrating both of the new Pokemon games and will be handing out two demo codes to anyone who asks. [Image: Nintendo]
Pokemon Omega Ruby / Alpha Sapphire demo due next week on 3DS
A trial version of Game Freak's re-remade monster-battling RPG pair Pokemon Omega Ruby / Alpha Sapphire will hit the 3DS eShop next week, Nintendo announced today. Nintendo also teases new Mega Evolutions for Latios and Latias in the video above, giving players an early look at the advanced forms that await its classic Pokemon characters. Other recent Mega Evolution reveals include Audino, Pidgeot, and (unquestionably best of all) MEGA SLOWBRO. Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire hit retail and the 3DS eShop on November 21. The demo version launches on October 21. [Video: Nintendo]
Pokemon Omega Ruby / Alpha Sapphire capture more Mega Evolutions
As Pokemon X / Y taught us last year, permanent evolution is for chumps! Single battle-spanning Mega Evolutions are the new hotness, and the upcoming Pokemon Omega Ruby / Alpha Sapphire remakes are progressing accordingly: A recent edition of CoroCoro (which Serebii translated and posted scans of) has revealed Mega Evolutions of Latios, Latias, Pidgeot and Beedrill. Though Mega Latios and Latias weren't detailed, Serebii reports that Mega Pidgeot is a Normal/Flying type with the No Guard ability, while Mega Beedrill is Bug/Poison and capable of Adaptability. Serebii states that while strolling through the Hoenn region's overworld, Pokemasters can ride Mega Latios and Latias into the sky to find Dialga, Plakia, Reshiram, Zekrom and other Pokemon in the clouds. Serebii adds that islands inhabited by the notable Pokemon can only be accessed via flight, and that players will be able to find all non-event legendary Pokemon. There are also details about the MultiNavi PokeNav, which offers MapNavi, TVNavi, PlayNavi (think Pokemon Amie and the Global Trade Station) and DexNavi, which "helps you find Pokemon in the wild and register them in your Pokedex." Though Latias and Latios will still only appear in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire respectively, CoroCoro will distribute a serial code version of the Eon Ticket, an item tied to real-world events that lets players capture whichever eon Pokemon they're missing. We'll have to hope for a similar opportunity once wild copies of Omega Ruby / Alpha Sapphire appear on store shelves on November 21. If you're struggling to wait that long, you can join our prowl through the eShop's tall grass in search of a demo preceding the duo's launch. [Image: The Pokemon Company]
2DS to go see-through in EU with new designs, out in Nov.
Two new transparent 2DS skins are coming to Europe in November, letting continentals take a peek at the innards of the 3DS variants. The red and blue models first launch in the region on November 7, with Pokemon Alpha Sapphire and Omega Ruby bundles arriving alongside the Poke-remakes on November 28. Nintendo of Europe didn't disclose prices in its press release (2DS standalones are regularly priced £110 on Nintendo UK's online store) The transparent bundles clearly come with the games pre-installed on a 4GB memory card, with the red system including Omega Ruby and the blue system Alpha Sapphire.
