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Nintendo not doing E3 press conference, holding smaller closed events instead
In an investor presentation, Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata announced that Nintendo will skip the usual large-scale E3 press conference this year in favor of "a few smaller events that are specifically focused on our software lineup for the U.S. market."One of these events will be for American distributors, with another closed event "for mainly the Western gaming media." Iwata noted that Nintendo is not planning to announce any new hardware at this E3, with showing off software the main focus.While Nintendo is dropping a lot of mainstream press attention with this move, it makes a lot of sense for a company with the recent financial history of Nintendo to skip out on some expensive pageantry. Especially when the company makes E3-level announcements monthly, for a tiny fraction of the cost.
Now Playing: April 22-28, 2013
Fun, sun and the undead await you this week in Dead Island: Riptide... Choose your platform to jump to a specific release list:
PSA: Nintendo online maintenance today ahead of Wii U system update
Nintendo is performing online maintenance for all its systems today as it prepares the Wii U's spring system update. The update, which will introduce the Virtual Console proper (among other things), may be fully launched by tomorrow according to a Facebook tease by Nintendo of America.The extended maintenance is scheduled between 1PM PT today (4PM ET, 9PM UK) and 7PM PT (10PM ET, 3AM UK). The eShop and shopping channels for the Wii U, 3DS, Wii, and DS will be affected, so expect them to go down during those hours.
Now Playing: April 15-21, 2013
Jump into the superpowered brawl this week with Injustice: Gods Among Us... Choose your platform to jump to a specific release list:
Rockstar drops Grand Theft Auto playlists on Spotify, iTunes
Rockstar has released the soundtracks for its most recent Grand Theft Auto games onto Spotify and iTunes. Sadly, just the tunes from Grand Theft Auto 3 and every entry since are here – none of Rockstar's zany commercials or satirical talk radio stations.The only place to get the full soundtracks still is through Rockstar's box set releases; however, if you want to just listen to the ads, you can point your browser to The Advertising Council.Rockstar recently revealed the box art for Grand Theft Auto 5, due on September 17 for Xbox 360 and PS3. Even though over 100,000 have signed a petition calling for a PC port, Take-Two has not announced Grand Theft Auto 5 for the PC at this time.
New Nintendo eShop releases: Dillon's Rolling Western, Kirby's Adventure
Wii U's excellent Virtual Console promotion continues, with the NES Kirby's Adventure available for 30 cents. If you have a Wii U, of course you should pick that up! Also coming to Wii U soon is Injustice, which will be downloadable from the eShop on April 16, concurrent with its release on other platforms.Also out on April 16: Shin Megami Tensei Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers on 3DS. It'll be out digitally and in stores as well. Today, you'll be able to download the Dillon's Rolling Western sequel.
Zelda Symphony of the Goddesses returns to LA in June
Get your finest green tuxedo ready, Los Angelenos, because the Legend of Zelda Symphony of the Goddesses concert is coming back in June. The touring show features a full orchestra performing classic tunes from the series, and this event promises "newly approved" music straight from the land of Hyrule.The show starts at the Greek Theatre on Wednesday, June 12, which puts it right on the second day of E3 2013. If you want tickets, they'll be available this Saturday at 10AM through Ticketmaster.This is a newly scheduled stop on the Zelda tour, but it's not the only one: The full schedule has dates around the rest of California, in Texas, and up in Seattle and Toronto as well.
WayForward smurfing the Smurfs 2 game for Ubismurf
Yes, there's another CG and live-action Smurfs movie coming out this July, and Ubisoft is publishing the official game adaptation.However, instead of the truly off-putting dance game released for the first movie, Ubisoft has smurfed WayForward into making a 2.5D, co-op platformer for Xbox 360, PS3, Wii and Wii U, and an "interactive storytelling book and collection of mini-games" for DS. All versions will march into stores this July.Each playable Smurf has unique special abilities: Papa Smurf can throw potions, Grouchy can stomp, and Vanity can ... pose to become a platform. We don't expect too much from a licensed Smurfs game, but WayForward has a particular talent for licensed games, with Aliens: Infestation and Adventure Time as recent examples.%Gallery-185246%%Gallery-185247%
Disney's Planes adapted into Wii U, Wii, 3DS, and DS games this August
All of the recent news about Disney Interactive has been related to layoffs, studio closures, and in general, disappointment. Or Disney Infinity, which has appeared to be the exclusive focus of the division all year. But Disney Interactive has a second game in the works. A game based on Disney's Planes, the Disney-produced, formerly straight-to-DVD spinoff of Cars, will be released on Wii U, Wii, 3DS, and DS on August 6, three days before the movie is released."The game will expand beyond the storyline of the Disney's Planes film," Nintendo reveals, "offering players the opportunity to enjoy the thrill of flight as one of the popular characters from the film."
Now Playing: April 8-14, 2013
Experience one luchador's journey through the land of the living and the dead this week with Guacamelee! Choose your platform to jump to a specific release list:
Miyamoto: People will come to depend on second screen
"There was a period when we first released the Nintendo DS that people would say there's no way people can look at two screens at once," Shigeru Miyamoto told CNN. The DS was released in 2004, and slowly grew to sell over 153 million units worldwide (as of December 31)."I almost feel like, as people get more familiar with Wii U and these touchscreen interfaces, that there is going to come a point where they feel like 'I can't do everything I want to do if I don't have a second screen'." The trick, of course, is getting people familiar with Wii U, something Nintendo has yet to accomplish judging by hardware sales."I feel a device like Wii U, with its ability to continue to offer new features and that network connection and the connection to the TV and the interface, really makes it feel that it's more than just a game machine, but something that offers a lot of practical use and practical purpose in the living room," Miyamoto said.Miyamoto reiterated plans to update the firmware to make it "a little more stable, a little bit more convenient to use from a system standpoint." He's also working on figuring out how to "convey the usefulness of Wii U" to potential owners through games. "For me as a game developer, obviously I look at Wii U from the perspective of what games I can bring to Wii U."
Lego Legends of Chima screens show Laval's journey
These screens for Lego Legends of Chima: Laval's Journey offer a taste of the action in the totally original adventure from Warner and TT Games. The game will be coming to 3DS and Vita this Summer and to DS this Fall.
Rovio revenue in 2012 doubles to $195 million, toys contribute 45%
Angry Birds developer Rovio reported $71.3 million in net profit in 2012, up $25 million from the previous year, and its revenue doubled to $195.6 million. Rovio attributes the growth to its new gaming franchises, such as Bad Piggies and Amazing Alex, and its consumer products, including all of those Angry Birds plushies, backpacks and clothes lining Target shelves. Consumer products in 2012 brought in three times the revenue as in 2011, accounting for 45 percent of Rovio's total.Rovio games have been downloaded more than 1.7 billion times, and monthly active users across all platforms hit 263 million in December. Rovio notes that its main sources of revenue within gaming are paid titles, virtual goods and advertising.Angry Birds Toons premiered in March and Rovio is working on an Angry Birds movie, using its own funds to make that thing happen outside of the standard studio system. Despicable Me producer John Cohen and Iron Man executive producer David Maisel are both on board for the film, which is set to launch in 2016.
DS puzzle game Orion's Odyssey raising funds through Kickstarter
Orion's Odyssey is the second Nintendo DS game to seek funding assistance through Kickstarter, following the successful use of the platform as a pre-order campaign for Jason Rohrer's Diamond Trust of London.Developed by Island Officials, the team of board game enthusiasts behind semi-obscure DS release Hands On! Tangrams, Orion's Odyssey is a "comedy-puzzle game" about a handy robot and his seven-year-old friend, who have adventures on the top screen while solving pattern block puzzles on the bottom screen, arranging differently-shaped blocks to fill each puzzle's shape.Island Officials originally planned to find a publisher for Orion's Odyssey, but to no avail. "While they all had great things to say about our game and our efforts, they wanted to move away from Nintendo DS to other digital markets including the new 3DS system, as well as mobile phones and tablets," the developer writes.The team found a publisher willing to take on the plum deal of helping get the game through submission if Island Officials covered all production costs, and so it's asking for precisely $85,412 on Kickstarter.
April Fools: Pokemon Mastery degrees
Today, the Pokémon Twitter account delivered a heartwarming anti-college message as its April Fools joke, highlighting a fake course schedule for a Pokémon Mastery degree, with a link to a page saying that "Every Pokémon Trainer knows that the road to becoming a Pokémon Master cannot be duplicated in the classroom. There's just no substitute for personal adventures, Gym battles, and friendship."It's only in the fantasy world of Pokémon that leaving home and wandering the woods from town to town at age 10 – basically becoming a tween drifter – is a sensible career move. Stay in school, kids! And drink your milk.
April Fools: WayForward's 'Cat Girl Without Salad' has everything but salad
Cat Girl Without Salad! is the newest game from WayForward, combining "elements from several gaming genres, including puzzler, platformer, shmup, action, shooter, adventure, strategy, fighting, rhythm, arcade, horror, tactical, RPG, TPS, RTS, and visual novel" into one game, due this fall "exclusively" for 3DS, DS, Wii, Wii U, XBLA, PSN, PC, Vita, iOS, and Android."Cat Girl Without Salad! stars space bounty hunter/chef Kebako and a team of "Calamarites," fighting the 'notoriously-tardy NekoNekoNeko Clan." Or it would, if it were real. This cacophonous omnigame is WayForward's April Fools' Day gag, to the great relief of our attention span.
Now Playing: March 25-31, 2013
Visit the city in the sky this week with BioShock Infinite... Choose your platform to jump to a specific release list:
Now Playing: March 18-24, 2013
Join Kilo Squad this week with Gears of War: Judgment... Choose your platform to jump to a specific release list:
Devil Survivor 2 European release still in the works
Ghostlight's European localization of Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2 is "finished and has been approved for release by Nintendo," according to the publisher's blog, though that unfortunately does not translate into a European release date for the DS game."Without going into too much detail," the update reads, "retail support for DS titles is understandably low at the moment making it difficult for us to release the title. We haven't given up though and we're currently looking into several different ways of making this fantastic game available to you all." One of the "several different ways" under consideration is the possibility of Ghostlight offering a Collector's Edition directly through its website, a strategy the publisher recently used for the 3DS release of Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked.
New Nintendo eShop releases: HarmoKnight demo, Rayman Origins, Mega Man 3, Punch-Out!!
Both Rayman Origins and Mega Man 3 arrive on the 3DS eShop today, along with a HarmoKnight demo and a pair of DSiWare games in Forgotten Legions and Goony.Nintendo has also announced several games slated for March 19, including Wii U downloads of retail games Lego City Undercover (which we found disappointing), Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate and Need for Speed: Most Wanted U.The Wii U Virtual Console version of Punch-Out!! (not Mike Tyson's version, mind you) will enter the ring on March 20.
