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Who The Hell Is: Shulk
The following feature contains substantial spoilers for the game Xenoblade Chronicles. The rumors are true, and Joystiq is closing. I had only just started my "Who The Hell Is" series, where I gave a brief history lesson on video game characters such as Johnny Gat. After all, if you're going to be playing a game with the character's name in the title, you want to know who he is, right? So for one last time, let me help you get to know someone. Say hello to Shulk. For many players, Shulk's first appearance is not Xenoblade Chronicles – the 2010 Wii game he actually stars in – but Super Smash Bros. for Wii U/3DS. There, Shulk can boost his abilities to become harder, better, faster, stronger. He's also the only character possessing a costume equivalent to Samus' sports bra/short-shorts combo thanks to his form-fitting boxer-briefs. So, why does Shulk get to change his fighting abilities in a way that no one else can? To answer that, we have to go back. Way back. No, further. To the beginning of the world.
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]
Console Madness: Free Smash Bros 3DS XL, the rarest PS4 game, and much more
So Joystiq's given away a couple of limited edition Xbox Ones, a limited edition PlayStation 4, a crazy edition of Destiny, and a whole mess of random swag. You think we're done? We're not done. Prepare for more! In the lead-up to Christmas, Joystiq is giving away a limited edition Super Smash Bros. Nintendo 3DS XL. Snazzy art plus a copy of the game pre-installed! That's not all we're giving away, though. There's also a copy of Retro City Rampage for PlayStation 4. Recently released as a physical edition, it's the rarest PS4 game out there and already fetching serious prices on eBay. Finally, we've got an enormous box of mystery swag. What's in the box? You'll have to be one of our three winners to find out. Here's how to get the goods: Just use the Rafflecopter widget below between December 19 and December 26. Winners will be selected at random and contacted via email. Full rules and details after the break. Free Smash Bros 3DS XL, the rarest PS4 game, and much more giveaway [Images: Nintendo]
Mewtwo may become premium DLC for Super Smash Bros.
Nearly one month ago, Nintendo revealed legendary Pokemon Mewtwo as a playable fighter for Super Smash Bros, available only to those that own both the Wii U and 3DS versions of the game. Expected to arrive in spring 2015, the downloadable character will be free to the dual-Smash players, but new information on Club Nintendo notes that all players may have access to Mewtwo down the road. While it's no guarantee, the promotion page includes a footnote that the "Mewtwo DLC may be available for purchase in the future," as corroborated by the game's Japanese site. To make the prospect of purchasing the Pokemon character in Super Smash Bros. cloudier, Game Director Masahiro Sakurai told Video Gamer this week in regards to paid DLC for the games that the development team isn't "working on anything at the moment." Those looking to guarantee that they'll get a download code for Mewtwo will need to register their copies of both Smash Bros. games on Club Nintendo by March 31, 2015. Super Smash Bros. will launch on Wii U tomorrow in North America and November 28 in Europe. For more information on the game, be sure to check out our review. [Image: Nintendo]
Super Smash Bros. 3DS patch nerfs Rosalina, hitstun cancels
CLASH Tournaments has released a detailed breakdown of the changes introduced in this week's Version 1.0.4 patch for Super Smash Bros. for 3DS, revealing a host of balance changes and tweaks affecting several characters. Notably, the respawn time for Rosalina's partner character Luma has increased from 8 seconds to roughly 13 seconds, putting Rosalina in greater peril when Luma is knocked out. Peach, Link, and Toon Link no longer have toss canceling abilities, and Diddy Kong and Mega Man are now unable to cancel out of a stunned state by using specific moves. The patch additionally blocks playback of replays recorded using earlier versions of Super Smash Bros. for 3DS. Other listed tweaks affect Falco, Greninja, Yoshi, and Mr. Game and Watch. Shoryuken details all of the discussed changes here. Our review of the upcoming Wii U version of Super Smash Bros. went live today, and we'll have a final score once online play activates. [Image: Nintendo]
Super Smash Bros. 3DS balance patch 1.0.4 blocks old replays
Though Nintendo recently updated Super Smash Bros. 3DS to version 1.0.3, the House of Mario has announced that a new balance patch, 1.0.4, will soon be available. Details on what exactly the patch might change are scant. Nintendo's in-game notice to Super Smash Bros. 3DS players states simply, "This patch will adjust the game balance by refining the strengths of some fighters. It also includes various other gameplay fixes." The notice then goes on to warn players that Super Smash Bros. 3DS 1.0.4 is incompatible with older versions of the game, and that installing the patch will "disable playback of replays saved using older versions." There is no solid release date for the free update, though Nintendo is "planning to release the patch within the next month." As with all Super Smash Bros. 3DS updates, this patch is mandatory for anyone hoping to play online. [Image: Nintendo]
You probably won't outlive this 136-year Smash Bros. ban glitch
Harsh, Nintendo. We know ledge-camping is considered unsportsmanlike, but being banned from Super Smash Bros. for 3DS for 136 years, like some unfortunate Reddit users have experienced, seems a bit extreme. Okay, so the 136-year ban is actually a glitch and not a purposeful sentence, but it stinks all the same, especially since there is (as of right now at least) apparently no way to fix it. The glitch can be avoided however, since it seems to be happening only to players who quit online matches early or excessively target an individual in the game's four-player For Fun mode. So, don't be a bully, don't rage quit, or if you're really worried about this happening to you, just don't go online at all, basically. Reddit user "rstevoa" theorizes the glitch is caused by the game's code counting ban time too low, which would in turn cause the code to loop around to the highest number of seconds it can assign to a ban. Of course, that's just a theory - who knows what dark sorcery actually goes on at Nintendo? [Image: Nintendo]
Super Smash Bros. posters up for grabs from Club Nintendo
Sitting on a pile of Club Nintendo coins, just waiting for some worthwhile physical goods to show up in the program's online store? Hopefully you've got some open wall space, because a new, Super Smash Bros.-themed poster set appeared earlier this week, offering the above spreads in exchange for 700 coins. The set features familiar art with a few crossover tweaks. Sure, you've seen Rosalina and Mario soar through space, but ... hey, which yoga pose gives you the power of flight, Wii Fit Trainer? Isabelle also seems keen on Mayor Villager snatching up a Smash Ball to banish Link, Mario and Kirby from the homely Animal Crossing town. Each poster is 22" x 28", with sets due to ship two to three weeks after coins are cashed in. For those that have never used Club Nintendo, coins can be earned by registering Nintendo games and systems with a Club Nintendo profile. Reward amounts vary, but registering 3DS and Wii U games generally grants 30 and 60 coins respectively, with post-play surveys and smaller, eShop-only games serving up smaller coin stacks. If you've already lined your walls with past poster sets, well ... at least there's still that Smash Bros. soundtrack to earn. [Image: Nintendo]
Nintendo sales jump as Smash Bros. 3DS sells over 3 million
Nintendo posted a profit of 24.2 billion yen ($224 million) in the last quarter, ending September 30, a sizable resurgence for the company following its 9.9 billion yen loss in the previous quarter. The company also reported 96.7 billion yen in net sales ($895 million), a 29.5 percent jump compared to the last quarter. Nintendo's sales increases are thanks in no small part to Super Smash Bros. for 3DS, which sold 3.22 million copies worldwide since its mid-September launch in Japan. Smash Bros. sales coupled well with the 1.27 million 3DS systems shipped for the quarter, bringing the total number of 3DS systems shipped to 45.4 million to date. Nintendo also reported an increase in Wii U hardware shipments to the tune of 100,000 units (610,000 for the quarter), a 19.6 percent boost over the previous three months. That brings the life-to-date shipments of Wii U systems to 7.29 million consoles worldwide. Despite the positive showing for the quarter, Nintendo did not make any adjustments to its forecasts for the fiscal year. [Image: Nintendo]
Super Smash Bros. 3DS update balances for your Conquest pleasure
Attention Smash-ers: the non-stop online brawling will have to pause at least momentarily. Nintendo has released the first post-release update for Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, introducing changes to make for "a more pleasant experience" that must be downloaded to play online. What are those changes? Nintendo is not thorough in detailing what this update offers, as a post on its official site says only that its making a variety of balance adjustments. One notable change, however, is that you will no longer see the Conquest chart while actively playing in Conquest mode's online battles. The large v1.0.2 patch released alongside the game on October 3, which added Conquest mode to the game as well as enabling all online modes, is also packed in with this update for anyone just getting the game so they won't have to update it twice.
Super Smash Bros. hints that Mario's extra lives are clones
Descriptions for items within Super Smash Bros. for 3DS have already discussed Metroid protagonist Samus' inability to crawl. Another meme-referencing bit of text surfaced this week, this time providing a theory for Mario's extra lives. According to the description for 1-Up Mushrooms in the European version of the game provided by NeoGAF user SalsaShark, an extra life means "a whole extra version of you." The bit of text within Super Smash Bros. pondered the meaning of Mario's clones and whether "making more copies of yourself the real goal of any adventure" before imagining "a bunch of Marios getting together to discuss it." The North American version rephrases the same notion, which recalls a video of the double cherry power-up in action in Super Mario 3D World, found after the break. Do you have any favorite Easter eggs from Super Smash Bros. on 3DS? If so, share them with us in the comments! The Wii U version of the game will launch November 21. [Image: Nintendo, Imgur]
PSA: Smash Bros. requires patch for online, grab QR code here
Super Smash Bros. for 3DS is out today, but challengers will need to grab an update before they can enter the internet arena. There are a couple of ways to access this update for the game we called "the most feature-complete, compelling Super Smash Bros. entry to date." First, make sure the 3DS system is updated to the latest version. Then go to the Nintendo eShop on the 3DS and find Super Smash Bros. and select the update to download. When you start the game, it should show 1.0.2 on the title screen. Alternatively, you can grab the info from the QR code we've placed after the break.
Report: Smash Bros. glitch is MASSIVE
A glitch in the upcoming Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, which is currently available in Japan, sees Yoshi go through quite the growth spurt. If you've ever had fantasies of Godzilla in a Yoshi suit, prepare for them to potentially come true in the game's survival mode. Our review of the game called it "the most feature-complete, compelling Super Smash Bros. entry to date." SSBfN3DS is available this Friday, October 3, in North America and Europe.
Scenes of Calm and Chaos: Artists on fighting game backgrounds without the fights
The hand-drawn fighting game background is a fading art, kept alive by the crew at SNK Playmore, keeping the lights on in the King of the Fighters series and the tireless hardcore savants at Arc System Works. Brawlers like Super Smash Bros. 3DS, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure All-Star Battle, and Ultra Street Fighter IV maintain fighting games' presence in the mainstream gaming world, but only outliers like Persona 4 Arena Ultimax keep the old ways alive. Lush two-dimensional backgrounds like these inform fights in subtle ways. They're not interactive, never allowing for ring-outs or environmental effects, and their animations are slight, repetitive so as to not draw attention away from the action happening in the foreground. When Rose wraps Ken Masters in her scarf and shocks him, there's no surrendering your gaze to calm Grecian architecture around them. Free of those fights, though, is there anything left? What do these backgrounds have to say on their own as singular works of art? Joystiq asked three professional artists to examine this sprawling gallery of animated fighting game background culled from famous SNK and Capcom fighters like Street Fighter II and King of the Fighters '94. Here's what they had to say.
Metareview: Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS
We handed Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS four and half stars, calling it "the most feature-complete, compelling Super Smash Bros. entry to date," and setting it right alongside Fire Emblem: Awakening and The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds as a game that every 3DS owner should play. Critics around the web seem to agree that Super Smash Bros.' first outing on 3DS is worthy of high praise, though experiences with online play seem to vary across the board. Our own experience was fairly positive, depending largely on the geographical proximity of opponents. One critic notes lag issues in local multiplayer, especially in 4-player matches. Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS launches in North America on October 3.
Super Smash Bros. 3DS review: Only the strong
It may not be the undisputed industry leader these days, and Nintendo currently faces stronger competition than it ever has, but one thing you can't take away from the Japanese gaming giant is its wealth of iconic, beloved characters. From Mario to Link to Donkey Kong (and on through another few dozen familiar names), Nintendo is responsible for the majority of gaming's most famous faces. In hindsight, the idea to combine them all into one massive fighting game nostalgia bomb was sublime genius, and the Super Smash Bros. games have been among Nintendo's most popular releases on each console they've reached. It doesn't hurt that the games have all been solidly constructed from a combination of unique fighting game mechanics and spot-on controls, but let's be frank, people are buying these games because they're the best way to punch Pikachu in his cute, smug little face. That all might change with the latest entry in the series, however. Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS (that's the full title) is as much a trip down Nintendo's memory lane as any of its predecessors, but there's more meat here than in prior games. More to see, more to do, and all of it is built on the most solid fundamentals the series has yet seen. But is all of that enough to survive the franchise's first jump to a portable system? And what of the new online components, which have been a key failing of prior Super Smash Bros. games? Nintendo, along with development partners Namco and Sora, seems pretty confident, and the more time I spend with Super Smash Bros. for 3DS, the more I see why.
Super Smash Bros. supports new 3DS C-stick, not Circle Pad Pro
The portable version of Super Smash Bros. will not support the Circle Pad Pro accessory for 3DS, according to a support page on Nintendo of Japan's website, as translated by NeoGAF. With the recent announcement of a new 3DS and 3DS XL, the upcoming entry in the Super Smash Bros. series will reportedly favor the new devices' use of extra shoulder buttons and C-stick as opposed to the accessory that added a second circle pad and shoulder buttons to existing 3DS systems. This implies that players using a traditional 3DS or 3DS XL will be locked to using controls specific to those consoles without the extra buttons and joystick. The game will launch prior to the new hardware; Super Smash Bros. for 3DS is due out September 13 in Japan and October 3 in North America. The revised systems, which will be region-locked, will launch October 11 in Japan and won't make the calendar year in the west. The other version of the game for Wii U will arrive this holiday season. We've reached out to Nintendo to confirm the 3DS version's lack of support for the Circle Pad Pro and will update as we learn more. [Image: Nintendo]
