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FIFA 15 won't feature Brazilian clubs due to licensing
Unlike FIFA 14, Brazilian domestic clubs and the players belonging to them don't feature in FIFA 15. EA revealed this week that, because of changes to how Brazil's domestic league licenses players - the company didn't note what those changes might be - it failed to reach an agreement that would let players feature in its latest sportsballer. So, while players in Brazil's national team and Brazilian players based abroad still feature, it's adeus to the likes of Palmieras, Santos and Flamengo. After Brazil's disassembling by Germany at the World Cup, we wonder if the country's fans would have things that way 'round. With that elephant in the room crudely dealt with, all that's left to say is FIFA 15 is coming to another bevy of platforms this year, starting with Xbox One, PS4 and PC on September 23 in North America, and September 26 in Europe.
'Mario Kart 8' couldn't save Nintendo from a $97 million loss
Mario Kart on the Wii U is really good. Unfortunately it's just one game -- and it looks like it won't be enough to rescue the Wii U's sales. Nintendo apparently agrees, stating that its 9.9 billion yen loss was due to a lack of hit titles outside of the flagship racer. Matter-of-factly, Nintendo said: "The operating loss was 9.4 billion yen because total selling, general and administrative expenses including fixed expenses exceeded gross profit. " Which is, well, exactly how you work out an operating loss. The company is now betting on the power of Super Smash Bros. as well as the best-selling Pokemon series to improve results later this year. Wii U console sales have improved in the Americas and Europe: 510,000 units were sold worldwide in the last three months, compared to 160,000 in the same period last year. In Japan, however, Wii U sales have decreased year-on-year. Revenue was 8.8 percent higher than the same period last year and Nintendo is hoping its plans for a series of console-connected toy figurines along the lines of the hit Skylanders series will help to improve that bottom line.
Wii version of Skylanders Trap Team includes Wii U digital copy
The Wii edition of Skylanders Trap Team will include a download code for the Wii U version of the game, the series' official Twitter account revealed this week. Fans can pre-order the Wii version (seen above) for $75, which includes a Traptanium portal, two traps, two Skylanders figures and, well, two copies of the game. Activision announced Trap Team in April as a follow-up to last year's successful Skylanders game, Swap Force. Developed by Skylanders Giants lead studio Toys For Bob, Trap Team will launch on October 5 for Xbox One, PS4, Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, Wii U and 3DS. The game has players trapping 40 different enemies into trap crystal, turning them into usable characters. Trap Team will usher in 60 new Skylanders as well, including a new class known as the Trapmasters. The developer showed off a Dark Edition of the game at the San Diego Comic-Con event this week. [Image: Activision]
Skylanders Trap Team to introduce 'Eon's Elite' premium toy line
Activision announced that it will roll out a new collector-oriented series of Skylanders toys following the launch of the multiplatform sequel Skylanders Trap Team this fall. The new "Eon's Elite" figures feature a metallic finish, and sit atop a golden base inside a premium-packaged foil display case. If you can bring yourself to crack open the packages and ruin their aftermarket value, you'll find that the Eon's Elite toys summon in-game characters who are up to three times more powerful than their non-premium counterparts. Today's announcement follows up on Activision's recently revealed Skylanders Trap Team Dark Edition, a bonus-bundled special edition of the game that will carry a premium price tag at retail. Recent announcements suggest that Trap Team will move beyond the series' traditional youth-oriented focus in order to appeal to an expanding collector market. The first Eon's Elite series features relaunched characters from 2011's Skylanders Spyro's Adventure, including Spyro and Chop-Chop. Prices for the new toys were not announced, but given their focus on packaging and presentation, they're likely more expensive than currently available figures. [Image: Activision]
Relive your NES glory days with a gamepad that feels like the real thing
We've ripped apart knock-off gadgets more than a few times, but there are moments where a company's urge to mimic others will pay dividends. Take 8Bitdo's recently released NES30, for example: the Bluetooth gamepad recreates as much of the NES controller's design as possible while still keeping its feet planted in the modern era. The four extra buttons aren't exactly true to the 1985 original, but the overall look and button presses are reportedly faithful to what you remember. Even if it's not quite true to life, you might not mind given the very broad device support. The NES30 can talk to Android, iOS, OS X and Windows, and it can even double as a (fairly awkward-looking) Wii remote in a pinch.
Skylanders Trap Team Dark Edition debuting at Comic-Con this week
Developer Toys for Bob will showcase the upcoming figure-powered action game Skylanders Trap Team this week at San Diego Comic-Con, giving showgoers an early look at the collector-oriented Dark Edition prior to its launch in October. Skylanders Trap Team's Dark Edition is a special starter bundle that features the Ultimate Kaos Trap, an accessory that allows players to capture and control series antagonist Kaos for the first time. The package also includes two additional trap accessories, a redesigned Portal of Power, a poster, sticker sheets, trading cards, and exclusive black-and-silver variants of new characters Snap Shot, Wildfire and Food Fight. Toys for Bob will additionally host a Skylanders-themed panel discussion and costume contest starting on July 24. The Skylanders Trap Team Dark Edition retails at $99.99, and is set to launch on October 5 for the Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PS3, Nintendo Wii, Wii U, and 3DS platforms. [Image: Activision Blizzard]
PSA: Nintendo eShop undergoing maintenance today
Nintendo's Wii U and 3DS eShop services are intermittently down this evening until 5:00 p.m. Pacific (8:00 p.m. Eastern), the company noted in an update on its network status and maintenance site. Additionally, the Wii Shopping Channel and Nintendo DSi Shop will be down at that time. Today's maintenance on Nintendo platforms affects all services on Wii U and 3DS for a five minute period at 2:30 p.m. Pacific (5:30 p.m. Eastern). Likely, that brief interruption is over by the time you, dear friends, are reading this. So while it'll be a little longer before you can browse the eShop, you may resume your online Mario Kart 8 races. [Image: Nintendo]
Joystiq Streams: Fatal Frame 4's ghoulish Kodak moments [Update: Watch the replay!]
Update: The stream is over, watch the replay above! Twitch was being a little twitchy, so the stream was split into three videos. Follow the annotations to move onto the next videos. It's fitting that Fatal Frame: Nuregarasu no Miku, the first HD entry in the series, would find its home on Nintendo's Wii U. Like Fatal Frame's haunted villages, Wii U is also full of Japanese ghosts, with once dead games like Bayonetta 2 and Devil's Third getting new life on the box. Plus the tablet controller, so difficult to find appropriate uses for even for its creators, is a natural fit for the Camera Obscura. As Fatal Frame is reborn, we lay the Mid-Summer Terror Train to rest with Fatal Frame 4, the long lost entry that never made it out of Japan. Officially at least. Don't worry if you're not fluent in Japanese - we've got a patch that translates the game into English. Starting at 4PM EST on Joystiq.com/Twitch, we'll be streaming a solid hour of Fatal Frame 4. Will ghosts devour Richard Mitchell's soul as he plays? Will Anthony John Agnello and Susan Arendt be able to stop talking about how awesome Fatal Frame 2 is long enough to learn about this obscure horror game? [Note from Susan: "Probably not."] Will the chat start posting pictures of ghosts that are really just their cats? [Other note from Susan: "Man, I hope so."] These questions and more will be answered when we go live at 4PM EST on Joystiq.com/Twitch. [Images: Nintendo]
The Wii U tears itself apart so you don't have to
YouTuber Vsauce3 is at it again, and this time he's tearing down Nintendo's latest console via the always neat-looking stop-motion animation. The Wii U's hardware specs are pretty well known by this point, but what this video does is gives some context to the silicon. The console's 2GB of RAM is much less impressive compared to both the PlayStation 4's and the Xbox One's 8GB, but that's 23 times the amount of memory that was packed into the original Wii. Similarly, the Wii U's 32GB hard drive sounds pretty paltry on paper, but it's apparently big enough to hold every NES, Super NES and N64 game. Pretty cool, right? The video below has a few more bits of trivia contained therein, and watching it will make the wait for the next Legend of Zelda exactly two minutes shorter.
Sony to 'welcome back' Wii owners with PS4 remakes
Sony is positioning the PlayStation 4 to capture a returning audience who skipped the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in favor of the Nintendo Wii during the previous console generation, Sony Computer Entertainment president Andrew House told Eurogamer this week. "Our big opportunity is to welcome back an audience much earlier in the lifecycle that possibly bought into the Wii previously," House said. "[O]ur consumer data suggests some of those people are already coming in now and that's what's contributing to the really great sales we've had." Sony plans to introduce the returning audience to a slate of remastered and rereleased games from the last console generation, starting with this month's launch of The Last of Us Remastered for the PlayStation 4. Sony's PlayStation Now service will also offer a number of streamed classics upon its launch. "I hesitate to say this because I know committed gamers may roll their eyes about it," House admits, "but there's an opportunity with some of the remastering or re-imagining from PS3 franchises that will potentially find an audience that hasn't played them in the previous generation because they skipped that generation." House continued: "That bodes well for us as a platform, but it bodes well for developers and publishers as well. I've always looked with envy at the movie industry about what a great job they're able to do with taking content and making it work. Disney is the best example of this, right, of taking classic content and reintroducing it to audiences over time." [Image: Naughty Dog]
Sega's plans for Wii U Virtual Console are non-existent
The age-old rivalry between Sega and Nintendo may be all but over, but that doesn't mean the two companies are sharing everything with each other. Case in point: the distinct lack of Sega games on the Wii U Virtual Console. Case in sad point: that situation may not change anytime soon, if ever. In response to a Twitter user's question about plans to bring Sega games to the Wii U Virtual Console, Yosuke Okunari - a company producer who has worked on 3DS conversions of classics like Outrun and Space Harrier - said plainly that "there are no such plans." Not all hope was dashed however, as Okunari suggested the fan make their desires known to Sega West. So the bad news is the Wii U Virtual Console shall be sorely lacking Sega favorites like Sonic The Hedgehog, Golden Axe, Altered Beast or - let's face it, everyone's favorite - Vectorman, at least for now. The good news is you can still play most games released for the original Wii's Virtual Console by going through the Wii U's emulation software by selecting the "Wii Menu" channel on the console's start menu. You'll have to use a Wii Remote or Classic controller to play the thing, and you won't have access to that game's Miiverse or off-TV options like you would if it were native to the Wii U Virtual Console, but technically you can still play. So on the bright side, you're not actually missing out on access to some of these games, it's just time-consuming and inconvenient! Yay? [Image: Sega]
New Nintendo eShop releases: Guacamelee, Armillo
To coin Sony's term, Squids Odyssey is the first 3DS and Wii U "cross-buy" game, but it's only supported by Nintendo of Europe. Over in Europe, customers who buy the underwater RPG on 3DS can download the previously released Wii U version for free, as long as their Nintendo Network ID is linked across the two systems. However, Siliconera confirmed the promotion isn't coming to North America. We wonder if there's an element of testing the waters going on, but we'll have to wait and see. That's all very interesting, as is 3D rolling platformer Armillo (pictured above, check out its trailer below the break) and the excellent Guacamelee, both of which are now on Wii U. Yet our eyes are inexorably drawn to Bombing Bastards. Not because of the game, which has an undeniably familiar whiff about it, but the name itself, which Nintendo is apparently cool with. Remember when Stealth Bastard Deluxe became Stealth Inc on Sony platforms? Looks like Nintendo doesn't care so much, which is not the way round we pictured that. As ever, you'll find all the new eShop releases below the break. Sales-wise, Kung Fu Rabbit is half-price at $2.49 until July 10, while Just Dance 2014 is permanently down to $40. Also, you can visit the weird and wacky world of 3DS sim Tomodachi Life through a new demo.
FIFA 15 offers world's favorite game a virtual facelift
Even if you believe soccer consists solely of Uruguayans chomping nearby shoulders, this latest FIFA 15 trailer demonstrates that the game should render those ravenous attacks in gorgeous fashion. [Image: EA]
Just Dance is now an eSport
The realm of eSports isn't confined to fighting games, competitive FPSes, and MOBAs anymore. Ubisoft's Just Dance series has joined the Electronic Sports World Cup as the organization's first casual game. Just Dance competition finalists will be chosen during qualifying rounds taking place globally and online between June 24 and September 21. A group of 20 top players will then compete in a final round at Paris Games Week to determine the world's best money-maker-shaker. Awards will be announced soon. Players who would rather cavort in the privacy of their own homes can submit entries for the Electronic Sports World Cup through Just Dance's World Dance Floor mode during qualifying sessions on July 13, July 20, July 27, August 3, August 31, September 7, September 14 and September 21. [Image: Ubisoft]
UK court rules against Nintendo in patent infringement case
A UK court has found Nintendo's reasons for creating devices with both a camera and motion-sensing technology "unconvincing," and has ruled against the house that Mario built in a patent infringement case brought forward by electronics company Philips. The decision impacts the Wii and Wii U consoles, as both systems utilize such technology via Wii Remotes and the Wii U GamePad. "The common general knowledge did not include a device combining a physical motion sensor with a camera and the reasons advanced by Nintendo for putting those two sensors together in one unit are unconvincing," judge Colin Birss wrote in his decision, possibly channeling his inner Ron Burgandy. What this means for fines and damages is currently uncertain, as Nintendo has said that it will appeal. Philips filed against Nintendo in the US last month, seeking damages for Nintendo's "deliberate and willful" patent infringement, as well as a ban on the Wii family of products. [Image: Nintendo]
May NPD: PS4 leads hardware sales, month five
For the fifth consecutive month, Sony's PlayStation 4 led sales in the US, beating out Microsoft's Xbox One, NPD Group reported in its May breakdown. Overall hardware sales were up 95 percent from May 2013 to $187 million, and while most of that growth is attributed to PS4 and Xbox One sales, Wii U and Vita sales also grew year-over-year. "Two examples of hardware bundles that helped to drive hardware sales in May 2014 include Mario Kart 8 bundle for the Wii U, and the Borderlands 2 bundle for the PS Vita," NPD analyst Liam Callahan said. Software sales jumped up 57 percent year-over-year to $274 million, breaking six months of declines. Callahan called out new launches Watch Dogs, Mario Kart 8, Wolfenstein: The New Order, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Kirby: Triple Deluxe as the reasons for the increase. The No. 1 game in May was Watch Dogs, followed by Mario Kart 8, MLB 14: The Show, Wolfenstein and Minecraft. See the complete list below. Sony SVP of Brand Marketing Guy Longworth provided an internal analysis of the NPD numbers: "PlayStation continues to be the best place to play for innovative IP, as PS4 was the preferred platform for May's biggest releases, including Watch Dogs and Wolfenstein: The New Order, and held four of the top five spots for next gen software sales. PS4 is the leading next-gen platform for sports, highlighted in May by the best-selling sports game, MLB 14: The Show."
Here are Nintendo's new 'Super Smash Bros.' Amiibo toys for Wii U
Toy-based gaming is not only alive and well, but it's also expanding to more franchises. This time it's Nintendo's turn: Following in the footsteps of games like Skylanders and Disney Infinity, Nintendo announced the Amiibo, which are plastic figurines that you scan into your Wii U by holding them on the GamePad. As soon as the toy is scanned, its corresponding character -- Mario is a primary example -- appears in the game with its own unique score, experience points and skills. The point of doing this is so you can either partner with or fight against these virtual characters. Additionally, the more the Amiibo fights, the better it will become. The toys, which were shown off for the first time at E3, will initially be available for (and compatible with) Super Smash Bros. this holiday season, but more games will be compatible later on, such as Mario Kart 8 and Mario Party 10.
Skylanders Trap Team takes character-driven action to ridiculous extremes
Today, I saw a monstrous piñata who spews candy and bludgeons his enemies with a gigantic lollipop, a tomato-blasting sentient artichoke who eats his own ammo to grow stronger, and an honest-to-god rock'n roll werewolf who shreds on a guitar and slides into his enemies on his knees, Pete Townshend-style. Believe it or not, I have not yet contracted E3 Flu, and my brain is not currently being wracked by fever dreams. These characters are all part of Skylanders Trap Team's playable cast, and developer Toys for Bob is clearly ramping up the creativity for the latest entry in its toy-powered adventure game series with an army of ridiculous characters and outlandish settings. [Image: Activision]
Open-world 'Zelda' game heading to Wii U in 2015
Last year, Zelda tastemaker Eiji Aonuma told us that he wanted to give players more freedom. "I want them to be able to explore more." Back then, he was talking about A Link Between Worlds; today Nintendo is talking about the franchise's first game designed natively for the Wii U. Taking the screen during Nintendo's Digital Event at E3, Aonuma showed a deep, lush landscape and pointed to the horizon. "You can even reach those mountains in the distance if you walk far enough." It's the first truly open-world Zelda game.
Just Dance 2015 grooves onto systems in October [update]
Like day follows night and night follows day, Just Dance 2015 will shake its evergreen booty on systems this October - a trailer shown during Ubisoft's E3 conference listed Xbox One, Xbox 360 and Wii U while the official site also lists logos for PS3, PS4 and Wii. There's no Aisha Tyler in it though, and that's always a disappointment. Meanwhile, Just Dance Now promises to give players a mobile way to groove. Update: The game will launch on October 23 in EMEA regions, and then the day after in the UK. The North American release window remains October. Additionally, Ubisoft unveiled some of the 40 tracks coming to the dancing game, which you can check out below the break.
