Wii U

[HandsomeDead]

And the circle continues. If they don't take risks the market won't come. You have to make the games first because no-one knows if it will fail or be a success. Did makers of Angry Birds or Fruit Ninja know the audience was there? I don't think so. I don't even think anyone was even prepared for Call of Duty 4's success, at least not at the level of success it got.

There are millions and millions of people who couldn't give a flying fuck about CoD/Gears/Bioshock/etc who could be catered to. No, publishers aren't a charity, but then there is also a huge market for them to tap into if they are willing to find it, and of course money will come with that; also a healthier game scene all round. If they did more than patronising casual games than maybe they'd have a better job finding it.

EDIT: and as for the S&P thing? well I guess you don't like Touch Detectives as much as I like S&P. I think it does what it does perfectly in terms of design, it has great mechanics that just give the game a great feel and it has an art direction which is all massive monsters and elaborate robots. I don't think it's a flawed gem, I think it is that damn good, hence why I do rate it as one of my favourite games of the last few years.

[DANGERMAN]

Rovio had a userbase of what, 100 million potential customers, selling a product that didn't cost them all that much to make. And COD4 was quite an established franchise, what with it being the forth one and everything

there are lots of people that aren't interested in COD etc, Nintendo don't have those people anymore outside some of their base, and of the rest how many of them are going to buy a games console? it's ludicrous to expect publishers to gamble on trying to find some whole new market that might not even want to be found, they dont have an unlimited amount of money. They should have jumped on the Wii earlier, recognised (like we did) that people were interested in it, but that time's gone, and now the WiiU is getting either no 3rd party games or shit versions of them, which is a good thing apparently, why would anyone want to use their games console more than 3 times a year?

[HandsomeDead]

No-one is saying the lack of third party support is a 'good thing'. And I'd say it's ludicrous that third parties consistently pump millions and millions of dollars into games for a small crowd where they are unlikely to get a decent return. That's pretty ludicrous, too, but they do it; and they will continue to do so. Okay, that's normal.

[radiofloyd]

Spring System Update coming next week.

The Wii U spring system update will arrive next week, Nintendo has announced.

The update will add new features and improve existing ones. Changes include:

• Improved loading times when closing and switching between software.
• Ability to copy and move data between USB drives.
• Automatically install new content downloaded in the background.
• Automatically receive updates without starting up the software.
• Press the “B” button while hardware starts up to go directly into Wii mode.
• New standby function will allow you to continue downloading and installing games after you’ve turned off the system.

The update will bring with it the arrival of the Wii U Virtual Console service and a demo for Wii U Panorama View.

Earthbound confirmed for European Wii U Virtual Console this year.

[radiofloyd]

And then there were two.

Nintendo will not host a full-scale press conference at E3 this year, company president Satoru Iwata said during the company’s latest financial results briefing. Instead, it will host a series of “smaller events.”

“We decided not to host a large-scale presentation targeted at everyone in the international audience where we announce new information as we did in the past,” said Iwata.

“Instead, at the E3 show this year, we are planning to host a few smaller events that are specifically focused on our software lineup for the U.S. market. There will be one closed event for American distributors, and we will hold another closed hands-on experience event, for mainly the Western gaming media.”

Iwata said Nintendo is current investigating ways to deliver updates on their games to home audiences around the time of E3.

“During the E3 period, we will utilize our direct communication tools, such as Nintendo Direct, to deliver information to our Japanese audience, including those who are at this financial briefing, mainly focusing on the software that we are going to launch in Japan, and we will take the same approach outside Japan for the overseas fans as well.”

The Nintendo boss added that the company’s main objective at E3 is to offer playable software.

“Many people are certainly very interested in learning more about the Wii U titles that we are going to announce,” said Iwata. “We will use E3 as an ideal opportunity to talk in detail mainly about the Wii U titles that we are going to launch this year, and we also plan to make it possible for visitors to try the games immediately. As a brand new challenge, we are working to establish a new presentation style for E3.”

E3 will run from June 11 to 13.

http://gematsu.com/2013/04/nintendo-to-skip-e3-2013-press-conference

[radiofloyd]

Game & Wario dated, reveal of new Retro Studios game "in the not so distant future"...

Nintendo has confirmed a Game & Wario release date of June 28 in Europe.

The Wii U collection of GamePad microgames will also launch on June 23 in North America, priced at $40, Joystiq reports.

The game, which was delayed from a launch window release, will be the first Nintendo developed Wii U title released since the console debuted in November.

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said this week that the company initially intended to release "a few" Wii U games in the first half of 2013, but that the titles in question were delayed because the company underestimated the development resources required to complete them on time.

Elaborating during Nintendo's annual financial briefing, he told investors: "The reason for the delayed release of our first-party titles was the fact that completing the games released at the same time as the launch of Wii U required more development resources than expected, so some staff members from development teams working on other titles had to help complete them. In short, the development teams of Pikmin 3 and other future games were understaffed during that period."

Nintendo recently confirmed a Pikmin 3 release date of August 4 in North America. The game will launch in Japan in July, while European release plans have yet to be announced.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/404324/game-wario-dated-for-wii-u/

Nintendo's Hiro Yamada has told ONM that the platform holder hopes to reveal Retro Studios' next game soon.

Yamada, who is supervising Monster Games as it works on a 3DS remake of Retro's Donkey Kong Country Returns, teased: "I wonder what kind of game it is? I hope to introduce it to you in the not so distant future."

Last September, Nintendo of America bossReggie Fils-Aime said that the Metroid Prime studio is working on a "fantastic project" for Wii U.

And in December 2011, Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto said of Retro, which most recently worked with the platform holder on Mario Kart 7: "As you know, we have already collaborated with Retro for the Metroid Prime series in the past. And I think when we talk about any other franchise, Zelda might be a possible franchise for that collaboration."

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/403939/nintendo-may-show-retros-wii-u-game-in-the-not-so-distant-future/

[DANGERMAN]

Yakuza 1 & 2 are getting the HD treatment on the WiiU bizarrely, only confirmed for Japan so far

[DANGERMAN]

I actually only read about that on the train home, I need to read the full story still. Hopefully the 3DS version of whatever Sonic game is decent this time, Generations was a bit shit imo

[Jimboxy]

Yakuza 1 & 2 are getting the HD treatment on the WiiU bizarrely, only confirmed for Japan so far

I wonder if it'll ever get a PAL release?

[Uncle Dokuro]

Yakuza 1 & 2 are getting the HD treatment on the WiiU bizarrely, only confirmed for Japan so far

link please

[radiofloyd]

Yakuza 1 & 2 are getting the HD treatment on the WiiU bizarrely, only confirmed for Japan so far

link please

Announcement

Debut trailer

Official site

[Uncle Dokuro]

Yakuza 1 & 2 are getting the HD treatment on the WiiU bizarrely, only confirmed for Japan so far

link please

Announcement

Debut trailer

Official site

Awesome and thank you Radio.

[DANGERMAN]

sorry I was on my phone in work, otherwise I would have done a proper job of that. Thanks RF

[Sambob]

What is Yakuza? is it like a driving game? why would they be remaking two driving games at the same time, I dont think anyone will buy them.

[Uncle Dokuro]

Apparently EA lied last week or Mr. Brown does not know what his own company has in development. EA's CFO Mr. Jorgensen says EA does have some Wii U games in the works.

http://www.polygon.com/2013/5/21/4351844/ea-developing-wii-u-games

Electronic Arts is developing games for the Wii U, but not as many as the company is developing for Sony and Microsoft's consoles, EA's chief financial officer Blake Jorgensen said today during the Stifel Nicolaus 2013 Internet, Media and Communications Conference.

Jorgensen's statement seems to contradict a statement last week from EA spokesman Jeff Brown, who said last week that the company has "no games in development for the Wii U currently."

"You know, I think Nintendo's business was more [an] extension of their last console," Jorgensen said today. "We are building titles for the Nintendo console, but not anywhere near as many as we are for PS or Xbox."

[radiofloyd]

Wii U sales jumped 875% on Amazon UK after the XO reveal:

It seems I’m not the only one who feels Microsoft’s Xbox One reveal was less than stellar, as customers in the UK have been snapping up the Wii U console ever since. Before the conference began the console had a sales rank of #390 on Amazon’s UK site. Shortly afterward, the Wii U skyrocketed up to #40 on the online retailer’s list. That’s a huge jump for a single event that had absolutely nothing to do with the console.

Microsoft achieved what price cuts weren’t able to do, as it got UK customers to purchase a Wii U. Those of you who believed the title on my opinion piece was misleading yesterday now have proof that Microsoft is indeed selling the Wii U better than Nintendo has so far.

http://wiiudaily.com/2013/05/wii-u-sales-increase-in-uk/

[DANGERMAN]

I'm certainly more likely to pick up a WiiU than an xbone

[Uncle Dokuro]

Wii U sales jumped 875% on Amazon UK after the XO reveal:

It seems I’m not the only one who feels Microsoft’s Xbox One reveal was less than stellar, as customers in the UK have been snapping up the Wii U console ever since. Before the conference began the console had a sales rank of #390 on Amazon’s UK site. Shortly afterward, the Wii U skyrocketed up to #40 on the online retailer’s list. That’s a huge jump for a single event that had absolutely nothing to do with the console.

Microsoft achieved what price cuts weren’t able to do, as it got UK customers to purchase a Wii U. Those of you who believed the title on my opinion piece was misleading yesterday now have proof that Microsoft is indeed selling the Wii U better than Nintendo has so far.

http://wiiudaily.com/2013/05/wii-u-sales-increase-in-uk/

Nintendo should send there Redmond neighbors a Tri-Force themed thank you cake.

Edit: That Bush and Obama going back in forth in the comment section of that Wii U Daily link is hilarious.

[Uncle Dokuro]

Former Rare employee and creator of Conker is working on a Wii U title at his new studio Gory Detail

Christopher Seavor, project lead on Conker's Bad Fur Day and its remake Live & Reloaded, tweeted earlier today about the need to acquire Wii U development kits for his studio, Gory Detail.

Along with being project leader and game designer on Conker, Seavor also voiced the vulgar squirrel, and wrote the script for the game. Seavor left Rare in order to start his own development studio, Gory Detail. The developer has released one mobile game with Parashoot Stan, and Seavor's Twitter account seems to imply that it is working on another.

All Seavor said on Twitter was, "WiiU devkits ain't cheap and it's lookin likely [Gory Detail] is gonna need 3 at some point this year."

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2013/05/25/conker-39-s-creator-is-working-on-something-for-wii-u.aspx

[DANGERMAN]

according to this post on neogaf Nintendo have recalled all the US retailers WiiU Basic bundles. This presumably means a new bundle being announced at E3, or on the Nintendo Direct that's replaced E3 for them

also I predicted this the other week