Nintendo Chatter v2

[Master Thrasher]

http://www.joystiq.com/2014/01/30/zelda-four-swords-free-on-3ds-eshop-this-weekend

Four Swords is free on the 3DS eShop.

 

[vivisectvi]

http://www.joystiq.com/2014/01/31/iwata-nintendo-considering-mergers-and-acquisitions-as-an-optio/

Nintendo President Satoru Iwata said mergers and acquisitions are an option for turning the company's fortunes around in a Nikkei interview. Iwata said the company "should abandon old assumptions about our businesses. We are considering M&As as an option. For this reason, we'll step up share buybacks."

This echos Iwata's statements during a press conference earlier this month in which he said Nintendo is "thinking about a new business structure" and is specifically "studying how smart devices can be used to grow the game-player business." It also follows news of the company having to drastically cut its forecasts for the fiscal year, taking its expected Wii U shipments down from 9 million to 2.8 million.

Additionally, Iwata commented on the option of Nintendo delisting itself from the stock market, saying that "quarterly earnings reporting is not a good fit for Nintendo." He said that even when Nintendo thinks a goal is reachable, it doesn't for sure know whether a product will be a hit. "But it is thanks to the stock market that Nintendo has grown to what it is today. I don't want to turn to a management buyout just because we are inconvenienced now," he added.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Super Mario 3D World level Flower-12 can eat a dick. I'm glad I have 500+ extra lives.

 

[vivisectvi]

Nintendo confirms "integrated" next gen console/handheld tech @ Investor Q&A: http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/library/events/140130qa/02.html

You have explained your concern about users being divided by hardware. Currently, you have both a handheld device business and a home console business. I would like to know whether the organizational changes that took place last year are going to lead to, for example, the integration of handheld devices and home consoles into one system over the medium term, or a focus on cost saving and the improvement of resource efficiency in the medium run. Please also explain if you still have room to reduce research and development expenses.

Last year Nintendo reorganized its R&D divisions and integrated the handheld device and home console development teams into one division under Mr. Takeda. Previously, our handheld video game devices and home video game consoles had to be developed separately as the technological requirements of each system, whether it was battery-powered or connected to a power supply, differed greatly, leading to completely different architectures and, hence, divergent methods of software development. However, because of vast technological advances, it became possible to achieve a fair degree of architectural integration. We discussed this point, and we ultimately concluded that it was the right time to integrate the two teams.

For example, currently it requires a huge amount of effort to port Wii software to Nintendo 3DS because not only their resolutions but also the methods of software development are entirely different. The same thing happens when we try to port Nintendo 3DS software to Wii U. If the transition of software from platform to platform can be made simpler, this will help solve the problem of game shortages in the launch periods of new platforms. Also, as technological advances took place at such a dramatic rate, and we were forced to choose the best technologies for video games under cost restrictions, each time we developed a new platform, we always ended up developing a system that was completely different from its predecessor. The only exception was when we went from Nintendo GameCube to Wii. Though the controller changed completely, the actual computer and graphics chips were developed very smoothly as they were very similar to those of Nintendo GameCube, but all the other systems required ground-up effort. However, I think that we no longer need this kind of effort under the current circumstances. In this perspective, while we are only going to be able to start this with the next system, it will become important for us to accurately take advantage of what we have done with the Wii U architecture. It of course does not mean that we are going to use exactly the same architecture as Wii U, but we are going to create a system that can absorb the Wii U architecture adequately. When this happens, home consoles and handheld devices will no longer be completely different, and they will become like brothers in a family of systems.

Still, I am not sure if the form factor (the size and configuration of the hardware) will be integrated. In contrast, the number of form factors might increase. Currently, we can only provide two form factors because if we had three or four different architectures, we would face serious shortages of software on every platform. To cite a specific case, Apple is able to release smart devices with various form factors one after another because there is one way of programming adopted by all platforms. Apple has a common platform called iOS. Another example is Android. Though there are various models, Android does not face software shortages because there is one common way of programming on the Android platform that works with various models. The point is, Nintendo platforms should be like those two examples. Whether we will ultimately need just one device will be determined by what consumers demand in the future, and that is not something we know at the moment. However, we are hoping to change and correct the situation in which we develop games for different platforms individually and sometimes disappoint consumers with game shortages as we attempt to move from one platform to another, and we believe that we will be able to deliver tangible results in the future.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Wii U news from today's Nintendo Direct:

• Mario Kart 8 out May 30. Koopa Kids Koopalings are playable characters.
  
• GBA games to be available on the Wii U virtual console this spring.
  
• NES Remix 2 to be released April 25. The entire original Super Mario Bros. will be included, only you play as Luigi. Oh, and you play right to left.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Nintendo game to let you haggle over price:
  

  See, you download the main game for free. The minigames you play within, though, you have to buy. Nintendo gave an example price of $4.00 for one of these titles, but that price isn't locked down.P
  
  Instead, you can negotiate the price, by offering an in-game character certain items. If you offer something they like, then the actual price, in real human money, comes down.
  

  Knock it out of the park in a series of baseball-themed minigames that will have you swinging at disappearing fastballs, bringing down UFOs with the help of some rubber tires, or even becoming an umpire and ringing up batters. But before you play ball, you'll have to haggle with that miserable mutt, ex-pro baseball player Rusty Slugger, to lower the actual Nintendo eShop* purchase price of each minigame! Don't worry, you can use weird in-game items like donuts and nose hair trimmers (that's not a typo) to help you get the lowest price possible.

• Little Mac going to be in Smash Brothers.

 

[Kageho]

If you haven't picked it up yet, Bravely Default for the 3DS is an awesome fantasy game. Just got gifted it and the game is so much fun. Graphically very much like Final Fantasy Tactics and the sense of style from place to place is always nice (except some dungeons, they are kind of drab).

Combat is just fun~! I think I've spent more time on combat than I have actually playing the game for story. Battles are turn based, but you can do wonderful things with storing turns for later use, or using turns ahead of time. Adds a wonderful amount of strategy to the game, because not only can you do this, but so can your opponents. You can also adjust the amount of random battles and difficulty on the fly. And by amount of random battles, you can turn it entirely off if you feel you are sufficiently prepared for what lies next.

The side-quests may be called this, but they actually add a lot of depth to the overall story and also grant you new classes to equip. With each new class, you get access to special skills that you can slot. You'll get up to 5 skills, but start off with 1. You'll also have a side-quest to build a town (does not grant you class as far as I can tell), but its time slotted unless you get a lot of civilians into it. Though, you can pick up some good gear and stuff from it if you build it up.

The story is pretty standard fantasy fair as you are off to save the world, but the characters, the interactions, the way it is told, is just a blast. It also doesn't let off the gas and keeps things progressing. There's very rarely a part that doesn't provide movement to the story, cause character's to interact in great ways (skits~!), or just be downright hilarious (Ringabell's dandiness, Agnes' sheltered life, Tiz's naivety and Edea's putdowns of Ringabell). There are also parts that are voice acted, but even

And the music is just wild in that it is all over the place and weirdly all works together. Rock, ballads of sorrow, mysticism, Edea's Theme (so upbeat and chipper) and more. Its like a blend of everything good about fantasy games of the last while. My favorite pieces out of this are Bell of Battle (Agnes' Theme) and You're Name Is... (Boss Battle Theme), but since there's something there for everyone, I wouldn't be surprised if someone else had different ones. I don't think there's a terrible track in the game. Or at least so far. After all, I'm only in Chapter 2 right now.

Bravely Default holds all the nostalgia of older fantasy games and gives them a fresh coat of paint. Its just so wonderful. Can't wait for its sequel, Bravely Second.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcmx4kC0tiU

 

[DrVenkman PhD]

http://youtu.be/SPjZo3G8h98
http://youtu.be/m0jfcGs8TJc

 

[KingPK]

Super Mario Bros 3 is FINALLY on VC.

I still can't wrap my head around them putting GBA games on Wii U and NOT 3DS. How fucking hard is it to do both?

 

[Haws Bah Gawd]

Same here. I'd love to have Metroid Fusion on my 3DS.

 

[treble]

Didn't they say they weren't going to release anymore after the ones they gave away in the 3DS Ambassador thing? I don't anyone would really care, but maybe they're sticking to that.

 

[vivisectvi]

Nintendo has the most nonsensical "policy" on this VC stuff.

 

[KingPK]

I played the demo for Mario Golf World Tour. I liked it quite a bit. It's in the Hot Shots Golf vein and I've been jonesing for a golf game for a while.

Has anyone tried that 3DS baseball game where you haggle the shop owner to lower the prices on the other mini games? What a weird goddamn game that is.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

NES Remix 2 is out.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

http://kotaku.com/watch-nintendos-new-mario-kart-8-direct-here-1569750783/all

Nintendo is also running another promotion until July 31 where, by registering your freshly bought copy of Mario Kart 8 with Club Nintendo, you can grab one of four Wii U games for free: Wii Party U, Pikmin 3, The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD, or New Super Mario Bros U.

 

[KingPK]

Mario Golf is really fun. It's basically Hot Shots Golf with a Mario skin. The online tournaments are a really good idea and there seems to be a ton of stuff to unlock.

 

[AnonymousBroccoli]

https://twitter.com/NintendoAmerica/status/472076848382607361/photo/1

 

[AnonymousBroccoli]

Skip to about 2:19.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMQySEjyCUw&t=139s

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

There's a Wii U update out there. Quick Start menu gets implemented, notifications light up the Home Button on the gamepad (as well as making a "ringtone"), log-in screen looks a little different.

 

[fazzle]

It was literally just yesterday that I discovered Tomodachi Life was a full retail release. For some reason I was thinking it was an eshop game. I was definite day 1 purchase on that when I thought it was eshop, but...full price? Now I'm not so sure.

 

[DrVenkman PhD]

http://youtu.be/dVz-2VuAYlY

 

[fazzle]

Oh thank god it was just a pac-man announce trailer. The title of it had me worried they were gonna do some dumb pokemon bullshit and release three different versions of the game.

 

[DrVenkman PhD]

http://youtu.be/_1hkSUGgPC8

 

[Mattdotcom]

I had a couple of beers and yada yada yada I woke up this morning with a Wii U.

 

[vivisectvi]

I love drunk stories that end up with someone owning a new console.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Nintendo Network ID, bro.

Downloaded Color Zen recently. P. fun game. Some of the levels are p. tough.

 

[The Amazing Rando]

I also just got a Wii U. Got Mario/Luigi U, Pikmin 3, and Mario Kart. Only played Kart so far.

ID is apparentlyjim.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Friend request sent!

 

[Mattdotcom]

Mine should be Mattman2561

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

I'm'a add you later tonight.