Nintendo wants to "change movies" with an interactive Zelda film

October 17th, 2013, 00:54 Posted By: wraggster

Nintendo wants to "change what a movie is" before it attempts a Legend of Zelda film adaptation
[h=3]Nintendo of America[/h]

Nintendo has been pretty conservative when it comes to spreading its properties out to other media. Legend of Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma told Kotaku that a possible Zelda adaptation would have to give audiences something completely different from their normal film experience.
"This is something that me and Mr. Miyamoto talked about," Aonuma said. "If we were to make a Zelda title, if we had interest in doing that, I think really what would be most important to us is to be able to play with the format of a movie, make it more interactive, like you're able to take your 3DS into the theater and that leads you into participating in it somehow. We wouldn't want to make it the same as any other movie. We want to somehow change what a movie is."
Disney's been toying with second screen film experiences, with the release of the Little Mermaid: Second Screen Live in September. The experience uses an iPad app that syncs up with the film using the built-in microphone. Mashable tried out the app at a screening and found the film almost unwatchable due to the app.
"The games are distracting. Some moviegoers meeting Ariel and friends for the first time will find it hard to focus on the movie, with a new game every minute or two," wrote Mashable's Taylor Casti. Many games require an individual's full attention, for instance, when players quickly pop bubbles or tilt the iPad to catch Ariel's treasures in a chest. In fact, the games were so distracting, on multiple occasions key information was lost to gameplay."
"Not to mention the voiceover and inter-theater competition, where up to four characters talk over the dialogue in the film to encourage players to compete with other audience members. As someone who grew up with Ariel, sure, the games were fun. But children seeing the movie for the first time missed seeing Triton destroy Ariel's treasures; Ariel meet Eric for the first time; Ariel's visit with Scuttle."
Perhaps Nintendo could work around this with a film built specifically for interactivity? It is a way for Nintendo to continue to be unique, but Rovio and others seem perfectly fine making simple animated features. Is the company trying to reinvent the wheel for no good reason?

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...ive-zelda-film

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Nintendo: Sonic will help drive 2DS sales

October 17th, 2013, 00:52 Posted By: wraggster

Sonic the Hedgehog is one of the 2DS’ killer apps, says Nintendo.
The platform holder told MCV that the franchise’s kid-friendly appeal will help the firm sell more of its value-priced handheld, which launched last week (Saturday October 12th).
Sonic: Lost World is one of three exclusive Sonic games for Nintendo’s platforms, and is due on 3DS and Wii U on October 18th.
“There is a lot of opportunity to engage with the younger audience on Sonic with the new entry-level Nintendo 2DS console. From launch to post launch we’ll be focused on kids,” said Nintendo product manager Dani Robinson.
“Peak season this year is without doubt a big celebration of Nintendo franchises and Sonic sits high on every platform gamers list of ‘must play’ titles.”
Marketing for Lost World will include ads around cinema releases Turbo 3D and Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2. This is in addition to a three-week TV campaign on Nickelodeon, Disney and Boomerang from October 14th.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/ninte...-sales/0122681

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Monster Hunter 4 ships 3m in first month

October 16th, 2013, 13:16 Posted By: wraggster

Monster Hunter 4 has surpassed 3m copies shipped in its first month.
Capcom announces the figure was reached across both retail and digital versions of the game. The milestone brings the lifetime sales total for the Monster Hunter series to 26m units sold.
Monster Hunter 4 launched on September 14^th in Japan,selling 1.7m copies in just two days. The 3DS sequel has also played a huge part in spiking 3DS hardware sales in the region over the past several weeks.
Capcom has yet to address the possibility of a western release.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/monst...-month/0122653

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Zelda's Triforce and Luigi's silhouette grace two new 3DS XL handhelds

October 16th, 2013, 02:34 Posted By: wraggster

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Wii U still misunderstood by consumers, retailers - Analyst

October 16th, 2013, 02:14 Posted By: wraggster

As the Wii U closes in on its one-year anniversary, the system is still hampered by some of the same problems it faced at launch. Speaking with Benzinga, IHS senior games analyst Christine Arrington said people still don't understand that there's a difference between the Wii U and its seven-year-old predecessor, the Wii.
"I think one of the things that was a real indicator of that was just, anecdotally, if you went into a retailer and you talked to somebody in the games department, they didn't even understand what it was," Arrington said. "I did the secret shopper kind of thing, and they would say, 'Well, there's no difference between the Wii and Wii U.'"
Arrington said she was told the same thing multiple times in her secret shopping efforts. As for why the console was so poorly understood, Arrington lamented the lack of a Wii Sports-like launch title, a game that would let everyone understand at a glance why the Wii U GamePad would allow for different experiences from the Wii.
Nintendo president Satoru Iwata acknowledged both the lack of consumer understanding and the absence of a Wii Sports-like title for the Wii U earlier this year. However, he blamed the misunderstanding on Nintendo's "relaxed" marketing efforts for the system.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...ailers-analyst

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Pokemon X & Y sell 4m in opening weekend

October 16th, 2013, 00:31 Posted By: wraggster

Nintendo has revealed some impressive sales numbers for Pokemon X & Y’s opening weekend.
The games – the first entries in the Pokemon series on 3DS – sold 4m units between them on Saturday October 12^thand Sunday October 13^th.
And Friday October 11^th in the UK.
The impressive number is a new record for the series, although of course that is largely to do with the fact that it’s the first time a new Pokemon entry has released simultaneously worldwide.
The pair also became the fastest selling 3DS games of all time.
Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said: “The early response to Pokemon X and Pokemon Y not only reaffirms the ongoing passion of Pokemon fans, but also indicates that an entirely new generation of gamers is eager to experience the franchise for itself.”
The Pokemon series has now sold over 245m copies worldwide. Here are some release-specific sales stats:

• Pokemon Diamond/Pearl (DS) 17.63m
• Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire (GBA) 16.22m
• Pokemon Black/White (DS) 15.42m
• Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver (DS) 12.67m
• Pokemon FireRed/LeafGreen (GBA) 12m

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Innovation is Nintendo's greatest strength and weakness

October 16th, 2013, 00:20 Posted By: wraggster

'The biggest surprises seem to come from Nintendo'

Nintendo's greatest strength and weakness both lie in innovation, says Rayman creator Michel Ancel.

Speaking to OXM, via Nintendo Everything, Ancel said the biggest surprises in the industry often came from Nintendo, and was looking forward to what comes next.

He said though that innovation often involves a huge amount of risk, as company's control the market and its reaction.

"Nintendo’s greatest strength, and its greatest weakness, is innovation," he said.

"It’s a company that takes a lot of risks. Few people understand that innovation involves risk-taking, because you don’t control everything on the market.

"Today, the biggest surprises seem to come from Nintendo. People may like those surprises or not, but that’s a fact. Miiverse was a surprise, the GamePad was a surprise. What will come next? I can’t wait!"

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata recently said the company was unafraid of failure, and was always looking to challenge the status quo and innovate.

He explained that the console giant was not good at competing, so always strived to create something new.

“If you do the same thing as others, it will wear you out,” said Iwata.

“Nintendo is not good at competing so we always have to challenge [the status quo] by making something new, rather than competing in an existing market.”

He added: “It’s often called the ‘Blue Ocean Strategy’, looking for something that no one else is working on. When we created the DS, people said it was strange to have a dual display, and people said elderly people don’t play games. But they did. Opening the first door is when things are most interesting.”

http://www.develop-online.net/news/a...akness/0184485

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Galaga Mini-Cabinet using a Nintendo DS

October 15th, 2013, 12:10 Posted By: wraggster


We’re not showing you the finished version of this tiny Galaga arcade cabinet because it doesn’t really testify to the awesome that was packet into this hack. In regards to the features the build is just nuts!. The user controls were customized to look like the real thing, and the attention to detail would make craftsmen from the gilded age of dollhouses proud.
The machine is driven by a Nintendo DS, which donates its upper screen as the cabinet display. In the image to the right you can see that the lower display is still accessible through an opening in the back of the cabinet. The joystick is a small multi-directional switch which was altered by adding the red ball. It was also housed in a custom metal bracket that includes a washer to limit the movement of the stick. Also shown on the right are the lights for the marquee as well as the two coin-slots.
Check out the video after the break to see the game play. Despite its size it still seems really playable, but if you need something larger you could model your own build off of this project.

http://hackaday.com/2013/10/14/galag...a-nintendo-ds/

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Iwata, Aonuma show off UK Zelda: A Link Between Worlds pre-order chest

October 15th, 2013, 01:10 Posted By: wraggster

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Yoshi's Cookie being pulled from US Wii Virtual Console

October 15th, 2013, 00:30 Posted By: wraggster

Nintendo has confirmed that Yoshi's Cookie will be dropped from the US Wii Virtual Console service on October 18.
This follows the game's removal from the EU and Japanese VC Wii Shops on October 11.
While Nintendo hasn't specified a reason for the game's removal, it is likely related to matters of licensing with the game's original developer, Bullet Proof Software.
Yoshi's Cookie, a block-matching puzzle game, was originally released on NES and Game Boy in 1992, before a SNES update arrived in 1993. The NES version hit the Wii Virtual Console in 2008.
Nintendo recently announced plans to cease manufacturing its Wii console in the near future.
The ceased production will mark the final chapter of the Wii story, which began when first announced in 2004 and went on to become the most successful home console in the company's 125-year history.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...rtual-console/

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Nintendo permitting cross-platform multiplayer

October 14th, 2013, 23:23 Posted By: wraggster

Nintendo will allow Wii U and 3DS developers to implement cross-platform multiplayer with other consoles and devices, according to indie developer Ripstone.
Ripstone’s co-founder Phil Gaskell told Eurogamer that Nintendo recently agreed to the studio’s request to include cross-play for its title Pure Chess – which is already out on PS3 and Vita and coming soon to Wii U, 3DS, iOS and Android.
“We’re launching Pure Chess and Knytt Underground later this year, and on Pure Chess we asked whether we could do cross-platform multiplayer, expecting it to be the typical closed console platform I’ve been used to working with for 20 years,” Gaskell said.
“Within a couple of days they said, ‘yep, no problem. You can have other console players playing against Wii U players. You can have smartphone players play against them. No problem.’”
Gaskell also backed Nintendo’s handling of indie games on its platforms, saying that the platform holder has not been idle in its approach – despite not making as much noise as its competitors about the subject.
“They’re changing their policies on the technical side a lot swifter,” he specifically noted.
The developer added that the cross-play feature is still unconfirmed until Sony also signs off on the matter, but he doesn’t anticipate any problems.
“We’re still talking to Sony about them relaxing their policies, but we don’t think they’ll have any issue with it. So when we launch Pure Chess you’ll be able to play against Wii U, 3DS, iOS and Android players. And when we patch PlayStation those consoles will be added into the mix as well.”

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/repor...player/0122526

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Iwata: "Nintendo is not good at competing"

October 14th, 2013, 23:21 Posted By: wraggster

Nintendo has a rich history of innovation and president Satoru Iwata says that tradition remain very much at the heart of the company.
When it works, it really works – just look at the record-breaking success of the DS and Wii. When it doesn’t work, however, it can leave the platform holder languishing alone in the gaming wilderness.
The Bridge reports that Iwata last week gave an interesting explanation of the strategy to an audience at an Osaka business event.
“If you do the same thing as others, it will wear you out,” he stated. “Nintendo is not good at competing so we always have to challenge [the status quo] by making something new, rather than competing in an existing market.
“It’s often called the ‘Blue Ocean Strategy’, looking for something that no one else is working on. When we created the DS, people said it was strange to have a dual display, and people said elderly people don’t play games. But they did. Opening the first door is when things are most interesting.”

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/iwata...peting/0122541

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PETA uses Pokemon to promote veganism

October 14th, 2013, 22:52 Posted By: wraggster

Not one shy of using video games hype to promote its own campaigns, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has leapt upon Nintendo’s recently released Pokemon X & Y.
However, rather than attack the game directly as it has done in the past PETA has instead launched its own playable Pokemon game that it hopes will promote people to covert to veganism.
“For generations, humans have loved Pokemon, but if Pokemon came to our world and saw how we treated animals, would they love us back?” the blurb reads. “Be a hero for real-life animals by pledging to try vegan.
“With the huge selection of delicious vegan meats and alternatives to dairy foods and eggs available, there's no excuse not to give a vegan diet a try. We'll send you delicious recipes and tips for living cruelty-free to help you along the way.
“Change your life for the better and save the lives of animals by pledging to try vegan today.”
The game itself, which you can try below, sees Pikachu and pals attempting to uncover conspiracies about America’s food production industry:

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/peta-...ganism/0122547

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Nintendo allowing cross-platform play on Wii U, claims Ripstone

October 14th, 2013, 22:27 Posted By: wraggster

Wii U and 3DS players can interact with smartphone counterparts

Nintendo is allowing cross-platform multiplayer on the Wii U and 3DS to other consoles and devices, claims publisher Ripstone’s creative director.

Speaking to Eurogamer, Phil Gaskell said Nintendo had given the greenlight for the company to implement cross-platform play in its upcoming Pure Chess and Knytt Underground games with other console players and smartphone users.

Ripstone is still talking to the likes of Sony however on whether developers on the PS4 and Vita would be able to do the same, but Gaskell believes the firm will not have an issue with it.

“They're changing their policies on the technical side a lot swifter,” he said.

“We're launching Pure Chess and Knytt Underground later this year, and on Pure Chess we asked whether we could do cross-platform multiplayer, expecting it to be the typical closed console platform I've been used to working with for 20 years. Within a couple of days they said, 'yep, no problem. You can have other console players playing against Wii U players. You can have smartphone players play against them. No problem.'

"We're still talking to Sony about them relaxing their policies, but we don't think they'll have any issue with it. So when we launch Pure Chess you'll be able to play against Wii U, 3DS, iOS and Android players. And when we patch PlayStation those consoles will be added into the mix as well."

In the past console manufacturers have been criticised for offering closed systems and heavy restrictions on digital content, including large update fees.

Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo appear set to change this perception somewhat with the next-generation of more connected consoles however. Microsoft has already waved update fees for the Xbox 360, and Sony has worked closely with companies like CCP to ensure free-to-play and MMO titles can successfully run on a console.

http://www.develop-online.net/news/n...pstone/0184444

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Pokémon X/Y doubles Black/White's opening week sales

October 14th, 2013, 22:14 Posted By: wraggster

New Pokémon games X and Y have sold around twice as much as last year's Pokémon Black and White opening week sales.
The new titles come as Nintendo launches its new 2DS handheld console, and reached number three and four in the UK All Formats boxed game chart respectively, for the week ending October 12th.
Grand Theft Auto V topped the All Formats chart again this week, ahead of FIFA 14 which sits in second place.
Sony's PS3 exclusive Beyond Two Souls debuted at number five this week.
Meanwhile, in the PC boxed budget game chart, EA's Dead Space 3 arrives in at number eight, while Medal of Honor: 10th Anniversary returns to the Top Ten at number four. It has already spent 12 weeks in that chart.
Rome: Total War 2 remains at the top of the PC full-price boxed game chart, ahead of The Sims 3 and Football Manager 2013.
Additionally, The Sims 3: Pets returns to the full-price Top 20 at number 12. It has been in the full-price PC game chart for almost two years now (102 weeks).

http://www.pcr-online.biz/news/read/...k-sales/032162

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CTR - Crappy Tiny Reader v1.2

October 14th, 2013, 03:06 Posted By: wraggster

PsyKo has updated CTR, a small PC utility designed to read and display basic info from Nintendo DS, DSi and Nintendo 3DS ROM dumps. Seems we missed version 1.1 so the changelog below contains the changes for both 1.1 and 1.2.

Changelog

v1.2
- New "Maker Codes" added again!
- 3DS Firmware textbox now only displays the first three numbers of the firmware
- adding support for some old System Title IDs (v2088, v3078) only available offline from cartridges like SM3DL or RE:R.

v1.1
- New "Maker Codes" added, some older ones edited
- System title ID/version and 3DS firmware req. info are now displayed for 3DS ROMs
- Supports 3DS firmware up to 6.3.0-12
- Fix a display bug in "Plain region"
- Fix a bug in NDS Extended header check which was giving bad results in v1.0
- NDS/3DS "Plain region" textboxes are now read-only, users can't delete info in them
- Beta tabs no more exist, "Tools" tab replace them
- New features added:
~ Trim : Removes 3DS ROM final padding
~ Un-trim : restores 3DS ROM final padding
~ RIP update : trims your ROM and deletes its update partition

+ Notes:
- Trimmed and ripped ROMs are both working on the Gateway flashcard (tested with launcher v1.1)
- Since every one got its own way to trim ROMs, we can just advise you to only un-trim your 3DS ROMs
with this tool if they were trimmed by CTR.
- If you are using RIP update, remember that the update partition will be deleted permanently and can't be restored.

http://www.ds-scene.net/?s=viewtopic&nid=12605

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3DSExplorer v1.5.3

October 14th, 2013, 03:05 Posted By: wraggster

elisherer has released version 1.5.3 of 3DSExplorer, a PC application to open 3DS files and convert videos to the 3DS format. We didn't post about several releases of this so below is the full changelog since the last release posted about here..

A backup copy of 3DSExplorer can be found in our download centre should the Google Code page get shut down.


Changelog

v1.5.3
- Revert supertrim form deleting the last partition record.

v1.5.2

- Added Trim, Un-Trim and SuperTrim for CCI by 3DSGuy (aka ps3hen) (Open up a CCI file and a new menu "CCI" will appear.)

v1.5.1
- MPO: Added some info found by Thib
- Fixed: title.db update process.
- Parentool 3ds algorithm fixed (was wrong)

v1.5
- Added: QR Tool
- Added: Parental Control Unlocker (for 3DS as found by neimod, and for the DSi/Wii as on marcan's site)

v1.4
- Added: support for BCMA/DARC files/containers.
- Added: DSDecmp GUI for compression/decompression of LZ-10/11/Ovl & Huffman4/8.
- Updated: XOR Tool's file text boxes accept drag&drop (DSDecmp GUI's also).

v1.3 (3DSGuy)
- Added *.cfa as an openable file (associated with CXI module)
- Used more general terms for CXI/CFA and 3DS/CCI/CSU with NCCH and NCSD respectively, while the general terms are more broad, they are correct, as a CFA file is not a CXI file.
- Fixed the Number of NCCH from 13 to 8 in the CCI module
- Changed the NCSD header readings to match the current specs on 3DBrew, with the exception of the "ExHeader size/Exheader Hash", as they are always zero in every NCSD.
- Made the ExHeader an extractable file from NCCH files.


http://www.ds-scene.net/?s=viewtopic&nid=12606

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puNES 0.69

October 14th, 2013, 03:02 Posted By: wraggster

via http://emu-russia.net/en/

NES emulator has been updated. Changes:
- MMC3A and MMC3C are now full implemented.
- Fixed a bug in MMC3 code and now the status bar in Mickey's Safari in Letterland is displayed correctly.
- Added an option in the Audio Settings that enables the sound output of a early Famicom-clone consoles (swaps the duty cycles 25% and 50%).
- Fixed a bug introduced in a previous version that did not allow the start of the "Batman - Return of the Joker".
- Added support for Windows 8.
- Added CLI option "--portable" for run puNES in portable mode (is no longer necessary to rename the executable even if it is still possible to do so for backwards compatibility).
- Fixed the display of the parameters of the command line in the Windows version.
File: Download
News source: http://forums.nesdev.com

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Shunyuan's HLE Audio Plugin 1.8.1u1

October 14th, 2013, 03:01 Posted By: wraggster

via http://emu-russia.net/en/

Audio plugin for Nintendo 64 emulators has been updated. Changes:
- fixed sometimes mupen64 and 1964 failed to initialize XAudio2 driver.
- Lua script fixed World Driver Championship no audio.
File: Download
News source: http://forum.pj64-emu.com

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Dolphin 4.0-205

October 14th, 2013, 02:54 Posted By: wraggster

via http://emu-russia.net/en/

Intermediate version Nintendo GameCube and Nintendo Wii emulator for Windows has been updated.
File: Download
News source: http://dolphin-emu.org

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