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January 12th, 2016, 21:57 Posted By: wraggster
The boss of virtual reality specialist Oculus has said that Nintendo’s failed Virtual Boy platform was harmful to the whole virtual reality movement.
In a second Reddit AMA, Palmer Luckey rightly points out that the Virtual Boy was not really a virtual reality device in any sense of the word. Nonetheless, its association with the term has left a negative legacy.
“Not really a VR device, IMO. No head tracking, low field of view, essentially a monochrome 3DTV,” he argued. “A real shame, too, because the association of the Virtual Boy with VR hurt the industry in the long run.
“It did have the first LED display in a consumer device, though – probably the best contrast of any display up to that point.”
Virtual Boy was released in 1995. Despite being marketed as a portable device, it was used via a table-top mount. Users weren’t able to move their head freely around a 3D environment, although the display – which was limited to shades of red – was the first to offer parallax 3D gaming.
However, the unit was discontinued after just six months after falling drastically short of Nintendo’s multi-million expectations. Its poor range of software, weak marketing and comparatively high price were problematic, but it was the sickness and headaches it induced that were the real killer.
Elsewhere in the AMA, Luckey also addressed concerns about Oculus Rift’s £500 RRP.
“If you have a Samsung phone, Gear VR is your current best bet,” he responded to one gamer lamenting their inability to afford the unit. “Your crappy PC is the biggest barrier to adoption, which is why we are working with all the major hardware vendors to optimize for VR.
“If ‘normal’ PCs get good enough to run VR, then the majority of people will be able to buy a relatively cheap headset and just use whatever computer they already own to drive it.”
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/lucke...urt-vr/0161087
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January 12th, 2016, 22:09 Posted By: wraggster
Happy birthday, Pikachu! And Bulbasaur, and Charmander, and Squirtle, and Growlithe, and ... about 700 other adorable creatures. February 27th is Pokémon Day, and this year Nintendo is celebrating the franchise's 20th anniversary with the release of a special 3DS bundle. It includes Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue pre-installed, plus two cover plates with artwork from the original games and a download code for an exclusive Home Menu theme. Pokémon Red, Blue and Yellow will be available to download in the 3DS eShop on February 27th, as well.
That's not all Nintendo and The Pokémon Company have planned for the anniversary. Nintendo will re-release some of its best-selling Pokémonamiibo -- specifically Charizard, Jigglypuff, Greninja and Lucario -- at select retailers on Pokémon Day. Hungry collectors, rejoice.
Fans of the animated series get some love in 2016, too. Nintendo will release 12 full-length Pokémon feature films on iTunes, Google Play and Amazon throughout the year, beginning in January. We're talking digitally remastered versions of Pokémon: The First Movie, Pokémon the Movie 2000and Pokémon 3: The Movie, among others. Additionally, Pokémon TV -- accessible on Pokemon.com, Roku, Chromecast and Amazon Fire platforms -- will host one film a month, and the first three Pokémon movies will be available in Blu-ray and DVD bundles this year.
Plus, as we knew, the real-life monster-hunting game Pokémon Go hits mobile devices this year and Pokken Tournament, the Pokémon fighting game, hits Wii U in the spring.
http://www.engadget.com/2016/01/12/n...-new-3ds-pack/
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January 18th, 2016, 21:05 Posted By: wraggster
Those of you with a Wii U have been missing out on Minecraft: Story Mode, created by Mojang and Telltale Games, the indie developer behind The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones titles. But that's changing soon. Today, Telltale announced that Minecraft's narrative-based series is coming to Nintendo's console in just a few days, on January 21st.
http://www.engadget.com/2016/01/18/m...intendo-wii-u/
Up until now, the game had been available on the Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and PC, as well as iOS and Android, having rolled out a total of five different episodes for all platforms. The Wii U version will only feature Episode 1: The Order of the Stone at launch, but the rest are expected to be available at a later date.
Each episode is going to cost $5 to download from the eShop, or there's also the option to pay $20 for the Season Pass, which gives you access to Episode 2 through 5.
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January 18th, 2016, 21:07 Posted By: wraggster
Your Nintendo DS is no longer the hottest handheld on the block, but that doesn't mean it has to sit in the closet gathering dust. Modder Anthony Thomas recently started up Game Boy Macro, a service that turns the DS into a giant Game Boy Advance player -- as the name suggests, it's basically a Game Boy Micro writ large. You lose the second screen (and thus native DS games), but the result is arguably much cooler. You can even specify custom case colors if you're eager to recreate the look of your old Game & Watch.
http://www.engadget.com/2016/01/18/game-boy-macro/
Be prepared to wait a while if you want one. Thomas has lately been focused on shipping the first wave of orders, and isn't currently taking any more -- you have to sign up for a waiting list to get a heads-up on future production runs. Also, it won't be cheap when it costs $130 to have Thomas supply everything himself, or $110 if you have a DS for him to use. Custom colors are $10 each. With that said, it could be a small price to pay if you want to take a trip down memory lane while turning some heads.
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January 18th, 2016, 21:25 Posted By: wraggster
Pokkén Tournament smashes into the Wii U on March 18th in North America, Europe and Japan, the official Pokémon Twitter accountannounced today. Pokkén Tournament combines two of gaming's greatest inventions: Pokémon and the fighting genre. It's in development at Bandai Namco, the studio behind classic fighters Tekken and Soulcalibur, and is published by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company.
Pokkén Tournament will feature at least 16 fighters, including Pikachu, Charizard, Chandelure, Magikarp, Croagunk, Pachirisu and Sylveon. The game drops alongside a special Wii U controller that's designed to mirror the arcade version of Pokkén Tournament. That gamepad is $25 on Amazon.
http://www.engadget.com/2016/01/15/p...ii-u-march-18/
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January 18th, 2016, 21:34 Posted By: wraggster
The long-awaited debut on Nintendo on smartphones will have a dramatic effect on Nintendo’s profit, president Tatsumi Kimishima has said.
Its debut smartphone title Miitomo also remains on track for March, the exec had asserted.
The first fruits of Nintendo’s partnership with Japanese mobile publisher DeNA had been due out before the end of last year, but was pushed back to March. Now analyst Serkan Toto says that Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima has said in a 2016 roadmap published in Japan that March remains the launch date for its social communication app Miitomo.
Furthermore, apps featuring more recognisable and triple-A Nintendo IP are also due in 2016, a move he hopes will elevate Nintendo’s fiscal performance “to a new level”.
In fact, profits of ¥100bn is now the target within the next “several” years – a 400% jump on its most recent annual profit.
Also confirmed are plans to reveal new details about the company’s mysterious NX console, although there has not yet been any sign of whether this can be expected before, during or after E3.
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/ninte...rofits/0161336
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January 18th, 2016, 21:44 Posted By: wraggster
2016 is the 20th Anniversary of Pokemon, don’t you know? And part of the celebration sees three Special Edition 2DS making their way to the UK.
Three systems will be released on February 27th, one each of which will be based on Pokemon Blue, Pokemon Red and Pokemon Yellow. Each will come with the Virtual Console version of its respective release pre-installed.
Also in the box is a sticker sheet and a code to download a relevant theme.
Existing 2DS or 3DS owners will also be able to download the games on the same day. 3DS owners will also be able to choose between two themed faceplates. Prices for the consoles or the games have not yet been specified.
In North America it looks as if a different bundle is on the way. Also due on February 27th, the SKU includes a 3DS (non-XL), two alternative cover plates and both Pokemon Red and Pokemon Blue pre-installed.
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/speci...the-uk/0161146
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January 18th, 2016, 22:07 Posted By: wraggster
Mario Kart 64 will be downloadable on Wii U from this Thursday, 21st January, priced £8.99.
The N64 classic hosted some of the series' best tracks, such as Kalimari Desert, Moo Moo Farm and Yoshi Valley.
Then again, it also included Toad's Turnpike, so y'know.
It is also remembered for introducing the series' infamous blue shell, and for allowing you to troll your friends by repeatedly choosing Toad so he continuously shouted "I'm the best!".
Mario Kart 64 originally launched in Japan almost 20 years ago, in December 1996. Just to make you feel old. It then turned up in Europe in June 1997.
Nintendo re-released the racer on Wii Virtual Console in January 2007, exactly nine years ago.
Here's another fun fact: Mario Kart 64's Rainbow Road holds the record for the longest track in a Mario Kart game, according to the Guinness Book of World Records Gamer's Edition. (Although, if you know the secret shortcut, it is also one of the shortest.)
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...sole-this-week
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January 20th, 2016, 22:25 Posted By: wraggster
[ModPurist] sent us his Raspberry-Pi-in-a-Nintendo casemod. Before you go hitting the back button, this is a good one because it’s so well executed. And it’s actually a two-fer: he’d previously built up a wireless NES controller that completes the setup.
 Both of these mods are hacks in the purest sense of the word. The controller mod took a wireless keyboard’s sending circuit board and wedged it inside the NES controller. The original NES controller reads out the buttons into a shift register and sends that down a wire. That’s all gone. [ModPurist] just wired up each button to the sender PCB and figured out which keys they corresponded to on the PC by pressing the buttons. Simple.
The best part of his ? After about a minute in, he forgets that he’s filming a technical how-to video and plays Pokemon for the remaining four minutes. That’s the sign of success.
Then there’s the NES hack itself. He stripped everything out, added a Raspberry Pi 2 and a fan, made it all work with the power switch and the original TV outs, and it’s done. Again, nothing more than needs doing, but nothing less. It looks just right plugged up to the CRT monitor (from a C64, no less), and there’s no doubt that being able to play wirelessly on an original NES controller is cool.
This isn’t [ModPurist]’s first time here on Hackaday either, and his “Cold Boy” fridge-turned-Gameboy is a work of art.
https://hackaday.com/2016/01/20/clea...ry-pi-nes-mod/
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January 20th, 2016, 22:37 Posted By: wraggster
Nintendo is yet to reveal the first details of its upcoming NX console, and we are unlikely to hear anything concrete until this year's E3 conference in June.
 The NX. Probably.
Regardless, the internet is in a flap about a new set of rumours about a home console and handheld hybrid to replace both Wii U and 3DS.
Adding fuel to that fire, today saw a marketing survey slide pop up on NeoGAFwith a fresh set of claims - and again, reference to the NX as a console and handheld device. Eurogamer has spoken to individuals who responded to the survey and can verify it exists.
Whether Nintendo commissioned the survey and to what extent its information represents the console's final form is another matter, however.
The slide describes NX software as having gameplay which "flows" between the console's home device and handheld.
Players will be able to earn and share achievements, surf the web and make video calls - so far, so believable.
But the survey goes on to mention "4k/60fps video streaming" and "gameplay graphics at 900p/60fps". Plenty of Wii U games are 1080p, which makes this claim stand out as odd.
Eurogamer understands the survey goes on to quiz responders on how much they'd pay for the device and whether they would want a console with a disc drive (or not).
Another question asks if users would be interested in a Netflix-style game subscription service.
The survey was posted by major market research company GfK, the same outfit which collects game sales data for Chart-Track in the UK.
Immediate reaction to the survey - especially the 900p detail - was negative. Although, as already stated, it is likely much of the information contained within was simply to test the waters. Consider the marketing surveys which Ubisoft sends out each year with suggestions for further Assassin's Creed. Some questions reflect features in upcoming games - which are by that point already well into development - while others are there seemingly to simply canvass opinions.
If this does come from Nintendo, it is probable a similar tactic is being used here. Or, if not from Nintendo, it is another company's best guesses.
The only thing certain at this point is that Nintendo will reveal details on NX when it is ready - either at E3, or to the Japanese newspaper Nikkei which will publish all the details online prematurely and spoil all the surprises (as has happened in the past).
We've contacted GfK for comment.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...dos-nx-console
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