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Nintendo Gaming / A Post-"Please Understand" Company: Nintendo After Mr. Iwata's Passing

« on: July 13, 2015, 02:08:56 AM »

After the tears, farewells, and remembrances comes the future. This thread is for discussion of where Mr. Iwata has left Nintendo as a company at the end of his tenure and to speculate on moves in the immediate and distant future.


A summary:

• The Nintendo 3DS, released on February 26, 2011 in Japan, has sold 52.06 million hardware units and 225.66 million pieces of software (as of March 31, 2015).
• The Nintendo Wii U, released on November 18, 2012 in North America, has sold 9.54 million hardware units and 56.68 pieces of software (as of March 31, 2015).
• The next dedicated video game hardware platform, code named NX, is currently in development and promises "a brand new concept."
• Nintendo has partnered with DeNA to develop an improved network service and applications for smart devices.
• Nintendo has partnered with Universal Studios theme parks group to develop attractions based on Nintendo characters.
• There are no announcements on who will permanently step in to the role of president of Nintendo Co. Ltd.
• EDIT: The Quality-of Life initiative has been active for some time, but has yet to show its first product.

Hopefully, I didn't mess up too badly.


Nintendo is in a transitional period as the 3DS and Wii U wind down and the NX starts revving up. Multiple deals and partnerships are in place to expand Nintendo's reach outside of it usual hardware and software.


The question I find myself dwelling on is who will be the next president of Nintendo Co. Ltd. It is almost guaranteed that Nintendo will promote from within. However, lets have our heads in the clouds and think how wild it would be if Nintendo hires a person from outside of the company and possibly of non-Japanese nationality.


Nintendo has always been an interesting video game company to follow, but this is the most dynamic position for the company yet.


EDIT: I forgot to add, don't feel pressured to think about these things immediately! My desire was to create a thread to separate calculating criticism of Mr. Iwata's tenure at Nintendo in to a relevant and forward-looking discussion. I wanted this thread to be here once the tears have dried. Or for those that deal with grief by going straight back to work or a hobby.

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Nintendo Gaming / Fire Emblem Fates

« on: April 29, 2015, 07:24:55 PM »

The 14th installment in the Fire Emblem series is coming to Japan on June 25th, 2015. Early 2016 for the rest of the world.

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/3ds/bfwj/index.html (Japanese Website)

2015.01.14 Japanese Trailer

2015.04.02 Japanese Trailer

"What if you could rid the world of war?

What if hatred could be conquered?

What if...."

As a child born to the Hoshido royal family and raised by the Nohr royalty, the player's character stands between two kingdoms at the crossroads of war and peace. The child's choice will shape the fate of the two kingdoms.

Fire Emblem if in Japan comes out in two retail versions, one for Hoshido (White Kingdom) and one for Nohr (Black Kingdom). Each retail copy costs 4,700 yen and contains only the respective version's story. The other version's story can be purchased as DLC for 2,000 yen. The eShop version of the game will lock to one story on the 6th chapter. A third story path is planned for a later DLC release at 2,000 yen. A special edition of Fire Emblem if with all three stories and collectible goodies is planned for a later release at 9,250 yen.

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http://www.siliconera.com/2015/04/29/fire-emblem-ifs-black-kingdom-will-complicated-victory-requirements/

The White Kingdom version is intended for Fire Emblem fans who joined the series with Fire Emblem: Awakening or are playing Fire Emblem for the first time.

The Black Kingdom version is intended to be a much more difficult game:

Black Kingdom will have a much higher difficulty with limited money and experience points for leveling up your characters. Additionally, it will have more difficult conditions for clearing its stages. Defeating the enemy general or defeating all enemies are still the basic requirements, but it will also have other conditions such as suppress enemies, break through enemy lines, and defend your base. There will also be maps with limited turns.

http://www.siliconera.com/2015/04/29/fire-emblem-ifs-third-story-route-will-difficult-white-less-black/

The third story route will have a difficulty that is in between the paths of Hoshido and Nohr.

Intelligent Systems intends either story of Hoshido or Nohr to be a complete experience on its own:

“As mentioned earlier, Fire Emblem If isn’t something that you can’t fully enjoy without playing both routes,” adds Yamagami. “But please give it a go if you play one route and think ‘I want to play more!’. Both routes are very complete as far as the story goes.”

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Nintendo Gaming / Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water | Coming to NA Fall 2015

« on: July 17, 2014, 03:41:22 AM »

Official Website: http://www.nintendo.co.jp/wiiu/al5j/


First Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1rv4GAZoho


From NeoGaf - http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=856735 :
The horror adventure game is the series’ biggest volume yet. It is set in Hikamiyama, a sacred mountain with a huge lake at its summit from which water gushes abundantly throughout the mountain. It’s a mountain of death, and only those who choose on their own to die go there. They enter the mountain at oumagatoki (the witching hour), when the boundary between the world of the living and the world of the dead is blurred. The game’s story revolves around the concept of water.

Protagonist is Yuri KOZUKATA, and she can sees people who have been spirited away (of course, she can bring them back to the world of the living). She goes to Mount Hikamiyama (dubbed the "Moutain of Death") to find her missing friend.

The Wii U GamePad will act as a “Projection Machine,” which can be controlled like a real camera. You can move the camera to follow ghosts according to its movements, setting up both vertically and horizontally, and shooting while looking around the environment.

The theme song is performed by AnJu, and is called "Higanbana"


From 4gamer - http://www.4gamer.net/games/254/G025443/20140717028/





Looks very nice. While it was depressing that Fatal Frame 4 and the Fatal Frame 2 remake never made it to American shores, maybe Fatal Frame: The Black Haired Shrine Maiden has a better chance.


P.S. It's a bit silly, crazy to mention this, but @trintran has retweeted Nintendo Co. Ltd. tweet on the game
https://twitter.com/Nintendo/status/489654619379732480
So, at least we know that they know the game exists.

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General Gaming / Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (2010) (PC/PS3/X360)

« on: December 31, 2010, 05:40:48 AM »

Recent talk on Radio Free Nintendo has spurred me to find a thread on this game. Since I didn't find one, I figured I might as well start one. After plugging in 21 hours in to the game, I managed to snag all but one gold in the game. That last one is a 13-14 minute doozy of a race and it doesn't help that the AI rubber bands hard in this game.


The power ups are very cool to use, especially the faction specific ones. A good thing before going online would be to level up your powers by taking out the AI with them. Having the higher leveled spike strips will help out a lot.


I have the PC version of the game and my EA ID for it is Eribuster. The Autolog feature is a pretty fun addition to the series with a game specific wall and friend leaderboards.


Edit: http://hotpursuit.needforspeed.com/game-info
I figure it would be best to include a link to the overview page of the game's website.