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11 CommentsNintendo's PAX East 2013 lineup includes Pikmin 3, Animal Crossing: New Leaf
By Samit Sarkar on Mar 19, 2013 03.19.13
Nintendo is bringing a handful of Wii U and Nintendo 3DS titles to PAX East 2013, including major upcoming games such as Pikmin 3 and Animal Crossing: New Leaf, the company announced today. Nintendo's PAX East slate features seven Wii U titles and nine 3DS games, as well as the Wii Street U app. The lineup contains a mix of unreleased titles and games that are already available. Here's the full list: Wii U: Pikmin 3 The Wonderful 101 Lego City Undercover Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate Need for Speed Most Wanted U New Super Mario Bros. U Nintendo Land Wii Street U 3DS: Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon Animal Crossing: New Leaf (guided demonstration) Lego City Undercover: The Chase Begins Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity HarmoKnight Kersploosh! Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate ...
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28 CommentsFire Emblem Awakening sells more than 180K in first month, one-third of those digitally
By Michael McWhertor on Mar 14, 2013 03.14.13
Nintendo 3DS role-playing game Fire Emblem Awakening had the "best first month sales in franchise history," according to Nintendo of America, selling more than 180,000 units in its first four weeks on sale. More than a third of those sales — roughly 63,000, Nintendo says — were digital units sold through the Nintendo 3DS eShop. Nintendo says the previous entry in the series, Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon for Nintendo DS, has sold "a little more than 250,000 units" since launching in the U.S. in February 2009. Developed by Intelligent Systems, Fire Emblem Awakening was released on Feb. 4, 2013, and will be available in Europe on April 19. Read Polygon's review of the game for more information.
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8 CommentsFire Emblem: Awakening will receive free DLC maps, items via SpotPass through April
By Alexa Ray Corriea on Mar 13, 2013 03.13.13
Fire Emblem: Awakening will continue to receive free downloadable content via the Nintendo 3DS' SpotPass feature through April, Nintendo announced today. Beginning today, players can download the first free add-on map, "A Hard Miracle," which will ally protagonist Chrom and his band of fighters with a mysterious woman on a quest to thwart a kidnapping. The next map, "Ghost of Blade," will be available on March 28, adding a sidequest story of ghosts and sacrifices, April 11 will see the release of "The Wellspring of Trust," a higher-level challenge map, and on April 25 players can download "The Radiant Hero," an island map through which Chrom and his team will seek a hero of legend. Other bonus items will be distributed through SpotPass during this time, including new weapons,...
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0 CommentsLuigi's Mansion 2, Fire Emblem: Awakening, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity and Animal Crossing: New Leaf dated for Australian 3DS
By Jenna Pitcher on Feb 25, 2013 02.25.13
Following the recent Nintendo Direct, Nintendo Australia today revealed the release dates for four Nintendo 3DS games, including Luigi's Mansion 2, Fire Emblem: Awakening, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity and Animal Crossing: New Leaf. Luigi's Mansion 2 is coming on March 28. Using the Poltergeist 5000, and the Dark-Light Device, Luigi must capture ghosts from five mansions and restore the Dark Moon. The puzzle-centric game uses the Nintendo 3DS's gyroscope and accelerometer in gameplay and features multiplayer. Fire Emblem: Awakening will launch on April 20. Intelligent System's turn based strategy role playing game features 40 character classes, the ability to breed in-game characters and a multiplayer mode called Dual Tag. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity i...
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12 CommentsFire Emblem: Awakening launching April 19 in Europe alongside exclusive 3DS XL bundle
By Samit Sarkar on Feb 14, 2013 02.14.13
Fire Emblem: Awakening will be available April 19 on Nintendo 3DS in Europe, Nintendo announced today during its European Nintendo Direct presentation. The European launch will take place exactly one year after the Japanese release date. Awakening launched Feb. 4 in North America. "I sincerely apologize to you all for waiting such a long time after the Japanese and American launches," said Nintendo of Europe president Satoru Shibata during the presentation. In an effort to make up for the delay, Nintendo will give European Fire Emblem fans will an exclusive Fire Emblem: Awakening bundle on launch day. It will feature a blue Fire Emblem-branded 3DS XL that has a copy of the game pre-installed on it; the bundle that was released in Japan and North America only included a standard 3DS. ...
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1 CommentFire Emblem: Awakening's second round of DLC adds new battle map and a classic hero
By Alexa Ray Corriea on Feb 08, 2013 02.08.13
The second round of downloadable content for Fire Emblem: Awakening on 3DS is now available, and adds a new battle map and a classic series hero to players' games, Nintendo has announced. Champions of Yore 2 costs $2.50 and adds a new battle map accessible through the Outrealm Gate. The map is based on chapter one of Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon, the 2007 Nintendo DS remake of the original 1990 Fire Emblem. Players will be joined by three additional NPC units that are characters from previous Fire Emblem games: The Sacred Stones' Eirika, Blazing Sword's Lyn, and Celica from Fire Emblem Gaiden. For completing the DLC mission, players will have series hero Roy added to their party as a level 11 Mercenary. Awakening's first piece of DLC, Champions of Yore 1, was made available on launch...
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21 CommentsFire Emblem: Awakening arriving late at some retailers
By Megan Farokhmanesh on Feb 03, 2013 02.03.13
Copies of Fire Emblem: Awakening might not arrive at several retailers in time for the game's Feb. 4 release date due to shipping errors, Game Informer reports. Best Buy, GameStop and Amazon are all affected businesses, though not every location will experience delays. Some Best Buy stores have quoted Feb. 6 as an expected date, while different GameStop locations are predicting as late as Feb. 8. Amazon does not offer an estimated date, though it does include a notice for a potential shipping delay as a result of manufacture fault. We have contacted Nintendo for comment and will update accordingly. Fire Emblem: Awakening will release exclusively for Nintendo 3DS. Read our review here. Update: Nintendo responded with the following statement: "Nintendo makes every effort to make sure...
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11 CommentsFire Emblem: Awakening creators scrapped concepts set in modern day and on Mars
By Michael McWhertor on Feb 01, 2013 02.01.13
The creators behind Nintendo 3DS strategy role-playing game Fire Emblem: Awakening say they wanted to make a Fire Emblem that was unlike any other, the game's project manager says, even considering at one point to drop the medieval fantasy theme for something set in the modern day. Even bolder, Awakening's creators flirted with the idea of setting the game on Mars. While those ideas appear to have been scrapped early on, according to a new "Iwata Asks" interview, Masahiro Higuchi from Intelligent Systems says, "This time, we wanted to make a different Fire Emblem game than ever before, especially through new visuals, so we made a point of bringing in [art director Toshiyuki] Kusakihara-san, who had never been involved with Fire Emblem before." "We made proposals that were a complete...
Review
76 CommentsFire Emblem: Awakening review: higher ground
By Alexa Ray Corriea on Jan 30, 2013 01.30.13
Developing relationships add a layer of humanity and warmth to a game of military tactics Awakening's story focuses on a player-created Tactician character and Prince Chrom, heir to the throne. His country of Ylisse faces imminent invasion from a neighboring nation and an outbreak of attacking undead soldiers. As Prince Chrom's new tactician, you lead his ragtag army of assorted job classes into battle against the warring nation. The plot of Awakening is linear, but there are enough extra missions and unpredictable plot twists to hold attention. Picking up optional fighters via sidequests adds narrative depth — especially when these characters have connections to others currently in your party. The relationships between characters develop and strengthen through...
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12 CommentsFire Emblem: Awakening 3DS bundle launching Feb. 4 for $199.99
By Griffin McElroy on Jan 14, 2013 01.14.13
The Fire Emblem: Awakening 3DS hardware bundle which was announced for a North American release last week will launch alongside the upcoming strategy game Feb. 4, and will cost $199.99, Nintendo announced today. In addition to having the game pre-installed, the bundle will include a 4GB SD card — a 2GB increase over the card that comes with the standard 3DS — and unique artwork on the top of the Cobalt Blue handheld. You can check out the Fire Emblem-themed design in the product shot posted above. A demo for Fire Emblem: Awakening will go live on the 3DS eShop later this week, on Jan. 17.
