FIFA 14, this year's installment of Electronic Arts' soccer franchise, will not be released for Wii U because sales of FIFA 13 were "disappointing," a representative from EA told Eurogamer.
"Six months ago FIFA 13 was a launch title on Wii U," the representative said. "Although the game featured FIFA's award-winning HD gameplay and innovative new ways to play, the commercial results were disappointing. We have decided not to develop FIFA 14 on Wii U."
EA published several games for Wii U after its launch last November, including FIFA 13 and Madden NFL 13. Earlier this month, EA confirmed that Madden NFL 25 would not launch on the system, but said that the company has "a strong partnership with Nintendo."
The news follows in the wake of EA spokesperson Jeff Brown's recent statement...
The latest installment of Nintendo's "Inside the Treehouse" series continues yesterday's chat with the Animal Crossing localization team, discussing player connectivity in the upcoming Animal Crossing: New Leaf.
For many players, showing off their little towns to friends is at the core of Animal Crossing. In New Leaf, players who have already exchanged 3DS friend codes will be able to easily become Animal Crossing friends; Nintendo isn't using additional software-specific codes. New Leaf features more content for players connecting over wi-fi — previous installments had often ended up with players creating their own minigames.
The members of the roundtable also discuss the SpotPass system, which Nintendo has developed for North America and Europe to augment the existing StreetPass...
Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D is more than a nostalgia trip.
Originally released on the Wii in 2010, Retro's game was a sequel/reboot of the mid-90s Donkey Kong Country series, recreating the feel of the older games' manic level designs and goofy themes. It was also considerably harder than the SNES games, and the faster pace led to far more insta-death scenarios.
The 3DS version is tighter, with the option to play with a new challenge setting and the ability to finally play the game with an analog pad. These tweaks may sound small, but they make for smoother control and a better game as a result.
Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D begins with a familiar scenario — Donkey Kong's banana horde has been stolen. The culprits are a gang of animated Tiki gods who hypnotize the local...
The partnership between Nintendo and Sega granting the former exclusive publishing rights for the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise covers the next three titles in the series, one of which is still unannounced, Sega confirmed to Polygon.
The agreement was announced today in a Nintendo Direct presentation and will bring the next three Sonic the Hedgehog games exclusively to Nintendo's Wii U and 3DS.
The first two titles, Sonic: Lost World and Mario and Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Games, were announced in the same presentation today. More details on these games will be released in the coming weeks.
When reached for comment on the third unannounced title, a representative for Sega declined to provide more details.
Minigame compilation Game and Wario was originally planned as game that would come pre-installed on Nintendo's Wii U console, the development team revealed in the most recent Iwata Asks feature.
Director Goro Abe said the team had begun brainstorming before developer Intelligent Systems joined the project to assist with production.
"Well, at first, the idea was to make a game that would come preinstalled on the Wii U console," Abe said. "I became involved in the project when it was already underway, and I began by asking myself what kind of games the Wii U GamePad might make possible.
"When I had an idea of the overall direction for the project, I knew that I needed to try these ideas out to see whether or not they would be fun, so I asked Intelligent Systems to work on realizing the...
Vocaloid rhythm game Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai 2 will hit Nintendo 3DS in Japan this fall with more content than its predecessor, Satoru Iwata announced during a Nintendo Direct presentation today.
The game will feature brand new songs and additional features that were not present in Hatsune Miku and Future Stars: Project Mirai, which launched for 3DS in March 2012. Songs will be playable two ways: using the 3DS buttons and tapping the 3DS' bottom touchscreen.
The game will also include new costumes for playable characters, and the nendoroid design — which makes characters look like small toy figures — has also been given a graphical overhaul.
All songs used will also be the full-length recordings. Currently confirmed songs include "Koneko no Payapaya" by One-cup P and...
A new trailer out from Nintendo following this morning's Nintendo Direct shows off the new items and levels coming to the Nintendo 3DS version of Donkey Kong Country Returns.
Nintendo has previously discussed the new items in question, which provide second, third and fourth chances when screwing up. Green balloons allow DK and Diddy Kong to float back up after falling to their deaths, a crash guard provides protection in the side-scrolling chase levels, and extra DK barrels allow the player to spawn the character's partner at will. Players who wish to preserve the challenge of the original game may turn these items off.
The items may be necessary, because the new levels appear appropriately punishing, with proper timing and platforming work a necessity to avoid razor blades and...
Nintendo will bring unreleased Wii U titles to Best Buy during the week of E3, allowing the public to go hands-on with those upcoming games, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime said today during a Nintendo Direct presentation.
"This year, we're making E3 for the people, and we want to make sure you get the chance to try our games as well," said Fils-Aime.
The playable demos will be available at more than 100 Best Buy stores throughout the U.S. and Canada. E3 takes place during the second week of June, from June 11-13. Nintendo will announce the specific games being shown and the Best Buy locations soon.
Pikmin 3 will feature several control schemes and off-TV play with the Wii U GamePad, Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata announced today in a Nintendo Direct presentation.
Three different control schemes will be available for the title, including GamePad-only play (which is reminiscent of the series' standard control scheme), Wii Remote and Nunchuck play and a mode which utilizes the Pro Controller. In addition, players will be able to play off their TV screens using the Wii U GamePad — or, they can use the GamePad as a monitor as they play through the game with a Wii Remote and Nunchuck.
The game will feature a less punishing level select system, letting players retry levels they've botched, rather than requiring them to start the game over entirely to try to have a perfect run.
Pikmin 3...
New Super Luigi U will be released as downloadable content through the Nintendo Wii U eShop on June 20 for $19.99, Satoru Iwata announced in a Nintendo Direct presentation today.
Iwata also announced the company would release a standalone version of New Super Luigi U that doesn't require the original New Super Mario Bros. U game. This will launch on Aug. 25 as a packaged product at retail for $29.99.
The add-on will include 82 updated courses and new content. Players can play as Luigi, Blue Toad, Yellow Toad and a newly playable character — Nabbit.
Nabbit is a character from New Super Mario Bros U that steals items from Toad's house, requiring players to chase him through different stages. Nabbit cannot power up when he collects items, but his special abilities include not taking...
Nintendo demonstrated a few more of Game & Wario's minigames, including one that features some familiar faces, during a Nintendo Direct presentation today.
In Island, which supports two to five players, you'll launch creatures called Fronks onto islands for a high score. Patchwork (image above) stars the twin ninja sisters Kat and Ana from the WarioWare series. You'll have to use the GamePad's touchscreen to move overlapping puzzle pieces into place in order to complete the game.
Kung-Fu was described by a Nintendo representative as a "split-perspective auto-jump platformer." You'll have to simultaneously keep track of the TV, which shows a forward-facing view of the action, and the GamePad, which provides a top-down view of the level. The objective is to guide a character named Young...
The Wonderful 101, originally announced as a Wii U title scheduled to hit during the console's launch window, will release on Sept. 15 in North America, it was announced during today's Nintendo Direct.
The game will hit European shores even earlier on Aug. 23 and in Japan Aug. 24.
The title is in development from Platinum Games, under the hand of game director Hideki Kamiya. The game was one of four titles that missed the Wii U's launch window, alongside Pikmin 3, Game & Wario and Wii Fit U.
Today's Nintendo Direct is live and you can watch it here along with the rest of us.
Nintendo of America announced that today's Nintendo Direct would be focused on what's in store for the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS this summer. So expect discussion about games like Pikmin 3, Games & Wario, Wii Party U and who knows, maybe we'll even get some dates for some still undated big titles like The Wonderful 101.
Hang out and watch along here for all of the news as it breaks.
A new Mario & Sonic Olympics title is on the way for next year's Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata announced during a Nintendo Direct presentation today.
Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, which is in development on Wii U, will feature a wide variety of Olympic winter sports, including skiing, snowboarding, bobsledding, pairs figure skating and curling. Players will have to use both the GamePad and the Wii Remote Plus, depending on the event in question. Curling, for example, requires players to draw lines on the tablet.
Realistic sports minigames aren't the only events on offer. The game will also include fantastical events set in the world of Mario and Sonic, in which characters have special abilities not possible in the real...
The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons, two Zelda games originally released on the Game Boy Color, will launch May 30 on the 3DS Virtual Console on sale for a limited time and offer additional content for those who own both copies, Nintendo announced today during a Nintendo Direct event.
Both games will retail for $5.99, but from May 30 through June 20, the games will be discounted to $4.99 each because Nintendo wants "as many players as possible to experience all of this great additional content."
The games will also include a "link system" that allows players who own both versions to unlock additional content, like a new final boss.
You can check out new trailers for Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons below.
Sonic: Lost World, the next installment in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, will launch on Wii U and Nintendo 3DS, Satoru Iwata announced today in a Nintendo Direct presentation.
Iwata announced that Nintendo has entered into a worldwide partnership with Sega regarding the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. Sonic: Lost World will be a brand new action adventure platforming game, and will launch exclusively on Nintendo's consoles.
Iwata said more information on Sonic: Lost World will be shared closer to E3.
"The one time rivalry between Mario and Sonic has grown into a friendship that has never been closer," Nintendo of America President and COO Reggie Fils-Aime, said in a prepared statement. "These announcements in conjunction with SEGA demonstrate the commitment we have to bringing...
Yakuza 1 & 2 HD will bundle the first two games in the open-world crime series for Wii U, it was announced on the Japanese stream of today's Nintendo Direct press conference.
A trailer for the game shown on the stream showcased some of the upscaled graphics players can expect from the bundle, as well as some of the Wii U-exclusive elements for the platform. Players will be able to monitor their character's status, and navigate through the game's complex streets using a map on the Wii U GamePad.
The bundle will launch on Wii U in Japan on Aug. 8. We've reached out to Sega to find out if it's also coming to North America.
Nintendo sold 2.1 million first-party Nintendo 3DS software units in the U.S. during the first 18 weeks of 2013, an increase of 52 percent over the same time period last year, Nintendo reports.
Since its launch on April 24, Lego City Undercover: The Chase Begins sold almost 94,000 physical and digital copies. Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon sold more than 140,000 physical and digital units in April in the U.S.. The game sold more than 530,000 units in the U.S. since its launch on March 24.
New Super Mario Bros. U for the Wii U, which launched in November last year, shifted 770,000 physical and digital units in the U.S. to date.
Nintendo notes that data of physical sales of games in April are sourced from the NPD Group and digital downloads of games data is from Nintendo's internal sales...
Pandora's Tower has two halves that never quite fit perfectly.
One half is an action-adventure game — the other a dating sim. The former leans on themed dungeons and majestic boss fights that the genre is known for. The latter pushes a blossoming relationship between the main character and the woman he loves. These goals don't need to compete, but they sit at odds anyway. Pandora's Tower's ideas should leave it poised for greatness, but instead it just ends up battling itself.
The chain mechanic's novelty wears thin quickly
A fairy tale-slash-love story with a dark twist, Pandora's Tower follows the tale of young lovers Aeron and Elena. Elena is struck with a curse that will transform her into a grotesque beast. The only cure? To rip the flesh from masters of the Thirteen...
Electronic Arts isn't currently developing any games for the Wii U, EA spokesperson Jeff Brown told Kotaku.
EA published several games for Nintendo's console since its November 2012 launch, including FIFA 13, Madden NFL 13, Mass Effect 3: Special Edition and Need for Speed Most Wanted, but its studios have nothing in the pipeline right now.
"We have no games in development for the Wii U currently," Brown said, but he didn't rule out future Wii U development, according to Kotaku.
Earlier this month, EA announced that Madden NFL 25 would not make its way to the Wii U in 2013, while reiterating that the company has "a strong partnership with Nintendo." EA DICE's technical director Johan Andersson recently explained that the Frostbite engine, which powers games like those in the...
The art assets Precursor Games purchased from Silicon Knights for use in Shadow of the Eternals have been "significantly altered" to work in CryEngine 3, a representative from Precursor told GameInformer.
Precursor, which was formed by a core group of former Silicon Knights employees including Denis Dyack, is raising funds to develop Shadow of the Enternals, a spiritual successor to Silicon Knights' Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem. Last year, the studio purchased property from Silicon Knights, including desks, chairs, computers and art assets.
"Any used assets had to be significantly altered to work in the [sic] CryEngine 3," the representative told GameInformer. "Over the course of a year, Precursor Games created a large of [sic] amount of original content for this demo you see...
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