Sonic Lost World Game Update Set for May 29, New Characters Teased
Sega teased new characters for this year’s Nintendo-exclusive Sonic Lost World in an image uploaded to their Facebook page today. The image shows the “Lost World” background we’ve already seen in previous reveals, but this time with shadowy silhouettes of the new faces in the foreground.
The image caption explains that we’ll find out more about the game on May 29. Click below to see the full teaser.
E3 Nintendo Direct Wii U Presentation Announced for June 11 at 7am Pacific
Nintendo has announced the time and date for their big pre-E3 Nintendo Direct for E3 2013: it’ll go live on June 11 at 7am Pacific / 9am Central. The presentation will focus on Wii U titles for fall 2013 and beyond, including but not limited to a new 3D Mario, Mario Kart, Super Smash Bros., and The Legend of Zelda titles for Wii U, as well as any other brand-new reveals.
Tune in here on June 11 to catch all the big E3 Nintendo news!
This Week’s Nintendo Downloads: Three Kirby Games for the Price of Two
As we teased last week, this week’s Nintendo downloads include three Kirby titles for Wii U Virtual Console: Kirby Super Star, Kirby’s Dream Land 3, and Kirby’s Dream Course for Super Nintendo. For this week only, you’ll be able to nab all three games for the price of two.
For 3DS, this week brings the eShop debut of Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D tomorrow, May 24, and a 20% sale on quirky Genius Sorority RPG The Denpa Men: They Came By Wave. Click below for a full overview of everything that’s coming this week.
Wii U Basic Set on Sale at Target for $239.99
One of the biggest factors in the Wii U’s slow start is a price tag that’s a little higher than what the Nintendo faithful are used to paying. At $300 and $350 for the Basic and Deluxe sets respectively, the Wii U puts a considerably larger dent in your wallet than the $250 Wii did. While no permanent price cut has been announced, Target is currently running two Wii U deals, and one of them will net you a Basic Set for less than what the Wii cost at launch.
PS4′s ‘Answer to the Pre-Owned Games Question’ is Still Just as Unclear as Xbox One’s
We’ve all seen a lot of flak hurled at Microsoft for its lack of a satisfying answer to the question of used games and DRM even for disc-based games. Even I’ve decided that the fact that Microsoft has to actually work out a policy for such things is a strong indication that they’re taking an anti-consumer approach.
Frankly, trading and buying used games shouldn’t require any kind of “solution.” It should be possible and practical by default because they’re based on physical freaking media that can serve as its own DRM if companies are really concerned about people simply installing and giving their discs away. Why does it have to be any more complicated than “if you want to play media installed from the disc, you need the disc”?
Microsoft isn’t alone in being horrendously vague and unclear about the “solution” to pre-owned games – implying of course that pre-owned games are a problem that has to be “solved.” Sony’s contributed its fair share of non-answers to the discussion as well.
Blast From the Past: Super Smash Bros. Melee Reveal at E3 2001
The official reveal for the next Super Smash Bros. game for Wii U is less than three weeks away. Since it’s one of the most-anticipated games for Wii U at the present time, we expect its announcement to go out with a bang. However, since Nintendo isn’t exactly holding their usual livestreamed press conference, we won’t exactly get to hear all the audience cheering we expect from major hit announcements.
However, we can relive a previous Super Smash Bros. announcement: Super Smash Bros. Melee at E3 2001.
Do you think the new Smash Bros. reveal will be able to top this one?
Ubisoft Has Faith in Wii U’s Future
Last night I made the case that Wii U’s launch woes are really more the norm than the doom and gloom exception. Turns out Ubisoft seems to agree, as one of their representatives gave the launch a similar characterization.
“As with any new console, it takes some time to grow an established base,” a Ubisoft rep told Games Industry International in a recent interview. “Ubisoft has a varied and high-quality line-up for Wii U, with more big titles on the way including Rayman Legends, Watch Dogs, Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, and Splinter Cell: Blacklist. We’re confident that this will help in continuing to attract gamers to the Wii U system and that Nintendo will take steps to ensure that the Wii U is successful in the market.”
The State of Wii U: Rumors of its Early Death are Greatly Exaggerated
Wii U’s had a rough six months. No denying it. It’s hard to pull off a console launch, and judging by the struggles that 3DS and Vita had in 2011, it would have taken a miracle for Wii U to beat the trend. Since 2013 kicked off, the system has only seen 10 new games – three of which hit today, May 21. The platform’s current weekly sales have become something of a laughingstock among critics. None of this is good.
However, there’s a silver lining beneath all the bad: Wii U is starting to come together as a platform with a mission. And compared to other next-gen devices, it’s actually not doing too badly.
North American Watch Dogs Preorder Bonuses Revealed
The previous information about Watch Dog‘s preorder packs showed a massive amount of content and paraphernalia available in PAL territories, among which were three separate bonus missions, art books, soundtracks, and a ton of other items. Today North American retailers revealed what the preorder bonuses would be for their specific stores.
Read on to see what retailers are offering what bonuses, as well as what the differences are between the PAL and North American versions…
Nintendo Pokes Fun at Kickstarter with Game & Wario ‘Crowdfarter’ Campaign
Kickstarter has been the path to launch for a number of up-and-coming projects, including video games and even game consoles . Now Nintendo’s deciding to integrate the new money-maker into their marketing for Game & Wario, the wacky Wii U game that launches June 23, with the Crowdfarter campaign.
Crowdfarter is a fictional “Kickstarter”-style crowd funding initiative started by none other than the big W himself to “fund” his new game, Game & Wario. “Donations” in the form of social shares will go toward various stretch goals, such as digital swag, ringtones, and a brand-new trailer for the game once funding reaches “100 KATRILLION” coins.
The website also revealed a brand-new game for Game & Wario called “Ashley.” Click below for Wario’s funding pitch and focus group interviews.
Sega’s Yakuza 1&2 Will be Remade in HD for Wii U… in Japan
Looks like Nintendo’s close relationship with Sega extends beyond just the Sonic franchise.
In 2005, Sega introduced a new franchise on PlayStation 2 called Yakuza that has since gone on to spawn multiple sequels, most recently Yakuza 5 for PlayStation 3 (titled Ryu ga Gotoku 5: Yume Kanaeshi Mono in Japan and still unreleased in the West). The first two games in the series were later remade in HD for PlayStation 3 and was re-released in November of last year in Japan.
However, Sega is now bringing that same HD collection of the first two Yakuza games to Wii U… but only in Japan. Click below for a look at the game’s debut trailer and screenshots.
Resident Evil: Revelations Launch Trailer
It’s always odd sharing a launch trailer for a game that technically has already been released, but in the case of Resident Evil: Revelations, the game really is about to take on a new life. Capcom summed up what to expect from the HD port in a new press release attached to the game’s last trailer before its launch on PS3, Wii U, Xbox 360, and PC tomorrow.
DLC upgrades are on the way June 4 in the form of the “Resistance” and “Enhancement” sets, which offer six upgrades each for $1.99 apiece. In addition, Capcom also revealed that new DLC characters for Raid Mode, including a female version of Hunk and an infected version of Rachel, will be made available beginning on June 11 for $2.99 each.
Check out screenshots of the new Raid Mode characters as well as the new trailer by clicking below.
