Watch Nintendo’s final ‘Super Smash Bros.’ show here
Today’s the day. Nintendo’s final presentation dedicated to Super Smash Bros. starts at 5PM ET (2PM PT). Nintendo generally announces updates to the game during its Nintendo Direct livestreams, but this show is dedicated to Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U and 3DS. The company’s recent commitment to regular Smash Bros. updates helped it enter the modern era of gaming, as our own Aaron Souppouris argued earlier this month. Watch today’s show with us below.
Play as Cloud in ‘Super Smash Bros.’ today, Bayonetta later
Final Fantasy VII‘s Cloud takes his Buster Sword to Super Smash Bros. today, Nintendo announced during its final presentation dedicated to the rapid-fire fighting game. The company revealed Cloud as a Super Smash Bros. character in November, during its Nintendo Direct livestream. Cloud will be available for $6 in the 3DS and Wii U versions of the game.
The final downloadable character entering the Super Smash Bros. ring is the witch Bayonetta, Nintendo announced today. She’ll join the fray in February. Cloud and Bayonetta are also getting Amiibo figurines.
In other Super Smash Bros. news, a Geno costume from Super Mario RPG is available today for players’ Mii fighters. Tails and Knuckles costumes join the game in February.
You can download Cloud in #SmashBros for #3DS & #WiiU in a few hours! Illustration: Tetsuya Nomura (SQUARE ENIX) pic.twitter.com/4LIiwJCxeQ
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) December 15, 2015
#Bayonetta comes to #SmashBros in Feb! Illustration: Eiji Funahashi (PlatinumGames) Video: https://t.co/gERjJWHovG pic.twitter.com/Gmj5jcRIEH
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) December 15, 2015
Nintendo’s ‘Yo-Kai Watch’ is a love letter to urban life
I was sitting on an eight hour flight back from London, my 3DS the only thing illuminating my little corner of the plane. My boyfriend, bored in the middle seat next to me, had leaned over to look at what I was doing. “That looks like Pokémon.” His tone was surprised, and maybe even a little disgusted. Because at first glance, it did look like another entry in Nintendo’s kid-friendly RPG franchise. There was the typical tween-aged protagonist, strolling along a disturbingly empty street, followed everywhere by a small unearthly creature. In fact, I had six more creatures at my disposal, all with their own distinct abilities and affiliations. They fought other creatures and, sometimes at the end of a fight, the vanquished would even ask to join my team.
It wasn’t Pokémon, though. This was Level-5’s Yo-Kai Watch, the latest in a long line of monster collecting games that emerged in the wake of Pokémon’s debut almost twenty years ago. I’d seen plenty come and go and never took much interest in any of them, but Yo-Kai Watch seemed special.
It used to be my job to care about things like this: For five years I worked at The Pokémon Company as a brand editor and, though I’m no longer with the company, my knowledge of Pokémon isn’t something I can just turn off. I still play the games on a regular basis and, sometimes, I’ll even go to the store to get rare Pokémon. I also still keep an eye on the competition, which led to me ask the question, “How the hell is Yo-Kai Watch outselling Pokémon in Japan?”
Part of it is that the franchise’s rollout has been carefully controlled, with simultaneous releases of the game and television show to maximize its impact. This is basically how Nintendo launched Pokémon in the United States, and even the time frame matches: Pokémon debuted in Japan in 1996 and came to the US two years later; Yo-Kai Watch came out overseas in 2013 and is only hitting North American shores now.
But in playing Yo-Kai Watch, I discovered it’s also actually a pretty good game, though it’s definitely not Pokémon.
Not that there aren’t a lot of similarities. I started up the game, chose the female avatar, and was sent on my first quest: to catch bugs. “Oh come on,” I yelled the screen. Anyone familiar with Pokémon knows its origin story: franchise creator Satoshi Tajiri was inspired by his childhood love of bug collecting. Could Yo-kai be more obvious in its inspiration?
The city in Yo-kai Watch isn’t a way station between adventures. It is the adventure.
The game definitely shares the same love of exploration and discovery enshrined in the Pokémon series. I found myself enjoying poking around various trees and bushes to find said bugs, and later, the Yo-kai that give the series its name. But the mechanics of Yo-Kai Watch encourage more participation from the player than Pokémon, with little mini-games baked into the battles. To execute special “Soultimate” moves or “Purify” tainted Yo-kai you may be asked to spin a wheel, pop bubbles or trace shapes on the touchscreen. For someone used to just mashing away at the ‘A’ button, it took some time for me to get accustomed to this increased level of interaction.
Yo-Kai Watch is a game that demands your attention, which is a wake-up call for someone who often plays Pokémon while my eyes and ears are elsewhere. I’ve often leveled up my Pokémon by just twirling my character around in the tall grass until a wild Pokémon attacks, occasionally glancing down to make sure my entire team hasn’t passed out. When playing Pokémon is part of your job, this is the kind of thing you can get away with at your desk. Or while watching TV with a loved one. Or… well, pretty much anything. As such, I tend to finish the games pretty quickly.
This hasn’t been true of Yo-Kai Watch. The game isn’t really hard, with most of the challenge grounded in my unfamiliarity with the mechanics. I understand Pokémon types, natures and egg groups. But while the attributes and tribes of Yo-kai are similar… they’re not the same. So my explorations have extended to figuring out how all the pieces fit together: Searching for new Yo-kai and battling them. Learning their personalities and skill sets. Testing out my team’s prowess in battle.
And yet, the thing I find myself doing the most is just walking around.
It’s not that I don’t have plenty to do in the game, or that I don’t enjoy the objectives laid out for me. It’s just that right now, wandering around the world of Yo-Kai Watch is the thing that appeals to me the most.
I don’t think I would have appreciated Yo-Kai Watch as much as I do if I hadn’t taken that London vacation. Because I find that visiting the city of Springdale in the game transports me in a lot of the same ways. I enjoy the attention to detail paid to every sidewalk, street and staircase. “Look,” I told my boyfriend, “I have to push the button to cross at the crosswalk.” When I decided to jaywalk, I almost got hit by a car. It’s this amount of detail that’s led to Yo-Kai Watch feeling like a city I visit. It has a very strong sense of place to me.
Villages in Pokémon often have this very sparse feeling to them, and for good reason: You’re not meant to spend a lot of time in them. The game wants to keep you exploring the great outdoors as much as possible. The world of Pokémon isn’t just meant to harken back to Satoshi Tajiri’s love of bug collecting, but the time spent searching for them in woods and streams. Pokémon are the animals of their planet, and so you must confront them on their own turf: the natural world.
Yo-Kai Watch wants you to discover the world you already live in.
Yo-kai are very different, though. They’re not animals, they’re spirits, specifically based on the yo-kai of Japanese folklore. In this tradition, animals, places and even ordinary objects are all thought to have their own spiritual force. The supernatural can be found all around you, not just in the natural world, but also in urban settings. So in the games, Yo-kai are very much a part of everyday life — they are part of civilization. And as such, in order to engage with them you must engage with the city.
The city in Yo-kai Watch isn’t a way station between adventures. It is the adventure. Your character isn’t being asked to leave home and travel far away to find their destiny because it’s all around you… if you know where to look. Sure, a big part of the game’s mechanics lies in using the Yo-kai Watch to detect these somewhat pesky creatures. But a lot of it is also about everything in between: The streets you walk down and the people you pass. Instead of transporting you to a pastoral fantasy world like Pokémon does, Yo-Kai Watch wants you to discover the world you already live in.
Image credits: Nintendo
Nintendo invents a gamepad built from a touchscreen
Nintendo has said precious little about its plans for the NX (other than that it won’t be like a Wii U), but it might have hinted at what’s coming through some recent paperwork. The console maker has filed for a patent on a gamepad design where a touchscreen would cover the entire front panel. You’d still have familiar elements like analog sticks (poking through the display) and shoulder buttons, but the usual front-facing buttons would be replaced by context-aware touch. The move would give you the adaptability of a smartphone interface with the primary controls you’re used to in a TV system — you could even use the controller on its side, or get visual effects when you press buttons. It wouldn’t require a gigantic body like the Wii U’s gamepad, either, and a card slot could take game data directly.
This is just an application, and there’s no certainty that Nintendo will use this design any time soon, if at all. However, as The Verge notes, the would-be patent does line up with rumors that Nintendo will use Sharp’s free-form displays in a future product. Theoretically, this could be the technology behind the NX’s standard-issue gamepad. Moreover, the Wall Street Journal has heard that the NX would include a “mobile unit” that could be used separately from the main console. Given the presence of that card slot, it’s possible that you could play titles solely on the gamepad and take it with you — who needs separate TV and handheld consoles when your NX is both at the same time? The finished machine could be far less exciting, but it’s evident that Nintendo has at least been thinking about non-traditional hardware.
Source: USPTO
Reggie Fils-Aime talks about Nintendo’s smartphone gaming strategy
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Over the last few months, it’s been made clear that Japanese video game company Nintendo intends on putting its stamp on smartphone gaming, however at times it’s been unclear exactly how they’re going to do that. While Nintendo has mentioned at several points that they would be using Nintendo IP for all five of their planned smartphone games by March 2017, the first of their games features the Nintendo avatar – the humble Mii. While we love Mii’s, they’re not exactly Mario and Luigi, so to make clear exactly why Nintendo hasn’t gone straight to their top money-making IP, President of Nintendo of America Reggie Fils-Aime recently spoke with TIME about Nintendo’s smartphone gaming strategy.
Unfortunately there’s a simplistic mentality out there, that ‘Make a Mario game for smart devices’ is a recipe for printing money. And it’s not. It just simply is not. It’s that Kyoto craftsmanship mentality that says whatever we’re going to do, it needs to be a wonderful experience for consumers.
In this way, what I would say in terms of our mobile apps is that we will absolutely continue our traditional maxim of developing software that matches the hardware. We have looked at the limitations of software design on mobile platforms, and worked within those parameters. If there’s a 3DS game that requires the full manipulation of joysticks and multiple buttons, that game clearly can’t be exactly replicated on a touch-screen mobile device. Our strategy is not to port games developed for our dedicated systems to smart devices as they are–we have to develop new software experiences that give people the opportunity to interact with Nintendo IP and that matches the play style and control of smart devices.
While that all makes sense, it’s probably not what Nintendo fans were hoping to hear. Having said that, it does seem like Nintendo is committed to its mobile ventures – the only question remaining is whether or not they’ll be any good at it. We’ll have to wait till March 2016 before we get our first taste with their first mobile game, Miitomo.
What do you think about Reggie Fils-Aime’s comments about Nintendo’s smartphone gaming strategy? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: TIME via Nintendo Life
The post Reggie Fils-Aime talks about Nintendo’s smartphone gaming strategy appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
Playdate: Breaking the sound barrier in ‘Fast Racing NEO’
Nintendo’s seemingly forgotten about the futuristic, hyper-fast racing series F-Zero when it comes to a Wii U release, but developer Shinen hasn’t. We first caught a glimpse of Fast Racing Neo at PAX this year and came away incredibly excited, so of course we’re streaming it today. But that’s not all: We’re also going to spend some time with the troubled The Devil’s Third from Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive mastermind Tomonobu Itagaki. Join myself and Sean Buckley as we broadcast two hours of Wii U games starting at 6 PM Eastern / 3 PM Pacific.
And while the games change on a day to day basis, where you can watch us playing them doesn’t. Tune in either on this very post, the Engadget Gaming homepage, or, if you want to join our awesome community of chatters, Twitch.tv/Joystiq.
http://player.twitch.tv/?channel=joystiqWatch live video from Joystiq on www.twitch.tv[We’re streaming these games at 720p though OBS, so rest assured they’ll look much better on your Wii U at home.]
Nintendo’s future lies in its ‘Super Smash Bros.’ updates
Nintendo will host the last “Direct” presentation for Super Smash Bros. (SSB) on December 15th at 5PM ET. As those that follow Directs will know, this is the third presentation dedicated solely to the brawler, alongside frequent SSB announcements through the regular Nintendo Directs. It’s been a refreshing year of experimentation and additions from Nintendo; we’ve seen eight stages and five characters announced as DLC so far, and it’s likely the final show will give us a couple more surprises. This slow but steady dripfeed of content wasn’t a fresh idea — games like Call of Duty have been doing similar things for years — but Nintendo’s adoption of the technique broke new ground for the company.
Nintendo’s released a smattering of paid DLC before, of course, from its early experiments with New Super Mario Bros. 2 up to the large level and character packs for Mario Kart 8. But it’s never looked after and engaged with a game’s audience in the same way it has with SSB. It’s all representative of the company’s attempts to rethink its practices and keep pace with the rest of the video game industry.
Over the past couple of years, Nintendo has caught up a lot. It learned from Skylanders to introduce the wildly popular Amiibo figurines (which arrived with SSB); it agreed to let another company with more experience in online gaming design its version of Xbox Live or PlayStation Network; it released heavily online games in the form of Splatoon and Mario Maker and it introduced free-to-play titles. Nintendo has even embraced the idea of mobile games. And now it’s proved it can do DLC and fan engagement with the best of them.
If you’re a Nintendo diehard, you probably might not appreciate all of the above achievements. But Nintendo needed to change a little to survive, and it’s done all this almost entirely without compromising on its core values. Sure, there have been a couple of missteps with free-to-play — Pokémon Shuffle is just the worst — and some icky Mercedes-Benz tie-ins for Mario Kart and Mario Maker, but its DLC add-ons have for the most part been just that: add-ons. SSB and Mario Kart 8, for example, are both rich, full games with enough content to make gamers happy from the offset.
Building on what SSB started, Nintendo released the online shooter Splatoon back in May. It’s seen fresh game modes and new arenas added even more regularly than SSB. There’s even a web portal for gamers to check on their stats. Nintendo’s also making good on its promise that Amiibo are a platform, a kind of physical DLC. Activating AI companion fighters in SSB is great, but adding new levels and challenges in Splatoon is even better. Nintendo has said on more than one occasion it will continue to build on the Amiibo conceit with new features.
So as sad as it is to see the end of SSB‘s update cycle, it’s worth applauding Nintendo for doing this well. It certainly took its time to get the ball rolling — the thought that it would support games with online updates for this long was unthinkable even two years ago. But this hasn’t happened by accident, and the company’s careful and considered approach is starting to pay dividends. Releasing good DLC and supporting your games properly sounds so simple, but so many get this wrong so often. Nintendo, with its first real attempt, has got it right.
Source: Nintendo
‘Minecraft’ is coming to the Wii U on December 17th
While it might feel like Minecraft is available everywhere, gamers have had to look on as the popular franchise launched on every other company’s platforms bar Nintendo’s. Today, however, we have some good news: after months, nay years, of waiting, the Japanese game maker confirmed the sandbox game is finally coming to the Wii U on December 17th. As expected, Minecraft will come with a multitude of add-on packs, giving budding builders the chance to get festive ahead of Christmas or play with characters from popular movies and TV shows like Star Wars, The Simpsons and Dr Who.
Source: Nintendo (BusinessWire)
The 3DS game LEGO Ninjago: Shadow Of Ronin has arrived on Android
LEGO’s saga of retelling popular stories with their iconic toy pieces and witty sense of humor continues in LEGO Ninjago: Shadow of Ronin, now on Android. In the game, players enter the world of Ninjago, where it falls to them to stop the threat of Ronin. The adaptation of the well-received TV series was originally released for Nintendo 3DS, but now it has made its way over to smartphone users looking to kill some time.
See also: 70 best Android games
With the Android operating system growing closer and closer to becoming a mainstream gaming platform, it’s no surprise that we’d start seeing ports of mobile games arriving in the Google Play Store. After all, these games are already designed for a smaller screen, and even today’s midrange smartphones can blow conventional mobile gaming consoles out of the water, spec-wise. All that really needs to be adapted is the control schemes.
LEGO Ninjago: Shadow of Ronin takes up this challenge with aplomb. Although you can use a virtual, on-screen D-pad control scheme, developers have also added “Casual” control options that make navigating the hostile realm of Ninjago more fluid and intuitive with a touchscreen.
In terms of gameplay, it looks like there’s a lot to be had here. A variety of environments are available to explore, all pulled directly from the TV series. The game includes full voice-acting, several vehicles, and familiar enemies that must be smashed to pieces or defeated through puzzle-solving.
You can pick up the game in the Google Play Store for a cool $4.99. Doesn’t look like there’s any in-app purchases: just a full game that you pay for up front. Refreshing! Click the button below to check it out. What are your thoughts on LEGO’s newest arrival to Android? Let us know in the comments!
Watch ‘Super Mario Bros’ as an 8-player, 360-degree game
When researchers from ETH Zurich and Disney get together, they tend to conjure up fascinating creations, such as Beachbot — a turtle-shaped robot that draws in the sand. This time, they’ve turned Super Mario Bros. into a huge eight-player game for a one-night event at a Swiss night club that happened to have a 360-degree projection system. According to Ars Technica, the team used an Arduino-based multiplexer in order to connect eight controllers to an unsullied Nintendo Entertainment System. Since they wanted a supersized retro gaming experience, they fed the video output to an upscaler, and then to a computer with custom software that can stitch frames into panoramas.
Via: Atmel, Ars Technica
Source: ETH Zurich
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