JXE Streams: #TeamEngadget’s own Splatfest
Later tonight, Nintendo will celebrate Splatoon’s latest update with an official Splatfest event, but forget that noise. Here at Engadget, we’re having our own. Welcome to the Engadget Splatfest, a two hour squidtastic stream celebrating everything that makes the game’s new update great. You’ll see tweaked maps, new outfits, updated weapons and the feature that makes today’s game possible — enhanced matchmaking. It’s everything the game needed in one fantastic package. Join us at 5PM ET (2PM PT) on Twitch.tv/Joystiq, right in this post or on the Engadget Gaming homepage, or right here in this post to watch a gaggle of Engadget editors tear each other apart as adorable squid-people.
http://www.twitch.tv/joystiq/embedWatch live video from Joystiq on www.twitch.tv
Source:
Twitch
Tags: gaming, multiplayer, nintendo, splatfest, splatoon, streaming, twitch
New Nintendo smartphone concept by CURVED/labs teases us once again
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It seems like there are some talented designers out there who have taken the rumour of a Nintendo smartphone and run with it, despite the face that Nintendo has officially denied the rumours. After the Smart Boy concept that surfaced last month, CURVED/labs have tried their hand at a Nintendo smartphone concept, and we have to say, it’s even better than the last one. Unlike the Smart Boy, which was influenced the ancient Nintendo Game Boy, this Nintendo smartphone concept takes its essence from a much more recent console, the Wii-U. With the badge “Wii-M”, the smartphone appears to have been imagined much like the tablet-like controller of the Wii-U, and even has retro and current controller add-ons available. Check out some images below:
Concepts like this really make you wish that Nintendo would consider making a Nintendo smartphone – if they aren’t already and just aren’t telling us. As listed on the CURVED website, here are the full specs of the Nintendo smartphone concept:
- 4.5-inch display with scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass
- Dimensions: 67mm x 126mm x 9mm (with open Pad: 67mm x 196mm x 9mm)
- LTE, NFC, GPS, Wireless Charging
- Slider gamepad, which extends at your fingertips
- Button design either in classic or modern NES Wii controller look
- Control over gamepad and sensors possible
- illuminated Home button
- 64 gigabytes of internal memory for games
- physical buttons for volume and power
- Rear camera with 8 megapixels, front camera with five megapixels
- customized Android with its own Wii Menu. Games can be streamed from the Wii and WiiU on smartphone and further gamble seamlessly.
- Seamless Play with Wii and WiiU consoles via Nintendo Network
- Available as “classic” or “modern” version available in black and white
- Wireless Charging
What do you think about this Nintendo smartphone concept? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
The post New Nintendo smartphone concept by CURVED/labs teases us once again appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
A look at the evolution of modern video game controllers
If anything’s kept pace with how video games have changed over the years, it’s how we interact with them. Our biggest touchpoint with virtual worlds is the gamepad and — akin to how games themselves have evolved from simple 2D affairs into 100-hour-long labyrinths in three dimensions — controllers have changed to accommodate that. What you’ll find in the gallery below is a comprehensive look at gamepads from the past 30-plus years of gaming, including high points and missteps alike.
[Image: Adafruit Industries/Flickr]
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD, Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo
This is what happens when Facebook hacks Nintendo
When I entered the doors of the building, an approximately 7-foot Piranha Plant greeted me. Inside, I saw large question block cushions scattered throughout and 25 Wii U stations. Off in the corner was a Mario mascot, posing for photos in front of a big green pipe. If you thought I was in Nintendo Land, you’d be wrong. I was in Facebook’s Menlo Park, California, offices. It was the second day of a two-day hackathon collaboration with Nintendo, where employees had the opportunity to create levels with the upcoming game Super Mario Maker. And the ultimate prize? The winning level design would be available to download when the game launches.Slideshow-308689
Of course, the event isn’t quite a traditional hackathon — you don’t need special coding skills in order to create levels in Super Mario Maker. But it was a chance for Nintendo to open up the game to at least a small sampling of the public ahead of launch.
Over 100 Facebook employees participated in the event and by the end, over 40 levels were created. When I arrived, much of the hackathon had already concluded, but I could see that employees took level creation seriously. Many of the teams storyboarded their levels on whiteboards, even going so far as to draw up blueprints of bricks and coins and plot out jump points with Post-it notes. The only real rule — and this is true for the consumer version of Super Mario Maker as well — is that you need to be able to beat the level in order to submit it. In the regular game, the user-created levels are also vetted by Nintendo moderators to determine level difficulty before it’s available for anyone to download. You can also share specific levels with friends by giving them a code.
That, however, doesn’t mean the levels were easy. “Some are so mean!” said Corey Olcsvary, a Nintendo product expert who was one of the hackathon judges. He was telling me this as he was maneuvering Mario through what seemed like a hellscape of rotating fire bars and falling Thwomps [the large, spiky cinder blocks]. “I’ve seen a really crazy combination of enemies. There was one squid level that was just Bloopers everywhere!” he said. So what are the judges looking for in a winning level? “We’re looking for a representation of Nintendo’s core values — creativity, fun and surprise — as well as Facebook’s core values, which is: Move fast; be open; and break things,” said AJ Glasser, a manager for Facebook’s games partnership program.
While I wasn’t able to watch or play all of them, I walked with some of the judges as they played through the different submissions. Several of the levels I saw recreated the Facebook logo or spelled out “facebook” in coins and blocks, while others took the “Move Fast” motto to heart, forcing the player to speed through conveyor belts and avoid getting smashed by flying cannons.
“I think it’s great,” said Brandon Dillon, an Oculus software engineer who also participated in the hackathon. “Especially as a game developer, it’s interesting to look at how Nintendo thinks about constructing levels.” In many ways, he says that Super Mario Maker‘s dead-simple controls — you only need to drag and drop different elements to create a scene — is an idealized way of doing game design. “But more than that, it’s got so much polish and love and charm,” he said. Dillon was part of a team of three people from Oculus, and their level was called “Bowser’s Timeline.” The idea is that you would play through Bowser’s Facebook page, navigating through his minions wishing him happy birthday and whether you want to accept Bowser’s friend request.
When asked if he played other levels, Dillon admitted that some of them were more than a little hard. “There are people who made some pretty sadistic levels!” he laughed. “I consider myself a competent Mario player and I couldn’t even get past the first screen of some of them.”
After two days and several hours of judging, a winner was crowned. Created by Doug Strait and Roy McElmurry, both Facebook software engineers, the level was called “Ship Love.” It takes place on a pirate ship, with coins shaped into hearts; Yoshi as your trusty companion and Bowser as your final obstacle at the end. Curious to see what they whipped up? You can either check out the video below or try it for yourself when Super Mario Maker arrives in North America on September 11th.
Filed under:
Gaming, Facebook, Nintendo
Tags: facebook, nintendo, nintendowiiu, supermariomaker
‘Super Smash Bros.’ gets tournament modes and YouTube replays
Nintendo isn’t done with the 3DS and Wii U versions of Super Smash Bros. just yet. The company has released an update today which adds tournament modes and the ability to post video replays to YouTube. Both features were teased just before E3, but we weren’t expecting a slew of new character outfits and stages to go along with them. Nintendo is offering the Hyrule Castle and Peach’s Castle arenas from the original Super Smash Bros. on N64, priced at $1.99 per platform or $2.99 across both. They’re joined by a deluge of Mii fighter costumes, including King K. Rool from Donkey Kong, Chrom from Fire Emblem: Awakening and Lloyd Irving from Tales of Symphonia. All eight are available for $0.75 or $1.15 across both 3DS and Wii U. Alternatively, you can get everything as a bundle for $9.98 or $15.18 on both Nintendo systems. One last thing: there’s a K.K. Slider Mii Fighter costume from Animal Crossing too. It’s free to download and looks darn cute.
Source: Nintendo
Nintendo sells 10 million Wii Us, still not making much money
Nintendo has posted yet another slim profit as it moves beyond the financial difficulties of the past few years. The slow launch of the Wii U and the stagnation of its handheld sales caused Nintendo to fall dramatically from grace after the runaway success of the Wii. After recording its first annual profit since 2011 earlier this year, though, it’s proved it can stay in the black in spite of the Wii U’s meagre popularity, making just over $9million in the latest quarter.
Nintendo only managed to sell 470,000 flagship consoles over the past three months, down slightly from last year’s 510,000. That at least pushes the Wii U’s total sales above the 10 million barrier. For context, it took over 30 months for Nintendo to sell what Sony managed in less than a year with PS4. Software sales were still remarkably strong — 4.55 million over the quarter — proving that, while the Wii U may not be a big seller, its gamers definitely love Nintendo games. Splatoon sold 1.62 million copies, and Wii U owners now own (on average) six games for their console.
While the Wii U still languishes in third place, Nintendo had a very strong quarter for 3DS, with sales of 1.1 million. That’s up 23 percent from last year, likely due to the availability of the new 3DS, and software remained fairly steady at a shade under 8 million. It’s worth noting that the first quarter is historically a tough one for Nintendo, and these figures actually represent the company’s strongest showing in a few years. But with no big releases on the horizon for either system, the company is unlikely to see a huge leap in sales next quarter. That’s curious, given it’s predicting around a $400 million profit for the year, and has so far managed less than 3 percent of that figure. It’s hoping that the release of Super Mario Maker, Star Fox, and Mario Tennis will pick things up for the holiday season, before it’s ready to show us something totally new in 2016.
Source: Nintendo (PDF)
‘Dragon Quest XI’ may be one of the first Nintendo NX games
It’s been a long time coming, but another Dragon Quest title is on the way — and you’ll want to keep your eye on this one. Square Enix has announced Dragon Quest XI, a solo role-playing game (no DQX-style massively multiplayer experience) that will come to the PlayStation 4, 3DS… and, quite possibly, Nintendo’s future NX console. Yes, the publisher is at least “considering” a version for a system that exists as little more than a codename. There’s no mention of what that version will entail, although it’s clear that DQXI will take advantage of platforms’ strong points. The PS4 version is based on the pretty Unreal Engine 4, while the 3DS version makes good use of the dual screens to show 3D gameplay and 2D maps at the same time. As it stands, you’ll have to wait a while to try any edition for yourself. Square Enix hasn’t provided any release dates yet, so the odds are that you won’t be battling slimes until 2016 at the earliest.
Via: NintendoLife
Source: Square Enix (translated)
Two Wii U devs on why ‘indie’ doesn’t have to be a curse word
Developers Dave Proctor and Alex Rushdy of 13AM Games are in the middle of an impassioned conversation about the Wii U and independent development.
“I think the industry is getting into a habit of unsustainably large development, where it’s like, ‘Ugh, of course the Wii U can’t run Assassin’s Creed Unity,‘” Proctor says.
Rushdy cuts in, “Nothing can run Assassin’s Creed Unity.”
Proctor and Rushdy share a laugh before getting back to the point of the day’s interview: They’ve spent the past one and a half years developing Runbow, a fast-paced, nine-player game, exclusively for the Wii U. Yes, that’s nine players all in the same room, playing the same wild Wii U game. It’s a colorful, 2D platformer aesthetically inspired by 1960s poster art and featuring famous guest characters, including the eponymous hero of Shovel Knight, Juan Aguacate of Guacamelee and CommanderVideo of the Bit.Trip series. It’s the type of game that Proctor wants to see more of in the gaming industry, instead of the current emphasis on massive, yearly sequels and big-budget military shooters. It’s the type of game that makes the Wii U worthwhile as a gaming platform, he says.
Basically, 13AM’s argument for the Wii U boils down to this: Just because consoles like the PlayStation 4 or Xbox One can run Assassin’s Creed Unity, that doesn’t make it a good game — and the Wii U isn’t a bad console just because it can’t run games like Unity.
The Wii U isn’t a bad console just because it can’t run games like Unity.
Runbow is a Wii U exclusive for a few important, non-Assassin’s Creed-related reasons, starting with Rushdy’s and Proctor’s lifelong love of Nintendo. Another main reason is that Nintendo fans are hungry for new, fun content and they’re passionate about things like perfect platforming jumps. Plus, Rushdy believes the Wii U offers something that’s often overlooked in current console discussions:
“I also think a big strength of the Wii U that I don’t hear people talk about a lot, is the fact that it’s compatible with all of the old controllers that you had for your Wii,” he says.
Proctor immediately chimes in, “Yes.”
“One of the reasons that Runbow is going to be on Wii U is that, generally speaking, if you own a Wii U, you probably owned a Wii or you had a friend who owned the Wii or whatever it is,” Rushdy continues. “So, if you’re like, ‘Hey, I want to get nine players in my house playing this game,’ you don’t have to go and buy, you know, eight $60 controllers. You probably already have them.”
Rushdy and Proctor have spent so much time together over the past year and a half that they often speak like a couple, seamlessly building on each other’s thoughts during the interview. (“This came up when you and I were talking in the kitchen the other day,” Proctor says at one point, while Rushdy nods, remembering.) They agree about a lot of things, including Runbow‘s potential to be a hit on Wii U, despite the console’s reputation as an irrelevant piece of hardware. Nintendo has sold about 9.5 million Wii Us since the console’s launch in November 2012; in comparison, Sony’s PS4 broke the 20 million sales mark in March, after launching in November 2013, a year later than the Wii U.
This sales discrepancy is something that Rushdy and Proctor considered before developing a game specifically for the Wii U, but they’re not too worried about it.
“The kind of games we want to make aren’t very technically heavy. … We like 2D stuff. We like simpler games.”
— Dave Proctor
“Anyone that tells you that they’re not concerned about the potential revenue of their game is a total liar,” Proctor says. “I have confidence. I feel good. Yes, it’s not the highest sales, but it’s not so far off of the Xbox One that it’s drowning. And the fanbase is so rabid, which I really like. They have a really good — I’ve listened to some talks and some numbers — they have a really good install base with the eShop for digital titles and stuff like that.”
Rushdy adds, “When Wii U owners like a game, they really like a game.” 13AM Games released a demo of Runbow during the week of E3 2015, and the “response has been really good,” Rushdy says. Besides, Wii U games definitely can sell well — Splatoon crested 1 million sales in its first month, and after one month on the market, third-party game Shovel Knight sold almost as well on Wii U and 3DS as it did on Steam, the dominant PC gaming platform.
Dave Proctor (left) and Alex Rushdy (right)
Runbow is optimized to run at 1080p on Wii U, something that was a “pain in the ass” to do, Proctor says — but it’s something that current-generation gaming fans really like to see.
“There are technical limitations [with the Wii U], as there will be with anything,” Proctor says. “Conveniently for us, the kind of games that we want to make aren’t very technically heavy, inasmuch as they’re not gray and brown. We like 2D stuff. We like simpler games.”
“The word ‘indie’ is actually kind of damaging in a way. There’s a certain baggage that comes with it.”
— Alex Rushdy
That’s a big point for Proctor — supporting the development of simple, fun games. As indie games continue to demonstrate that more money doesn’t equal more fun, it’s disheartening to see major companies continue to produce massive (sometimes bug-riddled) games that cost hundreds of millions of dollars every year, Proctor says.
“Make a smaller game,” he suggests. “Show people that there’s value in a huge company making a $15 to $20 game. Show them that it’s not price and it’s not development time or budget that defines fun or quality of experience. Actually demonstrate to the people that may not go out of their way to try indie games that they can have fun for 15 bucks.”
Runbow in action
Rushdy takes an in-house approach: He says it’s up to smaller developers to prove that “indie” isn’t a curse word and good games can still come from tiny teams. He hopes that Runbow does this, in its own way, when it launches later this year.
“We wanted to pack a lot into it so that it doesn’t feel like this is a little indie game,” he says. “We really want to give people a lot of bang for their buck. So, for a lot of these indies that are becoming bigger and bigger, the word ‘indie’ is actually kind of damaging, in a way. There’s a certain baggage that comes with it. As much as I’m proud to say I’m an indie developer and our game is proud to say that it’s an indie game, there’s a certain baggage with that.”
[Image credits: 13AM Games]
Next ‘Splatoon’ update will fix matchmaking, increase level cap
Splatoon is easily Nintendo’s breakaway game for 2015. The brightly colored post-apocalyptic third-person multiplayer shooter sold more than a million copies in its first month. It’s tons of fun, but it also feels a little incomplete: the game launched with a low level cap, and a primitive, randomized matchmaking system that made it almost impossible to team up with friends. In a few days, that changes — in August, Nintendo will be upgrading Splatoon with new weapons, new items, a higher level cap and more robust matchmaking.
For players that have been with Splatoon from day one, the August update is flush with essential changes. For starters, the update fixes the game’s matchmaking. Right now, teammates for Ranked Battles are assigned randomly, making it almost impossible to play on a team with a friend — but the new update will introduce new a Squad Battle mode that allow you to form custom teams. A second new mode, Private Battle, will let players create matches with customized map settings and team sizes. The game’s “Regular Battle” mode will still be randomized, however.
The update also adds in a ton of new content, including two new weapon types (a gatling-gun called “The Splatling” and a fancy paint-bucket called “The Slosher”) and more than 40 new pieces of fashionable armor and gear. Nintendo is also bumping the game’s character level cap from 20 to 50 and will tack rank S and S+ to the top of its competitive ranking system.
Best of all? Nintendo’s not even done yet. The company says it will continue to add new battle modes, weapons and maps to the game throughout the rest of the summer and into the Fall. If you were holding off on buying Splatoon until it felt more complete, your time has come.
Filed under: Gaming, HD, Nintendo
Source: Nintendo
Nintendo wants to build a sleep monitor with a projector
Nintendo first announced its intention to develop a sleep monitor as part of its “quality of life” initiative in 2014. Now, thanks to a recently published patent unearthed by NeoGAF forum members, we have an idea of what the system could look like. The gamemaker is apparently planning to build a sensor-laden alarm clock-like gadget that’s equipped with a projector. Since the documents are mostly in Japanese, we only have their summaries and the device’s illustration to go by, which you can see below the fold.
It’s unclear at this point if the sleep monitor is a two-device system, or if it’s just the dock and the handset-like drawing is merely the user’s smartphone. Either way, Nintendo’s tracker will be equipped with sensors, microphone and a camera that will keep track of the user’s temperature and pulse rate, among other things. It will then use the data it collects to assess a user’s emotional state and calculate his/her “sleep score” — the person’s stats and results will be projected on the wall or the ceiling. Some people will undoubtedly find all those sensors a bit too intrusive (perhaps even creepy), but this is just a patent anyway. We’ll know the monitor’s features for sure when Nintendo releases it, which according to IGN could be sometime in 2016.
[Image credit: Alamy]
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