Nintendo's Social Network messaging board Miiverse, available on most Wii U and 3Ds games, will be closed as of November 8 due to misuse as many users are posting rude messages.
Speaking about the highs and lows of Miiverse, which was launched in 2012, Tom Phillips of Eurogamer told the BBC: "It was chaotic but a moderately successful experiment in creating a social network. "The highlight was some of the incredible art - it was certainly the best of what Miiverse had to offer - but it was always a headache for Nintendo to police. "Some of the moderation was entrusted to an algorithm you could draw a penis shape and it would be deleted."
Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection action introduced to classic RPG for first time
Find a sacred sword and use it to save a kingdom as Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon heads to Nintendo DS! For the first time in the classic Fire Emblem RPG series, there is the option of multiplayer action over Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, adding a whole new dimension of gameplay and strategic planning that can be shared with friends and fans of the series. Using skill, tactical battle-planning and no small amount of magic, players must embark on a quest to destroy the resurrected dark dragon Medeus, who seeks to conquer the entire world. Charging into battle in Europe on 5 December, 2008, the game is based on Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, which was created in 1990 for the NES console but never released in Europe, despite becoming the most popular in the series in Japan. Now the remake of this NES classic has the popular weapon triangle system integrated for strategic enhancement.
One hundred years since Medeus was slain and the Kingdom Altea founded on the continent of Akaneia, Medeus is back and it falls to exiled prince, Marth, to save the kingdom from ruination. Success for Marth and his comrades rests on finding his father’s sacred sword, Falchion and the Fire Emblem. Only when these are united in Marth’s hands will he be able to confront the dark pontifex Gharnef, avenge the murder of his father and kidnap of his sister, destroy Medeus once and for all and win back the kingdom of Altea.
Turn-based gameplay challenges the player’s strategic thinking, with the nature of the terrain, the strength of enemy forces and the positioning of your own units all needing careful consideration. The Nintendo DS’s Touch Screen enables quick placement of units and the game boasts polished graphics that make the best use of the Nintendo DS system.
A wide range of characters, with unique powers and integrated storylines, adds depth to the game, which features a range of new side stories and several difficulty levels to suit newcomers and seasoned strategists. Using the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, players can battle over the internet or against one another in the same room, using their own characters – with their own special skills and experience. These battles can be enjoyed even more by using the Mic Chat feature during battle. Playing over Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection also offers access to a special armoury shop where players can buy special items that allow them to gain a new class of character and also sell weapons to make money. Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection also enables players to loan their battle-seasoned units to other players in order to provide a boost to that player’s forces. Additional units can be uploaded to a server and also borrowed from the server or from a friend by exchanging friend codes.
Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon makes its way to Europe on 5th December 2008
Fun-filled puzzle action romp lets players indulge in fun without the guilt
Prey the Stars for Nintendo DS is available at retailers throughout North America.
Prey the Stars serves up an incredible world where nearly anything from food to whole buildings can be devoured. Players must bite, lick, and suck their way to victory as one of the game’s four insatiable and customizable creatures: GABU, BARI, CHUCHU, and PERO. The more the characters eat, the bigger and more voracious their stomachs become. It’s an engaging and addictive game for anyone with a taste for fun!
About Prey the Stars Prey the Stars lets players indulge without the guilt as they try to eat everything in sight. Each of the games colorfully-themed stages are cleared by devouring as much as possible before time runs out. The player with the highest score at the end of the stage is the winner. Each player scores points by eating and by sucking in “spirits” which are hidden in some objects. The bigger the item, the higher the score!
Prey the Stars offers a delicious smorgasbord of multiplayer options. Up to four friends can feast together using Wireless DS Single-Card Download Play or Multi-Card Play. Players can even take their gastronomic conquest worldwide using Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.
Exclusive character designs for Prey the Stars were created by break-out Japanese pop artist TOUMA. The highly-respected designer is renowned for his whimsical and edgy creations including, Knuckle Bear and Boo, that have taken the urban vinyl toy industry by storm.
Developed by KOEI CANADA, Prey the Stars is rated “E” (Everyone – Comic Mischief) by the ESRB. Play is for 1-4 players using Wireless DS Single-Card Download Play, Wireless Multi-Card Play, and via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. The suggested retail price is US$29.99.
Wii Speak Channel and Wii Speak accessory will connect friends and family and herald the next evolution of social gaming
Socialising and communicating with friends and family has just got easier – and more fun – as the new Wii Speak accessory and Wii Speak Channel are launched for Wii across Europe on 5 December 2008.
Wii Speak enables people to connect to and communicate with friends using the free-to-use Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection* in a way that is very socially inclusive. Wii Speak can be connected directly to the console and pick up the conversations from an entire room of people, meaning friends and families can all get involved in conversations, sharing gaming and social experiences together. It’s just like using a phone to make a call and chat with other Wii-friends: but with Wii Speak, everyone in the room can get involved in the conversation.
The new Wii Speak Channel, accessed from the Wii’s main menu, allows up to four console users – who can be anywhere in the world – to connect together to chat, or to share pictures and text messages at no extra cost. Once connected, the Wii Speak Channel brings user’s Miis to life: as users’ Miis represent them on-screen during their conversations. When players are talking to each other, their Miis also ‘talk’ to match the sound that is being picked up by the Wii Speak accessory.
Users have to share their private Friend Codes to be able to communicate with each other, which makes the experience safe and fun.
As well as enabling people to connect together through the Wii Speak Channel, Wii Speak also opens up a new world of social gameplay. The first game to use the full capabilities of Wii Speak is Animal Crossing: Let’s Go to the City, in which players can create and share their personalised worlds.
For the first time, friends can chat in the game and, as the action happens in real time and creates a world in which players celebrate real festivals and events, sharing the gaming experience over the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection on Christmas Day will be a uniquely magical experience, with characters and other players in the game all joining in the festive fun! Animal Crossing: Let’s Go to the City and the Wii Speak microphone will be offered as a bundle at launch, making a perfect gift for friends and family this Christmas.
In the future, Wii Speak will be incorporated into other Wii games, meaning that new opportunities can be created for social gameplay amongst the console’s fans.
Enjoy a whole new use for your Wii with Wii Speak and enjoy the chance to create – and talk about – the perfect world that you create in Animal Crossing: Let’s Go to the City on 5th December 2008, when they launch across Europe both as a bundle and sold separately.
there are no fees or subscriptions to pay (Usual broadband line rental and Internet Service Provider costs apply when accessing the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection at home)
Animal Crossing - Let's go to the city out for Nintendo Wii in December
Pack your bags and take a trip to the city as Animal Crossing comes to Wii! In a new installment to the hugely popular series, Animal Crossing: Let’s Go to the City not only allows players to create their own perfect life in the country, but also introduces an exciting new city area to explore! With many new features such as the new Nintendo Wii Speak accessory which enables you to chat to other players in the game, pack up your fishing rod and get ready to create your ideal Animal Crossing world as Animal Crossing: Lets Go to the City launches across Europe in December 2008.
The new city environment introduces a thrilling new area with exciting shops and entertainment opportunities to experience. Simply jump on the bus from your town and take a trip to visit the theatre to watch a show or even visit Gracie Grace, the large and exclusive department store that sells special items and furniture to customise your home. You can even customise your own character at the hair salon with your favourite Mii from your Nintendo Wii console and compete with other players selling and bidding for items at the auction house.
Animal Crossing: Lets Go to the City is a fun and engaging life simulation, where you can take control and shape the world around you from decorating your house to creating constellations in the heavens. Start the game in your own quiet town and meet many enriching animal characters along the way as you collect new furniture, wallpaper and carpets to make your house a home. Alternatively, simply while away the hours with a spot of fishing or gardening - there are no pressures in the world of Animal Crossing, you can live the life you wish to lead.
For players who have already enjoyed creating their own character in Animal Crossing: Wild World on the Nintendo DS, this new title will allow the transfer of some character data to Nintendo Wii. The Nintendo DS can also be used as a ‘suitcase’ allowing players to take their character to and from a friend’s Nintendo Wii console to explore their Animal Crossing world.
Adding to the fun, Animal Crossing: Let’s Go to the City operates in real time, which means if twenty-four hours has passed in the real world, the same amount of time will also have passed in your town. Allowing you to experience seasons and special days as they happen, celebrate events like Halloween, and national holidays as they happen in real life.
Animal Crossing: Let’s Go to the City is a title the whole family can enjoy together as it introduces a number of great ways for all to share their Animal Crossing lives with friends and family around the globe. Using the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, send friends letters and items from the post office located in each town. Why not even visit them yourself? Travel to a friend’s town to explore their unique Animal Crossing environment or invite them to visit you, regardless of where they live in the world!
For the first time on Nintendo Wii, get ready to actually chat with friends as Animal Crossing: Let’s Go to the City introduces the new Wii Speak accessory , which allows players to communicate with each other directly in the game. This exciting new accessory sits above the Nintendo Wii sensor bar on your television set and enables anyone in the room to speak with friends in another location. Use Wii Speak when visiting a friend’s town, or being visited, to explore, chat and enjoy Animal Crossing together via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.
Marble Saga - Kororinpa Nintendo Wii balance board support
Hudson Entertainment announced that it is bringing Marble Saga: Kororinpa, an exciting puzzle adventure centering around a marble, exclusively to Nintendo Wii next spring.
The sequel to Kororinpa: Marble Mania, Marble Saga: Kororinpa is full of new levels for gamers to explore, 4-person multiplayer gameplay, tons of customization features, the ability to connect and compete online and the use of the Nintendo Wii Balance Board as features.
“Gamers will be amazed to see how much entertainment we have packed into Marble Saga,” said Sabine Duvall, Vice President of Product Development at Hudson Entertainment. “Whether players want to compete with each other through multiplayer or Nintendo Wi-Fi connection, explore more than 150 levels by themselves, or use the Nintendo Wii Balance Board for additional fun, this game really will deliver an action-packed adventure for gamers of all ages.”
The story takes place with players heading out on a journey with Anthony the Ant as he searches for the Golden Sunflower. By guiding Anthony’s marble around the Ant World and searching for items which are valuable to help reach the Golden Sunflower, gamers will help Anthony save his colony. Along the way players will face dangerous mazes and use cool and amazing widgets and gadgets to guide Anthony to his objective. With multiple levels to explore and three difficulty stages within each level, no area is ever the same.
Unique features in Marble Saga: Kororinpa allow fun customization for players. From designing the ball with attributes to helping players navigate through stages easier, to Nintendo Miis and preset fun images, to an Edit Mode which allows for custom design of a unique stage, gamers can really make this entertaining experience their own. For a more competitive tone, a 4-person multiplayer mode allows players to compete with three other opponents on the same map as each races to the finish line. For more customization and group fun with others, the Wii Connect 24 feature allows gamers to share the unique stages they created with their friends or to receive extra stages from Hudson after the game’s launch via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Additionally, Wi-Fi Leaderboards let players compete online against each other to see who can navigate through the world the fastest.
For those who can’t live without gaming peripherals, the Wii Balance Board can be used as players navigate through the world as the ball with this new feature. In addition, gamers can utilize 40 innovative and useful widgets to help assist them in guiding their marble, including shrinking machines, movable bridges, vacuum tubes, cannon vaults and more!
Marble Saga - Kororinpa will be available at retail in Spring 2009.
Image by Jake of 8bitjoystick.com via FlickrPlayers Can Now Bomb It Up Against 8 Players With Online Multiplayer Combat And Mii Support
Hudson announced the official launch of Bomberman Blast, an all-new Bomberman available for digital download on WiiWare for the Wii. Retaining many of the classic features that fans of the award-winning series have come to love, such as online multiplayer battles and numerous arenas, Bomberman Blast also incorporates exciting new gameplay elements like Mii support and 8-person online play.
"We are thrilled to deliver Bomberman Blast to the WiiWare gamers," said Sabine Duvall, Vice President of Product Development at Hudson Entertainment. "Hardcore fans and casual gamers alike will enjoy this new rendition of classic Bomberman created specifically for play on the Wii with three new Wii-specific items and Miis."
Bomberman Blast features 3 new shake-it-up items specifically created for play on the Wii. Each of these new items can be used by shaking the Wii Remote to add an entirely new aspect of play to multiplayer Bomberman battles. Players can use the Bomb Change to disguise themselves as a bomb, the Rocket to jump up high in the air to avoid bomb blasts and the Shield to block bomb blasts as long as they keep shaking the Wii Remote.
There are 10 unique level designs included in the game. Once all 10 levels have been played, gamers are able to unlock the ability to blow away the competition by using a Mii as their Bomberman. Various arenas are included, ranging from the Classic level to levels with unique and exciting twists including Hyper Feet, Bomb Bowling, and Potholes.
Players will be able to compete either solo or as part of a team against the best Bomberman players worldwide, as Bomberman Blast delivers 8-player multiplayer battles online. Players can bomb it up on one console or can compete against their friends, family, and even players from all over the world with deeply customizable Wi-Fi Battles over the Nintendo® Wi-Fi Connection. Players can also submit their scores and track them using the new Rankings feature.
With the release of Bomberman Blast on WiiWare, Hudson Entertainment will offer several online tournaments, including one that coincides with the game's launch. The first tournament will be a live, online, head-to-head competition between 49 randomly-selected entrants, hosted by Hudson Entertainment. Registration for the tournament and an associated sweepstakes begins immediately and runs until 5:00 p.m. PST on October 3, 2008. The competition itself will take place starting at 2:00 p.m. PST on October 6, 2008. For more information on the upcoming tournaments and to register, players can visit www.Hudsonentertainment.com.
Bomberman Blast is rated E for Everyone by the Entertainment Software Rating Board.
About Bomberman Originally launched in the US in 1987, the game captured gamers' hearts with its simple yet challenging gameplay. With over 60 iterations on nearly all major consoles since then, and over 10 million units sold, winning accolades as the best multiplayer game of all time, this classic game has stood the test of time. Along the way, it also pioneered the "party game" genre, encouraging groups of 4 or more friends to duke it out in one room, and was the first series to contribute to Hudson's reputation as the number one party game company.
An online survey reveals that Microsoft may be working on its own version of Nintendo's Miis called "Avatars."
The new Avatars will replace Gamer Pictures beginning this holiday.
The Avatars will be completely customizable. No word yet on what other functions they may have, though it's possible they could be integrated in to games in the future.
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