Friday, May 27, 2016

Nintendo News: 23.05.2016 - 27.05.2016

Hello and Welcome to Dillians Nintendo News Recap.

While we may not got any huge game releases this week, it at least provided us with some intersting News. 


New Releases:


  • Smash Cat Heroes – Nintendo 3DS Download-Software
  • Infinite Dunamis – Nintendo 3DS Download-Software
  • Mario Slam Basketball – Virtual Console (Wii-U)
  • Futuridium EP Deluxe – Wii-U Download-Software
  • Epic Word Search Collection 2 – Nintendo 3DS Download-Software

Well nothing huge this week, but it's a good selection nonetheless. As always Indies and the Virtual Console are keeping Nintendo (barely) afloat. Mario Slam Basketball is from a time, where Mario Sport Games still incorporated imaginative stages. I'm looking at you Mario Tennis Ultra Smash. Infinite Dunamis looks like it came straight from the Super Nintendo, but if you like such old school RPGs you can give it a try.



Miitomo:



After its start in March we heard about the huge success of Miitomo. At launch it was Number 1 on both, the the apple store and Googles Play Store, and a consistent mainstay in the Top 5 afterward. This week the website Survey Monkey released a study looking at the longtime success of Miitomo. They used the mobile hits Clash Royale and Candy Crush Saga as comparison.


If we take a look at the first picture, we can see that Miitomo had an impressive launch, probably because of Nintendos brand power. But afterward this was followed by a pretty step decline.


The next graph shows us that there wasn't only a decline in download numbers, but also in interest from players, who already owned the app. It looks like Nintendo didn't manage to create enough incentive to start the app every day.


And lastly we see a continuous decline in active users. This is especially hard to counter for a social app like Miitomo. When you friends stop playing it's normally only a matter of time till you stop playing, which creates a chain reaction that is hard to stop.

Of course it has to be seen if this trend continuous or if Nintendo is able to counter act, but for now this survey proves what many Miitomo Users have been complaining about. The social app doesn't provide enough ''Meat'' to stay engaged.



Nintendo:



One of the last decisions from past Nintendo President Satoru Iwata was the stronger focus on merchandising Nintendo IPs. We have seen fruits of this wish already with the announced partnership between Universal and Nintendo for Theme Park rides or the more surprising merchandise like Pokemon lingerie. This news falls into the second category. Merchoid has teamed up with Nintendo to provide us with Nintendo Swimmwear. So if you looking to cool off at the beach or wherever you can do it in Style.




Kirby:



Kirbys newest 3DS adventure is only weeks away now and Nintendo has started its marketing for the title in the Us. Here is the first commercial and I have to say that I think it's quite good. With Nintendos questionable history in that department I think we can count that as a victory.




One Thing Kirby games are known for is their countless extra modes. Boss Rush, Gourmet Race, etc. Planet Robobot isn't an exception with Team Kirby Clash and Kirby 3D Rumble. After we got some insight into the RPG inspired Team Kirby Clash in the last couple of weeks this week our friends at GameXplain got the chance to give us a brief glimpse ad Kirby 3D Rumble. Enjoy.




And lastly, but certainly not least, the Japanese Website of the game was updated with several pieces of concept art showing us how the Developers envisioned the new game. It's certainly interesting and when you finally have the game be sure to keep an eye out for any similarities.




Star Fox:



Even though Star Fox Zero was met with mixed reviews many Nintendo Fans were still happy to see the return of Fox McCloud. I also enjoyed the game greatly, even though it has some major flaws.
In the past couple of days Nintendo has released a three part interview on their website, which takes a in depth look at the development of the title. It's quite a long, but interesting read and if you want you can take a look here:





Mario Maker:



Mario Maker continuous to be supported by Nintendo, even if it's only in the form of new costumes. A new trailer is now introducing two very familiar faces.




Tokyo Mirage Sessions#FE:



While my excitement for this title has taken a huge bump because of the rampant censorship the game itself looks still like it will be a lot of crazy Japanese Fun. Yesterday there has been a big preview event for the title at the Nintendo World Store in New York and some interesting gameplay material has surfaced. Take a look:




Pokemon:



There has been a huge wave of information about Pokemon Go in the last couple of days, and of course I don't want to keep this hidden from you. The official page of the Smartphone App has been updated and we got a lot of insight into how Pokemon Go will work. I have compiled the information for you, but if you want to read all you can do it here: http://www.pokemon.com/us/pokemon-video-games/pokemon-go/

  • Your Trainer Avatar will be fully customizable and other players will see you, when they visit a Gym you control
  • Your Trainer Level determines what Pokemon you'll be able to catch. Higher Levels will also give you access to rarer items like better Pokeballs.
  • Raise your level through traveling and Pokemon encounter.
  • If you catch several Pokemon of the same species one of them may evolve.
  • You can find Pokemon Eggs at PokeStops, giving you access to completely new Pokemon.
  • After some time you'll be asked to join one of three teams.
  • Battle against the other teams and claim Gyms as your own.
  • Pokemon have two attacks in battle, but you also can make them dodge attacks by swiping left or right.
  • There are many achievement medals you can earn in the game via battle, exploration and collecting Pokemon. Try to get them all.
  • Pokemon Go Plus is a device, which allows you to enjoy Pokemon Go even when not looking at your Smartphone. It's an accessory which allows you to catch Pokemon and informs you of nearby events.
  • Pokemon Go will be free to play, but also feature in App purchases to further enhance your experience.

Along with this information we got a lot of screenshots, which provide us with a good look at the game.





Zelda:



In less than three weeks we'll finally get our first extended look at the newest Zelda adventure for Wii-U and NX. Nintendo will focus 100% on this game during this years e3. But that is not all. 500 lucky Fans will be able to play the newest Title at a gameplay presentation at Nintendos World Story in New York. So the first 500 people to get into the Store on the 11th of June will be able to register for this event. To everyone in New York, who wants to try. Happy Camping!



But that is not all Zelda related news this week because we also got some new videos of the impressive Ocarina of Time Project using the Unreal Engine 4. Enjoy and give the creator CryZenx a thumbs up.






And that was it for this week. Enjoy your games and enjoy the weekend.

And as always

thanks for reading
  
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Wednesday, May 25, 2016

The Side Activities in Zelda U


In less than 3 weeks we'll get our first extended look at the new Zelda game for Wii-U and NX. And even calling it my most anticipated game doesn't do it justice. Zelda is always something special for me. When Wind Waker released I saved up all my money and bought the Gamecube. It was my first self bought console and Wind Waker is still one of my all time favorite games and second most loved Zelda. Number 1 goes to Links Awakening my very first Zelda game.

But let us not dwell in the past for too long, but instead look into the future. Zelda U will be the first truly open World Zelda, where you can go wherever you want whenever you want. This will mark a strong deviation from previous titles. And it also has some dangers attached to it.

While the material we saw in December 2014 at the Game Awards looked great the World also looked pretty lifeless to me. Of course this was 2 years before the Games eventual release, but still it's something that should be addressed. So today I want to talk which side activities the new Zelda should offer.


Monster Hunter:


Source: e3 2014 Nintendo Digital Event

When Zelda U was first shown to the World at Nintendos e3 2014 Digital Event Series Producer Eiji Aonuma said that powerful Boss Monsters could also appear on the Overworld. I quite liked that idea. So with that in mind these powerful Monsters should work as one of the side activities filling the World with Life. In my mind they would work in two ways. Once as random encounters. They could attack you out of nowhere, forcing you to defend yourself. Maybe Link even has to retreat first taking some time to figure out how to beat the powerful foe.
The other way of integrating big Monsters into the World is in the form of Hunts. Maybe one of them attacked a village or a group of travelers. Links job is now to search for clues about the monster, find out it's weakpoints and finally to hunt it down.


Upgrades:


Source: The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword

One thing I quite liked about Skyward Sword and A Link between Worlds was the upgrade System. And for Zelda U something similar would be suitable. Gathering materials and maybe even the blueprints for the Update could fit well with the futuristic looking elements of the new game. If the knowledge about this ancient technology was lost, it could be Links task to recover the information. This idea could also extend so far that you don't find items in dungeons, but have to build them yourself. I once talked about a rumor I heard, which had such a feature and I quite like it. (Read it here if you're interested: http://dilliansthoughthub.blogspot.co.at/2015/07/zelda-u-ideas.html )
Upgrades would be an incentive to venture out into the huge new world and explore every nook and cranny of it.


Treasure Hunter:



In a similar vein to the idea of hunting monsters Treasure Hunts could also take place in Hyrule. Maybe Link finds an ancient chart or hears a rumor. I'm not talking about the simple chests found everywhere in Zelda Games. (Of course these should also exist) No this Treasure Hunts should lead to huge rewards. Blueprints for Upgrades, rare Materials, maybe a small dungeon. Also it would be cool if these treasure hunts featured other characters competing with Link for the Spoils.


Side Quests:


Of course traditional Side Quests need to be incorporated into a huge world. And I'm not talking about the one trade sequence that is found in nearly every Zelda game. I'm talking about full fledged side quests with stories, climaxes and rewards.


Lore Galore:



This Zelda is the perfect opportunity to expand on the Lore of the Franchise outside of Hyrule Historia. A new, huge Hyrule filled with a rich history. Make it possible to search for traces of old civilizations, gather ancient relics and unearth historical locations. Each time Link finds something noteworthy let it unlock a piece of background information about the world.


These are some ideas I have for interesting and investing side activities in the new huge world of Zelda U. Of course these are just some quick thoughts.
What would you like to see? What would keep you invested in the Game?

And as always

thanks for reading
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Friday, May 20, 2016

Nintendo News: 16.05.2016 - 20.05.2016

Hello and Welcome to Dillians Nintendo News Recap.

Mostly an uneventful week headlined by the Censorship heavy Fire Emblem Fates. Not bad, but also not good. Like most of the time.


New Releases:


  • PixelJunk Monsters – Wii-U Download-Software
  • Digger Dan DX – Nintendo 3DS Download-Software
  • Fire Emblem Fates – Nintendo 3DS Game Card

Three games. Yes three games is all we've got this week in Europe. Of course Fire Emblem is a huge release, but I with the censorship and bad translation it's not really a compelling one. Apart from that we get two Indie games, which honestly don't look all that interesting.



Miitomo:



This week mostly consists of good news for Nintendo and we'll start with Miitomo. Nintendos first Smartphone app has been a big success and this week they announced another milestone. Miitomo has been downloaded over 5 Million times on Android Devices alone. With this success at their backs it's secured that Nintendo will support Miitomo for a long time. So good news for anyone enjoying the app.



Nintendo:



To secure it's position in the Future Nintendo has started to look into other business ventures beyond Video Games. This isn't something new, the Home of Mario and Link was once the owner of several Love Hotels (basically hotels in Japan, where you go to get it on like Donkey Kong). In an official document Nintendo has now announced which fields exactly will get a closer look in the future. Some may not be too surprising. The Licensing of their IPs to 3rd Party sources has been talked about time and time again. Also the interest in health products is not too surprising, when you look back at their plans with Quality of Life. The once surprising entrance in the list is, however, to invest and manage restaurants. A Nintendo themed restaurant chain surely could become a huge hit. These new guidelines will come into effect on 29th June, incidentally the date of the next Investor meeting.



In an interview with the Japanese website Asahi Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima announced Nintendos plans to enter the movie making business. He declared the company’s desire to create a system where most of the work can be done by themselves. Of course this can't be done within a year, but according to Kimishima he hopes that it won't take more than five years. He also said that they are looking into which of their IPs should become their first movie. And lastly it seems that, after the disaster of the Mario Movie from 1993, Nintendo wants to stay clear from Live Action and concentrate on Animation Movies. Hopefully this plan bears fruit and the Nintendo Cinematic Universe culminates in several years into a Smash Bros. Movie. Hell Yeah.



Kirby:



Kirby is back on the 3DS, and after the excellent Kirby Triple Deluxe two years earlier, his fans are happy for more. In less than a month we can finally rain destruction down onto our enemies. To get people into the mood for this Nintendo has released a new overview Trailer for Kirby: Planet Robobot.





Mario:



Like stated earlier Nintendo is looking to use their IPs more aggressively with 3rd Party Partners. One of this project has now been announced. Mario is getting his own Monopoly Version. It is designed in the classic 8 Bit Style of the original Super Mario Bros.
If you're a fan of Monopoly and Mario this may be worth it. But I as Austrian will always prefer DKT.




Mario Maker:



While Miitomo is a success on Smartphones and Splatoon is tearing up Japan many may forget that good old Mario is still Nintendos biggest Star. This was cemented this week with the announcement of new Milestones for Super Mario Maker. The game has sold already over 3.5 Million Units World Wide. Not too shabby o nan install base of 12 Million. Also 7.2 Million Levels have been created and shared online. Nintendo of America was nice enough to summarize these impressive numbers in one picture.




Splatoon:



While I haven't been able to participate in the last Splatfest I can bring you good news. The better side has claimed Victory in the battle between Costume Party and Gala. Team Gala won both, in membership and number of victories. Well done my fellow Ladies and Gentlemen. Well done.


Source: The Squid Sisters


Fire Emblem:



This last week an interesting interview was released by Game Informer. In this the producer of the Fire Emblem Series, Hitoshi Yamagami, and the director, Kouhei Maeda, talked about the release of the series in the west. Here are the most important information pieces from the Interview:

  • Yamagami was the one who had the idea bringing Fire Emblem to the West and talked with developer Intelligent Systems about it.
  • Intelligent Systems wasn't sure if the series would have enough appeal to western audiences and feared that it won't sell enough.
  • But Yamagami was confident that it was the right move and the audience would grow from it.
  • Maeda thinks that Super Smash Bros. was the first time many players were introduced to the series and wanted to find out more about it.
  • Without the success of Awakening there wouldn't have been a future for the series.
  • Perma Death as an option instead of the only possibility helped getting new players into the series.
  • Yamagami felt bad when players were forced to care for a character, level him up and help him grow, only for that character to die.
  • The decision to release Fire Emblem Fates in to different versions was done because the developers wanted players to face a difficult decision even before buying the game.


Also for anyone interested here is the launch trailer for Fire Emblem Fates:




Nintendo Selects:



And lastly we got the announcement that new titles for Nintendo 3DS will be joining the Nintendo Selects.

  • The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D
  • Mario & Luigi: Dream Team Bros.
  • New Style Boutique
  • Paper Mario Sticker Star
  • Lego City Undercover: The Chase begins

These new titles will join the line on 24th June. Are you looking forward to one of them?



And that was it for this week. Enjoy your games and enjoy the weekend.

And as always

thanks for reading  

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Thursday, May 19, 2016

Nintendo: A History of Censorship


Tomorrow Fire Emblem Fates launches in Europe. To celebrate this let's take a look at the history of censorship in Nintendo Games.

Censorship has always been a part of Nintendo games, whenever the transitioned to the West. Most of the time it was because of religious themes or some adult jokes not fitting into the kid friendly image of Nintendo of America. As we all know this is still a problem, so let us take a look into the past and see how little has changed since then.


The Legend of Zelda Series:


The Legend of Zelda has had its fair share of censorship starting even with the first title of the series. I'm not talking about the third dungeon of the game (during the first quest playthrough), which is shaped like a left facing swastika. Because this was left in. No I'm talking about the Book of Magic, which was a bible in the Japanese release of the game. This also explains the cross on the cover of the book.

In the second game the Palaces were originally called Temples, but once again this was changed for religious reasons.

A Link to the Past is one of the better known cases of censorship in the series. At least with fans. The original Japanese title translates to The Legend of Zelda: Triforce of the Gods. Also Agahnim was called a Priest in the original source instead of Wizard like in the Western releases.

Next up is a well known case of censorship with German Zelda Fans. The original release of Link's Awakening for the GameBoy shares many differences with it's remake for the GameBoy Color. For example Martha the Mermaid lost her Bikini Top and not her Necklace. If Link dove underwater she quickly swam away to escape the lecherous hero, who tried to stare at her bare breasts.
Also, and this only applies to the German version, if you stun the Buzz Blobs with the Magic Powder and turn them into Cukeman they will talk to you. In the german version they then utter sentences like ''Nie ohne Kondom'' (Never without Condom) or ''Gib mir deinen Saft, ich geb dir meinen.'' (Give me your juice, I'll give you mine).
This was later edited out with the DX Version and is a one of the reasons why I prefer the original GameBoy release.


The Game with the most changes is without a doubt Ocarina of Time. Pretty well known are the changes to the Gerudo Symbol and the original Fire Temple music. The Gerudo Symbol was originally a crescent moon and a star. Many thought this resembled the Islamic emblem to closely. Also the chants in the original Fire Temple music were taken from Islamic prayers. Once again for religious reasons these two things were changed in any release of the game beyond the N64.


Another case of censorship was turning the Blood of Ganondorf Green to avoid and ESRB Rating of T (Teen).
Lastly the design of Skull Kid was changed. This case was similar to the outrage about the Pokemon Jinx. The original Skull Kid design featured a black face and prominent lips, often associated in the United States with derogatory black stereotypes. For Majoras Mask and any following releases like Ocarina of Time 3D this was changed. Now Skull Kids sport beaks and their skin color was changed to resemble wood or straw.



Super Mario Series:


While the Main Mario Series has been spared from any sort of censorship, the countless spin-off titles got their fair share of it. However most of this Censorship was very miniscule.

Let's start with Super Mario RPG for the Super Nintendo. Here the victory animation for Bowser had to be changed because it looked like he was flipping the player off.


Next up is another Super Nintendo Game Mario Kart. And once again Bowser is the target of Censorship. While celebrating his victory he could be seen drinking from a bottle of champagne.

Also another act of censorship in Mario Kart 64 was the removal of Billboards. In the Japanese version companies like Marioros (an obvious allusion to Malboro) advertise all over the race tracks. This was removed for western releases. However if it's was due to the family friendly image of Nintendo or concerns of getting sued, is not clear.

And lastly we have the case of Paper Mario: The Thousand Year door. Here we have several notable acts of censorship. First up is the infamous house in Rogueport, which sported the chalk outline of a Toad coupled with dried blood on the floor. It was obvious that a murder had taken place in this house. For Western releases all of the evidence was removed. The Crime Scene Cleaners really did a good job on this one.


Another thing, that only affected Europe, was the removal of Marios Arm raising animation whenever he talked to people, because it resembled the Nazi Salute.
Another small change was that the bottle of Chuckola Cola was originally called vintage Red. Nintendo of America changed the Name of the item and the color of the liquid into something more kid friendly.
Next up is the character Peeka and her obvious resemblance to the design of Playboy Bunnys. Like with the billboards in Mario Kart this was probably changed out of fear of getting sued for copyright infringement and the concerns about their image. 


Lastly the big thing. In the Japanese Version the companion Vivian is openly stated to be a transgender Woman. It is said that she may look like a woman, but is in fact a boy. She seeks acceptance from her sisters, who finally see her as a female in the end. This entire story was censored in America.



Of course this is only a small overview. Bu from this we can see that Nintendo was always happy to change details, which they deemed controversial or damaging to their kid friendly image. If we take a look at recent cases of censorship, like Tokyo Mirage Sessions#FE or Fire Emblem, we see that this is still the case. Nintendo is still living in the past and hasn't adapted to this new situation, where they also release games targeted at a more mature audience. Xenoblade Chronicles X, Fatal Frame 5, Fire Emblem... These are all series tailored for a more mature audience. They often deal with mature themes.

In the End it's not Nintendos Job to protect Children from ''harmful'' images. This is the job of the parents.

And as always

Thanks for reading
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