Information Update - Nintendo 3DS
1.- Japanese publication Nikkei Trendy is reporting that Nintendo are busy creating the inevitable Nintendo 3DS Lite.
More After the Break...
The publication states that the console will have improved thickness and a better battery life. It should be noted that this is just a rumour, but what would you like to see improved with the Nintendo 3DS Lite?
Famed industry analyst Michael Pachter has sat down with Eurogamer to discuss the Nintendo 3DS. Pachter admitted in the interview that he was wrong about the original price point being the right price point but believes that the system has a rosy future ahead of it.
“It’s very successful, but ran into a headwind given its relatively high price – which I incorrectly thought was the right price – and lack of third party software support.”
“Now that we are seeing more first party titles at a lower price point, sales have increased. It’s definitely turned the corner.”
“I was surprised that it sold so few at the $249 price point, and its sales to date are exactly what I originally forecasted at that price.”
EEDAR VP Jesse Divnich was also interviewed by the publication and stated that he isn’t convinced that the Nintendo 3DS will achieve Nintendo DS level sales, but admits that any console would find it difficult to do so.
All three agreed that it’s unlikely the system will manage to catch the DS’s lifetime total, which currently sits at around 150 million worldwide.
“I think anything catching the Nintendo DS will be incredibly difficult.”
“The key to catching the Nintendo DS would be appealing to the ultra-casual consumers, those who originally bought the Nintendo DS for games like Brain Age and Sudoku, which are now prevalent and cheaper on other platforms – tablets and mobile.
“But I don’t believe topping DS sales is Nintendo’s goal for the 3DS. Their goal, however, is to create a sustainable and healthy third-party environment which, as I alluded to earlier, means having high software attach rates that are generally driven by the core audience.”
2.- It has been revealed by a poster over at the Assembler Games forums that the fantasticMetroid Prime for the Gamecube ran on Epic’s Unreal Engine 2. Apparently the game that was developed by Retro Studios ran on a very heavily modified version of Unreal Engine 2.
Metroid Prime runs on a very heavily modified version of Unreal Engine 2. You can certify this to yourself by looking at the text box next to Asset_CMDL_EditorModel. Notice the word “/cooked/” in there.
For those of you who have worked with the Unreal Engine, you’ll know what this is, else, you might wanna read. Cooking is a term for compiling all of the maps, scripts, materials, etc. you’ve made into one usable executable, or “game”. It was used primarily for consoles, although now support has come out for PC cooking, resulting in faster loading times.
They also used Unreal’s level streaming feature. This is highly detailed in Unreal Engine 3, but was also present in 2. It’s funny how Retro got a private license for this stuff yet never sought to bring it out.
I also can confirm some UnrealScript source files exist on disk, which I am attempting to extract. Will probably branch this off into a separate thread for loads of fun and wackiness.
Japanese gaming publication Famitsu has received a greetings card sent to them by the Pokemon Company. Within the card is a message stating that more amazing Pokemon games will be released in 2012 than in 2011. What Pokemon related game would you like to see next?
- Vancouver, BC – Wednesday, March 14, 2012
- Phoenix, AZ – Friday, April 20 and Saturday April 21, 2012
- Atlanta, GA – Saturday, May 12, 2012
3.- Due to the low sales numbers for the PlayStation Vita, select Japanese retailers are beginning to cut the price of both models of the system by as much as 20%. Now this does not mean Sony is considering an eventual price drop but simply retailers are trying to move the system off of their shelves.
Only 72,479 Vita systems were sold this past week; compare that to the latest numbers of the original PSP which sold over 100,000 units.
Japanese news publication Nikkei Trendy is reporting that Capcom are currently in the process of developing a Monster Hunter game for the PlayStation Vita. The new Monster Hunter title is apparently expected during the second half of the year. If anything could change the PlayStation Vita’s fortune in Japan then it’s Monster Hunter.
Nintendo Power magazine has published the first review for Mutant Mudds, a 2D platformer from Renegade Kid that is coming to the 3DS via the eShop. They said the game is “extremely enjoyable” and shared that:
…if we see more neo-retro titles of this caliber, we’ll be very happy gamers indeed.
The game is also said to do “a fantastic job of recreating the feel of a good old-fashioned platformer,” and earned a “Recommended” rating from the magazine. Based on what we’ve heard in the past, it definitely seems like this is a game worth looking at.
-------
Mister Gaga
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario