Tag Archives: Satoru Iwata

Video Gaming

Earthbound's Ten Most Memorable Moments

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On April 17 2013, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata announced via a Nintendo Direct video conference that Earthbound is coming to the Wii U Virtual Console. But when he said “later this year,” we didn’t think he’d mean just three months later. Not only are we excited for other players to get a chance to check out this rare gem, we’re jumping back into a classic that some of us have invested dozens upon dozens of hours into.

But why is the English-language Virtual Console release of Earthbound such a big screaming deal? Is the game really the borderline spiritual journey that its fans claim it to be, or will thousands of  new players do away with their Earthbound chastity only to find the experience doesn’t meet the hype?

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at IGN Video Games

Video Gaming

Pikmin 3 Coming 'In a Few Months'

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Though Pikmin 3 was originally promised in Wii U’s launch window, which ended in March, it appears Nintendo’s next Captain Olimar adventure needs more development time. In today’s 3DS-heavy Nintendo Direct, company president Satoru Iwata confirmed Pikmin 3 would arrive ‘in a few months’.

Nintendo did confirm what eagle-eyed Nintendo fans, including IGN‘s own editors, discovered at E3 2012: flying Pink Pikmin are being added to the ever-expanding creature roster. The Pink Pikmin can not only fly, but carry objects

Other than that, Nintendo did release what appears to be the final box art for Pikmin 3. You can see it below:

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From: http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/04/17/pikmin-3-coming-in-a-few-months

Video Gaming

Donkey Kong Country 3DS: Easy Mode, New Power-Ups & Levels

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Donkey Kong Country Returns on 3DS will include a new optional difficulty mode who found the original Wii game too taxing.

Satoru Iwata revealed the news in today’s Nintendo Direct broadcast. He said that the game has been designed to be played on the move. To make the game a little tad more friendly, you’ll now have three hearts, not two. This means you’ll be able take up to five enemy hits.

There are also a range of new items to make life in the jungle just that bit easier:

  • Portable DK Barrel, allowing you to summon Diddy Kong more frequently.
  • Green Balloon, which will float you back up to a ledge should you accidentally fall off.

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    From: http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/04/17/donkey-kong-country-3ds-made-easier-new-world

    Video Gaming

    Mario & Luigi Dream Team Release Date

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    Mario & Luigi: Dream Team on Nintendo 3DS has been given a released date of July 12th in Europe and August 11th in the US.

    The announcement was made by Nintendo chief Satoru Iwata in today’s Nintendo Direct broadcast which concentrated on the company’s handheld.

    Iwata also shared additional information on the game’s mechanics and story. And surprise, surprise, Princess Peach gets kidnapped from Pillow Island. To save her, Mario will have to enter a dream world – this is done by Luigi going to sleep on magical pillows. By playing with the face of the snoozing Luigi on the console’s lower touchscreen, you’ll be able to affect the dreamworld inhabited by Mario.

    Daniel is IGN’s UK Staff Writer. You can be part of the world’s most embarrassing cult by following him on IGN and Twitter.

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    From: http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/04/17/mario-luigi-dream-team-release-date

    Science & Technology

    Nintendo: Wii U NFC Update Coming This Year

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    Nintendo still plans to use Wii U’s NFC tech – but any demonstration of the wireless protocol will have to wait until later in the year.

    “There are two main directions when it comes to the use of NFC,” Nintendo president Satoru Iwata told investors. “One is to use it for video games. We are in talks with several software developers regarding such possibilities. We are making preparations and, by the end of this year, we will probably be able to show you some output, tell you about some more concrete examples of the possibilities or even let you try out some tangible examples.” Iwata also mentioned his company was investigating payment-related applications for the NFC technology.

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    Source: FULL ARTICLE at IGN Tech

    Video Gaming

    Time 'Will Solve' Wii U Development Quality Gap

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    New consoles routinely experience growing pains, and the clearest measure of this comes in the visual quality of the video games that come to store shelves. Nintendo is currently seeing that quality gap in the games that come to Wii U, but it’s a problem that company president Satoru Iwata believes “time will eventually solve.”

    “Each game console has its own unique qualities, and developers must go through a trial and error phase to acquire the knack of taking full advantage of them,” Iwata told investors. “This time does not come until a final version of the hardware and development tools for the version have been made available and then a base for software development has been established. For Wii U, such a time finally came in the latter half of last year. In this sense, we could not avoid the trial and error stage to create games which take full advantage of the hardware.”

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    Source: FULL ARTICLE at IGN Video Games

    Video Gaming

    Iwata and Miyamoto on the Future of Gaming

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    During a recent Q&A session following its third quarter financial briefing, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata and legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto offered their thoughts on the future of the industry. In regards to the seemingly inevitable rise of cloud gaming, Iwata expressed concern over things like latency and connection speed, saying he was surprised these factors aren’t being considered as people look to cloud gaming as the future of the industry.

    “There are many things that cloud gaming cannot do by design, but this fact has not been communicated well to the public, and I find it strange that many people claim that cloud gaming is the future,” Iwata said.

    As for whether consoles are soon to be a thing of the past, he said, “Naturally, our stance is that dedicated gaming platforms will not die out and we are determined to create a future where they will not.” Iwata also assured the audience of investors that even though the company recently announced the merging of their console and portable teams, “we are not saying that we are planning to integrate our platforms into one. What we are saying is that we would like to integrate software development methods, operating systems, and built-in software and software assets for each platform so that we can use them across different machines.”

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    Source: FULL ARTICLE at IGN Video Games

    Video Gaming

    Unannounced Wii U Games Could Release This Year

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    Nintendo continues to promise more and more for the future of Wii U, even if it might take a few months to get there. The publisher now says it might have even more content ready for release before the end of this year, in addition to announced content that might make it.

    “I believe that we will be able to launch new software within this year that we have not yet announced at this point,” noted company president Satoru Iwata. The executive made this remark while discussing Nintendo’s time frame for key Wii U software – games that would better convey the system’s appeal – which Iwata framed as being “not excessively long.”

    Both Iwata and game designer Shigeru Miyamoto admitted Wii U’s core hardware design has proven incapable of communicating its value easily and directly, putting the burden on Nintendo’s marketing and software efforts.

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    Source: FULL ARTICLE at IGN Video Games

    Video Gaming

    Nintendo Confirms Hardware Development Reorganization

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    In mid-January, major Japanese news outlet Nikkei reported that Nintendo planned to restructure its hardware divisions for the first time in nearly a decade. In its investor presentation this week, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata confirmed that report.

    “As you might already know from some newspaper reports, we will reorganize our development divisions next month for the first time in nine years,” Iwata said during his prepared remarks. “Two divisions which have independently developed handheld devices and home consoles will be united to form the Integrated Research & Development Division, which will be headed by Genyo Takeda, Senior Managing Director.”

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    Source: FULL ARTICLE at IGN Video Games

    Video Gaming

    Xenoblade Chronicles Studio's New Wii U RPG

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    In a Nintendo Direct presentation packed with exclusives, company president Satoru Iwata saved one of the biggest for last – Xenoblade Chronicles developer Monolith Soft‘s new, untitled RPG.

    Few details were provided outside of a sizzle reel of footage, but the gameplay system seems to heavily call upon Xenoblade Chronicles, from its active battles to the command bar located at the bottom of the screen. Some clips featured up to three players listed on the left side of the screen, perhaps indicating a multiplayer component of some sort.

    Thematically the realistic, gritty visuals not only embraced fantasy-based swords and creatures, but advanced technology, including mechs that can transform on the fly. Again, very much like Xenoblade Chronicles.

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    Source: FULL ARTICLE at IGN Video Games

    Video Gaming

    Zelda: Wind Waker Remake Headed to Wii U

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    Wii U owners will be playing an HD Zelda game in just a handful of months

    No, really.

    As officially confirmed during today’s Nintendo Direct broadcast, an HD remake of GameCube classic The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker is coming to Wii U this Fall. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata noted that the game was meant to help ease the wait for the next big Zelda game (which was also revealed today and has no release estimate in sight).

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    Source: FULL ARTICLE at IGN Video Games

    Video Gaming

    Fire Emblem Crosses Over With Shin Megami Tensei

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    It looks like the characters of SEGA, Capcom and Namco won’t be the only ones crossing over for a Nintendo system in the near future. In today’s Nintendo Direct, it was officially announced that Atlus and Intelligent Systems are working on a crossover project for Wii U featuring the Fire Emblem and Shin Megami Tensei franchises.

    The thematic trailer shown doesn’t give away much, but it does feature Fire Emblem characters such as Marth from the original game, as well as very SMT visuals. As for Nintendo’s partnership with Atlus on this one, company president Satoru Iwata commented that as development of games grows larger and larger, “Nintendo cannot use the same approaches we have in the past.” Iwata also hinted that the company has “many more partners,” ones that will apparently be revealed sometime soon (perhaps in future Nintendo Direct broadcasts).

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    Source: FULL ARTICLE at IGN Video Games

    Video Gaming

    Wii U Party Announced

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    During its Nintendo Direct conference this morning, Nintendo announced that a new game from the creators of Wii Party is headed to Wii U in Summer 2013.

    The game (which doesn’t have an official title just yet) will offer a variety of different activities, including some that only use the GamePad. Examples shown during the presentation included a dice-rolling game and a baseball mini game that let two players use opposite sides of the GamePad (one using the face buttons and one using the D-Pad).

    Nintendo revealed that the game will interact with Wiimotes as well, showing off a mini game that displays button prompts on the GamePad’s screen and makes players hit the corresponding buttons on their Wiimotes to follow along. According to Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, the goal is to showcase some of the new experiences that Wii U can offer, particularly those that can bring everyone together.

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    Source: FULL ARTICLE at IGN Video Games

    Video Gaming

    Smash Bros, Mario, Mario Kart Will Debut at E3 2013

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    Nintendo has confirmed that the next Super Smash Bros. game, a new 3D Mario game and a Mario Kart for Wii U will all make their debut at E3 2013.

    During a Nintendo Direct conference this morning, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said he’s aware that Nintendo fans have been waiting for more news on the next Smash Bros. game and confirmed that the “first screens” will be shown at E3. Iwata said development is “on track” for both Wii U and 3DS and asked fans to “wait just a little bit longer” for their first look at the ambitious sequel.

    Iwata also announced a new 3D Mario game for Wii U in development from EAD Tokyo, the team that previously developed Super Mario Galaxy, Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Super Mario 3D Land. Iwata said the game is an “action game” and will be playable at E3. On top of that, Iwata revealed that a new Mario Kart game is in development for Wii U as well, and will also be playable at the show.

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    Source: FULL ARTICLE at IGN Video Games