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Thank You and Goodbye
In October 2010 I started writing for Nintendo Okie, and now, almost two years later, my time here is at an end. It has been an amazing couple of years for me to work with everyone here and to have been part of such a wonderful community, but as of today my articles are returning to this side of the Atlantic as I will be joining Nintendo Life.
And I could not have achieved this without Nintendo Okie. When I first got in contact with Tony in the Summer of 2010, I had recently shut down my own personal Nintendo site after three failed re-launches and was looking for a way to hone my writing and reach out to a wider audience. Tony’s ad for writers across the world caught my eye, and we eventually settled on the idea of two articles a week – these would ultimately become the weekly Euro News Round-Up and my editorial piece, Notes from the Mushroom Kingdom. Read more…
Rayman (3DS VC) Impressions
After years sidelined by the insane antics of the Rabbids, Rayman finally returned to our screens last year with the superb Rayman Origins, a title that not only managed to challenge Nintendo’s crown as the platforming king, but also look fantastic while doing it. The game has since appeared on multiple platforms, with the 3DS release arriving a few weeks ago, albeit to a mediocre response thanks to a poor port being produced. Nonetheless, Rayman’s
popularity is at an all-time high, and Ubisoft are naturally keen to capitalise on this.
And what better way to excite the fanbase than to give them a rare opportunity to play through one of Rayman’s first adventures again on 3DS? Thanks to the 3DS Virtual Console, this opportunity has been made possible, allowing Rayman’s self-titled Game Boy Color adventure from 2000 to make a re-appearance and remind fans just what made Rayman such a classic a decade ago. But does this 12 year old platformer still offer the excitement that Rayman Origins can now provide? Read more…
Euro News Round-Up: Week Ending 23/06
After a lacklustre E3, we’ve been waiting for a big news reveal, and here it is! This week’s Nintendo Direct had individual presentations across all 3 of Nintendo’s major territories, and Europe got its fair share of big news, with some exclusives thrown in! It’s a big Round-Up at last!
Nintendo Direct Europe Round-Up
Taking place at the rather unfortunate time of 5AM BST, this week’s Nintendo Direct saw NoE President Satoru Shibata take to the stage, or in this case, Nintendo’s German Manufacturing Plant, to unveil the latest news from the company.
The big news was of course the 3DS XL, the giant brother of the current 3DS model, which like the other reasons does not come packed in with a charger or dock. Like the 3DS, the XL has no price point, which has begun a bidding war online, with £180 currently being the leading bid. The new system will be out on July 28th in Silver, Blue and Red.
Nintendo also revealed a handful of new release dates, while reaffirming New Super Mario Bros 2‘s release on August 17th. Also confirmed during the video were FreakyForms Deluxe and New Art Academy on July 28th, Pokemon Typing Adventure with free keyboard in September and surprisingly, Inazuma Eleven Strikers on Wii on September 28th.
Also confirmed were Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask coming to 3DS this Christmas, along with Animal Crossing 3DS and Fire Emblem Awakening arriving in early 2013.
On the eShop, Nintendo are currently running a 20% sale on the top 10 games to celebrate it’s anniversary, so be sure to check that out this week before they go back up in price. And finally, a Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games card book will soon be available to download as the Olympics nears.
Nintendo UK Boss Leaves
Nintendo UK’s David Yerton has stepped down as the company’s General Manager after 20 years in charge, with NoE President Satoru Shibata taking temporary control while the UK arm of Nintendo look for a replacement. I’d like to join Nintendo in wishing him the best in the future after helming the company for almost as long as I’ve been alive!
This Week’s Downloads
Mutant Mudds – 3DS eShop – £8.10
Mutant Mudds gets the infamy of being the second most expensive game on the eShop, but thankfully happens to be a worthwhile download for the rather expensive (and random) price point of £8.10.
Save the Furries – WiiWare – 1000 Points
Goooooal Europa 2012 – DSiWare – 500 Points
3DS & Wii Charts
A good entry for Heroes of Ruin at #5
3DS Chart
1. Super Mario 3D Land
2. Mario Kart 7
3. Mario Tennis Open
4. Mario And Sonic At The London 2012 Olympic Games
5. Heroes Of Ruin
6. Kid Icarus: Uprising
7. Nintendogs + Cats: Golden Retriever
8. Sonic Generations
9. FIFA 12
10. Rayman 3D
Wii Chart
1. Mario And Sonic At The London 2012 Olympic Games
2. Mario Kart Wii
3. Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure
4. Mario Party 9
5. Zumba Fitness
6. Zumba Fitness 2
7. Wii Party
8. FIFA 12
9. The Legend Of Zelda: Skyward Sword
10. New Super Mario Bros Wii
And finally…
We come to the end. Regular visitors to the site no doubt saw on Friday that I will be leaving Nintendo-Okie next week, and with me will go the Euro News Round-Up. It’s been a privilege to provide you all with the latest news from Europe over the past 2 years, and except for some Christmas breaks, I’ve managed to get the Round-Up out to you every week. I hope you’ve found this little glimpse of gaming life in Europe educational if nothing else, but more than that, I hope you’ve enjoyed a weekly look at what’s happening across the Atlantic. And with that, the Euro News Round-Up comes to an end! Thank you to everyone who read it over the past 2 years.
Gaz
Marketing Wii U
We’re now a matter of months away from the launch of Nintendo’s next home console and while E3 2012 was the first staging ground for Wii U’s launch, there is still a lot of work to be done by Nintendo to ensure the system is flying off stores shelves in a little over four months time. E3 gave us the briefest of glimpses into the new console’s feature set, but with limited stage time and even more limited show-floor space, Nintendo have admitted that we are still yet to fully observe the Wii U experience. And that has to change over the next four months.
As it stands, we only know a handful of things about Wii U. We know what the controller configuration is in terms of the GamePad, although we are yet to see it fully utilised and we know it has NFC (Near Field Communication) technology built-in. We also have a basic understanding of the concept of Miiverse, and we know of a handful of games that will appear at or around launch. And that’s it. No really, that is it. So with just four months to go, let’s take a look at what Nintendo need to do to make sure we’re all ready to go in Q4 2012. Read more…
Euro News Round-Up: Week Ending 16/06
We’re still recovering from E3, so as expected very little is happening right now. So in the meantime, why not amuse yourselves with a couple of download titles or check out a top ten game, both of which are provided below (minus the buying part, you have to do that).
This Week’s Downloads
Sonic Blast – 3DS VC (Game Gear) – £4.50
Art of Ink – DSiWare – 800 Points
3DS & Wii Charts
A good entry for Rayman Origins 3DS
3DS Chart
1. Mario Tennis Open
2. Super Mario 3D Land
3. Mario Kart 7
4. Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games
5. Kid Icarus: Uprising
6. Sonic Generations
7. Rayman Origins
8. Nintendogs + Cats: Golden Retriever
9. FIFA 12
10. Rayman 3D
Wii Chart
1. Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games
2. Mario Kart Wii
3. Mario Party 9
4. Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure
5. Zumba Fitness
6. Zumba Fitness 2
7. Wii Party
8. FIFA 12
9. New Super Mario Bros Wii
10. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
And finally…
Nintendo are attempting to find Britain’s Fastest Family by hosting a Mario Kart 7 tournament this August in certain HMV stores nationwide. If you think your family has what it takes, be sure to enter!
Is The Wii Dead?
Wii U is big news. It’s such big news that Nintendo’s E3 Press Conference this year was set aside entirely to discuss Nintendo’s next step in the home console market; with even the resurgent 3DS cast aside to a smaller conference to make room for the new console juggernaut. Post-conference, the Wii U emphasis remained, 
and while everyone was getting excited about Nintendo’s new venture, one console went almost entirely unnoticed – the Wii.
While it was unsurprising Nintendo decided to focus fully on Wii U this year, what is more surprising is that literally nothing was on show at E3 for the current Nintendo platform, a platform that at the very least has another four months of life in it. So what has happened to Wii? Does this mean it now joins the list of dead home consoles? Read more…
Euro News Round-Up: Week Ending 09/06
Someone forgot to give Nintendo of Europe the memo that E3 was this week, so we have absolutely no Euro specific news. Which is probably for the best, as there was a lot of news to cover this past week. Nonetheless, they did remember to update the eShop, so be sure to check out the new Heroes of Ruin demo!
This Week’s Downloads
Heroes of Ruin Demo – 3DS eShop – Free
3D Solitaire – 3DS eShop – £2.70
Tumble Pop – 3DS VC (GB) – £2.70
Devil Band – Rock the Underworld – DSiWare – 500 Points
3DS & Wii Charts
Second week at the top for Mario Tennis Open
3DS Chart
1. Mario Tennis Open
2. Super Mario 3D Land
3. Mario Kart 7
4. Mario And Sonic At The London 2012 Olympic Games
5. Kid Icarus: Uprising
6. Sonic Generations
7. Nintendogs + Cats: Golden Retriever
8. Rayman 3D
9. Super Pokemon Rumble
10. FIFA 12
Wii Chart
1. Mario And Sonic At The London 2012 Olympic Games
2. Mario Party 9
3. Mario Kart Wii
4. Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure
5. Just Dance 3
6. The Legend Of Zelda: Skyward Sword
7. Zumba Fitness
8. Zumba Fitness 2
9. Wii Party
10. Pokepark 2: Wonders Beyond
And finally…
UK retailer ShopTo.net have speculatively priced Wii U at £279.85, with games retailing for £39.99, much like current Wii games. Whether or not they have inside knowledge remains to be seen, but the price is a clear £100 more than the Wii retailed at launch in 2006.
E3 2012: Wii U’s Statement of Intent
After months of speculation, a year ago this week Nintendo unveiled the Wii U, the successor to their hugely popular, yet divisive Wii console. Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime took to the stage and made one thing very clear – while Wii eventually skewed towards a more family-orientated market, Wii U was looking to bring the best of both worlds to its software library, catering for both families and single players. What followed was a sizzle reel of various third-party offerings, following by a glowing report from EA’s John Riccitiello, showing that Wii U had third-parties on board at an early stage.
Roll forward to this year’s E3, and after a somewhat anti-climatic Monday, everyone was waiting for Nintendo to unveil and amaze with Wii U at their 9am press conference. Only they didn’t. An hour later, journalists and fans across the world were left wondering what the focus of the conference was and what exactly Wii U did that was different to any other platform; despite some impressive games on display. How could Nintendo have possibly failed to succeed when all they had to do was show an impressive array of games to make everyone believe in Wii U? Read more…
Euro News Round-Up: Week Ending 02/06
We’re now mere days from E3, and as ever, everyone is keeping quiet. To make up for that, this week we have two new Virtual Console games and a new eShop title available to download.
This Week’s Downloads
Rayman – 3DS VC (GBC) – £4.50
Mega Man X2 – Wii VC (SNES) – 800 Points
Sweet Memories Blackjack – 3DS eShop – £3.60
3DS & Wii Charts
Mario Tennis Open is the new top 3DS game
3DS Chart
1. Mario Tennis Open
2. Super Mario 3D Land
3. Mario Kart 7
4. Mario And Sonic At The London 2012 Olympic Games
5. Kid Icarus: Uprising
6. Sonic Generations
7. Nintendogs + Cats: Golden Retriever
8. Rayman 3D
9. Super Pokemon Rumble
10. Rabbids 3D
Wii Chart
1. Mario And Sonic At The London 2012 Olympic Games
2. Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure
3. Mario Party 9
4. Mario Kart Wii
5. Zumba Fitness
6. Zumba Fitness 2
7. Just Dance 3
8. Wii Party
9. The Legend Of Zelda: Skyward Sword
10. Pokepark 2: Wonders Beyond
And finally…
This week’s Yoshi Chase colour is white, and is currently available for a limited time in Tesco stores nationwide.
Euro News Round-Up: Week Ending 26/05
We’re now extremely close to E3 so as expected, everyone is packing their bags and heading out to sunny LA. So that means absolutely nothing newsworthy happened in Europe this week. Or next week I’d guess. Maybe the week after.
This Week’s Downloads
Art of Balance Touch – 3DS eShop – £6.30
Mighty Switch Force – 3DS eShop – £5.40
Yes I am aware this has been out for some time, but this is a remastered version of the original featuring five more levels. What’s better is that if you bought the original, this is free to download. So think of it as a patch or free DLC.
Metal Slug 3 – Wii VC (NeoGeo) – 900 Points
3DS & Wii Charts
How long will Mario stay on top of the 3DS Chart?
3DS Chart
1. Super Mario 3D Land
2. Mario Kart 7
3. Mario And Sonic At The London 2012 Olympic Games
4. Kid Icarus: Uprising
5. Nintendogs + Cats: Golden Retriever
6. Sonic Generations
7. Rayman 3D
8. The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time 3D
9. Super Pokemon Rumble
10. Rabbids 3D
Wii Chart
1. Mario And Sonic At The London 2012 Olympic Games
2. Mario Party 9
3. Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure
4. Zumba Fitness
5. Mario Kart Wii
6. Zumba Fitness 2
7. Just Dance 3
8. Wii Party
9. FIFA 12
10. New Super Mario Bros Wii
And finally…
Make sure you register Mario Tennis Open before this evening to claim a bonus 250 stars! That’s double what you normally get, which equates to an additional 2 packs of Kid Icarus: Uprising AR cards.
Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D (3DS)
Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate (Wii U, 3DS)
Super Little Acorns 3D Turbo (3DS)
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity (3DS)
Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed (PS3)
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