Rocket's adventures in MH3U Part 5: The big Tri server shutdown

Well today's the day. The original Tri version of the game on the Wii is having its online multiplayer support switched off. I didn't play that version of the game much but the crew here at NinTemple had one last big session of the game the other night and had a whale of a time.

This support lives on in the Wii U's Ultimate version of the game. Maybe I'll do that someday. For now though, I'm here with the local-only 3DS version, taking a break from the missions and playing it like it was Animal Crossing or something. I run around the woods, looking at everything with the binoculars I just bought from the gal with the goods.

(after reversing the Y axis of course)

New site for art on Miiverse

Sometimes, late at night when you can't sleep, you go looking around the internet.  I got curious and looked for some Miiverse things and found an art site. Basically you sign up via email (make sure to use your Miiverse username because that is how they keep track of who the actual artist is). From there just get creative and let things flow.

When posting the art on the site make sure to only post your own artwork and include your Miiverse avatar as well in the picture.

Here is the site for it: http://miiverseart.com/
and here is the forum thread for Miiverse if you want to talk about that: Miiverse

Wii U Nintendo Direct Tomorrow!

Tomorrow at these times there will be a Nintendo Direct for the Wii U.

For the Pacific coast it will start at 6am. for the East coast that will be at 9am.

For Europe that will be at 2pm on the 23rd.

For Japan that will be 11pm on the 23rd

For any of our Aussie readers that will be for western Australia 10 pm on the 23rd and so on going one hour as you head to the west.

Here is the link for the Nintendo Direct and as usual I will be in the chat room here on the site chatting about it as it happens.

1/23/2013 Wii U Nintendo Direct

Wii U site chat happening now!

Got a Wii U and want to talk about your experience with it? Come in to the chat and lets chat?

North American Launch Titles

This is going to be the North American Launch line up for those wondering.
There will be 23 of them.

• Nintendo Land
• New Super Mario Bros. U
• SiNG Party 
• Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge
• ZombiU
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 2
• Skylanders Giants
• Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two
• FIFA 13
• Scribblenauts Unlimited
• Transformers Prime
• Wipeout 3
• Tekken Tag Tournament 2
• Sonic All Stars Racing Transformed
• Warriors Orochi 3 Hyper
• Darksiders 2
• Assassin's Creed 3
• ESPN Sports Connection
• Just Dance 4
• Rabbids Land
• Your Shape 2013
• Game Party Champions
• Batman Arkham City: Armoured Edition.

Probably the ones I will get at Launch is Nintendo Land,New Super Mario Land U,Ninja Gaiden 3,ZombiU,Assassins Creed 3,Sonic All Stars Racing Transformed.

Anything you are looking forward to?

Nintendo is having a Wii U event Tomorrow Morning

These places will be having the Nintendo Wii U event and at these times.

For the North American event it will take place at 7:00 am PST/10:00 am EST on this site. http://www.nintendo.com/wiiu

For the European event it will take place at 3pm UK time on this site. http://www.nintendo.co.uk/NOE/en_GB/news/nintendo_direct_47764.html

Finally there is going to be a Japan Wii U even that takes place a few hours before both of these. At 3 am EST on this site it will air. http://www.nintendo.co.jp/wiiu/index.html

I will likely be in the chat during all of these and seeing what is happening and getting as much info as I can about the Wii U so if you can stop on by the chat.

NinSage's E3 Wrap-Up!

Here are my reactions to Nintendo's week of E3 events.  I never hit the panic button, I frequently pulled the awesome lever, but I also flipped the disappointment switch.





My reaction was a mix of joy and disappointment.
GP's Bulborb's reaction was hunger.
Nintendo Direct

• Wii U Pro Controller - I kid you not, I have always wanted the twin sticks on a traditional controller to be above the d-pad/buttons.  I can't wait to get my hands on one of these.  I will probably trade in my CCPro just like I did when I traded in my CC for the CCP.
• Miiverse - I am extremely looking forward to this more social, yet actually practical, experience.  I love Miis when they are used properly (Find Mii, Puzzle Swap).  So, I'm really looking forward to this.  Plus! I felt that note leaving from Dark Souls was one of the best game concepts to come out of the 7th console generation.

Rayman Legends for Wii U confirmed!

This site  just put up a video of Rayman Legends. It basically goes over the game play and the features and such but the major thing is that things from the real world can affect the game world by placing it on the Wii U controller. This can affect the gameplay and the difficulty drastically I feel. I think this would please everyone. 

Site chat is going to be tonight at 8pm EST

So, a small update on my Wii.  It is sitting at a repair station at Nintendo being repaired.  It could be back to me within a week or so.  Scratch the above. They are done repairing it and they are sending it back now.  Maybe it will be back tomorrow or the next day.

As far as other things in the gaming community, did you guys hear that Pikmin 3 was announced for the Wii U? It will also be shown at this year's E3.  Well, see you in the chat!

Gameplay footage from PAX East 2012

Mario Tennis Open

Aliens:Colonials Marines

Bit Trip Runner 2

Heroes of Ruin interview.

Sonic 4 Episode 2

Mark Rein will be surprised if the Wii U doesn't do well.

Epic VP: "I'd be shocked if Wii U doesn't do well"
Epic VP Mark Rein's comments

Quote

Epic VP Mark Rein will be shocked if the Wii U isn't a hit for Nintendo when it launches later this year.

Speaking to Eurogamer at GDC in San Francisco last week, Rein argued that parents are ready to upgrade their kid's Wii to Nintendo's new system.

"I like the Wii U. I think E3 will be a big eye-opener for people," he predicted.

"I played Batman: Arkham City on the Wii U and they are doing some really cool stuff with the controller.

"Do you remember the Zelda demo they had on it? Would you not buy a Wii U just to play that? Of course you would. That's what Nintendo is all about. Their hardware is the software delivery service for their great content. That Zelda demo was gorgeous and we can do even more than that with Unreal Engine 3. I think it will do great."

Rein added that Nintendo's brand recognition and beloved IP should see it fly off shelves, though he suggested that it might have been quicker off the mark with getting the machine to stores.

"It's a great brand that a lot of parents really trust and they're probably ready to buy their kids an HD Wii that does that much more than just being an HD Wii.

"I'd love it if they'd done it last year, but I'm excited for them to do it this year. I'd be shocked if it doesn't do well.

"Did you play that Battle Mii game? Two players would play with a Wii Remote and Nunchuk and one would play with the Wii U controller?

"I would buy a Wii U to play that game in a heartbeat. And I hope people make those kind of games with our technology. I think we've yet to really see what the Wii U can do and I think at E3 this year they're going to shock us."

Earlier this year Nintendo president Satoru Iwata suggested that, more than ever, the company will be looking to partner with third parties when developing high-spec core games that fall outside of its traditional comfort zone.

Might Epic step up to the plate with a new IP for the system, a la Gears of War on the Xbox 360?

"If I had 10 development teams I'd make a game for every single platform and make that the special game for that platform," replied Rein.

"If you're the special game on that platform you do really, really well. Gears was one of the special ones on Xbox 360. Infinity Blade is a special game on the iPhone and iPad. Shadow Complex was a special game on Xbox Live Arcade.

"But we don't have 10 development teams so it's just a matter of picking and choosing what we do and doing the best thing we can for the idea that we have."

______________________________________________
    As we reported previously this is going to be pretty big news. If Mark Rein is giving high praise for the Wii U it can't be that hard to work with as far as specs go.I think we are going to be getting some top stuff visually from the Wii U. As for the comments I think he is just hyping up his engine which can't be a bad thing. I am not usually a graphics whore but this is pretty impressive.

Dragon Quest X might have enhancements for the Wii U console

In a shareholders meeting today Square Enix CEO Yoichi Wada was asked about the possiblity of Dragon Quest X coming to the Wii U.Wada answered that they are looking into the technical aspects of the Wii U and if it would be possible for Wii disks to have some enhancements when used on the Wii U itself.

Basically Square Enix is looking into the Wii U hardware and seeing if they can make the Wii version work with the Wii U console without having to make a Wii U version.

Well Reggie had some things to talk about the Wii U

Here is the link. It is an interview with the Wall Street Journal.

http://online.wsj.com/video/nintendo-pres-stock-drop-not-because-of-new-wiiu/9E9F9847-14A4-4E9F-A626-39561C679B66.html

Here is some details from the interview.
- Nintendo's biggest challenge is competing for time
- Reggie doesn't believe game prices need to come down to compete with App Store titles
- Nintendo believes they can reach Wii users on Wii U by keeping their pick-up-and-play attitude
- Nintendo will still make games that use Wiimote/Wiimote Plus on Wii U
- Wii U will have a price point that can get 25 to 30 million units sold
- Nintendo will look at the experiences the consumer will have with Wii U at launch to pick the best value/price
- Nintendo will work with third parties to offer matchmaking, social networking and other online features that those devs want
- Nintendo's online for Wii U will be much more robust and broader than what's offered today
- Nintendo wants the consumer to have new experiences every day on Wii U and 3DS. They want the consumer to touch the platform every day
- Nintendo has to make sure they make their security systems as robust as possible to avoid a Sony situation
- Consumers that haven't bought a 3DS yet say they want the big-name brands and digital content experiences before they jump in
- eShop has had over a million transactions thus far
- 3DS sales are on the upswing
- Nintendo is confindent that they'll reverse the 3DS trends they've seen thus far
- Nintendo thinks they can play a bigger role in wading through entertainment experiences

Is this type of thinking correct on the points he addresses for you personally?

Cryteck is bringing the CryEngine to the Wii U.

As well as the Unreal Engine 3 from Epic games. Cryteck will bring the Cryengine to the Wii U.

So at the moment the two biggest game engines out there will be avalable for use on the Wii U. This is a pretty big deal to be able to get all kinds of 3rd party games on the Wii U.

Thoughts?

What is in a name?

Well, with the weekend upon us we can take some time to reflect on E3 from a few days ago. I am going to be talking about the name that the next Nintendo console has been given by Nintendo. Wii U. First thought that comes to mind is that it is a Wii for you. Meaning that it is truly for everyone. Now, personally the name of a system doesn't really matter to me. The games a system has will matter to me.

Now I have read that some people have issues with the name and that the name isn't that good to put it mildly. Are you among those people or are you like me and the name isn't an issue?

Up-to-date Wii U info

Last Updated: 06/11/11 @ 5:14PM
Note: I'm not well-versed in technical system specs so please comment below with any corrections that I need to make along those lines. Or, any links to new rumors or confirmations.

• Name: Wii U
  
• ETA: Spring/Summer 2012 (source)
  
• Supported Software: Wii U (25GB iDensity discs) and Wii games
  
• Supported Controls: 1 Wii U controller, 4 Wiimotes, Nunchuks, Classic Controllers, Balance Board.
  
• Wii U controller specs:
  
  • 16:9 6.2" single-touch screen
    
  • Dual circle pads
    
  • 1 d-pad
    
  • Buttons: A, B, X, Y, L, R, ZL, ZR, Select/-, Home, Start/+, Power
    
  • Front-facing camera
    
  • Stereo speakers
    
  • Microphone
    
  • Gyroscope
    
  • Accelerometer
    
  • Rumble
    
  • Sensor strip
    
  • Stylus
    
  • Possibly max of one per console. Not sold separately.
    
  • Rechargeable battery
    
• Price Point: ~$250-$350 (source)
  
• Processing: IBM Multi-Core Processor and "More powerful than PS3" according to THQ (can't find source though!)
  
• Internal Storage: 8GB flash memory
  
• External Storage: USB HDDs, SD cards
  
• Resolutions: 1080p, 1080i, 720p, 480p, 480i
  
• Connections: HDMI, component, S-video, composite, 4 USB ports