Nintendo Cross-Canada Tour kicks off this week

By Jason Valley  13 days ago | Leave a comment

Nintendo Cross Canada

Throughout the summer, Nintendo will hit the road with a decked out trailer to promote their Wii U and Nintendo 3DS gaming platforms, this time just north of the U-S-of-A. Starting June 8 in Charlottetown, the Nintendo Cross-Canada Tour will visit dozens of cities, showing off some of the hottest summer titles, including Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Game & Wario, Pikmin 3, and Donkey Kong Country Returns.

Along with game demos, they’ll also bring along a photo booth with Nintendo themed props, and a prize wheel where you might win some awesome swag.

If you’re interested, you have until early September to catch the tour. For a complete schedule, take a look below the break. For additional information on the tour, visit the link provided below. Any Canadian Tanooki readers planning to attend?

Nintendo

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Nintendo World Store gets Animal Crossing: New Leaf makeover

By Christian Ponte  13 days ago | Leave a comment

130606animalcrossing

If you’re near The Big Apple, you’ll be able to pick up your early copy of Animal Crossing: New Leaf from a charming little town located in Rockefeller Plaza this Saturday.

Yup, the Nintendo World Store will be transforming into an area featured in the game itself. You’ll be able to take part in themed activities such as catching bugs, digging for fossils, fishing, and more, collecting Animal Crossing buttons for each one. In addition, the first 100 people to purchase the new game or special 3DS bundle will get a New Leaf-themed 3DS skin.

Full details in the press release below. Will YOU be heading to the Nintendo World Store this weekend?

Show Press Release (288 More Words)

Wii U Basic model will live on, says Nintendo

By Jason Valley  14 days ago | 1 Comment

WiiUBasic

Rumors earlier this week suggested that Nintendo of America might be pulling the white 8GB basic model of its Wii U hardware from store shelves. In fact, the rumor came from various retailers themselves, when internal documentation from both GameStop and Best Buy suggested that basic models would be sent back to Nintendo by June 18.

Charlie Scibetta, Nintendo of America’s senior director of Corporate Communications, decided to put that rumor to rest, claiming that the move was strictly a sales strategy.

To clarify: Nintendo is working with its retail partners to simply rebalance the stock of the White 8GB and the Black 32GB Wii U models in the market. Consumers looking for either model will continue to find them available.

Does this put the rumor to rest? For now. Though I can’t help but feel like Nintendo may be looking at the possibility of restructuring their current bundles, offering consumers more bang for their buck.

Polygon

Live-action Super Smash Bros. is the ultimate brawl

By Jason Valley  16 days ago | 1 Comment

It’s June, and E3 is next week. Those are two facts I simply can’t believe. I also can’t believe we are just about a week away from getting a first-look at Nintendo’s new Super Smash Bros. title, developed by Namco for both Wii U and Nintendo 3DS. How crazy is that? If you’re feeling ill prepared, I’ve got the perfect video to get you amped up and ready to melee.

Take a look at Link, Captain Falcon, Snake, and Nes as they battle it out in “Live Action Smash Bros: 300%.” Although fun and quirky, this fan made live-action video has me super excited for a new generation of Smash Bros. Created by YouTuber Pwnisher, the masterminds behind several other video game related shorts, the video features some ridiculously impressive production work, including a final showdown that comes down to the power of one challenger’s Final Smash attack. It’s epic!

Pwnisher
via GoNintendo

Mario 3, Metroid II, and F-Zero added as Club Nintendo rewards

By Jason Valley  16 days ago | 1 Comment

clubnintendo

Today, Nintendo announced a handful of classic games, newly available as Club Nintendo rewards. The games are available for download across the Wii Virtual Console, and the Nintendo 3DS eShop.

New rewards for the Wii Virtual Console include Super Mario Bros. 3 and F-Zero X. If you’re a portable player however, titles Metroid II: Return of Samus and Link ‘n’ Launch have been added as Club Nintendo rewards for the 3DS eShop.

I already have both Wii offerings, but may need to redeem Metroid II for my 3DS. Then again, my backlog would rather I didn’t — I still have both Oracle titles to get through! You can redeem any of these games until June 30, assuming you have the funds. Any of these old school titles worthy of your golden coins?

ClubNintendo

Nintendo E3 2013 website goes live; the countdown begins!

By Jason Valley  19 days ago | 1 Comment

Pikmin 3

There are only 10 more days, 12 hours, and some change before Nintendo reveals all with their E3 lineup. Forgoing the big stage show, Nintendo will showcase their most anticipated new Wii U and 3DS titles in an hour-long Nintendo Direct, set to air June 11 at 7am PT. Already confirmed games set to appear include new installments of Mario Kart, Super Smash Bros., and a new 3D Mario title.

Nintendo will also offer a private hands-on presentation for members of the press to experience demos of their newly announced games, taking place at their booth inside the convention center. For those not lucky enough to make it to L.A. for the expo, Nintendo is offering an unprecedented opportunity for fans in the U.S. and Canada by offering demos of four unreleased Wii U games at hundreds of Best Buy locations. The games haven’t been announced, but I’d venture to guess they’re more likely titles you’ve seen before, like Pikmin 3 or Game & Wario.

Right now, the website is pretty bare, but that countdown clock is exciting enough to stare at for hours. Who’s excited?

E3.Nintendo

Nintendo Download – eShop gains one Mega Man, two Zelda titles

By Jason Valley  19 days ago | Leave a comment

MegaManX

As though the sweltering heat wasn’t enough of a reason, Nintendo has prepared a few incentives for staying indoors this weekend. Today marks the release of quite a few incredible downloadable titles for the eShop, starting with the Wii U Virtual Console release of Mega Man X, easily my favorite Mega Man title to date. If the Blue Bomber’s first SNES adventure doesn’t suit your needs, you’ve also got the classic Ghosts’N Goblins to choose from.

For handheld fans, two games from the Game Boy Color era are available for purchase on the Nintendo 3DS eShop: The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages, and The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons. Both titles are available for a special low price of $5 each, if you buy them before June 20. I snatched both up, seeing as how they’re the only two games in the franchise I’ve yet to play.

For a full list of this week’s titles, take a look at Nintendo of America’s full press release below the break.

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Strong Fire Emblem: Awakening sales saved the series from ending

By Christian Ponte  21 days ago | Leave a comment

Fire Emblem: Awakening - sunset

As it turns out, Fire Emblem: Awakening‘s producers had their own little awakening during the development of the game. Hitoshi Yamagami, co-producer of the hit 3DS game, recently spoke with Spanish magazine Hobby Consolas about the sales ultimatum given to the game, and what it meant for the future of the franchise.

Fire Emblem has had a long lifetime. Do you get the feeling it gets harder to release a new episode every time?

Yamagami: No doubt. Truth be told, sales are dropping. The sales manager of Nintendo, Mr. Hatano, told us that this could be the last Fire Emblem. Due to this progressive descent on sales, they told us that if the sales of this episode stayed below 250,000 copies, we’d stop working on the saga. I remember when I came back from the meeting and told the team “My God, what are we gonna do?! The end has come!”. Our reaction was clear: if this was going to be the last Fire Emblem, we had to put everything we always wanted to include. That’s how this new project was born!

Fortunately, Awakening went on to become a huge commercial success, selling at least 450,000 copies in Japan and 250,000 copies in the United States amid undershipping and shipment delays, and doing very well in Europe thus far. Rest easily, dear Shepherds — the Fire Emblem series will continue. A crossover game, Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem, is being developed for the Wii U (regardless of whether or not we think that’s a good idea).

Now if only Nintendo of America would localize the critically acclaimed Fire Emblem: Heroes of Light and Shadow, then we could truly bury the hatchet and let bygones be bygones.

Serenes Forest Forums

Sonic: Lost World debut trailer arrives

By Jason Valley  22 days ago | Leave a comment

Sonic is returning for another adventure, and this time, it’s exclusively on Nintendo consoles. At its core, Sonic: Lost World seems like a traditional Sonic game. Leaving the storybook or Werehog gimmicks behind, the speedy blue hedgehog is back to doing what he does best: racing through familiar courses. This time, however, the environments seem to be floating in space.

After watching the debut trailer, it appears SEGA may have been inspired by the likes of Super Mario Galaxy or even its own Super Monkey Ball franchise in terms of navigating a character around 3D worlds set high in the sky. We’ve yet to see exactly how gravity and physics come into play — aside from a quick shot of Sonic running up a vertical wall — but we’re almost guaranteed a closer look at E3 in just two weeks.

For now, take a look at the debut trailer above and voice your thoughts below. Sonic: Lost World is coming to Nintendo 3DS and Wii U later this year.

IGN

Super Mario accessory holder added to Club Nintendo rewards

By Jason Valley  22 days ago | 2 Comments

Mario Box

If you’re like me, you have more than enough coins in your Club Nintendo bank to reward yourself with something snazzy. Your backlog of coinage is likely the result of forgoing years worth of appealing downloadable screensavers or Mario themed shoelaces.

Thankfully, a brand new reward has appeared on Club Nintendo, in the form of an accessory holder. The “Super Mario Accessory Box” is a canvas tote, measuring around a foot long, that houses all of your Wii Remotes, Nunchuks, and all the other add-ons floating around your room. The green tote is decorated with your favorite foes like Koopa Troopa, Shy Guy, and Goombas. I love seeing exclusive merchandise like this pop up as new rewards.

Grab yours now for just 700-coins. Be aware, however, that quantities are limited!

ClubNintendo