It’s the kind of run Nintendo’s been on lately, that even the company’s one piece of good news – the growing success of the 3DS – has to get a little gloomier.

With the Wii U a disaster, it’s 3DS sales that are making Nintendo’s money right now, but from here on in the Japanese company is going to have to give up a percentage of every wholesale sale of the handheld to another company.

That company is Tomita. A US judge declared last month that Nintendo has been using Tomita’s patented camera technology without permission, so from now until the end of the handheld’s life, “Nintendo must pay Tomita 1.82 percent of the wholesale price” on every 3DS sold.

That may not sound like much, but if the 3DS goes on to sell 100 million units, it all adds up. To a lot of lost money.

Original article here

First remembers classic NES Titles… then screws with them.

With Nostalgia being the “in” thing this decade – seriously, how many retro-inspired remakes, new games, sequels or complete re-releases of 80/90’s-Era Games have there BEEN since 2010? – it’s no surprise many turn to the NES for new game ideas. It’s also a commonly held belief – rightly or wrongly – that old-skool games offered much tougher or more cerebral challenges than games of today. So chalk one up to Nintendo for announcing the NES Remix game collection, available on Wii U eShop right now.

As the title suggests, NES Remix is a new game collection from Nintendo for the Wii U that takes 16 classic Nintendo games — from Super Mario Bros. to The Legend of Zelda – to offer you fresh challenges from each. At the start, the games are the typical NES titles with appropriate challenges to match – get a hole in one on Golf, for example; or ten 1-Up’s in a row by jumping off a single Koopa in Super Mario Bros. However, the game also offers a series of “Altered” challenges, which is where the fun really begins. Imagine for example, rather than having Mario rescue the woman kidnapped by Donkey Kong in Donkey Kong, you played as Link instead? Or what about Excitebike in the dark? There’s even whole Super Mario Bros. levels to complete with their own twists – turning the worlds icy, flipping it right-to-left…

As you complete each challenge, you’ll get the option to brag about it on the MiiVerse. But beyond this, you can also share level clear times to compete with friends and the larger community of Wii U players, injecting a large dose of competitiveness into the mix. Challenges can come from original or altered versions of Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., Donkey Kong 3, Excitebike, Super Mario Bros., Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Clu Clu Land, Wrecking Crew, Pinball, Urban Champion, Baseball, Tennis, Ice Climber, Golf and Balloon Fight, for a total of 16 classic NES titles to challenge through.

NES Remix is available now on the Wii U eShop for $15 plus tax, though it may just be in America for now – we’ll stay tuned for further details.

Nintendo have announced that Google will launch a new YouTube app for the 3DS and an updated app for the Wii U “later this month”.

The new Youtube 3DS app marks the first time Youtube videos will be directly available on a handheld Nintendo console. Users will be able to watch the videos on the larger upper screen while they browse the Youtube website on the lower touchscreen; and the app contains a simplified interface designed with the 3DS in mind to make finding videos, reading comments and other activities as straightforward as possible.

Meanwhile, the existing Wii U Youtube app is being updated to support off-TV viewing. After downloading the new update, Wii U owners will be able to move Youtube videos to the Gamepad to view on the go; and it’s even possible to view two different videos placing one on the TV and another on the Gamepad.

Coming soon, Nintendo is releasing a System Update for the Nintendo 3DS that will finally bring Nintendo Network IDs to the 3DS as standard. As well as offering improved networking features for future 3DS titles and the ability to use a name rather than a friend code to identify yourself online, Nintendo is also utilising the service to fulfil a common request from the fans: Combined balances.

A common request from those who have both a Wii U and a 3DS is whether it’s possible to combine the balances for eShop accounts on both consoles into a single, shareable balance. The idea is that if you had, say, £15 on the 3DS and £20 on the Wii U, why can’t we share the pot and make it £35 to share on both consoles rather than only be able too use what’s on each?

After an upcoming 3DS System Update, you will be prompted to create a Nintendo Network ID to identify yourself when using the 3DS to connect online in the future. This is basically a username you’ll use on that 3DS from now on; and you can register anything as long as no other 3DS has already registered the same name. If you have a Wii U, however, you already have a Nintendo Network ID there – which is where the clever part comes in. If you register the EXACT same ID on the 3DS as you have on the Wii U, the two will become integrated. Then balance information from both will be shared, creating a single, unified balance for both devices!

But be warned! The Nintendo 3DS will consider any Nintendo Network ID registered on any device as a new account, unless it finds an existing Wii U account. This means if you register a different NNID on the 3DS, you will NOT be able to combine it with the existing one you have on the Wii U. This is why it’s important to be exact. Should you wish to share the IDs – and the balances – across both devices, but the names you register are even a single character out. your 3DS may get linked with the wrong Wii U account or with no account at all, preventing you from using the new feature!

With the introduction of Nintendo Network to 3DS, another feature that’s closely integrated into the network will also be débuting. The Wii U’s home-grown social networking tool, the MiiVerse – which up until now has been exclusive to the home games console – will soon be introduced to the 3DS as well, making for a truly mobile networking experience. Some 3DS communities have already launched; with more to join them over the coming days according to Nintendo – so keep your eyes peeled.

Once again Nintendo surprise everyone by announcing today another Nintendo Direct, which went live at 4pm UK Time. Over the next 30 minutes, plenty of info was revealed about upcoming Wii U and 3DS titles both known and unknown; but the bulk of the time (the initial eight minutes, longer than any other game discussion) went to The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds. Releasing in Europe in just nine days time (November 22), Nintendo chose today to launch a brand new trailer demonstrating the game. Following this, Nintendo took time to discuss many facets about the game…

New Characters

…Starting with some of the new characters you’ll meet. One important new character is a witch called Irene. Though she’s seen flying overhead at the start of the game, soon enough she introduces herself to you with a story about how, despite being a witch, she has a lot of bad luck herself and was informed that if she aided someone green, she could change her fortune. As a result – and somewhat begrudgingly – Irene offers her services to you.

What services? Well, how about quick transport? Homaging old ideas such as the Recorder whistle that allowed Link to move to another area quickly from the original Zelda titles, Irene offers Link rides on her magic broom to different areas of the game. You first have to unlock a location for the broom to reach by finding and interacting with Weather Vanes located in appropriate areas; but once this is done, at most points in the game you can touch a bell icon on the 3DS touch screen and select a Vane to be taken to. Irene will then arrive – often complaining – and fly you to your chosen destination. Interestingly, the Broom can even travel to the “Dark World” version of Hyrule (what, so “A Link Between Worlds” didn’t tell you there would be a dark world?) and even pick him up and take him to locations between both worlds – although it appears Irene does not ride the broom while in the Dark World – so it seems her broom really IS magic!

Also making an early appearance is a character called Seres, who is introduced as the daughter of Hyrule Sanctuary’s Priest. A gentle soul with a pretty appearance, don’t expect to spend time with her for long – meeting Yuga, your nemesis, at the start of the game, she is magically turned into a portrait on the wall and trapped there, creating the game’s plot.

New Items and Abilities

Of course, she’s not alone – Yuga also sends YOU into a portrait on the wall as well, before leaving to the dark world via a rift accessedvia the castle’s wall. But the Triforce piece within link lets him free himself from the portrait and back into his physical, 3-dimensional form – and this unlocks the “flatten yourself against the wall and scale it” feature that we’ve seen already and forms a key part of much of the game’s puzzles and dungeons.

Another new feature revealed today might be familiar to long-term Zelda fans. At some point in the game you will pick up an item called Zora’s flippers – yup, you know where this is going don’t you? – and gain the ability to swim and dive in water. No news yet as to the purpose of this feature (although all of us at Sanitarium Towers expect to see it featuring in at least a few puzzles or dungeons – just no Water Temple please!); but Shibata DID give us a hint as to a side quest involving the water. During your swim around Hyrule you may find a cryptic message in a bottle, referencing a man who loves the taste of premium milk. As it turns out, Hyrule now has its own Milk bar, like those seen in more recent Zelda titles. Ask the owner about premium milk and he’ll wonder how you found out about it; then tell you about a man who always used to order it every day before taking trips up the mountains, but who recently disappeared.

Streetpass Gameplay

Of course, it wouldn’t be a 3DS game without taking advantage of 3DS features – and one interesting new Gameplay feature being introduced in A Link Between Worlds involves special battles using StreetPass. Introduced to you by a kind, elderly fellow affectionately called “Gramps“, you will be able to create your own shadowy version of Link to share. Your Shadow Link will have the number of hearts and the basic equipment of your real Link character at the time of creation, plus you can specify another item of equipment for it to use (interestingly, there appear to be TWO equipment slots, but only one is used in the Trailer) – the equipment and the number of hearts your Shadow Link has determines a bounty that will be placed on its head.

After saving your Shadow Link, the next time you tag someone on StreetPass who also has the game, your Shadow Link will be sent to their game; and you’ll receive theirs. Gramps will be able to tell you if a new one has arrived in your game; soon after, their Shadow Link will appear in specific places in your Game World – and you can talk to them and choose to fight them in a special one-on-one battle! Defeating the Shadow Link sent to your game will earn you the bounty attached to them, which will be an amount of Rupees from 30 to – well, who knows? What’s more, there’s no penalty to losing – so StreetPass often and keep getting new challenges to fight and more bounties to gain!

One more thing…

During the Trailer, Link is seen acquiring a Bow from Ravio’s store – the place where all essential equipment can be rented and eventually bought for use in future dungeons. However, Ravio doesn’t charge for the rental. Instead he’s seen to say, “Normally I’d charge a rental fee, but I’ll lend it to you for free. This time, anyway.” Could this mean you don’t necessarily have to pay to acquire all the equipment in the game?

As mentioned earlier, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds will launch in Europe on November 22nd – but if you’re a true Zelda fan and have the Rupees cash to burn, you won’t want JUST the game, will you? Also launching that day is the limited edition Link Between Worlds Nintendo 3DS XL Bundle, which alongside a digital copy of the game will also include the Golden, black-backed, special design Zelda 3DS XL. Shiny!

Finally, if you can’t wait nine days to find out more about Link Between Worlds, head to Nintendo’s Instagram page – http://instagram.com/nintendo – where today and regularly until the game’s launch, Nintendo will be releasing a total of four quick 15-second trailers offering more teasers in the run up to the game’s official launch. Oh Nintendo, you do spoil your fans…