Nintendo General Thread

[Matisfaction]

Pkimin 3DS looks pretty cool.

[Hawq]

Nintendo Takes Down No Mario’s Sky – Rebrands as DMCA’s Sky

An indie parody of No Man’s Sky, which repurposes the game as a 2D Mario platformer, has been subject to a copyright notice on behalf of Nintendo’s lawyers. The portmanteau sci-fi side-scroller, No Mario’s Sky, was launched on itch.io last week, but was hit by a DMCA notice over the weekend. Rather than pull the game entirely, developer ASMB Games has cheekily rebranded it DMCA’s Sky instead.

The game – which was built in 72 hours for the Ludum Dare 36 game jam – follows Spacemen Finn’s search for Princess Mango across an “infinite universe”.

“We represent Nintendo of America Inc. (“Nintendo”) in intellectual property matters,” the notice from Nintendo’s lawyers, sent to itch.io on Sunday, reads. “Nintendo recently learned that content available at https://asmb.itch.io/no-marios-sky infringes copyrights owned by Nintendo. This notice is provided pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, 17 USC § 512, and itch.io’s Terms of Service.”

The DMCA takedown notice then lists the infringements on Nintendo’s copyright:

Mario character
Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario Bros. 2
Super Mario Bros. 3
Super Mario Land
Super Mario World
Super Paper Mario
Super Mario 64
Super Mario Galaxy
Super Mario Kart
Mario Party 8
New Super Mario Bros.

The developers of No Mario’s Sky then posted the following update:

“NO MARIO’S SKY IS NO MORE-IO!

Due to a copyright claim by Nintendo we’ve had to take the game down.

Please check out our new game: DMCA’s Sky.

Thanks everyone for playing and enjoying our little fan game. We would love to see an official Nintendo game in this style — a Mario Galaxy-style game in 2D within a procedurally-generated universe.”

Nintendo is on a roll when it comes to shutting down fan games; No Mario’s Sky is but one of over 600 games taken down by the Japanese company’s lawyers over the last few days. While the files for No Mario’s Sky have been suspended, the game’s new iteration, DMCA’s Sky, can be downloaded here.
source

But its not all cease orders, yet, as not Dolpin supports every GC game

Dolphin Emulator Now Supports Every Gamecube Game

Since its launch in 2009, the best way to play Gamecube (and even a handful of Wii) games has been using the open-source Dolphin emulator. Throughout its life, though, there was one game that Dolphin just couldn’t handle: Star Wars: The Clone Wars. That is, until now. Dolphin’s development team has finally figured out how to emulate the game, meaning that every Gamecube title is now supported by the latest development build of the emulator.

“Every single GameCube game can at least boot in Dolphin 5.0. Except one,” the Dolphin team posted earlier today. “Star Wars: The Clone Wars and its complex way of using the PowerPC Memory Management Unit rendered it unplayable in Dolphin up to this day. But finally as of Dolphin 5.0-540, this challenge has come and gone: Dolphin can finally boot every single GameCube game in the official library.”

“So what makes Star Wars: The Clone Wars so special? To truly understand what’s going on, you need to have some knowledge on how the PowerPC’s processor handles memory management and how Dolphin emulates it,” the blog post explained.

To cut a long story short, the Dolphin team tweaked the emulator’s engine to allow Gamecube games to set up its own custom RAM structure, much in the same way as the Gamecube hardware operates.



This change not only makes Star Wars: The Clone Wars playable, but improves the stability of other playable titles. So, whether you care about Star Wars: The Clone Wars or not, the latest version of Dolphin is sure to enhance your Gamecube emulation experience.

The latest version of Dolphin can be downloaded for Windows PC, Mac, and Android here.
source

[Dr. Zoidberg]

[melancholy]

That guy's voice was terrible for that trailer.

[pixel]

That guy's voice was terrible for that trailer.

But the game itself looks a lot better than I thought it would. Sticker Star was such a hassle to play, but I'm interested in this game.

[melancholy]

Yeah, I'm of the opposite opinion on this. I think it looks just as bad as Sticker Star. Look at those battles. You have to collect cards to even fight, just like Sticker Star. Then once you're in battle, you have to select a card, color it with the stylus, then flick the card up to add it to an attack queue. And you still have to do timed hits after that. Tell me that whole process won't get old by the 50th battle.

The whole thing reminds me of the early DS days where they felt they had to use the touch screen just because it was there.

[pixel]

Yeah, I'm of the opposite opinion on this. I think it looks just as bad as Sticker Star. Look at those battles. You have to collect cards to even fight, just like Sticker Star. Then once you're in battle, you have to select a card, color it with the stylus, then flick the card up to add it to an attack queue. And you still have to do timed hits after that. Tell me that whole process won't get old by the 50th battle.

The whole thing reminds me of the early DS days where they felt they had to use the touch screen just because it was there.

I'd like to retract my previous statement. I didn't know I'd have to play coloring book during an RPG battle.

[Matisfaction]

Thunder Force III added to SEGA 3D Classics Series... oh and also Turd-o Outrun.

[Dr. Zoidberg]

Sega own Thunder Force III?

Looks like they do.

Sega Announces Acquisition Of Technosoft Licenses, 3D Thunder Force III

A big name from the days of the Mega Drive is coming back home.

Sega has acquired the rights to the games from one of the Mega Drive's biggest boosters.

During a stage show at the Tokyo Game Show, Sega announced that they have purchased the rights to games developed by Technosoft. Technosoft is known for the Thunder Force series of space shooters, as well as the early real-time strategy series Herzog Zwei.

The first product of the deal will be a 3D Classics version of Thunder Force III, set to release with the third retail collection of Sega 3D Classics in Japan.

Source: Nintendo World Report

[Matisfaction]

Hopefully some Technosoft titles get the Virtual Console treatment as well. Devil Crash 3D would be awesome.

[Matisfaction]

This actually looks pretty good. Judging by the comments below Nintendo would have probably been better off calling it "Paper Mario: Not The Thousand Year Door" rather than "Colour Splash".

[Matisfaction]

First 20mins of ColoUr Splash, the guy is a bit of a flange and reads the dialogue out loud which gets annoying quickly. I found it a better watch on mute.

[Matisfaction]

This looks really good and according to people who got the game early it is really good, I'm tempted to pick this up.

[Dr. Zoidberg]

Nintendo is now taking final orders on Wii U consoles. Those that haven't ordered by the end of next week (Friday September 30) will not be able to order the Wii U again from Nintendo. Is this Nintendo's last roll of the dice with the Wii U so they can plan to give retailers details about the new hardware next month? Is something exciting due to be announced in October?

http://www.gameseek.co.uk/video-gaming- ... as-2016%3F

Xbox 360 & PS3 were released before the Wii and the have now outlived the Wii U. That's pretty amazing.

[Matisfaction]

The deadline is just for parts of Europe I think, the 360 and PS3 have already been discontinued.

Meanwhile in Japan:

PlayStation 4 Surpasses Lifetime Wii U Sales In Japan

The PlayStation 4 is certainly the most successful console of the generation. However, it has only just outsold the Wii U in Japan. This could be explained by the Wii U’s earlier release date, but PlayStation has been ahead in worldwide sales for a considerable amount of time. This news has come from the latest Media Creates sales listings. The PS4’s sales have reached 3,267,243, passing the Wii U’s 3,265,329. Seeing as the Wii U’s life is coming to an end, it seems unlikely Nintendo could reclaim the lead in the next few months.

link

[Dr. Zoidberg]

[Dr. Zoidberg]

[Dr. Zoidberg]

Breath of Fire and The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks Added to Virtual Console

Breath of Fire and The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks are the two newest additions to Nintendo’s Virtual Console for New Nintendo 3DS and Wii U respectively.

Capcom’s Breath of Fire was released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1994 for North America, and later ported to the Game Boy Advance. Breath of Fire is only available on New Nintendo 3DS systems for $7.99.

In a distant land, peace was maintained for thousands of years by the powerful Dragon Clan. One day, the goddess Tyr appeared to them and offered to fulfill their every wish. Greed split the clans into the Dark Dragons and the Light Dragons, who battled to win Tyr’s magic as she watched and encouraged their war. A warrior emerged from the Light Dragons, and with his seven companions, he sealed the goddess into another realm.

Centuries have passed, and the Dark Dragons are destroying villages in search of the goddess keys to release Tyr from her prison. A new warrior must arise to face this latest blight!

Join Ryu as he embarks on an adventure of a lifetime! He will need to rely on his companions if he is to rediscover the lost powers of the Light Dragons and save his sister, Sara, from the evil clutches of the Dark Dragons. Fight, and prove that the Warrior of the Dragon is not just a myth!

Originally released in 2009 for the Nintendo DS, Spirit Tracks is a sequel to The Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass. The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks is available for the Wii U Virtual Console at $9.99.

Spirit Tracks have long protected the kingdom from evil. But when they start disappearing mysteriously, Link and Zelda must travel together to restore them and keep the dark forces at bay. Fight enemies and explore the world as you travel by train and take control of a hulking suit of armor!

Source: Dualshockers

[Dr. Zoidberg]

Pokémon Go props up lackluster quarter for Nintendo

Sales go way down as Switch approaches, but don’t expect more info on that yet

Nintendo posted its earnings over the last six months today, reporting losses across the board as Wii U and Nintendo 3DS sales continue to decline. Despite overall sales figures heading south through the end of September, the success of Pokémon Go — and the company’s recent sale of its stake in the Seattle Mariners — helped Nintendo still turn a solid profit.

Its longstanding relationship with The Pokémon Company, which found huge success with July’s launch of Pokémon Go, helped Nintendo garner an additional 12 billion yen (about $115 million) in profit. That’s just from the minority stake the company has in the free-to-play mobile game, and Nintendo asserted after its release that any gains the company would see from Pokémon Go’s profits would have a limited effect on its bottom line.

Letting go of the Seattle Mariners also helped Nintendo’s quarterly income. Nintendo paid $125 million for the baseball team in 1992, and maintains a 10 percent stake. When it sold off the majority of its shares in the Mariners by mid-August, Nintendo reported a $661 million profit.

These are the two biggest wins in an otherwise depressed earnings report. Wii U hardware sales decreased by 53 percent year-over-year, while software dropped by 33 percent. On Nintendo 3DS, the declines were smaller, and software posted minute gains over the same period in 2015, thanks to million-seller Kirby: Planet Robobot and the continued strength of Pokémon games. Sales of the popular amiibo line of figures also declined, as did those of downloadable content.

Overall, the company suffered an operating loss of 5.9 billion yen ($56 million) over the six-month period, compared to profits this time last year. This continues from its financial report in July, which also saw big sales drops and disappointing hardware sales across the board.

The hope is that the company’s new hardware will contribute to a rosier picture as next year approaches. The Nintendo Switch isn’t expected to launch until March 2017, however — right at the end of this fiscal year. Company president Tatsumi Kimishima told Japanese press today that shipments will top out around two million through the end of March, while reiterating that no more news on price, technical specifications or software is coming before 2017.

Source: Polygon

[Matisfaction]

DYKG: Peach!