Nintendo has released a new trailer for the next instalment in the successful Mario Party franchise. The trailer shows off a bunch of exciting mini-games and plenty of multiplayer related shenanigans. Mario Party 9 is due to be released in North America on March 11th and will be arriving in Europe on March 2nd.
Controversial Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter has told a panel at this years Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas that Nintendo doesn’t even know that there’s an Internet yet, as he spoke about the inevitable transition to cloud based gaming.
“Sony is a content provider in film and music and games; I think they’re ahead of the curve. Microsoft… They’re right back on track. These guys want to be an entertainment hub. So you’re going to get a box out of Microsoft that’s going to turn your washer and dryer on, and they’re going to give you the multi-purpose console of all time.”
“Nintendo doesn’t even know there’s an Internet yet so trust me, they’re going to be making consoles until someone explains it to them.”
I’ve just remembered that I forgot to post the most recent trailer for the forthcoming The Last Story which is due for release in Europe on February 24th. Nintendo of America has yet to announce whether or not the game is coming Stateside, but given their decision to release Xenoblade Chronicles in April, I’d say it’s quite likely. European gamers will be able to purchase a limited edition version of The Last Story or a standard edition.
Nintendo has finally revealed the super-colourful box-art for Mario Party 9 which is due to be released in Europe on the 2nd of March. Mario Party 9 sees a few new gameplay addition to the popular franchise which can be found here and is exclusive to Wii. Mario Party 9 also comes out in North America a few days later on the 11th of March.
Nintendo UK has confirmed that the limited edition Last Story bundle will be available exclusively on Wii across Europe from the 24th of February.
The limited edition The Last Story bundle will be available for pre-order while stocks last and features a copy of the game, an exclusive SteelBook cover decorated with beautiful artwork, and a The Elements Of The Last Story package which includes The Premium Soundtrack CD and The Illustrations art booklet. The CD features a 7-track selection of music from the game composed by Nobuo Uematsu who has also collaborated with Hironobu Sakaguchi on many of his previous iconic RPGs.
The Last Story adds a modern twist to the traditional RPG formula, offering a strategic, real-time combat system and allowing you to customise your character and weaponry. By mastering a mysterious ability called The Gathering you will be able to help the main protagonist Zael and his band of mercenaries complete the many missions and battle vast bosses by discovering their weak spots and using teamwork to bring them down.
Unlike many other RPGs, The Last Story not only features a story-driven single player campaign, but also two online multiplayer modes, Deathmatch and Co-op, allowing you to battle against or alongside up to five other people from across Europe. Online battles can yield rare weapons and items that can be carried over into the single player campaign.
Japanese gaming publication Famitsu has published its readers most wanted video games of 2012. Heading up the list is Dragon Quest X which is due for release on both Wii and Wii U sometime later this year. Overall there’s an impressive eight games featured in the overall chart on Nintendo platforms. What do you think to the choices?
1. Dragon Quest X (Wii)
2. Dragon’s Dogma (PS3)
3. Monster Hunter 4 (3DS)
4. One Piece: Kaizoku Musou (PS3)
5. Persona 4: The Golden (Vita)
6. Fotokano: Picture Girlfriend (PSP)
7. Final Fantasy Versus XIII (PS3)
8. Animal Crossing (3DS)
9. Asura’s Wrath (PS3)
10. Tales of Innocence-R (Vita)
11. New Love Plus (3DS)
12. Resident Evil Revelations (3DS)
13. Shining Blade (PSP)
14. Kingdom Hearts 3D (3DS)
15. God Eater 2 (PSP)
16. The Last Guardian (PS3)
17. Binary Domain (PS3)
18. Armored Core V (PS3)
19. Metal Gear Rising Revengeance (PS3)
20. Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City (PS3)
21. Super Robot Wars OG 2 (PS3)
22. Theatrhythm Final Fantasy (3DS)
23. Fantasy Life (3DS)
24. Tales of the Heroes: Twin Brave (PSP)
25. Yakuza: Black Panther 2 (PSP)
The LA Times managed to catch up with Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime at this years CES to speak to him about the decline in Wii sales. Reggie told the publication that said he didn’t see declining Wii sales as a negative but rather he saw them as a positive leading into the release of the Wii U later this year.
“The Wii is now approaching 40 million homes here in the United States, so from a penetration standpoint we’re beginning to top out in terms of the total number of systems sold, and that’s why it makes so much sense to prepare for the launch of the Wii U.”
Japanese gaming publication Famitsu has published the top one hundred best-selling games in Japan throughout last year. Nintendo fans will be pleased to note that six of the top ten games are Nintendo related titles with Mario Kart 7 taking the number one spot and Super Mario 3D Land taking second place. Here’s the top ten:
Famed industry analyst Michael Pachter has revealed that Wii sales are down 55% year-over-year. Nintendo declined to reveal specific hardware figures for the month of December which prompted many to speculate that they didn’t have as good a Christmas as they had hoped. However, Pachter did say that sales of the Nintendo 3DS were solid.
Nintendo France has announced that the Nintendo 3DS was the best-selling console of 2011 selling an impressive 761,000 units. The Wii and the Nintendo DS also performed well in France although Nintendo would only give a combined figure for both platforms.
