VG Tribune

Speaking as someone who is interested in game development, I’m happy to announce that according to this article on IGN, Nintendo has changed some of their developer policies that will likely result in many great new games coming to the eShop.

Prior to the changes, independent game developers were required to have a designated office in order to keep their materials secure. That is no longer the case, and comes as great news because many independent developers work remotely, and constantly send files back and forth through the net.

But most importantly, the unit threshold has been eliminated. This was perhaps the worst element of Nintendo’s old policies, and required developers to sell a certain amount of copies of their game before they ever saw any revenue from it. Now that the unit threshold has been removed, developers will receive revenue from the first game they sell, which is incredible! That’s a much better business practice, and how it should have been to begin with.

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The trilogy of RPGs that Operation Rainfall is most known for as the games not released in North America will be completed this Spring.

XSeed Games has announced this afternoon that they will publish Pandora’s Tower in North America this spring.

Other games that complete this trilogy are:

• Xenoblade Chronicles, released in Japan in June 2010, Europe in August 2011, and North America (published by Nintendo) in April 2012.
• The Last Story, released in Japan in January 2011, Europe in February 2012, and North America (published by XSeed Games) in August 2012.

The Last Story was announced to be released about the same time that Xenoblade Chronicles was released, so we expected a similar announcement for Pandora’s Tower about the time that The Last Story was released, but that announcement never appeared until today.

Pandora’s Tower will be a Wii exclusive.

Click here if you want to read the full press release.

What are your thoughts on this?  A good final farewell to the Wii’s lineup?  Or a little too little, too late?  Let us know in the comments below.

What do Jack Sparrow, Mr. Incredible, and Sully have in common?  They are all characters in a new game from Disney Interactive and Avalanche Software due to release on every major platform and then some this June called Disney Infinity.

Disney Infinity will bring Skylanders-like collectables into a “Toy Box” (play on words with sand box) game where the figurines comes to life on your large (or not so large) screen.

Unlike Skylanders, Disney Infinity allows the linking of two characters at one time and a power-up in the form of a “power disc”.

From the press release announcing the game:

The Disney Infinity Platform includes:

• Disney Infinity Interactive Pieces – Initially a line of 40 collectible interactive pieces will be introduced that allow players to expand and customize their play experiences.
• Disney Infinity Interactive Character Figures – Seventeen character figures will allow players to experience a variety of their favourite characters in true to property experiences and in “Toy Box” mode.
• Disney Infinity Base – When figures are placed on the Infinity base, they unlock the world and play experiences of Disney Infinity.
• Disney Infinity Power Discs – Interactive discs can be placed on the Infinity base to power up characters and “Toy Box” with unique powers, customizations and gadgets.

When launched in June, there will be 20 character figurines available with an additional 20 more released through the end of the year.

Disney Infinity will be released worldwide on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo Wii U, Nintendo 3DS, PC, and mobile devices.

Click below to view the UK trailer and the full press release…
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Nintendo has sold over 100 million Wii systems since the system launch back in 2006. For a moment, just think about that number, 100 million. That is a lot of systems out in the wild. Now with the WiiU released in the United States and Canada a few days ago. You would think that sales on Wii systems should be declining, or even disappearing from store shelves. Nintendo, on the other hand, thinks the exact opposite.  Read the rest of this entry »

From left to right: Chad Seiter (Music Director) and Jeron Moore (Producer)

Legend of Zelda fans know that if there’s one thing that truly makes this video game series spectacular, it’s the music. How can you make the musical experience of an established series even better? Develop a live concert that tells the franchise’s story through four movements played by professional musicians. The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses tour does exactly this.

On June 22^nd, I was given the honor to interview Jeron Moore (Lead Creative/Showrunner/Producer) and Chad Seiter (Music Director) during the Austin, TX show regarding their experiences on the concert and about the Legend of Zelda series in general. Jeron and Chad, both avid fans of the series, had much to say. The full interview can be read in its entirety below.

Tickets and a schedule of the tour can be found by clicking here. If you’re from Texas and missed the chance to see one of their original stops, you still have a chance to see a live show. The tour will be stopping again in Dallas, in addition to making its way to San Antonio.

Image courtesy of Derek Brad. Thanks again to Jeron and Chad for the amazing interview!

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Seemingly out of no where, a Gold Nunchuk has appeared in the North American Club Nintendo site at the cost of 900 points.

Here is the product description from the Club Nintendo product page:

Put the golden touch in to your Wii gaming sessions with this gold-colored* Nunchuk accessory. If you’ve got a gold Wii Remote Plus controller from the limited edition bundle of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword at home, be sure not to miss this special reward. Limited quantity available.

* The gold controller will simply be gold in color and will not contain any actual precious metals.

I’ve been wanting to get one of these ever since I got Skyward Sword last year with the Gold Wii Motion Plus Remote that came with it.  Though I was hoping for this to be a Platinum reward instead of the deck of playing cards or posters, but since I had the points saved up and waiting for me to spend before they expire next year, this was a no-brainer for me.

Let us know below if you plan on picking up a Gold Nunchuk while supplies last.

Nintendo, Mistwalker and XSEED Games released a brand new trailer for the U.S. version of their JRPG The Last Story this morning. Directed by Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi with music composed by Nobuo Uematsu, The Last Story chronicles the lives of a group of mercenaries looking for work on the strictly-governed Lazulis Island. The Last Story will finally hit our shores on July 31st.

Japanese Nintendo Direct starts at 11PM EDT / 8PM PDT, with the North American Nintendo Direct starting an hour later.

Both live streams will be viewable, including our live blog of both events, after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Nintendo is following their trend of announcing Nintendo Direct Presentations within 24 hours of the actual event taking place.  You can’t say that they don’t keep us on our toes, now.  Can you?

Friday at noon Tokyo time (11PM EDT / 8PM PDT tonight) Iwata will have a live Nintendo Direct for the Japanese region.

Following that, at midnight EDT / 9PM PDT, Reggie will have a “Live” (so says the facebook page) event for the North American region.  News regarding Wii, 3DS, and DS are reportedly to be given at this event.

We will have the live streams of both the Japanese and North American events along with a live blog.  That article will be posted shortly before the event starts, so check back when the timer below has almost expired.

Vblank Entertainment has created an amazingly interesting retro game that is slated for release on Xbox Live Arcade, Playstation 3, Vita, WiiWare, and even Steam. It is a retro styled game that makes fun of itself as well as various pop culture from the 8-bit era.

In this game, you play as The Player as you rampage around town until a bunch of evil good guys come and wreck all your fun. They will stop at nothing to end The Player’s rampage. With over 30 vehicles to run over tons of innocent pedestrians, 20 weapons to create havoc, and blasting bleeps and bloops to notify you of your score, Retro City Rampage is a game that feels like classic Grand Theft Auto. You can find out more about the game at Retro City Rampage.