Telltale Games, who are working on an episodic video game based on The Walking Dead comic book series have said that though they are not currently working on a Wii U version of the game, it has not been ruled out completely.

We’re not working on it currently, but that doesn’t mean we wouldn’t do it. It seems like it would be a nice opportunity, so we’ve just gotta kind of watch that a little closer. Getting involved with a launch platform involves a lot, so we’re in the process of figuring that out with Nintendo.

The adventure game that will be making its way to the PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade, Windows and Mac will be focusing more on characterisation, emotion and player choices rather than zombie action.

In an interview with Now Gamer, Alexander Hutchinson, Ubisoft Montreal’s creative director, shared some more details on Assassin’s Creed 3. The new information reveals that the game will have a new combat system and a redesigned health system.

We rebuilt the combat system from the ground up. Everything from the player strategy, to enemy types, to animations and camera implementation is new. Connor’s combat system is based around a two handed fighting style, so he uses either tomahawk and knife, assassin’s blade and knife, as well as many other combinations. The core for us is a redesign of the health system, so that instead of having health units and needing to heal after combat, you now have a regenerating health system which means you can’t regain health during combat – you need to escape and rest. This exponentially increases the challenge.

Continue reading…

Our favourite pink blob is celebrating his 20th anniversary, and in celebration Nintendo are releasing a Kirby collection of classic titles to the Nintendo Wii. The ball of pink has been gracing Nintendo consoles since the Game Boy era, inhaling enemies and making us ‘coo’ at his cuteness.

The Kirby collection is due to release in Japan this year. All Nintendo consoles since his debut (except for the 3DS) have had a Kirby game and it doesn’t seem too far fetched to believe that one will eventually be making its way to the Wii U. It would be great to see Nintendo celebrate Kirby’s anniversary in style with a Kirby Wii U game announcement at E3 2012.

In an interview with Edge magazine, Shigeru Miyamoto shared his thoughts on the future of F-Zero. His words seemed to dispel any possibility of another entry in the popular racing  series  for this generation of consoles, but Miyamoto’s words seem to hint that a Wii U version may be a more likely possibility.

with Wii U coming up, maybe we could create something that does make sense, either as a smaller game, or a fully fledged title.

Would you like to see F-Zero come to the Wii U?

Today on GameTrailers, in an episode of Invisible Walls, the Wii U’s third-party support became a topic of discussion, with Shane Shatterfield, the publication’s editor-in-chief, saying:

One thing that I can say without getting in any trouble is that the launch line-up for the Wii U is going to surprise people. It’s going to be pretty damn good.

This is great news for the Wii U, as previous Nintendo console launch lineups, such as that of the Nintendo 3DS, have been less than desirable.

I remember quite fondly those days when I was a wee child, my eyes brimming with tears at the difficulty of Baldur’s Gate. However, any hopes for a Wii U version of the newly announced Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition that’s making its way to the iPad have seemingly been dashed. On Twitter, creative director of Overhaul Games, Trent Oster, answering a question about a possible Wii U version due to the console’s touchcreen controller, said:

We don’t do Nintendo development. Our previous experience with Nintendo was enough to ensure there will not be another.

In another tweet he touted the problems experienced when Overhaul ported MDK2 to WiiWare:

My problems with Nintendo are: requiring 6000 unit sales before payment, a certification process that took us 9 months and a 40mb limit.

Packing no punches he divulged what he thought of the Wii with a tweet as hard as Baldur’s Gate:

Nintendo isn’t a good platform for developers. The Wii is a toy, not a console.

When contacted by Nintendo World Report, Oster went into more detail about why Baldur’s Gate would not be making its way to the Wii U.

Continue reading…

Aban Hawkins & the 1000 Spikes

We found out last year that Nicalis, well known for their Cave Story game, had become licensed Wii U developers. Now, it has been announced that they  are hoping to bring 1001 Spikes to the Wii U’s digital download service. The indie platformer is a remake of the Xbox Live game Aban Hawkins & The 1000 Spikes.

The game stars an adventurous gent trying to save the woman he loves; and to do this, he must dodge many spikes. The new version that will be coming to the Wii U and 3DS will have redesigned sound and art as well as local multiplayer. Even better news is that Nicalis hope to have the game ready for launch.

News for Pikmin 3 on the Wii U has been released by Miyamoto, via Kotaku’s press contact at Nintendo:

In a recent interview, Mr. Miyamoto confirmed that a new Pikmin game will be shown at the E3 Expo in June. He believes that anyone who has played Pikmin games in the past will enjoy playing.

This confirmation is big news for Pikmin fans who have waited eight years for the next installment in the series.

In another interview, it was said that,

Mr. Miyamoto  also confirmed that a new Super Mario Bros. game for the Wii U system will be shown at this year’s E3 Expo. This is based on the Mario experience that was demonstrated at last year’s E3 Expo. We’ll have more to announce about our plans for the E3 Expo at a later date.

No specific details are given, but if you liked the New Super Mario Bros. Mii demo shown last year, chances are you’ll enjoy this year’s Super Mario Bros. Wii U presentation as well.

A recent interview with Miyamoto sheds some light on near-future projects for the Wii U, who believes that the new features of the device are not “readily replicated by another device ” which means Nintendo is expected to have the upper leg on the competition in this generation of gaming. It is also rumored and highly expected Nintendo will give new information about a new Super Mario for the Wii U at E3, though nothing is confirmed.

Miyamoto continued,

I’m working on several projects but I think I can not speak for all [laughs]. Some are small but important projects for Wii U. Also a new Pikmin, which will use high-resolution images of the console…

While this doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll be getting any big name Nintendo franchises on the system right away, it does show that both Nintendo and Miyamoto are ready to show off some different aspects and power of the console with these coming projects.

Nintendo are throwing people for a loop this year in saying they will not be attending the annual Gamescom convention in Cologne, Germany.  Given that the convention pulled in roughly 275,000 attendees last year, as well as the fact that Nintendo have attended the event every year prior, this is a peculiar move.

Silja Gülicher, Press Officer for Nintendo of Germany, made a statement regarding this decision:

Whilst Gamescom is a fantastic show, we have taken the decision not to attend this year’s event. Instead we are planning a number of sampling events later this year inline with the European Marketing-, PR- and Event-activities in which our fans will have the opportunity to play upcoming games. Further details will be announced soon.

Nintendo’s not usually for pulling moves without good reason, so hopefully they have this planned out well enough that missing out on a quarter-million people won’t hurt them.

What do you think? Could this possibly hurt Nintendo in marketing the Wii U and their other products for the 2012 year?