Tag: nintendo

Wildermyth will conclude with its final expansion, Omenroad

Posted on by faz_business


Wildermyth is an incredible procedurally generated RPG that leads players through a series of narrative quests. As you build bases, battle foes, and learn more about the world, you’re able to build up your cast with new decisions and sacrifices. A hero might die, marry another party member and have children, or turn into an increasingly feral beast. It’s a tremendously cozy, satisfying RPG experience.

Wildermyth has a core campaign, and additional adventurers that introduce new stories and new enemy factions. The game’s first DLC pack was focused around new cosmetic skins and armors for heroes, whereas the upcoming Omenroad expansion includes a roguelike-style challenge mode and a new story campaign called Walk in the Unlight. While Omenroad brings lots of new bosses and challenging fights, it also represents an end to development for Wildermyth. Worldwalker Games announced the conclusion on May 29 on the game’s official X account.

“We will continue to support the game and fix critical bugs, but don’t expect new content going forward,” co-owner Nate Austin wrote. “We will be saying farewell to many of our team members. Worldwalker Games is going into hibernation for now.”

Austin clarifies that the team still intends to port Wildermyth to other platforms, and the hibernation does not affect that “in any way.” He also commits to continuing a Kickstarter that will record the game’s music live and integrate it into the game, French and Spanish translations for Omenroad, and to maintain the game’s Discord, wiki, support email, merch store, and social media.

“Wildermyth has been wonderful, but nothing goes on forever,” wrote Austin. “We wanted to ship Omenroad, and having done that, we’re ready to move on. This was the plan, and it doesn’t have anything to do with how well Omenroad is doing. (It’s doing well! We’re extremely proud of it.)”

He added, “I’m pretty sure we’ll eventually find something else to pour our passion into, and we’ll let you know about it when the time comes.”

It’s sad to see an end to Wildermyth, which has become one of my staples when I want to play a narrative RPG adventure. But it’s also a tremendous game, and it’s good to see the studio end on a high note and walk away from the project of their own choice. While we may never see another title from the Worldwalker team, I’ll treasure Wildermyth and the stories it effortlessly spins for years to come.

Nintendo’s online servers for Wii U and 3DS shut down today

Posted on by faz_business


We knew it was coming, but that doesn’t . Nintendo shut down the online servers for both the Wii U and 3DS today. This means the end of online multiplayer gaming for both consoles, turning Mario Kart 7 for 3DS and the original Splatoon for the Wii U into single player or couch co-op experiences. The first Super Mario Maker is also effectively dead, as there’s no way to browse for and download player-created levels.

Both consoles are relatively controversial. The 3DS was originally considered a , though it eventually . This was thanks to a glut of incredible titles, from Super Mario 3D Land and The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds to more niche fare like Kid Icarus: Uprising and Fire Emblem Awakening. The portable console also had a robust lineup of online exclusive titles, like Pushmo and BoxBoy!.

The Wii U, on the other hand, never quite found a significant audience and is largely considered one of Nintendo’s biggest missteps. It was the next home console after the culture-defining Wii, so it had large shoes to fill. However, the company went with a name that was an absolute nightmare for the Wii’s core audience of casual gamers. Was it an accessory to the original Wii? A new console? A crappy iPad? Those of us glued to gaming media knew the answer, but the casuals never stood a chance.

There was also the console itself. The company never delivered a compelling use case for the “asymmetric gameplay” offered by the device. Simply put, the Wii U gave you two screens. There was the TV, of course, but also a touchscreen tablet. This was supposed to lead to unique gameplay mechanics that gave the person holding the tablet a different task than those holding traditional controllers, but only a few titles truly explored this concept.

Just like the 3DS, however, the Wii U was buoyed by a robust selection of first-party classics. I found the first-party offerings of the Wii era to be mostly underwhelming, with desperate attempts to shoehorn in finicky and gimmicky waggle. I still get panicked when remembering just how horrible it felt to fly Link around in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. The Wii U, on the other hand, brought Nintendo back to a novel concept called “just make good games.”

The console brought us Mario Kart 8, which is still the gold standard for digital kart racing, and the underrated Super Mario 3D World. There was also Super Mario Maker, a great Super Smash Bros. title, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Pikmin 3 and Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, among many others.

Even if you never owned a Wii U, you’ve probably played some of these games. Nintendo knew the console itself was a flop, but the games were good. This led to numerous re-releases on the Switch. It’s worth noting that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild . Also, it had Miiverse! Nintendo, for the love of Bowser, . It was the only pure social network.

Of course, there’s a strong case to be made that both the design of the Wii U and its failure led to the Switch. Both devices allow for portable play, but the Wii U required people to be tethered to a bulky console. The Switch, on the other hand, is the (not bulky) console. Nintendo’s smash hybrid , as of December. The Wii U sold under 14 million devices throughout its lifespan.

Nintendo already for the 3DS and Wii U last year, so this is the final goodbye. Luckily, speedrunners a Super Mario Maker level that was long thought to be impossible just a few days ago. Life always finds a way. Sleep well, my two old friends.

Japanese police arrest suspect Nintendo threat-maker

Posted on by faz_business


Police in Japan arrested on April 3 a 27-year old man suspected of threatening Nintendo staff, events, and spectators. Due to these threats, Nintendo announced in December it was canceling several events, like Nintendo Live and the Splatoon Koshien 2023 finals, and postponing others. Japanese newspaper the Kyoto Shimbun first reported the arrest. According to the report, the man admitted to the threats.

Nintendo of America confirmed the arrest in a statement to Polygon, where a representative also said the Japanese headquarters “was receiving constant threats targeting its employees, and most recently, received threats targeting the spectators and staff of the Splatoon Koshien 2023 Grand Final.”

Here’s the full statement:

Nintendo’s Japanese headquarters was receiving constant threats targeting its employees, and most recently, received threats targeting the spectators and staff of the Splatoon Koshien 2023 Grand Final. Given the threats, Nintendo postponed and cancelled the series of events, and has been in contact with the police ever since. Nintendo is extremely thankful for the investigation and effort made by the police on arresting the suspect. Nintendo’s Japanese headquarters will continue to cooperate fully with the police’s investigation.

Nintendo Live, the event that was canceled in December, is a big, multi-day celebration of everything Nintendo. It was set to be held at the Tokyo Big Sight exhibition center in January. The Splatoon grand finals were slated for December at the Tokyo Ota Ward General Gymnasium.

News of Nintendo’s event cancelation came during the trial for the devastating 2019 Kyoto Animation arson attack that killed 36 people and injured many others. The attack was one of the deadliest in recent Japanese history. The suspect plead guilty and was sentenced to death in January. In the aftermath of the attack, Japanese police have treated threats with “heightened seriousness,” according to Japan Today. Police have also arrested several people who’ve made threats against both Sega and Square Enix.