Nintendo Archives - Argyll Free Press

Universal Studios Opening Nintendo Land by Year 2020

March 7, 2016 By Kenneth Scott Leave a Comment

With a slight surprise at this not happening sooner, it’s finally official news that a Nintendo Land theme park will have its gates opened by 2020. The green light has been given to Universal Studio Japan to finally bring the iconic Mario and Luigi, Link and Zelda, Pikachu or any of the other hundreds of Pokemons to life in a heavily themed heaven of all things Nintendo.

This has all been revealed by a Japanese media report, who mentioned it was only a matter of time until Universal put the rights to some of Nintendo’s properties that they got to good use. Considering that excitement for the Harry Potter theme park that lies in the same complex where the Nintendo Land will be in 2020 will probably diminish by then, it is very likely that this will consist of a great source of income for the parties involved.

Not to mention that out of the aforementioned parties, Nintendo is probably the one who will earn the most out of the whole ordeal. Safe to say, the bill of building and opening the gates of this Nintendo Land falls on the back of Universal. And the bill is no less than 400 billion yen, which translates into roughly $352 million. This is a relief for the likes of Nintendo – which everyone knows is dealing with financial issues – and it was probably part of the plan when it ceased a part of its rights over the content to Universal.

The time of opening is set to be in 2020, the same year when Japan will be hosting the Olympics; by all means, a better time could not have been chosen as it will coincide with the moment when countless of tourists will be coming to Japan from all the corners of the world. This could help Universal earn a good starting revenue off of the new theme park and draw attention to it in what locals are concerned.

There has also been a leaked map of the upcoming Nintendo Land layout, but it doesn’t hold enough basis for us to honestly believe that’s how things will truly look like. However, if we’re to pay any heed to it and consider it’s accurate, the Nintendo Land will apparently be located right after the studio’s main gate. Even more so, the map shows one particular red highlighted area dubbed the ‘Mario Area’. Is it truly happening?

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Upcoming Nintendo Changes as the Shift to Mobile Is Imminent

February 17, 2016 By Karen Jackson Leave a Comment

There are a lot of things going on at the Nintendo headquarters right now and the first of the upcoming Nintendo changes as the shift to mobile is imminent are just starting to show up. To clarify, Nintendo is planning to breach into the mobile market with a series of 5 mobile games and applications, which not only a few are a little skeptical about.

To start off, Nintendo is matching the changes it has done to the network last year in Japan everywhere else now, by launching the Nintendo Account service in a large number of states across US, Europe and Australia. Signups have become available to individuals from Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Spain, France, United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Russia and the United States.

All they need to do in order to create their new Nintendo Account is either to link their already existent Nintendo Network ID, or sign up via one of the social media accounts active – Facebook, Twitter or Google+.

But this isn’t the only thing that Nintendo is cooking up this time of the year. Their first of the five applications they intend to release for the mobile platform – known as Miitomo – is a social game/app that is planned to come out later this year, in mid-March. The pre-registration period for Miitomo has already begun for both iOS and Android platforms, allowing users who sign up for it before launch to receive special benefits.

The benefits that come packed with a pre-registration of Miitomo are closely related to the way the new My Nintendo system works and its internal currency. Therefore, people who register their Nintendo Account now will receive platinum points, which they can exchange for digital content and original goods. This type of currency will start existing on both smartphones and game consoles.

There will also be another type of currency, obtainable by purchasing Nintendo eShop content, called Gold Points. These, however, will only be exchangeable for discount coupons for Wii U and Nintendo 3DS apps and games via the online store.

While the Miitomo application is cutely masked behind funny and highly customizable cartoon characters that will represent you and which you’ll be able to use to communicate and share moments with others, the app serves a slightly different purpose for the company. Considering it’s the first time the company delves in mobile as a platform, it’s very probable for Nintendo to be using this type of light and mainstream type of service as a server stress test, in order to prepare for the largest, more complex applications in the future.

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Super Mario Maker – Game Design Is for Everyone

September 4, 2015 By Nancy Young Leave a Comment

Super Mario Maker is set to launch on the Wii U on September the 11th. The thing is, most people don’t know that Nintendo’s newest Mario makes game design fun.

We’ve all played Bob the Builder in a Warcraft or Starcraft map editor, and while we had plenty of tools at our disposal – see Dota and TD – they weren’t that approachable to newcomers.

You see, Super Mario Maker is highly addictive mainly because it’s so easy to design a level. You have familiar tools that won’t overwhelm users, the gamepad fits the medium perfectly and you can immediately play your creation.

If you’re a gamer then you most likely played Mario once in your lifetime. If you own a Wii U, now’s your chance to relive those childhood stress-free glory days. Remember those pipes, blocks and power-ups from the original Super Mario Bros.? Welp, they are part of your library of tools in Mario Maker.

Because these tools are so familiar, Nintendo doesn’t explain what the ? blocks do, or what a mushroom consists off – no Timmy, a bad trip isn’t the correct answer.

Tools are highly intuitive, they are evergreen. Even if you didn’t lay a finger on Mario ever, you’ll know what to do without help from a tutorial.

Too many tools, too much functionality may be overwhelming at first. If it’s too hard on the first try, gamers might not launch the title a second time. Super Mario Maker locks the majority of tools at the beginning. It may be a little bit annoying to some that the game forces you to play through in order to unlock tools, but that’s the gamification element.

If you want to unlock boo ghosts or warp pipes, you are required to play at least five minutes a day, each day, for an entire week.

These limitations keep the game from overwhelming users. You master the basics as you play, and you unlock new possibilities when Nintendo thinks you are comfortable enough.

Game design is incredibly hard and sometimes downright boring. I’ve wasted my fair share of time developing my very own Warcraft 3 campaign, only to not even play it because I was so exhausted by the whole design process.

The whole design process has been streamlined so it doesn’t feel like such a chore. The Wii U gamepad is seriously the best input for Super Mario Maker. It frees your mind and hands. It’s easy and fun to just draw crazy things and then unleash them onto the virtual world.

Super Mario Maker - The Wii U gamepad fits the medium perfectly

I think I overdid it a little bit…

That’s the thing. You create and then you can immediately play your creation. You don’t even have to finish the level. The Play button can be found in the left corner of the screen. Tapping it unleashes your creation, regardless if it’s complete or not. This is mainly used for testing things out.

The bottom line is, Super Mario Maker is just, simply put, fun.

You build a level from scratch, then you can play it. If you want to undo something, then just use the cute dog button. I’m just dying to play it again!

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