Studio Zan just let us know that Overturn, the WiiWare combat game released last year in Japan, should be available on the North American Wii Shop this Monday, August 3, at a cost of 800 Wii Points. Unlike the European version, it seems that Studio Zan is "publishing" the North American release on its own.Overturn features both offline multiplayer for 2 players, and online modes for up to four, in which players will take control of customizable mechs and, well, beat the hell out of one another using weapons earned in previous battles. If you'd like, you can even use a Balance Board to control your robot's movement.Permalink | Email this | Comments

Nintendo released its latest financial earnings report for the period ending June 30 (Q2 to us, but fiscal Q1 to those business types at the house Mario built) ... and it could've been better. Don't be fooled: Nintendo still managed to make profits across the board, but compared to the same period last year, profits weren't nearly as dramatic.First, let's talk DS. Nintendo revealed lifetime sales of the DS has reached a whopping 107.75 million units and that the new DSi has managed to reach a respectable 6.68 million. Hardware sales for this quarter were lower than last year, however, as Nintendo revealed it only sold 5.97 million handhelds compared to the 6.94 million sold in 2008's fiscal first quarter. Even software was down quite a bit, with a mere 29.09 million units of DS software flying off store shelves this quarter compared to the more impressive 36.69 million of last year.On the Wii side, Nintendo revealed lifetime sales have reached 52.62 million units, but that 2009 console sales were down as well. Nintendo reported that during this year's fiscal first quarter, the company could only unload 2.23 million Wiis compared to the 5.17 million it sold during this same time period last year. Software on the platform also took a hit, as Nintendo recorded only 31.07 million units managed to find consumer's homes compared to the 40.41 million of last year. It's important to note that last year's sales were significantly boosted by the releases of Mario Kart Wii and Wii Fit.So, as one can guess, Nintendo saw its massive profits shaved down quite a bit this past quarter. With all of the dips in hardware and software sales, Nintendo saw its net sales drop a staggering 40 percent to ¥253.4 billion ($2.65 billion) compared to last year's ¥423.38 billion ($4.43 billion). Nintendo also saw a drop in its operating income, which fell from last year's ¥119.19 billion to ¥40.4 billion ($1.25 billion to $422.5 million), a decline of 60.61 percent. So ... who do you call when your money-printing machine is on the fritz?Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Last month, Marvelous president Yasuhiro Wada posted a note on the publisher's site, in which he said he had "teary eyes" over disappointing sales of Marvelous' Wii products, including No More Heroes, Rune Factory Frontier, and Muramasa. He discussed his sentiment in an interview with Edge Online, saying that he is frustrated with the lack of originality in games and hopes to counter this with the Marvelous catalog."I think this is why gamers are leaving video games," Wada told Edge of the reliance on existing IP. "I believe that variety is the only way to bring more people into gaming." Wada also said that the Xbox 360, despite Microsoft's "great job in bringing that many JRPGs on its console," is a lost cause in Japan, though there is hope for the next generation.As for why Marvelous games aren't selling, Wada puts some of the blame on lack of company recognition. "Marvelous has just reached the point its games are getting noticed and getting good reviews," he said. "But we are not a major name yet. The Marvelous brand is still associated to some not so good titles we made in the past." He compared the publisher to others like Nintendo, Capcom, and Square Enix. "Even if you don't fully understand what a title is about, because it's branded Nintendo, Capcom or Square Enix, you feel like ok to buy and try it." He said that the company needs to try to reach the roughly million-strong "gamer market" on Wii. A market that might enjoy, say, Little King's Story.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Capcom is anticipating monstrous sales of its Wii-exclusive Monster Hunter 3 in Japan, having shipped one million units of the game to retailers in advance of its launch there this Saturday. As pointed out in a blog post on the publisher's community site, this makes it the first third-party Wii game in Japan to have an initial run of 1M copies.Saturday's also a big day for Wii in general, as it's also when Nintendo launches a version of the system with a gloss black finish -- including bundles which will have Monster Hunter 3 as a pack-in. Wow, it's almost as if Nintendo and Capcom planned it that way. The game is slated to hit the US and Europe before next April; Nintendo claims the black Wii won't be leaving Japan.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments