Industry Chatter 10.18.2011

In today’s Industry Chatter we take a look at a cavalcade of all things relating to Nintendo in one way or another. So sit back, relax, and be sure the click the links for more details. They’re the hard working ones, I’m just gathering the sources.

More details of Skyward Sword released

For those of you who don’t mind the occasional spoiler and want to know exactly how the newest Zelda game will work, well Nintendo has released some more details about the game, along with some Youtube clips (like this one of The Water Dungeon known as Cistern.)

• Link has a whip! Apparently Link will be able to channel his inner Indiana Jones in this game, which actually sounds pretty cool. Plus with the Motion Control, it’d be kind of fun…as long as you don’t break the TV.
• You can also collect bugs which are used to help make new potions. The encouragement here is for the players to concoct their own trippy combination and see what happens.
• Looks like we got ourselves an instance of a mini-game Island called the Fun Fun Island. After satisfying the requests of the guy who lives there, that is. Not sure what this will entail but something tells me a Fetch Quest may be at hand here.

Skyward Sword comes out on November 20th, be sure to reserve your copy today!

Nintendo DS passes the 50M mark in USA

Despite the rather so-so sales of Nintendo 3DS, there is good news regarding is predecessor, the regular DS. The video game sales tracker NPD group has reported that the sales for the Nintendo DS have officially hit the 50 million mark. A huge achievement, when you really think about it.

“Buy me, buy me!” pleads the lonely 3DS as it sits alone and cold. Harsh, American consumers, harsh.

The DS has already been regarded as the best selling console in US History, mostly due to the portable nature of the device. Meanwhile, 3DS hasn’t been selling as well. Oddly enough, the sales have actually stated that the video game The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D has actually outsold the system. (A strange thing, but perhaps a lot of people wanted a collector’s item? It’s still considered up in the air as to whether or not 3DS can recover. Hopefully, at least in the eyes of this Nintendo fan and 3DS owner, it can.

Professor Layton series coming to iOS

In what can be described as only a very tough hit to Nintendo, one of its leading franchises is now heading to the iOS. Level 5 has confirmed that while it’s going to still stay on Nintendo, it has officially started to bring the Professor Layton series over to the iOS, or the iPhone if you want to be specific. This is a big hit for Nintendo and its quest to stay relevant.

While Level 5 is indeed a third party company, they have had exclusivity to Nintendo until this recent move. One can only wonder if this is either just a anomaly for Level 5 or will they completely fly the coop like Squaresoft and Rare have done. Good news for iPhone users who don’t want to shell out the money for a 3DS, however. The only thing I ask for is that they still have Phoenix Wright vs Professor Layton for 3DS/DS and that it’s actually released in the US.

So there you have the latest and the greatest in the world of industry chatter. Funny thing is that it didn’t really get anything terribly exciting until the past two days. Until next time, this has been Industry Chatter.