Episode 13: Hello Nintendo 2.0

Nintendo is not very well known for its online support. After all, this is the company that brought us Friend Codes and the tiny 40 MB file size restrictions for WiiWare. But in what appears to be a complete 180 for Nintendo, it will begin to offer the majority of its games as digital downloads. In today’s episode of the Random Nintendo Podcast, we discuss this new direction and whether Nintendo finally “gets it” when it comes to online support. We also take a look at a new wave of games that heavily borrow ideas from Nintendo: PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale and Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed. All that, plus first details on Rayman Legends for the Wii U and our impressions of Sakura Samurai for 3DS!

What do you think of Nintendo’s sudden new love for digital downloads? Share your thoughts on this and all the other big news from today’s episode in the comments section below. While you’re there, we would also love to hear what you think of today’s episode and the RN Podcast as a whole, so please leave us your comments and suggestions.

As always, if you would like to learn more about any of the topics discussed on today’s episode, we have provided links below. Enjoy!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:06:32 — 30.5MB)

News:

• Nintendo faces hard choices for a soft landing (Reuters)
• Financial Results Briefing for Fiscal Year Ended March 2012 (Nintendo “Investor Relations Information” Site)
• Nintendo Preparing for Third Party Digital Downloads (IGN)
• Leaked Rayman Legends Wii U trailer shows graphics, touch-screen, NFC tech (Eurogamer.net)
• Change Coming to Super Smash Bros. Wii U, 3DS (IGN)
• See PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale in Action (PlayStation Blog)
• Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed Changes the Rules of Racing (Sega Blog)
• New Play Control: Pikmin 2 finally coming to North America (GoNintendo)
• La-Mulana WiiWare cancelled for NA and Europe (Destructoid)

Games:

• Sakura Samurai: Art of the Sword (Official Site)
• Rayman Legends (IGN Game Page)
• Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed (IGN Game Page)
• New Play Control: Pikmin 2 (IGN Game Page)
• La-Mulana (Official Site)