Nashville, U.S.A – Pure Nintendo is proud to announce they have reached and surpassed their Kickstarter goal, of $20,000, towards the start of Pure Nintendo Magazine. Contributors who put down $20 or more will be receiving their first issue of Pure Nintendo Magazine (PNM) in the next 15-20 business days. Expect a longer shipping time for buyers outside the United States.

The whole Pure Nintendo staff would like to thank everyone who supported the Kickstarter by donations or promotions. “Thank you so much to everyone for your support of Pure Nintendo Magazine during our Kickstarter project. The encouragement and help from our fans is incredible. We’re excited to be able to deliver Pure Nintendo Magazine to their doorsteps.” – Justin Sharp, Editor-in-Chief of Pure Nintendo Magazine.

“I personally want to thank all those who made this possible for us. We’re so happy to be bringing Pure Nintendo Magazine to life. Read PNM, listen to PNM and we expect to see PNM in your mailbox soon. Thanks Everyone” – Nate Sylvia, VP/Business Development for Pure Nintendo.

For those who would still like to subscribe to Pure Nintendo Magazine (PNM), one can do so by heading over to http://purenintendo.com/magazine/ to fill sign-up. Yearly subscriptions will stay at $20 for hard copy, and $10 for the digital subscription.

PNM is a magazine is a bi-monthly magazine run by Nintendo fans for Nintendo fans. The magazine offers the freshly-squeezed look at all things Nintendo; reviews, interviews, developer insights and much, much, more. PNM is not affiliated with Nintendo or any of its affiliates.

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Teyon, a video games developer and digital publisher, announced on September 10, 2012, that the successful WiiWare series, Heavy Fire, is coming back with another installment on a new platform. Gun down enemies in Heavy Fire: Special Operations 3D on Nintendo 3DS starting from this Thursday, September 13th. The game will be available via North American Nintendo eShop for just $4.99.

Gear up and join an elite Special Forces unit in Heavy Fire: Special Operations 3D, an arcade-style on-rail shooter for Nintendo 3DS. Choose from three character profiles, each with unique attributes, and use a combination of brains and brawn (but mostly brawn) to blast your way through a variety of dangerous ground, vehicle and air-based stages. And if you’re really feeling trigger-happy, you can earn additional points by blowing up the environment. Each victory sees your military rank rise, earning you increasingly powerful and upgradeable weapons.

You’ll need preternatural reflexes and a never-say-die spirit to restore peace in the ever-volatile Middle East. When the smoke clears, will you be a Special Operations legend?

Features:

• An interactive, destructible environment featuring exotic Middle Eastern locales
• Slug your way through six diverse, challenging levels
• Higher military ranks enable more powerful weaponry
• A game store bursting with all kinds of cool power-ups

The official trailer of the game is available via Teyon’s YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5eVHNuYEvw

For more information visit the game site:http://www.teyon.com/games/heavy-fire-special-operations-3d/

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Mind Candy, the family entertainment brand behind the global children’s phenomenon Moshi Monsters, and Activision Publishing, a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard have announced the upcoming release of Moshi Monsters: Moshlings Theme Park, the second title in the Moshi Monsters video game series.

MoshiMonsters.com is an online world of adoptable pet monsters for kids aged 6-12. Players can customize and nurture their very own Monster as well as play mini-games, solve puzzles, share artwork and communicate in a safe environment. With more than 60 million registered users worldwide, the site has proved to be a hit and has expanded into a physical products line including best-selling toys, books, trading cards, the Moshi Monsters Magazine and a new music album. According to-market research firm, The NPD Group, Moshi Monsters was the No. 1 toy license-in the UK for the month of April.

Activision is a key partner in helping Mind Candy bring the beloved pet monsters to the handheld gaming platform. The debut title, Moshling Zoo, released in 2011, found success around the world and is one of only seven-3rd-Party games to ever top the UK charts, and is the only one to hold the No. 1 spot in Nintendo DS charts for an impressive five months.

“We look forward to working with Activision to build continued success for the Moshi Monsters brand and to bring new gaming experiences for our millions of fans to enjoy,” said Moshi Monsters creator and Mind Candy CEO, Michael Acton Smith.

Moshi Monsters: Moshlings Theme Park, developed by Black Lantern Studios, invites players to restore the legendary Moshi theme park to its former glory. Players progressively unlock six zones by successfully building attractions and rescuing the scattered Moshlings (adorable, itty bitty pets for your pet monster). Users of the Nintendo 3DS can also interact with other Nintendo 3DS players via the StreetPass feature and play cool games to bring the Moshlings to life in a whole new dimension. Moshi Monsters: Moshlings Theme Park marks the first time fans can interact with beloved characters via 3D technology and introduces players to a brand new, exclusive Moshling that can transfer across platforms to the online world.

“We look forward to bringing Moshi fans a brand-new gaming experience with fun, colorful gameplay; rich story and increased interactivity,” said David Oxford, Executive Vice President, Activision.

Moshi Monsters: Moshlings Theme Park will connect fans across the online and handheld platforms through exclusive codes and promotions, designed to increase engagement in new and exciting ways. Fans will uncover secret codes online at MoshiMonsters.com, which will unlock special areas and content on the Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo DS.

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Sometimes the technology used in a product is so advanced that even its rivals cannot help but be impressed. While in Paris promoting a 3DS-powered visitor’s guide for the Louvre, Nintendo superstar Shigeru Miyamoto could not help but express his praise for the Sony PlayStation Vita’s technological capabilities. Of course, the legendary game designer found another way to criticize the machine.

Miyamoto says he finds the handheld’s software lineup ultimately unsatisfying. “[The Vita is] obviously a very hi-spec machine, and you can do lots of things with it,” he said. “But I don’t really see the combination of software and hardware that really makes a very strong product.”

The Vita was released in Japan last December in Japan and late February for the US, UK and Australia. Despite selling 325,000 units after its release date in Japan and 600,000 in other regions, sales of the handheld have slumped. In Europe both the Wii and PlayStation Portable—the handheld the Vita was supposed to replace—outsell Sony’s new console.  Sales in the United States are more positive. There only the PlayStation3, Xbox 360 and 3DS outsell it, with the Vita slowly catching up to the 3DS in weekly sales.

In Japan, though, the 3DS is trouncing the Vita, outselling it 10:1. This is in spite of a slow start for the Nintendo handheld, which only picked up after a price drop for the 3DS. Miyamoto blames the poor initial sales on a lack of games available at launch.

“When we launched the 3DS hardware we didn’t have Super Mario 3D Land, we didn’t have Mario Kart 7, we didn’t have Kid Icarus: Uprising,” he said. “We were striving to have all of these ready for the launch, but we weren’t able to deliver them at that time. We were kind of hoping that people would, nevertheless, buy into the product, find 3DS hardware promising, but looking back we have to say we realise the key software was missing when we launched the hardware.”

The solution to Sony’s problems, then, is more games with maybe a price drop, and few Vita owners would disagree. Despite a collection of launch title representing a wide range of genres, the trickle of games released has slowly dried up. Gravity Rush is the next big game due for release in the United States and Europe, coming out in mid-June.

Little support from publishers proved to be the bane of the PlayStation Portable. Although its sales were not abysmal, compared to its competition, the DS, they left something to be desired .

So will more games solve the Vita’s problems? At this point Sony may need to more than just that and to drop the Vita’s pricey retail value of $249, in order to see significant changes in sales. It worked for the 3DS, so a change in price may make the Vita victorious.

Image Courtesy of   Ricardo “Eb” Trejo

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London, UK – Moshi Monsters’ debut video game Moshi Monsters: Moshling Zoo has become the longest ever number one in Nintendo DS chart history by knocking Nintendo’s Dr. Kawashima’s Brain Training from the top spot.

Launched just six months ago in November 2011, Moshi Monsters: Moshling Zoo has made video game history by holding the top position for a record breaking 15 consecutive weeks.

The game has fought off stiff competition from Nintendo classics such as Mario Kart DS, New Super Mario Bros, Professor Layton And The Spectre’s Call and Pokémon Black Version.

“This is the first video game we’ve ever published at Mind Candy so we’re delighted and amazed by how well it has done. We’re lucky to have such a passionate fanbase of Moshi players” said Michael Acton Smith, creator and CEO of Moshi Monsters.

Developed by well-renowned US based gaming developer, Black Lantern and published by Activision Publishing, Moshi Monsters: Moshling Zoo offers fans a fresh new take on the Moshi Universe by building on the popularity of the collectable ”Moshlings” (pets for your pet monsters), and  provides a new way to interact with their favorite characters.

The game features new locations and an exclusive new Moshling - Nipper the Titchy Trundlebot. From the common to the rare, there are 52 Moshlings to collect including the elusive ‘ULTRA-RARE’ – find them if you can! Children can also play new mini-games, educational style puzzles, as well as win awards and trophies to take back to their zoo.

The monster success isn’t just confined to the video game charts – the recently released debut music album, Moshi Monsters: Music Rox!, reached number four in the Official Music Charts this month ahead of Madonna and Jessie J with no TV or promotional airplay.

Moshi Monsters: Moshling Zoo is available now on Nintendo DS priced £29.99 (RRP) from GAME, Tesco, ASDA, Argos, Sainsbury’s, Smiths, Amazon and Play.com. The game has been classified PEGI 3, which means suitable for all.  For more information please visit http://www.moshlingzoo.com or http://www.Activision.com.

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Historically, Nintendo’s GameBoy consoles have always defined the handheld gaming experience. Intermittent efforts from Sega and Sony over the years have been unable to unseat Nintendo as the king of handhelds.

According to the latest sales figures from Sony, the PS Vita has surpassed 1.2 million units sold worldwide, despite an unenthusiastic reception in Sony’s home country of Japan.

In Europe, first week sales of the PS Vita outsold Nintendo’s new handheld console, the 3DS. In the United States and Japan, however, first-week sales figures for the Vita lagged behind other handheld gaming consoles of the current and previous generations.

The 3DS sold seven times as many units as the PS Vita worldwide last week. 3DS games have also sold well, making up 7 of the top 10 best-selling games of the previous week.

Nintendo’s perennial success with handhelds has had a massive effect on the platform as a whole. Of the top five best-selling handheld consoles of all time, four of them are made by Nintendo. Gamers who play handhelds have come to expect a certain experience, and this experience has been almost entirely defined by Nintendo’s vision.

The PS Vita also has its own strong vision for itself. It is meant to be the home console experience in your hands, with a large, high-definition screen and graphics comparable to the home experience. And this, possibly, is where it went wrong: It’s stepping on too many toes at once.

For the cost of a PS Vita (about $300 USD), you could buy an actual home console. And because the Vita requires a memory card made by Sony, that only works with the Vita, for an addition $100, you could probably find a Nintendo DS on the cheap for that price as well.

Handheld gamers do not expect, and quite possibly are not even enticed by, the ability to play home console games on a handheld system. The most popular handheld games by far are iOS games, which are often quick, shallow, and addictive. Even GameBoy and DS games are largely episodic, with frequent opportunities to quit and come back later.

Console games, on the other hand, are meant for prolonged play. To try to fit a full console experience into an intrinsically stop-and-go format is at worst a misjudgement of the nature and appeal of the platform.

At best, it suits a very particular, perhaps European, demographic. If you do not have the space in your apartment for a home entertainment system, and use trains or busses more often than a car to get from place to place, being able to experience console gaming in a handheld format could have appeal.

Taking into consideration, however, that the largest gaming markets are in the United States and Japan, the Vita seems poorly thought through. For now, gamers who want a home console experience still prefer to play on an actual home console. Add to that the exorbitant price tag of the Vita, its aesthetically unimpressive OS, and the additional hidden cost of a proprietary memory stick, and the Vita seems to be stepping on its own toes as well.

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