Nintendo president Satoru Iwata's approval rating is on the rise

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata experienced a rise in his approval rating, a rating determined by Nintendo investors, following his re-election to the board of directors last week, it was revealed.

His approval rating now sits at 80.64 percent, an increase of 3.38 percent from last year's major slump — a 77.26 percent approval rating in 2013. It's worth noting that the Nintendo head received a 90.60 approval rating in 2012 before the company faced major fiscal troubles.

Earlier in the year, Iwata announced he would slash his pay in half following a 30 percent slump in profit over the nine-month fiscal period ending Dec. 31, 2013.

Speaking to reporters at the time, the Nintendo president said he would receive a reduced salary for five months in the wake of the third quarter results. Other Nintendo executives would take a pay cut between 20 and 30 percent. At the time Nintendo's third quart financial results showed an operating loss of just over $15 million following dismal sales of the Wii U.

Source: Polygon

First game to offer Wii U, 3DS cross-buy comes to European eShop (Update)

 Cross-buy — buying a version of a game for a platform maker's console and getting it free on the handheld, or vice-versa — has been a feature of many games in the PlayStation family. So far, the only concessions Nintendo gamers have gotten for games that release both for the 3DS and the Wii U have been discounts for buying the second version. There are signs that may be about to change.
 
Those who buy Squids Odyssey on the 3DS will be able to get the game on Wii U at no extra cost, but so far this offer is available only in the European eShop. Furthermore, buying it on Wii U does not offer a free 3DS edition, so those with both platforms need to be careful which one they purchase first.

Late last year, the 3DS adopted the Nintendo Network ID, allowing for a single account to manage purchases on both it and the Wii U, conceivably opening the door to this.
Recently, 1001 Spikes, by Nicalis, launched on Nintendo 3DS and Wii U; it did not offer cross-buy support but it did cut its price by $5 for anyone who bought one of five other Nicalis titles from the eShop.

Update: Squids Odyssey developer The Game Bakers told Siliconera that they approached Nintendo of America about this type of cross-buy sale, which Nintendo apparently calls "conditional sales," but were told that NOA "could not support this operation yet." Polygon has reached out to Nintendo of America for additional comment and will update this post with any made.

Source: Polygon 
 

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate online play affected by today's Nintendo Wii U maintenance

Nintendo maintenance on Wii U and Nintendo 3DS devices are taking place today starting at 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. PST, respectively.

As a result, online play and rankings for Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate Pack Relay Tools, which allow you to play the Nintendo 3DS version of the game with other players online via a Wii U,  as well as for the official Wii U version of Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, will be affected until 5 p.m. PST.

After this, Nintendo is moving on to maintenance on 3DS services which will affect online play and rankings on both the Poke Transporter and the Pokemon Bank. This will come to an end at 6 p.m. PST.

Maintenance schedules can be found on Nintendo's official website.

Source: Polygon

Mario Kart 8 surpasses 2 million units sold worldwide

Sales of Mario Kart 8, the latest entry in Nintendo's kart racing franchise, hit about 2 million copies worldwide since its release a month ago, Nintendo of America confirmed with Polygon today.

The number, which Nintendo officials said it sold through to consumers, was revealed during the company's 74th Annual General Meeting of Shareholders in Japan early today.

The title became the fastest selling Wii U game in the console's history when it sold more than 1.2 million copies worldwide since its release May 29 in Japan and May 30 in North America and Europe, Nintendo revealed in early June.

Mario Kart 8 also garnered the "strongest review scores in franchise history," according to the company. While Mario Kart 8's performance is strong, it still may be one of the worst-selling titles in the franchise's history, which you can read more about in our analysis piece on the Mario Kart series.

To learn about Mario Kart 8 and its gameplay, be sure to check out our review.

Source: Polygon