Curve on bringing Stealth Inc 2 to Wii U, working with Nintendo, Iwata’s involvement with Fluidity: Spin Cycle, more
CVG is among the outlets to have put up an interview with Curve Studios following the announcement of Stealth Inc 2 for Wii U today. Design director Jonathan Biddle and managing director Jason Perkins shared more about bringing Stealth Inc 2 to the Wii U eShop, past experiences working with Nintendo (including Satoru Iwata’s involvement with Fluidity: Spin Cycle), and more.
You can find Biddle and Perkins’ comments after the break. For CVG’s full article, check out this link.
Perkins talking more about why Curve is bringing Stealth Inc 2 to Wii U…
“There isn’t much competition on Nintendo’s store, so we thought that commercially it’s a really good opportunity for us. Nintendo has sold a few million Wii Us too, so the audience is there. We want to see what the market is like. We want to test it.”
Biddle on working with Nintendo…
“Working with Nintendo, seeing how they work, was incredible. You almost expect them to have this big bible next to them on every aspect of games development.
“They let us try our own things, they sit back and let us prove things work, and then they suggest ways for us to look at the game and look at its systems. They’re also very big on punishment, in fact. They like hard games. They like enforcing failure, in that, they always want failure to be an option in any given system. They want families to play their games, of course, but they also want to make sure that the challenge is there, that the challenge is big enough, then they want to create a clear system of rewarding people for overcoming that challenge.
“The way they’ve taught us about puzzle design, over the years, is reinforcing the view that there needs to be a clear element of choice within a puzzle. Each choice needs to have conflict, and each choice needs to have its own effect.
“Also, Nintendo are really big on playing. They don’t want things to be so connected and obvious, they want people to discover the path for themselves. Let people try and fail. Let them interact. Let them find solutions for themselves. A red line leading to a red door isn’t interesting.”
Perkins on how Iwata was involved with Fluidity: Spin Cycle…
“So, Iwata had a look at it – he likes to look at everything, really – and began to rotate the 3DS so it was completely upside down. Consequently, Nintendo comes back to us, saying they want to publish the game, only they wanted the 360-degree feature. That in itself broke a lot of design ideas we had.”
Biddle on how Iwata’s suggestions created “a very challenging brief”…
“There were some seriously complicated design issues, but we expected this kind of pressure straight away. I mean, from our own perspective, we are working with Nintendo of Japan. The stakes are already elevated when that happens. Then when we found out it was Iwata who was signing off our milestones. Every time he was testing the build, he said the water movements were making him feel a little sick, so that was a complicated issue to overcome.”
Perkins on how working with Nintendo was nevertheless “a really great experience”…
“These people know how to make games. They know about the time that’s needed. There’s a really old school pressure on delivery. It’s all about the game, it’s all about the build.”
Biddle on wanting to support Nintendo in the longterm…
“I think we’re going to make a game for every Nintendo platform that comes out. They’re kind of like an indie platform holder these days. They work completely differently to everyone else and they’re in this for different reasons. There’s a bit more sincerity with them, I think. They’re a treasure to the industry.”
