More developers weigh in on the 3DS (WayForward, Epic Games, Sonic Team, Nicalis, Prope and more)

This information comes from issue 258 of Nintendo Power…

Goichi Suda (Suda 51) – President & director, Grasshopper Manufacture:

“My first impressions of it was, ‘This is the toy of the future.” You can feel just how far and how fast games have evolved when you see the Nintendo 3DS. We’ve entered an era where we can bring worlds that we can almost touch and feel to life. Thus far, 3D has only been expressed with 2D. I think we’ve graduated from that and reached an age of expressing real depth through 3D with the 3DS.”

Matt Bozon – Creative director, WayForward

“I’ve stood in line for a lot of Nintendo unveils over the years, but even expecting to be amazed, seeing the Nintendo 3DS in person induced a sort of visual shell-shock. The system is as hypnotic as Turkish Delight and looks like a Hogwarts newspaper. The demos that showed games, movies, and photography in the third dimension had to be seen firsthand to be truly appreciated, with elements popping off the glass or dipping into the distance. When my play time was over and the friendly (but strong) Nintendo lady wrenched the system away, my phone, laptop, and other devices became flat, boring wastes of Z-space by comparison. But what excites me the most about this fancy pants is that it’s in the hands of Nintendo, so the games are going to be as brilliant as the machine itself. Can! Not! Wait!”

Cliff Bleszinski – Design director, Epic Games

“I dig it! It’s like having a crisp little 3D diorama in your hands. Also, send over a handful to me early, please.”

Shigeru Miyamoto – General Manager, Entertainment Analysis & Development Division, Nintendo Co. LTD

“When playing in a fully rendered world with polygonal graphics, I think it’s been difficult for a lot of people to judge depth and space in those worlds. Sometimes you might see an object and not really be able to tell if it’s small and close by, or if it’s big but far away. Or, in a Mario game in particular, if you’re trying to hit a question-mark block from underneath, it can be hard to identify precisely where that black is in space; even trying to jump on top of a tree stump can be very difficult. But the 3D effect gives you that depth perception between objects, and it makes navigating those worlds much easier. So, games will change in ways that take advantage of that depth and height; that spatial relationship.”

Takashi Izuka – Producer, Sonic Team:

“At Sonic Team, we’re already studying the Nintendo 3DS. We’re very interested in the platform. We think the depth of 3D could really help the sense of speed, especially when you’re playing Sonic from behind-the-back perspective.”

Tyrone Rodriduez – Producer, Nicalis:

“It doesn’t matter whether you’re a developer, a hardcore gamer, or don’t play games at all. The technology behind the 3DS, simply put, is incredible. Prior to seeing it in action, I was honestly a bit skeptical that the new console could pull of a believable 3D image sans glasses. But it works!”

Eiji Aonuma – Manager of Software Developer Group No. 3, EAD Software Development Department, Entertainment Analysis & Development Division, Nintendo Co. LTD:

“Obviously it has so much potential. I really, really think that there’s a lot that can be done with it. I mean, we started working on Ocarina of Time for 3DS, and really got an idea of how we can treat the vast expanses of Hyrule and how we can show those in a different way using the technology at hand. That being said, there are some things being done with the Nintendo 3DS that have exceeded my expectations; some of the things where I thought ‘that would be really great in 3D’ – not so much. So it’s really a learning curve for all of us, trying to figure out what we can do with that to bring new elements into gameplay. But with Nintendo 3DS, it’s not just the 3D capabilities. We have that plus the touch screen; we have that plus the motion sense. And it’s a portable handheld system. You take all of those elements together and look at the potential that is inherent in all that – I think there’s just a lot of great things we’ll be able to do going forward.”

Warren Spector – VP & creative director, Junction Point:

“3DS rocks! I was backstage at the press conference and, like, every new feature was unbelievable! I knew it was 3D, but it’s got a 3D camera?! I can [potentially] watch 3D movies without glasses?! If he had said it had a phone in it, I would have stormed the stage and stolen the prototype. It’s unbelievable. I was telling some guys from Nintendo yesterday: I want the first one off the line. I’m not waiting for the second. I want the first one off the line. It’s unbelievable.”

Yuji Naka – President and CEO, Prope:

“My first impressions are very good. To be honest, I was really surprised. Nintendo kept this hidden for a long time; a lot of the creators I spoke to hadn’t seen it until [E3]. Everyone was surprised by how many featured are packed into the hardware – the two cameras, the motion sensor, the gyroscope, etc. I would love to create something using all of those tools. Before I went to E3, I was kind of skeptical. But now that I’ve held it and played it, I’m just blown away. The graphics performance is really impressive, as well. So I definitely want to be involved in making something for it.”

Masahiro Sakurai – Director of the Board Project Sora Co., LTD. Sora LTD.:

“It’s been a lot of fun working with 3D visuals and the Nintendo 3DS hardware. Up until now, when developers have compared game systems, the focus has been on whether the hardware’s graphics and AI are good or bad; it’s been this battle to squeeze power out of the hardware. It feels like this time, because of the 3D visuals, a lot of attention has moved away from those things and developers are freed up to just have fun with what 3D offers.”

Koji Igarashi – Producer, Konami:

“I haven’t had a chance to check it out yet! But I was able to see the dev kit, and I thought it was very interesting. I have many kinds of ideas [for Nintendo 3DS], but I don’t know if all those ideas are possible. I’ll have to test it and see what I can do.”

Jeremiah Slaczka – Cofounder & creative director, 5th Cell:

“I’ve been playing around with some concepts for the 3DS for awhile now. I’m really interested in not just the 3D screen, but also how to utilize new additions like the 3D camera and the new connectivity options. The 3D cam is pretty trippy. I could be wrong, but I think the 3DS offers the first consumer-grade 3D camera out there. Also, after doing five games on the DS we’ve pretty much tapped all of its potential in terms of sheer, raw power, so I’m glad to see the 3DS has a lot more horsepower than the previous system.”