Ubisoft Toronto explains how Starlink: Battle for Atlas was developed and bringing life back to toys-to-life
Posted on 7 years ago by Andrew in Interviews, News, Switch | 4 Comments
In a recent GamesIndustry interview with the creative director of Starlink: Battle for Atlas, Laurent Malvill explains why him and his team have decided to make the game and bring life back to toys-to-life in the market.
“We think innovation can really bring life back into this market. We think that toys-to-life brought a lot of younger players into video games, and that was great. But we think as they grew up, the expectation grew with it. So for us, we didn’t want to do just another one like those games. It was important for us to innovate in this category. We didn’t want to innovate on just the toy itself – and we think we did do that – but also to innovate with the huge open world. We’re not talking down to the players. This is a big open world that you can spend time in.
“We think the toy is the whole game. That is the beauty of it – having that modular starship on-top of a controller. You don’t open a complex menu or anything, it is just there. You just grab the weapon, put it on and it appears right away. Or if you want another pilot, because I want to use his special ability in that fight, it is just there and it is the simplest way of doing it. And those collectibles, those starships, those pilots, what is beautiful is that once you’ve played the game for several hours, you can just put them on your bedside table or on your shelf.
But because we want to provide the maximum freedom for players to experience this game, we designed that idea that every physical part that you buy, you will unlock a digital part. So if you want the full experience, you can play with the starships on top of your controller. But if you want to just display the collectibles on your shelf, and play the game without them, you can do that as well.
You will also be able to buy the digital part separately, without the collectibles, if you want. Just because, again, we want to provide freedom for players. But the magical moment where you connect the part is something that is dear to us.
Approving crazy projects is part of the DNA of Ubisoft. If you look at Assassin’s Creed back in the day, or Just Dance… it is just part of what the company does. We were excited to show him what we’d done. And we were super happy that the top management team in Paris were just as excited as we were, and that we got to make it.”
[Interview] Saber Interactive talks NBA Playgrounds, Switch version, developing for the system
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Interviews, Switch eShop | 5 Comments
On Tuesday, Switch will have its first sports game. Saber Interactive will be releasing NBA Playgrounds, which just so happens to be the company’s debut title on a Nintendo platform.
We recently spoke with Saber Interactive CEO Matthew Karch to learn more about NBA Playgrounds just ahead of its release. Karch chatted with us about the art style, roster, modes, update plans, and more. He also spoke about the Switch version, what it’s like making games for the system, and future support on the console. If that wasn’t enough, there’s an interesting note about how the 2007 shooter TimeShift nearly ended up on Nintendo platforms.
Continue on below for our full interview.
[Interview] Tomorrow Corporation on initial Switch games, future projects
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Interviews, Switch eShop | 6 Comments
We recently fired off some questions to Tomorrow Corporation’s Kyle Gabler in hopes of learning a bit more about World of Goo, Little Inferno, and Human Resource Machine on Switch. What we didn’t expect were incredibly entertaining replies, making for one of our zaniest interviews yet.
We did ask Tomorrow Corporation about its initial slate of Switch titles. Additionally, Gabler teased future projects. Two are on the way, one of which is the biggest game yet from Tomorrow Corporation.
You can read our full interview with Tomorrow Corporation below.
[Interview] Sumo Digital shares more details about Snake Pass, talks Switch
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Interviews, Switch eShop | 9 Comments
Sumo Digital has a new 3D platformer heading to Switch very soon. At the end of March, Snake Pass will be showing up on the eShop.
We caught up with Sumo Digital this month to learn more about Snake Pass. The team spoke to us about its inspirations, Doodle the Hummingbird sidekick, game length, and more. Sumo also had a bit to say about bringing Snake Pass to Switch.
For our full interview, continue on below.
More: highlight, interview, Snake Pass, Sumo Digital, top
[Interview] Frozenbyte talks Has-Been Heroes, developing for Switch, more
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Interviews, Switch | 3 Comments
In January, Trine developer Frozenbyte announced a brand new project. Has-Been Heroes, a new roguelike title, will be on Switch – and very soon. A release date of March 28 has already been determined.
We caught up with Kai Tuovinen from Frozenbyte this week to learn a bit more about Has-Been Heroes. Tuovinen spoke about the game itself, how it’s using HD Rumble, and more. We were also able to receive some comments about what it’s like developing for Switch, among other subjects.
Our full Has-Been Heroes interview with Frozenbyte is below.
More: Frozenbyte, Game Trust, Has Been Heroes, highlight, Kai Tuovinen, top
[Interview] THQ Nordic on continued Wii U support, updates on various IPs, more
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Interviews, Switch, Wii, Wii U | 18 Comments
THQ Nordic is slowly but surely becoming an important name in the gaming industry. Originally known as Nordic Games, the company rebranded earlier this year. It holds to the rights to notable IPs such as Darksiders, de Blob, Deadly Creatures, and much more.
We recently spoke with THQ Nordic’s Reinhard Pollice in a wide-ranging interview. He commented on the publisher’s continued support of Wii U (whereas most third-parties have moved on), and different IPs such as de Blob and Deadly Creatures. We also asked about why Darksiders Warmastered Edition is taking a bit longer to release on Wii U.
For our full interview, head past the break.
More: highlight, Reinhard Pollice, THQ Nordic, top
[Interview] Yacht Club Games on how the Azure Striker Gunvolt: Striker Pack came to be, European status, amiibo integration, more
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, Interviews | 3 Comments
Yesterday, we published our interview with Inti Creates about the Azure Striker Gunvolt series as a whole. We’re following up on that today with a specific interview with Yacht Club Games about the Azure Striker Gunvolt: Striker Pack.
During our discussion, Yacht Club was kind enough to take on some questions regarding the package’s origins, its status in Europe, where the amiibo integration in Gunvolt 2 came from, and more. Head past the break for all of the company’s comments.
[Interview] Inti Creates on Azure Striker Gunvolt – scrapped ideas, amiibo interest, may revisit Mighty Gunvolt
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, Interviews | 20 Comments
Nintendo Everything recently caught up with Inti Creates for a chat about the Azure Striker Gunvolt franchise. We sent some questions to director Yoshihisa Tsuda and producer Takuya Aizu.
During our discussion, we talked about Azure Striker Gunvolt’s origins, scrapped ideas from the sequel, and the series’ we future. We even snuck in some questions about a potential amiibo and the anime OVA.
Continue on below for our full interview with Tsuda and Aizu.
More: Amiibo, Azure Striker Gunvolt 2, highlight, Inti Creates, top
World to the West developer talks about unique gameplay between characters
Posted on 8 years ago by Zack in Interviews, Wii U | 0 comments
NintendOn recently posted a translated version of their interview with the developers of World to the West, Rain Games.
Most of the interview goes into the story and setting of World to the West, which will act as a sequel to Rain Games previous title Teslagrad. On the subject of gameplay and how each of the four unique characters will play, Rain Games had this to say:
Every character has different abilities, and dedicated levels. At a certain point they will all meet, and from that point on it will be possible to choose which character to use, and it will be possible for the player to clear every level with every character, using their different abilities. Playing as a character you will meet the others as NPCs, and their plot will continue.
You can read the full interview below.
More: interview, Rain Games, World to the West
Legend of Kusakari developers say Nintendo felt “favorable” towards Zelda inspirations
Posted on 8 years ago by Zack in General Nintendo, Interviews | 60 Comments
In a recent interview with publisher Nnooo, The Legend of Kusakari developers Librage talked about their inspirations for the title, confirming that their game is indeed inspired by the Legend of Zelda series, and elaborated on their interaction with Nintendo and how they felt about such clear inspirations.
When asked about how the team was inspired to make the The Legend of Kusakari, Librage said:
The inspiration is the Legend of Zelda itself as you can see from the title logo and its game elements!
Furthermore, when asked about the kind of reaction Nintendo had to the clear inspirations the The Legend of Kusakari has to the The Legend of Zelda series, Librage said:
This is just our subjective impression, but they seem to be very favorable about this game. We visited Nintendo headquarters for a meeting and explained our project. They said this game was easy to understand because the title and content are consistent, and praised us.
You can read the full review below.
