[Weekly Screenshot] Art of Balance Wii U #3 – Perfect Imperfections
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Screenshots, Weekly Screenshot, Wii U eShop | 3 Comments
As we’ve done for the last two weeks, today we have another exclusive screenshot of the upcoming Wii U eShop game Art of Balance from our friends at Shin’en. They’ll be showing off some genuinely neat stuff this time around, including some changes to the core user-interface and some of the small graphical touches that their known for putting in all of their games. Like before, the following quote comes from Mr. Manfred Linzer over at the developer, and you can look at the screenshot he’s talking about above:
Hi guys! Another week, another screen from our upcoming beautiful Wii U game called “Art of Balance”. This time I’ll show you a screen from the 2nd world.
When creating the Wii U version we thought about how we could make the game feel more ‘real’; a subtle but nice change was how to pick the shapes. On 3DS and Wii, the shapes were simply picked from a 2D HUD Layer and then projected into the 3D screen. On Wii U, we placed the shapes directly on the table, so you can select them with your GamePad or Wii Remote. This feels very natural and gives a more ‘solid world’ feeling.
Also we wanted the game to feel ‘gemuetlich’ as we say in German, so the levels should feel warm and inviting. Besides choosing the correct lighting and props, we figured out that it was important not to have that typical ‘clean’ computer rendering style, so we tried to give everything little imperfections. Just look at the table – all of the little scratches and variations in particular. This is used on every asset in the game. It’s very subtle, but gives that little extra touch we wanted.
More: Art of Balance, highlight, Manfred Linzer, Shin'en, top
Here’s a Podcast – Episode 90!
Posted on 10 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Features, Podcast | 1 Comment
ON THIS EPISODE: Some extensive talk about the Mario Kart series and why each entry isn’t just a copy-paste of the last permeates our first segment, plus some brief talk about Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate Deluxe Edition and Mario Golf’s demo squeeze in later on.
PLUS: Listener mail is our last segment of the day, in which we discuss what Wii games are good for tiny baby kids, how we feel about Nintendo’s season pass for Mario Golf: World Tour (and their DLC in general), and why Skyward Sword gets so much hate.
This Week’s Podcast Crew: Austin, Jack, and Laura
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[Random Thoughts] Talking about a few of last week’s Nintendo-related announcements
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, Features, Videos, Wii U | 0 comments
There were quite a few announcements last week, and a number of them were Nintendo-specific. I figured I’d take a few moments to recap some of the news in the latest “Random Thoughts” video. Although it’s not anything special, I hope you’ll enjoy it in any case!
[Weekly Screenshot] Art of Balance Wii U #2 – Marvelous Menu Screens
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Screenshots, Weekly Screenshot, Wii U eShop | 4 Comments
Hey all, it’s Brian and Austin from Nintendo Everything here to re-welcome Manfred from Shin’en back with yet another screenshot from the upcoming Wii U release of Art of Balance! He’s got plenty to say about what graphical details they’re implementing for the menus in the game, so revel in the relaxing room where you select your levels and read up about how it came to be below! Unless you’d rather simply revel at the picture. That’s okay too.
Hi guys, it’s Manfred from Shin’en again with another fresh shot from Art of Balance Wii U. This time we’ll show you one of the the level selection screens.
When developing the original game on Wii, we realized that a simple 2D grid would be good enough for a level select menu, but that in itself was too boring. So we came up with the idea of stacked boxes in a lush 3D environment. We think coming back to the this beautiful menu gives players a nice break after solving a level. On Wii U, we had tons of performance to waste on this screen so we implemented quite a number of effects.
More: Art of Balance, highlight, Shin'en, top
Here’s a Podcast – Episode 89!
Posted on 10 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Features, Podcast | 2 Comments
ON THIS EPISODE: Video games are stupid, so we kick things off by discussing a book called “Earthbound” by Ken Baumann! Both Jack and Austin read it and found it enjoyable, if a little rough in spots. Laura runs through her thoughts on the well-loved Disney Magical World for 3DS, Jack brings in impressions of Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate Deluxe Edition, and Austin says he thinks Conception II is pretty terrible!
PLUS: Our middle segment is taken up by a discussion of Tomodachi Life, including our thoughts, what we’re looking forward to, and what we’re a bit nervous about.
AND: Listener mail has us answering questions about what quirky JRPGs people should play and whether using restore points on Virtual Console games soils the experience.
This Week’s Podcast Crew: Austin, Jack, and Laura
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More: highlight, Tomodachi Life
[Developer Musings] ‘A Flawed Paradise’: Three devs weigh in on the good and bad of Nintendo’s eShops
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS eShop, Developer Musings, Wii U eShop | 12 Comments
We’ve brought in three more developers for the next entry in our new feature series, “Developer Musings”. This week, we have a few words from Ripstone (Knytt Undergroud, Pure Chess), Image & Form (Steamworld series), and Two Tribes (Toki Tori 2, EDGE) as they share some thoughts about the eShops. Head past the break for their comments.
Unsure as to what Developer Musings is about? Check out our first entry here for an explanation.
[Interview] Ronimo talks Swords & Soldiers II, Kickstarter, Awesomenauts, and more
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Interviews, Wii U eShop | 0 comments
Nintendo Everything recently caught up with Ronimo’s Jasper Koning via email. Of course, we asked several questions about the studio’s recently-announced Wii U exclusive Swords & Soldiers II. Koning also commented on whether Ronimo considered going the Kickstarter route with its game, the possibility of Awesomenauts on Wii U, future support for the system, and more.
You can find our full interview with Ronimo after the break!
[Weekly Screenshot] Art of Balance Wii U #1
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Screenshots, Weekly Screenshot, Wii U eShop | 7 Comments
Nintendo Everything is introducing another new developer-centric feature called “Weekly Screenshot”. Each week, developers will share new photos from their games and talk a bit about what’s going on in the image, how it was made, or what it means for the experience of playing. You know how Masahiro Sakurai shares new screenshots from Super Smash Bros. for Wii U/3DS every weekday? Our feature is similar, though again, new images will only appear each week.
Art of Balance developer Shin’en is kicking things off with weekly looks at their title, which is coming out on the Wii U eShop in the near future. The studio will share one new image each Tuesday and intends to briefly discuss some of the tech being used.
In any case, on with the screenshot!
Hi guys, it’s Manfred from Shin’en. First of all, thanks to Brian for the opportunity to show our fans on Nintendo Everything some images of our soon to be released Wii U eShop game “Art of Balance”. The “Art of Balance” series is known on Wii and 3DS for its perfect gameplay. For the Wii U version, we wanted to create more then just an HD update. So we added new local and online mutliplayer modes, along with a complete new look for the game that makes the Wii U really shine. 200 levels from the Wii and 3DS version are included, but now you can even play them with your family, friends, and even online.
Each week, we will present a new shot and will talk a bit about the game and tech we’re using.
Above you can find the first shot featuring the hub for the eight worlds you can play. We used high dynamic range rendering– which gives us those nice sun sparkles on the ocean– and the ocean uses a dynamic wave simulation. Soft shadows are also used to connect everything, and if you look closely you can even see real-time reflections. Volumetric sun rays have been implemented to give an extra touch of softness.
That’s all for today. See you next week!
More: Art of Balance, highlight, Shin'en, top
Here’s a Podcast – Episode 88!
Posted on 10 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Features, Podcast | 2 Comments
ON THIS EPISODE: Plenty of games are touched upon in the opening segment of this episode, including Rusty’s Real Deal Baseball, Banjo Kazooie, Guild Wars 2, and The Wind Waker HD. Find out why Rusty is a weirder character than you thought he was, and why Banjo Kazooie may not really be all that fun.
PLUS: As you’d expect, a discussion of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS fills out the middle segment where we discuss our thoughts on the game’s staggered release, the separation of dual-characters, an apparent focus on game balance, and how cool Sakurai is. Where does he find such cool sweaters!?
AND: We end the show with listener mail about Tomadachi Life, what kind of Zelda over-worlds we like, and how to review games! Plus we laugh a lot. That’s good.
This Week’s Podcast Crew: Austin, Jack, and Laura
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Previewing BLOK DROP U’s upcoming update
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Previews, Wii U eShop | 4 Comments
In the very near future, BLOK DROP U will be receiving its first title update. While it won’t introduce any additional content, RCMADIAX has implemented a number of changes to improve upon the core experience.
I was recently given the opportunity to try out BLOK DROP U’s impending update. For some quick impressions, head past the break.
