Here’s a Podcast – Episode 83!
Posted on 10 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Features, Podcast | 4 Comments
ON THIS EPISODE: ‘What we played’ focuses primarily on a discussion of the negative parallels between Pokémon X and The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, and Austin’s frustration with Nintendo’s recent focus on streamlined gameplay.
PLUS: The news section features a somewhat misguided discussion about tutorials in games courtesy of Retro Studios, as well as what sorts of games may simply need tutorials to exist; tutorials aren’t always bad, it seems!
AND: Our first week of discussing Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward gets pretty intense, with the fundamental agreement being that it’s not very well put together overall, but something about it is still engaging! Interesting thoughts for sure.
This Week’s Podcast Crew: Austin, Jack, and Laura
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[Developer Musings] Jools Watsham, Bertil Hörberg, and Sean Velasco talk about making game trailers
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Developer Musings, Features, General Nintendo | 5 Comments
Nintendo Everything is introducing a brand new feature known as “Developer Musings”. For each entry, a few different Nintendo developers (usually between 3-5) will share their thoughts about a particular topic, ranging from developer-specific ones (like our first topic below) to more “light” subjects (such as their favorite Nintendo games).
We’re kicking things off today with three prominent developers you should recognize if you’ve been keeping up with the indie scene: Renegade Kid’s Jools Watsham, Gunman Clive creator Bertil Hörberg, and Yacht Club Games’ Sean Velasco.
For our first topic, we asked these trio of prominent developers about making game trailers. How do they decide on what elements to include in these videos? Which areas of the game do they choose to focus on? How do they decide on which gameplay features to showcase? How do they determine the amount of gameplay to include? These are just some of the questions we sought to gain insight on.
Head past the break for some thoughts from Watsham, Hörberg, and Velasco about creating game trailers.
More: Bertil Hörberg, highlight, Jools Watsham, Sean Velasco, top
Here’s a Podcast – Episode 82!
Posted on 10 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Features, Podcast | 0 comments
ON THIS EPISODE: A discussion about Austin’s thoughts on Punch Out!! turns into a very extensive look at “top down” vs. “bottom up” development and whether hard games are inherently too inaccessible to be considered widely influential art.
PLUS: Laura says something that lights Austin’s fuse and an intense discussion about the morality of “free to play” games ensues. It’s a big’un, so get ready.
AND: The book club was delayed by a week! It’ll be here next week.
This Week’s Podcast Crew: Austin, Jack, and Laura
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Here’s a Podcast – Episode 81!
Posted on 10 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Features, Podcast | 6 Comments
ON THIS EPISODE: It’s all Donkey Kong, all the time! Not only does Austin discharge his thoughts on Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze in spades, but Jack has been playing Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D all week so a bit of DK ping pong takes place as we compare the two games. Laura breaks the monotony with some talk of DS cult hit Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective though, so if you hate DK you’ll be okay.
PLUS: There’s not a whole lot of news, but listener mail supports the tail end of the show with questions about Wii U’s GBA Virtual Console, whether Nintendo should have an E3 press conference or not, and whether grinding in an RPG is inherently broken or not.
AND: We discuss and eventually select the next game to be our Book Club game! The winner? Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward.
This Week’s Podcast Crew: Austin, Jack, and Laura
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[Book Club] Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward – Week 1
Posted on 10 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in 3DS, 3DS eShop, Book Club, Features | 2 Comments
Ah yes, that’s right kids: We’ve chosen Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward as the game to play for the next NintendoEverything Book Club! If you want to hear the reasoning behind it, check out the latest episode of the podcast, but otherwise feel free to pick up the game this week and start playing. The game can be picked up on the cheap via the Nintendo 3DS eShop; it’ll cost you $24.99.
We’ll have our first discussion about it on next week’s podcast, as per usual!
“How far do I have to get this week?”
The goal is simply to start playing. We’ll aim to get beyond any opening tutorial sections and a little ways into the story individually– plan to put in 2 to 3 hours.
“How can I participate in the discussion?”
If you have something you want to say about the specific section of Zero Escape that we’re going to be playing, send us an email! [email protected] is the place to do that.
Please refrain from discussing the game in general only– if you have a general observation, we’d love to hear about what specific parts of the game made you come to that conclusion!
[Interview] Zoink on Stick it to the Man for Wii U, WeeWaa, 3DS interest, more
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, Interviews, Wii, Wii U, Wii U eShop | 3 Comments
A couple of weeks ago, Stick it to the Man was confirmed for Wii U. We caught up with Zoink founder Klaus Lyngeled following publisher Ripstone’s announcement to find out more about the game. We also asked about WeeWaa, interest in the 3DS, and more.
You’ll find our full interview with Lyngeled after the break.
More: highlight, Klaus Lyngeled, Stick it to the Man, top, Zoink
[Review] Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
Posted on 10 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Features, Reviews, Wii U | 22 Comments
System: Nintendo Wii U
Release Date: February 21st, 2014
Developer: Retro Studios
Publisher: Nintendo
Review transcript after the break:
[Review] Sonic Lost World
Posted on 10 years ago by Jack Johnson(@tupachologram96) in Features, Reviews, Wii U | 20 Comments
System: Nintendo Wii U
Release Date: October 29, 2013 (NA) – October 18, 2013 (EU)
Developer: Sonic Team
Publisher: Nintendo/SEGA
Author: Jack
In a normative sense, Sonic as a platforming archetype ultimately aims to achieve one goal: create a constant chain of ephemeral pleasure via the utilization of perceived velocity the controllable gameplay object reaches in gameplay. While such a vision, an expanded AudioSurf if you will, perennially begets hedonistic intrigue, that seemingly one-dimensional objective for some dang reason hasn’t really ever come to fruition for Sonic Team over the past few console lifespans. A definite, tangible goal as such seems easy enough to reach, right?
Unfortunately, a granular obstacle to that simple speedy sentiment exists prohibiting fulfillment of that thought: the more the design team over at Sonic Team’s vision rides off in all directions (Sonic Unleashed’s Werehog levels being a prime example) as opposed to finding one meaning around which Sonic should revolve, the more plodding and forgetful each subsequent entry in the series gets. How can one ever hope to solve that ever-nagging dilemma?
More: highlight, review, Sonic Lost World, top, wii u
[Famicompendium] LovePlus – Together in electric dreams
Posted on 10 years ago by Patrick(@Patricklous) in 3DS, DS, Famicompendium, Features | 3 Comments
Hey everyone, how was your Valentine’s Day? Maybe you spent the day with your loved ones; maybe you spent it devouring chocolate. Personally I spent the day slaving over a Word document, trying my hardest to convey my true feelings on a truly bizarre romance. No, I wasn’t writing some kind of love letter – I was musing on Konami’s hella heteronormative “girlfriend simulator”, LovePlus. Games tend to stay away from handling romantic relationships, especially when compared to other mediums, so I was curious to see if this Nintendo DS title was really as original (and weird) as I’d heard. So can love truly blossom between a grown man and a DS cartridge?
The answer to that question is no. Absolutely not. But as someone who is fascinated in the potential of games to blend narrative and gameplay in developing fictional relationships, LovePlus is an incredibly interesting, albeit flawed take on interactive romance.
More: famicompendium, highlight, loveplus, top
[Interview] Natsume and Kiyoshi Sakai discuss Yumi’s Odd Odyssey
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS eShop, Interviews | 6 Comments
With Yumi’s Odd Odyssey’s North American launch just on the horizon, we spoke with Natsume’s Graham Markay and Kiyoshi Sakai, one of the series’ original developers. Topics include the game’s digital-only release, returning to the franchise after it had been dormant for so many years, and more. We also asked Natsume about a few other things such as Virtual Console and Wii U support.
We’ve split up the interview into a couple of pages – you’ll find Markay’s comments below and Sakai’s remarks on page two.
