General Nintendo

Posted on 14 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 10 Comments

This information comes from Yoshio Sakamoto…

“At Nintendo we always have the obligation to surprise users with a new game console. We have never done what others have. We prefer to create something new that catches attention, and I think this will continue this time as well. Surely the new Nintendo machine will leave you all with your mouth open.”

I don’t know how much Sakamoto really knows about the Big N’s next console, but Nintendo employees always say that they hope their hardware will surprise people. I’d definitely say a lot of people were surprised by the 3DS – The 3D itself, how well the 3D works, the system’s graphics and features, etc. I’m sure the Wii’s successor will impress gamers as well!

Source

Posted on 14 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in DS, GameCube, General Nintendo, News, Wii | 4 Comments

Best weapon: Ice beam
Most dramatic moment: The baby Metroid’s sacrifice
Best enemy: Metroid
Best secret: Samus is a woman
Best armor: Varia Suit from Super Metroid
Best Ridley: Meta Ridley
Best boss: The Metroid Prime
Best ability: Spider ball
Best self-destruct escape: Finale of Super Metroid
Best ship: Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
Best tune: Main theme from Metroid
Best ending: Metroid: Zero Mission

Posted on 14 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 4 Comments

This information comes from EDGE…

“It wasn’t something we were really doing – we were trying to build our own IP, and film tie-ins meant a lot of ownership by the film company. But Nintendo was very keen.” – Rare’s Mark Betteridge

“Then, as it was, GoldenEye sold several times more. Internally, while GoldenEye was being produced, there wasn’t an awful lot of faith in the game around the company apart from the core members of that team. I saw the game at various stages during its development, and I think, about four months before release, I saw a build of it and I thought, ‘Jesus Christ, it’s a bit of a mess.’ But then it all came together very close to the end.” – Gregg Mayles

According to Betteridge, when Nintendo asked Rare if they wanted to make GoldenEye 007, the team’s response was “well, not really.” He added that, at one point, Nintendo suggested that Rare cancel the game following long delays, but they “just never told the team.” Mayles said to EDGE that the development team believed GoldenEye was “going to be a disaster” after a lackluster showing at E3, saying “thank God we’ve got Banjo.”

Source

Posted on 14 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 7 Comments

This information comes from Square Enix Executive Producer Akitoshi Kawazu in issue 258 of Nintendo Power…

“The Final Fantasy series has expanded to include a variety of spin-offs and even non-RPGs, so it’s difficult to pick out one element that applies to everything across the board. One thing I can say is that Final Fantasy is a special series to us, so anyone who participates in its development feels a tremendous amount of pressure. I hope we never lose the sense of always trying to create something new, and taking on the toughest challenges.

There is a wide variety of titles right now, so it might be a good time for us to really focus on the numbered titles, and ask ourselves once more what makes Final Fantasy what it is.”

Posted on 14 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 8 Comments

The Final Fantasy franchise has never been known for maintaining continuity. Each game features new worlds, storylines, and unique gameplay systems. So, what was behind the decision to feature new elements in each addition to the series? Square Enix Executive Producer Akitoshi Kawazu explained in issue 258 of Nintendo Power:

“It wasn’t so much a personal decision as it was driven by the fact that the entire team had the mentality of wanting to challenge something new. Mr. [Hironobu] Sakaguchi who was leading development on Final Fantasy II, he said himself, ‘there’s no point in doing the same thing.” That was intended to mean we should keep trying to create new things, but the other side to it was that he was not completely satisfied with the first Final Fantasy.

Also, because we had developed the first Final Fantasy, our skills had advanced significantly. So we felt that we could greatly improve the graphics, story, and game systems for our next project, and would be able to surprise and entertain players even more.

When Final Fantasy II was released, some people offered opinions like, ‘as long as you change scenario for RPGs, you don’t have to change the rest of the system.’ But I don’t think that the Final Fantasy series would be where it is today if we had followed that advice.”

Posted on 14 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in DS, GameCube, General Nintendo, News, Wii | 4 Comments

HAVING A BLAST! THE ORIGINAL FEMALE STAR OF GAMING

-The history of Samus Aran and the Metroid franchise-

Years before the introduction of 3D gaming, the original action heroine was already ripping up the rule book and blasting her way into history. The Metroid series has given us over twenty years of girl power and the series has sold over 15 million games, thanks to its female bounty hunter star, Samus Aran.

In the mid-1980s, a young game designer called Shigeru Miyamoto was busy revolutionising the industry with Mario and a young adventurer named Link. But while he created these masterpieces, Yoshio Sakamoto and the legendary R&D1 team at Nintendo were working on one of the most ambitious projects ever seen.

Read More

Posted on 14 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 20 Comments

Curious about why Japanese RPGs are having a more difficult time finding an audience in the West recently, Nintendo Power asked Square Enix Executive Producer Akitoshi Kawazu why he thinks that this is happening and what developers can do to change the situation. Kawzu, however, doesn’t believe that RPGs is the only genre receiving less attention. Rather, he feels that Japanese games as a whole aren’t as popular overseas. Kawzu mainly pointed to the fact that “the technology isn’t on par with Western games” and that “developers are losing their passion to stick with their vision.”

“Aside from a few well-known titles, games from Japan are receiving less and less attention, regardless of if it’s an RPG or not. I feel that it has something to do with the marketing abilities of Japanese publishers, as well as the games themselves.

The technology is not on par with Western games, and it also seems like developers are losing their passion to stick with their vision because they are being overwhelmed by costs or market trends. It’s necessary for each individual developer to constantly be up-to-date with the latest computer and game technologies. It is also important for development teams and groups as a whole to support technological advancement. It is impossible for one person to keep up with all the skills necessary for game development on his own. On top of this, developers need to take on a project with the confidence and strength to stick with their vision. Everything I mentioned here applies to me personally, as well, and they are all things I would like to bring to fruition with my next project.”

Posted on 14 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 12 Comments

Akitoshi Kawazu, the producer of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers, is working on an unannounced RPG. The news comes from issue 258 of Nintendo Power, though the magazine didn’t have any additional information to share. There is only small note that states his next game “remains a secret for now, but you can bet it won’t play things safe.”

Even though we’re hearing about this through a Nintendo publication, it doesn’t necessarily mean the project will end up on a Nintendo platform. Still, one would think that it’s likely that Kawazu will work on the Wii again, or possibly the 3DS in the future.

Posted on 14 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 2 Comments

Square Enix has opened a portal site for the SaGa series, but there is one item in particular that is notably important. On the portal, there is a link to a teaser site, which houses an array of colors that quickly pass across the page. At this point, we don’t know much about the teacher. In fact, we don’t even know if it’s for a game. I’m assuming we’ll find out what the site is about soon, possibly around TGS.

Thanks to Thomas N for the tip!

Source

Posted on 14 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 2 Comments

The two items added to Club Nintendo Japan are New Super Mario Bros. Wii straps and an Animal Crossing bag. The strap set costs 300 points while the bag is priced at 250 points.

Source