Tokyo Games Show 2011 exhibitors list
Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments
There are a ton of companies attending the Tokyo Game Show this year, but as usual, Nintendo isn’t on the list. The Big N hasn’t attended the event in a number of years.
General Exhibition Area:
ACQUIRE Corp.
ARC SYSTEM WORKS Co., Ltd.
ASCII MEDIA WORKS Inc.
Bushiroad Inc.
Capcom Co.,Ltd
Kojima predicts a future without the term “video game”
Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments
The term “video game” has been around for a few decades. But Metal Gear director Hideo Kojima believes that the word will vanish sooner rather than later. Kojima made that prediction based on his belief that games, movies, and music will all blend together into one industry.
Kojima discussed that topic and how the gaming industry has changed while he’s been involved with it in issue 268 of Nintendo Power:
“In this day and age, the video game business is a major entertainment industry that surpasses movies in terms of revenue. But when I started out, it was a completely different story. Back then, the game industry was a place for people with broken dreams to gather because they couldn’t land the jobs that they really wanted. Today, the industry has matured into a wonderful place where some of the most talented people in their field can take advantage of cutting-edge technology and world-class budgets to thrill and awe the entire world.
“In the near future I believe we’ll see the term ‘video game’ itself vanish as our industry evolves and eventually absorbs the movie and music industry to create a larger, all-encompassing form of digital entertainment.”
Fans impressed with Nintendo at E3, analysts were not
Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, General Nintendo, News, Wii U | 0 comments
According to a Famitsu poll, readers were most pleased with Nintendo’s showing at E3 2011. Additionally, fans voted The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword as the most anticipated title from the event. Satoru Iwata took home the award for the person who had the greatest impact at E3.
Although gamers were pleased with Nintendo, one analyst was not. SMBC Nikko Securities analyst Eiji Maeda shared the following comments with Famitsu:
“Nintendo’s stock price plummeted after the Wii U announcement, partly because of 3DS sales falling below expectations. I also think that while the E3 presentation explained the device well, the mainstream press just described it as a ‘tablet controller’ and didn’t make a great effort to push the value of it. It was a lot easier for people to get the impression that Sony was trying hard with the PS Vita, especially on the price.”
Maeda also commented on the show overall:
“I think it was the most interesting E3 in several years. The hardware conferences had a lot of impact, as did the sheer number of third-party titles. The popularity of Capcom’s booth was also something that caught my eye. While they didn’t get the flashy displays of the console titles, there were a lot of private showings held for smartphone and social games, and a great deal of companies are putting a remarkable amount of resources into those markets.”
Game-shop owner Hisako Akitani also provided some commentary, discussing how she was disappointed by the lack of Japanese games at E3:
“Activision and the other Western third parties put on a good show, but my impression was that Japanese publishers weren’t putting in much effort. I’d like to think that they were saving their ‘A’ game for the Tokyo Game Show, but it was still disappointing.”
New item available on Club Nintendo UK
Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments
It’s kind of funny to see how much the prices in North America and Europe differ. On the NA site, this reward would probably cost around 600 coins. In the UK, though, it’s 2,500! One thing to consider is that European members most likely receive more stars for registering games. Or they’re somehow able to secure more points.
Nintendo Week (6/27)
Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, General Nintendo, Videos, Wii | 0 comments
On this week’s episode: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D Launch Event, friend code talk, Mystery Case Files: The Malgrave Incident and Inchworm Animation.
Just a few days left to reach Gold/Platinum status on Club Nintendo
Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments
If you want a fancy Club Nintendo prize, you’ll have to take action quick. Members are required to have reached at least 300 coins within the last year for a “Gold” reward whereas the “Platinum” reward requires 600 coins. Please note that there’s just a few days left to accomplish this. The cutoff for gold/platinum eligibility ends on June 30.
Nintendo “expend a lot of time” on matching up Zelda stories… and is Yoshi male or female?
Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, General Nintendo, News | 0 comments
The Zelda timeline is quite a touchy subject for fans of the series. Nintendo has never provided an official sequence of events, causing a significant amount of discussion and debate among franchise followers. Be rest assured though that the developers of each Zelda title put a lot of effort into the stories so that they can match up. Shigeru Miyamoto discussed that topic and more – including Yoshi’s gender – in the latest Iwata Asks.
Iwata: When you make a Zelda game, how do you think about the story?
Miyamoto: The stories in The Legend of Zelda may not match up as the series progresses. We actually expend a lot of time trying to make them match up, though. It would make things a lot easier if the players said, “Oh, that doesn’t really matter.” (laughs)
Iwata: (laughs) You would rather spend your energy making game elements rather than the story.
Miyamoto: That’s right. Sometimes people ask whether Yoshi is a boy or a girl. If I answer, “Probably a boy,” then they say, “So a boy is laying eggs?” (laughs)
Miyamoto’s alternate idea for Epona’s ranch escape, why he wanted a horse in Ocarina of Time, more
Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, General Nintendo, News | 0 comments
This information comes from the latest Iwata Asks…
Iwata: I heard from Osawa-san that you put a lot of effort into the cut scene when the horse jumps over the fence at Lon Lon Ranch.
Miyamoto: Well, rather than putting in lots of effort, I’d say we were pushing the new hardware, the Nintendo 64 system, as far as it would go. I wanted to make it look a little cool without looking strange. If you can leave the ranch wherever you want, rough parts of the ranch may stand out, so we thought of forcing in a special event.
Iwata: You forced that in? (laughs)
Miyamoto: Yes. You know that guy Ingo who’s at the ranch?
Iwata: Yes. He doesn’t have a very nice personality and looks a bit like Luigi. (laughs)
Miyamoto explains why he was determined to include Young Link in Ocarina of Time
Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, General Nintendo, News | 0 comments
This information comes from the latest Iwata Asks…
Iwata: Also, you were the one who really wanted to show Young Link, right?
Miyamoto: Yes. The work was really piling up, but I said I wanted to show Young Link. I think that caused the other developers a bit of a trouble. (laughs)
Iwata: Yes, it seems that it did! (laughs)
Miyamoto: But when I saw Adult Link that Koizumi-san had made, it was cool, but I said, “I don’t want to make this without Young Link!” Then we tested whether we could use both Adult and Young Link.
Iwata: Koizumi-san tinkered with the system and you were able to use Adult Link’s motions for Young Link as well.
Miyamoto: Right. Thanks to that, we could also have Young Link.
Iwata: Why were you so persistent on Young Link?
How an American TV show influenced Ocarina of Time
Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, General Nintendo, News | 0 comments
Have you ever heard of Twin Peaks? It was a show that aired in America in 1990 and ended after a second season in 1991. Now… why the heck am I talking about this? Well, according to Shigeru Miyamoto, it influenced the way he handled characters in Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
Miyamoto: But while making it, I noticed that I didn’t want to tell a story so much as I wanted to have a lot of people appear around the main character and portray their relationships. Some years back, a television show called Twin Peaks was popular. When I saw that, the most interesting thing wasn’t the ins and outs of the story, but what kinds of characters appeared.
Iwata: Oh, (Takashi) Tezuka-san said the same thing in our session of “Iwata Asks” over The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks.
Miyamoto: Oh, he did?
Iwata: Tezuka-san told the staff of The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening that he wanted them to have a bunch of suspicious characters appear like in Twin Peaks.
