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General Nintendo

Most of Retro’s GDC panel yesterday focused on Donkey Kong Country Returns, but there are some other neat nuggets included below as well!

– Retro Studios looked at Wario Land on Virtual Boy
– The team specifically looked at the separated platforming planes in which Wario could switch between background and foreground
– Dev. team would sometimes make something that resembled Metroid too much
– Many initial designs were scrapped since Donkey Kong Country Returns needed to be “fun and whimsical”
– Kensuke Tanabe: “We wanted to depend on Retro to make games we couldn’t [in Japan].”
– Wave level took very long to program
– Retro refers to Shigeru Miyamoto as “Master Yoda”
– Miyamoto told Retro: “Donkey Kong is my baby and you better get it right!”
– Super Guide feature was used to test and record bugs
– A bunch of bugs resulted from players running back to the left instead of always to the right
– Michael Kelbaugh joke: “We were going to make an addition to the manual that said ‘Don’t go left.'”
– Iwata told Retro: “I am looking forward to playing this product with my family and having fun”
– Retro checked back in with Retro following the game’s release and Iwata said his wish came true
– After simply running back and forth for ten minutes and watching the animations of Donkey Kong turning around, Shigeru Miyamoto told Retro that it seemed like Donkey Kong was “blowing” when he created dust clouds
– “Blow” mechanic was born from the off-handed remark above
– Retro still needed to make around 70 more levels after E3
– Retro joked that the next Nintendo classic they’d like to revive is Doki Doki Panic
– Retro also joked around by saying they’d like to make Pokemon Prime or work with Tingle

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Despite the critical and commercial success Donkey Kong Country Returns has experienced, there are no plans for a sequel at the moment. That’s according to Retro Studio’s president and CEO Michael Kelbaugh, who also said that creating a platformer was quite difficult – moreso than he expected.

In more Donkey Kong-related news, Nintendo producer Kensuke Tanabe provided some information behind the game’s development. Tanabe said that told Retro Studios were denied a request to work on the franchise over five years ago, but were later given the opportunity to make a Donkey Kong game when the Big N felt the time was right.

Tanabe also commented on the possibility of a sequel to Donkey Kong Country Returns:

“I wasn’t even thinking about doing a sequel for Metroid Prime until Retro showed me the last scene in the game, which was near the end of development. I wouldn’t say we won’t do a sequel [for Donkey Kong Country Returns], but we don’t have anything planned at this time.”

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The latest edition of Iwata Asks is now available, which focuses on Steel Diver. So, you’re probably wondering why we’re posting Zelda news! Satoru Iwata and Shigeru Miyamoto briefly touched on the series in their discussion…

Miyamoto: When I was making The Legend of Zelda, it was very plain. (laughs)

Iwata: (laughs)

Miyamoto: I didn’t think that genre would be seen as something so mainstream. I really didn’t expect the response I got when I first made The Legend of Zelda. A world of swords and magic really wasn’t considered mainstream at the time.

Iwata: Was it? Miyamoto: The Neverending Story almost got really popular around that time. It was a world started off with such a message as: “Here kid, Take this sword.” (laughs) In a word, it was plain.

Iwata: In that sense, The Legend of Zelda and Steel Diver are the same to you.

Miyamoto: I think so. But when I said they’re both plain, I only meant it in the sense that they’re not attention-grabbers. I believe they’re the same in the way that they’re both something fun. It’s just a matter of presentation to get more people interested in it. I think the original themes are relatively plain for most of the games.

Iwata: That’s very interesting. People around the world probably think you’re surrounded by famous characters, which you use however you wish. It’s as if, when you create a game, you’ll get some kind of famous character and just plaster it all over to get attention.

Miyamoto: (laughs)

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In this photo provided by Nintendo of America, Satoru Iwata, president of Nintendo Co. Ltd., delivers a keynote address titled “Video Games Turn 25: A Historical Perspective and Vision” on March 2, 2011 at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.

In this photo provided by Nintendo of America, Satoru Iwata, president of Nintendo Co. Ltd., showcases the Nintendo 3DS portable video game system at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco on March 2, 2011. The Nintendo 3DS launches in the United States on March 27, 2011 and offers a realistic, immersive 3D gaming experience without the need for special glasses.


Check out the video after the break due to the auto-play…


There were two related items other than the Skyward Sword trailer that Satoru Iwata briefly mentioned at his GDC keynote. First, he said that Ocarina of Time 3D will be available in June. Additionally, it was said that Shigeru Miyamoto is preparing… something for Zelda’s 25th anniversary. No word yet on what that is, but perhaps we’ll find out more at E3.


A little pre-GDC buzz for you guys…

“IndustryGamers is getting ready to attend this year’s big GDC keynote address: Nintendo President Satoru Iwata. The word going around industry circles is that Nintendo actually has some fairly big news to reveal.” – IndustryGamers article

Is this really true? Or nothing more than speculation? I’m more curious than ever to watch the keynote!

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