Submit a news tip



News

Another double dose of Virtual Console games are planned for the 3DS eShop tomorrow. Along with Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3, Nintendo of America will put up Mole Mania on the digital store.

Mole Mania was originally released for the Game Boy back in 1997. Nintendo EAD and Pax Softnica worked together on the project, and Shigeru Miyamoto played a role in the puzzle title’s development.

We’ll find out about final pricing tomorrow, but it’ll cost $2.99 or $3.99.

Source


A full-fledged summary of Famitsu’s “Future of Games” feature is available. A few bits and pieces were written up yesterday, but we now have in-depth quotes and commentary from other Japanese developers not mentioned yesterday.

Read on below to find out about some of the game ideas Japan’s biggest creators have in mind, how they feel about the industry, and more.

Hideaki Itsuno, Capcom

– Itsuno would like to make a fighting game
– In this game, skills and experience wouldn’t necessarily provide an advantage
– He has an idea for this game type
– Itsuno enjoys the A Train simulation series

Motohide Eshiro, Capcom

– Wants to become a producer who can manage projects that encompass not just consumer games
– This would include social, video, and other areas
– Would like to make an arcade beat ’em up
– It could be something like Final Fight but using today’s technology
– Believes Capcom must form a big framework by working with a variety of other companies
– This is in part to fight off the “Black Ship” that is coming from overseas
– Eshiro thinks overseas developers are amazing, but Japanese developers can’t beat them by doing the exact same thing
– Japanese developers must emphasize new play elements and concepts, he feels

Suda 51, Grasshopper Manufacture

– Still working to make players know that Grasshopper does not necessarily equal Suda
– Suda feels that online is a required element in the future
– Wants to try out social elements
– Hopes to start up a new project featuring his very own planning

Kenichi Ogasawara, Tecmo Koei

– Open world may be appropriate for demonstrating the reality of battle
– Ex: if a battle were set in an open world, the player could play as a single soldier, which would give the feeling of reality
– Human drama could also be more densely told in an open world
– Idea to make an action game different from Musou is just at the framework level currently
– Ogasawara originally joined Tecmo Koei with the hope of making a Nobunaga’s Ambition game
– Of late, the number of required or set elements in a Nobunaga’s Ambition game has increased
– Ogasawara would make a Nobunaga’s Ambition game that shows battle through drama and reality if given the opportunity

Toshihiro Nagoshi, Sega

– Nagoshi believes that the Japanese console game market continues to grow bad
– Also feels that the international market has started to show slight signs of a drop
– Current game market is facing a tough predicament
– Nagoshi says it’s up to game designers to improve their analysis skills so that they can analyze problem areas and come up with a solution
– Using a free-to-play structure is attractive
– Nagoshi would like for his Yakuza studio to at some point make an online game
– Nagoshi was once told that, different from those who play sports professionally, game creators can make games forever
– He now believes that this was a big lie
– Companies will have to consider what responsibility they should take for their creators’ well being.

Naoki Yoshida, Square Enix

– If he could, he’d make something that converts Akihiko Yoshida’s artwork into a game

Source 1, Source 2


Last year, Firemint “acquired” Infinite Interactive, the developer behind Puzzle Quest. A few months ago, however, the company became independent once more.

Infinite Interactive’s founder and creative lead Steve Fawkner explained to Joystiq that the original move “was more of a merger” rather than an acquisition:

“There was never an actual acquisition of Infinite, it was more of a merger. It was all amicable stuff – as much as it would be fun to have a bit of a scandal. Unfortunately there isn’t one. I think everybody agreed that Infinite does its best work when it’s independent, and so we headed back out into the wilderness to work on our own stuff again.”

What matters is that Infinite Interactive still holds the rights to Puzzle Quest and another one of its IPs, Warlords. Fawkner hinted that the studio’s next game will be a new entry in the Puzzle Quest franchise:

“While I don’t have a specific announcement that I can make at the moment, if you shook a Magic 8-Ball and asked it ‘Will Infinite’s next game be a Puzzle Quest title?’, then it would quite probably say ‘All signs point to yes!’ In the short term, we will continue to build and innovate in the genres and settings that we know and love. That means games that combine fantasy, puzzles, strategy and tactics. It’s doubtful we’ll ever move too far from those genres, because they are our favorites, and you always do your best work when you’re building games that you’re passionate about.”

Source



Manage Cookie Settings