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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 1 Comment

This month’s issue of GamesTM has an interview with Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka. The two developers talked about all things Mario, including the evolution of the character’s design.

Tezuka shared the following when asked about Mario’s appearance and how Nintendo has resisted the urge to modernize him:

“I do think it’s changed a bit… For example, in Mario 3 we made him a little cuter. And perhaps with the Tanooki tail and the cape we definitely added items and features so that there’s more variety in Mario’s actions.”

Miyamoto shared a few words on the subject of evolving Mario as well. He also stated that Nintendo keeps Mario close to the vest, and doesn’t allow other teams to develop the core titles since the company wants to be control of the character and his abilities.

“In terms of the 3D Mario performance, it has evolved, but we have always been consistent in trying to be cautious in terms of when you do a B-dash, how far he can jump or how many blocks he can break. We have made it a little bit simpler for players as it’s evolved, because there are more complicated things that we’re asking the players to do. In the original Mario when you’re stopped he can’t do B-dash, but you can do it now with more recent games. So we have made it a little bit simpler and tweaked it throughout the years. In terms of Mario games we definitely don’t have other teams develop it, because we do want to control it and manage those features.”

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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii | 11 Comments

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword introduced us to the memorable character Groose. But as it turns out, this wasn’t his original name. While he may be known as Groose in the west, his Japanese name is Bado – essentially a reference to bird.

Groose’s localized name was created by former Nintendo Treehouse staffer Mike Drucker. On last week’s episode of the GI Show, Drucker talked briefly about how he came up with the idea for Skyward Sword’s character.

During a naming meeting, Drucker was told that Groose was a jock and sort of a jerk. Nintendo was also trying to stick with a bird theme with Skyward Sword. With that information, he went from “Bruce” to “Goose” to “Groose”.

We’ve included the podcast segment in which Groose is discussed below. The whole talk is actually very interesting though since Drucker spoke about his days at the Nintendo Treehouse (before eventually moving on to The Tonight Show!), so you should definitely give it a watch.

Thanks to Jake for the tip.

More: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, top

Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Videos, Wii U eShop | 7 Comments

Telltale Games showed an extended gameplay demo of Minecraft: Story Mode during TwitchCon today. We have the full recording below.

More: Minecraft: Story Mode, Telltale Games

Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 3 Comments

A new Harvest Moon: Seeds of Memories has been added to Natsume’s Tumblr page. In today’s update, we learn that the game will feature a Town Square.

Natsume says that the Town Square in Seeds of Memories will have “a big role” in the game. All of the festivals will be held here, such as the Cooking Festival in spring and fall. Festivals are also where you can “interact with townspeople, and learn more about their hopes and dreams.”

Here’s the full update from Harvest Moon: Seeds of Memories’s producer:

Farming takes time…tilling the soil, planting the seeds, and watering the crops. So, what are you supposed to do while you wait for your crops to mature? Visit with the local residents, of course! And what better way than traveling to town? There have been a variety of different types of towns represented in the Harvest Moon series through the years. Some big, some small, some spread out, and some compact. I have always been partial to the compact towns, with everyone moving around busily in their daily schedules, and a center location where the townsfolk gather for festivals and special events. Harvest Moon: Seeds of Memories will have just this: a town full of life, and a town square where festivals will be held.

Since the first Harvest Moon on SNES, the Town Square has always been the “hub” of the game. Whether you’re attending a festival there, or just chatting to one of the villagers, it’s a place that’s always fun to visit. You never know just what’s going to happen there!

The Town Square will also play a big role in Seeds of Memories, of course. It’s once again where all of the festivals will be held. For example, the Cooking Festival will be held there in spring and fall, so make sure you have some delicious dishes ready to enter!

Festivals are also a great way to interact with townspeople, and learn more about their hopes and dreams. And of course, you’ll be able to raise the affection of bachelors and bachelorettes in special and unique ways, but we’ll be discussing that in another developer diary!

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More: Harvest Moon: Seeds of Memories, Natsume

Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U eShop | 4 Comments

Wii U owners have been waiting a long time for Chromophore: The Two Brothers Director’s Cut on the Wii U eShop. By the end of this year or early 2016, the RPG should finally be available.

AckkStudios had been working with a third party to port over the PC version to Wii U. Unfortunately, even though it had been fully paid for, the conversion was never completed and the partnership broke down. That’s in spite of the fact that the money had been paid for the port. Needless to say, AckkStudios has been involved with a legal situation that has apparently now been resolved.

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More: AckkStudios, Chromophore: The Two Brothers Director's Cut, indie

Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 27 Comments

Not all of Super Mario Maker’s content is available to players as soon as they boot up the game. Basically, you need to play around with the level editor for about 15 minutes before new tools and items are added.

In the latest issue of EDGE, Nintendo producer Takashi Tezuka spoke about Super Mario Maker’s unlock system. He told the magazine:

“This decision was part of our basic policy. We wanted the rewards to increase as you became more familiar with the game and to look forward to what would unlock the next day,” he says. “From our testing, we learned that if too much was available all at once then many players weren’t sure what they should do and didn’t have as much fun with the game. However, I do understand the feeling of wanting to unlock things earlier.”

Nintendo did end up changing Super Mario Maker’s unlock system right before launch. Previously, players would need to wait several days to unlock all of the game’s content.

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More: interview, Super Mario Maker, Takashi Tezuka, top

Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 12 Comments

Nintendo recently announced that Louie and Nintendo items will be available in Europe starting on October 2. Thankfully, North America isn’t being left out of the fun.

You can actually obtain this new content starting today by accessing a Nintendo Zone. Alternatively, you can wait until a SpotPass distribution begins on October 6.

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More: Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer

Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Videos, Wii U | 0 comments

Family Gamer TV has posted some off-screen footage of LEGO Marvel’s Avengers from EGX. View it below.

More: LEGO Marvel's Avengers, TT Games, Warner Bros. Interactive

Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 56 Comments

Shuhei Yoshida, president of SCE Worldwide Studios, has never backed away from talking about the Wii U. In 2013 for instance, he spoke highly of Super Mario 3D World and had praise for the console in general.

Yoshida actually said during a session at EGX 2015 today that the Wii U is his favorite non-Sony console. His reasoning? Because he plays a bunch of Wii U games with his daughters.

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More: Shuhei Yoshida, Sony

Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Videos, Wii | 2 Comments

We’ve already posted plenty of footage of Skylanders SuperChargers Racing running on 3DS, but how did the Wii version stack up? You can get a look for yourself in the video below.

More: Activision, Beenox, Skylanders SuperChargers Racing