Ubisoft creative director argues that “closed loop” games without endings are a good thing, says he hasn’t finished many games he loves
Posted on 11 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in General Gaming, News, Podcast Stories | 2 Comments
“The ability for players to stop playing whenever they feel like it is inherent in the form. This is not a bad thing; this is a good thing. It is part of the game-design landscape. And if you learn to worry less about insisting that everyone who starts finishes, and put your attention on the advantages this fact of gaming gives you, you will not find a more personally liberating moment in game design than in designing your end.”
“Putting down the controller somewhere before the final climactic scene in a video game is not a sin. It is an intrinsic part of our art form. I never finished the first BioShock, yet it remains a game I thoroughly enjoyed. Grim Fandango? Never finished it. But I sure as hell use it as an example in design discussions! I have never finished a single Z, but, man, they are fun (usually).”
– Ubisoft creative director Jason VandenBerghe
I’m not sure I entirely agree with VandenBerghe. Like it or not, a game is a piece of art just as any other media experience is, and as a piece of art if you want to judge it you should first experience everything the game pushes you to experience. Single player campaigns are part of this, but so are things like multiplayer modes or side-content, and judging it without fully experiencing (to the degree the game wants you to) those things isn’t necessarily fair.
July 2013 downloadable rewards now available on Club Nintendo
Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News, Podcast Stories, Wii | 0 comments
Visit this page to order a downloadable game.
Nintendo Download (7/4/13, Europe)
Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS eShop, DSiWare, News, Podcast Stories, Wii Shop Channel, Wii U eShop | 0 comments
This week’s European Nintendo Downloads are as follows:
Wii U VC
Pilotwings – €7.99 / £5.49
3DS retail
Project X Zone – €34.99 / £27.99
3DS download
Dress To Play: Magic Bubbles! – €3.99 / £3.59
3DS VC
Sonic Drift 2 – €3.99 / £3.59
Vampire: Master of Darkness – €4.99 / £4.49
G-LOC: Air Battle – €3.99 / £3.59
DSiWare
California Super Sports – €4.99 / £4.49 / 500 points
99Moves – €1.99 / £1.79 / 200 points
Wii VC
The King of Fighters ’99 – 900 points
eShop sales
Mighty Switch Force! Hyper Drive Edition – €6.66, was €9.99 (£5.99, was £8.99) – 4/7/13 until 11/7/13, 23:59 CEST
Mighty Switch Force! – €3.99, was €5.99 (£3.59, was £5.39) – 4/7/13 until 11/7/13, 23:59 local time
Source: Nintendo PR
Microsoft executive thought company owned Donkey Kong following Rare purchase
Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Podcast Stories | 8 Comments
In collaboration with Nintendo, Rare worked on a number of Donkey Kong games, including Donkey Kong Country and Donkey Kong 64. It’s perhaps due to the studio’s strong involvement with the series that a Microsoft executive thought that the company owned the IP following its acquisition of Rare.
Former Rare staffer and Conker’s Bad Fur Day director Chris Seavor revealed on Twitter:
@IOnEI_Falcon Here's a true story.. When Rare was first bought by MS a group of execs came on a tour.. One of them noticed the Donkey Kong.
— Christopher Seavor (@conkerhimself) June 16, 2013
@IOnEI_Falcon ..Posters everywhere and said.. 'Hey that's great.. We own Donkey Kong right ??' ………/massivesigh
— Christopher Seavor (@conkerhimself) June 16, 2013
Donkey Kong was one of Nintendo’s first franchises, so it’s kind of hard to believe how out of the loop this Microsoft executive was!
Iwata on helping third-parties with 3DS’ 3D feature
Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News, Podcast Stories | 0 comments
Nintendo has generally been able to pull off impressive usage of the 3DS’ 3D effect in its own games. But not all outside developers are on the same level. That begs the question: is Nintendo willing to help out third-parties in implementing the 3D sensation?
Satoru Iwata, responding to this topic during Nintendo’s latest investor’s meeting, said that the company shares knowledge of how much to separate the eyes’ perspective and put little stress on the eyes – when asked, that is.
Iwata’s comments – in summary form – are posted below.
“Gained lots of know-how on how much to separate eyes’ perspectives and put little stress on the eyes. How successful software has done this is shared both within the company and with other companies when asked. No tool to indicate 3D limit. It’s up to humans to tell what the limit is for 3D volume. Player experience varies depending on the place. Some like low vol., others high. 3D volume adjustable in games, but fixed in downloaded trailers. The non-adjustable volume may not be fulfilling. Up to dev, but supporting.”
Iwata on Nintendo’s approach to networking, Smash Bros. will be online
Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, General Nintendo, News, Podcast Stories, Wii U | 0 comments
Nintendo president Satoru Iwata tackled a question during the company’s investor’s meeting earlier this week about its approach to networking. He gives some interesting insight, and confirms what most had expected: the next Smash Bros. will offer online play.
A summary of Iwata’s response can be found below.
“Many ways to use networking, including online play, which requires being on at the same time. Miiverse shares exp. With further development, you’ll be able to send your play data to Miiverse for others to download and play against at a different time. This sort of feature will vary depending on network usage. NSMBU dev. efforts spent on tuning local multiplayer, Miiverse for strategy. Mario Kart and Smash Bros. will have online play to meet customers’ demands. Miiverse to enjoy games together at different times to feel moved by others’ play experiences, and to move others with your own experiences. Networking to be used to best match the game.
Iwata: More unannounced games coming to Wii U by 2014
Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Podcast Stories, Wii U | 0 comments
During Nintendo’s latest investor’s meeting, president Satoru Iwata fielded a question regarding the lack of new innovation with new consoles. The Q&A is only available in Japanese currently, but a summary of Iwata’s response has been translated.
Most of what Iwata said actually pertained to new titles for Wii U. Iwata said that additional, unannounced titles for the console are planned by 2014.
Why weren’t these games mentioned during Nintendo’s E3 2013 Nintendo Direct? First, the company felt that there was more information than could be shared during E3. And generally speaking, Nintendo likes keeping a minimal gap between announcements and the release of new games to keep consumers excited and prevent competitors from copying ideas.
“New consoles have always produced better graphics, but the work required may not be related to customer satisfaction. There are more unannounced Wii U titles coming by 2014. There was more info than could be released at E3. Wanted to ease owners’ fears. Don’t want to leave a long gap between announcement/release of new game types that would lessen the impact or allow competitors to copy.”
The second portion of Iwata’s answer focused more on the topic of surprising players:
“Nintendo has the job of both introducing video games to people who’ve never played before as well as satisfying existing fans. Looking for ways to surprise customers in other ways than just creating pretty graphics.”
Miyamoto then took over for Iwata to discuss Pikmin 3:
“We made Pikmin 3 with all of our effort. Beginners and fans alike can play. Game industry change comparable to manga to anime. Nintendo’s accused of having the same series again at E3, but that’s because they’re character-centered, which is a strength. You don’t have to start by creating new characters in order to present new ways to play or new ways to use media.”
Iwata has no plans to resign from Nintendo
Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Podcast Stories, Screenshots, Wii U | 3 Comments
Nintendo president Satoru Iwata made a few comments earlier this year suggesting that he could resign if the company continued to experience poor sales performances. Iwata never actually used the word “resign”, but his remarks pointed in that direction somewhat – and the Japanese media also pointed to the possibility of Iwata stepping down.
But no need to worry: it doesn’t sound like Iwata has any intentions to resign.
During the company’s latest investor’s meeting, someone asked the CEO directly if he would leave if Nintendo is unable to reach his “commitment” to hit a business profit goal of ¥100 billion.
Iwata responded: “I don’t recall saying I’d resign.” He also said that Nintendo should be focusing on achieving its goal rather than concentrating on failure.
Nintendo discusses E3 Best Buy sampling events, were a huge success
Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Podcast Stories, Wii U | 0 comments
Nintendo did something completely different for this year’s E3: allowing fans to sample some of its upcoming games at Best Buy locations. The outreach payed off, as the events were a huge success.
J.C. Rodrigo, senior product marketing specialist in Nintendo of America’s product development department, talked about Nintendo’s involvement at Best Buy while speaking with Polygon:
“We’ve wanted to do that for a long time. We really wanted to make sure we [brought] our experiences [to] the hands of people who want to try our stuff, as much as we could. We had lines like crazy at each particular location.”
Rodrigo also said that fans seemed to wonder why Nintendo hadn’t tried something like this before.
Not holding an E3 briefing didn’t lessen the company’s presence at the trade show. And in fact, Nintendo had more work to take care of than ever before due to its three-pronged marketing approach.
“You had the sales and marketing briefing for the people that needed to hear that information; you had the Nintendo Direct for people that really needed to know, generally, what was happening and what we’re coming out with; and then you [had] the sampling at the Best Buy [stores] that got that information out as well. So if you look at it from the content perspective and who needed to know, everyone got what they needed to know — just in different ways.”
Rodrigo also echoes similar statements made by Nintendo executives over the past few weeks:
“Software sells hardware, and focusing on the software is exactly what we’re doing.”
NoA’s Scibetta says Nintendo isn’t putting out too many Mario games, new gameplay experiences are like new IP
Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Podcast Stories | 0 comments
Is Nintendo releasing too many Mario games? Depending on who you ask, some would say yes and others would say no.
Nintendo of America senior director of corporate communications Charlie Scibetta is in the latter group. Speaking with Shacknews, Scibetta said that the company is “putting out the right number of Mario games based on what fans are asking for, based on what our own developers’ creative visions are.”
“We think we’re putting out the right number of Mario games based on what fans are asking for, based on what our own developers’ creative visions are. The key to that is as long as there’s innovation is occurring within the gameplay, as long as there’s new features, then marrying the characters and the IPs that people love is the right call from our standpoint.”
“If you look at something like Super Mario 3D World, the gameplay on that one that I find really cool is those transparent warp points. Usually you used to go into one and pop out the other, and that was the end of the gameplay experience. Now, there’s a whole dynamic there where you can navigate in there, try to avoid enemies, try to get a better advantage. You could theoretically make a whole new game with those kind of gameplay dynamics.”
Scibetta was also asked if Nintendo should instead focus its efforts on creating new IP rather than developing so many Mario titles. He said:
“If we didn’t put Mario on it, then it would just seem like a new IP. Because there’s those new gameplay dynamics like that, we think there’s the innovation there that will keep people interested and keep the Mario brand fresh.”
“You could call all the games that we’re making here new IP in the sense that they’re new gameplay experiences. They just happen to also have the IP that people associate with.”
