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Nintendo published an Iwata Asks for Professor Layton vs. Ace Attorney a few days back. Right now the discussion can only be read in Japanese, as the game has not been released (yet alone announced) for North America/Europe.

A bunch of details from the Iwata Asks have been translated, at least. There’s a roundup below covering how the project got started, tidbits about meshing the two series together, and more.

– Crossover between the two series had been thought about for awhile
– One of Hino’s dreams was to collaborate with Ace Attorney and creator Shu Takumi
– While Nintendo’s Brain Age games served as Layton’s inspiration, Ace Attorney has always held its place in Hino’s mind as the Layton series’ rival
– Hino admired the series’ charm and the flow of the Ace Attorney games
– Both of these influenced Layton’s design
– Hino feels that the two series are actually rather similar
– Hino: “From the outside, Professor Layton and Ace Attorney appear to be made with completely opposite game designs in mind. Professor Layton was created to go in a direction games don’t usually go, and Ace Attorney was created to appeal to the fans. However, even though the superficial interfaces are incredibly different, the core wrapped inside the package is essentially the same game.”
– Hino knew a crossover wouldn’t be possible until Layton was an established franchise
– Idea was presented to Capcom in 2010
– Takumi first heard about the project when he was working on Ghost Trick
– Takumi wasn’t involved with Professor Layton vs. Ace Attorney’s initial development because of his commitments to Ghost Trick
– In May, he was called out to a yakiniku restaurant by the producer of the project in what Iwata termed the “Capcom tradition”—the practice where a superior takes hapless subordinates out for food when they want to reorganize existing projects
– Takumi was reluctant at first to work on the project
– In his mind, Ace Attorney has always been its own little world
– When the phrase “witch trials” came up during a brainstorming session held in Level 5’s Tokyo office over the first half year, he started thinking: “What would it be like for Phoenix to hold trials in a world where magic exists?”
– Most important factor in changing Takumi’s mind was that if he was going to do a crossover, he wanted to do something that would’ve been impossible in just the Ace Attorney world
– The idea took such a hold that before he knew it, that Takumi found himself working on the script when he’d merely gone over to bounce some ideas off of the staff
– Running with the idea of magic and witch trials, Level 5’s team put out the idea of having an “ultimate criminal, one where anything he writes would become true”
– Iwata noted that usually, one company takes the leadership role in collaborations; having two companies work together to write and compose the music together was unusual
– Programming was generally done by Level-5
– Art direction was generally Capcom’s job
– Music equally divided between Layton and Ace Attorney tracks
– Art required more attention, especially on Professor Layton’s end
– The team tried to adapt the Professor Layton style of art to Ace Attorney’s
– Transforming Ace Attorney from 2D to 3D and transformation of the characters into anime cutscenes both took some time
– Other characters in the game are a mix of both styles
– Mahone is drawn completely in the Ace Attorney style
– If you look carefully, you can tell which side the characters fall, but the blending of the two styles is still very natural
– Hino was most proud of his city’s design and graphics
– Setting was medieval, so he found it especially interesting to note the differences between Labyrinth City and Layton’s fantasy London
– Hino wanted a world that was balanced between realism and fantasy
– Takumi enjoyed the 3D effect in the cities, which gave them a sense of awe
– Takumi says the game is packed with 30 hours of content, easily
– Takumi also said that Professor Layton fans will enjoy seeing a new, more playful side to the Professor
– Ace Attorney fans will enjoy both the nostalgia of seeing Phoenix and Maya interact again, as well as the newness of the situation.
– Takumi: “The logic and scientific investigation that’s held up in the series up until now won’t apply to this world where magic exists, so you’ll have to put together a new logic.”
– Hino feels that the game encompasses the best of both series
– The crossover shouldn’t be viewed as just a side-story (with its implied throwaway, subpar quality), but as a fusion that embodies the feel of both games
– Hino suggests that players listen to the ending song once they finish the game, which is a hybrid of the two main themes played by a symphony

Source


Senran Kagura producer Kenichiro Takaki has hopes of releasing Senran Kagura Burst in the west.

Takaki believes the best option at this point would be to bring the game over through the 3DS eShop. Takaki said that this may be possible “when Nintendo further builds up their infrastructure for downloadable games”.

“Of course, we’d like to release it overseas. But, one of the most important things about the game it’s not just an action game, it’s also very sexualized. What we would like to do, when Nintendo further builds up their infrastructure for downloadable games, is release it as a downloadable title.”

Source


Media Create’s latest hardware sales from Japan indicate that the 3DS has surpassed lifetime sales of the PlayStation 3.

3DS sales now stand at 8,799,378 following sales obtained between December 3 and December 9. Sales of the PlayStation 3 are at 8,716,260 in Japan.

Here’s the full listing of Japanese lifetime hardware sales:

Nintendo 3DS – 8,799,378
PlayStation 3 – 8,716,260
Nintendo DS – 32,875,469
PlayStation 2 – 21,829,112
PSP – 19,488,236
Nintendo Wii – 12,608,700
Xbox 360 – 1,608,399
PlayStation Vita – 1,074,621
Nintendo Wii U – 308,142

Source, Via 1, Via 2


Famitsu readers were asked this week what they would want to get as a holiday gift, and many of the responses (understandably, given Famitsu’s audience) were related to video games:


“For a friend, I’d like to get Borderlands 2. We could play co-op over New Years!” – 18 year-old male high school student

“I think Animal Crossing: New Leaf would be perfect as a gift for a friend who doesn’t play video games very much, since it lets you play casually at your own pace. I want to enjoy the village life together. Plus the characters are so cute!” – 33 year-old female part-time worker

“I want to give the Resident Evil series! Playing together with a romantic partner would be more exciting than watching a horror movie.” – 25 year-old self-employed male

“I think for this season, the Wii U is a no-brainer. It’s just been released and now’s the time when it’ll be the hottest item.” – 25 year-old male company worker

“The Nintendo 3DS is perfect since it has a lot of games with network play. It’d be a lot of fun to play with the person you give it to!” – 16 year-old male high school student

“My husband is a huge fan of the Yakuza series, so I’m sure he’d love it if I gave him Yakuza 5.” – 40 year-old self-employed female.

“I’m giving my girlfriend a PlayStation 3, since she doesn’t have one. Now’s a good time since the price has dropped.” – 36 year-old male company worker

“I’m giving a PlayStation network card to buy downloadable games with. The software lineup has gotten bigger and that way they can choose whatever they want.” – 24 year-old male part-time worker


Sounds like games are the way to go for a lot of folks in Japan! I wonder if the same holds true in the states… probably not!

Via Kotaku


Masahiro Sakurai is keeping quiet on the next Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS. In a Famitsu column, he told fans that they’ll have to “wait a while longer.” He’s been thinking about cutting down on his tweets “and start putting in a real effort here.” He thinks it’d be best “if I could be forgotten about by gamers for awhile.”

Sakurai also talked about how his tweets tend to result in speculation about the new Smash Bros., talked about Fox’s inclusion in past games, and more.

Read on below for Sakurai’s comments.



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