Nintendo Power’s most favorite remakes
Posted on 14 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in DS, GameCube, GBA, News, Wii | 0 comments
This is another part of Nintendo Power’s “250 reasons to love Nintendo” in their latest magazine. The list is in no particular order.
– Final Fantasy IV (DS)
– Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes (GCN)
– Super Mario All-Stars (SNES)
– Metroid: Zero Mission (GBA)
– Resident Evil (GCN)
Nintendo Power’s most overlooked gems
Posted on 15 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in DS, GameCube, GBA, General Nintendo, News, Wii | 4 Comments
This is another part of Nintendo Power’s “250 reasons to love Nintendo” in their latest magazine. The list is in no particular order.
– Astro Boy: Omega Factor (GBA)
– Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg (GCN)
– Shantae (GBC)
– Rocket: Robot on Wheels (N64)
– Metal Arms: Glitch in the System (GCN)
– Drill Dozer (GBA)
– Skies of Arcadia: Legends (GCN)
– Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber (N64)
– Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros’ Treasure (Wii)
– Beyond Good & Evil (GCN)
Aonuma has some regrets about Twilight Princess
Posted on 15 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in GameCube, News, Wii | 1 Comment
“For Twilight Princess we used the adult Link and one of the interesting things about that was how we considered the precise proportions of Link and the world. The scale is because we aimed for a more realistic quality in the size of the environments of Hyrule and what that Link faced. But the question is whether or not we were able to incorporate any and all of the interesting game ideas that were able to take advantage of that kind of sheer grand scale within the Zelda universe. I am afraid that definitely no, we were not able to do all the things that perhaps with hindsight we had the capabilities to do. With that as the starting point, we are now developing the Wii version of Legend Of Zelda. In the case of Spirit Tracks it was relatively easier, because regardless of the actual proportions between the player character and the other objects, we can simply concentrate upon the many game ideas we want to realise. But in the case of trying to depict a relatively photorealistic three-dimensional world, we have to be very careful to adapt the ideas so that they seem to perfectly fit with that world. I must admit that’s actually one of my very greatest regrets as regards the Twilight Princess.” – Eiji Aonuma
I enjoyed Twilight Princess a great deal, but one thing in particular always bothered me. While traveling through Hyrule, while the land itself was massive, it didn’t seem like there was a whole lot to do. I would say that a lot of areas lacked “liveliness.” Hopefully the developers will be addressing that in some way for the next Zelda title.
Game Informer’s top 200 games of all time
Posted on 15 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in DS, GameCube, News, Wii | 156 Comments
In honor of Game Informer’s 200th issue, the magazine compiled a list of the top 200 games of all time. The titles are across all platforms and come from many different generations of gaming. We’ve posted the full list below.
1. The Legend of Zelda (NES, 1987)
2. Super Mario Bros. (NES, 1985)
3. Tetris (PC, 1984)
4. Grand Theft Auto III (PS2, 2001)
5. Half-Life 2 (PC, 2004)
6. Doom (PC, 1993)
7. Metroid (NES, 1986)
8. Final Fantasy III (SNES, 1994)
9. Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES, 1990)
10. Ms. Pac-Man (Coin-op, 1981)
The top 10 most disappointing games according to Gemaga
Posted on 15 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in DS, GameCube, News | 2 Comments
Japanese gaming magazine Gemaga has released their list of the top 10 most disappointing games in their most recent issue. We’ve posted their choices below.
1. Thunder Force VI (PS2, Sega)
2. Final Fantasy VIII (PS, Square Enix)
3. Seiken Densetsu 4 (PS2, Square Enix)
4. Gyakuten Saiban 4 (Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney) (NDS, Capcom)
5. Rogue Galaxy (PS2, Level 5)
6. Mario Sunshine (GC, Nintendo)
7. Unlimited Saga (PS2, Square Enix)
8. Devil May Cry 2 (PS2, Capcom)
9. Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings (NDS, Square Enix)
10. Blood of Bahamut (NDS, Square Enix)
Multiplayer for Metroid Prime will keep being considered, localization has kept Retro engaged, info on new Retro project next year
Posted on 15 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in GameCube, News, Wii | 0 comments
“As all I take part in is the Prime series, I am not capable of commenting on the whole Metroid series. But we will keep considering multiplayer for the Prime series. For instance, I think I can come up with some unique ideas using the Morph Ball, which is a specific skill of Samus.” – Nintendo producer, Kensuke Tanabe
“To be fair, there’s been a number of releases from Retro Studios since 2004. Metroid Prime 2 was launched worldwide in 2004 and 2005. Metroid Prime 3 was launched in late 2007 in the U.S. and Europe, 2008 in Japan, and the current launch of Metroid Prime: Trilogy, worldwide in 2009. Efforts and resources involved supporting NTSC, PAL and Japanese launches are considerable. That’s been a busy schedule and it’s kept us very engaged.” – Nintendo producer, Kensuke Tanabe
“And the new title of Retro is of course, under development. Hopefully we can address some information in the next year.” – Nintendo producer, Kensuke Tanabe
There’s a few other interesting tidbits from this interview as well. According to Tanabe, “localization requires much more time and workforce than you can imagine.” Retro has, technically, worked on 10 different versions. And that’s not including the TGS demo of the Wii prototype.
The Metroid Prime series was not always planned as a trilogy
Posted on 15 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in GameCube, News, Wii | 1 Comment
The developers of the Metroid Prime series have revealed an interesting nugget of information about the Metroid Prime series in a recent developer’s voice interview. Believe it or not, Retro Studios wasn’t thinking about making three Prime titles when creating the first game. Rather, it was something that was planned later on.
“Trilogy was not planned as a trilogy from the beginning.” – Mike Wikan, Senior Game Designer
“When we finished the first game us and Retro, were really happy. And that was the first time we thought about making a trilogy.” – Kensuke Tanabe, Producer
This was probably the case due to the amount of doubt the first Prime title faced before release. There was much skepticism that Metroid Prime could handle a successful transition from 2D to 3D in a first-person view. That obviously wasn’t the case, however, and Retro Studios went on to make two more games – Both of which were received very well by fans.
Dark Samus or phazon could return in the future
Posted on 15 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in GameCube, News, Wii | 3 Comments
We’ve been posting a bunch of information from the developer’s voice with the Metroid Prime team, and this is another snippet from that interview…
“Will you ever see Dark Samus or phazon again…Do you want to see Dark Samus or phazon again?” – Michael Kelbaugh, Executive Producer/President & CEO of Retro Studios
“It’s up to the fans.” – Risa Tabata, Assistant Producer
The Dark Samus and phazon story was pretty interesting, but I would like to see the next few Metroid games try something different for now. Still, it would be neat to see either of the two concepts return down the road.
50 most wanted sequels according to Famitsu readers
Posted on 15 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in DS, GameCube, News, Wii | 4 Comments
1. Sakura Taisen (aka Sakura Wars) 267 votes
2. Shenmue 249 votes
3. Okami 204 votes
4. Gotchaforce 189 votes
5. Xenogears 185 votes
6. Breath of Fire 180 votes
7. Rockman Dash (aka Mega Man Legends) 176 votes
8. Ogre Battle 174 votes
9. Chikyuu Boueigun (aka Earth Defence Force) 162 votes
10. Kowloon’s Gate 151 votes
11. Shinobido 141 votes
12. Demon’s Souls 123 votes
13. Rockman X (aka Mega Man X) 110 votes
14. Chrono 107 votes
15. Z.O.E 94 votes
16. Mother 92 votes
17. Romancing SaGa 90 votes
18. Senjou no Valkyria (aka Valkyria Chronicles) 87 votes
19. Justice Gakuen 82 votes
20. Medarot 81 votes
21. Subarashiki Kono Sekai (aka The World Ends With You) 79 votes
22. Shadow Hearts 77 votes
23. Ore no Shikabane o Koete Yuke 75 votes
24. Panzer Dragoon 72 votes
25. Baten Kaitos 69 votes
26. Infinite Undiscovery 65 votes
27. Lost Odyssey 65 votes
28. Wild Arms 64 votes
29. OZ 60 votes
30. Jet Set Radio 59 votes
31. Dewprism 58 votes
32. Ougon no Taiyou (aka Golden Sun) 57 votes
33. Another Century’s Episode 56 votes
33. Estopolis Denki (aka Lufia) 56 votes
33. Fire Pro Wrestling Spike 56 votes
36. Biohazard Outbreak 55 votes
37. Eternal Arcadia (aka Skies of Arcadia) 54 votes
38. Shirokishi Monogatari: Inishie no Kodou (aka White Knight Chronicles) 51 votes
39. Panzer Front 50 votes
40. Seiken Densetsu 48 votes
41. Front Mission 46 votes
42. Grandia 43 votes
43. Arc The Lad 42 votes
44. Bullet Witch 41 votes
45. Racing Lagoon 39 votes
46. Drag-On Dragoon 37 votes
47. Panekit 36 votes
48. Metal Wolf Chaos 33 votes
49. Tokimeki Memorial 33 votes
50. Famicom Tantei Kurabu 30 votes
GameCube era made Miyamoto “very sad”
Posted on 15 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in GameCube, General Nintendo, News | 11 Comments
“There was an era when Nintendo was going in the direction of doing the same things other companies did. The more we competed with new companies entering the market, the more we started acting similar to them. But is being number one in that competition the same as being number one with the general public? That’s the question we had. Entertainment is something that you have to look at the world with a very wide eye as you create it. I always thought that, but there were a few years where I was unable to get off other people’s trends. It was a dilemma in my mind.
I was endlessly fascinated with 3D worlds, but what with all the issues I had to tinker with in terms of rendering and processing speed, it got to the point where I didn’t know who was making the games any longer.
This is a job where you have a plan and you polish it endlessly while getting help from others. If Nintendo’s games fail to stand out as games that aren’t made that way proliferate, then it shows that the creation process is for nothing, which made me very sad. That was especially obvious during the GameCube era; Nintendo titles were hardly even discussed by the [non-gaming] general public back then.” – Shigeru Miyamoto
The GameCube era wasn’t actually too terrible in terms of quality content and innovation. Chibi Robo, Geist, and Pikmin were all created during that the console’s lifecycle. In terms of originality, we haven’t seen too many cult classics from Nintendo like we did during the GameCube era.
