Disney Infinity team on how they managed to include a lightsaber in the first game
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii, Wii U | 1 Comment
Back in late 2012, Disney purchased the Star Wars franchise. Avalanche was also hard at work on Disney Infinity at the time. Although the team wasn’t able to create anything too significant surrounding Star Wars, they did want to include a treat for the fans. This ended up being the lightsaber, which players could unlock by owning all Disney Infinity 1.0 characters.
Disney Infinity vice president of production John Vignocchi was able to get in touch with one of his friends from Lucas before hearing about the Stars Wars acquisition, and after the deal went through, he began making calls.
Vignocchi told Game Informer:
“We want to do an ultimate unlock in the game. We’d like to put a lightsaber in the game. Here’s what we’re thinking: If you own all the figures then this is like this super-secret end of the end – the Yoshi on top of the Princess’ castle.”
Vignocchi also mentioned how the team needed to scramble in order to get the lightsaber in the game. Rather than sending it out via an update, they wanted it to be included as part of the game that shipped to stores.
Hisashi Nogami touches a bit on what it was like to make a game like Splatoon from scratch
Posted on 10 years ago by Dennis Gagliardotto(@LyonHart_) in News, Wii U | 0 comments
Engadget recently held an interview with Hisashi Nogami in which they discussed all things from his beginnings with Nintendo, his success with Animal Crossing, and what it was like to come up with an idea for Splatoon. Lots of interesting tidbits in the article that you should check out, but we’ve grabbed an excerpt you can read below where he explains a bit about new IP with Nintendo, in this case Splatoon.
In a recent Iwata Asks interview with the Splatoon team at Nintendo EAD, you explained that after finishing your work on the Wii U, you set out to make a game that didn’t fit into any established genre. You wanted to make something that wasn’t a Super Mario Bros. or Legend of Zelda. What’s the biggest challenge in making something totally new at Nintendo?
Rather than setting out to make something that didn’t fit into any genre, I would say that we didn’t want to get caught up in the idea of genre. In making the game, we started out by reconsidering our experiences making and playing games as well as our experiences in life. The sort of things we enjoyed doing while growing up. We wanted to make something that captured those past experiences.
I think it’s true that, with Nintendo, in an established franchise like the Mario series, there are challenges and new things that need to be done with each new title. I think it’s really true that in creating a game like Splatoon, we were basically starting from scratch and there were many more fundamental ideas and decisions that we needed to set in place before we could get going with the rest of development. That was what I considered to be the largest challenge we faced.
You can read more of this insightful interview with Hisashi Nogami here
More: Splatoon
New Splatoon Mess Fest video gives a look at the event with Joey Bragg and Kelli Berglund
Posted on 10 years ago by Dennis Gagliardotto(@LyonHart_) in Videos, Wii U | 0 comments
We’ve seen tons of awesome Mess Fest videos from Nintendo’s recent event a few weeks back to help promote Splatoon, and now there’s another one! Check out the newest video where you can get a look at the event with Joey Bragg and Kelli Berglund:
More: Splatoon
New trailer for The Next Penelope
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Videos, Wii U eShop | 2 Comments
Aurelien Regard has shared a new The Next Penelope trailer. It’s to promote the racer’s Steam launch, but we do have additional footage.
Here’s the trailer:
Regard has also suggested that news about the Wii U version of The Next Penelope is coming soon:
@NintenDaan Thanks! I'll be able to share some news about the WiiU version right after the Steam release :)
It's stiil on!
— Aurelien Regard (@AurelRegard) May 27, 2015
More: indie, The Next Penelope
Playtonic reveals Yooka-Laylee’s Ghost Writers enemy
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U eShop | 2 Comments
Playtonic revealed a new character for Yooka-Laylee today. We have a first look at the Ghost Writers, a type of enemy in the game.
Playtonic said of the Ghost Writers in its latest blog post:
In their physical days these articulate phantoms were the scribes behind Yooka-Laylee’s mysterious book worlds. However, following their suspicious demise the Ghost Writers’ unsettled souls are now cursed to endlessly wander their creations in search of spectre salvation. Free their spirits for a special reward…
Yooka-Laylee’s creative lead, Gavin Price explains: “The Ghost Writers haunting the book worlds will add a fun twist to collecting. There are a variety of different types hidden in every world, each with their own unique requirement for being caught.
“Mix that with the different areas in which you’ll find them, and hopefully they’ll result in a fresh challenge with every encounter. They’re like a living (un-living?) collectible.”
Character artist at large, Mr. Steve(n) Mayles described the design process behind his band of ghouls: “As these characters aren’t based on any particular creature, it was good fun to go a bit crazy with them. And we are crazy guys at Playtonic Towers… never a dull moment, etc.
“The ghost was originally going to be one character, but I sketched so many thumbnails (50+) it sparked the idea of having 5 separate ghosts with different abilities.”
Yooka-Laylee will launch in Wii U in October 2016.
More: indie, Playtonic, Yooka-Laylee
Splatoon takes over UK’s Adrenaline Alley Skatepark
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Videos, Wii U | 5 Comments
To celebrate the launch of Splatoon, Nintendo and Adrenaline Alley in Corby decided to splat their local skate park. Adrenaline Alley will also have four Wii U pods with copies of the game to get people playing Splatoon during the summer.
You can check out the Splatoon takeover in Adrenaline Alley below. Lois Pendlebury, Tom Bailey and Sam Pulley (who are part of the Pixels crew) and up and coming skater Salar Kooshiki are featured in the video.
More: Splatoon
PoPoLoCrois Farm Story screenshots
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, Screenshots | 0 comments
Marvelous released a new wave of screenshots from PoPoLoCrois Farm Story. View them in the gallery below.
More: Japan, marvelous, PoPoLoCrois Farm Story
Curve Digital planning continued Wii U support, catalogue “set to double in the next 8 months”
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U eShop | 0 comments
Curve Digital has given a bunch of support to Wii U over the past year. We’ve seen Lone Survivor, Thomas Was Alone, OlliOlli, Ultratron, and Stealth Inc 2 grace the eShop.
Curve Digital’s plans for Wii U won’t be ending any time soon. According to PR manager Rob Clarke, the publisher’s “Wii U catalogue is set to double in the next 8 months”.
More: Curve Digital
Splatoon “Splat or be Splatted!” trailer
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Videos, Wii U | 0 comments
Nintendo of Europe published another trailer for Splatoon in light of the game’s launch today. Those that are interested can check it out below.
More: Splatoon
Sydney Hunter and the Caverns of Death heading to Wii U after reaching Kickstarter stretch goal
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U eShop | 1 Comment
Sydney Hunter and the Caverns of Death will now be making its way to Wii U thanks to its Kickstarter success. With roughly a day remaining, the campaign managed to surpass the $35,000 stretch goal needed to ensure a version for Nintendo’s console. Along with Wii U, there are also plans to bring it to the NES and SNES.
Here’s a brief overview of Sydney Hunter and the Caverns of Death:
Sydney Hunter and the Caverns of Death is a new retro-style adventure/puzzle platformer for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and now Nintendo Entertainment System. Armed only with his trusty boomerang, Sydney must navigate dark caverns while avoiding bats, ghosts, hot lava and other obstacles. If you can survive all 10 caverns, you will be able to win your freedom.Your support for this Kickstarter campaign will help bring a new game to one of the most beloved systems of all time…the SNES. You also have an opportunity to receive some cool rewards available exclusively through this Kickstarter campaign.
10 total levels.
Unique soundtrack.
Different region versions available.
You can find Sydney Hunter and the Caverns of Death on Kickstarter here. The pitch video is posted below.