Sakurai considered having a separate company handle Smash Bros. Brawl’s Subspace Emissary
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii | 11 Comments
An old – but recently translated – Famitsu column from Super Smash Bros. director Masahiro Sakurai gives insight into Brawl’s Subspace Emissary.
In one portion of his column, Sakurai talks about how there were initially plans for a separate company to handle this mode. The main team would have provided oversight.
Things sadly didn’t go according to plan since the team “couldn’t find a promising studio to take on the contract.” Aside from the cut-scenes, all aspects of Subspace Emissary were created “almost entirely in-house.”
Here’s the relevant excerpt from Sakurai’s column as translated by Source Gaming:
In the first project plan, this mode would have been worked on by a separate company, with oversight from us. For the evolution of “Smash” simply increasing the number of stages and characters is not good. I have already reached the limit. From the production and playing perspective, if I don’t spend enough time on a character, that character wouldn’t receive the love [that they need], the project would become bloated and disorganized, and versus would have no room to breath. The previous game, “Melee” barely made it….of course. Naturally, I will do my best, one step at a time.
Therefore, I thought we could arrange the main team would work on the game in conjunction with another team who is working on the action game in a different location.
… Unfortunately, we couldn’t find a promising studio to take on the contract. Well. In the end, everything other than the cutscenes was done almost entirely in-house.
As much flack as Subspace Emissary gets, I would have loved to see an evolution of it in the latest Smash Bros. games for Wii U and/or 3DS. It added a little something extra to the single-player experience!
Microsoft “completely discounted Nintendo” when releasing the Xbox 360 due to GameCube’s performance
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in GameCube, News, Wii | 103 Comments
The latest episode of IGN’s Podcast Unlocked features an interview with former Microsoft executive Peter Moore and Xbox boss Phil Spencer. At one point of the podcast, they reflected on the launch of the Xbox 360. Moore noted that Microsoft “completely discounted Nintendo” when bringing out the console due to the performance of the GameCube.
Here’s a roundup of everything that was mentioned:
“I also then remember the E3 when, God bless, Kaz Hirai and Jack Tretton announced $599, and we were all back stage like ‘Woohoo!’ We knew then we had an opportunity to get ahead, drive ahead, get our games out quickly and get that lead. And I always said that the first to 10 million wins.” – Moore
“It was one of the greatest times of my career. You had to build a team, because we were growing then. We had prematurely put the Xbox to sleep, we needed to get ready for this and we knew what we needed to do. We had a three-day meeting at the Sheraton in Bellevue where we wargamed the scenario, and I actually played Ken Kutaragi. And we brought in a consultancy, it was a lot of fun. And the one thing we’d forgotten about, I don’t know if you remember this Phil [Spencer], we completely discounted Nintendo. Because they came off the GameCube and it was a disaster.” – Moore
“…and they destroyed both of us!” – Spencer
“Yes, with the Wii. But we wargamed for three days, what are you going to do, what do the launch titles look like, what are the marketing budgets, what is the positioning? And it was a fascinating experience which I’ll never forget. And this is a decade ago. And I actually played Ken, and my job was to destroy the launch of the Xbox 360.” – Moore
Of course, you can’t really bank on anything these days! Although the GameCube was far from Nintendo’s most-successful console, we all know what happened with Wii.
More: interview, Microsoft, Peter Moore, Phil Spencer
A look into what went wrong with Project H.AM.M.E.R.
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Videos, Wii | 26 Comments
Unseen64’s Liam Robertson has posted a new video that looks into the various issues Project H.AM.M.E.R. encountered while in development. It also explores problems within Nintendo Software Technology as a whole, including apparent racism.
You can watch the full video below. There’s also a quick summary that can be read as well.
– After 1080, NST went on to start a new project (a small team that outsourced concept art, CGI opening, etc)
– The internal name for the project was MachineX
– In 2005 it had reached 75% completion and was nearing completion
– Japanese staff were overseeing the development at the studio which posed cultural challenges
– There were continued arguments and debate between the Japanese management and the NST developers
– At late 2007, it was 4 years in development
– Towards the end, changes were demanded to the environments and then the entire visuals
– This complete change despite mechanics eventually culminated in a more ‘lighter, casual’ visual style that was codenamed Wii Crush
– 2008 onwards, staff left
– Nintendo of America had to carry out a review of staff conditions which recorded a low morale
– Midway into 2009, a small number of staff still continued to work onto it until it ended
– NCL finally withdrew funding
– ‘Nintendo have made some great games, but with NST it came with a price’: Former NST developer
Thanks to Jake and Fred for the tip.
More: NST, Project H.AM.M.E.R., top
Skylanders SuperChargers “Nintendo Guest Stars” trailer
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, Videos, Wii, Wii U | 1 Comment
Activision has prepared a new Skylanders SuperChargers that puts the focus on the Nintendo guest stars, Bowser and Donkey Kong. Take a look at the video below.
Metroid Prime: FF – not just an FPS, important plot, meeting Samus, more talk of wanting to continue after Prime 3, more
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News, Wii | 9 Comments
Wired is the latest outlet to have published an article with commentary from Nintendo producer Kensuke Tanabe. Tanabe discussed Metroid Prime: Federation Force in-depth, including how it’s more than just a shooter, bits about the story (and how it’s important to Prime’s overall plot), how it’s players’ “first chance to actually see Samus in-game”, and more. He also again touched on wanting to continue the Prime series after the ending of the third game.
Read on below to read up on what Tanabe said. You can also find Wired’s full article here.
Monolith Soft: From A to Xeno (Part 2)
Posted on 9 years ago by Patrick(@Patricklous) in DS, Features, Game of the Month, Wii | 8 Comments
As June draws to a close, I’m back with a second look back at the history of Monolith Soft and the games they created over the last generation of Nintendo consoles – with the exception of the actual Game of the Month. This was a period of change for the company and saw the release of several more experimental titles. Bandai Namco sold the majority of their stock in Monolith Soft to Nintendo in 2007 and while they wouldn’t become a first-party developer until later, all games from this point on would be on Nintendo consoles. Despite this, Monolith would still keep close ties with their previous owner, who took on publishing duties for some of their more niche games. Following the release of Baten Kaitos Origins there was a gap of two years before Monolith Soft’s next title – Soma Bringer.
HORI releasing Link and Toad Mario Kart 8 wheels
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii, Wii U | 0 comments
HORI is bringing out two new Mario Kart 8 racing wheels in just a few weeks. Over on Amazon, Link
and Toad
wheels are listed for release on July 6. Pricing is set at $14.99 and $11.99 respectively.
Both accessories are officially licensed by Nintendo and act as attachments for the Wii Remote. They come equipped with a trigger button on the underside of the attachment to make the B button easily accessible. Additionally, they are optimized/designed for use with Mario Kart 8.
A few photos of the Link and Toad Mario Kart 8 wheels can be found in the gallery below.
More: Hori, Mario Kart 8
Igarashi reflects on making Castlevania Judgment
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii | 5 Comments
A new interview from USgamer has extensive comments from Koji Igarashi about Bloodstained and the game’s recent Kickstarter. You can find that here.
In one section of the interview, Igarashi reflected on some of his previous titles. What he said about Castlevania Judgement seemed particularly interesting. Here’s what was shared about making the nontraditional Castlevania title for Wii:
So there are games, and then there’s succeeding and/or not succeeding. Video games are a tough business, and a lot of games don’t succeed. The smart man will try to learn from his mistakes.
When it comes to Castlevania Judgment, the one thing I learned was from the production side – how to make the best game I possibly can with a variety of different limitations: budgetary, time, etc., thrown on you. Obviously, that wasn’t the best game ever, but it was the best game that I think anyone could have made within those limitations. And the game did get out the door.
More: Castlevania Judgment, interview, Koji Igarashi, Konami
Another look at the cancelled Super Mario Spikers
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Videos, Wii | 2 Comments
Last September, Unseen64 pulled back the curtain on Next Level Games’ cancelled Wii project “Super Mario Spikers”. The site’s Liam Robertson has now given the project another look in a new video, which you can view below.
More: Next Level Games
Amazon opens pre-orders for the Metal Mario PDP Wired Fight Pad
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii, Wii U | 4 Comments
A lot of you have been asking about pre-orders for PDP’s new Wired Fight Pads on Amazon. While the Zero Suit Samus and Toad editions are exclusive to GameStop, the retailer is now taking reservations for the Metal Mario version.
You can pre-order the Metal Mario PDP Wired Fight Pad on Amazon here.
It should be available on September 15.
As a reminder, you can pre-order the Zero Suit Samus and Toad PDP Wired Fight pads here and here respectively.
