Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Images, New Nintendo 3DS, Wii | 4 Comments

Over on Facebook, Nintendo added a few pieces of concept art for Xenoblade Chronicles’ Shulk. You can find the full set below, along with descriptions from Monolith Soft of the first four images.

Shulk is a composed, intellectual character, not the sort of person to let his emotions get the best of him. I chose an appearance and outfit that, by RPG hero standards, isn’t too aggressive.

The way that the design expresses details with textures and color shades within limited polygon resources.

It expresses Shulk as a character who isn’t a soldier, but a research and designer who works on weapons for Colony 9’s military and tools for its people.

There weren’t any major changes, just things like whether we should make the clothing red or blue.

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More: Monolith Soft, Xenoblade Chronicles, Xenoblade Chronicles 3D

Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in GameCube, News, Wii | 0 comments

Unseen64 recently updated its comprehensive article about the development of Metroid Prime. The site has plenty of details about what was cut and changed in the game, ranging from bosses to power-ups. There’s also information about various redesigns for Samus, the change from third-person to first-person perspective, and more.

Here’s one notable excerpt concerning a Kraid boss battle that was removed from Metroid Prime:

As mentioned above, Kraid was a part of the original plan for Metroid Prime. We understand that he was slated to be added to the last act, as he was cut towards the end of development. At the time, he had come a long way from the more traditional route that was first being considered.

In this 3D model by Gene Kohler, he was redone with a metal helmet, masking the majority of his face. Due to this feature, fans have taken to calling this infamous render ‘Meta Kraid’, although, in truth, no such title had been assigned.

Contrary to certain speculation, Kraid was, in fact, very early along when work on him ceased, as one ex Retro employee recounted:

“Kraid was really just some ideas and a first pass model. We were about to start work on him when he was cut. The overall idea was to have Kraid at one end of a large cavern, and some rickety platforms at the other end that Kraid could reach out to and tip over. He would also fire missiles at you from his belly ports. As I recall you would have to climb to the top and trigger something to collapse on him several times. There were probably other stages but I don’t remember them.”

Despite appearing in the Phazon Mines in Kohler’s image, it was never defined whereabouts in the game he would actually be encountered either. Speaking to MythicaHQ in 2004, he explained that Kraid’s absence was a casualty of time restrictions:

“I had completely finished modelling and texturing Kraid. The level that he was to be included in was well underway to being designed. There just was not enough development time remaining to fully implement all aspects of the scenario that were needed to pull off a highly polished\fun gaming experience… animations\effects\programming\etc. It was decided that Kraid was not imperative enough to the Metroid Prime project to run the risk of pushing up the release date in order to fit him in.”

Unseen64 also posted several clips of things such as cut creatures:

For plenty more on Metroid Prime’s development, head on over to Unseen64.

More: Metroid Prime, Retro Studios

Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, Images, Wii, Wii U | 0 comments

This week’s GameStop ad has gone live. You can find it below.

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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii, Wii U | 5 Comments

Those who purchase the Wii U version of Rodea: The Sky Solider will be treated to a special bonus. NIS America is including a copy of the original Wii title, which was how creator Yuji Naka envisioned the game.

In Japan, the Wii version had its own separate disc. We weren’t sure if this would be the case in the west as well, but NIS America has since confirmed this to be the case.

The publisher wrote on Twitter today:

It’ll be interesting to see what NIS America does with the Wii boxart. Will they use the Japanese version (see above), or something new?

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More: Kadokawa Games, NIS America, Prope, Rodea: The Sky Soldier

Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, New Nintendo 3DS, News, Wii, Wii U | 12 Comments

GameSpot was able to submit a few questions to the developers behind Xenoblade Chronicles 3D. That includes Monolith Soft’s Testuya Takahashi, representatives from Monster Games, and representatives from Nintendo SPD.

Most of the interview topics were naturally about the New 3DS title, including the technical challenges behind the project and how Monster Games initially tried bringing it to the original 3DS. There were also questions about the decision to port Xenoblade Chronicles to the New 3DS as opposed to remastering the title for Wii U, and what fans can expect from Xenoblade Chronicles X.

Head on below for the full Q&A roundup. You can also check out GameSpot’s piece here.

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More: interview, Monolith Soft, Monster Games, Testuya Takahashi, top

Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Let's Talk, New Nintendo 3DS, Wii | 76 Comments

Let’s Talk #3: Which Wii games do you want to see on New 3DS?

It’s a big day for the New 3DS. Xenoblade Chronicles 3D is available in North America (though it launched last week in Europe in Japan), which means the system has its first “exclusive”.

I can’t begin to tell you how excited I was when Nintendo announced Xenoblade Chronicles 3D. You see, the original Wii title ended up being one of my favorite games of all time. I also love being able to play games in a portable format so I can take them wherever I go. It was the perfect match! As much as I appreciate brand new games, ports/remakes here and there aren’t a problem I feel.

So here we are. Xenoblade Chronicles 3D, originally a console game on Wii, is now in portable form on New 3DS. That begs the question: could similar games receive the same treatment in the future? That’s where this week’s topic comes in!

Here are a few of my thoughts:

There are a few titles that I’d be interesting in seeing on the New 3DS. I’ll talk a tiny bit about my selections below.

– Okami – I was pretty disappointed when Okami HD was announced, only to see that Capcom wasn’t bringing it to the PlayStation Vita. So… how about the New 3DS?! That would give me an opportunity to play it on a handheld!
– Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 – Like Xenoblade, these two are among the best games I’ve ever played. I would totally welcome New 3DS ports/remakes!
– The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess – right up there as one of my favorite Zeldas. Having it on New 3DS would give me another opportunity to play through the game once again.

Now I want to hear from you! Is there any particular game – or games – from the Wii era that you’d like to see brought over to the New 3DS? Sound off in the comments section, and be sure to check out some of your highlights from last week’s topic below!

Last week’s topic: Thoughts on the April 2015 Nintendo Direct

Jake

I was pretty pleased overall! I really appreciate that they keep adding on to the games that I already own. I’m really excited for both mario kart and smash updates and DLC. Splatoon is huge on my radar, and I can’t wait for either fire emblem game that was shown. I don’t currently have anything really like SMTxFE on my Wii U, so it is a welcome change from normal FE play style. The new amiibos are looking good, and I’m already so deep in that I can’t help but get them all (though I missed out on Greninja so far). Overall, I really enjoyed it.

kthanxyousuck

As a 3DS owner, I wasn’t really expecting too many announcements as I think majority of the 3DS library will be localizations this year and that would obviously be left for E3. There’s really not much left in terms of first party unless they come up with some more wacky stuff like Tomodachi (which would be awesome).

I like MewTwo’s new final smash and bringing Lucas back was cool too. That yoshi amiibo was too awesome and I like what I’m seeing from Fire Emblem if but I’m glad it’s not coming out until next year (It took me 50 hours to beat awakening and I’m a little burnt out). I’m glad they listened to the fans about Codename Steam and will speed up enemy turns.

I like the way SMT X Fire Emblem looks but that’s moreso because I am not familiar with SMT games. I’ve always preferred Awakening, Persona and Etrian Odyssey so I’m use to the anime style by now. People have said that they saw some Awakening characters in the trailer though and if you look at the battle parts, you’ll notice little symbols by the fighters which seems to dictate their FE classes.

I’m going to need a little information on that Animal Crossing game since I can’t really tell how big it’s going to be. on the one hand it seems like an eshop game but it might not be.

Overall it was a pretty solid direct considering E3 is so close. I’m looking forward to the Level 5 event Tuesday and this is usually the time of year developers start announcing games out of nowhere (looking at you Atlus). Am I the only one hoping we’ll hear about that Great Detective Pikachu game? I haven’t forgotten about that guys!

And here are a few highlights from last week’s topic! These all come from you guys.

Melatelo

It was pretty decent. People seem to be blowing it out of proportion though. Like it was good.. but not that good! Very weird to see nothing more on ‘X’ at all. No more on Devils
Third either!! In terms of new stuff / announcements there wasn’t much of it- but I agree with you Brian, all the new announcements will be made at e3 which is just around the corner. I also gotta say although I am mostly interested in Wii U…it’s disappointing to see the 3DS almost completely neglected. We’ve had a good pace of releases up until now but what’s coming next? We’ve got quite a lot of confirmed first party Wii U titles coming but virtually no 3DS ones.

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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Videos, Wii | 0 comments

More: Kadokawa Games, NIS America, Prope, Rodea: The Sky Soldier

Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in New Nintendo 3DS, Videos, Wii | 9 Comments

We have a couple of new videos comparing the Wii and versions of Xenoblade Chronicles, courtesy of YouTube user Hama Tea. You can watch both of them below.

Obviously the textures took a big hit on New 3DS, but it’s really not that bad – especially in person. I’ve only played a bit of the New 3DS version, though I’m impressed that it runs as well as it does!

More: comparison, Monolith Soft, Monster Games, Xenoblade Chronicles

Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Videos, Wii | 0 comments

More: Kadokawa Games, NIS America, Prope, Rodea: The Sky Soldier

Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Videos, Wii | 9 Comments

Did you know that the Wii version of Rodea: The Sky Soldier is the only one with multiplayer? The Wii U and 3DS editions do not. In the Wii game, four players are able to race to the end of five levels.

Watch another round of footage from Rodea on Wii above.

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More: Kadokawa Games, NIS America, Prope, Rodea: The Sky Soldier