Iwata likes the idea of automatically pushing demos to 3DS and Wii U owners
Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News, Wii U | 0 comments
The only type of real demos we’ve seen on a Nintendo service thus far have come through the Wii Shop Channel. Unfortunately, the process of actually downloading content can be tedious and it doesn’t help that demos are automatically removed after a few weeks. On the bright side, it sounds like Satoru Iwata might be open to changing Nintendo’s demo methods in the future.
“…Additionally, when Nintendo would like to ask users to try a specific new game, we should deliver it to their Nintendo 3DS, and possibly Wii U, with their prior consent and recommend that they just try it and, if they like it, they can pay for it. In this way, we need to introduce users to unknown products. Consumers are likely to be convinced to pay about 5,000 yen for a well-established franchise product, but not all the people are willing to pay a certain amount of money for an innovative but unknown product. Now is the time to prepare for these situations. We would like to respond to some of the concerns surrounding our business in this manner.”
I could see this happening very easily on the 3DS and I imagine it could be easy to implement on Wii U. Demos for both retail and downloadable games are heading to the eShop later this year, but it would be great if there was an option to automatically receive demos. It’d probably be demos that Nintendo selects, but it could be an great feature.
Aliens dev thinks Wii U is “a really cool stop-gap console”, excited about controller, more
Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 0 comments
Gearbox Software co-founder and chief creative officer Brian Martel was very positive when talking about the Wii U with IGN. But one the more interesting comments he shared is that Wii U is “going to be a really cool stop-gap in between this generation and the next generation.” I don’t think Nintendo has any plans for Wii U to be a stop-gap! I’m sure that they want the console to stick around for at least five years.
Martel’s full comments about Wii U are below:
“Right now we’re still finding out what kind of final tech specs the Wii U is going to have. But we like the system a lot; we think it’s going to be a really cool stop-gap in between this generation and the next generation. We think it’s really smart of Nintendo, and the fact that as a platform it’s a lot more capable for hardcore first-person shooter-style gaming – for us that’s fantastic. We’ve got the [Aliens: Colonial Marines] engine running on the Wii U, and as far as the console goes, you’re going to see textures at a resolution that you haven’t seen on [the current] generation. But the thing we’re most excited about is: what can we do with the controller? So the obvious thing for us is that we can do the motion tracker [on the controller screen], or the sentry gun information – all that kind of stuff. That stuff is really sexy for us. Getting the information off the screen and onto this device is a fantastic idea, right? So can we have a HUD-less environment? Yeah, probably. That would be fantastic, right?”
Iwata says Wii U will appeal more towards the hardcore, EA partnership talk, Wii sales not a concern… yet
Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Wii, Wii U | 0 comments
Satoru Iwata on how the Wii U will better appeal to hardcore gamers compared to Wii…
“When we considered what to do with the graphics capability of the Wii, we put more attention and focus on the ability to create new experiences rather than the quality of the graphics. For popular genres in the Western world such as the shooter games, the picture quality is actually very important. And as a result, we have not been able to provide hardcore video game players with the option they really want with the Wii. That sort of picture-processing issue is going to be solved this time around.
Nintendo explains Wii game droughts, working with third-parties to develop games, more
Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News, Wii, Wii U | 0 comments
Unfortunately, the Wii has suffered from a number of “droughts” throughout its lifecycle. One such drought was in 2009 for Japan, when there just weren’t many games to play. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata told investors last week that this was a result of the unpredictable nature of development and lack of support from third-parties:
I would like to explain about it in an organized way. First, in the first half of 2009, when the Wii lost its momentum, we could not offer new titles for a certain period of time. We ourselves have to reflect on this situation. We usually plan to release software in a way like, first we release this, then this and then that. But the development does not always proceed as it is planned. For example, if we feel that certain software will end up being boring if we continue to develop it in the same way, we will have to polish it. We sometimes change the content substantially, and in that case, the date of the release schedule has to be significantly changed.
Off-screen Batman: Arkham City footage
Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Videos, Wii U | 0 comments
Darksiders II developers talk Wii U
Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 0 comments
Vigil Games general manager David Adams and technical director Colin Bonstead have provided some commentary about Wii U for Game Informer in an eight minute interview. Unfortunately, I don’t believe the video can be embedded, so you’ll just have to watch the interview for yourself here. However, I’ve transcribed some of the important bits from the video for those who aren’t interested in viewing it…
– David Adams has always loved Nintendo platforms
– Excited to be involved with a new console and launch
– Was also a challenge since the corporate office asked if they could pull it off in time for E3
– Took about a week to get their base libraries up and running on the console without graphics
– Another week and a half to get graphics to a point where you could seen something on the screen and play the game (basically rainbow colors)
– Then worked on getting the features and graphical features in
– Took about 5 weeks in total from when they found out about it
Darksiders II dev: Nintendo has been supportive with Wii U, easier to develop for than PS3 was, on par with 360
Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 0 comments
Vigil Games has been very pleased with Wii U so far. David Adams, general manager of Vigil, told Game Informer that Nintendo has been supportive towards the studio by providing early access to kits and the company’s development site quickly. Adams believes that Nintendo is dedicated to assisting third-parties by providing them with knowledge to get their content running on the console.
Vigil was able to create a running build of Darksiders II on the console in the span of just five weeks. What’s impressive is that only three developers were working on most of the project. Although it took some time to learn the system’s quirks, Adams said that it became easier to work with the platform as the team gained more experience.
Adams also seems to think that developing for Wii U is easier than what he encountered on the PlayStation 3 and is roughly similar to Xbox 360. He told Game Informer:
“…You can tell the way the software is organized, the way the APRs are writen, that very shortly, it will become a pretty easy platform to develop for. Personally, I don’t really get into the what’s easier and that, but definitely from a pure programmer point of view, it’s definitely a lot easier than say the PS3 was. It’s probably on par with like the 360 as far as just ease of APIs, simplicity of how you interact with the hardware, and that sort of thing.”
Five games we want to see on the Wii U
Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Features, Wii U | 0 comments
When Nintendo’s newest console, the Wii U, was unveiled at this year’s E3, there was no denying that the console was full of new ideas. But actual games? Not so much. Sure, there were a few titles announced by third-party developers, but it’s tough to get excited over ports of games that are already coming to other consoles or anything titled “Killer Freaks From Outer Space.” All the more reason to write a whole article doing nothing but speculate on all the series and genres we’d most like to see represented on the Wii U. If Nintendo aren’t going to announce anything, why not just make stuff up?
More Wii U online talk from Reggie, cross-platform play with 3DS likely different that competitors, no 3D in near future, more
Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, DS, General Nintendo, News, Wii, Wii U | 0 comments
Reggie on how Nintendo can explain Wii U to those who haven’t played it…
“What we are doing with Wii U is creating an ability for games to leverage two different screens; the big screen in your room, and the smaller handheld screen in front of you. By doing so it opens up all of these different experiences. The experience I use to describe it to someone is to imagine a first person shooter, where instead of constantly having to look at the screen, now I’ve got things happening all around me.
“It’s a great experience. I don’t think it’s going to be a hard sell. I think that communicating to consumers through the magic of the second window, you can have a totally unique experience, with another player still in the room… I don’t think it’s a difficult sell.”
Griptonite Games “itching” to make Wii U game
Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 0 comments
Here’s what Griptonite Games said when asked about Wii U…
“It would be awesome to work on Wii U, if just to explore new ideas. That handheld screen could open up some great possibilities for a tabletop kind of experience with friends, among others. Nintendo has always been known for its innovation and the Wii U is no exception. We’re not only tempted but itching to develop for it!”
Shinobi Wii U? Ah wait… it’s way too premature to be talking about that. Although I have to admit I’m very curious as to how the 3DS game will turn out…
