Even more commentary from Super Smash Bros. director Masahiro Sakurai has poured in through a new IGN interview. There’s some rehashed stuff here, but Sakurai did speak about taking advantage of the 3DS for its portability, customization, online plans (no world rankings), and more.
Head past the break for the full rundown.
Out of the big three hardware manufacturers, Nintendo is the only company with a home console that implements a region lock. The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One will be region free when they launch later this year. Of course, the 3DS is region locked as well.
In a recent interview with IGN, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata weighed in on the region locking situation.
He said:
“From some people’s perspective, it might seem like a kind of restriction. However, we hope people can appreciate the fact that we’re selling our products worldwide. There are many different regions around the world, and each region has its own cultural acceptance and legal restrictions, as well as different age ratings. There are always things that we’re required to do in each different region, which may go counter to the idea that players around the world want the freedom to play whatever they want.”
“I hope that game fans can understand that the industry isn’t doing this solely out of business ego. There are some reasons behind it.”
For what it’s worth, Iwata discussed this topic before Microsoft changed the Xbox One’s region locking policies.
We have just a few details on the new High School DxD 3DS title, courtesy of Famitsu. It’s a strange game to say the least.
Famitsu describes High School DxD as an “erotic battle” game, with lust being the key to victory. Players battle various enemies in each chapters through a turn-based system.
Throughout the game, players can also obtain lust power by completing certain conditions and being involved with everyday interactions. This can result in a “Dress Break” – you can probably take a pretty good guess as to what that is.
“The Atlus brand and consumer business will continue” amidst parent company bankruptcy, according to official statements
– Official Statement from Atlus
As a big fan of Atlus’ work myself, this is great news. What will happen to the parent company (and where Atlus may end up after their rough patch) is still up in the air, but with any luck things will maintain their current scheduling at the developer themselves.
– Sonic series General Producer Takashi Iizuka
I must be the only one that didn’t instantly think of Super Mario Galaxy when I saw the trailer for Lost World… The connection is clear to me, but I didn’t think it was so obvious that it seemed as though the team blatantly ripped off the style. And it sure plays a heck of a lot differently.
Wired’s interview with Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma is up now for viewing, and it contains a lot of interesting nuggets about Nintendo’s classic series.
Aonuma commented on all three current Zelda projects: Wind Waker HD, A Link Between Worlds, and Zelda Wii U. Topics include the decision to remake Wind Waker (there was pushback internally!), the change to full button control on the 3DS with A Link Between Worlds and how Aonuma gained inspiration from Super Mario 3D Land, the difficulty in implementing multiplayer, and more.
For some of its systems, Nintendo decided against implementing a region lock. But now we’re in an era in which all of the Big N’s hardware make use of the functionality. Both the 3DS and Wii U do not allow games to be played outside of their original regions.
Why has Nintendo decided to adopt such an uncompromising stance? According to a statement from Nintendo of America, region locks allow for parental controls and “ensure compliance with regional standards and rating systems.” And no: Nintendo’s region locks aren’t going anywhere.
“Nintendo has no plans to remove region locking from our systems. By taking this approach, Nintendo is able to include parental controls and ensure compliance with regional standards and rating systems.”
