Eiji Aonuma has been working on Zelda for a very, very long time. He has almost exclusively been involved with the franchise since joining Nintendo. With retirement coming sooner rather than later, Aonuma is thinking about trying “all sorts of new things before it’s too late”.
Aonuma told EDGE this month:
“I’m 50 now, so I only have about ten more years to make games at Nintendo. I want to try all sorts of new things before it’s too late — I don’t want to get to the end of my career and only have worked on Zelda. But every time I come up with some good new ideas, they end up being used in a Zelda game! I need a six-month break to get away from the Zelda cycle and focus on something new [laughs]. But I’d probably end up making a game that is similar to Zelda; after all, A Link to the Past was my biggest influence.”
Project X Zone has two demos. The first was released in Europe on May 23 and in North America this past Tuesday.
A couple of weeks ago, news popped up indicating that the second Project X Zone demo will be heading to the European 3DS eShop on June 27. We reached out to Namco Bandai in hopes of getting a North American date, but didn’t have much luck. Although Namco Bandai was able to confirm that the second demo will be made available in the states, the company didn’t have a date to share at this time.
E3 2006 was the full-blown reveal for Wii, so Nintendo’s conference was jam-packed with all sorts of games.
Where to begin? For starters, Shigeru Miyamoto came out on stage and conducted a Zelda tune with his Wiimote and a Wii Music backdrop. He then did a little dance as Excite Truck and Red Steel were introduced in video form.
Zelda: Twilight Princess was confirmed and demoed for Wii, though Nintendo remained committed to bring it to GameCube as well.
Other titles highlighted during the media briefing include Super Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Project H.A.M.M.E.R. (cancelled), and Disaster: Day of Crisis (never released in North America).
SEGA brought along its Sonic game that would become Sonic and the Secret Rings. Square Enix gave a glimpse at Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers for Wii, but it would end up being something completely different.
Nintendo closed out the proceedings with a Wii Sports demonstration with Miyamoto, Satoru Iwata, Bill Trinen, and a contest winner. Fun was had by all!
Gamesbymo’s indie game A.N.N.E is a long ways off. No release date – or release window – has been set, but developer Mo Breton hopes to have the game out by the end of next year.
“It is hard to give a set date for this yet, but I would really love to get the game out on the eShop before the end of 2014.”
Wii U development of A.N.N.E is just underway. Breton said that he’s keeping the system in mind and the functionality provided by the GamePad as some final decisions are made.
“We are just getting started on the Wii U version. My focus is currently 100% on completing the game and as I move forward with some final decisions I keep the Wii U in mind in order to take advantage of specific Wii U hardware feature like the Wii U Gamepad.”
I guess Nintendo doesn’t know the release date for Bugs vs. Tanks! after all. Even though it was listed for June 13 on the Big N’s official website, Level-5 has taken to Twitter and clarified that it will not be hitting the 3DS eShop that day.
The tweet reads:
The date currently posted for the release of BUGS vs. TANKS! is unfortunately incorrect. We will keep you posted, though!
— LEVEL5_IA (@LEVEL5_IA) June 6, 2013
Ian Livingstone, life president of Eidos, feels that Nintendo should expand its horizons. Speaking at the Bristol Games Hub, Livingstone said that the company’s IPs should be spread out across all platforms. He believes that if this isn’t considered, “a whole generation of young people will miss out on their games.”
Livingstone’s comments in full read:
“Nintendo should have their IP on every platform. Otherwise a whole generation of young people will miss out on their games.”
While Livingstone may want this to happen, it won’t. As long as Nintendo remains in the hardware business, there’s no way you’ll be seeing the likes of Mario and Zelda on competitor systems.
Gardening Mama: Mama and the Forest Friends has been announced as the series’ next entry. Office Create will publish the game in Japan in September.
Here’s everything we know about Mama and the Forest Friends thus far:
– Forest with furry critters that ask Mama for flowers
– Rabbit wants four tulips
– Can pack up the tulips and send to the rabbit so she can attract more customers for her store
– Animals live in a town which blooms when Mama delivers flowers.
– Mama’s fuzzy friends give her shopping tickets as rewards
– Use these tickets to get decorative items for your garden
– Touch screen mini-games included
– Plant flowers in the right order, play a timing mini-game where you pour soil, and balance a watermelon cart by moving left and right
– Mama also has a garden to take care of
– Everything you harvest goes to the barn
