Choosing the roster for the Super Smash Bros. games isn’t easy. Director Masahiro Sakurai describes the stress put on him as coming close “to the brink of death.”
“The amount of stress I feel, it’s almost to the brink of death. Because it’s not just a matter of me personally thinking this character or that character is going to be in the game; it’s that we also have the game balance, animation, graphics and sound to think about in order to make that character fully fleshed out in that universe. I have to think about all of that when I go through this decision-making process.”
In Sakurai’s opinion, Smash Bros. is all about the character roster. Not having characters such as Mario, Kirby, Samus, or Link playable would make some feel that “it might not be Smash Bros.”
Metroid isn’t happening on Wii U… for now anyway. But Nintendo developers have no problem discussing hypothetical in which the GamePad could be taken advantage of.
First up is Kensuke Tanabe, the producer of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Island:
“Samus obviously has a lot of features [in her space suit]. There’s a lot you can do with that thing — once she pulls her arm up and pulls out that [metal flap] and does some of this stuff [Tabata pretends to punch buttons on her forearm]. I can see mapping some of that to the GamePad. I think that would be really cool.”
Nintendo project leader Risa Tabata also has a few ideas:
“I [told Tanabe], ‘What, you want to hook a GamePad on a Zapper [gun peripheral]?’ He said: ‘No, that’d be too heavy. Maybe something more streamlined. But like a Zapper-style thing with a GamePad feature on it or some device like that. I’d love to do some shooting stuff with something like that! Maybe some day.’”
And here’s the strangest thing of all: an idea from Tanabe to bring back Tingle.
“There’s no definitive plan or anything. It’s just me off the top of my head.”
“I know how hated the character of Tingle is in the U.S. I know that people cannot stand Tingle. But to me that challenge is: Could I take this character that is so reviled in the West and just [do] a complete turnaround and make him a beloved, fun character? The idea of that really just gets me going. I know we have made a Tingle game in the past, but maybe at some point down the road. …”
“It’s like love. It’s like romance: You meet someone and you’re like, ‘Oh god, I can’t stand that person.’ And then three weeks later, you’re madly in love — it’s that turn, that quick whip, that motivates [me] a little bit.”
“If we we ever get a really successful Tingle game, maybe we will have like a big Tingle statue out there [points to Nintendo’s E3 booth outside the room’s walls].”
Pwnee Studios co-founder TJ Lutz claims that the studio has not confirmed Cloudberry Kingdom for the 3DS, in spite of what had been reported last week. The portable version is still being looked into, but nothing is set in stone.
According to Lutz:
“Regarding the news about the 3DS being confirmed, I guess I’m getting pretty good at giving out misleading information. We haven’t confirmed anything regarding the 3DS, but we are definitely looking into it to see how possible it all is. That rumor popped up and spread really quickly though. It’s really a good thing that so many people seem to be excited about the possibility. That’s definitely something huge for us to keep in mind while we’re feeling out the idea.”
NPD Group has released a listing of the top ten best-selling games in the U.S. for the month of May. The results can be found below.
1. Injustice: Gods Among Us (360, PS3, NWU)**
2. Call of Duty: Black Ops II (360, PS3, PC, NWU)**
3. Donkey Kong Country Returns (3DS, WII)
4. Dead Island: Riptide (360, PS3, PC)**
5. Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon (3DS)
6. Metro: Last Light (360, PS3, PC)
7. NBA 2K13 (360, PS3, WII, NWU, PSP, PC)**
8. Bioshock Infinite (360, PS3, PC)**
9. Battlefield 3 (360, PS3, PC)**
10. Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes (360, WII, NDS, PS3, 3DS, NWU, PSV, PC)
**(includes CE, GOTY editions, bundles, etc. but not those bundled with hardware)
Nintendo’s response to the May 2013 NPD report is in.
The 3DS was the best-selling platform in the US for the month of May, according to the company. Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D and continued sales of Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon boosted the handheld’s sales. Both games maintained two of the top three spots on the NPD charts in terms of best-selling SKUs – Donkey Kong came in second, with Luigi’s Mansion following third.
3DS software sales at retail increased by more than 60 percent year-over-year, according to Nintendo.
Nintendo’s full response is posted below.
In addition to Ubisoft, Warner Bros. has thrown a bunch of support towards the Wii U. Despite the console’s slow start, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment president Martin Tremblay says that the publisher is “a believer on the Wii U.”
“We’re a believer on the Wii U. Honestly, we hope everybody’s going to work out. It’s just good for the industry.”
Tremblay pointed to the Wii U’s “content” as one of the reasons for the system’s slow start. However, Nintendo showcased a number of new games that he thinks “will re-energize the platform.”
“I think the console has been off to a slow start, but I think they’re going to fix the problem. I don’t think it’s a problem, but it’s more about the content. And I think they showed tons of new content [at E3] that will re-energize the platform.”
Remember how Atlus announced Etrian Odyssey Untold: Milenium Girl for a North American release last week? One section of the press release mentioned a summer launch while another area said that the game is due out this fall. Which one is it?
We’re hearing some reports that fall is the correct answer. That makes sense since Atlus will need the proper time for localization.
Yoshiaki Koizumi may have a second project in the works alongside Super Mario 3D World.
Koizumi is acting as producer on the upcoming Wii U title. But in an interview with Spanish publication El País, he hinted at an additional game.
El País asked director Koichi Hayashida as well as Koizumi about what their next projects are. Hayashida said that Super Mario 3D World is taking up all of his time at the moment, but Koizumi’s response was pretty interesting:
“I can not reveal it now, but soon we will make an announcement.”
Could EAD Tokyo be developing another title in addition to Super Mario 3D World?
Shigeru Miyamoto has worked on a ton of games. In terms of titles he’s been involved with on a deep level, he estimates having developed 50 games.
“In terms of games I’ve personally worked directly on and really been involved in development on, probably about 50. If you then include the games I’m involved in the oversight standpoint, it’s well over 100 now.”
Yet out of everything Miyamoto has worked on, he feels Pikmin 3 is one of his best efforts. Why?
