New Ace Attorney 5 details have emerged from Nintendo Dream. Producer Motohide Eshiro and scenario director Takeshi Yamazaki took some time to share some general information. While there’s nothing huge in this batch – aside from some interesting talk about voice acting – the content below should be of interest to Ace Attorney fans.
Batch 1
– Talk of Ace Attorney 5 started last autumn
– Once the staff was decided upon, the four writers and the character designer lodged together for four days and three nights, for an intense brainstorming session
– They then came up with the “impactful event” for AA5, which is the courtroom explosion
– Phoenix’s return as the protagonist of the game raised some concerns
– Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth had never been the main playable character prior to the Investigations games, so his quirks were easy to work with
– Phoenix has been the main character from the start and he is someone everyone can relates to, so it took much more time to grasp his character
– The team wanted to make a Phoenix that inherited his traits from Apollo Justice, but also brought back some of his “youth” from Trials and Tribulations
– Phoenix’s new partner, Kokone Kizuki, has her name coming from a play on words for “to notice things” and “listening to the heart or soul”
– Kokone was designed to be a heroine who actively fights alongside Phoenix
– Because of this, she’s a defense attorney working under Phoenix
– Her initial design was very sci-fi-esque
– Some traces of this have been left in her final design
– The monitor (named “Monita”) hanging from her neck is what enables the special “Heart Scope” function in this game
– Heart Scope was thought of at the start of development
– Yamazaki suggested a system where one could see through the various emotions a witness goes through as he’s giving his account
– These emotions would hold the key to seeing through the various preconceptions and prejudices of people dragged into such an extreme situation (a murder) that eventually appear in their testimonies
– First time voice actors will be used in-game
– The team knows that there will be some fans who won’t be happy with the change, but it decided on after much consideration
– First reason was because the 3DS’ surround sound capabilities would have made it difficult bringing over the DS sounds due to tuning problems
– Another concern: the staff wanted the game sequences to work with the anime scenes, which are also fully voiced
– Eshiro carefully selected returning characters
– Eshiro considered characters that were not only very popular but also those who would fit into the story of Ace Attorney 5 without feeling awkward or forced
Batch 2
– They talk about the reception at TGS and the pressure of developing a proper sequel to the AA series.
– Yamazaki is a ‘scenario director’, which is a rare function actually. The scenario is written together by four people, with Yamazaki having the last call on edits and such.
– They talk about the theme of the ‘trials falling apart’. They had played with a concept of a ‘torture trial’ if you get a guilty verdict.
– They talk about how it is to have to change from writing from Edgeworth’s point of view to Nick’s (as they are different characters, naturally)
– In the animated parts, you see that Nick is still using the same cellphone he has always used.
– Because of the better sound quality of the 3DS, they couldn’t use the old sound bites Takumi Shuu had done (Objection! etc). And as they are using animation anyway, they have hired proper voice actors. But for smaller parts, they might still use company workers (in the demo, the voice of Shinobu was actually also a company worker)
– Dark Payne (little brother) was conceived because they wanted a evil prosecutor, but they couldn’t just change Payne (older brother) in someone evil suddenly. They do still think that Payne is still working. They joke about how the Paynes are now the Turnabout Brothers. Yamazaki throws in an idea for a new game: Turnabout Payne (Eshiro: What are they going to turnabout?!).
– If Kay is a genki girl, then Kotone is a determined girl, who will do everything to help her superior, according to Yamazaki.
– The pendant Kotone is wearing is called a Monita (???). Because a monitor comes out of it. One of the apps in it, is the Heart Scop
Iwata Asks discussions tend to pop up in bunches. We’ve seen two Wii U interviews over the past couple of weeks, and Nintendo has now added in talks for Pokemon Black/White 2, Art Academy: Lessons for Everyone!, and Style Savvy: Trendsetters.
Links to each can be found below.
Pokemon Black/White 2
Art Academy: Lessons for Everyone!
Style Savvy: Trendsetters
Impulse Technology Dismisses Suit Following Relevant U.S. District Court Ruling
REDMOND, Wash., Oct. 22, 2012 – A patent-infringement lawsuit brought against Nintendo of America was voluntarily dismissed by plaintiff Impulse Technology Ltd. Impulse had alleged that Nintendo’s Wii console, Wii Remote controller, Wii Balance Board accessory and Wii Fit Plus software infringed one of Impulse’s patents (U.S. Patent No. 5,524,637). Impulse abandoned the lawsuit following an unfavorable decision from Judge James Gwin of the U.S. District Court in Cleveland that undermined Impulse’s legal arguments.
“We are very pleased with the court’s ruling, which forced Impulse to walk away from this lawsuit,” said Richard Medway, Nintendo of America’s deputy general counsel. “Nintendo vigorously defends patent lawsuits when we firmly believe that we have not infringed another party’s patent. We will continue our tradition of developing unique and innovative products while respecting the intellectual property rights of others.”
For more information about Wii, visit http://www.nintendo.com/wii.
Source: Nintendo PR
Disney Interactive is working on a new title (tentatively) known as “Toy Box”. As spotted by Superannuation, the game will see Pixar and Disney characters interacting with each other for the first time.
The New York Times reports that Toy Box is “a console game with extensive mobile and online applications”.
Beyond this, not much is known about Toy Box. Disney hasn’t officially announced the project, and the final name could very well change. Potentially though, maybe we could see something such as Toy Story’s Woody interacting with Simba from Lion King… or something along those lines.
NightSky is coming out on the North American 3DS eShop this Thursday. European handheld users will need to wait a bit longer for the game, but not too much.
Publisher Nicalis took to Twitter and confirmed that NightSky should be ready to go in November. Although a specific date wasn’t announced, fans can expect it soon.
“Hey EU, NIghtSky has been approved by NOE for release sometime in November. Excited?”
Software
1. Pokemon Dream Radar
2. 3D Classics: Urban Champion
3. Super Mario Bros.
4. The “Denpa” Men: They Came by Wave
5. Mario Golf
6. 3D Classics: Kirby’s Adventure
7. Cave Story
8. The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening DX
9. Photo Dojo
10. New Super Mario Bros. 2
11. The Legend of Zelda
12. Colors! 3D
13. Pushmo
14. Cut The Rope
15. Heavy Fire: Special Operations 3D
16. Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins
17. Wario Land: Super Mario Bros. 3
18. Plants vs. Zombies
19. Bird Mania 3D
20. Samurai G
Videos
1. Pokemon Dream Radar Video
2. Nintendo Show 3D: October 11, 2012
3. Paper Mario: Sticker Star Video
4. Mario Golf Video
5. Adventure Time Video
6. New Super Mario Bros. 2: Warp Canon
7. Mario Kart 7 Video
8. New Super Mario Bros. 2: Coin Rush
9. The “Denpa” Men: They Came by Wave Video
10. New Super Mario Bros. 2: Rainbow Course
11. Style Savvy: Trendsetters Video
12. Kirby 20th Anniversary Dream Collection
13. Pokedex 3D Video
14. Nintendo Show 3D: September 20, 2012
15. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D Video
16. Spirit Hunters, Inc: Light Video
17. Moshi Monsters: Moshlings Theme Park Video
18. Heavy Fire: Special Operations 3D Video
19. Super Mario Galaxy 2 Video
20. Art Academy: Lessons for Everyone! Video
Source: 3DS eShop
