A new Pac-Man game is in the works. Surprised?
What’s nice about the new project is that Namco Bandai is asking for fan input in choosing the title’s art style.
On the official Pac-Man Facebook page, visitors can vote for one of four designs. Choices include a cartoon-looking Pac-Mans and a more realistic-looking one.
It doesn’t look like Namco Bandai has made an official decision about which platforms the new Pac-Man will be released on. There’s a question in the survey asking about platforms gamers play casual titles on. Options include consoles, PC/Mac, and more.
Fans can answer that question and vote for the Pac-Man art style here.
Thanks to Tom for the tip.
The Nintendo Directs just keep on coming!
Nintendo of Europe has confirmed that yet another presentation will be shown on Thursday. President Satoru Shibata will host the presentation and highlight titles for the 3DS that are set to be released over the next few months.
Fans can tune in here at 7PM BST for the broadcast.
Source: Nintendo PR
REDMOND, Wash.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Nintendo is hosting two special events in New York to celebrate the upcoming launch of Pokémon Black Version 2 and Pokémon White Version 2 for the Nintendo DS family of portable video game systems. On Oct. 6 at the Nintendo World store from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., fans can gather for a chance to be among the first in the nation to purchase the games in advance of their Oct. 7 release. Additionally, the first 1,000 people in line to purchase either game will receive a unique Pokémon scarf, and all attendees will have the opportunity to take photos with costumed characters of Pokémon Snivy, Tepig and Oshawott.
A week later on Oct. 13, during New York Comic-Con, Pokémon fans can participate in a massive interactive experience at the nearby Pokémon Black Version 2 and Pokémon White Version 2 Launch Celebration, enjoying a wide array of activities highlighting the imaginative fun of the Pokémon franchise. Planned activities include live performances from the Chicago-based band I Fight Dragons, a live stage show, a Pokémon photo booth, an opportunity to receive the mythical Pokémon Genesect for attendees who bring their Nintendo 3DS or Nintendo DS and copy of the game, hands-on time with Pokédex 3D Pro for Nintendo 3DS prior to its Nov. 8 launch and live Pokémon-themed ice sculpting.
Stay tuned for the North American Nintendo Direct Mini later today!
Game Freak’s Junichi Masuda has never expressed great interest in making an online Pokemon. His stance still hasn’t changed.
Gamasutra asked Masuda if he considers there to be potential in a persistently online Pokemon title, and his response wasn’t too surprising.
While Masuda enjoys online play, he seems more interested in face-to-face communication.
Masuda drew a comparison between having a phone call and talking in person:
“I really like online connectivity, but for example, we’re having this phone call right now, and it’s really cool that we can communicate with each other from two really faraway places. But at the same time, it would also be really great if we could talk in person.
“That’s another thing we could do; it’s much more enjoyable when you’re talking in person. So I think the best way is to have kind of both at the same time, being able to enjoy this kind of faraway communication, as well as having aspects that allow you to enjoy communication face-to-face and in-person communication.”
Not Enough Shaders has conducted interviews with the three founders of Crash Lab – Steve Ellis, Martin Wakeley and Lee Musgrave. All three worked at Rare for a lengthy period of time.
Some of the more important tidbits from the interview can be found below. There’s a lot of talk about rumors from the past, cancelled projects, and more.
– Crash Lab is interested in any device that makes sense for games
– Free Radical was working on TimeSplitters 2 HD in 2008
– Jet for Gemini for the Game Boy Color was being worked on by Bits Studios
– Rare never worked on a Timber 64 game
– Pro-Am64, which featured Timber, turned into Diddy Kong Racing
– Rare’s move to keep its handheld division was made so that the team would be experienced if Microsoft ever made a handheld
– DS team essentially phased out since resources were needed for Xbox/Xbox 360 games
Musgrave on Donkey Kong Racing…
“Ha! – yes, I made that video! . . . Donkey Kong Racing was obviously pretty heavily tied to Nintendo as a franchise, and as Rare approached the finalization of a buyout deal with Microsoft it was clear that the game had no future, at least with the ape’s as characters. We switched it around to be a Sabreman game, and there was a great early Xbox prototype – but someone, somewhere decreed that it was a little too old-school for the kind of ‘revolutionary gaming experiences’ that the Xbox was capable of delivering, and so it started down a path of meandering changes, updates and ‘evolution’ that finally saw it run out of steam and fall over. There were some great ideas in the game as it developed though, and I still look back to the early racing game design and think we could have done something great with that.”
Musgrave on Donkey Kong Racing’s gameplay…
“It was a pure racing game, the underlying software mechanics were actually based on car physics, but it also incorporated the idea of riders jumping between different animals mid-race, to always be riding the ones that were bigger or faster . . . we had some awesome gameplay in place, and it was lots of fun – we even had a multiplayer version working – and when you fell off, you had to tap-tap-tap (HyperSports style) to run on foot and catch up with an animal. Fun, but it lost some appeal without the DK universe around it, and Microsoft were unsure of its potential with Xbox gamers I think.”
Be sure to check out all of the interviews here. There’s lots of interesting stuff!
Thanks to John Stemen for the tip.
This is what the process is like in getting the New Super Mario Bros. 2 DLC up and running:
