Team Ninja has been one of Wii U’s early supporters. The studio will be bringing a unique version of Ninja Gaiden III to the console when it launches later this year.
Ninja Gaiden III director Fumihiko Yasuda and Team Ninja head Yosuke Hayashi were interviewed in the February issue of Nintendo Gamer, and both men sounded positive about Wii U development.
First, Yasuda commented on Wii U development in general. He said:
“It’s very easy to develop for. We’re finding it very similar to develop for Wii U as for the Xbox 360 and PS3. …They’ve asked us what we would like to see from the hardware, and when we give them feedback we can see that they’re definitely listening to it and making changes. The hardware is still constantly changing.”
Hayashi then commented on the Wii U’s unique controller:
“I think it’s a really big deal that you have a screen right there in your hands; it’s a feature that’s really unique.”
Hayashi once again commented on how Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword will connect to the Ninja Gaiden III on Wii U:
“The Wii U’s touch control is just like the DS’s. We released a Ninja Gaiden game, Dragon Sword, on DS, so we want to introduce some elements from that into the Wii U version.”
Finally, Hayashi was asked if Dead or Alive 5 would be possible on Wii U. Although he wouldn’t commit to anything, he did say that “we’re definitely keeping other platforms in mind for DOA5.”
“We’re thinking about all sorts of things. Right now, our Wii U development is focused just on Ninja Gaiden, but we’re definitely keeping other platforms in mind for DOA5.”
Thanks to joclo for providing us with this information!
It’s true that Nintendo fans are pleased that they’ll finally be able to see their favorite franchises in HD, but, unfortunately, Nintendo is a bit late to the party. Both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 have been supporting HD games with high-quality visuals for a number of years.
Nintendo is aware of this, which is one reason why they’ve introduced the Wii U controller. The tablet is one element that is completely unique and it sounds like the company might be introducing unique network functionality in the future.
Shigeru Miyamoto teased, “Although I cannot elaborate on its network functions today, as we are preparing for the launch of the Wii U, we are taking into consideration its network-related capabilities.”
Read on for Miyamoto’s full comments:
“Regarding the size of the development teams, after releasing various titles this year, I think that we will be able to explain about the teams that are developing the software, but we have already started working with a number of other companies. Talking about game development in general, if we develop video games based upon similar concepts and scale as before and release it for multiple hardware systems, the time each developer has to spend to do similar work again and again increases, which is not so interesting for the developers. Talking about the Wii U, it is going to be compatible with high-definition TV sets, which are now widespread and, with the graphics capabilities catching up to the general trend, some people consider it to be the ‘next-generation Wii.’ On the other hand, as far as graphics capabilities are concerned, there are already other hardware systems with similar functions. Therefore, we have designed the Wii U to be recognized as being different from any other hardware system. Although I cannot elaborate on its network functions today, as we are preparing for the launch of the Wii U, we are taking into consideration its network-related capabilities.”
“In short, the bottom line is the number of new things which are possible only on Wii U we can create, and our basic policy is to nurture the younger people who can think about the ways to create such things. We are making efforts so that when we release applicable software in the future, you will be pleasantly surprised and you might say, ‘Oh, this is what you were trying to achieve!’ or ‘These are the titles you were preparing.'”
Satoru Iwata has commented on the role of graphics for Wii U and Nintendo’s stance on visuals in general.
In some instances, it will be necessary to create some titles that feature “very rich graphics” with long development times. When it comes to Zelda on Wii U, “fans must be looking for the graphic representations that they do not see as cheap at all when the title is released”.
On the other hand, according to Iwata, there is software that some games may not follow that route Rhythm Heaven Fever is an example of this.
Iwata said:
“You are asking for my comment as a judge, but I also need to think about the software content, so my remarks are two sided. Looking at the software for home console systems, there are certainly the software titles for which very rich graphics must be reproduced on HD displays and which demand a large number of developers to spend a very long time to develop. It is one of the truths that a certain number of such software titles must be prepared, or the consumers will not be satisfied. But we do not think that any and all the software must be created in that fashion. When you look at Nintendo’s software, extraordinary rich graphics, massive gameplay volume and astonishing rendition effects are not necessarily the appealing point. It is, in fact, important for us that our games are appealing in other ways as well. An example of this is the Wii software, ‘RHYTHM HEAVEN FEVER,’ that we released last year in Japan. It became one of the hits, but if we had adopted rich photo-realistic graphics, it would have lost much of its appeal rather than improving its appeal. Similarly, about the Japanese title ‘Tomodachi Collection’ for Nintendo DS, the developers themselves confirmed that this software is based upon the “cheap concept.” It is not necessary for us to deploy a huge number of people in order to develop such games. When we need massive power and have a lack of internal resources, we collaborate with outside resources and pour necessary resources to where they are needed. We are increasing the frequency of working with outside developers where Mr. Miyamoto and our internal developers alone used to develop. At the same time, however, we do not forget to ask ourselves in each such opportunity, ‘Isn’t this something our internal resources alone could sufficiently deal with?’ Also, when we have such a doubt in the development as, ‘Will such cheap pictures do in terms of today’s home console graphics’ standard?,’ sometimes we conclude that ‘showing such pictures are unique and rather appealing, so it’s OK.’ So, there are a variety of different ways to show the unique appeal of software. What’s important here is not to narrow down what we can do. Rather, we have to create the dynamic range of appeals that the consumers can appreciate. We decided to make a proposal of an additional screen into the Wii U controller because developers could think of a variety of different possibilities here and there of using both a big TV screen and a screen in a player’s hand. As we will showcase the Wii U at E3 in June this year, the detailed announcements must wait until then, but we are aiming to make a system which shall not be forced into competing with the others where the contenders can fight only with massive developer resources and long development times as their weapons. Having said that, however, as I mentioned, it is true that, in some software areas, we need to be engaged in the power games. Take The Legend of Zelda franchise, for example, the fans must be looking for the graphic representations that they do not see as cheap at all when the title is released for the Wii U. When it is necessary, we do not hesitate to role out our resources.”
A portion of the DS’ success can be attributed to casual titles such as Brain Age and Nintendogs. However, Nintendo has yet to introduce the same software to the 3DS.
Nintendo won’t be porting any of the Touch Generations games to the 3DS, but they are working on a number of casual titles for the system.
President Satoru Iwata said:
“As for the ‘Touch-Generations’ titles for the Nintendo DS, as many of you recognize that these titles were able to gain popularity among different consumers and to expand the total number of consumers for the hardware, we often receive such questions as ‘Why don’t you do the same for the Nintendo 3DS?’ If the company was to simply port these ‘Touch-Generations’ titles to the Nintendo 3DS, there would be nothing fresh. Although we have not included the software in the lineup that we have announced so far for this year, we are, of course, preparing several titles with which we will be able to aim to expand the entire gaming population. By releasing these titles in the market, and by linking them with other network activities of the company, by taking advantage of such communications among friends as ‘Swapnote’ or interactions in public enabled by ‘StreetPass’ communication, if we can beef up the joy of the software, and if we can communicate to consumers the brand-new experiences such software can deliver, I believe we will certainly make a change. For example, in comparison to the Nintendo DS and the Wii, fewer senior consumers are using the Nintendo 3DS today. It must be inevitable as there are few titles among the Nintendo 3DS software so far developed with this age demographic in mind. The situation must change after applicable software is introduced. However, for the Nintendo 3DS, we have to first maintain the situation in which the current owners of the Nintendo 3DS will be satisfied. We cannot put too much priority on expanding the entire user demographic at present. It is important to maintain a good sense of balance here.”
We’ve seen lots of tributes to Zelda through the years. Fans have created Flash games, amazing art pieces, and plenty of other content to show their love for the series.
“Zelda: The Lost Oracle” might be the most impressive Zelda fan-project yet.
Joel Furtado made the minute long clip above as he’s a big fan of the franchise. The video, which is based on a new Zelda title he’d like to see for Wii U, features some absolutely incredible animation.
It’s truly impressive, so be sure to check it out!
