This information comes from Satoru Iwata…
To start, I’ll have to say that I don’t have any materials with me today that can illustrate precisely what our online environment will be like, but I can speak generally about the direction that we are moving in.
I think, in general, the online environment is changing quite rapidly.
So, what I have come to feel lately is that the idea of saying, “we are going to create this style of online structure and that we would like you, the developers, to fit into the online structure that we are creating” is perhaps already out-of-date.
This information comes from Masahiro Sakurai…
“Within the pattern of a given chapter, having air battle, land battle, boss battle, I would say in terms of time, from air combat to land combat it would probably be a roughly one to three ratio. The game is set so that Palutena can grant Pit the power of flight for only up to five minutes, so in that sense it’s limited to a specific amount of time. My thought on that was that if the air combat was too long, the user might get bored of that same type of gameplay, and it also gave me an opportunity to make that a very focused and tailored experience within those five minutes.
“In the ground battle stages, however, you have the ability to move along at your own pace, to explore a little bit, tactics might be different from player to player. In that sense the ground battles will most often be a lot longer than the time spent in the air. And that one to three time does not include the boss battles.”
At last year’s E3, Sakurai said that Palutena grants Pit just a few minutes to fly in the air. And based on the gameplay demos shown within the last twelve months, it became increasingly clear that players would spend time on the ground. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. I may have read more positive impressions for the air combat, but ground battles still seem like they could be enjoyable!
Like Square Enix’s last title for Wii, Mario Sports Mix, Itadaki Street Wii will have online play. Famitsu reports that the game allows users to connect with others around the country. However, it sounds like the title might not have worldwide play. In any case, I suppose it’s encouraging to see Nintendo/Square Enix incorporating online functionality into their projects more often.
Eiji Aonuma has revealed that Nintendo considered not implementing Wii MotionPlus for The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. The team planned on incorporating the technology for a couple of years, but at one point, Aonuma wasn’t so sure if he wanted to pursue usage of the peripheral. As a matter of fact, development of Skyward Sword continued without MotionPlus for two or three months.
As we all know, MotionPlus did indeed return, though perhaps it might not have happened that way if Wii Sports Resort designer Katsuya Eguchi never spoke with Aonuma. Aonuma told IGN, “Mr. Eguchi came to me and said, ‘Look at all these things you can do with Motion Plus, why wouldn’t you use this in a Zelda game? It would be strange not to!'”
You might be interested to know that the E3 2010 demo of the game was just a taste of what was to come. It was really just a preview of basic swordplay rather than an indication of how Skyward Sword would end up. Within the past year, it seems like the development team began to highlight “bringing bigger and bolder swordplay experiences to the game.”
Aonuma also told the site:
“This last year we’ve been testing those ideas, flushing them out, and integrating them into the game, bringing the whole package together. Tying all those elements together has been a big part of what we’ve done in the last year.
A new 3DS update, firmware 2.1.0-3U, has gone live in North America and Europe. It’s likely available in Japan and Australia as well.
According to an official post provided by Nintendo support, the upgrade enhances system stability and users can now receive automatic updates if the 3DS encounters a wireless Internet connection. Additionally, as was promised about a week ago, a small issue with Ridge Racer has been fixed.
Nintendo describes the update as the following:
- Further improvements to overall system stability and other minor adjustments to enhance user experience
- A correction for the screen freeze symptom experienced in the Ridge Racer 3D game
- You can receive automatic updates when a wireless internet connection is available. When the download is complete, you will receive a dialog on the HOME Menu detailing the steps to install the update
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D – 98%
Cubic Ninja – 79%
Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D – 85%
Super Adventure Island – 70%
Emily the Strange – 39%
Solatorobo: Red the Hunter – 81%
Zoonies: Escape from Makatu – 74%
The Ignition Factor – 72%
Wii Play: Motion – 70%
Max & the Magic Marker – 50%
Thanks to joclo for the tip!
The image above was embedded in a flash file on Monolith Soft’s official website. The picture is actually the same image as the one posted months ago featuring Yasuyuki Honne in front of a computer:
Some fans are speculating that the project is Baten Kaitos related. I’m a huge fan of that franchise and would welcome another sequel, but I am a bit doubtful that they would work on another entry since the sales of the first two games weren’t particularly impressive.
