Have you ever heard of Twin Peaks? It was a show that aired in America in 1990 and ended after a second season in 1991. Now… why the heck am I talking about this? Well, according to Shigeru Miyamoto, it influenced the way he handled characters in Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
Miyamoto: But while making it, I noticed that I didn’t want to tell a story so much as I wanted to have a lot of people appear around the main character and portray their relationships. Some years back, a television show called Twin Peaks was popular. When I saw that, the most interesting thing wasn’t the ins and outs of the story, but what kinds of characters appeared.
Iwata: Oh, (Takashi) Tezuka-san said the same thing in our session of “Iwata Asks” over The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks.
Miyamoto: Oh, he did?
Iwata: Tezuka-san told the staff of The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening that he wanted them to have a bunch of suspicious characters appear like in Twin Peaks.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is partially known for its expansive lands and Hyrule Field’s wide-open area. Early on in development, however, none of that existed.
Shigeru Miyamoto revealed in the latest Iwata Asks that, initially, he was thinking of only including Ganon’s Castle as the setting in the game. Miyamoto compared the idea to Super Mario 64, in which separate adventures would be made available in different rooms. Ganon’s Castle would have acted like a hub, just like Peach’s Castle in Super Mario 64.
Miyamoto: Right. So I would have “A” stay there all the time and the other data switch in and out. If you only change what you have to, the memory is more efficient and the data reads more quickly. In other words, you make good use of the characteristics of the ROM.
We put constructing the system first, and since we were going to determine the story in line with the system’s capacity, at first I thought only having Ganon’s Castle might be enough.
Iwata: Huh? At first you imagined Ganon’s Castle as the only setting?
Last night, Nintendo of America finally responded to the large amount of feedback they’ve been receiving about the lack of Xenoblade, The Last Story, and Pandora’s Tower news in America. But, admittedly, it was a bit dull. They only told fans to “Look for more updates to come soon”.
That update appears to be coming sooner than originally thought. IGN’s executive Nintendo editor Rich George has revealed on his Twitter account that a more proper response will be provided on their website sometime today:
“Nintendo will have a comment on @OpRainfall ‘Missing Wii games’ movement later today. Stay tuned to @IGN and well have it for you. #myign”
George followed up that remark by saying “Have modest expectations. Don’t start thinking ‘MEGATON!'” and “I think the movement has generated so much publicity that it’s tough not to say something one way or the other.”
Honestly, I have no idea whether this means we’ll be seeing any of these games confirmed for North America. Xenoblade is the most probable candidate to be announced – again, that’s if there even if an announcement – though The Last Story and moreso Pandora’s Tower will likely be staying in Japan for now. Technically, neither title has even been announced for Europe.
Marvel Super Hero Squad: The Infinity Gauntlet was released for all major platforms last year, including the DS. According to Nintendo Power, Griptonite Games is also working on a 3DS version.
The title will be comprised of top-down action-adventure gameplay. It’ll be offering numerous playable characters including Captain America, Wolverine, and Spider-Man. More details can be seen below.
– Save the universe from Thanos
– Retrieve boots that Iron Man bought Thor for this birthday
– Unique powers and abilities for each hero
– Swap to the right character for each task
– Hulk: Lift heavy objects
– Invisible Woman: Bypass sensors
– Iron Man: Hack computers (done through a touch-screen mini-game)
– Seven levels
– New stage exclusive to 3DS version
– Locations include Asgard and Asteriod M
– Fight villains including Super-Skrull and Dr. Doom
Marvel Super Hero Squad: The Infinity Gauntlet will be released in the third quarter of 2011 for 3DS.
Club Nintendo has been updated with a message informing members that the Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D soundtrack offer has ended. Those who registered the game prior to Saturday should be all set. CDs should begin shipping on July 5.
“The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D Official Soundtrack CD Offer has ended. Thanks to all who participated!”
Twitter user supererogatory has discovered a slew of domains picked up by Activision. Registered websites include goldeneyereloadedgame.com, goldeneye007gamereloaded.com, goldeneyereloaded007.com, and goldeneye007reloaded.com.
GoldenEye 007 saw a revival on Wii last year and was met with both critical and financial success. However, that doesn’t guarantee that a new entry in the franchise will necessary appear on a Nintendo platform. Activision is definitely bringing a new GoldenEye 007 to market though, as indicated in their 2011 product lineup.
eShop
Kirby’s Dream Land (Game Boy) – €4
DSiWare
A Fairy Tale – €2
Successfully Learning German – Year 3 – €5
WiiWare
Successfully Learning German – Year 3 – 500 Points
Hideo Kojima recently received a great deal of attention for some remarks he made to Nintendo Power. The Metal Gear creator expressed some significant disdain for the NES version of Metal Gear. Kojima told the magazine:
“I had absolutely no participation in the development of the NES version. The NES version was a pitiful title developed cheaply and simply by a small team in Tokyo. That was during the bubble economy where anything and everything that was released would sell. I came across the game in a bargain bin and tried playing it, but the game design is pretty bad. There is some new gameplay that includes infiltrating a base that didn’t exist in the original. However, even I, the developer of the original game, was unable to infiltrate the base even once. Furthermore, being ‘Metal Gear,’ it goes without saying that Metal Gear should make an appearance at the end. However, from what I’ve heard, due to technical difficulties in displaying the spirte on the screen, they swapped Metal Gear out for a gigantic monitor. That made me see that those who created the game had no sliver of appreciation for the players. However, even though it was an abomination, it was during the bubble economy and it sold millions overseas. That title has only soiled my reputation.”
Of course, this news post wouldn’t be complete without some commentary from Kojima regarding Snake’s Revenge on the NES. Interestingly, Kojima told Nintendo Power that if the game was never developed, then Metal Gear 2 on the MSX2 and MGS for PlayStation would never have been been created.
“I wasn’t involved with Snake’s Revenge for the NES either. However, this was created by the Kobe development team and wasn’t what I would consider a ‘bad game.’ Actually, one of my juniors was working on the NES Snake’s Revenge and he said to me, ‘We’re making a sequel to Metal Gear, but what I really want is a true sequel made by you, Kojima-san.’ It’s because of that request that I ended up creating Metal Gear 2 on the MSX2. If Snake’s Revenge for the NES had never existed then there would not have been an MG2 and there would never have been an MGS for the PS1.”
Individual formats
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– 4 F.E.A.R. 3 XB360 WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE
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All formats
1 1 ZUMBA FITNESS PIPEWORKS 505 GAMES 505 GAMES
4 2 L.A. NOIRE TEAM BONDI ROCKSTAR TAKE 2
– 3 F.E.A.R. 3 DAY 1 STUDIOS WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE
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5 9 BRINK SPLASH DAMAGE BETHESDA SOFTWORKS BETHESDA SOFTWORKS
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33 40 F1 2010 CODEMASTERS BIRMINGHAM CODEMASTERS CODEMASTERS
Early on in the 3DS’ lifecycle, Capcom announced two brand new Resident Evil games for the handheld. Now that Nintendo has introduced another piece of hardware, might the company consider bringing the franchise to Wii U as well?
While nothing has been announced, both Resident Evil: Raccoon City producer Masachika Kawata and designer Kenji Matsuura expressed quite a bit of interest in the console when speaking to CVG. Kawata went as far as to say that he would love to work on a Resident Evil game for Wii U.
“Whether or not we actually will develop a Resident Evil title for Wii U, we’ll put that aside as obviously I don’t know yet. But for me personally, I’d love to do just that. It’s a very, very interesting piece of hardware. Whenever I see new game machines and their new possibilities get into my head, the ideas just start flowing. I’d absolutely love to make a Resident Evil on it. I really love the idea of being able to play the game even if my wife or my kids come and steal the TV. That’s great, brilliant.”
“As a game designer, when I see Wii U, my first thoughts are: ‘Oh wow, I could do this or that, or what would happen if I try to make a game like X,Y or Z.’ My motivation instantly goes through the roof and I want to try a lot of interesting new things. Nothing’s been decided specifically for Resident Evil but it certainly would be interesting.”
