We’ve seen plenty of people play video game songs on a violin plenty of times, but these videos have a twist. The performer actually included the sound effects from the titles as well. For instance, in the Super Mario Bros. video above, the violinist cuts from the song to the “coin jumping sound” when Mario hits one of the blocks.
You can check out a few additional videos after the break.
Retro Studios’ Bryan Walker on Miyamoto’s initial involvement…
“He was very clear from the get-go about his expectations for the ground-pound. It wasn’t just BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM. It had to be [slapping his knee rapidly] buh-BAM, buh-BAM, buh-BAM! He was extremely emphatic about our direction, that we’re making a better DKC.”
Kensuke Tanabe on including family characters…
“There was a direction from Mr. Miyamoto as to what to up point in the series’ legacy to draw from, but I think it will be the most fun for people to play it themselves and see who pops up along the way. I know people certainly have enjoyed them in the past so we are definitely considering those elements of gameplay. But you’ll have to excuse me for keeping this secret for a little while longer.”
Tanabe/Walker on water levels…
Tanabe: “There are no underwater stages this time around.”
Walker: “[The water levels] felt slow… It just wasn’t the kind of gameplay we were looking for.”
Tanabe on a possible King K.Roo return…
“There will be no alligators in this game.
Retro president Michael Kelbaugh on changing from Metroid Prime to Donkey Kong Country…
“Initially we were thinking storyline, storyline. We would constantly re-focus the designers and say, ‘Hey, this isn’t Metroid Prime. This isn’t a long, detailed lore-based historical story.’ This is as simple as ‘Somebody is stealing bananas and I have to get them back.’ We shifted gears from making a very gritty, sci-fi edgy type of environment to such a whimsical character. We constantly have to revisit [questions like] ‘Why would Donkey Kong do this?’ or ‘Why would this environment be like this?’ And then we start thinking: ‘We’re making a game about a gorilla wearing a tie.'”
Ingvar Petursson Will Oversee Modernization of Technology and Systems
REDMOND, Wash., June 25, 2010 – Nintendo of America announces the appointment of a new senior vice president to spearhead the modernization of the company’s internal information systems. Ingvar Petursson has been hired as the senior vice president of Information Services. Effective July 19, Petursson will oversee all aspects of NOA’s Information Services functions, including enterprise applications development, enterprise infrastructure and risk management.
“Ingvar brings a wealth of information technology knowledge and experience to Nintendo,” said Jim Cannataro, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Administration. “He will be tasked with the multi-year project of modernizing our systems.”
“Having people play together is a theme that’s always stuck in my mind, but it’s about trying to create what would work best for Legend of Zelda. We haven’t really found the perfect vehicle for that, but it’s a theme that I’m thinking about all the time, and I hope to be able to come up with an idea that will move us in that direction at some point. [I am interested in] the idea of communication between players. Let’s say a player does something in their game that affects an area, and then that is communicated back to another system, and that would introduce new elements to your game. I find that sort of communication really interesting. Obviously, we have thought about DLC, and we are thinking about it.” – Eiji Aonuma
I’ve never been interested in seeing online elements in Zelda games since I’ve always considered the series to be a single-player experience. Then again, what Aonuma said about communication between players sounds appealing. How do you guys feel about taking Zelda online?
