– No MotionPlus, doesn’t fit in with the gameplay
– Red Fly Studios chosen due to business decisions (time frame/dev cycle more flexible, Krome was busy)
– Bigger support from LucasArts
– No 3DS version, but Star Wars will end up on the platform in the future
– Wii game has the same content as the HD versions
– Exclusive 4-player fighting mode for Wii
– Unconfirmed: MotionPlus Star Wars project in the works
Thanks to Robert for the tip!
– Fall 2010 release for DS
– Magic book still coming
– Grown system for raising “Imagine” partner characters
– Over 300 partner characters
– Mix/match partner characters, create a team with them to support Oliver
The quotes below come from Tetsuya Nomura…
“We had originally planned to make Coded playable on a wider variety of mobile phones. However, we wound up supporting far fewer than we first envisioned, and in the end it was released on nothing at all in North America. As a result, we decided to release Re:coded on the most popular hardware out there so more people can play it. It also helped that the game was designed for non-analog controls from the start.”
“We originally planned for a straight port from the mobile-phone version, but due to differences in resolution and so forth, everything except for the movie scenes had to be rebuilt. After thinking over the capabilities of the platform, we decided to redo the game sections in 3D and keep the text-based events in 2D. In 358/2 Days we built realtime events with low-poly character models, but they didn’t have as much impact as we thought considering the amount of work that went into them. We really wanted to show off the characters here, so the event scenes work as they did in The World Ends With You. There’s a wide variety of expressions and poses to each character, so even though it’s 2D, the visuals still have a real depth to them.”
“The concept of the battle system was to take Coded, add 358/2 Days and Birth by Sleep, and incorporate all of the parts that made each of those games special. Mixing all three together resulted in something completely new, so I think even people who played Coded already can enjoy this.”
“One of the concepts of this project was to aim for something casual users could enjoy. We concentrated on core users in 358/2 Days, and we received feedback that the game’s controls were hard to use. With this game, we retained the simplified controls from the mobile-phone Coded — there’s an auto-jump feature, and you’ll automatically move toward enemies even if you’re a little too far out of range to attack. I think that makes the game more exciting to play than 358/2 Days. Tai Yasue, co-director on Birth by Sleep, is balancing the battle system in this game, and the same team’s reworking the maps as well.”
“Instead of multiplayer, we’re concentrating on local-based online content. Coded allowed you to use avatars from [the mobile-phone only] Kingdom Hearts Online, but these avatars will also appear in Re:coded as part of the online interface. Most of the avatars we’ve released so far will be in there, so you can use Birth By Sleep’s heroes or Lightning from Final Fantasy XIII if you like.”
“It’s over 80% complete. We made people wait a while between announcing Birth by Sleep and releasing it, but that won’t happen this time — we’ll announce a release date soon.”
“(Kingdom Hearts 3DS)It’s not a remake, but a wholly new project. Sora and Riku are the two heroes this time, and we’re selecting new worlds for the game now. 3D is going to be the next step forward for the series after 358/2 Days, BbS and Coded.”
“I can’t say yet (what the story will be like) but it’ll be something that player won’t expect, something that tears down story developments that have been going along with expectations up to now. There are a lot of hints put into Re:coded along those lines, so if you’re interested, I hope you can give it a try. We’ll release it as quickly as we can — I can’t say anything more at this point.”
“Their (Sora, Jiminy) hurting will be mended / when you return to end it” (in Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded)
“Over the past half year, we haven’t been particularly forthcoming with information, but for these two titles (Re:Coded and The 3rd Birthday), starting this month, we’ll be constantly sharing detailed information until release.”
“There are other games that have yet to be announced, and at this Fall’s Tokyo Game Show there will also be new announcements, so please look forward to it.”
– Jiminy’s report is digitized by King Mickey, Sora can’t receive it as a result of odd corruption is the Disney world
– Mysterious blocks have started appearing, King Mickey wants Sora to find out what’s happening
– Heartless starting to take over Disney castle
– Dialog someone different than the mobile version
– Auto-jump option available
– A few side-scrolling stages
In addition to the details above, Yoko Shimomura spoke about her work in the game in the latest Famitsu…
– Doing 3 songs
– Normura’s orders for the game aren’t too tough, so she can relax
– Shimomura composed 2 songs for the original Coded title
– “Data World” song was presented to Famitsu: Comparable to Famicom chip tunes, but with the feel of Kingdom Hearts
– The game will feature a number of songs from the Kingdom Hearts series
Iwata on Wii sales this year…
“I cannot say that the recession has no effect on the sales of video games. My belief is we should not blame the bad economy for the cause of slow sales of video games. The slow sales must be due to the lack of great software that everyone wants to buy. We have not shown off the great attractions of whatever we are selling. This is not the problem of Nintendo alone, but the entire video game industry. After all, something that is really fresh can make our industry grow. The important thing we have to tackle is making attractive games and marketing them well toward the end of this year. I think the whole industry should be more cautious about how we act and how the general public perceives us. In the past, the formula was to make the computer graphics more gorgeous. It used to fit the taste of the majority of the gaming audience, but it doesn’t work so well in this day and age. It’s more difficult for us to come up with something new and different and show people how different we are. The whole industry has to recognize that. Looking at the product line-ups this year, these titles might have been big hits three years ago. But now this year, they are not selling that much. In other words, people get tired of games more quickly than they did before. When you look at our 3D games concept, we recognize it will not be eternally appealing. However, it’s not a shallow concept that can be forgotten as a momentary fad.”
Inazuma Eleven 3: Sekai e no Chousen!! Bomber (DS) – 9/8/8/9
BlazBlue: Continuum Shift (PS3/360) – 9/8/9/8
Taiko no Tatsujin DS: Dororon! Youkai Daikessen!! (DS) – 9/8/8/8
Digimon Story: Lost Evolution (DS) – 8/8/7/7
Hanayaka Kana, Ware ga Ichizoku (PSP) – 8/7/8/7
Elminage II DS Remix: Sousei no Megami to Unmai no Daichi (DS) – 8/7/7/6
Thanks to Ross M for the tip!
KH Re:Coded
– Developed so that more fans can play the game
– DS was chosen since many consumers have purchased it
– Also developed knowing that an analog stick wasn’t needed
– Same story as Coded
– Major changes aside from event scenes
– Targeted more towards casual gamers, but a difficulty setting will be available
– Design concept is a mix of Coded/358/2 Days/Birth by Sleep
– Birth by Sleep co-director overseeing the battle planning, same team working on map design
– Level-up system will be an expansion of the ideas from 358/2 Days
– Some multiplayer elements
– Unlock avatars that include characters from Birth by Sleep, Lightning from Final Fantasy XIII
– Secret movie will be included
– 80% complete
Kingdom Hearts 3D
– Completely new game
– Next stage of the franchise following Coded/358/2 Days/Birth by Sleep
– Play as Sora and Riku
– New worlds to visit
– A number of hints in Re:coded relating to 3D
– More info/announcement at E3 2011
