This information comes from Capcom’s Motohide Eshiro…
“I actually had a chance to see and get some information about the 3DS yesterday and I think it’s a great system with a lot of potential for game designers — there’s a lot you can do with it. Especially from a graphics stand-point, there’s so much potential there. I’d like to be able to make some games for that in the future, but as far as being approached by Nintendo, I personally haven’t been approached by them to make anything for it as of yet. Maybe someone at Capcom has, but personally speaking I haven’t at this moment.
For Okamiden itself, I don’t think it’s unfortunate that we couldn’t make it a 3DS game. I’m very happy that it’s a Nintendo DS game because of the touch-screen. We wanted to make it really suited to everything you can do with the touch-screen, so we worked really hard to make sure that those aspects of the game are being fully exploited. That was the main challenge for us to overcome and hopefully when we get this into people’s hands and they start playing it, they’re going to see how great using the touch-screen is. Hopefully they have a really good reaction to Okamiden on the DS and start clamouring for a sequel. Then if they ask for that sequel on the 3DS, well… we’ll see what we can do.”
Well, I’m sure you guys know how I feel about this! In order for it to happen, it’ll need to sell well. Make sure you pick up a copy when it releases next year!
Tournament of Legends
– Most of the violence from when it was originally shown is gone
– Craig gave it a 5/10
– “An official meh”
– Graphics don’t look that great
– Craig feels like the game was rushed to make the game SEGA wanted them to make it (not official)
– Game sometimes stops so they can do something cool in the middle of the fight
– Quick time event to dodge giant feet
– Described as “bizarre”
– Filling in the gap of original third-party games
– $30, so it’s a budget game
Even though many technical specs behind the 3DS are still under wraps, one thing is certain: The system possesses a 3.53-inch widescreen and 3.02-inch touch screen. The two screens are quite a bit smaller compared to what the DSi XL offers. However, Hideki Konno, who is heading development of Nintendo’s new portable, recently explained that this was a conscious design decision. Even though the company created the handheld hoping that consumers carry it around with them, Konno said that they could make the screen larger.
“The DSi XL was quite impactful with its very large screen, but the concept for the 3DS is to have consumers bring it out of their homes and carry it around, considering all of those Tag Mode functions in the hardware. If we make it too large, consumers might not be able to carry such a heavy thing in their bags. We wanted to make it compact…We can make it larger.”
Also noteworthy, Konno stated that it’s technically possible to incorporate the 3DS screen technology into a television-size display. But due to high costs and the fact that players would need to remain still in a specific position, there are currently no plans to introduce that idea to the market.
“We could do it, but besides the cost issue, consumers would have to be in one very specific position to watch the TV or the 3-D will be completely gone. With the handheld, there is only one position.”
Last week I began what is to be known from here on out as the “Gaming Backlog Challenge” with “Call of Duty 2: Big Red One” on the Playstation 2. My goal? The start and finish the game in 1 week’s time as a kick off to eliminating my entire backlog of games once and for all. Following that, I’d pick another game on my list and complete that game within the week as well. Since I’m already off to a good start, I might as well keep the ball rolling, but first let me introduce a new player to the “Gaming Backlog Challenge”, a staff writer on our sister site GamingEverything, Mitch! He decided that he had a large backlog as well and needed to make some headway, so check out his post for the details on what he’s doing. I strongly encourage all of you to join us as well, so just e-mail me at [email protected] if you want to get in on it and I’ll add you to next week’s post!
Now, normally I’d have a short review up of the game I had just played, but I did a feature over on GamingEverything over the week that sort of made my feelings about the game clear. Check it out if you’re curious!
Videos
Nintendo Week – 5/12 Dragon Quest 2
Dragon Quest IX TV spot
Iwata Asks: Dragon Quest IX #1
Iwata Asks: Dragon Quest IX #2
Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light
Toribash Info
Balloon Pop Festival Info
Music On: Retro Keyboard Info
Demos
Dragon Ball Origins 2
Rooms DS
Battle of Giants: Mutant Insects
Deca Sports DS Cheerleading Demo
Deca Sports DS Ping Pong Demo
Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth
Bakugan Battle Brawlers
James Patterson’s Women’s Murder Club: Games of Passion
As you can see in the video above, a glitch allows players to climb down the second ladder in Donkey Kong and more or less takes you to the end of the level. A lot of gamers are aware of this apparently, but I personally never even tried it! How about you guys?
WiiWare
Balloon Pop Festival – 252 blocks
Toribash – 91 blocks
DSiWare
4 Travellers – Play French – 106 blocks
Pop Island – Paperfield – 48 blocks
Primrose – 43 blocks
Music on: Retro Keyboard – 30 blocks
27/7 Solitaire – 21 blocks
Hideki Konno on how the 3DS’ screen works…
“The basic technology is quite old. For example, like a lenticular sticker where you shift it left and right and it shows different pictures. If we simply prepare a picture for the left eye, and a picture for the right eye, and the eyes each see a separate picture, it looks 3-D. The theory is the same, although it’s not a lenticular screen.”
Konno on why no one has used that technology in a videogame system before…
“We have been doing these experiments for a very long time, starting from the NES era. We also tried with the Virtual Boy. And even for GameCube, with the development of Luigi’s Mansion, we were thinking of developing a 3-D version of it. However, at that time it was very difficult to realize it as an actual product on the market, because of the resolution of the screen and the separate costs of the console and screen…We have been waiting, going to tech shows and seeing the latest 3-D technology and devices that support those features. We started to have more confidence that this might be a good time to bring 3-D back to Nintendo.
