You may not be aware of the fact that Shin’en has created games exclusively for Nintendo platforms since the company started in 1999. They’ve worked on titles for the Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, DS, and most recently WiiWare. Art of Balance was released on the Wii Shop Channel just a few weeks ago, but the company is continuing to work on other downloadable titles for the service. One such project is Jett Rocket, which looks very promising. Shin’en CEO/Jett Rocket director Manfred Linzner was able to answer a few questions about the game for us, as well as a few other things about Shin’en in a recent interview.
Nintendo Everything: In a few sentences, can you please describe the style of gameplay in Jett Rocket?
Manfred Linzner: “3D Jump’n’Run” desribes JR’s gameplay best. You know, free exploration, no invisible walls, free camera control. You have a great amount of moves and you can interact with many vehicles and machines. One of the coolest things JR can do is to fly to higher grounds with his Jet Pack.
Man, I can’t even begin to tell you guys how much I’ve been waiting to hear/see more of Okamiden. It’s one of my most anticipated titles right now, even though it hasn’t been confirmed for North America yet. The scan isn’t the best quality, but it’s better than nothing!
God of War III (PS3) – 10/9/9/10
Hokuto Musou (PS3/360) – 9/8/7/8
Army of Two: The 40th Day (PS3/360) – 8/8/8/7
Minna no Suizokukan (DS) – 8/7/8/8
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories (PSP) – 8/7/7/8
Pro Yakyuu Famista DS 2010 (DS) – 8/7/7/8
Prinny 2 (PSP) – 8/7/6/7
Power Smash (PS3) – 8/7/7/6
VitaminZ Revolution (PSP) – 8/7/7/6
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories (Wii) – 7/6/7/7
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories (PS2) – 7/5/7/7
Seitokai no Ichizon: DS-suru Seitokai (DS) – 6/6/7/6
This information comes from Nintendo Power…
– Gameloft handling the game
– Gameloft doesn’t want to change the original game too much since it’s a classic and they don’t want to disappoint fans
– Brighter color palette
– Redrawn sprites
– Improved sound quality
– Some music has been remixed
– Will have an Easy mode
– Easy mode changes amount of damage Jim takes, slows enemies down, provides hints on the touch screen
– Gameloft wants everyone to be able to finish the game
– Original mode will be like the original
– Earn bonuses by mimicking Jim’s face throughout the game
The following info comes from an interview with Eric Nofsinger, who was asked about the poster with a “2” on it we posted about earlier:
“We’re very excited about it, the first one was great, but this is something much better.”
If that’s not confirmation, I don’t know what is!
– Published by Namco Bandai
– Releasing this year
– Sci-fi theme
– Game takes place on Shepherd Republic, floating island world
– Inubio and Nekobito are the two races (Dog People/Cat People)
– Play as Red Savarin, a 17-year-old Inubit
– Red meets Ell Melizee who is a Nekobito
– Red and his sister (13-year-old Chocolat Gelato) travel together in the game
– Red’s mech is Dehak-AZ103
– Explore towns and dungeons while riding Dehak
– Dehak can grab enemies, pick up crates, catch/toss missiles and boxes
– Sometimes will need to explore without Dehak
– Red can break objects, climb ladders, control switches, swim, battle enemies with gun/sword combo
– Animation from Mad House studio
Just so everyone knows, this is pure speculation as of now, but you have to admit it’s pretty suspicious when I developer won’t even comment on whether a game is still in development or not. The following comes from a Kotaku article…
What’s less assuring is the fate of the Wii game. Dolan declined to comment on the status of that version, even when I pressed him to clarify whether it is or isn’t still in development. He stuck to discussing the version we could play at GDC, saying it was High Voltage’s best bet to expand into developing for next-gen consoles.
I don’t know… Something just feels very off about The Grinder these days!
“[GPS and 3G tech would enable gamers to] play online wherever you are. We would also be able to add location-based features to games.” – Nic Watt, Nnooo Games Creative Director
I wouldn’t be opposed to 3G support, but I’m not so sure about GPS. Overall, though, I would definitely like to see the DS successor be more online-friendly.
XSEED Games Releases Highly Anticipated Wii Exclusive Adventure RPG
Torrance, Calif., (March 16, 2010) – XSEED Games announced today that FRAGILE DREAMS: FAREWELL RUINS OF THE MOON has begun shipping to retailers across North America. Developed by NAMCO BANDAI Games and tri-Crescendo, FRAGILE DREAMS: FAREWELL RUINS OF THE MOON is now available exclusively for Wii™ at the suggested retail price of $49.99.
FRAGILE DREAMS: FAREWELL RUINS OF THE MOON has already begun garnering praise from critics across North America:
