“I consider every possibility. I think the games need something familiar combined with new elements.” – Game Freak Director Shigeki Morimoto
“If we thought totally reinventing the series would be attractive enough, we would definitely try. But, if we want to simply try something new, then, I just add those ideas to a new series. I always try to create a game that anybody, including those who have never played before, can enjoy.” – Junichi Masuda, producer of HeartGold/SoulSilver
I feel like fans have been hoping to see some changes with the Pokemon RPG titles. Personally, it seems like it would be beneficial to update the graphics and perhaps even sound effects. However, like Morimoto said, the series shouldn’t be given a complete overhaul.
Become a squad leader in Marines: Modern Urban Combat
Northamptonshire, UK Thursday 25th March 2010 – O Games announces Marines: Modern Urban Combat the new squad based shooter, exclusively for the Wii, out June 2010.Become a Marine in this compelling and realistic squad based military shooter, using the tactics and tools of the real US Marine Corps. Lead your squad through the deadly streets of Beirut and command them to their posts using the intuitive Wii Remote™ controls.
01. / 00. [PS3] Yakuza 4: Densetsu o Tsugumono (Sega) – 384.000 / NEW
02. / 00. [PSP] Gundam: Assault Survive (Namco Bandai) – 91.000 / NEW
03. / 01. [NDS] Pokemon Ranger: Tracks of Light (Pokemon Co.) – 49.000 / 275.000 (-25%)
04. / 03. [WII] New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Nintendo) – 37.000 / 3.524.000 (+6%)
05. / 02. [NDS] Friend Collection (Nintendo) – 35.000 / 2.988.000 (-3%)
06. / 05. [PSP] Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce 2 (Koei) – 19.000 / 51.000 (-40%)
07. / 10. [WII] Wii Fit Plus (Nintendo) – 19.000 / 1.761.000 (-10%)
08. / 04. [PSP] Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman! 3D (SCE) – 18.000 / 52.000 (-47%)
09. / 09. [NDS] Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies (Ultimate Hits) (Square Enix) – 15.000 / 78.000 (-32%)
10. / 11. [PSP] God Eater (Namco Bandai) – 15.000 / 579.000 (-21%)
– Separation between knights and mercenaries in the game
– Knights ranked highly, try to master their skills
– Mercenaries treated like “disposable units”, have to look for work
– Main characters are mercenaries, director says they “have dreams of becoming knights, but fight on the boundaries of death as mercenaries”
– Mercenaries want power to protect loved ones (villages have been burned down, possessions stolen, etc)
– “‘Extreme Power’ is poured onto those who harbor ‘sadness and loneliness’ … however, they must not make mistakes in how it is used.” – director
– Producer says mercenaries always fight, makes them detested, knights are symbol of authority
– Producer says Mercenaries want to be like the knights
Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions hasn’t been confirmed for Nintendo platforms yet, but I’d be surprised if the game didn’t land on the Wii/DS.
– Beenox Studios working on the game
– Spider-Man will visit numerous locations instead of just the city
– “prepare to be surprised with the unique, unexpected worlds Spider-Man will adventure through in Activision’s latest foray”
– New universe “never before seen in Spider-Man video games”
– Will have two new villians
– More details at Wonder Con next week
Shigeru Miyamoto on the sales slowdown in 2009…
“Well, I think any entertainment products are less susceptible to changes in the economy. The fact that in 2009 we were not able to sell more than we did in 2008 was simply that in comparison, we were not able to produce fun-enough products. There are always ups and downs in this business. As long as we create unique and unprecedented experiences with video games, there should be nothing to worry about.”
Miyamoto on whether he believes the market is becoming saturated…
“Some may call 2008 the peak year for the current generation of video games. But there is always the opportunity to further expand video-game entertainment, and invite more people to enjoy playing. I think we needed to understand what any entertainment business is all about. There is no fixed demand for entertainment in general, and video games are not an exception. As long as we can create something new, which can offer some unprecedented experience, there is always demand we can create. So there is a lot of responsibility on the shoulders of game creators. We try to see that not as a limit, but as an enormous and unlimited opportunity in front of us. Looking back, video games used to be entertainment that was new and fresh to everyone, everyone was interested. But gradually there appeared a certain separation, and until quite recently video games became something for a particular audience; there was a separation between people who play video games and people who don’t. And looking at that kind of situation, I personally wanted to break down the wall between the two, and bring back gaming to anybody, the general public, just as it used to be many years ago.”
Camille Guermonprez, founder of Arkedo Studio…
“This could be pretty exciting. As you may know, Arkedo always loves it when we have to take one specific ergonomic feature, and play around with it. So with the DS-from-the-future, we can’t wait to put our hands on it. It definitively sounds like fun and the potential could be huge, as often is with Nintendo. Count us in.”
Owner and creative director of Renegade Kid, Jools Watsham…
“Based on what I’ve heard about the 3DS specs, I think it will be the best handheld system to date. To be honest, I think the 3D aspect of the console is just the icing on what is already an extremely powerful system. I expect the 3DS to have the graphical power of a GameCube, plus all of the other delights such as two screens, rumble, motion control, wi-fi, and an analog stick. The 3D feature is wonderful, for sure, but it will only be appropriate for certain things. [Nintendo] produces the best handheld systems, [the system will] deliver a platform worthy of a successor to the Nintendo DSi. [I am] very interested in developing for the 3DS.”
– Romantic friendship simulation
– Can choose between three girls (Manaka Takane, Rinko Kobayakawa, or Nene Anegasaki)
– Realtime events
– No set ending
– “The previous game was a shot in the dark in many aspects for us. After it was released, we slowly began to learn what sort of title we should release next, listening to what gamers needed and which features didn’t really pan out. With all that in mind, the core concept in this project was to expand the depiction of daily life more than we did before.”
– First game to use 4-gigabit DS ROM
– Releasing this summer in Japan
– Summer events like vacation trips (spend 2 nights at the beach), hot-spring resort
– “Nights are going to be tough for gamers. Your girlfriend will say things like ‘Okay, who’s going to turn the lights out first?’, and it’ll really get exciting — you won’t be in any mood to sleep, I don’t think. The days are packed, too, and I think you’ll seriously want to take a real day off to enjoy all the event scenes.”
– Can bring over save data from the first title, unlocks illustration galleries and other bonuses
– Nintendo DSi XL bundles
