“This is our big last hurrah for DS games. That’s it for original stuff. We’re now going to move on to consoles in the next year. We might still do DS; I’m not saying we’re not going to [develop DS games]. But our focus is definitely going to be on console.” – 5TH Cell cofounder and creative director Jeremiah Slaczka
Mr. Slaczka also commented on how he would turn Scribblenauts into a franchise…
“[There are] all kinds of cool things we could do with it…We’re definitely keeping it in-house for a while. I really like Scribblenauts and think there’s a lot of potential there, so we’ll see what happens.”
I do hope that 5th Cell will produce more DS titles sometime in the future. The company has provided the handheld with some fantastic games in Drawn to Life, Lock’s Quest, and the soon-to-be-released Scribblenauts.
We already know about a few of the changes in Metroid Prime 1/2 for Metroid Prime Trilogy, but the developers of the series provided a full rundown in a recent developer’s voice interview.
“Just a tremendous upgrade as far as the fluidity of the controls, the HUD’s a little bit different,
the reticule is different as it relates to how you target your enemies now, lock-on’s a little bit different.” – Michael Kelbaugh, Executive Producer/President & CEO
“The biggest impact is that player’s see more of the art and intricate design that we put into the levels.” – Mike Wikan, Senior Designer
“We’ve gone in and surgically repaired textures with higher resolution versions.” – Mike Wikan, Senior Designer
“There were some parts where it was a bit slow…” – Risa Tabata, Assistant Producer
“…And where before you would have to wait for doors to open, the wait time is a lot shorter.” – Kensuke Tanabe, Producer
“We looked at a few of the bosses and made small refinements to those encounters.” – Mike Wikan, Senior Designer
Thanks to Jake for the news tip!
PLATFORMS: Nintendo DS™
RELEASE DATE: October 2009
PUBLISHER: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
DEVELOPER: 5TH Cell
PEGI RATING: 12+
USK RATING: 6
GENRE: Emergent Puzzle/ActionPRODUCT OVERVIEW:
Scribblenauts is a completely original game play experience that anyone can play, offering fun for all ages with two styles of game play and more than 200 levels. In Scribblenauts, players use the Nintendo DS™ touch-screen to help their character Maxwell acquire the Starite in each level by solving a series of puzzles armed with their stylus, notepad and imagination.
Since I was away on vacation last week, I don’t have the positions of where the titles were today. Next week the list will be complete again, though!
DSiWare
1 – Flipnote Studio
2 – Nintendo DSi Browser
3 – Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again!
4 – Paper Airplane Chase
5 – Asphalt 4: Elite Racing
6 – Bird & Beans
7 – WarioWare: Snapped!
8 – Dr. Mario Express
9 – Art Style: precipice
10 – Guitar Rock Tour
11 – Sudoku Student
12 – Master of Illusion Express: Deep Psyche
13 – Mario Clock
14 – Mario Calculator
15 – Photo Clock
16 – Art Style: Boxlife
17 – Brain Age Express: Arts & Letters
18 – American Popstar: Road to Celebrity
19 – Brain Challenge
20 – Master of Illusion Express: Funny Face
WiiWare
1 – Reel Fishing Challenge
2 – Sexy Poker
3 – My Aquarium
4 – NyxQuest: Kindred Spirits
5 – My Pokemon Ranch
6 – World of Goo
7 – Tales of Monkey Island – Chapter 1
8 – Final Fantasy IV: The After Years
9 – Tetris Party
10 – Texas Hold’em Tournament
11 – Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a Darklord
12 – Water Warfare
13 – Dr. Mario Online Rx
14 – Overturn
15 – Family Mini Golf
16 – Defend Your Castle
17 – Bust-A-Move Plus!
18 – Brain Challenge
19 – CueSports – Pool Revolution
20 – Ant Nation
VC
1 – Super Mario Bros. 3
2 – Super Mario Bros.
3 – Super Mario World
4 – The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask
5 – Super Mario Bros. 2
6 – Super Star Wars
7 – Super Mario 64
8 – Punch-Out!!
9 – The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
10 – The Legend of Zelda
11 – Mario Kart 64
12 – Pac-Man
13 – Donkey Kong Country
14 – Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
15 – Paper Mario
16 – Donkey Kong
17 – Sonic the Hedgehog 2
18 – The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
19 – Galga
20 – Excitebike
We shared some of the first screenshots of Call of Duty 4 on Wii earlier today. Now some of the first details have been released.
– Gamescom version is “almost beta”
– Nothing was taken down from the original version, everything is included: every multiplayer map, every multiplayer mode, all the original AI in single mode, all campaign modes from PS360.
– DLC not included. Neither Wii Speak/Motionplus.
– One of the reasons they’re porting the game is to continue the evolution of Treyarch’s engine. Graphical improvements in some textures resolution, general performance, new particle effects. 30 fps.
– WaW connections numbers on Wii were over any expectation, and were a complete surprise, which is one of the reasons for this game/multi
– Online improvements: now up to 10 players, host migration and possibility to invite connected friends
– Dev team is similar to WaW’s: from 25 to 30 people
– IW’s role: Giving engine code last year, MW code now, and some supervision
– Controls: Everything is configurable, ala Conduit, in addition to being smoother and better. All parameters, new scope setting. Up to 6 presets: from “greenhorn” to “insane”
– Squad mate mode is back. Zapper also compatible with single player
– CG/VA/sound effects/ OST from PS360.
This information comes from a recent Radio-Blodec podcast. High Voltage Software’s Joshua Olson was asked about the other types of genres the company would be willing to explore, such as RPG or racing titles.
“The great thing about working at High Voltage is that we make a variety of games – shooters, games for kids. I personally would love to make a western RPG type game and so far and up until this point, that’s something that we haven’t done here at High Voltage.”
