In a recent GamesIndustry interview with the creative director of Starlink: Battle for Atlas, Laurent Malvill explains why him and his team have decided to make the game and bring life back to toys-to-life in the market.
“We think innovation can really bring life back into this market. We think that toys-to-life brought a lot of younger players into video games, and that was great. But we think as they grew up, the expectation grew with it. So for us, we didn’t want to do just another one like those games. It was important for us to innovate in this category. We didn’t want to innovate on just the toy itself – and we think we did do that – but also to innovate with the huge open world. We’re not talking down to the players. This is a big open world that you can spend time in.
“We think the toy is the whole game. That is the beauty of it – having that modular starship on-top of a controller. You don’t open a complex menu or anything, it is just there. You just grab the weapon, put it on and it appears right away. Or if you want another pilot, because I want to use his special ability in that fight, it is just there and it is the simplest way of doing it. And those collectibles, those starships, those pilots, what is beautiful is that once you’ve played the game for several hours, you can just put them on your bedside table or on your shelf.
But because we want to provide the maximum freedom for players to experience this game, we designed that idea that every physical part that you buy, you will unlock a digital part. So if you want the full experience, you can play with the starships on top of your controller. But if you want to just display the collectibles on your shelf, and play the game without them, you can do that as well.
You will also be able to buy the digital part separately, without the collectibles, if you want. Just because, again, we want to provide freedom for players. But the magical moment where you connect the part is something that is dear to us.
Approving crazy projects is part of the DNA of Ubisoft. If you look at Assassin’s Creed back in the day, or Just Dance… it is just part of what the company does. We were excited to show him what we’d done. And we were super happy that the top management team in Paris were just as excited as we were, and that we got to make it.”
Ubisoft has posted some information on the Mario + Rabbids Kingdom’s website about a Rabbid Kong worldwide selfie contest they are doing to celebrate the announcement of the game. The grand prize for the contest is the choice one of the Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle 6’’ collectible figures from Rabbid Mario, Rabbid Peach, or Rabbid Luigi. There is also other prizes to win such as caps, t-shirts, and a set of four pins.
If you are interested in participating in the contest, you can read more about it here on their website and learn how to join.
The seventh Pokemon Global Mission for Pokemon Sun / Moon is now over. 1,228,170 items & Pokemon were collected at rare fishing spots, meaning it was a success. Those who participated can receive 2,000 FC, or 4,000 FC if the game is connected to the Global Link. Distribution of the Lure Ball and Rare Candy event will be happening later this month and will be given through Serial Code on the Global Link.
In other news, the eighth Pokemon Global Mission has a date. It’ll take place on June 27 and involves successfully defending your Champion title in the Pokemon League.
Amazon has posted the boxart for Just Dance 2018. We have all three versions above: Switch, Wii U, and Wii.
In North America, Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle is being handled entirely by Ubisoft. The situation in Japan is a bit different.
Nintendo confirmed today that it will be responsible for publishing Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle in Japan. Although it’s coming out in August here in the west, the Japanese release is set for 2018.
The first LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 footage aired during YouTube Live with E3. Get a look at the gameplay below.
Pirate Queen’s Quest, premium DLC for Shantae: Half-Genie Hero, is arriving this summer. It’ll be available on both Switch and Wii U upon release.
We’ve attached a trailer and details for Pirate Queen’s Quest below.
Just as Shantae and her inventor Uncle put the finishing touches on the powerful new Dynamo, the bodacious buccaneer Risky Boots shows up to steal it!
Playing the role of the evil pirate, it’s your job to find the FIVE COMPONENTS you’ll need to upgrade the Dynamo and bend Sequin Land to your will! Pillage, loot, and plunder your way to the ultimate showdown against the Half-Genie runt and win the day for pirates everywhere!
• Take on any world in any order!
• Slice your foes to ribbons with Risky’s Scimitar, or blast away with her Pistol!
• Master Pirate Gear like the Bomb Shot, Grappling Hook, Hat Glide, Cannon Jump, and more!
• Deploy Tinkerbat crewmen to turn the tide of battle!
• Collect Cursed Magic to customize Risky’s abilities any way you like!
• Brand new enemies, puzzles, and storyline!
This information comes from Ubisoft Milan creative director and Xavier Poix, MD of Ubisoft’s French studios…
“When me and my team were told to work with Nintendo, with a game that could feature both Mario and the Rabbids, we immediately understood it was a lifetime opportunity. We spent night and day working on the best way to merge those two worlds together, and find something unique for both Mario and the Rabbids.
“We did a new genre. As tactical fans, we loved the idea of using them to propose something new for turn-based gaming. A different approach. But at the same time, we wanted to stay true to the Mario universe. That’s why we wanted to mix tactical combat phases with adventure phases. We put together posters, and came up with the enemies and the tone.
“Three and a half weeks after that internal meeting, we took the opportunity to create a small prototype and present it to Nintendo. When I finally met Mr Miyamoto, the creator of my favourite game and the inspiration of my whole career, I felt like I was divided in two – the passionate Nintendo player, and the Ubisoft creative director. I was split between the urge to ask for an autograph, and the responsibility to represent the game in the most professional way.
“He told us that he was impressed, so it went well, but he kept asking us how it was possible for us to have Mario and Luigi in our game, because they look identical to the Nintendo ones. But the truth is, even if we had just three and a half weeks to come up with that prototype, we decided to recreate Mario and Luigi from scratch. We looked at all the Nintendo games we could, to make sure we translated their essence into our game. And I do believe that it was in that precise moment that we truly convinced Nintendo about our passion and our commitment. ”
“After that, everything happened at light speed. We met the Nintendo guys with Kyoto several times, and we flew up with code”.
A number of Minecraft announcements were made yesterday. Among these are plans for cross-play, allowing users across different platforms to play together online, such as Switch and Xbox One.
The Super Duper Graphics Pack was also revealed. This features dynamic shadows, lighting that streams through fog, movement in leaves and grass, new textures for mobs and villagers, directional lighting, edge highlighting and more. While it was thought that it would only be on Xbox One and Windows 10, it’ll actually be on Switch as well, Kotaku reports.
Cameron Egbert, the rendering lead on Minecraft, told Kotaku, “It will be anywhere that you can play Minecraft in the new version.” Egbert added, “It will improve any screen on which you play”.
