GamesBeat has published a fairly lengthy interview with Monolith Soft’s Tetsuya Takahashi. Takahashi talked about Xenoblade Chronicles X in-depth, confirmed that his next title is in the works, expressed interest in expanding Monolith Soft, and more.

We have a good chuck of the interview rounded up below. The full discussion can be read here.

On being anxious about getting Xenoblade Chronicles X out in North America…

Takahashi: Yeah, although there’s still quite a lot left for us to do. We’ve announced a release date and everything, but all we can see is a looming deadline.

On how Xenoblade Chronicles X is a deliberate successor, and if Takahashi wanted to make the story more closely grounded to reality…

Takahashi: The simplest answer, probably, is that I felt like, after working on a fantasy setting, it might be nice to try something new. Science fiction is a great change of pace. It’s a really interesting flavor.

On the challenge in bringing an RPG franchise to HD for the first time…

Takahashi: Probably the biggest challenge for us comes in the planning stage, where we have to think about how we’re going to use these limited resources — I’m talking mostly about time on the schedule — to create all the assets in such a huge world. What order do we need to take tasks in to accomplish them all in the most efficient way? There’s a lot of tech that goes into expressing the open world concept as well, making sure that it’s a seamless experience from one end to the other. That’s probably the biggest challenge.

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More: Monolith Soft, Tetsuya Takahashi, top, Xenoblade Chronicles X

Update: Bumped to the top. CNET’s article has been updated, and their report seems to have been incorrect. See below.

A previous version of this story said Nintendo plans to hold its World Championship next year. This is incorrect; Nintendo has yet to say whether it plans to hold another World Championship in the future.

According to a report from CNET, the Nintendo World Championships will once again be held next year. The outlet apparently heard about these plans straight from Nintendo. There’s no denying that this year’s success was a massive success, so it makes sense to host the NWC in 2016.

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The Yarn Yoshi amiibo were on display at this year’s E3. That being said, Nintendo didn’t allow attendees to either hold them or see the bottom of the plushies.

That may seem strange, but there’s a method behind the madness. Supposedly, Nintendo was worried that an attendee would remove the NFC chip, or it would fall out on its own. That’s because the NFC chip is apparently sewn into the yarn.

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Jar Jar Binks is in Disney Infinity 3.0. He acts as a mission giver in the game’s campaign and a spawnable townsperson in the Toy Box mode. However, Jar Jar Binks isn’t actually playable.

Vice president of digital business/franchise management at LucasFilm’s interactive division Ada Duan and Disney Interactive’s John Vignocchi told Polygon:

“Anything is possible. Once we figured out what we wanted that three-week experience to be, we all dove in and said let’s do Star Wars: A New Hope. Interestingly, in terms of the surveys that came back from all the kids experiences’, they said, ‘Where is Anakin? Where is Darth Maul?’ It was because this generation had grown up with the Clone Wars. They wanted to know where there favorite characters were, where’s Jar Jar? So when we were deciding how much Star Wars should we bring into Infinity, we were like, ‘Please, let’s not only focus on the classic trilogy; we need to bring the Phantom Menace as well, as well as Star Wars Rebels.” – Duan

“I remember when we saw how high he was on the character chart, I was like, ‘This has got to be because people hate him, right?’ I was totally wrong.” – Vignocchi

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More: Ada Duan, Avalanche Software, Disney Infinity 3.0, interview, John Vignocchi

Super Mario Maker has support for Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, and New Super Mario Bros. U. But what about Super Mario Bros. 2?

Nintendo’s Kensuke Tanabe addressed this while speaking with USgamer at E3 last week, in which he stated:

“Super Mario Bros. 2, as you know, when we created that game in Japan, it didn’t have Mario as the main character Probably because of that, it’s been overlooked for Super Mario Maker. I didn’t talk to Mr. (Takashi) Tezuka at all about it, actually. It does seem sort of unfortunate.”

Tanabe did give a bit of hope for the future, as he seemed to show some interest in something like a Super Mario Bros. 2-style version of Mario Maker. “If I ever have the chance, yes, it would be interesting to work on something like that,” he said.

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More: interview, Kensuke Tanabe, Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario Maker, top

Polygon has a few more quotes up from its interview with Reggie Fils-Aime, president of Nintendo of America. Much of the talk focused on new consoles and Reggie’s take on digital vs. physical games.

For those that are interested, continue on below for the breakdown of Reggie’s remarks. Be sure to check out Polygon’s original article here as well.

On how Nintendo is in front of the curve in terms of when a company might next release a next-gen console, and how the company takes big chances while innovating in video games…

“So, bad news for you, I’ve got nothing to share specifically about NX.

“One element of your premise is that Nintendo as a company has a history of being innovative and driving innovation. You look at the DS with the incorporation of the touch screen. You look at what we did with Wii. We’re constantly trying to innovate. So to frame it as ‘Here’s a company with a history of innovating. I’d love for them to innovate more.’ We accept that and that is part of our DNA.

“The other thing I would say is that, we see in our existing business, and we anticipate looking into the future, how this gaming industry is going to continue to evolve. And absolutely, our challenge is to think about what that future looks like and create a business model, technology approach and consumer messaging approach that brings it all together to a successful platform and a successful platform launch. We’re constantly thinking about that.”

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The developers of Chibi-Robo!: Zip Lash have once again commented on the decision to make the game a platformer as opposed to an adventure experience.

In an interview with Nintendo World Report, producer Risa Tabata explained:

“That was sort of our hint to focus on the action types of things. For the previous Chibi-Robo games, we had more of the adventure aspect. And for those who are really big fans of Chibi-Robo, it was great. People loved it, but we couldn’t quite say that it was widely known by a lot of people. So we wanted to branch out and explore more things.”

Nintendo producer Kensuke Tanabe added that a platformer “would be a great place to expand that fanbase” in America.

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More: Chibi-Robo!: Zip Lash, interview, Risa Tabata, Skip, Vanpool

A trailer is now available for the upcoming Wii U eShop game Shiftlings. Give it a look below.

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Thanks to its showing at E3, Guitar Hero Live has received an updated song listing. Here it is in full:

1. The 1975
2. A Day To Remember – “Right Back At It Again”
3. Alice in Chains “Stone”
4. Alt-J “Left Hand Free”
5. Alter Bridge “Addicted to Pain”
6. Alter Bridge “Cry of Achilles”
7. American Authors “Best Day of My Life”
8. Angus & Julia Stone “A Heartbreak”
9. Anthrax – “Got The Time”
10. Architects – “Gravedigger”
11. The Avett Brothers “Another is Waiting”
12. Avicii
13. Band Of Skulls “Asleep At The Wheel”
14. Beartooth – “I Have A Problem”
15. Biffy Clyro “Sounds Like Balloons”
16. The Black Keys “Gold On The Ceiling”
17. Black Veil Brides “In The End”
18. Blitz Kids “Sometimes”
19. Bob Dylan “Thunder On The Mountain”
20. Bring Me The Horizon “Shadow Moses”
21. Broken Bells “Leave It Alone”
22. Bruno Mars “The Lazy Song”
23. Bullet For My Valentine “Temper Temper”
24. Calvin Harris “Feel So Close”
25. Carrie Underwood “Before He Cheats”
26. Catfish and the Bottlemen “Kathleen”
27. Cheap Trick
28. Chevelle – “The Clincher”
29. Courtney Barnett “Pedestrian at Best”
30. Deap Vally “Lies”
31. Deftones “Diamond Eyes”
32. Dum Dum Girls “Rimbaud Eyes”
33. Ed Sheeran “Sing”
34. Echosmith “Cool Kids”
35. Fall Out Boy “My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light Em Up)”
36. Gary Clark Jr. “Don’t Owe You A Thang”
37. The Gaslight Anthem “45”
38. Green Day “American Idiot”
39. Green Day “Nuclear Family”
40. Green Day “Oh Love”
41. Halestorm “Love Bites (So Do I)”
42. Iggy Pop “Lust For Life”
43. Jake Bugg “What Doesn’t Kill You”
44. Jet “Are You Gonna Be My Girl”
45. Judas Priest “Breaking The Law”
46. The Killers “When You Were Young”
47. Killswitch Engage “In Due Time”
48. Kings of Leon “Sex On Fire”
49. Kongos “Come With me Now”
50. Korn “Freak on a Leash”
51. The Lumineers “Ho Hey”
52. Madden Brothers
53. Marilyn Manson “Disposable Teens”
54. Marmozets “Move, Shake, Hide”
55. Mastodon “High Road”
56. Megadeth
57. MGMT “Time To Pretend”
58. My Chemical Romance “Na Na Na Na”
59. Neon Trees “Everybody Talks”
60. New Politics “Harlem”
61. Of Mice & Men “Bones Exposed”
62. Of Monsters and Men “Little Talks”
63. Pantera “Cowboys From Hell”
64. Paramore “Still Into You”
65. Passion Pit “Take A Walk”
66. Pearl Jam – “Mind Your Manners”
67. Pierce The Veil “King for a Day (Feat. Kellin Quinn)”
68. The Police “Message In A Bottle”
69. The Pretty Reckless “Going To Hell”
70. Queen “Tie Your Mother Down”
71. Rage Against The Machine “Bulls on Parade”
72. Rage Against The Machine “Guerrilla Radio”
73. Red Hot Chili Peppers “Higher Ground”
74. Rise Against – “Tragedy + Time”
75. The Rolling Stones “Paint It, Black”
76. Royal Blood “Little Monster”
77. Skaters
78. Skrillex “Bangarang”
79. Sleigh Bells “Bitter Rivals”
80. Soundgarden – “Been Away Too Long”
81. State Champs
82. The Strokes “Under Cover of Darkness”
83. System Of A Down “Chop Suey!”
84. Sunset Sons “Remember”
85. Tenacious D – “Tribute”
86. Trivium “Strife”
87. Vampire Weekend
88. Vista Chino “Sweet Remain”
89. The War on Drugs “Under The Pressure”
90. Weezer “Buddy Holly”
91. White Zombie “Thunder Kiss ’65”
92. Wolfmother “Sundial”
93. ZZ Top “I Gotsta Get Paid”

*Note: Bolded songs are in Guitar Hero Live (FMV crowds/Main setlist/Can be played offline). The others are officially confirmed for the game’s Guitar Hero TV aspect.

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More: Activision, FreeStyle Games, Guitar Hero Live

North America is currently the only major region where the standard, smaller New 3DS model hasn’t been released. Perhaps this will change at some point in the future, however.

Speaking with Kotaku, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime teased the regular New 3DS for North America, and explained why it didn’t originally launch in the territory.

He said:

“So we’ve got nothing to announce here. We’ve certainly taken note of all of the readers and consumers that expressed desire for the base model.”

“We analyzed the results in Japan and saw the lion’s share of the volume was on the XL model, and that’s with no 2DS existing in the Japanese market. And so as we thought about what’s the best line-up for us we thought the new XL and 2DS would be our best line-up. Not going to make any promises but, you know, I would suggest to your readers that they stay tuned and maybe some special SKUs might show up.”

Reggie also commented on games that can only be played on New 3DS systems. He reveals that there are digital games in the works that are exclusive to the portable.

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