Nintendo Everything

In a recent interview with USgamer, Koji Kondo was asked about what soundtrack/piece of music gave him the most difficulty. Kondo pointed to one game: Super Mario Bros. 3.

As he explained:

The most challenging [piece] was the main theme for Super Mario Bros. 3. The [original] Super Mario theme itself was almost a little too empowering. That indelible impression it left in the user’s mind with how it matched up with what Mario was doing on the screen—that was a big mountain to climb when we started working on the music to Super Mario 3. I remember creating lots of different music in different styles, trying to come up with something that would match that game and be different enough from the original Super Mario theme. It was tough. It took me a long time to come up with something I thought would work, and it was really me and Mr. Miyamoto and Mr. Tezuka—the three of us—right up until the very last stages of development, listening to all of these different music pieces that I created, before we finally settled on what we ended up using.

Any time you’re working off of existing music, and you’re revamping it for the next title, that’s just always a tough gig. And that’s true for every title, starting from the first [one]. It’s tough for me, of course, but maybe even more so for the people on my staff, who are working on different arrangements of music they didn’t even compose. They’re working on music that I composed, and now they’re having to go back and do some rearranging to match [music from] current games. So if it’s tough for me, I think it’s even tougher for them.

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This year’s Game Awards were watched by 1.93 million viewers, according to Geoff Keighley. That’s more than a 75 percent increase over the number of viewers who tuned in for Spike TV’s Video Game Awards last year.

Keighley told Polygon:

“I was really happy with how things turned out. Certainly the audience numbers were well beyond my wildest dreams, and creatively I’m proud of what we put on the screen. Moments like the tribute to Ken and Roberta Williams and the Koji Kondo/Imagine Dragons performance were once in a lifetime experiences.”

Despite The Game Awards’ successful viewership, the event wasn’t exactly a financial success for Keighley. Only about 3,000 of the 4,000 available seats were filled, and only about half of attendees paid for tickets. If there are future Game Awards, costs for the show would likely be much less due to the elimination of start-up fees such as having WETA design the trophy, recording the show’s theme with Marty O’Donnell and building the show’s website.

As for the future, Keighley would only say:

“I’d definitely like to see it continue on if publishers and fans want to keep it going. But yeah, no idea what shape it will take.”

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Unseen64’s Liam Robertson is teasing a cancelled Metroid project that was apparently in the works for the 3DS. For those unaware, Unseen64 often publishes articles about canned games and other noteworthy gaming secrets.

Robertson teased on Twitter today:

It also seems that we can look forward to some news about a cancelled Wii game from High Voltage Software that was tied into a popular TV show:

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WayForward has pinned down a slightly more specific European release window for Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse. The game is currently targeted to launch in between late January and early February. When we receive a final date, we’ll be sure to let you know.

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IGN just published another interview with Koji Kondo, the man behind much of the famous music in Nintendo’s games. You can find the full discussion here, though we’ve pulled out a few excerpts below.

What you’ll find after the break is music trivia about various Nintendo games. Kondo shared tidbits about games like Super Mario Bros., Super Mario 3D World, and more. You’ll also find some comments about why he wanted the Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D development team to stay faithful to the sound from the original game.

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An anime based on Koei Tecmo’s Samurai Warriors series was announced last month. It’s now confirmed that the anime will debut next month. If you’re in Japan, you can catch the first episode on TV Tokyo on January 11.

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Brutus & Futée appears to be hitting the European 3DS eShop later this month. A listing spotted on the digital store includes a December 25 release date and a €6.99 price point.

Not much is known about Brutus & Futée, but it’s apparently a bit like Ghost Trick. The game has puzzles and you’ll be remaking movie scenes.

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Atlus is bringing out new downloadable content for Etrian Odyssey II Untold: The Knight of the Fafnir in Japan today. Screenshots and details about each piece of DLC can be found below.

“A Clap of Thunder from the Empress’ Bow”

– Need to be at least level 85
– Also need to have already reached the 8th floor of the labyrinth to take it on
– 250 yen

“Assault! Hound from the Underworld”

– Requires you to be level 99
– Need to have reached the 12th floor of the labyrinth to fight it
– 250 yen

“Four Leaves of Blessings, Offered to Adventurers”

– This DLC helps you level up
– In this quest, you’ll encounter a rare monster known as the “Bud of Yggdrasil”
– Requirements: need to be level 1 and have reached the 4th floor
– Can be repeated as many times as you’d like
– Get a special item once cleared that can be cooked up and used to help acquire experience points

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