Reggie defends decision to have Retro make another Donkey Kong Country
Some fans are disappointed that Retro Studios is working on another Donkey Kong Country game. Some hoped Retro would return to Metroid. Others wanted something new from the studio entirely.
Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime defended the decision to have Retro work on Tropical Freeze in an interview with Kotaku.
Check out this exchange between the two:
Kotaku: There was mixed reaction to what Retro would be working on. Some reaction was: I wish they were making another Metroid Prime.’ Some reaction was: ‘I wish Nintendo would just let them do something new.’ We all agree that they’re an extremely talented studio. To those who are disappointed to see them ‘simply’ making another Donkey Kong Country, you would say…
Reggie Fils-Aime, president of Nintendo of America: You know, what I’m eagerly looking forward to is reaction from the Best Buy demos that have been going on today. Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze is one of the games they’re getting to sample. My bet is that the fan who actually plays that game is super-excited, because, absolutely the team is excited. They’ve done a lot with Donkey Kong Country. All of the things they wished they had done in Donkey Kong Country Returns they put into Tropical Freeze. And so they make great games. I’m glad the fans recognize that. And it’s going to be up to the team to decide what they want their next project to do, obviously [while] working with [Nintendo producers] Mr. Tanabe and Mr. Takahashi in terms of getting directions.
You know, Nintendo’s blessed to have over 30 franchises. When you step back and think about it, and you look at all the games we’ve created, we’ve got over 30 franchises. Every time we launch a game there’s always that fan who says, I wish it was…
Kotaku: Metroid or Waverace or whatever…
Fils-Aime: Exactly! We love that and we love that passion and I’m sure there will be nice pleasant surprises, just like we surprised fans with Kid Icarus on the 3DS.
Kotaku: Were you saying, did Retro choose to make the Donkey Kong Countrygame? Was it their decision?
Fils-Aime: I wasn’t in the room when they talked to Mr. Tanabe and Mr. Takahashi, but I just spent some time with Michael Kelbaugh, the president of that studio, and he talked about how they were excited to go right from finishing up Donkey Kong Country Returns into this next project.
