Former PlayStation exec: Nintendo left the company “standing at the altar” with SNES add-on, courted Square with whiskey to get Final Fantasy 7 off N64
Posted on 3 days ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments
If there’s one prominent thing we know about the history of gaming, it’s the partnership that nearly happened between Nintendo and Sony for a SNES add-on capable of playing Super Discs, a type of CD-ROM. Despite the two sides coming extremely close to an agreement, Nintendo pulled out at the last second. Sony would then go on to form its PlayStation brand while Nintendo teamed up with Philips for a short period.
Former PlayStation boss Shawn Layden reflected on that bit of history in a recent interview. He said that Ken Kutaragi, who was an engineer and later became Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO, was left “proverbially standing at the altar” due to Nintendo’s decision.
More: Final Fantasy VII, interview, top
Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom devs explain why making Zelda’s design was “difficult”
Posted on 6 days ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 0 comments
The developers of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom have opened up about designing Zelda for the game, which was a “difficult” challenge for the team.
We’re able to get insight from co-director Tomomi Sano and series producer Eiji Aonuma here. There were a few things that Nintendo and Grezzo needed to balance. For one thing, they couldn’t make Zelda too cute. They also couldn’t make her stand out given her fugitive status, but they also didn’t want her to look too much like a fugitive. Finally, Zelda is a princess at the end of the day, so that’s something the team also needed to keep in mind.
Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom dev explains how the echoes were chosen
Posted on 1 week ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 0 comments
How did Grezzo and Nintendo go about choosing the echoes in The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom? Co-director Satoshi Terada shared some insight in a recent interview.
There are a massive amount of echoes to find and collect in the game – over 100, in fact. Terada shared the following about the thought process of making them, telling Famitsu in a recent interview:
Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake dev wants Final Fantasy 6 HD-2D Remake
Posted on 2 weeks ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments
Masaaki Hayasaka, the producer of Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake, has expressed strong interest in seeing Final Fantasy 6 get the same treatment.
Hayasaka was asked about which game he’d like to see receive the remake treatment in an interview with Inverse. As it turns out, Final Fantasy 6 is his top choice. Interestingly, that game was actually used as a reference point for the first Octopath Traveler.
More: interview, Square Enix
Nintendo on why Zelda stories are made after the gameplay
Posted on 3 weeks ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments
If there’s one thing fans know about Nintendo, it’s that the company focuses on gameplay over story. This even applies to The Legend of Zelda, which does have more of a plot compared to some of the company’s other major series like Super Mario.
On the topic of Zelda, series producer Eiji Aonuma has weighed in on how Nintendo approaches the story for the franchise’s games. The plot only comes about after the game design has been settled upon. That’s something we recently heard about with Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, where the gameplay was nailed down first and the story was more of a late addition.
More: Eiji Aonuma, interview, The Legend of Zelda, top
Nintendo on 2D Zelda’s future, wants it as contrast to 3D games
Posted on 3 weeks ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments
Nintendo has reaffirmed its commitment to 2D Zelda titles, with series producer Eiji Aonuma mentioning in a recent interview that the company’s wants “to keep this up as a contrast to the dynamic 3D games.”
Much of the hype surrounding the franchise these days has been in the 3D space. Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom have been two of the most acclaimed games across the entire industry. Still, it’s clear that 2D Zelda isn’t going anywhere.
Link almost spoke in Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
Posted on 3 weeks ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 0 comments
According to the developers behind The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, Link came close to speaking in the game.
Series producer Eiji Aonuma shared that information in a recent interview. While the original plan was to have Link speak in Echoes of Wisdom, co-director Satoshi Terada said that it didn’t feel right. Since he hadn’t really spoken in a game before, that also made things difficult. Having Tri as Zelda’s companion is ultimately where things took a shift.
Here’s what Aonuma and Terada shared in the interview, as published by Famitsu:
NIS explains why a new Phantom Brave was made after 20 years
Posted on 1 month ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 0 comments
Nippon Ichi Software surprised fans earlier in the year by announcing Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero, which means the original game is finally getting a sequel after twenty years. In a recent interview, the company explained how it came to be.
Interestingly, it sounds like NIS didn’t really attempt making a sequel previously. Things were only set in motion after a western poll showed the popularity of Phantom Brave’s characters.
Suikoden HD dev on using PSP version, delay improvements, future
Posted on 1 month ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 0 comments
In an interview with Famitsu, Suikoden I & II HD Remaster director Tatsuya Ogushi commented on a few topics related to the release and more, including using the PSP version as the base, improvements that were made thanks to the delay, and the series’ future.
PSP versions of the games launched in 2006, but only in Japan. These are the versions that the new HD remasters are based on. Because of this, there won’t be any additions from the SEGA Saturn version.
Nintendo explains why it made an alarm clock
Posted on 1 month ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments
Today’s announcement of Nintendo Sound Clock: Alarmo came a bit out of left field, but in a new interview today, we get to hear about how the whole thing came together.
A discussion was posted on Nintendo’s website featuring producer Yosuke Tamori and director Tetsuya Akama. Tamori revealed that the project began with research into motion sensor technology. However, making an alarm clock wasn’t the first thing decided – rather, Tamori said Nintendo was looking to “support people during their sleep, and we were looking for a way to achieve this.”
Tamori and Akama shared the following:
