Nintendo talks about why DLC is a good fit for Switch, possibility for new Joy-Con options
Posted on 6 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 37 Comments
Over the past few years, we’ve seen an uptick in Nintendo’s dedication to DLC. President Tatsumi Kimishima just said yesterday that the company intends to beef up its approach in that area next year. And almost all of Nintendo’s releases this year have seen free or paid DLC.
Shinya Takahashi, Nintendo’s Entertainment Planning and Development Division general manager, recently spoke to IGN and talked about why DLC is a good fit on Switch. He explained to the site:
More: interview, Shinya Takahashi, top
Level-5 looking to focus on Switch in 2018
Posted on 6 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 22 Comments
Level-5 hasn’t really done much with Switch thus far. But in 2018, that should be changing.
4Gamer spoke with Level-5 CEO Akihiro Hino, who spoke about plans for next year. He cited Inazuma Eleven Ares and Ni no Kuni II as upcoming titles, before going on to say that the company will focus on Switch in 2018 – or literally that they’ll put their power into the new console.
Hino also mentioned in his remarks that Level-5 is preparing a 20th anniversary title. However, it’s unclear if it has any relations to Switch.
More: Akihiro Hino, interview, Level-5, top
Capcom producer “working on something that will make Ace Attorney series fans happy”
Posted on 6 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 22 Comments
Earlier today, 4Gamer published a lengthy piece in which the site spoke with a ton of different developers to reflect on the year and look towards 2018. One such person is Capcom producer Motohiro Eshiro.
Eshiro had this interesting tease regarding Ace Attorney:
“I believe we’ll continue working on something that will make Ace Attorney series fans happy. We’re also currently coming up with a new title, so personally speaking I think it’ll be a challenging year.”
We do know that Capcom intends to bring the Ace Attorney series to Switch in some fashion. There have also been rumors about new collections for the console as well as the next entry in the series.
More: Ace Attorney, Capcom, interview, Motohiro Eshiro
Nintendo on its approach to the Zelda timeline, understands fans’ appreciation for it
Posted on 6 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch, Wii U | 58 Comments
The Zelda timeline has always been something of great interest for fans of the series. On the other hand, Nintendo tends to be a bit timid when talking about it. Although the series has been around since the late 80’s, it wasn’t until just a few years ago that Nintendo published an official timeline in Hyrule Historia.
With the arrival of the latest Zelda game in March, fans are curious as to where Breath of the Wild officially stands. You won’t get much of a concrete answer out of Nintendo concerning timeline placement, but its developers are aware of interest from fans.
Nintendo on the struggle of balancing various aspects during Switch’s development, prototypes
Posted on 6 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 24 Comments
Creating the Switch was no easy task. In previous interviews, Nintendo has brought up how the word “balance” was key during development. This was something that was mentioned again in an interview with Toyo Keizai.
General Switch producer Yoshiaki Koizumi noted how game developers tend to be interested memory and a quality GPU for higher specs. As a developer himself, Koizumi can understand this. However, there was also the need to make the machine light, small, and stylish while giving consideration to the battery as well. On top of everything else, Nintendo only had a set amount of time and resources to produce the new console. So ultimately, balancing all of these different aspects was the most difficult part in developing Switch.
More: interview, Shinya Takahashi, top, Yoshiaki Koizumi
Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Mario Odyssey devs share thoughts about each other’s games
Posted on 6 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 17 Comments
Two of the biggest and best games this year were made by Nintendo. We’re of course referring to Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey.
Recently, IGN caught up with developers of both games to hear about what they think about each other’s games. Super Mario Odyssey producer Yoshiaki Koizumi plus Zelda: Breath of the Wild director Hidemaro Fujibayashi and producer Eiji Aonuma shared their thoughts.
Square Enix dev on Final Fantasy IV’s mechanics and original scenario plans, Chrono Trigger ending and sequel talk
Posted on 6 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 1 Comment
IGN recently spoke with Final Fantasy IV lead designer and Chrono Trigger director Tokita Takashi for a new interview. Regarding Final Fantasy IV, Takashi spoke about the challenges of implementing many new mechanics and discusses some scenarios that were originally planned for the game. He also weighed in on which Chrono Trigger ending he believes is canon, and how ideas for the cancelled Chrono Break made it into Fantasy Dimensions II.
You can read these responses from Takahashi below. For the full interview, head on over here.
Bethesda talks Switch, happy to see people impressed with Doom
Posted on 6 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 19 Comments
It may have been completely unexpected, but Bethesda has been one of the biggest third-party publishers on Switch thus far. November saw the release of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Doom. In 2018, Bethesda will also be bringing The Wolfenstein II to Switch.
Bethesda’s approach to Switch is much different than how it used to look at Nintendo hardware. The company really hasn’t had much on Nintendo platforms since the NES days.
More: Bethesda, interview, Pete Hines
Aonuma on Zelda winning top honors at The Game Awards, The Champions’ Ballad DLC, end of development
Posted on 6 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch, Wii U | 4 Comments
Famitsu published a new interview this week with Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma. It was pretty interesting, with Aonuma talking about Breath of the Wild winning “Game of the Year” at The Game Awards, including his mindset at the time and why he started out by saying “Thank you America!” He also spoke about The Champions’ Ballad DLC, and confirmed that development on the game has concluded.
We’ve prepared a translation with the most notable parts from Famitsu’s interview. You can read it below.
Square Enix on the long process of re-releasing Romancing SaGa 2, sticking with pixel art, more
Posted on 6 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch eShop | 5 Comments
Last week’s launch of Romancing SaGa 2 on Switch was pretty monumental. It was actually the first time the RPG released outside of Japan on dedicated gaming platforms. It’s mostly the same game as the Super Famicom title, but with a few extras like updated graphics and audio, new character classes, a new dungeon, and New Game+.
Prior to this week’s launch, VG247 caught up with producer Masanori Ichikawa original director Akitoshi Kawazu to talk about Square Enix’s classic. They commented on a variety of topics, including the amount of work involved needed to re-release Romancing SaGa 2, the decision to stick with pixel art as opposed to going the 3D route, and more.
You can read a few excerpts from the interview below. For the full discussion, head on over here.
