Game Freak on why Pokemon Gray never happened, still interested in remakes
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in DS, General Nintendo, News | 57 Comments
Following Pokemon Black and Pokemon White, Game Freak created a sequel to the two games. At the time, that was a bit surprising. Many fans were anticipating that Game Freak would make a third version as opposed to Black/White 2.
In this month’s issue of Game Informer, Game Freak co-founder Junichi Masuda explained the studio’s mindset at the time. Many staff members were interested in expanding on the original story, and they thought about creating “a game that was set a couple years after Black and White wrapped up to kind of show how things changed and expand on the events of the previous one”.
More: interview, Junichi Masuda, Pokemon, top
Suda51 talks Travis Strikes Again – gameplay and indie collaborations clarified, wants to expand the series, more
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Switch, Videos | 12 Comments
At PAX this weekend, GameXplain conducted an interview with Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes director Suda51. He spoke about what we can expect from the gameplay and indie collaborations, such as the ability to play with just a single Joy-Con. Suda51 also talked about how he’s very interested in expanding the series from here on out, and Travis Strikes Again could lead to No More Heroes 3.
Below is the interview in full:
Final Fantasy XV director says nothing has been decided with Switch, looking into the system
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 106 Comments
Back at Gamescom, Final Fantasy XV director Hajime Tabata seemed to hint at something relating to the game coming to Switch. Tabata has since clarified what’s actually going on at the moment.
Right now, a definitive decision has not been made. Square Enix has been experimenting with Switch to see what sort of specs the system can provide and what it’s capable. The Luminous Engine was tested, but it seems that Square Enix can’t “bring out the most of the engine” on Switch.
More: Hajime Tabata, interview, Square Enix, top
Grant Kirkhope would “love” to work on a Zelda game
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 22 Comments
Grant Kirkhope just wrapped up his work on Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle as the game’s composer. But Mario isn’t the only Nintendo franchise Kirkhope is interested in contributing to.
Speaking with GamesMaster this month, Kirkhope spoke about really wanting “to get on to Zelda”. Part of this is due to Zelda: A Link to the Past being his favorite game of all time, and having a great deal of respect for the soundtrack.
More: Grant Kirkhope, interview, The Legend of Zelda, top
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle creative director: Nintendo is “quite open-minded” to new ideas
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 4 Comments
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle is a crazy concept in its premise, yet Nintendo ended up signing off on the project. Creative director Davide Soliani told IGN that the company is actually “quite open-minded” to new ideas. You just need to come up with a concept that can justify its existence.
As many of you know, Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto didn’t want Ubisoft to create a platformer. Instead, he wanted them to come up with their own concept. Ubisoft ran wild with the challenge, and created a turn-based strategy game and gave guns to Mario and the rest of the gang.
FIFA 18 dev on missing content, feels Switch hardware is “very difficult”
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 51 Comments
Eurogamer recently spoke with Andrei Lăzărescu, a developer at EA Sports Bucharest working on FIFA 18. The site asked about missing content such as the FUT Champions and Squad Battles modes, and whether this is because they expect more casual play on Switch.
Lăzărescu said in response:
“I see it as being more social. …casual represents different things to different people. I look at them as two different games, two different worlds, that I think we should take for what they are, and keep in mind that we should not try to force people onto certain things just because it works on a certain platform.”
FIFA 18 is using a different engine on Switch than other platforms. On PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, EA is using Frostbite. This is what allows for features like the Journey follow-up, the new ‘cinematic’ Career Mode transfers, a special animation system, and more detailed stadiums and crowds. Lăzărescu feels that the Switch hardware “is very difficult,” and a future mode exactly like the Journey is “unlikely.” He also added that the aforementioned additions “would take an army of people, if it was possible, to be done.”
More: Andrei Lazarescu, EA Sports, FIFA 18, interview
GameStop says demand for Switch is similar to Wii or greater, explains approach to online bundles
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Switch | 23 Comments
Recently, Rolling Stone spoke with GameStop’s Eric Bright. One topic brought up in the discussion is the continued to demand for Switch, of which Bright said “seems to be similar to the Wii or greater.”
Bright noted:
“We are constantly selling out of our weekly allocations of the Switch. We kind of go up and down with stock. Nintendo did this before with the Wii. It was highly successful and extremely hard to find. Looking at demand – I can’t comment on rate of sale – demand for the Switch seems to be similar to the Wii or greater.”
More: Eric Bright, GameStop, interview, top
Fire Emblem Heroes devs on risque art, overpowered teams, power creep, colorless units
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Mobile, News | 46 Comments
Fire Emblem Heroes has been around for about half a year, and the game is starting up its Choose Your Legends bonus banner tomorrow. With that in mind, Polygon spoke with Intelligent Systems director Kouhei Maeda and Nintendo director Shingo Matsushita about the mobile game. Topics include some of the risque art created for Fire Emblem Heroes, overpowered teams, caution over power creep, and player frustration with colorless units.
Read Maeda and Matsushita comments about these points below. You can find the full interview on Polygon here.
World to the West still planned for Wii U, Switch version will feature HD Rumble
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch eShop, Wii U eShop | 1 Comment
Yesterday, Rain Games announced that World to the West is coming to Switch. The Wii U version hasn’t been abandoned, however.
Rain Games shared the following regarding World to the West on Wii U:
“While porting to Switch has been a very smooth and pleasant process so far, Wii U is harder to optimize for, mostly due to the way the hardware is setup, and how the Wii U version is baed on an older version of the engine to ensure full system compatibility.
But we knew this going in, so we made sure that the game could stand up on its own without changing the main gameplay experience. We’re dedicated to making it play well on every platform! As far as an ETA is concerned, we’re hoping to get it out as soon as we can, but we don’t have a way to lock down a date yet, so I can’t get more specific than that.”
More: interview, Rain Games, World to the West
No More Robots will make Descenders “as great as possible” on Switch
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch eShop | 2 Comments
No More Robots and RageSquid are taking Descenders very seriously on Switch. Speaking to Nintendo Life, No More Robots founder Mike Rose said that “the plan is to make sure the Switch version of the game is as great as possible”.
According to Rose, “Nintendo has been super supportive”, and the same goes for Switch fans. We’ll be seeing videos of Descenders running on Switch “soon” so that the community can follow along as the project develops.
Rose’s full comments:
