Fire Emblem Echoes devs – realistic proportions will carry over into the Switch game, why Alm is left-handed, more
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News, Switch | 27 Comments
The July 2017 issue of Nintendo Dream had a massive interview about Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia. Producer Hitoshi Yamagami (Nintendo), director Kenta Nakanishi (Nintendo), director Toshiyuki Kusakihara (Intelligent Systems), and producer Masahiro Higuchi (Intelligent Systems) participated in the discussion.
Among the topics discussed were the use of realistic proportions (which will be carried over into the upcoming Switch title), why Alm is left-handed, and a whole lot more. We’ve picked out some of the notable excerpts below. You can read the full interview on Kantopia.
Pokemon devs would like to see a Rhydon racing spin-off, new kind of action game
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 32 Comments
Game Informer’s latest piece of Pokemon coverage is all about Pokemon spin-offs. Game Freak co-founder, director, and producer Junichi Masuda and Pokemon Sun/Moon director Shigeru Ohmori were both asked about their favorite ones.
As for Masuda, he went with Pokemon GO, though he’s unsure if it’s actually a spin-off game. Ohmori went with Pokemon Snap. He said that one of the best aspects of the N64 title was printing out the photos in real life.
More: Game Freak, interview, Junichi Masuda, Pokemon, Shigeru Ohmori, top
Game Freak’s Junichi Masuda was very stressed and had health issues while working on Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in GBA, News | 11 Comments
Which Pokemon games were the most challenging to make? When Game Informer posed that question to Game Freak co-founder and Pokemon director / producer Junichi Masuda, he referred to Ruby and Sapphire.
Masuda first told the magazine:
“With Ruby and Sapphire, the screen got a little longer and it was a different aspect ratio, a lot more colors and sound channels so the tech was improved dramatically. It allowed us to do a lot more and gave us more freedom, but at the same time it made it take a lot longer to do things and was more resource-intensive.”
“After Gold and Silver came out, it was a huge hit around the world, but shortly after everyone was saying, ‘That’s it. The Pokémon fad is over! It’s dead!’ It was a very stressful project, for sure. When we were first developing it, I had the idea in mind that it would be Ruby and Sapphire, and then the next games, including the titles, would be Diamond and Pearl, and in between we would do the remakes, FireRed and LeafGreen, so we could create this structure where you could take the Pokémon from the Kanto region to the Diamond and Pearl games.”
EA could bring many more games to Switch if FIFA 18 performs well
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 155 Comments
EA’s first Switch game will be published next month. FIFA 18 will launch on the console along with other platforms on September 29. On the whole, early feedback has been quite positive.
EA’s future support on Switch could hinge on the performance of FIFA 18. Speaking to EDGE this month, executive vice president Patrick Söderlund noted that the company wants to support the platform “and help Nintendo grow that installed base”. He went on to say that “it”s about supporting the platform, building technology for the platform, testing it out with big things like FIFA – and maybe a couple of others, we’ll see – and if they go well, I see no reason why we shouldn’t have as much of our portfolio on that platform as possible.”
Söderlund stated:
More: EA, interview, Patrick Soderlund, top
Sony’s Jim Ryan says it’s great to see Nintendo back and doing well with Switch
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 82 Comments
Although Switch has only been out for a few months, the console has done very well thus far. Nintendo announced as part of its latest financial results in July that 4.7 million units have already been shipped. It’s a much different situation compared to Wii U.
In last month’s issue of EDGE, Sony’s global head of sales and marketing Jim Ryan was asked about Switch. Specifically, he was asked if the platform’s early success changes his view on portables.
Fire Emblem Warriors devs – Chrom was made first, Lissa / Lucina / Frederick / Robin talk, much more
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in New Nintendo 3DS, News, Switch | 170 Comments
It wasn’t too long ago that Nintendo Dream published a lengthy interview with the developers of Fire Emblem Warriors. But in its latest issue, the Japanese magazine brought back producer Yosuke Hayashi and director Hiroya Usuda once again.
The second interview has its own interesting tidbits and discussion. Hayashi and Hiroya spoke about the reaction to Fire Emblem Warriors out of E3 and reveal that Chrom was the first character created. There’s also a lot of talk about why Lissa wields a staff, how there was initially some consideration about not including Lucina, the inclusions of Frederick and Robin, and more. Towards the end of the interview, Hayashi and Hiroya spoke further about how characters were selected for the game.
Continue on below for our full translation of Nintendo Dream’s new Fire Emblem Warriors interview.
Video: Game Freak on player freedom vs. story in Pokemon
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Videos | 49 Comments
The next piece of content from Game Informer’s month of Pokemon coverage is live. The magazine chatted with Pokemon series producer, director, and composer Junichi Masuda as well as Pokemon Sun/Moon director Shigeru Ohmori about why the Pokemon RPGs need a story and whether the team would ever make a game as open as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. View the video below.
More: Game Freak, interview, Junichi Masuda, Pokemon, Shigeru Ohmori, top
Game Freak on making Pokemon – designs rarely canned, approach to evolutions, why eyes have changed, more
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 24 Comments
Game Informer published the next piece of its Pokemon-related coverage after taking a trip to Game Freak’s offices in Japan. The latest entry focuses on the actual creation of Pokemon.
Game Freak co-founder and Pokemon director / producer Junichi Masuda had plenty to say about this subject. He noted that designs are rarely scrapped, how the team thinks about evolution, why the eyes for Pokemon have changed over the years, and more.
You can read up on Masuda’s words below. Find the full article from Game Informer here.
More: Game Freak, interview, Junichi Masuda, top
DrinkBox says Severed on Switch “was one of the easiest releases we’ve ever done”
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch eShop | 3 Comments
DrinkBox surprised us this week by stealthily putting Severed on Switch. Fortunately, the process of porting the game over was very smooth.
DrinkBox co-founder and Severed producer Graham Smith told 4colorrebellion:
“Bringing the game to the Switch was an extremely smooth process, in fact, it was one of the easiest releases we’ve ever done as a studio. The only major difference between the Wii U and Switch versions of Severed is that now you can take it with you on the go!”
DrinkBox isn’t talking about future Switch games at this time. Smith did note though, “I can say that now that our game engine is running on the Switch, it should make it easier for us to bring games to the platform in the future.”
More: DrinkBox Studios, Graham Smith, interview, Severed
Game Freak talks about its origins
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 10 Comments
Game Informer is continuing its coverage of Game Freak and Pokemon today with some new insight into the studio. For the latest entry, the magazine goes over the company’s early history.
Game Freak first started out as a magazine / mini comic. When the Famicom was introduced, co-founder Junichi Masuda says the development of Mendel Palace started. Masuda said that the team “didn’t really have any official development equipment, so we just sort of had to hack the NES and figure out how it worked so we could develop on it ourselves without the official sort of development tools.”
