Activision thinking about how to continue investing in Skylanders, says Wii’s death contributed to series’ struggles
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 13 Comments
Over the past few years, the toys-to-life market seemed to be on the way out. Disney Infinity is dead. LEGO Dimensions hasn’t seen as much content as it once did. Activision also didn’t have a new Skylanders in 2017 for the first time in many years.
So at E3, it was somewhat surprising to see Ubisoft announce Starlink. And while Activision doesn’t have something completely new for Skylanders this year, it sounds like they’re still committed to the series.
In an interview with GamesIndustry, Activision CEO Eric Hirshberg had this to say about the state of Skylanders and the overall toys-to-life market:
More: Activision, Eric Hirshberg, interview, Skylanders
Sakamoto on Metroid: Samus Returns – melee counter, MercurySteam collaboration, bringing it to life, more action
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 2 Comments
Yet another Metroid: Samus Returns interview has appeared online with Yoshio Sakamoto. In a talk with CGMagazine, Sakamoto commented on the game’s new melee counter, working with MercurySteam, how the game was brought to life, heavier action focus, and more.
We’ve highlighted notable excerpts from the interview below. You can read the full discussion here.
Video: Ubisoft CEO reflects on E3 2017 titles
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Switch, Videos | 6 Comments
Ubisoft had plenty to show at E3 2017 last month, and CEO Yves Guillemot spoke about the publisher’s slate in the video below. Guillemot talked Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, Starlink, and more.
More: E3 2017, interview, Ubisoft, Yves Guillemot
Neptunia producer wants to know if fans would be interested in seeing the series on Switch
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 60 Comments
Idea Factory and Compile Heart have yet to release any entry in the Neptunia series on a Nintendo platform. In the future though, perhaps that could change.
Neptunia producer Naoko Mizuno was asked about the possibility of the franchise appearing on Switch. Mizuno said in response, “It would be great if we hear feedback from our fans letting us know if they’d like to see Neptunia on the Switch, then it might be realized.”
More: Compile Heart, Idea Factory, interview, Naoko Mizuno, Neptunia
ARMS – Nintendo character models used during development, Barq originally imagined as a support item
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 7 Comments
A recent issue of Famitsu contained an interview with Kosuke Yabuki, the producer of ARMS. Much of what was said has been covered in interviews that have appeared over the past few weeks, but there were a couple of highlights we wanted to mention.
First, during development, Nintendo temporarily used 3D models of characters such as Mario, Link and some others. But because their heights didn’t fit well with gameplay, they decided to use Wii Fit Trainer who is taller. She has well-trained muscles and it was easier to differentiate each part of her body. It was a good fit as your character or your opponent.
More: Arms, interview, Kosuke Yabuki, top
Nintendo not specifically making games for eSports, Doug Bowser on what went right with Switch and third-parties
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 43 Comments
alistdaily published its own interview with Doug Bowser, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Nintendo of America. Among other things, Bowser weighed in on eSports, Switch’s success, and the status of third-parties now that the system is catching on with consumers.
You can read these excerpts below. alistdaily has the full discussion here.
More: Doug Bowser, interview
Mario Odyssey director on having Mario travel the world, says he’s human, considering “many characters”, more
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 11 Comments
Vice recently spoke with Super Mario Odyssey director Kenta Motokura. Motokura talked about why Mario is traveling the world in this game, noted that Nintendo is considering “many characters” for the game including potentially Luigi, and more. The developer also confirmed that Mario is human even though he may look out of place in New Donk City.
We’ve picked out the notable highlights from Vice’s interview below. For the full discussion, head on over here.
More: interview, Kenta Motokura, Super Mario Odyssey, top
Yacht Club “would love” to make a Shovel Knight 3D platformer and have the character in Smash Bros.
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 24 Comments
After the final round of content for Shovel Knight is wrapped up highlighted by the King Knight campaign, you can count on Yacht Club Games taking a break from the series for a little while. If and when the studio does return to the IP though, one possibility could see Shovel Knight entering the 3D space with a N64-type game.
This is something we’ve heard Yacht Club talk a bit about before, but the studio’s Nick Wozniak really seems interested in the idea. Wozniak stated the following when asked by AppTrigger where he’d like to see the franchise be taken next:
“Anything? I think one of the things we want to work on in the far future is definitely like a Shovel Knight 64, a 3D platformer. We would all love that. We all love Mario 64 to pieces and would just love to be able to jump into that.”
Sakamoto on Chozo inspiration, MercurySteam’s understanding of Metroid, remaking Metroid II
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 0 comments
Metroid: Samus Returns producer and series co-creator Yoshio Sakamoto has been fielding media interviews since the title’s initial showing at E3 last month. This includes TIME, who has some choice words from Sakamoto.
Among his remarks, Sakamoto touched on what inspired Chozo and the overall aesthetic. And for Samus Returns specifically, he discussed working with MercurySteam and the studio’s true understanding of the franchise. Sakamoto also further commented on why it’s the right time to remake Metroid II.
Find these excerpts from Sakamoto below. You can read TIME’s full piece here for a few more comments.
Sine Mora EX dev on the new co-op mode
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 0 comments
The shoot ’em up Sine Mora EX originally debuted back in 2012. THQ Nordic is now reviving the game for new platforms, including Switch.
One of the new features in Sine Mora EX is a co-op mode. Two players will be able to experience the full story mode together at once.
In an interview with Nintendo UK, localizer and designer Brandon Sheffield talked about how the team is going about including co-op:
“Narratively, it doesn’t make sense to have two ships because the story is basically broken if there’s more than one ship on screen, because you’re the pilot and somebody else is talking to you from somewhere else, because they’re doing something else. The whole thing about this game is most of these actions take place simultaneously and so you wind up hearing the same conversation again because then you’re the other person that was involved in that incident.
So the second player essentially plays as a drone. It plays differently from the main ship as well. If it gets hit, it doesn’t have its own life bar, it loses you time. And it works pretty well, it’s about as natural as you can make it and it’s obviously fun to play games together. And you know, obviously with Nintendo Switch, players want to have multiplayer experiences that can be enjoyed on one screen or in tabletop mode.”
