Snake Pass is an important release on Switch in the sense that it’s one of the first Unreal Engine 4 games on the platform. The development period is really fascinating, as Sumo Digital had the game ready in just a few months. As part of a feature on GamesIndustry, the team went in-depth about how it was brought over so quickly.

Sumo was invited by Nintendo to get a look at Switch last December. Teams were sent to both Nintendo of Europe in Frankfurt and Nintendo of America in Redmond. Sumo was happy with what they saw, and received dev kits five days after they were ordered.

More: Ian Richardson, interview, Snake Pass, Sumo Digital

Dylan Cuthbert on Switch, Star Fox old-school re-make pitch, Star Fox Command, “X” staying in Japan, more

Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in DS, General Nintendo, News, Switch, Wii U | 35 Comments

Q-Games founder Dylan Cuthbert conducted a new Reddit AMA today. As a Star Fox developer who has played an influential role in the Star Fox series, he had plenty to say about the franchise. He spoke about an old-school re-make pitched to Nintendo, working on Star Fox Command (and its endings), and his own personal ideas for a new game. Cuthbert also weighed in on Switch, Nintendo’s Game Boy title for “X” and why it never left Japan, and more.

We’ve collected a number of important responses from the Reddit AMA below. You can read the full thing right here.

More: Dylan Cuthbert, interview, Star Fox, top

Choice Provisions had Runner3 running on Switch in a day

Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch eShop | 2 Comments

Many studios have come forward noting just how easy it is to develop for Switch. You can add Choice Provisions to that pile as well.

Speaking with Autopress, Choice Provisions said that the team had Runner3 running on Switch in just a single day. Since then, “it’s been smooth sailing”.

“We were nervous at first about developing for the Switch, simply because there are always unknowns with new platforms. We ended up getting the game running on the console in only a day, however, and it’s been smooth sailing ever since!”

Runner3 will be out on Switch later this year as an exclusive.

Source

More: Choice Provisions, interview, Runner3

Image & Form on how Switch makes it much easier to submit games, talks ease of development

Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 5 Comments

Image & Form recently revealed that Switch developers only need to submit one version of their game for the entire world. Speaking with MCV, community manager Julius Guldbog further explained why this is so significant, and said Nintendo is “basically taking the Steam or App Store approach”.

Guldbog said:

“With the Wii U and 3DS, [Nintendo] started to realise that they had to get with the times. Publishing for Nintendo consoles has been, in the past, not a nightmare, but pretty close. They make sure every QA gate is good enough. It takes months, and you have to do that for every region, and if you fail, it takes even longer. You have to get a new slot, and release dates are pushed back.
But with the Switch, we only have to make one version and only have one launch – and that’s one version for the entire world, so we’ll have the same version in the US, Europe and a little bit later, Japan and China as well. That saves so much work. It means we can do the translations ourselves, we don’t have to have a new publisher for one specific region – it’s going to be so much easier. They’re basically taking the Steam or App Store approach: one version of the game for the entire world.”

More: Image & Form, interview, Julius Guldbog

Square Enix considering which titles to port over to Switch

Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 72 Comments

We’ve already heard that Switch is receiving huge attention from Square Enix this year. Additionally, CEO Yosuke Matsuda informed Nikkei that the company is considering previously-released titles for the platform. “We’re even thinking about what feasible existing game titles we want to successively port [onto the Switch],” he said.

Any and all titles may be up for consideration here. Seiken Densetsu Collection is coming to Switch in Japan soon, which features games that came out many years ago. On the other hand, Square Enix brought Dragon Quest Heroes I-II out for Switch’s Japanese launch last month, which had titles that were made within the past couple of years.

Source, Via

More: interview, Square Enix, top

Former Nintendo dev on working at the company, Miyamoto wanting Pikmin to be the next Mario, Mario 64 DS, scrapped Wii Play games

Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in DS, General Nintendo, News, Wii | 6 Comments

Today, Gamasutra published a big interview with Motoi Okamoto. Okamoto spent a decade at Nintendo beginning in 1998, and contributed to games like Pikmin, Super Mario 64 DS, Wii Play, and Wii Fit.

Gamasutra spoke with Okamoto about his experiences at the company in its interview. He touched on Shigeru Miyamoto’s high aspirations for Pikmin, rejected Wii Play games, and more.

Head past the break for notable excerpts from the interview. You can read the full thing here.

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Zelda: Breath of the Wild devs on Ganon and Zelda, story positioning, using open air concept in the future

Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch, Wii U | 129 Comments

This week, Famitsu is publishing an interview with some of the developers behind The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Director Hidemaro Fujibayashi and series producer Eiji Aonuma spoke about the game in-depth, among others. Ahead of the magazine’s official release tomorrow, some tidbits from the interview have appeared online.

First, Famitsu asks about how Nintendo settled on Ganon’s role in the game. Zelda was given a fairly deep portrayal, but Ganon only exists as a calamity. Fujibayashi responded by saying that, role-wise, it was unnecessary for him to be personified. If he talks, then his background would need to be shown and that would only be an obstruction in the game. That’s why Ganon is shaped as it is.

More: Eiji Aonuma, Famitsu, Hidemaro Fujibayashi, interview, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, top

Former Nintendo exec Ken Lobb on GoldenEye 007’s rail shooter origins, Klobb gun, more

Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 13 Comments

Ken Lobb might not be a name everyone is familiar with, but he had a major impact on Nintendo back in the day. As a former executive at Nintendo of America, he influenced both software and hardware.

The N64 megahit GoldenEye 007 was one game Lobb was involved with. In a lengthy interview with Game Informer this month, Lobb discussed the game in-depth starting with its origins up through release.

GoldenEye 007 started out with “a tiny team at Rare,” Lobb said. Speaking about why this happened, he explained:

“Let’s just say, the ‘bigs,’ or the more experienced Rare developers were busy. They also weren’t super thrilled about making a game with a license. The license had come from Japan, from Mr. [Hiroshi] Yamauchi. He started the negotiations for it. Tim and Chris had agreed to take on the project. But the people making Donkey Kong, Banjo, Killer Instinct – they’re all busy. So, Martin Hollis and a little group of people began working on it.
They worked in barns at the time. Rare was called the Manor Farmhouse. It was this beautiful old farmhouse with a bunch of developers in it, and all these barns that were converted into development spaces. One was for Banjo, one was Killer Instinct, the smallest one had Martin Hollis, David Doak, and the whole team behind GoldenEye. I was visiting Rare a lot, once every 8 to 10 weeks to work on Killer Instinct 2. Actually, the end of Killer Instinct and into Killer Instinct 2, while they were making GoldenEye. I developed a friendship with Martin. That had a couple, shall we say, interesting impacts…”

More: GoldenEye 007, interview, Ken Lobb, top

Hearthstone designer says Switch version is “a good discussion worth having”

Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 31 Comments

Hearthstone, Blizzard’s popular collectible card game, has stayed on mobile and PC since its launch a few years ago. With Switch out on the market, fans are wondering if it could eventually land on the new console.

Express Online did ask Hearthstone senior game designer Mike Donais about the possibility. “I personally haven’t talked about it but I’m more focused on card design,” he said. “Hearthstone is available on iPads and phones, so it’s a good discussion worth having.”

Director Jeff Kaplan recently said in a Reddit AMA that bringing Hearthstone to Switch would be “very challenging”. However, he also noted that the team is “always open minded about exploring possible platforms.”