Niantic CEO on Pokemon GO – 2017 update plans, Legendary Pokemon, cheating, missing features
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Mobile, News | 38 Comments
This week, Wired’s German division conducted an interview with Niantic CEO John Hanke. Hanke was able to answer some important questions about plans for Pokemon GO in 2017 and more.
First, Hanke was asked about what fans can expect from Pokemon GO’s second big update this year. He confirms that “playing together and gym battles” will be primarily addressed.
“There are a couple of areas that need to be improved – one of them being playing together and gym battles. We released those in an incomplete state. We knew from Ingress that cooperation and planning can be a lot of fun. When people have a common goal, then that’s a strong incentive to meet up with friends or even with people you don’t know.”
“The gameplay in gym battles is very limited. They just don’t work as well as we wish they would. We will overhaul this aspect of the game to ensure more teamwork and to give people a bigger incentive to receive the rewards from gym battles.”
More: interview, John Hanke, Niantic, Pokemon GO, top
Switch had “one of the strongest and most successful gaming console launches for GameStop in the last several years”
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 50 Comments
How Switch will do in the long run remains to be seen. That being said, early indications from GameStop point to the system having a successful launch.
Eric Bright, the retailer’s senior director of merchandising, shared a few comments about Switch’s performance on launch day. According to Bright, Switch saw “one of the strongest and most successful gaming console launches for GameStop in the last several years.” He also noted how many stores “were packed with customers”, with some fans lining up early to nab a Switch for themselves.
Bright said:
“Stores across the country last night were packed with customers who couldn’t wait to get their hands on the brand new Nintendo Switch. We even had customers lining up as early as yesterday morning so that they could be one of the lucky ones to score one of the additional units for our walk-in customers. This is one of the strongest and most successful gaming console launches for GameStop in the last several years. For those fans who are still looking for the Nintendo Switch, don’t worry–we’re getting more. And, we’re pretty sure that there are a lot of gaming fans who pulled all-nighters last night playing their new Switch, and who also called in sick to work today with ‘game-fluenza’ just to stay home and play even more.”
Shin’en is working on a new game
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch eShop | 9 Comments
Shin’en has revealed that the studio is developing a new project. “We are already working on a new game, but we can’t say more for the moment,” the company stated in an interview with German outlet Nintendo-Online.
Shin’en just wrapped up FAST RMX for Switch. Despite that, the small team has moved on to something new already. Although platforms are unconfirmed, a release on Switch is probably a safe bet.
Yacht Club on finding out about Switch, says it’s an “incredibly easy system to develop for”
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 3 Comments
Yacht Club Games is at Switch’s launch with Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove and Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment. But how’d the studio find out about the new console anyway?
In a recent interview, lead programmer and studio co-founder David D’Angelo said:
“Nintendo first came to us. They said, ‘We have something coming. No we can’t tell you what it is, but if you have something around this time then that would be great.’ They do a pretty good job of keeping us in the loop in case our projects line up.”
D’Angelo also mentioned that “Switch is light years ahead of the Wii U. It’s an incredibly easy system to develop for, even compared to other consoles.”
With Shovel Knight, Yacht Club Games had it running “within a week”. In D’Angelo’s experience, developing for Switch is very close to the PlayStation 4. “I’ve been very impressed with how put together it is,” he said.
More: interview, top, Yacht Club Games
1-2-Switch producer says the game wasn’t planned to be part of WarioWare, why it isn’t pre-installed
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 21 Comments
Within the past week or so, new 1-2-Switch interviews with producer Kouichi Kawamoto appeared in both in Famitsu and on Japanese website 4Gamer. While nothing too major was mentioned, there were a few excerpts we thought were worth highlighting.
First, on 4Gamer, the site started out by talking about how 1-2-Switch feels reminiscent of WarioWare. Kawamoto responded to this and later directly commented on why the game isn’t pre-installed.
Below is the relevant exchange between the two sides:
The first game I created after joining Nintendo was the Sound Bomber mini-game included in 64DD title Mario Artist: Polygon Studio. Sound Bomber became foundation for WarioWare, so I am credited as being responsible for coming up with it.
Does that mean 1-2-Switch is based on WarioWare?
No, it doesn’t (laughs). I happened to come up with something completely new this time. […]
Did you ever consider making a game like 1-2-Switch as part of the WarioWare series?
WarioWare throws new games with different rules at you one after another, and they are fairly difficult games. If you played them without looking at screen, they would be extremely difficult. Furthermore, the players themselves are the characters in 1-2-Switch, performing on their ‘stage’ in front of the screen, so there isn’t really any room for the Wario characters. Because of that, I decided not to use Warioware from the outset. I made something new.
More: 1-2-Switch, interview, Kouichi Kawamoto, top
Bethesda’s Todd Howard shares more thoughts about Switch, says Nintendo “came to us early about Skyrim”
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 36 Comments
Glixel recently published an interview with Bethesda Game Studios’ executive producer Todd Howard. During the chat, Howard was able to comment a bit more on The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim for Switch.
First, Howard was asked about how Skyrim for Switch came about. He shared the following:
“When it comes to the Switch, Nintendo’s the only company that can do that, right? When you hear that Nintendo’s going to do a new platform, there’s a lot of ways that can go. If you look at handheld gaming, they’re still the best at it. If they say ‘we’re going to make the best handheld ever and you can plug it into your TV’, well that’s just really, really smart. I hope they do well and it’s a unique opportunity for us.”
Glixel also asked if Bethesda was talking with Nintendo for awhile:
Choice Provisions on making Runner3 a Switch exclusive, Rebellion on bringing over Rogue Trooper Redux
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 5 Comments
It took awhile, but Choice Provisions finally confirmed Runner3 for Switch earlier this week. Making things even better is that the game is an exclusive for the system.
Speaking with MCV, producer Dant Rambo said that “Nintendo’s focus on accessibility and creating a platform for the hardcore and non-hardcore alike were the biggest factors for [Choice Provisions]” in creating the project only for the new console. Being able to play the game at home or on the go was another factor as well.
Rambo also said:
Kimishima on Switch’s price, VR
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 21 Comments
Earlier today, Asahi Shimbun published a brief interview with Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima about Switch. There were a few interesting excerpts about the system’s price and plans for VR.
Regarding price, Asahi Shimbun brought up how some people feel that Switch is expensive when compared to other gaming systems. However, Kimishima was quick to point out that the features are different, so you can not simply compare them. He thinks those opinions are not necessarily the majority. Nintendo is putting in effort to reduce costs, so the company may be able to consider a price drop in the future.
More: interview, Tatsumi Kimishima, top
Aonuma interested in exploring HD Rumble in the future
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 8 Comments
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild doesn’t have support for HD Rumble. That being said, series producer Eiji Aonuma is certainly interested in the new force feedback feature Switch provides.
Speaking with Game Informer, Aonuma said that HD Rumble “is something I am keeping in the back of my head” and “would definitely like to visit” at some point in the future. He also brought up how it would work well in something like Skyward Sword – HD remaster, anyone?
Aonuma’s full words:
More: Eiji Aonuma, interview, top
Fire Emblem Heroes directors on developing Fire Emblem for mobile, update plans, more
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Mobile, News | 4 Comments
Famitsu conducted an interview with a couple of the developers behind Fire Emblem Heroes this month. Intelligent Systems director Kouhei Maeda and Nintendo director Shingo Matsushita were able to provide some additional insight into the mobile game.
To start out, the interview touched on how Fire Emblem Heroes came to be. Matsushita explained that when Nintendo decided to begin developing for smartphones, one of the candidates was Fire Emblem. They’ve been thinking from the beginning about making something that can allow many people to experience Fire Emblem as a strategy RPG.
