Square Enix “committed” to releasing more Dragon Quest games overseas
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 20 Comments
During the DS era, several Dragon Quest games were brought to the west. The series’ overseas status has been a little shaky over the past few years, but it’s starting to look up again. Looking at Nintendo’s involvement with Dragon Quest specifically, they just shipped Dragon VII in North America and Europe last month, with Dragon Quest VIII to follow next year.
If that wasn’t enough, Square Enix’s Noriyoshi Fujimoto told MCV that the company is “committed” to Dragon Quest in the west. When asked if Dragon Quest Builders – which might be a possibility for Switch – will affect the series’ status outside of Japan, he said:
“2016 marks the 30th anniversary of Dragon Quest series. It’s not as well known in the West as we would like but it really plays an epoch making role in the console gaming history. If gamers were to ‘discover’ Dragon Quest now, they may be surprised to the sheer breadth of the universe, in terms of variety and depth. But they would also have instant access to something that has taken us 30 years to build. Dragon Quest Builders is definitely a great way of getting the feel of Dragon Quest while having great fun right from the start.
We’re committed to bringing more Dragon Quest titles in the West as we believe it truly has potential to succeed even better. So watch this space.”
Dragon Quest XI is planned for both Switch and 3DS next year. I imagine we’ll get that one somehow – be it Square Enix directly or through Nintendo publishing.
More: Dragon Quest, interview, Square Enix
Masuda on what it’s like inside of a Pokeball
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Random | 12 Comments
Have you ever wondered what it’s like for a Pokemon to be inside of a Pokeball? Kotaku asked this burning question to Junichi Masuda of Game Freak, who is a long-time developer on the series.
On that topic, Masuda had this to say:
“I think it’s safe to say that it’s very comfortable inside inside of a Pokeball, it’s a very comfortable environment. Maybe the equivalent of a high-end suite room in a fancy hotel.”
This is certainly good to hear. Pokemon deserve the utmost comfort!
More: interview, Junichi Masuda, Pokemon
Pokemon Sun/Moon devs on their favorite starter Pokemon, initial backlash to Popplio
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 9 Comments
Kotaku was given the opportunity to speak with Pokemon Sun/Moon director Shigeru Ohmori and producer Junichi Masuda. During their chat, the starter Pokemon came up as a point of discussion.
When asked about the starter Pokemon he’ll be going with, Masuda pointed to Litten. He said:
“At home I have a really tiny cat. …it’s 3 kilograms. it crawls around, gets right on my shoulder, so I’m a cat man. I think I’ll probably go with Litten.”
Pokemon Sun/Moon devs on putting the emphasis on Pokemon, transferring from the original games, more
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 3 Comments
USGamer is chipping in with its own Pokemon Sun/Moon developer interview. Once again, Game Freak’s Shigeru Ohmori and Junichi Masuda participated in the discussion. Prominent topics included focusing on Pokemon themselves in Sun/Moon, the transfer process from the original games on Virtual Console, and more.
Read up on some of Ohmori and Masuda’s comments below. For the full interview, visit USGamer.
Ohmori on how Pokemon Sun/Moon puts a lot more emphasis on the monsters themselves…
Video: Game Freak’s Junichi Masuda picks six of his favorite Pokemon
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Videos | 4 Comments
IGN recently caught up with Game Freak’s Junichi Masuda, who has been working on the Pokemon games since the very beginning. Masuda was asked to select his favorite Pokemon. He presented six in total across different generations. Hear about all of his choices below.
More: interview, Junichi Masuda, Pokemon
Pokemon Sun/Moon video interviews
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, Videos | 0 comments
We have another set of interviews for Pokemon Sun/Moon, this time in video format. GamesRadar and Eurogamer put up pieces with series producer Junichi Masuda and director Shigeru Ohmori while GameXplain posted a recap of its discussion with the two. Find the full set of video sbelow.
More: interview, Pokemon Moon, Pokemon Sun
Pokemon Sun/Moon devs on connectivity with Pokemon GO, choosing platform for next entry, 3D, much more
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 12 Comments
A ton of Pokemon Sun/Moon developer interviews are starting to come online. Series producer Junichi Masuda and director Shigeru Ohmori fielded a ton of questions from the press.
First up is Game Informer, who asked the two about topics such as connectivity with Pokemon GO, which platform we’ll see the next entry on, stereoscopic 3D, and much more about Sun/Moon specifically. Naturally, the discussion wouldn’t have been complete without a question about Yungoos looking like Donald Trump. You can find a bunch of notable comments below, and the full interview here.
More: interview, Junichi Masuda, Pokemon Moon, Pokemon Sun, Shigeru Ohmori, top
Image & Form “seriously considered” multiplayer for SteamWorld Heist
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS eShop, News, Wii U eShop | 0 comments
SteamWorld Heist nearly had multiplayer. That’s according to Image & Form community manager Julius Guldbog, who said in a Reddit AMA that the functionality was “seriously considered”. Time was the only reason why it wasn’t included in the end.
Guldbog stated:
“We would love multiplayer and seriously considered it for Heist. In the end we ran out of time, simply.”
As another aside, the SteamWorld Heist hat packs are still planned for 3DS. Image & Form “ran into a nasty bug that will take some time to fix since DLC on 3DS didn’t work the way we thought,” though the team will “definitely compensate 3DS owners for the long wait”.
More: Image & Form, indie, interview, Julius Guldbog, SteamWorld Heist
Game Freak on Pokemon’s sustained success, keeping the main games on handhelds, more
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 26 Comments
Pokemon is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Junichi Masuda is one of the main developers responsible for its success, as he’s been working on the series since the very beginning. He started out as a programmer and composer before eventually becoming a director.
Speaking about Pokemon’s long-lasting success and continued relevance in the latest issue of EDGE, Masuda has this to say:
“There are so many variables in the games market that it’s not easy to define why Pokemon has had sustained success. There’s no doubt that the core elements of collecting, battling and trading have a lasting appeal when it comes to kids. But the thing that all our games really have in common is that we start by designing them with the younger audience in mind, and then add elements for our other core players. This means that even people who have never played the game before can easily buy it and get stuck in.”
Masuda also commented on how the competitive nature of Pokemon has helped the franchise gain appeal outside of its traditional demographic:
More: Game Freak, interview, Junichi Masuda, Pokemon, top
Shin’en talks about its history, FAST Racing Neo, supporting Nintendo platforms
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Wii U eShop | 7 Comments
Nintendo recently posted a video interview with Shin’en on its German YouTube page. Martin Sauter, the studio’s art director, took on some community questions. Sauter talked about the history of Shin’en, FAST Racing Neo in depth (making it easier for beginners, length of development, not trying to create an F-Zero spiritual successor), interest in the continued support of Nintendo platforms, and more.
The interview hasn’t been made available in other languages officially, but we did take the time to translate the whole thing in English. Head past the break to read it in full.
