Yacht Club says the studio would be “silly” not to make another Shovel Knight game
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS eShop, News, Wii U eShop | 10 Comments
The latest episode of the 8-4 Play podcast contains an interview with Yacht Club Games’ Sean Velasco and David D’Angelo. While speaking about Shovel Knight, the two developers mentioned that they’re still developing more content for the game. Once that’s done though, the team would be “silly” not to make a sequel. It was also reiterated that a follow-up title could be another NES-style game or something more in line with the SNES or Nintendo 64.
Her Story dev has some interest in a Wii U version, cost and time are hurdles
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U eShop | 10 Comments
Her Story developer Sam Barlow has some interest in releasing his critically-acclaimed game on Wii U. However, he would need to overcome a few hurdles in order to make that happen.
Barlow responded with the following when Nintendo News asked if he’s ever thought about bringing Her Story to a Nintendo platform:
“No… I mean I’d love to, but I’m guessing that the content isn’t a perfect match. Though, the keyboard interface would actually work on a Wii U.”
More: Her Story, indie, interview, Sam Barlow
Kimishima comments briefly on Splatoon, sales, NX, and more
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News, Switch, Wii U | 70 Comments
Sankei West recently spoke with Tatsumi Kimishima. During their talk, Nintendo’s new president talked a bit about Splatoon, sales, mobile, My Nintendo, and NX.
The first topic discussed during the interview was Splatoon. After Sankei mentions that it’s selling well, Kimishima said that painting colors as a way of battle and the characters allow it to be accepted by a family audience. He added that, in the future, it’s possible to extend it widely like Super Mario Bros.
More: interview, Tatsumi Kimishima, top
Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam devs on bringing in Paper Mario, dash mechanic, more
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 0 comments
A few members of the Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam development team were interviewed in this month’s issue of Nintendo Dream. The lineup includes producer Akira Otani (Nintendo), director Shunsuke Kobayashi (AlphaDream), and director of battle team Jun Iwasaki (AlphaDream).
We’ve translated some excerpts from the interview after the break. The staff commented on how it was decided that Paper Mario would appear, the new dash mechanic (and Shigeru Miyamoto signing off on it!), and more. Read on below for the full breakdown.
Game Freak Junichi Masuda’s 2016 greeting for Pokemon
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 8 Comments
In the latest issue of Famitsu, Game Freak said that the company wants to make 2016 “into a great year of celebrations” for Pokemon. Junichi Masuda offered up a little something more in this month’s Nintendo Dream.
Here’s our translation of what was said:
“Happy New Year! On February 27, 2016, Pokemon will celebrate its 20th anniversary. On this day, Virtual Console versions of Pokemon Red, Green, Blue & Yellow will be released, so if we can hype it up with everyone while feeling nostalgic with the past, I’ll be glad! And this year I think we’ll give a feel of the future with Pokemon Go! We’re challenging [ourselves] so that the 20th anniversary will be fun for everyone in the world, so please keep up your continuing support. The ring of Pokemon is still getting bigger! I look forward to working with you all this year!
More: Game Freak, interview, Junichi Masuda, Pokemon
Yacht Club on how the Shovel Knight amiibo came to be, Nintendo’s role, cut idea
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, General Nintendo, News, Wii U | 0 comments
In an interview with Nintendo Life, Ian Flood and David D’Angelo from Yacht Club Games spoke all about Shovel Knight. One prominent topic was the Shovel Knight amiibo.
Speaking about how the figure came to be, the two developers stated:
David D’Angelo: That started in 2014, the possibility of it even happening – what it would look like, what it could do.
David: Yeah, Nintendo said “pitch us on it” when they showed us the New 3DS. We started chatting about ideas with amiibo and they asked us whether we wanted to formally pitch to do an amiibo. That kind of thing is strange, like you’re sending a paper to no-one! But the whole thing was shocking, really, they kept saying let’s move this forward, and we couldn’t believe it was going to happen.
Ian: The excitement leading up to it was something else. What was funny was that we were waiting for the announcement, website, trailer and stuff like that, and retailers kept leaking it. It was tricky to get the information out there. It’s one thing to leak that it’s a thing, but it’s another to leak that it’s in a game series it’s not! There was a lot of information around, and we couldn’t easily say it was wrong without talking about it fully.
Ian: Yeah, we had to say it was a mis-listing, so not denying everything. We had people getting pre-emptively mad about the release date, pricing. All mad at details that were incorrect. We’re pretty receptive online and tried to answer queries.
Ian: So we tried to calm everyone down and put out a definitive update with full details. But that was fun, a few guys were at PAX for the reveal at the Nindies@Night event, and we were all excited that we had prototypes in a box. The guys were keeping them under their coats at the hotel so that we kept a lid on it, yet the whole time that was happening images were online. It was a bubble where the guys at the event were keeping a secret, but EVERYONE in the entire would knew about it.
But still, it was an immensely exciting day with everything coming together.
More: Amiibo, interview, top, Yacht Club Games
Street Fighter, Dead or Alive, Sony Japan Studio producers reflect on Iwata’s passing
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 8 Comments
Recently, Japanese website 4Gamer caught up with a few developers to reflect on the passing of Satoru Iwata. Producers from Capcom, Team Ninja, and even Sony Japan Studio talked about the late Nintendo president, and in some cases, shared some of their memories with him.
Here’s an overview of what the different developers spoke about:
Capcom producer Yoshinori Ono (Street Fighter)
– Remembered several anecdotes, happened after the two had several chances to meet after the launch of the 3DS
– Iwata told stories about old gadgets, or about the era of old PC programmed in assembly
– Iwata responded courteously when Ono asked him to sign a cartridge of Balloon Fight he had brought from home
– Another memory: on a return flight from San Francisco, they sat side by side on the plane, talking about games, movies and the entertainment system
– He won’t forget the memory of sharing Iwata’s ideas and thoughtfulness
– Ono was shocked when he heard the news of Iwata-san’s passing,
– Will keep their conversations and the moments in which they dined together and had a chat engraved in his memory, holding them in mind for his life and work in the future
Pokemon president recalls how Iwata helped localize the series’ first games
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 9 Comments
In a new interview with 4Gamer, Tsunekazu Ishihara talked about how late Nintendo president Satoru Iwata’s vital work helped bring the original Pokemon games to the west. You can read up on the full excerpt below, courtesy of Siliconera’s translation.
4Gamer: I believe there may be more people now that don’t know that Iwata-san was involved in Pokémon.
Ishihara: I think there are even people within Nintendo that don’t even know. 1998 was around the time Iwata-san was working as President of HAL Laboratory.
More: Game Freak, interview, Satoru Iwata, top, Tsunekazu Ishihara
Koei Tecmo hints at NX being a home console
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 78 Comments
What is the NX? Is it a console or a handheld? Perhaps a mix of the two? We’ve actually received a number of hints and vague statements indicating that the NX will at least be a home console, but Nintendo has yet to go on the record and confirm anything officially.
Enter Koei Tecmo. During an interview with Japanese website 4Gamer, president and CEO Yoichi Erikawa further hinted that gamers can expect NX to be a home console.
Here’s the full exchange between the two sides:
4Gamer: On one hand, virtual reality requires special machinery to play, and we feel that the current state of “games” is headed to yet another way of playing. It’s almost as if it’s evolving towards the opposite direction of smartphones, and requires to “only play at that spot,” or something along those lines. Lately it seems that [home] consoles haven’t been doing too well, but is that the case? At least that’s what we’re wondering.
Erikawa: “Actually, I think that it’ll start doing much better. The PlayStation 4 has recently surpassed 2 million units in nationwide sales, and Nintendo announced a new ‘machine’ called the NX. From this point forward, I believe that each company will make clear commitments for these machines.”
More: interview, Koei Tecmo, Yoichi Erikawa
Former Nintendo staffer on how he came up with Koopalings’ names and Motörhead inspiration
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 7 Comments
Well over 20 years ago, Dayvv Brooks worked at Nintendo as a product analyst. One early assignment he had was to take poorly translated Japanese text and making it sound better.
Speaking with Kotaku, Brooks explained how he came up with the names of the different Koopalings, including how Lemmy was inspired by Motörhead rock band founder Lemmy Kilmister.
He said:
“Music has always been a big part of my life. I’ve been a DJ for years and have been a music collector for even longer. When I first saw the group of seven Koopalings, music was on my mind.
The hairstyle on one of them reminded me of Ludwig von Beethoven for some reason and Ludwig von Koopa was born. Next was the one with the glasses—that has to be Roy Koopa in homage to Roy Orbison, who almost always wore glasses. Then Wendy O. Koopa (Wendy O. Williams) [and] Iggy Koopa (Iggy Pop). One looked like a loudmouth, so he was Morton Koopa Jr. from [the] loud-mouthed talk show host Morton Downey Jr. And then there was Larry. There’s no real-world equivalent—he’s not Larry Mullen Jr. from U2 or Larry King—he just looked like a Larry.
That brings us to Lemmy. In addition to being a great name, it’s perfect for a video game character. This Koopaling struck me as being the kind of character who would do his own thing, no matter what anyone else thought. I think it was those crazy eyes. Lemmy Koopa was in the crew.”
Kotaku says that Nintendo had to approve Brooks’ translation ideas, all of which were signed off by the company.
