Street Fighter, Dead or Alive, Sony Japan Studio producers reflect on Iwata’s passing
Posted on 8 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 8 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 8 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 8 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.
Platinum reflects on Bayonetta 2’s Nintendo content, Star Fox Zero talk
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 37 Comments
GameSpot put up a pretty comprehensive feature about PlatinumGames today. That also includes individual staff interviews, such as one that mainly features Star Fox Zero co-director Yusuke Hashimoto.
During the discussion, Hashimoto reflected on the Nintendo content in Bayonetta 2 (spoilers?) and how Platinum ended up working on Star Fox Zero. He also spoke about working with Shigeru Miyamoto’s team and the challenge of making the game fun by using both the TV and the GamePad.
Head past the break for a rundown of Hashimoto’s comments. You can also read GameSpot’s full article here that has a few older quotes.
Zelda: Tri Force Heroes – Cheer Outfit’s idol origins, how the Timeless Tunic came to be
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 3 Comments
Last month’s issue of Nintendo Dream contains an interview centered around The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes. The Japanese magazine spoke with director Hiromasa Shikata, designer Keisuke Umeda, and producer Eiji Aonuma. There were some interesting comments shared, not to mention valuable concept art for Zelda fans.
Costumes are naturally a big part of Tri Force Heroes. During the interview, Umeda talked about what elements were taken into consideration when designing these for Link:
“The first thing is to make the effect [of the costume] easy to understand. Then comes making it look interesting and easily recognizable with colors. Designs were made while keeping these three things in mind.”
One piece of concept art included in the interview is of the Cheer Outfit. Here’s a look at that:
13AM Games teases more content to come for Runbow
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U eShop | 3 Comments
13AM Games isn’t finished working on Runbow. Despite bringing the game out back in late August, there are still plans to support it with new content and updates.
Managing director Dave Proctor teased:
“I mean… this game has been our whole life for the last two years, so it’s going to be everyone else’s for at least the next 12 months. We have a lot of plans for Runbow. We’re going to start announcing these things soon, but suffice it to say you haven’t heard the last of this little game and those scrappy Canadians that made it.
One thing we’ve never shied away from is admitting that there will be more content. We’re putting the finishing touches on it now, and let me tell you we really think the fans are going to love it. We’ve also got a few more updates that we are pushing out, including some fixes to some issues that fans have been calling for since launch.
Proctor also spoke very vaguely about what lies beyond Runbow, stating:
But we are also working on a couple other ideas, and seeing if we can bring that 13AM magic to new titles in the near future. We’re not done with Runbow yet, but we are working on getting a couple more planes off the ground. Planes that are already built this time.”
More: 13AM Games, Dave Proctor, indie, interview, Runbow
Splatoon devs share background info on stages, talk about the end of updates, more
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 9 Comments
This week’s issue of Famitsu has more coverage of Splatoon. There isn’t any news about the game itself (which was to be expected), but there is a 4-page interview with the game’s developers. Famitsu caught up with producer Hisashi Nogami plus co-directors Tsubasa Sakaguchi and Yusuke Amano. They shared some interesting background information about stages, spoke about the end of updates and why they’re coming to a close, and more.
There is quite a bit here, so let’s get right to it. Head past the break for a summary of the interview.
– Most of the stages in Splatoon are based on marine products, but only Under Deca Line Girder Bridge (Urchin Underpass) isn’t. It’s based on Jujo Road, an actual road in Kyoto which is nearby Nintendo’s office. The ? kanji means ten, which can also become Deca in Greek. And ? means line, hence Deca-Line. Deca-Line is the name of the highway, and this stage is right underneath it, hence the “Under”.
– How the Deca-Line stage came to be included: art director Seita Inoue has a habit of sketching things nearby him. One day he drew a night view seen from the company building. When the development team was thinking about stage designs, they happened to find this sketch, and since it fitted many of the stage designs, it got picked. They were looking for a place with a realistic sense that has an origin of grey-toned neutral color and could be vandalized with colors.
More: Hisashi Nogami, interview, Splatoon, top, Tsubasa Sakaguchi, Yusuke Amano
DeNA says Miitomo has “that distinct Nintendo feel”, emphasizing entertainment, communication important
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Mobile, News | 17 Comments
The Wall Street Journal has some new interview quotes up with DeNA president Isao Moriyasu. Much of the discussion pertained to Miitomo. Moriyasu commented on the user experience, how it’ll separate itself from other social networking/messaging services, and more.
Head past the break for a roundup of Moriyasu’s remarks. You can find a bit more of the interview here.
More: DeNA, interview, Isao Moriyasu, Miitomo, top
Shin’en “very pleased” with FAST Racing Neo sales thus far
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U eShop | 12 Comments
FAST Racing Neo only just landed on the Wii U eShop a few weeks back. That being said, Shin’en is happy with the game’s sales performance thus far.
Speaking with Nintendo Life, Manfred Linzner from Shin’en said the studio is “very pleased” with how the racer is doing. He said:
“We had a bet running in the company on how many copies would be sold on day one. Martin called the highest number. And he was right. It was almost exactly the number he predicted. We are very pleased with the sales so far, but on the other side our preceding investment was very high as well. Anyway, currently it looks pretty bright for the sales.”
