SEGA – been tough translating Sonic into 3D, new games will be inspired by classic entries
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 80 Comments
SEGA has taken some heat with the Sonic series as of late. In particular, Sonic Boom admittedly led the gaming franchise astray and resulted in a large amount of criticism.
Speaking with Marketing Week, SEGA Europe marketing director Jon Rooke promised that new games in the series “will be more inspired by how it played in its heyday.” He also acknowledged the difficulty in bringing Sonic into 3D.
Rooke said:
“Sega has publicly apologised to the fans as the quality of console games in the Sonic franchise hasn’t been acceptable over recent years. It’s been tough translating that iconic side scrolling 2D experience from the 90s into 3D but Sonic is still huge for us so the new games will be more inspired by how it played in its heyday.”
Sonic Generations actually felt like a step in the right direction to me. And Sonic Colors, while not perfect, definitely had some redeeming qualities. It kind of makes you wish SEGA could be more consistent with the franchise!
Zelda: Tri Force Heroes – more talk of experimenting with 4 players, cut 2-player idea, totem inspiration
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 1 Comment
The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes features three players rather than four. We’ve heard from the development team a few times now that they did experiment with the latter number, but three Links was ultimately the path that was chosen.
Zelda: Tri Force Heroes director Hiromasa Shikata commented on this once again in an interview with IGN, in which he stated:
“When we tried four player, we definitely wanted to incorporate the totem mechanic, but what happened is that when you totem, the middle two players have nothing to do.”
“When it was four players, the players split up into two and two and each of them would do their own thing. So we thought that three players was the best number to have.”
Shikata also touched on a multiplayer idea that didn’t make it into the final game. Had it been implemented, two players could fuse together.
“[The fused heroes] could only go in one direction if both players wanted to go in that direction. Unfortunately, that made the gameplay very hard, so we had to take that mechanic out.”
Finally, Shikata discussed where the inspiration from the totem mechanic originated from.
“One of my teammates brought a picture of a circus act where people were stacked on top of each other. Looking at that picture, I thought that was a good way to use the 3D feature on the 3DS.”
Tri Force Heroes devs – communication origins, cut item ideas, amiibo in future Zeldas, more
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, General Nintendo, News | 3 Comments
GameSpot has posted an interview with Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma and Tri Force Heroes director Hiromasa Shikata. Between the two, they commented on the inspiration behind the game’s communication features, item ideas that were scrapped, consideration for two-player support, interest in using amiibo in future Zelda games, and more.
We’ve rounded up the various comments below. You can also read up on a few extra comments from GameSpot here.
Zelda: Tri Force Heroes director reveals a cut costume idea
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 2 Comments
The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes offers over 30 costumes. Yet there’s one idea that was left on the cutting room floor.
Speaking with USGamer, director Hiromasa Shikata revealed one costume that didn’t make it into the final game. There was talk about adding in “The Emperor’s New Clothes”, but the team couldn’t really think of a proper way to implement it.
According to Shikata:
“I can think of one right off the top of my head. That would be one that was inspired by the folktale “The Emperor’s New Clothes,†which as you know is the story of the emperor who thinks he’s wearing something of the highest fashion, but he’s actually—when other people look at him, he’s not wearing anything. They thought that would be a great idea for an outfit, but they weren’t able to come up with an implementation that would—they weren’t sure how to wrap up that whole thing as one good feature spec, you know, “How could we actually implement that neat idea as something that’s relevant to the game?†They unfortunately weren’t able to come to a conclusion, so that never made the cut.”
Aonuma planning a surprise twist for Zelda Wii U’s open world
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 59 Comments
Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma has commented a bit more on the new entry in the series for Wii U.
Speaking with IGN, he commented about the game’s open world. Aonuma acknowledged that some fans were hoping that Skyward Sword had a bigger open world, and for this title, he wants to “put a surprise, or kind of a twist, on my view of an open world game.”
He said:
“We actually had some feedback from Skyward Sword, where people were saying, ‘This is not exactly the Zelda game I was looking for, I was looking for a bigger open world.’ Unfortunately, I can’t go into details but I’m hoping to put a surprise, or kind of a twist, on my view of an open world game. I hope that you’ll look forward to it.”
Aonuma also talked about fan feedback. Though the development team reads a lot of what fans think about the series, not all of their feedback will make it into future Zelda titles.
“If we put all the feedback the fans write directly into the game, there won’t be an element of surprise. If there’s a comment and they’re asking for certain element, I would think, ‘Oh, why not interpret this in a different way that you wouldn’t expect?’ That’s how we create a new element in a Zelda game. I always want to implement something new and surprising into every game.“
More: Eiji Aonuma, interview, top, Zelda Wii U
Aonuma on Zelda’s 30th anniversary, team is doing its best with Zelda Wii U
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Wii U | 85 Comments
This week, Famitsu has another feature on The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes. Along with a general article about the game, there’s also a small interview with some of the game’s developers, including series producer Eiji Aonuma. Although most of the discussion naturally focused on Tri Force Heroes, Famitsu did ask a couple of other questions about the franchise.
Next year will be the 30th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda. When Famitsu mentioned this, Aonuma told the magazine:
“This year we wanted a Majora’s Mask concert, so it is not impossible that there may be a 30th anniversary concert next year. However, as we are trying to complete the new Zelda as fast as possible, that is all that is on our minds. That being said, we hope something will take form for the 30th anniversary. It is especially important to a producer of the series, so I hope to give something everyone can look forward to next year.”
NES designer on the system’s name, setting itself apart from Atari, and success
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 4 Comments
Mashable recently had a chance to speak with Masayuki Uemura, the lead designer of the Nintendo Entertainment System.
At one point during the discussion, Uemura commented on how the name was settled on:
“We decided to put Entertainment in the middle. We thought we could maybe piggyback a little bit [on] the naming idea Atari had had, but put something with a little more dynamism and attraction in the middle. So that’s how it became the NES.”
Masayuki went on to discuss Atari – which had created a negative images of games – and how Nintendo wanted to go in a different direction.
More: interview, Masayuki Uemura, nes, top
Final Fantasy XV director points to Zelda as a franchise he’d like to work on
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 85 Comments
In one of its issues earlier this month, Dengeki PlayStation spoke with a ton of recognized game creators ranging from Keiji Inafune to Tetsuya Nomura. This feature was published to celebrate the magazine’s 600th issue.
One of the developers Dengeki PlayStation reached out to was Final Fantasy XV director Hajime Tabata. To start out with, Tabata was asked which company’s title he would like to work on as a member of their staff. Here’s how he responded:
“The Legend of Zelda series. I’m not quite sure why myself, but a Zelda game made with the technology and know-how of Final Fantasy XV is the game I wish to create as of this moment.”
Of course, you shouldn’t make too much of Tabata’s words – it was just a harmless comment after all! Still, it’s an interesting choice on his part. It almost makes you wonder what a Square Enix-made Zelda game would look like.
More: Hajime Tabata, interview, Square Enix, The Legend of Zelda, top
XSEED says Marvelous is thinking about how to keep the Rune Factory series going
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 2 Comments
Rune Factory 4 came out in Japan back in 2012, and a year later in North America. That was the final game developed by Neverland before the studio closed its doors – though some members of the team were absorbed into Marvelous for Lord of Magna: Maiden Heaven’s creation.
Although there hasn’t been any sort of news about a new Rune Factory entry over the past couple of years, XSEED Games executive VP Ken Berry told Destructoid that there have been discussions about how to keep the franchise alive. Parent company Marvelous is also aware that “fans are clamoring for a sequel and are looking for ways to make it happen.”
Berry said:
“There are continuing discussions on how to keep the Rune Factory series going, despite Neverland, the original developers, no longer being around. Hopefully, something will come of that in the not too distant future, because Rune Factory 4 was the best-selling title in the series, I believe, and it’s a series that’s been growing and growing over the years. Marvelous knows fans are clamoring for a sequel and are looking for ways to make it happen.”
More: interview, Ken Berry, marvelous, Rune Factory 4, XSEED Games
Niantic on what it’s like working with Nintendo
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Mobile, News | 0 comments
Niantic is the main developer behind Pokemon Go. Additionally, Nintendo and The Pokemon Company are heavily involved with the project.
Niantic CEO John Hanke recently spoke with TechCrunch and talked about what it’s like working with the Big N. He said:
“Terrific. It’s an honor to have the support and insights of a company that has brought decades of joy to people through their IP, game design, technology innovation. They share our same values of using innovation and play to bring people together. We have so much respect for Nintendo, as well as The Pokémon Company and of course Google. We couldn’t ask for a better group of companies.”
A couple of days ago, it was announced that Nintendo, The Pokemon Company, and Google are investing $20 million in Niantic. This will allow the developer to continue work on Pokemon Go and expand the company overall.
