NIS America president thinks 3DS has two to three years left in the west
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 20 Comments
It’s tough to believe that it was so long ago, but the 3DS was released during the early part of 2011. The system is now over four years old. Having said that, some are beginning to wonder when Nintendo will retire the 3DS for its successor.
In the case of NIS America president and CEO Takuro Yamashita, he believes that the 3DS still has another two to three years to go in the west. He told MCV:
“Talking about the handheld devices in the West, PlayStation Vita and 3DS will fade out in the next two to three years. There is still a chance for Vita or 3DS games in the West. I bet you that the small publishers can benefit without having strong competition if they continue to publish games for Vita and 3DS.”
More: interview, NIS America, Takuro Yamashita
Why Nintendo uses the word “new” in game titles often
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 27 Comments
“New” is often a word that Nintendo uses in game titles. Have you ever wondered by this is so? During the latest Part-Time Gamers podcast, Chris Pranger from Nintendo Treehouse explained its heavy usage.
“In Japanese, ‘new’ is exotic and sounds cool,” he said. “That is the exact reason why ‘new’ is on so many titles.”
Pranger went on to say that, on numerous occasions, they’ve told the developers that “new” doesn’t bring about the same sense excitement as it does in Japan. But these game creators feel that it isn’t an issue so long as the the word isn’t offensive or confusing.
More: Chris Pranger, interview
Tanabe on Metroid Prime: FF – amiibo, backlash, timeline, story, Retro Studios
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 30 Comments
Believe it or not, interviews with Metroid Prime: Federation Force producer Kensuke Tanabe are still popping up. USgamer published its piece today. In this interview, Tanabe addressed topics pertaining to amiibo, the initial backlash, timeline, story, and even Retro Studios.
We’ve rounded up a number of excerpts below. For the full interview, head on over here.
Nintendo Treehouse staffer talks about Sakurai’s commitment to making Smash Bros.
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 18 Comments
Yesterday, we posted a number of tidbits coming from a Part Time Gamer interview with Nintendo Treehouse localization writer/editor Chris Pranger. If you missed that, you can read it right here.
Gamnesia has since transcribed Pranger’s comments about Super Smash Bros. director Masahiro Sakurai. Here’s what we said about the developer:
“Sakurai’s outlook on the games is very dire. He gets really sad when he finds out how people are reacting and he gets sad whenever there’s a leak, because he really wants to create. And he’s an auteur in the most crazy sense. He’s basically Vincent Van Gogh cutting off his own ear and we’re sitting there going ‘Frick! Stop doing that!’ And he’s like ‘You don’t get it, guys, my vision!'”
Chris Pranger shares tidbits about working for Nintendo Treehouse
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Wii | 13 Comments
Chris Pranger, who works at Nintendo Treehouse, appeared on the latest episode of the Part-Time Gamer podcast. Pranger shared a few interesting details about his position his position as well as working at the company as a whole.
You’ll find a summary of information from the podcast below. For the full discussion, visit this link.
– Nintendo’s media policy has recently changed regarding employees being more open about talking about their work but not spoilers or anything
– He is the voice of the first level boss in Star Fox Zero; also working on the game
– Talks about NOA using employees as voiceovers for fun and cheap work
– Nintendo has a game library where employees can check out games for all systems in order to be well-versed in gaming; this is how he played Bioshock Infinite
– Sakurai kills himself for his games; he is very sensitive to fan feedback
– Localization costs a ton of money and often the vocal minority of fans who want a game localized isn’t a large enough consumer base to justify the localization costs
– The original Xenoblade is an example he gives of this
– Nintendo of Europe ate the cost on that project
More: Chris Pranger, interview, top
Nintendo says the company often listens to fans
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 82 Comments
Examiner recently spoke with Scott Moffitt, executive VP of sales at Nintendo of America. One of the topics the two sides discussed was how Nintendo uses fan feedback and looks at industry trends.
Moffitt told the site:
“We like to be different, unique and tend to march to the beat of our own drum. I would never say we’re blind to the outside world, but we listen to our game fans a lot. We’re always curious to [see] their reaction to new games like Splatoon. We don’t use them as our sole inspiration but we certainly like to hear what they are saying, enjoying and appreciating about a game, in addition to what they would like in future iterations of that game. We take a broad look and always pay attention to what is going on beyond our walls with trends, but it starts with listening really carefully to our gamers.”
More: interview, Scott Moffitt
Rare co-founder unsure as to why Nintendo didn’t buy the company
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 29 Comments
Nintendo and Rare formed a tight relationship in the 1990’s. At one point, Nintendo held a 49 percent stake in the company. But in 2002, Nintendo as well as Rare co-founders Tim and Chris Stamper sold their stakes, and Microsoft took control of the game developer.
Some may wonder why Nintendo never ended up acquiring Rare. This is something that confounds Tim Stamper as well.
“I’ve no idea why they didn’t do that,” he recently said to Develop. “I thought we were a good fit.”
No matter who purchased Rare, Stamper did feel that change was necessary at the time. As he explained:
“The price of software development was going up and up with the platforms, and Rare works really well with a partner. We were looking for someone to help broaden our horizons.”
More: interview, Rare, Tim Stamper
Nintendo on the challenges of making amiibo, shows how they’re tested for safety and reliability
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 12 Comments
The Nintendo CSR Report 2015 was recently published. In the digest version, there’s a big focus on amiibo, including a few interviews.
One portion of the report features an interview with Nintendo’s Masaki Amano. He spoke about the challenges faced in developing amiibo at one point, noting:
Nintendo has developed a variety of game systems such as Wii U and Nintendo 3DS. However, amiibo development was extremely challenging because we couldn’t use our existing knowledge at all and had to proceed through everything by trial and error.
For example, when we make a game system we usually make a mold of each part by cutting the metal directly from 3D data using a drill or some other tool. For a figure, however, you use almost no machinery at all to make the mold, and do everything by hand instead. For amiibo, we started by creating a master. We then took this master apart to consider how to easily coat colors or create each mold. Link, for example, has 24 separate pieces.
We took a cast of the first mold by pressing clay into each part of the master and then coating it with silicon. Finally, after repeatedly duplicating the mold with harder substances, we used iron to create a metal mold. Although we could not apply our existing knowledge or experiences, we learned along the way as we pursued absolute quality.
That wasn’t the only notable element from the Nintendo CSR Report 2015. We also get a look at how Nintendo tests amiibo for safety and reliability. See the image below.
More: Amiibo, interview, Masaki Amano, top
Nintendo assisted 13AM Games in getting guest characters into Runbow
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U eShop | 0 comments
13AM Games has further discussed the cameo appearances of characters in Runbow.
For those who are unaware, the game features guest stars including Shovel Knight and Rusty from SteamWorld Dig. There are several other familiar faces as well.
Interestingly, it sounds like Nintendo assisted 13AM Games in getting these cameos into Runbow. Creative director and designer Alex Rushdy spoke with Nintendo Life about how the Big N ended up getting involved, as well as the partnerships with the other indies in general:
We owe some of that gratitude to Nintendo. We came up with a wishlist of developers that we love and admire, and Nintendo helped facilitate conversations with about 90% of the list. From the get go we wanted Runbow, our first game, to be a celebration of games we love and the spirit of community that local multiplayer games inspire. We’re pretty lucky to be here in Toronto where the indie scene is so supportive of one another. It was the kind of atmosphere and attitude we wanted to bring back to the industry when we got started, so we just started asking people if they wanted to join the run. The really humbling thing is when that 90% of the list started responding and saying they’d like to work with us. We feel incredibly lucky.
More: 13AM Games, Alex Rushdy, indie, interview, Runbow
Yuji Horii on Dragon Quest XI – story theme, choice of platforms, protagonist, and more
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 4 Comments
Gematsu has translated a number of comments from Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii about the series’ newest entry, Dragon Quest XI. Horii spoke with Jump about several topics, including the story theme, platform choice, protagonist, and more.
Head past the break for Horii’s comments. You can find Gematsu’s original article here.
