Microsoft “completely discounted Nintendo” when releasing the Xbox 360 due to GameCube’s performance
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in GameCube, News, Wii | 103 Comments
The latest episode of IGN’s Podcast Unlocked features an interview with former Microsoft executive Peter Moore and Xbox boss Phil Spencer. At one point of the podcast, they reflected on the launch of the Xbox 360. Moore noted that Microsoft “completely discounted Nintendo” when bringing out the console due to the performance of the GameCube.
Here’s a roundup of everything that was mentioned:
“I also then remember the E3 when, God bless, Kaz Hirai and Jack Tretton announced $599, and we were all back stage like ‘Woohoo!’ We knew then we had an opportunity to get ahead, drive ahead, get our games out quickly and get that lead. And I always said that the first to 10 million wins.” – Moore
“It was one of the greatest times of my career. You had to build a team, because we were growing then. We had prematurely put the Xbox to sleep, we needed to get ready for this and we knew what we needed to do. We had a three-day meeting at the Sheraton in Bellevue where we wargamed the scenario, and I actually played Ken Kutaragi. And we brought in a consultancy, it was a lot of fun. And the one thing we’d forgotten about, I don’t know if you remember this Phil [Spencer], we completely discounted Nintendo. Because they came off the GameCube and it was a disaster.” – Moore
“…and they destroyed both of us!” – Spencer
“Yes, with the Wii. But we wargamed for three days, what are you going to do, what do the launch titles look like, what are the marketing budgets, what is the positioning? And it was a fascinating experience which I’ll never forget. And this is a decade ago. And I actually played Ken, and my job was to destroy the launch of the Xbox 360.” – Moore
Of course, you can’t really bank on anything these days! Although the GameCube was far from Nintendo’s most-successful console, we all know what happened with Wii.
More: interview, Microsoft, Peter Moore, Phil Spencer
Reggie on Nintendo sharing its IPs, online vs. local multiplayer, new IPs, more
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 11 Comments
The latest interview with Reggie Fils-Aime has been published by The Washington Post. Nintendo of America’s president commented on the company’s approach to having its IPs shared with others, deciding on giving games local multiplayer as compared to online, new IPs, and more.
You can read up on what Reggie had to say after the break. There are also some additional comments about amiibo on The Washington Post here, though it’s mostly rehash of what he’s stated previously.
More: interview, Reggie Fils-Aime, top
Horii: Square Enix “thinking about” localizing Dragon Quest 3DS games
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 1 Comment
Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii told Final Fantasy Ring in a recent interview that Square Enix is aware of fan demand for the series’ 3DS remakes in the west. Apparently, the company is “thinking about” localizing Dragon Quest VII and VIII for overseas territories.
Horii also commented on Dragon Quest XI, which we’ll just mention here briefly since platforms are unconfirmed. He once again noted that this title will be on home consoles, and it will be an offline experience (unlike the MMO nature of Dragon Quest X).
Suda51 still wants to makes No More Heroes 3, but don’t expect it anytime soon
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News | 7 Comments
Suda51 has long talked about making a third No More Heroes game. His interest in doing so hasn’t diminished in recent years, but the game likely won’t be realized anytime soon.
While speaking with GameReactor, Suda51 joked about how No More Heroes 3 probably won’t happen “within 15 to 25 years”.
He said:
“Yeah, No More Heroes 3, I get a lot of requests from fans and I’m very grateful for that, but I’m thinking it may happen within 15 years or so? (laughs). Maybe not through Kickstarter, but GungHo would of course be supportive if that were to happen. I think I have the vision that Travis forgot something, so I really have to have him to go back and get back what he has forgotten. But yeah, I definitely want to make it possible, but I also want to create something new, so maybe within 15 to 25 years (laughs)!”
More: interview, No More Heroes 3, Suda51, top
Zelda: Tri Force Heroes – Miyamoto’s approval, tons of outfits, online and Colosseum talk
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 3 Comments
Even though E3 2015 was a couple of weeks ago, outlets have continued to post interviews that were conducted at the show. IGN has now put up its full interview with The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes director Hiromasa Shikata. Shikata talked about showing the project to Shigeru Miyamoto, the tons of different outfits in the game, and the online and Coliseum modes.
You can get a look at what Shikata shared in the interview below. Some additional comments are on IGN here.
Nintendo on why it doesn’t release games during the summer
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 52 Comments
Nintendo of America doesn’t bring out many games during the summer. Did you know that Wii Sports Club is the only retail title since 2007 to have launched during the month of July?
Charlie Scibetta, Nintendo’s senior director of corporate communications, explained the company’s approach in an interview with Nintendo World Report. Scibetta mentioned that Nintendo’s big business tends to take place during the last few months of the year, and he pointed to school graduations as another key time for game launches.
He said:
“We do the bulk of our business in the holiday season, probably about 60% in October, November, and December. You want to launch games when people are in the mood to buy.”
More: Charlie Scibetta, interview
Nintendo has no plans for amiibo support in Zelda: Tri Force Heroes
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 3 Comments
Most Nintendo games these days incorporate amiibo functionality in one way or another. The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes, however, will not.
Director Hiromasa Shikata told IGN that Tri Force Heroes “isn’t a natural fit” for amiibo. “There’s no reason to shoehorn it in,” he added.
Shikata’s words in full:
“I think it’s really something as simple as this game isn’t a natural fit for it. I think [that’s] because we’re focused on giving players the ability to choose different outfits to impact their experience within the game. We didn’t think amiibo added anything other than what games with it are already doing. There’s no reason to shoehorn it in.”
Nintendo producer wants to expand the Metroid universe with Federation Force
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 26 Comments
With Metroid Prime: Federation Force, Nintendo wants “to expand the Metroid universe.” That’s according to producer Kensuke Tanabe, who also explained to Eurogamer that his desire to create a co-operative experience meant that Samus needed to take a back seat. This is because having players control different versions of the character wouldn’t make sense.
Tanabe also commented on how load-outs work on Federation Force and again talked about Federation Force’s plot.
Here’s a roundup of some of what was shared by Tanabe:
“[Metroid Prime: Federation Force] is an attempt to expand the Metroid universe. As you can play with up to four players it wouldn’t make sense to play as four Samus characters! The game will be focused on co-op, working together as a team with up to four players. And obviously it is available as a single-player experience as well.”
“You have the option to choose load-outs for you to bring to the battle. However, you have to consider that there will be limitation for how much can carry as a character. If you carry the Super Missile then you’re classed as a Warrior type. If you have lots of Repair Capsules you could focus on being a Healer type.”
“I’ve always been thinking about having a battle between the Galactic Federation and Space Pirates. The Metroid Prime series fits between Metroid 2 and Super Metroid, as you may be aware. So it falls under that same timeline, but looking at it from a different perspective.”
“It’s set on a planet which the Galactic Federation used, way back when. The plot involves a struggle to retake that planet. You find out that Space Pirates now reside there and are building a weapon to use against the Federation. Players will fight the Space Pirates to stop them.”
Takumi on The Great Ace Attorney – origins, started with Sherlock Holmes, motion capture, more
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 0 comments
A discussion with Shu Takumi was recently published as part of the “Capcom Legends” interview series. Takumi had much to say about his latest game, The Great Ace Attorney.
Takumi touched on a number of topics in the interview. This includes the project’s origins, how it started with Sherlock Holmes, pressure he faced, motion capture, and more.
We’ve posted a number of excerpts from the interview below. You can check out the complete translation here.
More: Capcom, interview, Japan, The Great Ace Attorney
Nothing’s off the table for Disney Infinity, but new stuff is taking the focus
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 0 comments
Could we ever see Howard the Duck or Secret of Monkey Island in Disney Infinity? While Disney says that nothing’s off the table, the developers are instead choosing to focus on newer content.
Ada Duan, vice president of business and franchise management at Lucasfilm, and Disney Interactive’s John Vignocchi told Polygon:
“In terms of Star Wars content, there’s definitely more Star Wars coming out. What these guys have been saying is that Disney Infinity is a platform for all the IP across the company, Star Wars being part of that. You’ll see more. As more movies and TV shows come out and there’s evaluation of what we can support, I think Infinity is going to support all the IP across the company. As Lucas comes out with more IP and more Star Wars.” – Duan
“I’ll be like, please, can we do Secret of Monkey Island? And she’ll say, ‘Can we talk about how relevant this is? There are so many other things we could do.’ We have so much new content coming out.” – Vignocchi
“It’s natural that we’re going to want things to be supported coming up. It’s not out of the question [that we’d approve something from the archives], but I feel like there’s so much new that that’s probably going to be the focus.” – Duan
“We’re listening to the fans. We do the Facebook fan stuff all the time. We do these informal polls, and they wind up in the senior executive meetings with guys throwing stuff around and yelling at each other. ‘OK, this is what the fan poll said we should be doing, these characters.’ That’s how I lost Darkwing Duck to Olaf this year. That would have been awesome, right?” – Viggnocchi
There have been two Disney Infinity games thus far, with a third following this year. Disney Infinity 2.0 introduced Marvel characters while the 2015 edition is featuring Star Wars for the first time.
