Reggie on the Skylanders partnership, amiibo shortages, Wii U sales, more
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Videos | 24 Comments
The quotes below comes from Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime…
On how the partnership with Activision for Skylanders SuperChargers came about…
Reggie Fils-Aime: Activision came to Nintendo at the outset of Skylanders development four years ago. So there was always this thought of, wouldn’t it be great if Nintendo [intellectual property] could somehow be integrated into the game?
Jump forward to last year’s E3, when we introduced amiibo, (Nintendo figurines that work with its games) and we articulated our strategy of having figures that could work across games. At the same time, Activision shared with us their vision for their next installment of Skylanders that would include vehicles. And that’s when the conversation became serious.
On why Donkey Kong and Bowser were chosen…
Fils-Aime: Skylanders is all about creatures. So as we looked at our roster, those two fit the game. They’re much more creature-like in their gameplay mechanics and their movements, so those were the two that we agreed would make sense.
On the business strategy behind the collaboration…
Fils-Aime: It was a great opportunity for Activision to create something special that would play only on the Nintendo platforms. It was an opportunity to create these figures that would work on both the Skylanders games, as well as all the compatible games that either Donkey Kong or Bowser plays in. And so it really was an opportunity to do something unique but fit what each company was trying to do.
More: Amiibo, interview, Reggie Fils-Aime, top
Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice details (aimed to play more like classic Sonic)
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 3 Comments
This information comes from the Sanzaru Games interview we posted earlier today…
– The team is listening to fan criticism
– They studied the map layouts of past 2D Sonic titles, especially Sonic Rush and the Genesis games
– Controls have been revamped to feel like classic Sonic
– Not necessary to gain collectibles to move forward through the game
– 5 playable characters (Amy now playable)
Bloodstained may get transformations like Castlevania
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 0 comments
This information comes from creator Koji Igarashi…
“We’re not 100% sure that we’re going to add in transformation aspects to the game, especially at this early phase of development, but I can say that all of the developers attached do love transformations as a key concept—it’s been prevalent in a lot of our games before after all—so I think there’s a good chance you may see that element in the game. Beyond the curse, as you mentioned.”
SMT X FE was initially a a turn-based strategy game, devs on FE characters and pop idol focus, more
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 6 Comments
Genei Ibun Roku # FE, the working title of the Fire Emblem/Shin Megami Tensei crossover project in development with Nintendo and Atlus (and loosely translated as “Mirage Spinoff # FE”) is the result of one woman’s passion for Fire Emblem.
In an interview at E3, Fire Emblem producer and Nintendo group manager Hitoshi Yamagami told GameSpot that a Nintendo employee who loved Atlus games initially came up with the idea.
Yamagami on how a Nintendo employee who loved Atlus games came up with the idea…
“In our team at Nintendo Co., Ltd, there’s a woman who really loves the Shin Megami Tensei series. This is how this all started. And when she started this conversation within the company, we were working with Atlus at the time on a purikura [decorative photography] program for DSi and 3DS. At the time she said, ‘Mr. Yamagami, there’s something I would like to do. I want to make a game that mixes Fire Emblem and Shin Megami Tensei.’ And we said, that’s exciting, let’s give it a shot! But when we brought it to Atlus, they said, we’d like to but we can’t, we’re busy.”
– Nintendo abandoned the idea, until two years later
– Atlus approached them to revive the concept
“When they asked if I wanted to [work with Nintendo], I was heading the Devil Survivor series. So once that series finished, two years after that conversation, I said, let’s give this a shot.” – Takada
Image & Form on why SteamWorld Heist is on 3DS first, next game likely set before this one, more
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS eShop, News, Wii U eShop | 0 comments
On how it was decided that 3DS is getting SteamWorld Heist first..
We thought about it long and hard… no, it was actually quite easy! At one point we discussed going to PC/Mac/Linux first, but please see the next question for the main reasons behind the decision to go with the 3DS first. SteamWorld Heist will come to 3DS first, and then to all other current-gen platforms. The order among them is yet to be determined. It could be important to mention that we haven’t made any deals – we’ve decided to let the release schedule rest on our own choices.
More: Image & Form, indie, interview, SteamWorld Heist
Nintendo considered voice chat for Zelda: Tri Force Heroes, multiplayer talk
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 1 Comment
This information comes from director Hiromasa Shikata…
In a lot of multiplayer games there are a lot of people, but they’re not really playing together, That was the main focus — building a multiplayer game that requires cooperation At its heart, Four Swords was kind of a party game.
On how you can use the touch screen to send pre-selected Link messages with emotions…
It’s actually creating a new form of communication. I believe it might be a little bit stressful for players to try to figure out how to communicate what they want to do, but I think that because of that feeling, when you’re able to do it successfully there’s a level of satisfaction that you don’t find in other games.
On voice chat…
Yes, we did (consider voice chat). With voice chat, what we would see is a highlight in the difference of experience levels between the players. Higher players would tell lower players what to do, and lower players would wonder why they’re being told what to do.
Super Mario Maker – Nintendo’s tips on making a good level, e-manual details
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 2 Comments
This information comes from Takashi Tezuka…
In Mario games, each one has 60 to 80 courses, and each course needs to have its own unique defining element. If you build too many elements into every course, they start to feel the same. That’s something you need to be careful of. To me, the real trick is limiting [the number of] course objects. That’s what makes it really special.
People try to have a tendency to cram every cool feature into one. The role of Super Mario Maker isn’t trying to recreate a course or compete against something that you would purchase created by a professional level designe. It’s trying to do what you haven’t seen in a game and make it your own, to have fun. I think it’s great to find something that you think that works really well, copy it, mimic it and try to think of ways you can improve it. It’s a good way to learn.
I think the book that comes with the game will help people hone their skills and learn techniques they can add to their own courses. If we were to name this book, we would call it ‘The Seeds of Super Mario Maker.’ We give you all the basics to make something great.
More: interview, Super Mario Maker, Takashi Tezuka, top, Yosuke Oshino
Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem – origins, difficulties, fans, music, and more
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News | 18 Comments
This comes from Atlus producer Shinjiro Takata and Nintendo producer Hitoshi Yamagami…
On the speculation there was about the project…
Shinjiro Takata: Everybody is pretty much off the mark with what they’ve thought about this game, but one thing that people got wrong the most in Japan—at the end of the first trailer we announced, there was a line that said—people who are fans of Japanese voice actors knew the voice of Yuichi Nakamura. He generally voices main characters, so they were saying, oh, Nakamura’s going to voice the main character. Actually, he voices someone completely different. They were off the mark there.
On how the project came together…
Shinjiro Takata: What happened was, in the process of making this game—the whole idea started when Mr. Hitoshi Yamagami, who is a producer at Nintendo, brought the idea of making a simulation, a strategy game, to Atlus. This was a problem, because Atlus is well known for making JRPGs. That’s our bailiwick. The next thing was, well, what do we do? Do we make it fantasy-based, because Fire Emblem is known for fantasy settings? That kind of fantasy game isn’t really what Atlus tends to put out, though. In the beginning phases of making this game, we really didn’t know which direction to push it in. Do we push it closer to Fire Emblem or to the modern setting of Shin Megami Tensei?
On how long it took to get to a point where that decision was solidified and production went forward…
Shinjiro: Deciding what to make it closer to, that happened a bit after Mr. Yamagami brought us the idea. The problem is, if you make it too much like a Fire Emblem game, then why doesn’t Intelligent Systems just make it themselves? The goal for this was to do something that the Fire Emblem series can’t do. In the end, the reason the game looks the way it does, the reason the content is the way it is, is because this is something we wanted to do as an Atlus game, a game only Atlus could make.
Reggie again says Nintendo focused on “the here and now” at E3
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 110 Comments
This information comes from Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime…
“We focus on the here and now. We’re not like other players in the space that might show a little bit of something that is going to be years in the making. It’s simply because we believe that in getting the fan base excited, we really want to satiate that excitement as soon as possible.”
More: interview, Reggie Fils-Aime, top
Randy Pitchford believes Nintendo should try connecting with new people
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 19 Comments
This excerpt is from a GamesIndustry article with Randy Pitchford (Gearbox Software, Borderlands) and Amazon’s Mike Frazzini…
While much of the discussion covered larger industry trends, one question put to the participants specifically dealt with Nintendo. Considering the company has been putting out games with enviable Metacritic averages, why is it that Nintendo seems to have struggled so much in the market of late.
Pitchford said it doesn’t matter how good their games are if people don’t know they exist, and likened it to a common situation in movies. He said he’s noticed a trend whenever he goes to Rotten Tomatoes to look for the best films now playing.
“It tends to be that some of the highest rated things on Rotten Tomatoes are films I’ve never even heard of,” Pitchford said. “They’re indie things that are marketed not to me. Nintendo’s gotten really good at talking to Nintendo customers. But I think that Nintendo could at least lead more if they figured out how to talk to new people that they’re not already talking to. And that’s a very difficult problem.”
