Humble co-founder talks about the Nindie Bundle
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS eShop, General Nintendo, News, Wii U eShop | 9 Comments
Nintendo Life recently had the opportunity to speak with John Graham, the co-founder of Humble. Graham was asked all about the Humble Nindie Bundle, including the lineup, region-locking issue, and more.
Head past the break from some excerpts from the interview. You’ll find the full discussion here.
On whether he was surprised Nintendo came through…
You know, I wasn’t sure how things would play out, but I think with anything like this it needs somebody that believes in the promotion idea on the other side. We’ve been working with great guys at Nintendo that figured out what this opportunity was, and I’m very proud of its performance so far.
We try to be the friendly guys that talk to everyone and we strongly believe that, where there’s valuable digital content, Humble Bundle can be very useful.
On the Humble Nindie Bundle performance thus far…
I’m a little superstitious so I try not to make too many hard bets in advance. It gets interesting because this is a promotion only for people in the Americas, and we weren’t quite sure ahead of time exactly who in our existing audience is in the Nintendo community. So there are a couple of X factors here, but I’m very proud of the performance of this promotion; it’s doing really well, and I think it’s meeting my expectations if not exceeding them.
On the Humble Nindie Bundle lineup…
Certainly. We’ve got a great set of Indie games here, so it’s in line with our Humble tradition of promoting amazing Indie games, and when we saw the intersection of that with what’s on the eShop, we realised we probably had something and should go for the promotion.
On any challenges with the Wii U/3DS eShop platforms…
Since Humble Indie Bundle 1, when customers asked whether we could include Steam keys, we’ve had some infrastructure for just administering keys that unlock digital content. Nintendo just generated a batch of keys on their side and that’s all it takes.
The key component is on the curation side – have we got a batch of content that people are going to value and get excited about? That’s always the more interesting challenge, the game key part was easy and Nintendo was easy to work with.
On whether he foresees a future where something like eShop products are sold through Humble in different ways…
I don’t want to speak for Nintendo directly, but if we take the Steam example, that’s pretty progressive-minded in that a if a developer wants to produce and distribute keys, Steam is pretty awesome about getting them into developer’s hands to use as they see fit. I think an open-door policy can only strengthen your platform long term, instead of building a walled garden to keep people out you can do things to bring people in.
As crowded and noisy as the internet and online connected world is, it’s critical to be thinking about that long term strategy instead of just “oh, we do things this way, and this is how we wall the garden”. So kudos to Nintendo for even trying this experiment with us, and I do hope it leads to other things and that it’s smart business to be open to the world instead of trying to close yourself off.
On the region issue…
Of course we always try to be as inclusive as we can be, and region-locking is not ideal. This is a case where we – and Nintendo – pushed as hard as we could to be inclusive, we got as far as we got for this promotion. I sincerely believe it was the right call to run the promotion, and help as many gamers as we could in getting this initial experiment out of the door. I do hope it leads to big things in the future. I have seen blog posts around in the news where Nintendo execs have been considering whether they want region-locking to be a thing in future iterations of consoles. The way things are currently designed it just wasn’t possible for this promotion, but we’re nevertheless really excited to be doing it.
On the average purchase price ($9 or so) in comparison to other current bundles or PC promotions…
I think this is a higher average than many, and we tend to see that when we’ve struck a chord with a vigorous community that can galvanise in one direction. I think we saw that, for example, with the Sid Meier bundle – if you’re really into Civilisation games you’re really into the promotion, and you don’t want to just get a small piece, you want the whole thing. I think that’s what we’re seeing with the Nindie bundle.
On the choice of Code.org as the charity…
It’s always collaborative, but Nintendo gets credit for pushing to have that awesome organisation as part of its promotion.
Overall thoughts…
This is a big deal, a new frontier, and we’re really excited not only to have this initial experiment out of the door and being successful, but to look into the future and see what doors it may open next.
On the definitive factor driving buzz for the Nindie Bundle…
Well, we’re doing something new, as I said it’s a new frontier. But also the content is awesome. These are fantastic Indie games, and I guess we have a platformer theme going on here, but if you look at it each game is different and emphasizing a different aspect. We’ve got puzzle platformers, some stealth platformers, world crafting platformers, skateboarding platforming. Whoever you are as a gamer, there’s at least one or two – or maybe all – of the games that can get you excited.
More: Humble Bundle, interview, John Graham
Disney Infinity team on how they managed to include a lightsaber in the first game
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii, Wii U | 1 Comment
Back in late 2012, Disney purchased the Star Wars franchise. Avalanche was also hard at work on Disney Infinity at the time. Although the team wasn’t able to create anything too significant surrounding Star Wars, they did want to include a treat for the fans. This ended up being the lightsaber, which players could unlock by owning all Disney Infinity 1.0 characters.
Disney Infinity vice president of production John Vignocchi was able to get in touch with one of his friends from Lucas before hearing about the Stars Wars acquisition, and after the deal went through, he began making calls.
Vignocchi told Game Informer:
“We want to do an ultimate unlock in the game. We’d like to put a lightsaber in the game. Here’s what we’re thinking: If you own all the figures then this is like this super-secret end of the end – the Yoshi on top of the Princess’ castle.”
Vignocchi also mentioned how the team needed to scramble in order to get the lightsaber in the game. Rather than sending it out via an update, they wanted it to be included as part of the game that shipped to stores.
Nintendo on the Humble Nindie Bundle – origins, how games were chosen, future, more
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS eShop, News, Wii U eShop | 1 Comment
Nintendo Life has a new interview up with Nintendo of America’s Senior Manager in Marketing and Licensing, Damon Baker. Baker talked all about the Humble Nindie Bundle, including when the company started looking into it, how games were chosen for the digital package, interest in future collaborations, and more.
Head past the break for the Q&A breakdown. You can also check out Nintendo Life’s original article here.
More: Damon Baker, Humble Bundle, interview, top
Tomonobu Itagaki on the theme of war within Devil’s Third
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 11 Comments
People’s Daily was recently able to speak with Tomonobu Itagaki from Valhalla Game Studios. In one question, Itagaki was asked about how his team will will work the Chinese mobile game market into their strategy. That doesn’t have much revelance here, but he did end up discussing the upcoming Wii U title Devil’s Third and how it incorporates the elements of war.
Itagaki’s comments are as follows:
We always seek to innovate in games, and so it means they will not be the same. We’re currently working on a game called “Devil’s Third.” It is different than previous games up until now, as it is not just about fighting, but about diplomacy and forming treaties in the midst of a war in a realistic world setting. All of this is mashed up into one game. It is a world where peace is sought. My colleagues and I worked to put all this within a “war game.” Eventually it became a household game for the Wii U, but we are currently developing games for mobile too.
Devil’s Third was re-revealed as a Wii U title at last year’s E3, though we haven’t seen it since. It’ll be interesting to see if it appears at E3 2015 next month.
Bravely team considering whether to make a sequel or new title, thinking about Bravely Second for the west
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 4 Comments
The next “Bravely” game could head in one of two directions. Speaking with Japanese website Gamer, producer Tomoya Asano stated that the team is considering two options. The next Bravely game could be a another sequel, but it’s also possible that we’ll see a completely new title instead.
Asano and assistant producer Shinji Takahashi said:
“Hmm… yes, we’re currently thinking about whether a sequel would be more appropriate or if a completely new title would be more appropriate. This is currently a hot topic among [the development team].” – Asano
“We’re thinking about all kinds of things, like what kind of things are requested, and getting feedback from fans.” – Takahashi
Asano shared some other interesting information as well. When asked if Bravely Second will see something like Bravely Default: For the Sequel (re-release with fixes and additions), he noted that there are no plans. The team is only thinking about the western version of the game.
Also, there are currently no plans for additional scenarios through DLC. The only updates for Bravely Second will come in the form of standard patches.
More Fire Emblem If details from Famitsu’s full interview with the dev team
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 5 Comments
In a Famitsu issue from earlier this month, the magazine spoke with a few developers working on Fire Emblem If. But it turns out that the magazine didn’t contain the full discussion. It wasn’t until today that the full interview was finally posted on Famitsu’s website.
Serenes Forest has once again taken on the task of translating the full Famitsu discussion. A summary of what was shared can be found below.
– Interview starts off with the concept behind the game
– Again, it was built around the main character (Avatar) and how his/her choice impacts the story, splitting it into 2 distinct “what if” stories
– Movie scenes are generally from a first-person perspective since the Avatar is the main character
– Phoenix Mode is designed for newcomers; not existing Fire Emblem fans
– Although it sounds like you cannot lose on this mode, there are times when you still have to play somewhat carefully
– Ex: there may be complicated victory conditions, such as reaching a destination within a certain number of turns in the Nohr campaign; failing these conditions means Game Over
– When development began, one of the major challenges was to find ways to help newcomers enjoy the game without feeling too stressful
– One thing that came to mind was the timing of when to use valuable weapons (eg. saving them for a future mission)
– It was perceived that this form of intense micro-management was too much for newcomers to properly enjoy
– Since some players may consider it wasteful to use a particular weapon, they may end up not using it at all; at which point it’s as if the weapon doesn’t exist
– By removing the durability of weapons and giving them more interesting properties, it allows for more enjoyable play, without detracting from the fun of picking weapons
– Weapon weight isn’t in, but there are “strong weapons that are harder to double attack with”, which functions a bit like it
– Javelins and similar ranged weapons can no longer double attack
– The staff unanimously agreed on bringing back Yusuke Kozaki for character designs
– Since the new game has more characters than even Awakening, there was some concern about who to call if Yusuke Kozaki didn’t accept the offer, so the team were very glad when he agreed to reprise the role again
– This game takes place in a “completely new world”
– Some familiar elements that those who played Awakening will appreciate
– Hoshido is based on ancient Japanese culture, while Nohr is built on the series’s traditional Western fantasy setting
– Nohr is western-themed, but also carries a dark atmosphere
– Nohr’s castle even stands in the middle of a giant hole in the ground
– Hoshido is a pacifist kingdom with exceptional peace and order
– In contrast, Nohr is subject to terrible weather conditions, leading to poor crop yields and a lack of law and order
– In order to expand Nohr’s influence, King Garon orders his children to invade Hoshido
– Thus the royal siblings fight for Nohr, although they each harbour their own hidden thoughts
– Meanwhile the Hoshidan royals take up arms to repel the Nohrian invasion
– As this happens, the hero–the Avatar–is stuck in between and forced to make a difficult choice
– Classes available largely depend on the campaign chosen
– In Nohr, you will typically see more characters in familiar classes, like Cavaliers
– In Hoshido, most of the characters are in Japanese-themed classes, like Samurais
– The campaign also determines the weapons you can obtain
– In Nohr, you will commonly obtain “swords”
– In Hoshido you are more likely to find “katanas”, which have slightly different properties
– Although Pegasus Knights have been in the series so far, they technically do not exist in this game.
– If instead features Hoshido’s very similar “Pegasus Warrior” class
– Pegasus Warriors can be male or female
More: Famitsu, Fire Emblem If, interview, top
Shadow of the Eternals still in the works, team has “big plans for the future”
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U eShop | 24 Comments
Shadow of the Eternals is a new passion project from Eternal Darkness creator Denis Dyack. Dyack, along with the rest of his team, hoped to achieve funding via Kickstarter. Two campaigns launched in 2013, but both unfortunately failed to reach their funding goals.
We last heard about Shadow of the Eternals last October. The project is now in development at Quantum Entanglement Entertainment Inc., which was founded by Dyack. Other than that, things have been pretty quiet
However, Dyack once again commented on Shadow of the Eternals while speaking with Niche Gamer. When asked about its funding status, he stated:
Well, we can’t talk about that right now. But there will be announcements in the future. The bottom line is we’re really excited on where we’re going, things are very quiet, and probably will continue to be quiet but they’re going well. Please stay tuned, and we’ll update everyone as soon as we can. I wish I could say more, but you know the drill with the industry, right?
Additionally, when asked if a potential re-reveal is planned, and whether we’ll see the game soon, Dyack said:
Well, it all depends on what your definition of soon is. [laughs]
Rather than tease, I would just say that we believe in the project and we’re doing everything we can to see this project – and other projects – some of which are really great as well, get out there. We’ve got some big plans for the future, and we’re being very aggressive on some things, and we’re really looking forward to see how things roll out.
More: Denis Dyack, interview, Shadow of the Eternals, top
Ambrella on why Pokemon Rumble World is free-to-play, considered automatic movement, more
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS eShop, News | 3 Comments
In Famitsu’s most recent issue, the magazine caught up with Ambrella director Norio Matsumura and president Muneaki Ozawa. The two sides chatted all about the free-to-play 3DS game Pokemon Rumble World.
One of the most notable questions Famitsu asks is why the team decided to try out the F2P model. Matsumura noted that it actually happened thanks to a suggestion from Pokemon president Tsunekazu Ishihara.
Matsumura said:
Mr. Ishihara (the president of the Pokemon Company) suggested: “Let’s try out F2P.” Personally I think that refreshing controls and the nature of continuously returning to the game are concepts which suit free games very well, so I thought there was a chance of success. However, many members of the staff are against F2P games…
Matsumura continued on his comments by talking about how development didn’t progress without some resistance:
Yoshi’s Woolly World devs on the graphics, made real items with wool for testing
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 13 Comments
This month’s issue of EDGE has a short interview with the developers behind Yoshi’s Woolly World. The magazine spoke with Nintendo producer Takashi Tezuka as well as executive producer Etsunobu Ebisu from Good-Feel. Given the unique style featured in Yoshi’s Woolly World, the discussion focused on the game’s visuals.
Tezuka first spoke about Yoshi’s Woolly World’s art style in general:
We’ve always felt that Yoshi deserves to have a handcrafted feel to the graphics, and we’ve strived to bring this into games like Yoshi’s Island and Yoshi’s Story. With those previous titles, it was just that – an aesthetic – and didn’t really have much influence on the gameplay itself.
Tezuka also specifically explained the decision to use wool in the title, and how the graphics impact the gameplay:
More: Good Feel, interview, top, Yoshi's Woolly World
Splatoon’s UK marketing campaign on the same level as Mario Kart 8
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 10 Comments
Nintendo has a rather substantial marketing campaign lined for Splatoon in the UK. Marketing manager Chandra Nair, speaking with MCV, mentioned that it will be on the same level as Mario Kart 8.
According to Nair:
We have a substantial campaign planned for Splatoon. To give you an idea of the scale, we’re matching Mario Kart 8 – that’s the potential we think Splatoon has. We have the utmost confidence in the potential of Splatoon. It gives retailers a fantastic art style that stands out in-store or on-screen and it also offers various up-sell opportunities with the accompanying Amiibo. It’s a really interesting game for us because it allows us to expand out to a group of people who may never have considered Wii U before.
Thus far, Nintendo has already been involved with digital billboards, cinema ads during Tomorrowland and Mad Max, a sponsorship of Cartoon Network, and a digital campaign that started in April. That’s on top of a Splatoon-themed skatepark in Corby which opened last month.
