Nintendo UK talks a bit about New 3DS, Majora’s Mask 3D, and Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, New Nintendo 3DS, News | 2 Comments
This Friday will be an extremely important day for Nintendo. Not only is the New 3DS launching, but The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D and Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate are releasing as well. These three products could all be a part of Nintendo’s “lucky” Friday the 13th.
Speaking with MCV, Nintendo UK head of consumer marketing James Honeywell said the company is initially targeting its existing fanbase with the New 3DS’ arrival. As for the new 3DS games, Majora’s Mask 3D and Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate should appeal to longtime gamers, and may bring interest for newcomers.
Honeywell’s words in full:
Majora’s Mask is a title that fans have been asking for a long time so it has an instant base. Beyond this we really want to make sure we introduce it to a whole new audience. For Monster Hunter we really feel now is the time when we can really open the title up to a Western audience. The developers have listened to existing players and given them more of what they want, but also ensuring that this new installment is the most open to newcomers.
Capcom animates monsters in the Monster Hunter games by hand
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, General Nintendo, News | 2 Comments
Did you know that the monsters in Capcom’s Monster Hunter games feature animations that are done by hand? The only exceptions are certain cut-scenes where a small amount of motion capture is involved.. But for the most part, Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate director Kaname Fujioka informed Siliconera that “animators create monsters’ motions by hand as it requires more careful craftsmanship as they talk with the game designers.”
He said:
“For cutscenes, there are cases where we utilize motion capture techniques for monsters which might have similar skeletal structure to human beings such as the Palicoes. However, in most cases, our animators create monsters’ motions by hand as it requires more careful craftsmanship as they talk with the game designers. It’s very important that the motion and the game mechanics are properly intertwined for the gameplay. When we try to showcase a monster’s personality and expressions, we reference frameworks from real life beings and habitats to make them believable. We visit zoos and aquariums and also watch documentary films for reference material.”
It’s necessary for Capcom to nail the animation of monsters since the series is about pattern recognition. The way monsters react give players clues about how they should proceed.
“It’s important for us that players understand what kind of tactics they need to use. We give clues to players on how a monster may act based on its various expressions, and emotional and behavioural states (such as alarmed, enraged, exhausted, etc.) We plan for the monster’s behaviour first, so we keep in mind things such as distance between the player and the monster, logic behind the monster’s behaviours, and so on.”
More: Capcom, interview, Kaname Fujioka
GungHo talks Puzzle & Dragons: Mario Bros. Edition – development, gameplay bits, no DLC, more
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 5 Comments
Very recently, Japanese website Dengeki Online interviewed a couple of folks from GungHo Online Entertainment. The website sat down with Daisuke Yamamoto and Kazuki Morishita for a chat about Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition.
The origins of Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition go way back to the release of Puzzle & Dragons Z, GungHo’s first attempt at bringing the popular series to the 3DS. Morishita was asked by Dengeki about his thoughts about the game at the time of its release.
Video: Ryozo Tsujimoto, Kaname Fujioka talk all about Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, Videos | 0 comments
Xenoblade Chronicles X director on loading time, party size, online, music
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 28 Comments
Famitsu has a major feature on Xenoblade Chronicles X in this week’s issue. In addition to a new preview, the magazine shared an interview with director Tetsuya Takahashi.
One of the things Famitsu brings up is how Takahashi called the original Xenoblade “an orthodox RPG”, even though the field was huge and there were a number of different challenges. Takahashi says in response that the story of the original Xenoblade Chronicles “was one big thread so I think it was a linear game.” But in Xenoblade Chronicles X, “the story progresses in various directions as you finish quests which you get from different places.”
Famitsu next brings up the topic of loading. Takahashi confirms that players will be able to cross the huge world from one end to another without having to load data… for the most part anyway.
Kadokawa Games president suggests Rodea: The Sky Soldier will be released overseas
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News, Wii U | 13 Comments
Rodea: The Sky Soldier was one of the games covered by Famitsu in a November issue. Looking through it again, something about the article caught our eye.
Famitsu’s article contains a chat with Yoshimi Yasuda, the president of Kadokawa Games. The magazine points out how the different versions of Rodea will finally be released after a long development period. To this, Yasuda says:
It took some time to deliver [Rodea] to everyone, but the Nintendo 3DS, Wii U and Wii versions were rebooted. I think that we can share some sort of notification of a overseas release in the near future, so overseas users please look forward to it.
Yasuda’s words certainly suggest that a localization announcement for Rodea is on the way. That’s extremely encouraging news!
[Interview] The Return of IronFall Invasion! VD-Dev on New 3DS, campaign, multiplayer, and more
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS eShop, Interviews, New Nintendo 3DS | 37 Comments
We’ve been keeping close track of IronFall Invasion since its reveal last year. The game finally resurfaced during this month’s Nintendo Direct, and VD-Dev confirmed that its debut 3DS eShop project will be launching soon.
Since IronFall Invasion is just on the horizon, we thought we’d catch up with the studio’s Fernando Velez one final time. Velez shed more light on the game’s campaign, multiplayer, and much more.
Check out our full interview below!
Masuda talks about the inspiration and meaning behind Pokemon’s Hoenn region
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, General Nintendo, News | 1 Comment
Game Freak’s Junichi Masuda was one of the designers on the original Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire games. That means he created environments and maps that make up the region of Hoenn.
In an interview with Kotaku, Masuda revealed that he was inspired by his childhood summers on the island of Kyushu in making Hoenn.
Masuda said:
“So [Hoenn] was inspired by when I would go and visit my grandparents when I was younger. I grew up in Tokyo, which was obviously a big city, and my grandparents lived in Kyushu, a Japanese island. It was really completely different there. Where I came from we didn’t have clean rivers or a lot of insects or wildlife, but when I visited my grandparents I got to experience that abundance of nature – I’d got out and catch bugs, play in the river, catch fish in the ocean, explore forests.”
“I really wanted to express those childhood memories with the Hoenn region when I first thought about Ruby and Sapphire,” he says. “It’s expressed in how abundant the nature is compared to some of the other settings, and also in the idea of secret bases, which was like making tree-houses or a special fort when I was a kid.”
In kanji, “Hoenn” can be roughly translated to “abundance” and bonds” or “connections” when considering “ho” and “en”. This is something that Masuda spoke about as well.
“One of the original themes was this idea of abundance – not just of nature, but of how warm people are in the country, and people were always so nice to me there. Neighbours would say hello to me on the street. That’s the hidden meaning: the abundant bonds between people and nature.”
Aonuma reflects on Majora’s Mask’s short dev time, was originally worried about fans accepting the game
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, General Nintendo, News | 1 Comment
Majora’s Mask might be one of the most interesting games in the Zelda series. Not only is the title darker and different from other entries, but development itself was also atypical.
Eiji Aonuma reflected on the original release of Majora’s Mask in a recent issue of GamesMaster. In his chat with the magazine, he discussed the game’s short development cycle, and how “innovation truly comes when you have to work under some kind of big pressure.”
Below are his words in full:
