Aonuma on why Nintendo hasn’t experimented with the one-year dev cycle with Zelda again like Majora’s Mask
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 20 Comments
The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask was developed in just one year. Since then, we’ve never seen a Zelda game made in such a short timespan.
Speaking with IGN, Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma talked about why we haven’t seen another Zelda game like Majora’s Mask, and why Nintendo hasn’t tried the one-year development cycle again.
Aonuma stated:
“It’s interesting, because there’s definitely this way that we talk about that sort of thing in development circles here in Japan. It’s often presented as a challenge to the developers themselves to accomplish something like that, because it can be very difficult to do. Since I’ve been in the role of producer, though, it’s not something that’s been presented to me as a challenge to take on very often. Sometimes I think about issuing it as a challenge to developers that I’m working with.
“When I think about the kinds of games that you’re describing, where you took the engine and you took some of the original assets and made a new game from that, you know, the kind of creation flow that we had for Majora’s Mask wasn’t limited just to those ideas. We also had to think about how we wanted to change the world, to take something kind of familiar and then warp it. I definitely like that sort of a challenge. I think it’s really fun to think about how you would take that sort of a game in a different direction. For me, in order to properly consider doing that again in the future, I think you really need a compelling topic or a theme with which to start.”
Aonuma ended his comments by stating that hitting the three day cycle of gameplay allowed the team to come up with different game experiences, starting from a concentrated bit of source material. This led to the creation of Majora’s Mask.
More: Eiji Aonuma, interview, The Legend of Zelda, top
Damon Baker on Nintendo Direct content, third-party Wii U support, more
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Wii U | 20 Comments
Nintendo Life has now published its full interview with Damon Baker, Nintendo of America’s senior manager in marketing and licensing. You can find the full thing here, though we’ve grabbed some excerpts below. Topics include how the content for Nintendo Direct broadcasts is chosen, third-party Wii U support, and more.
More: Damon Baker, interview, Nintendo Direct, top
Aonuma on how Nintendo makes Zelda dungeons, Majora’s Mask’s melancholy tone, Anju and Kafei quest
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, General Nintendo, News | 5 Comments
Kotaku has gone live with a new interview featuring commentary from Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma. Aonuma touched on how Zelda dungeons are made, and shared more on The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask.
Find a breakdown of the interview below. Also be sure to check out Kotaku’s full feature here.
Nintendo’s Damon Baker on why North America doesn’t have the standard New 3DS, engaging with the community
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in New Nintendo 3DS, News | 49 Comments
Damon Baker, Nintendo of America’s senior manager in marketing and licensing, has offered further comments regarding the company’s decision to only release the New 3DS XL in North America. Unlike other territories, the standard model that supports cover plates is not being sold in the states.
Baker told Nintendo Life:
Yeah (laughs). Look, the face plates are super cool, but we’re a different market. And now we have clear differentiation between those three systems. Before, there was a very limited difference between the 3DS and 3DS XL: other than size. It was the same resolution, same functionality… now, there’s the 2DS, 3DS, and New 3DS XL, all of which have their own functionality and features. The different price points give it a clear message for consumers. The core audience… we weren’t going to win with them on that decision. But we had to think about expanding the user base, we had to be able to market it and make it easy to pick up for consumers.
Baker also commented on the topic of community feedback online. Regarding this, and how Nintendo’s social media accounts tend to avoid direct engagement with consumers, he said:
I’m there daily, multiple times a day. You have to go there with an open mind. I’d love to get to a point where we have marketing channels where we can promote direct communication with the community, where people comment on stuff and Nintendo can communicate back. That’s my dream. Right now, PR is driving our social media, we’re not actively engaging the community, or very rarely. People have a fascination with Nintendo and want to be close to it and we feed off that excitement. We need to be more active there.
More: Damon Baker, interview, top
Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker Miiverse interview with director Shinya Hiratake
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 1 Comment
A rather large Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker interview has been posted over on Miiverse. “MariChan” chatted with Shinya Hiratake, the game’s director.
Hiratake talked about Captain Toad’s development, amiibo support, and more. You can find the interview in full after the break.
Kirby and the Rainbow Curse devs on the art style, choosing Waddle Dee for multiplayer, more
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 7 Comments
This month’s issue of Nintendo Dream has an interview with the developers behind Kirby and the Rainbow Curse. The Japanese magazine asked plenty of questions, which brought about several interesting answers.
Nintendo Dream starts off by noting how Rainbow Curse is the first Kirby title for Wii U. Given that, the publication was interested to know why the game follows the system of Canvas Curse and isn’t a traditional entry.
That elicited the following response:
When we saw the Wii U GamePad for the first time, we thought it could be interesting to use the different roles of the GamePad and TV in multiplayer. From there on, we came up with an idea of using the Wii Remote to control Waddle Dee and the GamePad to draw footholds. And the system of Kirby Canvas Curse fit that, so we used it. The result, after applying everyone’s voice, was a very lively game.
Bayonetta 2 director reiterates interest in continuing the franchise
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 29 Comments
Bayonetta 2 director Yusuke Hashimoto has once again expressed interest in returning to the series for another game. That news comes from the latest issue of GamesMaster, which features a brief interview with Hashimoto.
In one question, GamesMaster asks about game sequels he’d like to work on. Hashimoto pointed to Bayonetta and how he’d like to create Bayonetta 3 – or even a spin-off.
Hashimoto said:
A sequel to a Platinum title… I’d have to say Bayonetta 3. I have all kinds of ideas in my head for how to expand the world of Bayonetta in even more sequels, or maybe a spin-off!
This isn’t the first time Hashimoto has talked about making another Bayonetta-related title. Last June, before Bayonetta 2 even hit store shelves, he spoke about a desire to continue “nurturing” the IP. We’ve also heard from Hideki Kamiya (the director of Bayonetta 1) about wanting to make a spin-off for 3DS featuring Jeanne.
More: Bayonetta, Bayonetta 2, interview, PlatinumGames, top, Yusuke Hashimoto
Aonuma on Majora’s Mask, returning to time manipulation in the future, amiibo, remakes, retirement
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, General Nintendo, News | 2 Comments
GameSpot has gone live with a new Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D-centric interview featuring series producer Eiji Aonuma. Aonuma shared some insight into the game, and touched on several other topics as well including returning to time manipulation in the future, amiibo, remakes, and retirement.
Look below for some excerpts from the interview. The full thing can be found here.
Nintendo UK talks New 3DS – demographic, XL to be initially more popular, 3DS lifespan
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, New Nintendo 3DS, News | 1 Comment
MCV has a short interview up with James Honeywell, Nintendo UK’s head of consumer marketing. We’ve picked out a few excerpts below. Honeywell commented on topics such as who Nintendo is targeting with the New 3DS, which model will be more popular, and more.
More: interview, James Honeywell, top
Satoru Iwata’s thoughts on 2015 and the future, Wii U sales, and smartphones
Posted on 9 years ago by Kirara Koneko(@KiraraKoneko) in General Nintendo, News | 31 Comments
The following is a series of questions asked of Satoru Iwata in an interview with Nikkei:
Q: Nintendo in January downgraded its forecast group operating profit for fiscal 2014 to 20 billion yen ($165 million), half its original prediction. What is your latest outlook?
A: The improved 3DS (a hand-held game device with 3-D graphics) did not debut in the U.S. and Europe until after the start of the year, which meant demand did not increase as quickly as we expected. That does not mean that 3DS business itself has significantly declined.
The revised estimate already takes advertising factors including expenses for the new 3DS models into consideration. We do not expect our results to slide much further.
Q: Why have sales of the Wii U remained flat?
A: I believe the Wii U business still has considerable room for growth, as a number of software titles that are compatible with the console are slated for release in 2015.
The way Japanese gamers enjoy video games is different from their counterparts in the West. More and more Japanese gamers play on smartphones and 3DS hand-held devices. On the other hand, a majority of gamers in Europe and the U.S. still connect their consoles to TVs and play them on a bigger screen. In the global video game market, game titles for consoles are still dominant, and that market is much larger.
Q: What are you doing to shore up your console business?
A: Newer consoles are equipped with a function to process micropayments using Suica electronic money cards [in Japan]. Our service that allows people to purchase games online using those cards is popular.
It is also possible to turn smartphone games from other software makers into 3DS-compatible games and offer them for relatively low prices. We intend to pursue a variety of options. Only those products and services that receive strong support from customers will survive.
Q: The market for smartphone games continues to expand. What are your plans for this category?
A: In the past, I have opposed making smartphone and tablet versions of Nintendo titles. Prices for content aimed at smartphones and tablets are falling quickly. I am still wary of the category. We intend to develop products that will allow customers to identify with Nintendo products and make people pay attention to Nintendo games.
For example, some Nintendo game consoles incorporate Mii, which creates a digital avatar to represent players. It would be fun for players to use their Mii characters as icons on social media. We are currently developing an application that will allow users to do that. The app will be announced around the time our full-year results are released.
Q: What is Nintendo’s outlook for the next fiscal year and later?
A: We foresee improved performance for the next fiscal year, so long as we are not adversely affected by foreign exchange fluctuations. I have been saying we hope to achieve a profit suitable for Nintendo as early as fiscal 2016. My understanding is that an operating profit of 100 billion yen is the level the market and shareholders expect of us.
