Reggie on DLC, third-parties, mobile, new hardware, digital sales
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News, Wii U | 43 Comments
Re/code recently caught up with Reggie Fils-Aime for a new interview. The Nintendo of America president discussed DLC, third-parties, mobile, new hardware, digital sales, and more.
Head past the break for some excerpts from the interview. Check out this link for the full thing.
More: interview, Reggie Fils-Aime, top
Nintendo Indiecade 2014 developer interviews
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS eShop, Videos, Wii U eShop | 0 comments
Ishihara wants the Pokemon games to be enhanced with latest tech, communication is key
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 23 Comments
This week’s issue of Famitsu contains an interview with Pokemon president Tsunekazu Ishihara. Ishihara discussed Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire and a few other topics, but the most interesting comments came about when he talked about the future of Game Freak’s titles.
Famitsu first inquires about Pokemon as a whole. When asked about the current situation and views of the future from his perspective, Ishihara teased:
More: Famitsu, Game Freak, interview, Pokemon, top, Tsunekazu Ishihara
Runbow ended up on Wii U thanks to the system’s control schemes
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U eShop | 0 comments
Runbow could have ended up on any platform, but 13AM eventually settled on Wii U. Wondering how the studio settled on that decision? It all came down to the Wii U’s ability to handle a wide array of control schemes.
13AM co-founder Tom McCall told Gamasutra:
“We looked at Xbox, PlayStation, PC, all those things, and we just kind of did a tally of how many controllers we could link up. And when we got to Wii, we found out… We found out that if you tether a Wii Remote to a Wii controller four times, and then add in the Wii U tablet controller on top of it, you can get up to nine players. We’d never seen anything like that before.”
McCall also mentioned that he and other members of the team had a good relationship with Nintendo, as one of them started communicating with the company as part of his thesis project.
“There was never a giant pitch; we just kept them in the loop from day one and they’ve been very supportive the whole way. I guess we’ve been very lucky!”
More: 13AM Games, interview, Runbow, Tom McCall
Gunman Clive 2 has been in development for a year
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS eShop, News | 2 Comments
Gunman Clive 2 has been in the works for about a year, according to Bertil Hörberg.
Hörberg told Nintendo Enthusiast:
I started development in November last year, which may not seem very long ago, but I’ve already spent more time on it than I did on the first game. I don’t have the patience or the stamina to work on massive projects that takes several years, so the fatigue is really starting to set in and I’m hoping to be able to finish the game somewhat soon.
As for what we can expect from Gunman Clive 2: a slightly longer experience, a change in visuals, and improved controls. That’s on top of new enemies and obstacles, varied environments, and more special levels.
Overall, it’s a fairly straight forward sequel. The first game was rather short and people were asking for more levels, so that’s basically what I’m giving them, but at the same time, I’m trying to bring it up a notch and deliver a more exiting product with its own identity. The most obvious change is probably the color palette and there’s a bit more graphical detail as well. The controls is a bit faster and the jump a bit less floaty.
More: Bertil Hörberg, Gunman Clive 2, indie, interview
Yacht Club on how Nintendo helped out with Shovel Knight, more games for their systems
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS eShop, General Nintendo, News, Wii U eShop | 2 Comments
GameSource recently had the opportunity to interview David D’Angelo from Yacht Club Games. The discussion isn’t in English, but we were presented with a couple of noteworthy translations.
Here’s what D’Angelo shared regarding Nintendo’s support for Shovel Knight:
Nintendo was very helpful. They provided a great deal of marketing from featuring the game on the eShop and their website, to bringing the game with them to conventions around the country. They were also helpful behind the scenes, dealing with technical questions and listening to our wildest dreams. Creating Shovel Knight for the Wii U and 3DS was a smooth process, but of course, still a ton of work. Building a game for any platform comes with its own challenges and making a game feel unique and at home on the console is an important but hard problem to tackle!
On the topic of Shovel Knight’s sales, D’Angelo stated:
The game is selling really well on Nintendo platforms, and hopefully we’ll continue to keep making games for their systems. We love Nintendo, and they have been really great to work with for Shovel Knight.
Persona Q artist on the game’s style
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 0 comments
Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth employs a very unique art style compared to other games in the Persona franchise.
Atlus went for a “super-deformed art style” due to its connections to Etrian Odyssey. There’s also the fact that the 3DS’ screen is a bit on the small size.
Artist Shigenori Soejima explained to USGamer:
“There are two big reasons for the super-deformed art style. One being that, because this is a crossover with Etrian, which has always had that style, we wanted to keep that iconic look so that when people saw it they’d know, ‘Oh, this is similar to Etrian Odyssey.’ If it were in the regular-looking Persona style, especially on 3DS, people might be confused and wonder, ‘Is this a new Persona game, a new Etrian title?'”
“Secondly, on the 3DS, the screen is much smaller. My usual type of character designs… trying to squeeze them onto a tiny screen just wouldn’t look good. In order for my characters to shine, basically we had to scale them down.”
A few interesting words from Nintendo’s former handheld designer
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 1 Comment
Satoru Okada was a pretty important figure at Nintendo. He played a big role in the creation of the company’s earliest handheld systems, which continued until his retirement back in 2012.
Okada was recently interviewed by the Japanese publication “Shooting Gameside”. Here are a few of the more interesting excerpt that specifically pertains to Nintendo:
—Since you’ve participated in the creation of so many different handheld gaming consoles, I was thinking you’d be more particular and high-strung. But in fact you’re very open and relaxed.
Okada: The first thing I made using a computer was the Game and Watch series. After that handheld gaming consoles became the main focus of my work at Nintendo. Speaking of being particular, you know, I didn’t originally apply to Nintendo with any special ambitions or designs. Originally my friend was supposed to have taken the company’s entrance test, but due to circumstances he couldn’t make it out. In his place I was chosen to take the test. When I say “in his place”, though, I don’t mean that I was a mere susbtitute; I was given the chance as part of a job-search program at my school. I knew if I took it lightly that it would damage the reputation of my school, and I couldn’t allow that. Still, I didn’t really know what I was doing, so I ended up being late to that test, but thanks to the kindness of the test administrator, I was allowed to take it anyway.
Nintendo’s entrance exam had a section where you had to actually engineer something. You were given a design and had to make a model of it using small metal pieces. Since I had spent so much time in Junior High doing those electrical engineering projects, it was an easy task for me. As a result, rumour got around at Nintendo that “someone good at soldering has joined!” It seemed I was the first person to join Nintendo with any electrical engineering abilities, a fact which would turn out to be a huge investment in my future.
More: interview, Satoru Okada, top
Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire pre-orders are higher than X/Y
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 5 Comments
Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire are seeing higher pre-orders than the last entry in the series, X/Y. That’s information comes straight from Nintendo UK, who spoke with MCV in the magazine’s latest issue.
Nintendo UK marketing boss Shelly Pearce said:
“Pre-orders for Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire are doing really well at the moment. It is pre-ordering more than X and Y, so we are quite optimistic about that one.”
UK general manager Simon Kemp chimed in about Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire pre-orders as well: “And that is a pattern we’re seeing globally.”
Level-5 CEO wants the company to become like Disney
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 4 Comments
Level-5 CEO Akihiro Hino has some pretty ambitious plans for the company.
In a recent interview, Hino stated that he hopes to transform Level-5 into something like Disney. The company would focus on worldwide entertainment as opposed to just games.
Hino mentioned that he hopes to accomplish this within five years.