Sakurai on the need to appeal to all types of gamers, new Smash Bros. “more interesting” than the others
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, GameCube, News, Wii, Wii U | 57 Comments
This month’s issue of EDGE features interviews with a number of different developers, including Super Smash Bros. director Masahiro Sakurai. Among other things, Sakurai was asked to comment on how tournament players tend to focus on Melee as opposed to Brawl, and what will be done to ensure that something similar doesn’t happen this time around.
Sakurai answered with a very lengthy response that can only be summarized in so many words. Many of his comments addressed the need to appeal to both casual and inexperienced gamers.
He also mentioned, “Although the pace of the game had to be lowered compared to Melee in order to achieve this balance, we have managed to keep the dynamism because we didn’t have to gear towards novice players like we did with Brawl. In fact, we recreated all characters almost from scratch. Also, I feel on a personal level that this game is more interesting than the three previous games in the series.”
Head past the break for all of Sakurai’s comments. Believe us when we say there are plenty of them!
Aonuma wants to take fan reaction into account while developing Zelda Wii U
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 31 Comments
Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma made some comments during interviews at E3 which initially suggested that the character featured in the new game for Wii U could be female. Eventually though, his remarks were clarified.
Aonuma spoke about the situation with EDGE this month and told the magazine, “this reaction from the fans is something I would like to take into consideration as we proceed with development”. He was quick to clarify, however: “that doesn’t mean that we are going to change the main character to a girl.”
Check out Aonuma’s full comments below:
More: Eiji Aonuma, interview, top, Zelda Wii U
Xenoblade Chronicles X quests will be “much more user-friendly”
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 18 Comments
Xenoblade Chronicles for Wii featured a quest log that could quickly become very long and intimidating for some players. For the game’s successor, Xenoblade Chronicles X, Monolith Soft is looking to make “a much more user-friendly experience”.
Executive producer Tetsuya Takahashi told EDGE this month that in the Wii U game, “objectives and relevant people will be displayed on the map.” Monolith Soft is also implementing “a number of other features to help with quests”.
Miyamoto says Nintendo will be sticking to dedicated gaming hardware for the long term
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 12 Comments
Don’t expect Nintendo to ditch dedicated gaming devices anytime soon. Shigeru Miyamoto expressed the deep need for such hardware in an EDGE interview this month, telling the magazine, “A unique software experience can always be realized with unique hardware that has a unique interface.”
Below are Miyamoto’s comments in full:
“As I said before, there are always people who really want to get deeply into a game. We want to create, and they want to experience, something unprecedented all the time. For us to meet these goals, we need dedicated hardware that is designed to cater to the needs of these avid gamers. People might say that software is software. No. A unique software experience can always be realized with unique hardware that has a unique interface. That is why I believe Nintendo is, and will be, sticking to these dedicated gaming machines.”
More: interview, Shigeru Miyamoto, top
Nintendo “talked about the possibility” of featuring Mario in Splatoon
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 11 Comments
At one point, Nintendo “talked about the possibility” of featuring Mario as the main player character in Splatoon. That’s according to Shigeru Miyamoto, who revealed the information to EDGE this month.
Miyamoto told the magazine:
“There were heated debates over who the main player character should be. Whether it should be Mario, or a squid. When we talked about the possibility of it being Mario, of course we could think of the advantages: anybody would be willing to touch it as soon as we announced that we had the new Mario game. But at the same time, we had some worries. If it were Mario, we wouldn’t be able to create any new IP.”
Splatoon was first announced at this year’s E3. It’s a brand new third-person shooter of sorts from Nintendo and includes completely unique characters.
More: interview, Shigeru Miyamoto, Splatoon, top
Aonuma further discusses Zelda Wii U’s open world
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 13 Comments
Eiji Aonuma, producer of Zelda Wii U, shared extensive comments to EDGE this month about the game’s open world without giving too much away.
EDGE started out by asking Aonuma about the challenges of adapting a linear design to a world that can be freely explored. He said in response:
In the original Legend of Zelda, there was no clear way to lead the main character to his goal. It was something that we entrusted to the players to find by themselves. As the game later expanded into a franchise, the structure of the game worlds became more and more complex – especially with the introduction of 3D – making it necessary for us to point the player in the right direction. Consequently, progression in the games became more linear.
To recreate a similar experience to the original, we have to give the game world a simple structure that players can understand intuitively. In doing so, it’s very important that we make every aspect of the world feel real and physically connected, so that it’s doesn’t look fake.
We can achieve this thanks to the hardware features of Wii U, but to truly get a deep understanding of the game world, we also need a real map that depicts the world as it is. The GamePad is very effective for displaying this, and thus also [for] providing players with a constant hint on where to head to. I think we can safely say that the innovations in this new game are only possible thanks to the Wii U hardware.
More: Eiji Aonuma, interview, top, Zelda Wii U
Miyamoto says Nintendo isn’t as interested in making casual games these days
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 43 Comments
Nintendo is placing more of an emphasis on its core fanbase these days. It’s quite the contrast to the Wii and DS era, in which the company produced many titles for the casual player and looked to target this demographic.
But now, as explained by Shigeru Miyamoto in this month’s EDGE, Nintendo isn’t as interested in catering to those who have a “passive” interest in games.
He said:
“[These are] the sort of people who, for example, might want to watch a movie. They might want to go to Disneyland. Their attitude is, ‘okay, I am the customer. You are supposed to entertain me.’ It’s kind of a passive attitude they’re taking, and to me it’s kind of a pathetic thing. They do not know how interesting it is if you move one step further and try to challenge yourself [with more advanced games].”
“In the days of DS and Wii, Nintendo tried its best to expand the gaming population. Fortunately, because of the spread of smart devices, people take games for granted now. It’s a good thing for us, because we do not have to worry about making games something that are relevant to general people’s daily lives.”
More: interview, Shigeru Miyamoto, top
There won’t be Tekken characters in Pokken Tournament
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 1 Comment
Tekken characters won’t be appearing in Pokken Tournament, according to Bandai Namco’s Katsuhiro Harada.
Harada told one fan on Twitter:
Ha, ha, ha. Nope, Tekken characters will not be making an appearance.
As we’re making a Pokemon fighting action battle game, I’ve already touched on this while on the livestream, but in this game there will not be a high/mid/low guard system mechanic. Instead, we’re planning to include a new type of [mechanic]…
Activision CEO says you can’t count Nintendo out for the long-term
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Wii U | 9 Comments
Nintendo can’t be counted out in the long-term, Activision CEO Eric Hirshberg has said.
Hirshberg, when asked about Nintendo’s current situation and what could be done to turn things around with Wii U, he stated:
It’s probably a better question to ask Nintendo. They are obviously not off to the start they’ve probably hoped they would’ve had with the Wii U, but they also have some of the world’s best IP and some of the world’s best game makers. I’ve always said they’ve been through rough hardware cycles before, but when you have the kind of game makers and beloved IP like they do, you can’t count [Nintendo] out for the long-term.
Activision’s lineup of Wii U releases have continued this year with The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark, and the upcoming Skylanders Trap Team. However, it’s looking like Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare will not be arriving on the system.
More: Activision, Eric Hirshberg, interview
Tezuka officially confirms that you’ll be able to share levels online in Mario Maker
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 6 Comments
Mario Maker allows users to create their own Mario stages, but it wouldn’t be too much fun without the ability to share creations with others, right? Thankfully, Takashi Tezuka has officially confirmed that this functionality will be included.
Tezuka teased while speaking with EDGE this month, “There will need to be a system for sharing courses online”. And that’s the latest on Mario Maker for now!
