Why Kirby looks angry on US game boxarts
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 9 Comments
Kirby tends to look “angry” more often than when shown on North American boxarts. Wondering why this is so?
Kirby Triple Deluxe director Shinya Kumazaki explained to GameSpot:
“For the Japanese versions we are, at [Kirby series developer] HAL, involved in everything throughout development, including the package design. The most powerful image of Kirby is that cute image, we think that’s the one that appeals to the widest audience.
“While it does start cute, we know there is a serious side to Kirby as well, and throughout the gameplay we see more and more of that, and the games themselves have quite a bit of depth. That being said, we recognise that Kirby’s cuteness is his biggest draw in [the Japanese] market.”
Kumazaki added that Nintendo of America handles things in North America, and provides HAL with “feedback and insight” into the market.
“What we have heard is that strong, tough Kirby that’s really battling hard is a more appealing sign of Kirby, so that’s what we feature in the US.”
More: interview, Kirby, Shinya Kumazaki, top
The Great Ace Attorney devs on the game’s 19th century setting and more
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 1 Comment
More quotes have emerged from Famitsu’s interview about The Great Ace Attorney with series creator Shu Takumi and producer Shintaro Kojima. The two talked about the game’s 19th century setting, concept, when the project came about, and more.
Head past the break for the latest comments from Takumi and Kojima.
NES Remix director talks about the series’ origins, development, more
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U eShop | 0 comments
IGN has put up a piece detailing the development of NES Remix up through the creation of the game’s impending sequel, including quotes from director Koichi Hayshida. You’ll find the full roundup of information below.
– Soon after Super Mario 3D Land came out, Hayashida and Nintendo’s Tokyo EAD studio needed to decide on their next project
– Super Mario 3D World was on the list
– NES Remix also came to mind
On the game’s origins…
“From the company side of things, they really wanted us to focus on Super Mario 3D World, but I sort of snuck off on my own free time and worked on getting some of the Famicom games up and running on Wii U. One of the results from my experimentation was [the NES-inspired minigame] Luigi Bros., which we included in 3D World. The other thing that came to fruition was NES Remix.”
– After working on Super Mario 3D World, Hayashida moved over to NES Remix full-time, in part out of nostalgia
“Personally speaking, I didn’t get to play a lot of Famicom [the Japanese name for the NES] games as a kid. So one reason, that might be a little selfish, was I wanted to play these games at work. And this was one way for me to do that. I wanted to go back and experience some of those titles.”
“That being said, as adults we’re busy people,” Hayashida continued. “And we don’t have a lot of time to play a game from beginning to end. For example, we don’t have time to sit down with one of the early Zelda titles and play it from beginning to end. So I really wanted a chance to play some specific scenes.”
– Hayashida designed 100 stages on his own before Nintendo hired developer Indiezero
– Indieszero helped to finish the game
– 3 more Nintendo employees joined 13 members from the Indiezero team
– Hayashida was concerned about the dated graphics
– Wasn’t sure if they would appeal to a younger audience
– Hayashida remembered the Double Mario concept from 3D World
“I thought ‘Wow, maybe we could take something new like that and apply it back to some of these classic games.'”
– The idea gave the team a way to add new elements into classic game scenes
On the importance of preserving the original games despite adding in improved graphical fidelity and other effects…
“I want these to be true to the spirit of the originals. There were things that happened based on the technology at the time. For example, there was object clipping. If too many objects were onscreen at the same time, the games would drop frames.”
“I think it’s really important to keep that flavor. To me, part of the challenge is, if you’re dropping frames, you’re moving slower. And the processing speed is dropping, but we need to recreate some of that because it did help make the game a little easier.”
– Hayshida understood that while it was important to add in new technology, it should not be at the expense of that original gameplay
On concerns from the fans…
“When we started development on NES Remix 2, we weren’t sure if the first NES Remix was going to be successful. I was really worried what the response for this title was going to be. Luckily, once it was launched, the reception was actually very good.”
– NES Remix was number one for four weeks straight according to Nintendo’s download rankings
– Hayashida believes it’s ranked in the top half of digital games currently available on the eShop
– With proof that the game was received well, and an audience asking for a sequel, Nintendo decided to spur development of NES Remix 2
– 12 team members were added to build the game quickly
– Original 13 devs from Indieszero grew to 25
On how the minigames in NES Remix 1 & 2 served an additional purpose…
“[Each one] represents the fundamental criteria to play these games. hey’re the famous scenes that everyone wants to play. It just so happens they naturally contain a look back to some of the strategic tip & tricks you would find in game magazines and things like that.”
“So a lot of these scenes are either encompassing things that you learned throughout the game, or they’re the parts that taught you how to play the rest of the game. I really think that playing these scenes would actually lead back to success in playing the main game. It’s an interesting effect.”
More: interview, Koichi Hayshida, nes remix, NES Remix 2, top
Super Mario 3D World dev open to revisiting The Adventures of Captain Toad gameplay in the future
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Wii U | 4 Comments
The Adventures of Captain Toad are a unique set of courses in Super Mario 3D World. They only encompass a small portion of the overall game, but they were very well received.
Some had hoped that The Adventures of Captain Toad would return in the future – through DLC, a standalone title with brand new levels, etc. While that’s yet to happen, Super Mario 3D World co-director Koichi Hayashida told EDGE this month that the team would “consider doing something with this feature in the future” if fans continue to show interest.
He said:
“We thought they were a lot of fun, so we’re really glad everyone likes them too. If enough fans express such enthusiasm, we’d consider doing something with this feature in the future.”
Kenta Motokura, Super Mario 3D World’s other co-director, also mentioned that the gameplay of The Adventures of Captain Toad was not at all inspired by smartphone titles:
“They weren’t inspired by smartphone games. The idea was to design a game that would become even more fun as you play through it, and this influenced the pace of the game, effectively increasing the rhythm. We felt that a short challenge with quick results would be a good motivation for players to advance onto the next course.”
Thanks to joclo for the tip.
Ken Lobb talks about initial fan resistance in making Metroid Prime first-person
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in GameCube, General Nintendo, News | 5 Comments
Ken Lobb, now the creative director at Microsoft Studios, once played a prominent role at Nintendo and worked on several games. This includes Metroid Prime – a title that, at the time, stirred up some controversy for turning the franchise into a first-person adventure.
Lobb spoke about the initial fan resistance surrounding Metroid Prime as part of an interview with EDGE this month. He said:
The fight, in the pre-internet world, was that we were getting a lot of pressure from fans. Nowadays, you’d be buried under Twitter, NeoGAF — both of which I love, by the way — but those voices are even louder today than they were back then. It comes back to a lesson I learned a long time ago: always listen to your customer, but also understand that if you do focus testing what you’re going to hear is, “I want that thing you did last time, because that was awesome.” Every once in a while, you have to learn to not listen to that and go, “Actually, Metroid in firstperson we think could make more sense.” Great creatives are going to disrupt their earlier designs and make things that are new, or build completely new games or new genres.
Yoshio Sakamoto still interested in working on traditional games, wants to challenge himself
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 23 Comments
Yoshio Sakamoto is most well-known for playing a prominent role in three Nintendo series: Metroid, WarioWare, and Rhythm Heaven. But Sakamoto has mainly acted as a producer in recent years, and hasn’t done too much with Metroid as of late aside from Other M.
That being said, Sakamoto is still interested in working on the franchises he is most famous for. He told CVG the following when asked if he will continue to contribute to some of his more traditional game series:
I do not intend to do so. There might [currently] be various tasks I might be involved in with past series. However, even if so I would always like to introduce new entertainment and new fun to those series.
I would like to satisfy fans of those series, but also working with other talented individuals I would like to create entertainment that’s completely different and that brings new emotions. I would like to challenge myself in those unique directions.
This might be indirect, but if we can make new types of gamers enjoy video games for the first time through Tomodachi Life, then they might eventually become interested in the more conventional games. I think we need to ensure that video games remain attractive to consumers, and in order to do so new concepts and ideas are important. I would like to challenge myself to do that.
More: interview, top, Yoshio Sakamoto
Bill Trinen talks more about Tomodachi Life’s localization changes
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 9 Comments
Nintendo is changing Tomodachi Life for its western release. There aren’t many drastic overhauls, but there are some modifications in place to better suit the game’s new audience.
As for what’s changed, Nintendo of America’s Bill Trinen told GameSpot:
More: Bill Trinen, interview, Tomodachi Life
Bill Trinen talks Tomodachi Life – name, changes for the west, more
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 0 comments
IGN published an article about Tomodachi Life earlier today, and it’s filled with a bunch of quotes from Nintendo of America senior product marketing Bill Trinen. Trinen tackled topics pertaining to the game’s name, changes for the west, and more.
You can find Trinen’s comments below. IGN’s full article is located here.
More: Bill Trinen, interview, Tomodachi Life, top
Super Mario 3D World devs – next Mario title in the works, could use the GamePad more, Double Cherry and Cat Mario origins
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Wii U | 16 Comments
What’s the team behind Super Mario 3D World working on next? Why, a new Mario game of course!
Nintendo producer Yoshiaki Koizumi wouldn’t say if the new project is for Wii U or 3DS while speaking with EDGE. He did mention, however:
“That’s still a secret! I can tell you, though, that we’ve already started approaching our next challenge.”
“There’s still a lot more room for discovery and invention, and we’ll continue to propose new and exciting game mechanics going into the future.”
Mario Kart 8 devs talk game’s graphics and using Wii U’s power, balance, original Rainbow Road is “really spectacular”, more
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 6 Comments
GameSpot has published a series of articles featuring commentary from Mario Kart 8 producer Hideki Konno and director Kosuke Yabuki. During a roundtable session held at GDC last month, the two touched on the game’s graphics, balance, brand new Rainbow Road course, and more. You can find the Q&A roundup below.
