The Mario Kart series has yet to see the return of dual racers since Mario Kart: Double Dash. Yet even though this feature hasn’t been revisited, Nintendo is still open to the idea of featuring two racers per cart.

Mario Kart 8 producer Hideki Konno said during a GDC 2014 roundtable session:

“It wasn’t just a simple case of, ‘Hey, we’re not going to do that again.’ We really think the two racers together in one kart of Double Dash was really unique, and we thought it worked really well.”
“We’ve got that in our pocket, so if we come up with any new, cool ideas that utilize having two players racing together, we will definitely grab that and possibly bring it back out.”
“Having two players racing together, it does have a pretty high cost in terms of processing power, so that is an obstacle. That being said, if we could come up with some ways around that processing cost, we may have two players, maybe even three players, racing together. If we could come up with some cool ideas, we’ll definitely use them.”

Source

More: Hideki Konno, interview, Mario Kart: Double Dash, top

Renegade Kid explains why Cult County is no longer on 3DS, taking to Kickstarter, using Unity, game details, parity on all platforms

Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS eShop, News, Wii U eShop | 3 Comments

Prior to today’s console and Kickstarter announcement for Cult County, the good folks over at Nintendo Life caught up with Renegade Kid co-founder Jools Watsham to discuss the project. Watsham tackled topics pertaining to the 3DS version, taking to Kickstarter, Unity, and more.

Check out the Q&A below. You can also find Nintendo Life’s full interview here.

More: Cult County, indie, interview, Jools Watsham, Kickstarter, Renegade Kid, top

Takashi Iizuka on Sonic Lost World’s Yoshi/Zelda DLC – development, no Mario stage, more

Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 0 comments

When Sonic Lost World was first revealed, not many would have predicted that the game would eventually feature crossover DLC with Yoshi and The Legend of Zelda. So how the heck did these two Nintendo collaborations come to be?

Producer Takashi Iizuka, speaking with Japanese outlet 4Gamer, said the concept came to him about six months prior to releasing the game. “This time, Sonic Lost World is a title that only released on Nintendo hardware, which is an opportunity that I couldn’t believe, collaborating together,” he said.

Originally, Iizuka hoped to include the Yoshi and Zelda Zones in the main game. But scheduling was too late, and they became free DLC items instead.

4Gamer did ask if Mario was ever considered as a potential candidate for Nintendo DLC. The short answer: not really.

More: interview, SEGA, Sonic Lost World, Takashi Iizuka, top

Square Enix reconsidering JRPG approach following Bravely Default’s success – will come out with more “heavy JRPGs”

Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News | 13 Comments

Bravely Default has been a strong success for Square Enix, which may be a bit surprising given that its a brand new kind of JRPG. It sold well not only in Japan, but the west as well.

Thanks to Bravely Default’s reception, it sounds like Square Enix is reconsidering its approach to the genre. Square Enix president Yosuke Matsuda said in a recent interview that the company will now be putting its efforts into “heavy JRPGs” so that the company “can better focus on our target, which will also bring better results.”

Masuda told Nikkei Trendy the following when asked if Square Enix have any global titles for smartphones in its upcoming lineup:

More: Bravely Default, interview, Square Enix, Yosuke Matsuda

Hyrule Warriors dev interested in working with Disney, Star Wars, Mario

Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 18 Comments

Tecmo Koei is using the Zelda series for Nintendo’s upcoming Dynasty Warriors-styled Wii U game, Hyrule Warriors. But Zelda isn’t the only prominent IP the company has interest in utilizing.

“Disney, Star Wars and Mario are just a few of the various franchises we’d like to work with,” Tecmo Koei vice president Hibashi Kinuma told ONM this month.

Before Tecmo Koei can even begin considering other partnerships and crossovers, work on Hyrule Warriors will need to be completed first. That game is scheduled to arrive later this year.

Thanks to joclo for the tip.

More: Disney, Dynasty Warriors, interview, Mario, Star Wars, top

Animal Crossing devs talk more about potential mobile connectivity and future on consoles, franchise fatigue

Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, General Nintendo, News | 0 comments

Even more quotes from Animal Crossing producer Katsuya Eguchi and Animal Crossing: New Leaf co-director Aya Kyogoku. Polygon caught up with the two at GDC 2014 and chatted more about tying the series into the mobile space and bringing it back to consoles. Also, there are a few words about franchise fatigue.

Head past the break for Eguchi and Kyogoku’s comments. Check out Polygon’s full article here as well.

More: Animal Crossing, Aya Kyogoku, Eguchi, interview, top

DrinkBox talks Guacamelee’s Wii U features and origins, potential 3DS version

Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U eShop | 0 comments

At GDC last week, NintendoWorldReport spoke with animator Augusto Quijano and co-founders Chris Harvey and Ryan MacLean from DrinkBox Studios. The three touched on what the Wii U version of Guacamelee: Super Turbo Championship Edition will offer and how it came to be, the possibility of a 3DS port, and more.

Check out a few excerpts from the interview below. You can also find the full discussion here.

More: DrinkBox, Guacamelee: Super Turbo Championship Edition, indie, interview, top

Nintendo “looking at” Unity support for 3DS

Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 2 Comments

Unity on Wii U has been a staple for quite a long time now. 3DS, on the other hand, has yet to receive the same support.

There is some encouraging news to share about the future at least. Nintendo of America senior manager of marketing Damon Baker told Siliconera at GDC this week that the company is “looking at” bringing Unity to 3DS.

He said:

More: interview, top, Unity

Koji Igarashi “would love” to work on Metroid

Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 3 Comments

Now that he’s left Konami, Koji Igarashi has the freedom to work on pretty much anything. Igarashi does already have a few new ideas in mind, but given his background with Castlevania, it could be neat to see him involved with a Metroid title. And interestingly enough, that’s something Igarashi “would love” to do.

IGN asked Igarashi point blank if he’d ever consider working with Nintendo on a new entry in the Metroid franchise. He said:

“Whether it’s possible or not comes down to the [intellectual property] holder, which in this case would be Nintendo, and whether they want to work with me. But, if they did want to work with me, I would love the chance of doing that.”