Difficulty options have never really been associated with the Pokemon games. Pokemon Black 2/White 2 did give the idea a shot with its Key System feature, but generally speaking, the series has usually implemented just one type of experience.

As expected, Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield continue this tradition. Game Freak’s Junichi Masuda and Shigeru Ohmori told Eurogamer Portugal that the two Switch games don’t have a particular option to change the difficulty. The developers said:

More: Game Freak, interview, Pokemon Shield, Pokemon Sword, top

Reggie on Nintendo’s commitment to innovation, says his favorite meme was Wii Fit and “My body is ready!”

Posted on 5 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Wii | 0 comments

There aren’t many people at Nintendo that understands the company more than Reggie Fils-Aime. The former Nintendo of America president spent 15 years with the company, was in charge of many big decisions, and communicated with all sorts of staff (including top developers) throughout his time there.

In an interview with IGN, Reggie discussed Nintendo’s commitment to innovation. With everything that’s been done over the years, he said “just about every element of modern gaming was started by Nintendo.”

Reggie’s full words:

More: interview, Reggie Fils-Aime, Wii Fit

The Outer Worlds dev didn’t know it could work on Switch, team was “very, very surprised”

Posted on 5 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 0 comments

Sometime in 2020, Obsidian’s RPG The Outer Worlds will be on Switch. It wasn’t always something that was planned, nor did the team think it was necessarily possible.

Speaking with USgamer, co-game director Leonard Boyarsky said:

More: interview, Leonard Boyarsky, Obsidian Entertainment, Private Division, The Outer Worlds

Reggie on the “gutsy call” that was the Wii and Wii Sports

Posted on 5 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii | 0 comments

Wii was one of Nintendo’s better-performing systems having sold over 100 million units worldwide. However, that success wasn’t always guaranteed. Especially before release, questions were raised over Wii’s name and its heavy use of motion controls.

Former Nintendo of America president Reggie-Fils Aime looked back on Wii during his recent lecture at Cornell. The platform, he said, came about due to Nintendo feeling there was “a lack of innovation in games and consoles”. He also called the “interaction between players and the game” led by Wii and Wii Sports (which itself was a huge hit) “a gutsy call that paid off.”

More: interview, Reggie Fils-Aime, Wii Sports

Gods & Monsters team shares message about the delay, Ubisoft hoping it’ll become a franchise

Posted on 5 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 0 comments

Gods & Monsters was hit with a delay this week, which many saw coming due to a lack of news following the initial reveal at E3 2019 back in June. Instead of February, Ubisoft has pushed the game back into the next fiscal year starting April 2020.

After the delay was announced, the Gods & Monsters team shared a message for the fans. It reads in full:

More: Alain Corre, Immortals Fenyx Rising, interview, Ubisoft

Game Freak says it doesn’t go out of its way to make a new Pokemon game each year

Posted on 5 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments

Game Freak has been known to put out Pokemon games regularly. Since the company took a break in 2015, we saw Pokemon Sun/Moon, Pokemon Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon, Pokemon: Let’s Go, Pikachu / Eevee, and now Pokemon Sword/Shield in consecutive years. Although it may seem like Pokemon is a yearly series, Game Freak says it’s not intentional.

Pokemon producer Junichi Masuda explained to VG247, “each time we go into making a new game and start a new project we look at what exactly we want to create – and then from where we decide the most appropriate timing to release it depending on various factors.” What’s important to Game Freak is to have “as many people to come in contact and play Pokemon as possible.”

More: Game Freak, interview, Junichi Masuda, Pokemon, top

Game Freak says it has no regrets about approach to national Pokedex in Pokemon Sword/Shield

Posted on 5 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News | 0 comments

Game Freak shared some news at E3 2019 earlier this year regarding Pokemon Sword/Shield that left many fans disappointed. Unlike past entries, not all Pokemon will be included this time around. We still don’t have a complete list as to which creatures are in and which aren’t, but the bottom line is that some Pokemon are being cut.

Speaking with VG247, producer Junichi Masuda again weighed in on the situation, stating that Game Freak always hopes to develop “the most interesting game possible and make a more enjoyable, richer experience for the fans.” And since the team is able to “give people a greater attachment to the Pokemon that are in the game,” the studio has no regrets about the decision made with the national Pokedex.

Masuda shared the following when asked if the fan response gave Game Freak any pause for thought, and if he believes this is the only way to go in the future:

More: Game Freak, interview, Junichi Masuda, Pokemon Shield, Pokemon Sword, top

Game Freak: Tall grass in Pokemon Sword/Shield “took us about a half-year of disagreements until it took its shape”

Posted on 5 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 0 comments

Tall grass may not immediately come to mind as an important element of Pokemon, but it’s something that Game Freak concentrated on while developing Sword and Shield. Speaking with Famitsu, director Shigeru Ohmori said that it took the team “about a half-year of disagreements until it took its shape.”

Here’s the full exchange between Famitsu, Ohmori, and producer Junichi Masuda, courtesy of Siliconera:

More: Game Freak, interview, Pokemon Shield, Pokemon Sword

Game Freak on why Pokemon Sword/Shield doesn’t have voice acting

Posted on 5 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 0 comments

Like previous entries in the series, Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield won’t have voice acting. The characters have lines of text to read while the Pokemon themselves maintain their tradition sound effects.

In an interview with Metro, director Shigeru Ohmori was asked why voice acting wasn’t included this time around. He pointed to the amount of work that would be needed for recordings due to the amount of languages supported as well as maintaining the idea players have in mind for the different characters.

More: Game Freak, interview, Pokemon Shield, Pokemon Sword, Shigeru Ohmori

Game Freak on how it approaches future Pokemon titles, new-gen titles have three-year dev cycle

Posted on 5 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Switch | 0 comments

Speaking with IGN, Pokemon producer Junichi Masuda vaguely discussed how Game Freak approaches future Pokemon games. He explained that what is and isn’t kept “may depend somewhat on the timing of when that game will come out.” For instance, while Pokemon Sun/Moon did away with gyms since it was the second generation entry on 3DS, Pokemon Sword/Shield is the true debut on Switch, which is why gyms are back.

Masuda also confirmed that new-generation Pokemon titles “have about a three-year development cycle”. The developers need to think about what the future will be like in three years’ time, including what fans would be interested in when the games release.

Masuda’s full words: