Nintendo president says those who played Smash before came back for Ultimate, leading to high sales
Posted on 6 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 0 comments
In just three days, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate sold five million copies worldwide. Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa commented on the early success while speaking with The Sankei News.
Furukawa said, “The people who’ve played Smash before are coming back for this one; that accumulation of players contributed to the initial push [in sales]”. He also said that Nintendo needs to continue selling “and not get caught up in that initial momentum.”
Persona Q2 devs on fans’ reactions, improvements, and more
Posted on 6 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 0 comments
Recently, Japanese magazine Famitsu interviewed Persona Q2 director Yuta Aihara and producer Daisuke Kanada. Two discussions were published in back-to-back issues. Aihara and Kanada spoke about the reactions from fans, improvements made compared to the first entry, and more.
We’ve readied a full translation of both interviews. You can read the talks in full below.
More: Atlus, Daisuke Kanada, highlight, interview, Persona Q2, top, Yuta Aihara
Zelda: Breath of the Wild artist on making the Guardians, scrapped “giant, fortress-like” design
Posted on 6 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch, Wii U | 0 comments
Takafumi Kiuchi was the lead artist on The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. One of his major roles was coming up with the designs for the Guardians. In the recently-translated Zelda: Breath of the Wild – Creating a Champion art book, Kiuchi spoke about their creation.
Interestingly, Kiuchi revealed that the Guardians weren’t set as being Link’s allies or enemies when development was in its early stages. He therefore went with a design that was more neutral. Kiuchi also said that “there was a design for a giant, fortress-like Guardian that was equipped with multiple beam cannons, but we were ultimately unable to implement it.”
Sakurai on Smash Bros. Ultimate – development, Spirits, new fighters, online and eSports, future
Posted on 6 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 0 comments
In last week’s issue of Famitsu, the Japanese magazine shared a lengthy interview with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate director Masahiro Sakurai. A slightly longer version was then issued on the publication’s website.
During the interview, Sakurai commented on most major aspects of the game. This includes when development itself actually started, Spirits (including World of Light), the new fighters, online play and eSports, and what lies ahead for the future. We’ve prepared a full translation of the discussion below.
Gorons were originally going to look “drastically” different in Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Posted on 6 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch, Wii U | 0 comments
When The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was early on in development, Nintendo had some very different ideas in mind for the design of the Gorons. Lead NPC artist Hirohito Shinoda revealed in the recently-translated Creating a Champion art book that the team was planning a drastic change in which they had bigger heads, a more human-like appearance, and more. However, “none of them really fit.” This led to basing the Gorons on their original design from Ocarina of Time.
Shinoda said:
Sakurai on how he wasn’t directly involved with character balancing in Smash Bros. Ultimate
Posted on 6 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 0 comments
DenFamiNicoGamer was recently given the opportunity to speak with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate director Masahiro Sakurai. At one point of the discussion, Sakurai revealed that he wasn’t directly involved with character balancing for this game.
Siliconera translated the relevant portion of the interview. Here’s what Sakurai said on the subject:
Game Freak wanted Pokemon: Let’s Go’s visuals to be acceptable for parents, not scary
Posted on 6 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 0 comments
Pokemon: Let’s Go, Pikachu and Pokemon: Let’s Go, Eevee director Junichi Masuda has commented on the game’s visuals.
According to Masuda, the team wanted to make the graphics approachable – especially for parents. He explained that he “didn’t want to make it a game that would cause parents to feel mistrustful of our games.” Game Freak also “didn’t want it to look scary.” This is partially why the team went about making character proportions “look a bit childish”.
Sakurai clarifies why he left HAL Laboratory, doesn’t feel “stuck in a rut doing similar things”
Posted on 6 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments
Masahiro Sakurai started out at HAL Laboratory where he directed several Kirby games. About a decade later, he left the company and now operates on more of a freelance basis.
Sakurai spoke with EDGE this month about a variety of topics, including why he left HAL. He noted that it had nothing to do with losing interest in creating Kirby games. As far as Smash Bros. goes, he says it lets him make “something with more value and wide-reaching effects.” Sakurai added that he doesn’t feel like he’s “stuck in a rut doing similar things.”
More: HAL Laboratory, interview, Masahiro Sakurai, top
Nintendo still believes Switch will reach 100 million in software sales, but less sure on 20 million hardware target
Posted on 6 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 0 comments
Japanese publication Kyoto Shimbun recently spoke with Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa. During the discussion, Furukawa mentioned that Switch and its games have done well so far this holiday season. Also, the company still expects to hit 100 million units in software sales by March 2019.
From April to September alone, Switch software sales were around 42 million. The rapid release of titles helped for the increased demand this holiday season. Smash Bros. Ultimate, Super Mario Party, and Pokemon: Let’s Go have all proven popular.
Furukawa also briefly addressed Nintendo’s current goal of selling 20 million Switch consoles sold this fiscal year. He did acknowledge that it’s not an easy goal to meet, and it can’t be predicted how the new year will go. However, Furukawa hopes that the Switch’s playstyle and its portability will keep attracting people, and Nintendo will continue to release new titles.
More: interview, sales, Shuntaro Furukawa, top
Game Freak was concerned about how well Switch would sell, director on bringing over Pokemon Yellow with new features
Posted on 6 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 0 comments
What was the biggest concern for Game Freak while developing Pokemon: Let’s Go, Pikachu and Pokemon: Let’s Go, Eevee? Apparently how much Switch would sell.
Director Junichi Masuda was interviewed for the game’s Japanese strategy guide, which was then published in the English version. In it, Masuda mentioned that the team started development before Switch launched “so we really couldn’t predict at all whether the console was going to sell well or not.” The team was “quite relieved to see it hit record sales figures” following release.
