Chibi-Robo 3DS devs on early GameCube days with Bandai, timeline, inspiration from other Nintendo titles
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 0 comments
Nintendo World Report put up its full interview with the Chibi-Robo!: Zip Lash developers today. The outlet spoke with producers Risa Tabata and Kensuke Tanabe. Tabata and Tanabe shared some interesting comments about the early days of Chibi-Robo and how Bandai was involved with the character’s design, the series’ timeline, and taking inspiration from other Nintendo games with Zip Lash.
Those who are interested in Chibi-Robo can head past the break to read up on Tabata and Tanabe’s words. You can find the full interview here.
Vanpool helped out with Paper Mario: Sticker Star to ensure the game met its 2012 launch
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 0 comments
Paper Mario: Sticker Star was primarily an Intelligent Systems product, but Vanpool worked on the game as well. Nintendo’s Kensuke Tanabe recently said that Vanpool ended up on Sticker Star since help was needed to make its 2012 launch.
Vanpool is now contributing to Chibi-Robo!: Zip-Lash alongside Skip. Taro Kudo, a director at the company, previously worked at Square and Love-de-Lic with Skip’s founders.
Chibi-Robo!: Zip Lash devs on why snacks are prominently featured, took lots of effort
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 2 Comments
In Chibi-Robo!: Zip Lash, the game is packed with plenty of snacks like pocky and Utz potato chips. Nintendo producer Risa Tabata explained during E3 2015 last week that this came about so that players would be able to truly understand Chibi-Robo’s size, and so that he’d have more items to collect that felt more substantial.
Tabata told Nintendo World Report:
“We were trying to think of ways to express [how tiny Chibi-Robo is] to give you a point of reference to show you how small he is in real life. Since this time, there are no people around, [the snacks] something we can give you to compare.”
“Because the game itself takes place around the world in various places, we thought coming up with different monuments that you see around the world, such as the Statue of Liberty or the Pyramids, but that would be way too big to use as a reference for a tiny little robot. And that’s when I thought ‘What’s something that’s around us all the time, and makes people happy to see or to find in game?’ I personally also love snacks too, so I thought this is a great idea to implement in the game.”
In order for snacks to be included in Chibi-Robo!: Zip Lash, Nintendo branches in North America and Europe needed to reach out to different companies. Tabata also visited 30 different snack food companies for the Japanese version.
Nintendo producer Kensuke Tanabe said:
“Around this time in Japan, it is super hot and humid. So she was wearing her business attire, walking around the whole country, travelling to present this idea to all these people. I myself was sitting in the office, just chilling, thinking ‘She’s going through such a hard labor.’ *laughs*”
Nintendo producer says Pikmin and Chibi-Robo! crossover is “an interesting idea”
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS eShop, News | 20 Comments
Nintendo World Report recently asked Nintendo producer Kensuke Tanabe about the possibility of Olimar and the Pikmin running into Chibi-Robo! at some point in the future. To this, he said: “That’s an interesting idea, and something I could speak to Mr Miyamoto about a collaboration.”
How would you guys feel about some sort of Pikmin and Chibi-Robo! crossover. Is that something you’d like to see?
More: Kensuke Tanabe
Tanabe on lack of Mario Bros. 2 support in Super Mario Maker, wants to revisit the title
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Wii U | 15 Comments
Super Mario Maker has support for Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, and New Super Mario Bros. U. But what about Super Mario Bros. 2?
Nintendo’s Kensuke Tanabe addressed this while speaking with USgamer at E3 last week, in which he stated:
“Super Mario Bros. 2, as you know, when we created that game in Japan, it didn’t have Mario as the main character Probably because of that, it’s been overlooked for Super Mario Maker. I didn’t talk to Mr. (Takashi) Tezuka at all about it, actually. It does seem sort of unfortunate.”
Tanabe did give a bit of hope for the future, as he seemed to show some interest in something like a Super Mario Bros. 2-style version of Mario Maker. “If I ever have the chance, yes, it would be interesting to work on something like that,” he said.
Metroid Prime: FF – 3 major planets, no scanning, will see Metroids and Samus, response to fans, more
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 47 Comments
This information comes from Metroid Prime series producer Kensuke Tanabe…
– Use the New 3DS’ second stick to look around
– Also runs on regular 3DS
– Tanabe feels Blast Ball could serve as a replacement for a traditional tutorial in terms of getting players accustomed to classic Metroid Prime controls
On the game’s premise…
Tanabe: I’m sure once you play the actual game you’ll be able to get a feel of it and a better understanding of what the game is. As you mentioned, when you experience Blast Ball, you can probably feel that the controls are exactly the same as the Metroid Prime series. And on top of the control scheme being the same as the Metroid Prime series, you can also tell that the whole environment is still in the Metroid Prime universe, including the background music as well.
On how it doesn’t seem like a Metroid game, and how it came to be…
Tanabe: Originally, since 10 years ago, I’ve been thinking about the concept for this game. Back then I was working on the three main Prime games…
So Metroid Prime Hunters [on DS] was one title that I wanted to shift the focus a little bit by introducing some new bounty hunters. One thing I wanted to do since back then was focusing on the galactic federation members, focusing on them and having a fight with the space pirates. It’s sort of like a different perspective that I’m taking with this game to create sort of an opportunity to expand, to broaden the universe.
Tanabe again says he wanted Metroid Prime: Federation Force out alongside New 3DS, why Next Level was chosen
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, New Nintendo 3DS, News | 4 Comments
This information comes from Metroid Prime series producer Kensuke Tanabe…
“Well, first I would say that the focus on the battle between the Federation Forces and the Space Pirates was an idea I had since I was involved in Metroid Prime 3. It’s similar to with Metroid Prime Hunters, how we relied on NST [Nintendo Software Technology] to do that. Hunters deals with the relationships between the bounty hunters besides Samus in the world of Metroid. We wanted to make something that would show the fight between the Federation and the Space Pirates, but there was no company that would make that for us.”
“In making this game we initially intended it to launch alongside the New Nintendo 3DS, but we were a bit late in doing that. The team who’s schedule was free at the time was Next Level Games, and so we turned to them.”
Metroid Prime producer – next proper entry would probably be on NX, more ideas, wants numbered release
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch, Wii U | 55 Comments
This information comes from Metroid Prime series producer Kensuke Tanabe…
“If we started for Wii U now, it would likely take three years or so. So it would likely now be on Nintendo’s NX console. It’s a long time but it would need to include a lot of content, which would take a lot of work on the development side.”
– Tanabe has plenty of ideas for the game
– This includes a focus on a single planet that has a time-shifting mechanic
“Instead of broadening it to more planets I would have one and would focus on the timeline, and being able to change that. That’s one interesting idea I have in mind… but I understand many people thought that [Echoes] was too difficult.”
Head past the break for more quotes, which may include Metroid Prime spoilers for some.
More: interview, Kensuke Tanabe, Metroid Prime, top
Metroid Prime: Federation Force – made with New 3DS in mind, thought about Wii U, tried multiplayer Metroid game for DSi
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, DS, News, Wii U | 11 Comments
Engadget has published a new interview with Nintendo’s Kensuke Tanabe about Metroid Prime: Federation Force. Tanabe discussed the game’s origins, revealed that a Wii U version was considered, and spoke about how Nintendo tried making a multiplayer Metroid game for the DSi. There’s that and much more in the interview roundup posted after the break!
More: interview, Kensuke Tanabe, Next Level Games, top
Metroid Prime producer wants to make another game building around the story of Sylux and Samus
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 49 Comments
This information comes from Metroid Prime producer Kensuke Tanabe when if Metroid Prime Federation Force is the only Metroid Prime game he’s working on…
“I said this at the beginning, but I’m not involved in the 2D Metroid games that Mr. Sakamoto works on. I still feel like there’s a little more work left for me to do in the Metroid Prime series. I can’t say when, but I want to make another one.
– Tanabe reminded IGN about the ending of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
– After Samus’s ship flies off into the distance, another ship suddenly appears
– He said that players Metroid Prime Hunters should recognize that the ship belongs to a bounty hunter called Sylux.
“He’s actually chasing after Samus, and that’s where that game ends. There’s still more I want to build around the story of Sylux and Samus. There’s something going on between them. I want to make a game that touches upon [it].”
“I’m also thinking that, in that eventual game between Sylux and Samus that might get made, that I wants to involve the [Galactic] Federation as well. So it would be a good idea to release a game like Federation Forces to flesh out its role in the galaxy before moving on to that.”
