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Kirby

As the first Kirby game shipped in 1992, the character (and the franchise overall) is celebrating its 23rd birthday this year. Developer HAL Laboratory decided to post a special message on Miiverse in honor of the occasion. Head past the break for the full note from Kirby Triple Deluxe director Shinya Kumazaki.

Three classic Kirby games are coming to the North American Wii U eShop this week. Nintendo won’t say which ones they are yet, but each one is being released in celebration of the character’s birthday.

Nintendo sent out the following tweet just a few minutes ago:


We could be hearing about the names of these titles tomorrow, if previous leaks are anything to go by. If that doesn’t happen, we’ll know on Thursday morning at the latest!

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Over the past few generations, HAL Laboratory has primarily worked on Kirby games. We’ve seen a few non-Kirby titles here and there (most recently with BoxBoy!), but that character is certainly the studio’s bread and butter. Interestingly, BoxBoy! director Yasuhiro Mukae recently informed Kotaku that “several” projects are in the works that are unrelated to the character.

Mukae mentioned:

Certainly, as you say, the Kirby series is HAL Laboratory’s main development focus, but we actually have several other projects proceeding along in parallel (not that I can give details on them right now, of course). We also have a few experimental projects in the works with smaller teams, so there certainly isn’t any rule that we must be involved with Kirby projects. Like I discussed in the first question, BoxBoy got its start as an experimental project along those lines.

I was involved in the development of Kirby: Triple Deluxe, but I was also working on the BoxBoy experiment at the same time. Handling both projects simultaneously presented some big challenges, but creating a game with a new character like Qbby made me feel happier than I’ve ever felt before.

Once Kirby: Triple Deluxe development wrapped up, I was able to devote myself fully to BoxBoy. This happened right when it went from an experiment to an official development project, and full-on development began at that point. Some of the Kirby: Triple Deluxe team also joined the BoxBoy project right about then.

As I wrote earlier, our development efforts may be chiefly devoted to Kirby, but there’s no hard-and-fast rule that everything has to be related to Kirby titles. I’m getting the chance to be involved a lot more often with non-Kirby things, such as this BoxBoy project—though, again, I can’t give details quite yet.

Below are some other noteworthy tidbits shared in Kotaku’s interview:

Nintendo has announced a new promotion for Europe that allows new 3DS owners to obtain a free game. You’ll find all of the information you need to know below.

To take part in the Nintendo 3DS Winter 2014 Bonus Game Promotion all you have to do is;

Register a Nintendo 2DS, Nintendo 3DS or Nintendo 3DS XL system with Club Nintendo between 11th September 2014 and 12th January 2015 (23:59 local time); and…
Register a copy of Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS (releasing 3rd October ), Pokémon Omega Ruby or Pokémon Alpha Sapphire (both releasing 28th November) with Club Nintendo between 3rd October 2014 and 12th January 2015 (23:59 local time), and fill out the software registration survey – a required action if the copy of the game is purchased at retail.

Once you complete that you can select a free download code of one of the following games;

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
Yoshi’s New Island
Kirby: Triple Deluxe
Mario Golf: World Tour
Mario Party: Island Tour
Pokémon Art Academy

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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.”

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Kirby Triple Deluxe is launching in Japan in just a few days. For the game’s launch, several Kirby beanbags will be made available.

Each measures in at H70 x W100 x D70mm. Pricing is set at 630 yen.

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