Posted on 6 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Switch, Videos | 0 comments

Nintendo has uploaded a bunch of gameplay clips for Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze on Switch. We’ve rounded them all up in the video below, which spans

We should mention that Nintendo has opened the Japanese Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze Switch website. You can access it here.

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Posted on 6 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 0 comments

When you’re a big developer without a new game in over four years, fans are going to very much interested in what you’re working on. Case and point: Retro Studios. The company’s last original title was Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, which first debuted in 2014.

While we still don’t have the big picture, some new clues point to a heavier narrative focus for Retro’s next title. The LinkedIn profile of one writer mentions the following:

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Posted on 6 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 0 comments

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze will be playable for the first time on Switch this week, Nintendo has announced. The game will be debuting at Emerald City Comic Con alongside Kirby Star Allies.

Nintendo shared the news on Twitter a short while ago:

Emerald City Comic Con runs between March 1 and March 4 at the Washington State Convention Center.

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Posted on 6 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Rumors | 65 Comments

Could David Wise be working on something at Retro Studios? That’s the latest rumor going around.

Last February, EvB – otherwise known as EvilBoris, said that “Retro are definitely working on something Donkey Kong related.” He added that it could be awhile before we saw anything from that. When someone praised Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, he also responded with: “Funny you should say that”.

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Posted on 6 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Images, Switch | 39 Comments

Nintendo has released the boxart for Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze on Switch. See the packaging image above.

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Posted on 6 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Screenshots, Switch | 4 Comments

Nintendo has prepared a handful of screenshots showing Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze on Switch. We have them below.

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Posted on 6 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in GameCube, News, Wii | 15 Comments

Metroid Prime has a pretty interesting development history. Before it was a Metroid game, Retro Studios was working on an original first-person shooter that had no ties to anything Nintendo-related. It was only when the big N stepped in and saw a level of the game that the game eventually morphed into Metroid Prime.

Speaking in the latest issue of Switch Player, senior designer Mike Wikan noted:

“When I came on board, the Engine group was significantly behind schedule and there was no way to create gameplay demonstrables in an effective fashion. I was told, quite literally, by leadership that designers would design the game on paper, then hand it off to engineering and art to create it. In my opinion that was insanity.”

“When Nintendo arrived suddenly, wanting to see demonstrables of all the games that the teams were working on, only our FPS had demonstrable real-time scriptable content. Nintendo liked what they saw and proposed we adapt that game and viewpoint, but restart it as a Metroid game.”

“The moral of the story is that if you see a problem, work to solve it; don’t assume someone else will take that responsibility on.”

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Posted on 6 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 31 Comments

Accomplished video game composer Alexander Brandon has revealed that he’s working at Retro Studios. Brandon wouldn’t say what he’s involved with, but did mention that “the work is incredibly exciting and the team is awesome”.

Brandon has contributed to a variety of franchises and individual games. He previously worked on the Deus Ex and unreal series as well as Tyrian, Jazz Jackrabbit 2, Thief: Dark Shadows, Neverwinter Nights 2, Dust: An Elysian Tail, Alpha Protocol, and Torment: Tides of Numenera.

Here’s Brandon’s Facebook message:

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Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in GameCube, News | 32 Comments

Game Informer recently spoke with Mark Pacini from Armature Studio. Although some of the discussion touched on Batman: Arkham Origins – Blackgate and his new game ReCore, he also spoke quite a bit about his days at Retro and directing Metroid Prime.

One interesting anedcote was about when Retro was meeting with Shigeru Miyamoto and other folks from Nintendo’s main headquarters in Japan. After the meeting, Pacini’s boss said that they were upset with him. Why? Pacini didn’t have a pencil and paper at the meeting, so Nintendo felt he wasn’t listening. Pacini called it a “very noobie mistake” on his part, and wanted to make sure that wouldn’t happen again.

Making Metroid Prime was the toughest project for Pacini from a development standpoint and getting it completed. “I think it was just the amount of stuff we were trying to do in the time we were doing it,” he said.

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Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in GameCube, News, Wii | 38 Comments

Mark Pacini acted as director for Nintendo and Retro’s three Metroid Prime games. Then in 2008, he went on to co-found Armature Studio.

Pacini is now directing the Xbox One title ReCore – a game that actually takes a decent amount of inspiration from the Metroid Prime series. GamesBeat took a brief trip down memory lane with Pacini while interviewing him about his new game, and asked if he’s surprised by the longevity and how people still play the titles he made back with Retro.

He said in response:

“For sure. I was thankful to be part of the team that made those games. When we were making those, that was never one of our goals. We were just trying to make something cool. It was an unexpectedly great thing, that people started to do that. It’s awesome that people are still playing those games, but it’s a big surprise to us.”

Thanks to Jake for the tip.

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