Tokyo Mirage Sessions devs #FE share some deep messages about the RPG
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 16 Comments
The Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Special Edition contains several goodies. Probably the neatest of the bunch is an art book. Towards the end, you’ll find messages from three of the project’s most important developers: chief director/game designer Wataru Hirata, director Eiji Ishida, and producer Shinjiro Takata.
After going through the book, I thought it’d be worthwhile to share those messages here since each one is quite interesting (and lengthy!). Hirata’s note hits close to home in particular, as he thanks late Nintendo president Satoru Iwata – who passed away just a little over a year ago.
Head past the break for transcripts of Hirata, Ishida, and Takata’s messages.
Paper Mario: Color Splash producer on the humor, cards, level variety, art style
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 50 Comments
Paper Mario: Color Splash will have a big emphasis on story. Humor is a big part of that, as producer Risa Tabata told GameSpot.
She said:
“When we think of what we cannot do in a traditional Mario game, what we came to was, ‘Well, definitely humor.’ So we wanted to focus on humor as much as possible. All these different people got together in meetings room and basically very, very diligently and seriously thought of how we could do the stupidest, craziest things possible.”
Color Splash takes inspiration from the last game in the series, Sticker Star, through the use of cards. You’ll use cards in battle gathered throughout the adventure to take down enemies. They can also be painted to perform more powerful attacks.
Tabata said of the card variety:
“There are tons of different cards in the game. Obviously Mario is going to be throwing fireballs at some point. There’s kind of like a spring jump where you can actually jump a ton of different times on one end.”
Tabata also elaborated on the cards by saying that it’s possible to “open up more card slots, [and] the amount of paint you’re able to store in your hammer will expand.”
Something else fans can look forward to in Color Splash is variety. According to Tabata, levels will offer different types of challenges.
“We kind of focused on trying to have each course have a different feel. One course might be more focused on battle, but another course might focus more on puzzle-solving. There are definitely different places where you will need to have platforming skills.”
Lastly, Tabata had this to say on the game’s style:
“The artists spent a lot of time thinking like, ‘Maybe we can try this and it’ll look really like paper. Maybe we’ll have to do this to make it look like paper.’ The base of everything is made from cardboard and then on top of that you’re layering different types of paper.”
More: interview, Paper Mario: Color Splash, Risa Tabata, top
Zero Escape creator on origins and making Zero Time Dilemma, series as a whole, more
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 9 Comments
Around the time when Zero Time Dilemma was launching in Japan, Famitsu caught up with series creator Kotaro Uchikoshi about the new game. Uchikoshi spoke about how it came to be, the different aspects of gameplay, and even the ending (don’t worry, there’s only a bit on this and not much in the way of spoilers).
Since the interview was quite lengthy, we’ve opted to summarize the discussion. Continue on below for all of the important points.
The conclusion to the series, restarted to respond to enthusiastic requests from overseas fans
– When Uchikoshi joined Spike Chunsoft, the first title he worked on was 999, but at first it was planned to be a standalone game. Later on it received a “Platinum” from Famitsu reviews, as well as a good reception overseas, which was why there were talks of making its sequel only afterwards.
– They were making both the second and third games for the DS, but at that time (in 2010) the new generation handhelds 3DS and PlayStation Vita were announced.
– They wanted to work with the new systems, but considering they were developing two games at the same time, they didn’t have enough time and budget. In the end they decided to only make the second game (Virtue’s Last Reward) first, and waited to see its reception before deciding to continue the third game.
– Requests for another sequel after Virtue’s Last Reward were high, but most especially from overseas. Thanks to that, the company also gave a “Go” sign for the third game.
– When asked about the similarities and differences between Japanese and overseas fans:
Similarity: The elements they enjoy in the games may be actually the same.
Difference: Overseas fans have much enthusiasm. Uchikoshi thinks it’s because of a difference in history. Japan has had games in the same genre since long ago, such as Banshee’s Last Cry. On the other hand, the west’s first experience with such a genre was 999, so it felt very fresh to them, which was why the hype built up quickly. It also helps that games within the genre are still relatively rare in the west.
More: Aksys Games, Famitsu, interview, Kotaro Uchikoshi, Spike Chunsoft, top
Nintendo 64DD U.S. prototype is real, shown running
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Videos | 28 Comments
Earlier this week, it was rumored that someone had found a U.S. version of the 64DD peripheral for the Nintendo 64. Jason Lindsey, who came across the item, has now posted a video explaining how he found it, which looks to be a prototype. Lindsey even shows the 64DD running by initiating the boot sequence. The whole video is quite interesting, so we definitely recommend you give it a watch!
June 2016 NPD: Smash Bros. Wii U and 3DS surpass 2 and 3 million copies sold respectively, more
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News, Wii U | 5 Comments
Nintendo has shared some early information about its sales performance in the United States during the month of June 2016. Next week, the NPD report will be published in full.
In terms of actual numbers, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U has surpassed two million units sold. Smash Bros. for 3DS has topped three million units in the states.
Nintendo also said that sales of the 3DS family rose by 39 percent last month. Kirby: Planet Robobot placed fourth on NPD’s retail charts. Rhythm Heaven Megamix, a digital-only title, sat atop the eShop charts for most of the month.
NES Classic Edition – no Internet connection, no additional games, doesn’t open
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 88 Comments
Update: Added in some more answers courtesy of Polygon.
Kotaku fired off a few questions to Nintendo to learn more about the NES Classic Edition site open. The company commented on whether it can connect to the Internet (it can’t), whether it’ll get more games (nope), whether it can play old cartridges (won’t work!). Kotaku also asked about plans for other mini consoles, but Nintendo’s answer won’t surprise you.
In any case, head past the break for all of Nintendo’s comments.
Pokemon GO tops Pandora, Twitter, Netflix, Hangouts and Spotify in the U.S. for daily active use
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Mobile, News | 9 Comments
Pokemon GO has managed to leap over another set of popular apps. According to SimilarWeb, it’s now surpassed Pandora, Twitter, Netflix, Hangouts and Spotify for daily use in the United States. The report goes on to speculate that Snapchat, WhatsApp, and other popular social apps will be next based on Pokemon GO’s performance.
On July 11, 5.9 percent of all Android owners in the U.S. used Pokemon GO. That’s 46 percent more than the 4.1 percent who used the Twitter app on the same day.
Going back to game-specific talk, Pokemon GO is above Candy Crush Saga (8.7 percent) and Clash of Clans (5.2 percent) on installs at the moment. It also has a larger reach than Viber, LinkedIn, ESPN, iFunny, Lyft, musical.ly, and Tinder.
More: Niantic, Pokemon GO, top
Nintendo Download (7/14/16, North America) – TurboGrafx-16 Wii U VC, more
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS eShop, News, Wii U eShop | 0 comments
This week’s North American Nintendo Downloads are as follows:
Wii U Download
Chroma Blast – $1.49
Jackpot 777 – $1.49
Reptilian Rebellion – $2.99
Tumblestone – $22.49
Wii U Virtual Console
Bonk’s Adventure – $5.99
New Adventure Island – $5.99
R-Type – $7.99
3DS Retail
7th Dragon III Code: VFD – $39.99
Monster Hunter Generations – $39.99 (available Friday)
3DS Download
Journey to Kreisia – $9.99
New 3DS Virtual Console
Final Fight – $7.99
3DS Themes
Monster Hunter Generations Felynes
Monster Hunter Generations Glavenus
Monster Hunter Generations Gammoth
Monster Hunter Generations Standard Theme
Monster Hunter Generations Astalos
Monster Hunter Generations Mizutsune
eShop Sales
Wii U / 3DS
– OlliOlli (Nintendo 3DS and Wii U), Nova-111 and more games from Curve Digital are on sale starting at 9 a.m. PT on July 15 until 8:59 a.m. PT on July 22.
Wii U
– Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition is 50 percent off (reduced from $14.99 to $7.49) until 8:59 a.m. PT on July 21.
3DS
– Legend of Dark Witch 2, Quell Memento and more games from CIRCLE Ent. are on sale until 8:59 a.m. PT on Aug. 4.
– Azure Striker GUNVOLT is 33 percent off (reduced from $14.99 to $9.99) until 8:59 a.m. PT on July 31.
Source: Nintendo PR
More: Nintendo Download, top, Virtual Console
Nintendo announces Nintendo Entertainment System: NES Classic Edition, out in November
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 96 Comments
Update 3: For those in the United States, Amazon’s placeholder page is now up here.
Update 2: It’s also now live on Amazon Germany. You can also find it on Amazon Italy with the retailer also taking pre-orders for the controller.
Update: Pre-orders now open on Amazon UK.
Nintendo has just announced the Nintendo Entertainment System: NES Classic Edition, “a near-identical, mini replica of Nintendo’s original home console” that plugs into your high-definition TV using an included HDMI cable. The device, which launches on November 11 in North America and Europe, includes 30 NES games built in, including Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, and Kirby’s Adventure. It’ll retail for $59.99.
Here’s the full list of games:
[Review] Monster Hunter Generations
Posted on 9 years ago by Vincent Ward in 3DS, Reviews | 3 Comments
System: 3DS
Release date: July 15, 2016
Developer: Capcom
Publisher Capcom
The more that I sit down and think about it, the Monster Hunter series has always been in this kind of gray area for me. I’ve never quite held it as one of my favorite franchises, but since I’ve discovered it, I’ve undoubtedly sank hundreds of hours into the various entries. With every new game there’s always new monsters, tasks, weapons and worlds to explore, so saying that I wasn’t excited to spend a ton more time on Monster Hunter Generations would be a straight up lie. Having said that, will this title be a great enough collection of the series’ best to change my outlook and finally put it into my favorites list, or will it just give off the same one note impression it’s always left on me?
