Aonuma on Zelda: BotW – art style, expanding from Skyward Sword, music, logo, more
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch, Wii U | 11 Comments
Game Informer now has its full interview up with Eiji Aonuma about The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. The project’s producer tackled topics like the art style, trying to expand on Skyward Sword, whether the team was inspired by particular open world games, music, logo, dungeons, and more.
Head past the break for Aonuma’s comments. For the full interview, head on over here.
New Sonic game launching in 2017, series concept art for various characters
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Images, News | 20 Comments
Sonic the Hedgehog’s 25th anniversary took place this week. A special event was held in Japan earlier today in Tokyo to celebrate, with Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuka in attendance. Iizuka was able to announce “officially” that a new game is happening, and it’ll be out next year. Specifics will be shared during the anniversary party on July 22.
Aside from that, SEGA also shared a bunch of concept art from the Sonic series of various characters through the ages. We’ve rounded up those images below.
More: Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehogg, top
Level-5 on Yo-kai Watch sales and potential for big success overseas
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 6 Comments
The first Yo-kai Watch game did alright when it arrived in North America last year. However, it’s not quite the same sensation as it is in Japan currently.
Level-5 president and CEO Akihiro Hino noted in an interview with The Verge that the series is on the same path as when it debuted in Japan a few years ago. Much like in the states, Yo-kai Watch only sold adequately. It was when the second entry released that the franchise really picked up steam, and Hino thinks something similar could happen overseas.
According to Hino:
“We have to understand that it takes time. But then at the same time we have to work as hard as we can to shorten the time as much as possible.”
“I think we’re following the same kind of sales trend as Japan. Meaning that our first game in Japan had OK sales, but it only became a huge phenomenon when we released the second game. I think our launch here in the US is kind of the ideal sales that we had expected.”
“For the markets where it takes more time, we have to change the messaging, trying to push the aspects that are more familiar to those markets. Not just push the game as-is, but pick the unique aspect that will be familiar.”
“We do believe that Yo-kai Watch can be as big of a social phenomenon [in the West] as it is in Japan.”
More: Akihiro Hino, interview, Level-5, sales, top, Yo-kai Watch
Aonuma, Miyamoto, Trinen on Zelda: BotW – towns, clothing, missions, story
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch, Wii U | 24 Comments
IGN is back with another feature on The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The site has more commentary from producer Eiji Aonuma, Shigeru Miyamoto, and Bill Trinen on the game. Topics include towns, Link’s clothing (including the blue tunic), missions, and story.
Head past the break for the rundown of Aonuma, Miyamoto, and Trinen’s comments on these aspects. The rest can be found here.
Reggie – Zelda: BotW is a system seller, effective transition from Wii U to NX
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch, Wii U | 51 Comments
Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime has once again sounded off about The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The latest comments were published by Associated Press, in which Reggie speaks about mixing up the Zelda formula, offering players an “open-air experience”, and how the new game will be a system seller.
Below are all of Reggie’s words on Breath of the Wild:
“The typical Zelda formula has been going from dungeon to dungeon, beating a variety of different bosses, to get better weapons. The formula has been totally up-ended. You’re in a wide-open space, you can do whatever you want, but your weapons will break over time, you have to find different types of elements to solve puzzles. So, it’s an open-air experience – that’s what we’re calling it – where you as the player can essentially navigate through this wide open world.”
“We wanted to focus on this new Zelda experience because we knew that once fans got a chance to play that it would increase their desire for the game. And the fact that we’ll be launching it simultaneously on Wii U and NX (upcoming Nintendo console) really means that we’ve just shared with consumers around the world the system seller or one system seller for NX. So that’s why we’ve focused on it, there’s lots of time to share more details about our upcoming system, but right now it’s all about Zelda.”
Microsoft tried partnering with Nintendo before creating the Xbox
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 34 Comments
Before Microsoft went on to create the Xbox, the company reached out Nintendo in hopes of potentially working together. Xbox co-creator Ed Fries talked about the behind-the-scenes situation during a recent episode of IGN Unfiltered.
According to Fries, Microsoft visited Nintendo and sat down with late Nintendo president Satoru Iwata. Microsoft spoke about what they were looking to do, and asked if there could be a potential partnership. The bottom line: Nintendo said no. There was some talk about one side handling software and networking while the other concentrated on hardware, but nothing ever panned out.
Here’s the full statement from Fries:
Monolith Soft is working on Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch, Wii U | 34 Comments
Update (6/24): Nintendo reached out to Game Informer to clarify their story. It’s not 100 employees from Monolith Soft working on the game – just confirmed to be 100 from Nintendo in general.
Original (6/17): We already knew that Xenoblade Chronicles developer Monolith Soft was involved with Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but now we have further confirmation of that. Shigeru Miyamoto told Game Informer that more than 100 staffers from the company are working on the project.
He said:
“Yes they are involved in this Zelda. People from Tokyo and Kyoto are working together on this. There is a team of over 100 [from Monolith] helping work on this project, and their work has really been helpful.”
Dragon Quest XI may receive cross-save functionality between 3DS and PS4 with passwords
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 19 Comments
Square Enix held its Annual Shareholders’ Meeting earlier today. During the event, a question was asked about cross-save functionality between both versions of Dragon Quest XI.
Of course, Dragon Quest XI will be rather different on 3DS and PlayStation 4, and the two systems are from separate hardware manufacturers. Yet despite that, it still seems like Square Enix could implement some cross-save functionality between both games. The company’s Yu Miyake indicated that the “Spell of Restoration” may be used here to accomplish the feature.
Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii also mentioned last month that he wanted to bring back the Spell of Restoration in Dragon Quest XI. This refers to the classic password system used in the series’ early days.
Square Enix was also asked if new information about Dragon Quest XI will be revealed at the Tokyo Game Show and beyond. Miyake said they are considering it, and would like to share an update before the 30th anniversary is up.
Thanks to Jose for the tip.
More: Dragon Quest XI, Square Enix, top
New Layton, Inazuma Eleven games to be announced next month
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 20 Comments
Level-5 Vision 2016 will be held next month. We’ll be seeing all sorts of announcements and updates from Level-5, including news on Snack World and more. CEO Akihiro Hino provided a sneak peek of the event during a live stream today.
First, a brand new Layton title will be revealed at Level-5 Vision 2016. It’s not Layton 7 which we saw a couple of years ago. Instead, it’ll be a true, proper entry in the series. It will also have a new protagonist, and it’s not Layton’s son Alfendi. The Japanese voice cast list will be full of all-stars from movies.
Hino also finally confirmed that a new Inazuma Eleven game is in the works. The setting will go back to the era of the first entry, but the protagonist will be a new character. The setting won’t be anything like going to space. Finally, an anime will be made based on the new Inazuma Eleven.
It’s important to note that platforms are not confirmed for both projects. However, given the history of Layton and Inazuma Eleven, there’s a good chance that they’ll end up on Nintendo systems. You can take a look at some concept art from the two games below.
More: Inazuma Eleven, Level-5, Professor Layton, top
Sonic getting 25th anniversary 3DS theme in Japan, Fire & Ice screenshots and details
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News, Screenshots | 0 comments
Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice is featured in this week’s issue of Famitsu bringing along the latest information. In addition, screenshots have come online today.
First, a Sonic 25th anniversary theme is planned. This will be distributed to early buyers of the game. You can see what it looks like above.
We also have these screenshots:
And some details:
Backstory
An irregular weather phenomenon assaults the world, and Sonic and Amy go to an ice island to investigate the mystery. Suddenly, a mysterious energy gushes out and showers both of them, giving them the ability to control fire and ice. Sonic reunites with his group afterwards, but there’s also an eerie shadow lurking around…
