Monolith Soft boss on appealing to Japan/the west, “mass” hiring clarified, more Xeno games
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 49 Comments
GameSpot has posted another feature with Monolith Soft head Tetsuya Takahashi. In today’s interview, Takahashi commented on things like making games that will appeal to both Japan and the west, the “mass” hiring the studio had in October (which carries a rather interesting response), the possibility of additional Xeno games, and more.
Continue on below to read up on Takashi’s comments. You should also give GameSpot’s original piece a look here.
More: interview, Monolith Soft, Tetsuya Takahashi, top
Media Create sales (11/16 – 11/22)
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, New Nintendo 3DS, News, Wii U | 17 Comments
The latest Japanese hardware sales from Media Create are as follows:
PS4 – 29,052
New 3DS LL – 28,257
Wii U – 14,684
Vita – 12,258
New 3DS – 5,859
PS3 – 1,624
3DS – 1,012
Xbox One – 889
3DS LL – 596
Vita TV – 583
For comparison’s sake, here are the hardware numbers from last week:
PS4 – 27,311
New 3DS LL – 21,800
Wii U – 17,921
Vita – 11,821
New 3DS – 5,264
PS3 – 1,751
3DS – 968
Vita TV – 680
3DS LL – 561
Xbox One – 524
And here are the software charts:
1. [PS4] Star Wars Battlefront – 123,908 / NEW
2. [PS4] Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book – 30,759 / NEW
3. [PSV] Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book – 25,805 / NEW
4. [PSV] Omega Labyrinth – 25,113 / NEW
5. [WIU] Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival – 20,303 / NEW
6. [PS4] Call of Duty: Black Ops III – 19,355 / 206,801
7. [PS4] Sword Art Online Game Director’s Edition – 18,342 / NEW
8. [WIU] Splatoon – 17,681 / 802,117
9. [3DS] Sumikko Gurashi Omise Hajimerun Desu – 16,464 / NEW
10. [3DS] Yo-kai Watch Busters – 14,700 / 1,744,440
11. [WIU] Super Mario Maker – 13,184 / 391,793
12. [PSV] Girl Friend Beta Kimi to Sugosu Natsuyasumi – 12,959 / NEW
13. [PS3] Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book – 11,542 / NEW
14. [3DS] Disney Magical World 2 – 11,530 / 104,959
15. [PSV] Grand Kingdom – 10,720 / NEW
16. [3DS] Pokemon Rumble World – 10,120 / NEW
17. [PS4] Assassin’s Creed Syndicate – 7,247 / 39,325
18. [PSV] Minecraft: PlayStation Vita Edition – 7,182 / 404,329
19. [3DS] Project X Zone 2 – 7,050 / 47,995
20. [3DS] Zelda: Tri Force Heroes – 5,909 / 100,045
More: charts, Japan, Media Create, sales, top
Level-5 open to having franchises on NX and Wii U, says Yo-kai Watch and Pokemon can coexist peacefully
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Switch, Wii U | 21 Comments
The only Yo-kai Watch title we’ve seen from Level-5 on a Nintendo console is the upcoming Yo-kai Watch Dance: Just Dance Special Version. But could the studio expand its efforts to bring a proper title to Wii U, or even NX? Company CEO Akihiro Hino is certainly open to the possibility.
Hino said he “would definitely want to proactively consider it,” if Level-5 has a title that would make sense as a Wii U game. Taking things further, Hino expressed interest in potentially making games for NX if it can “bring Level-5 games to as many kids as possible.” Speaking broadly about Level-5, he added that if the company finds this to be the case, “it wouldn’t be impossible” to see its games on the system.
Hino also addressed Pokemon again, which has seen some comparisons to Level-5’s Yo-kai Watch series. He believes the two can coexist peacefully. Hino mentioned: “If kids are willing to buy both of them, I couldn’t be happier.”
More: Akihiro Hino, interview, Level-5, top
NES designer on Nintendo and Sony’s failed partnership, emphasis on design, indie comparison
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 12 Comments
Back in the day, Nintendo and Sony once attempted to work with each other. The SNES PlayStation prototype is evidence of that. Had the two sides collaborated, Sony would have come out with its own SNES-CD peripheral for the console.
NES designer Masayuki Uemura, in an interview with Gamasutra, spoke about Nintendo and Sony’s failed partnership during a NES celebration at The Strong Museum of Play’s International Center for the History of Electronic Games. Whereas companies like Sony began to focus on graphics and the technological side of gaming at the time, Nintendo still pushed for innovation with design.
Uemura said:
“You might know that we tried to collaborate with Sony once. We knew what Sony was thinking and what kinds of things they were trying to develop. During this time when Sony and other companies started launching products, people started realizing how difficult it is to create a game with great mechanics. Since the time of Game & Watch, Nintendo was doing their best to create game design mechanics that fully utilize the limited technological specifications. What happened was when they started launching those products with high quality graphic design they started emphasizing the graphics processing power – in other words, it wasn’t just the game mechanics they had to focus on but they also had to focus on graphic expression and sound design, not just game design. That’s how the market got saturated with all these kinds of products.
“By contrast, Nintendo was always trying to push the limitations of new types of play. That was a difference between Nintendo product lines and the others. With the maturity of the game industry…it was time to start thinking about redefining the importance of mechanics and design. So for a couple decades the game publishers and hardware manufacturers were focusing on graphics processing power and sound effects and so forth and not focusing much on innovating in game design and mechanics.”
More: interview, Masayuki Uemura, Sony, top
Vblank announces Retro City Rampage follow up “Shakedown Hawaii”, coming to 3DS
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS eShop, News | 11 Comments
Update: Wii U should still be on the table, but 3DS is essentially confirmed. It’s hidden in the copyright bits towards the end of the game’s trailer.
Vblank Entertainment has finally announced its next game: “Shakedown Hawaii”. The project is a follow up to Retro City Rampage, but now features 16-bit visuals.
Here’s a brief overview:
“Shakedown Hawaii brings the Vblank open world universe into the 16-bit era, powered up with destructible environments and an arsenal of supercharged weapons. Taking place some thirty years after the events of Retro City Rampage, the game follows The Player as he comes out of early retirement to rebuild his neglected corporate empire.”
Shakedown Hawaii is said to be heading to Nintendo platforms. Presumably, that should mean we’ll be seeing it on either Wii U and/or 3DS.
A trailer for Shakedown Hawaii is posted below. More information will be shared at the PlayStation Experience next weekend.
More: indie, Shakedown Hawaii, top, Vblank Entertainment
Xenoblade X devs – wanted to evolve JRPGs, Xeno name, game is a culmination of ideas
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 25 Comments
GameSpot sat down with a pair of developers behind Xenoblade Chronicles X. The site chatted with executive director Tetsuya Takahashi as well as art director Norihiro Takami. During the discussion, Takahashi and Takami commented on the complex nature of Xenoblade Chronicles X, the Xeno name, how the Wii U game is a culmination of ideas held onto for a very long time, and more.
We’ve rounded up a number of Takahashi and Takami’s statements below. Additional comments can be found in GameSpot’s piece here. Some concept art is also in the gallery below.
Nintendo of Japan’s online store is now selling Wii U Gamepads
Posted on 9 years ago by Matt(@OnePunchMaz) in News, Wii U | 13 Comments
Nintendo originally announced near the system’s launch that you would eventually be able to buy the Wii U Gamepad separately and use two of them with the system. Well, support for more than one Gamepad at the time still hasn’t happened and probably will never happen, but you can in fact now buy a new Gamepad directly from Nintendo of Japan’s online store.
The standalone Gamepad costs 13,824 yen. If your old Gamepad broke and your warranty expired and you don’t want to pay for repairs, buying a new one is now an option. Note, however, that the Gamepad itself is region-locked, so it won’t work with your PAL or NTSC Wii U.
KnapNok on Affordable Space Adventures’ reception and sales, more DLC possible, could hit 3DS
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS eShop, News, Wii U eShop | 1 Comment
KnapNok’s Anchel Labena has commented on a number of topics pertaining to Affordable Space Adventures as part of an interview with Nintendo Life.
Regarding the game’s reception, Labena said that the game has received “some pretty amazing reviews”, which came as a bit of a surprise given its “quirky nature”. Sales were strong out of the gate, though “things slowed down a bit during the months after.”
Labena’s comments in full:
“We’ve been getting some pretty amazing reviews, which we are obviously really happy about. It really caught us by surprise, since Affordable Space Adventures is such a quirky title that we didn’t know what the press would think about it. I guess that all the positive press really affected sales at launch, because we saw a sudden surge of interest from players, YouTube streamers and other media outlets who hadn’t heard about the game before its launch.
While sales kicked off to a great start, things slowed down a bit during the months after launch. We still keep selling units on a daily basis though. It doesn’t come as a surprise either. We are, after all, a digital-only release, and presence in the Wii U eShop is crucial for us. Every time our game shows up in the eShop front page (like a banner, a Nintendo Highlights video or being included in a list of indie games for example), we have a considerable spike in sales. The new update is surely going to get a new surge of interest in the title, so we hope to keep the momentum going with that. We also just launched in Japan, and that’s definitely a super interesting market to get into. You have to think different in how you approach the audience there. Luckily, there are also fans there. One of them posted a drawing on Miiverse and it took as a while to understand that her handwriting said “I’ve been waiting for a year for this game since Knytt Underground” (Knytt Underground being the previous game of Affordable Space Adventure’s Game Director, Nicklas Nygren). What I can tell you, however, is that the game has definitely been a success for us and we are quite happy about how it is performing.”
More: Anchel Labena, indie, interview, KnapNok Games, Nifflas, top
Shigesato Itoi on why there won’t be a Mother 4
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 64 Comments
Speaking with Game Watch Impress, Shigesato Itoi commented on why Mother 4 is unlikely to happen. He told the site:
“Among big-time popstars, if they, you know, put out ten albums, around the fourth album, they can’t make very good songs. The albums sell, but everyone at the concerts wants to hear songs from those first three albums. Everyone. I’m glad that video games are not my profession. If it was my job, I would’ve already made 4 and 5.”
“When I made 3, I thought I could do it, so I did it,” Itoi added. He went on to say that 4 is “totally impossible.”
