[Just a Chat] Nintendo Digital Event @ E3 2015 reaction
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, Just a Chat, Videos, Wii U | 0 comments
Jon and I are a bit late on this, but we’re both back to discuss the Nintendo Digital Event that took place during E3. That includes talk about Star Fox Zero, The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes, Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, Metroid Prime: Federation Force, and lots more!
Stuff:
[Interview] Zordix shares new details about Aqua Moto Racing Utopia, talks New 3DS
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS eShop, Interviews, New Nintendo 3DS, Wii U eShop | 10 Comments
Zordix announced Aqua Moto Racing Utopia for Wii U last February. We haven’t heard much about the game over the past year, so we reached out to the studio for a status update. Larsson revealed that the game has made the jump to Unity 5, discussed DLC plans, teased a probable New 3DS exclusive, and more.
Read on below for our full interview with Matti Larsson, CEO and creative director at Zordix AB. You’ll also find an exclusive new screenshot showing how the updated UI looks.
More: Aqua Moto Racing Utopia, highlight, indie, Matti Larsson, top, Zordix
Let’s get serious for a moment
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Site updates | 131 Comments
Let’s Talk is on a one week break so that I can give the spotlight to a very important site topic. The feature will be back in full force next week!
With each passing anniversary on Nintendo Everything, I’ve thought about doing this forever. I can’t properly express how much I love the site, and how it’s become extremely embedded in my daily life.
There’s very little that I won’t do for Nintendo Everything – whether that means putting it ahead of my personal life, sleep, health… you name it. For nearly eight years, that’s the way things have been. That’s largely because I love being in a position to write about Nintendo in some form. I also take great happiness in knowing that I’m able to share updates about the company with you all.
Everything sounds fantastic, right? Well, in reality, that isn’t entirely the case. I think I may have been in denial a bit in terms of how long Nintendo Everything can continue on. Okay, that probably sounds way too dramatic. Let me try to explain what’s been on my mind and why this post is even necessary.
Over the past year or two, I’ve been taking a serious look at Nintendo Everything’s (and my own) financial situation. I need to be completely honest here and admit that it’s not the best. It’s why I’m putting up this post today, and why I’d like to have a discussion about the site’s future.
Running a site, as rewarding as it is, can be very taxing. The financial aspect alone has been extremely stressful for me. Few people have known about this – maybe just a handful.
Nintendo Everything generates revenue through ads. Unfortunately, this is not at all the best/consistent source of income. The ads themselves cannot at all be relied upon. Companies act irregularly in terms of when they’re interested in advertising. The first half of the year is often filled with dead periods for ads. Throw in the fact that some people use Adblock, and the situation becomes a bit of a mess. Truthfully, the site isn’t exactly bringing in what it needs to right now.
Those are some of the reasons why I’m concerned about Nintendo Everything’s future. We’re not in an absolutely dreadful situation, but we’re not in a good one either. It’s very tough for the middle-of-the-road sites to survive. We’re not backed by any major corporation, we’re not part of a network, and I run everything independently.
At the end of the day, I don’t want anything to change. I don’t want us to have to team up with anyone else, sell the site, shut down, or anything along the lines. I just want to be in a position to continue doing what I’ve been doing for the past eight years or so.
So where does Nintendo Everything go from here? That’s what I’d like to talk to you all about today. I would really appreciate if we could have a discussion in the comments below about what I’ve tried to explain. Maybe you guys have some ideas about how I can go about things to improve the site’s situation. My ears (eyes?) are wide open, and I’ll be looking at everything you all have to say. Let’s turn this ship around!
Splatoon devs on the map rotation, content updates, and more
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 18 Comments
In this month’s issue of Japanese magazine Nintendo Dream, there’s an interview with some of the Splatoon developers. That includes directors Yusuke Amano and Tsubasa Sakaguchi as well as producer Hisashi Nogami.
Nintendo Dream starts off by asking how matchmaking works. Amano mentions that rather than focusing on levels, the game pairs players with similar playstyles in Turf War. Levels are more of “an indicator for how long the person has played the game.”
Since Splatoon matches users together based on how they play, Amano notes that those who tend to splat enemies are likely to play together. Likewise, those who concentrate on painting rather than splatting are more likely to get paired up.
More: Hisashi Nogami, interview, Splatoon, top, Tsubasa Sakaguchi, Yusuke Amano
Tezuka on Good-Feel working with yarn again, Yoshi’s New Island reception, Mario/Yoshi connection
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News, Wii U | 2 Comments
A new round of quotes from Nintendo’s Takashi Tezuka have been published by Game Informer. Tezuka tackled three main topics: how Good-Feel is working with yarn for a second time, the reception of Yoshi’s New Island, and whether or not Yoshi is still considered a part of the Mario universe.
For Tezuka’s comments, head past the break. You can also check out Game Informer’s original article here.
Super Mario Maker devs on the updated name, Zelda Maker would be “a challenge to make”, more
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 13 Comments
New comments about Super Mario Maker have come in from producer Takashi Tezuka and director Yosuke Oshino. Between the two, they talked about the updated name, how the project stemmed from a Mario Paint idea, fly swatting, and the possibility of a Zelda Maker.
Continue on below for some of the interview excerpts. For the full discussion, head on over to Game Informer.
Sakurai would have considered dropping Pac-Man in Smash if not allowed to use old-school design
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News, Wii U | 29 Comments
Pac-Man ended up in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U/3DS as one of the new roster additions. He’s also one of the few third-party characters in the game. But had things not gone Sakurai’s way, it’s possible that Pac-Man wouldn’t have been included in Smash.
In an interview coming from “Think About the Video Games” published earlier this month, Sakurai discussed how he pushed for Pac-Man’s old school design. If he wasn’t allowed to use it and instead needed to feature the version from Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures, he “thought about dropping Pac-Man altogether.”
He said:
Pac-Man’s design was updated in a 2013 CGI cartoon titled, “Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures.” This new design has been used in a variety of products. But in the end I felt that his old-school design was better, and used that in the design plan. If that was rejected, I thought about dropping Pac-Man altogether.
Miyamoto talks more about why Wii U struggled, taking a step back with NX, Nintendo focusing on excitement
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch, Wii U | 104 Comments
Shigeru Miyamoto previously discussed why the Wii U struggles in an interview with NPR. Speaking with Fortune, he once again touched on this topic and pointed to the fact that “people never really understood the concept behind Wii U and what we were trying to do.”
He said:
“I feel like people never really understood the concept behind Wii U and what we were trying to do. I think the assumption is we were trying to create a game machine and a tablet and really what we were trying to do was create a game system that gave you tablet-like functionality for controlling that system and give you two screens that would allow different people in the living room to play in different ways. Unfortunately, because tablets, at the time, were adding more and more functionality and becoming more and more prominent, this system and this approach didn’t mesh well with the period in which we released it.”
Miyamoto also shared some regret about how the console won’t live up to its potential, in which he stated: “I still feel it was a very novel approach—and a very interesting idea.”
More: interview, Shigeru Miyamoto, Shinya Takahashi, top
Zelda: Ocarina of Time heading to the European Wii U Virtual Console next week
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U eShop | 14 Comments
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is coming to the European Wii U Virtual Console next week, Nintendo announced today. Fans can get their hands on the classic title starting on July 2.
Nintendo wrote on its European Twitter account a few minutes ago:
Next Thursday, #N64 classic The Legend of #Zelda: Ocarina of Time emerges on #WiiU Virtual Console! pic.twitter.com/jwC0hBq1nV
— Nintendo of Europe (@NintendoEurope) June 27, 2015
This is the second time that Ocarina of Time will be arriving on the Virtual Console. The original VC release took place in February 2007 on Wii.
Miyamoto says amiibo won’t lock content away in Star Fox Zero
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 19 Comments
Like many Nintendo games these days, Star Fox Zero will have amiibo support. But the one thing players won’t have to worry about is content being locked away behind figures.
Shigeru Miyamoto told Kotaku at E3 2015 last week that amiibo usage in Star Fox Zero will be on the lighter side of things. Tying in significant content like abilities or a special mode isn’t planned. Instead, having amiibo will offer players “a little something extra” – perhaps “a different skin for the Arwing or something like that.”
Miyamoto said:
“In terms of being able to unlock content, I don’t really want to go down that path. For this game, I think of it more as, for people who have the Amiibo, they’re going to get a little something extra and that’s how I’m planning on it with this game. So rather than actual abilities or things like that changing in the game, it would be like getting a different skin for the Arwing or something like that.”
“So, I don’t really want to talk about Nintendo in general today, but in terms of what I’m doing with Star Fox, I’m really not thinking about there being locked content or there being a mode that you won’t be able to play if you don’t have one. Since we already have the existing Smash Bros. Amiibos I basically want to put in something so if you already have those Amiibos, I imagine people will try and tap them on Star Fox anyway, and I want to make sure there is something that gives them a nice charge when they do that.”
