Takahashi says it takes about 30 hours to get a Skell in Xenoblade Chronicles X
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 11 Comments
Xenoblade Chronicles X has a feature that allows players to obtain and fly various mechs known as “Skells”. Just don’t count on gaining access to a Skell right away. Speaking with IGN, senior director and chief creative officer Tetsuya Takahashi said that it takes about 30 hours before mechs become accessible.
He said:
“The reason we decided to do that was because the scale of the game changes once you get a Skell. We wanted to make sure that the initial difficulties you might have had maneuvering across terrain or trying to figure out how to reach a certain spot would be something you had a full sense of before you got the Skell.”
“We didn’t want people from the very beginning being able to be to zip towards the exact opposite end of the continent. We wanted people them to have the experience of knowing that distance first hand by running it. Once you do have the opportunity to control a Skell, it really does change the feel of the game. And we feel like these are gradual steps that ease you into that process.”
“When people hear 30 hours of gameplay, they might be reacting to that number a little bit. But I think that something that’s going to be familiar to MMO players is the idea that 30 hours is not necessarily a really long time if you think about the total gameplay time that might pick up. Now, certainly in traditional JRPG terms that may feel like that’s quite a ways out, but I think that we’ve designed the content in such a way that it feels fast as you’re going through it.”
Xenoblade Chronicles X launches in North America and Europe in December.
Super Mario Maker retains the physics of the different Mario games
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 2 Comments
Since Super Mario Maker’s reveal at last year’s E3, fans have been wondering if the creation title would retain the physics of the different Mario games. We now appear to have the answer to that question.
Based on reports from those who played Super Mario Maker at E3 – including Giant Bomb’s Jeff Gerstmann – it does in fact look like it keeps the physics of the different styles. Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, and New Super Mario Bros. should play as you would expect.
More: Super Mario Maker, top
Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. dev toned down the American comic book-styled visuals
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 4 Comments
In this month’s issue of Japanese magazine Nintendo Dream, Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. art director Takako Sakai opened up on the game’s art style and visuals as a whole.
According to Sakai, he wanted there to be as few differences as possible between the 2D illustrations and in-game 3D models.
Sakai began by creating character illustrations that imitated the feel of American comics from 1960 since he felt that was nicely compatible with polygons. However, this style was also chosen since he personally liked it.
Next, Sakai shares the following about why and how the art style in Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. changed a bit:
Miyamoto – Mario’s origins, VR, approach to consoles, Wii U’s struggles, training staff, staying with Nintendo, more
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Wii U | 74 Comments
NPR has put up a massive interview with Shigeru Miyamoto. There’s tons of talk about Mario’s origins, but plenty of other topics as well.
We’ve posted the Q&A breakdown below. You can find the original piece here as well. I’d recommend giving this interview a look, since it’s very interesting!
More: interview, Shigeru Miyamoto, top
Miyamoto: “I would never call Mario a kids game or a mascot that only kids understand”
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 20 Comments
Mario has the capacity to resonate with kids, but that doesn’t mean that’s the franchises only demographic. This is something that creator Shigeru Miyamoto echoed in an interview with NPR.
He told the publication:
I would never call Mario a kids game or a mascot that only kids understand. It taps into fundamental building blocks of play. It’s fun to jump and it’s fun to run and feel free and fly up into the sky and all those things.
You can have a full listen to the interview below.
More: interview, Mario, Shigeru Miyamoto, top
Reggie indicates that NX is a home console
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 288 Comments
Nintendo announced a few months ago that it’s working on a new platform called “NX”. The company hasn’t elaborated any further, and never confirmed if we can expect it to be a home console or new portable system.
That’s why recent comments made by Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime are quite interesting. Here’s what he had to say about NX in an interview with The Wall Street Journal (see a Q&A breakdown here):
We’ve also said publicly that we are already hard at work on our next home console and that’s another element we’ll be talking about much later.
Remember: Metroid Prime series producer Kensuke Tanabe, speaking with Eurogamer this week, also referred to NX as a console.
So what can we make of this? This definitely seem to be a strong hint – if not a confirmation – that NX will be a console rather than a handheld.
More: interview, Reggie Fils-Aime, top
Reggie on the Skylanders partnership, amiibo shortages, Wii U sales, more
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Videos | 24 Comments
The quotes below comes from Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime…
On how the partnership with Activision for Skylanders SuperChargers came about…
Reggie Fils-Aime: Activision came to Nintendo at the outset of Skylanders development four years ago. So there was always this thought of, wouldn’t it be great if Nintendo [intellectual property] could somehow be integrated into the game?
Jump forward to last year’s E3, when we introduced amiibo, (Nintendo figurines that work with its games) and we articulated our strategy of having figures that could work across games. At the same time, Activision shared with us their vision for their next installment of Skylanders that would include vehicles. And that’s when the conversation became serious.
On why Donkey Kong and Bowser were chosen…
Fils-Aime: Skylanders is all about creatures. So as we looked at our roster, those two fit the game. They’re much more creature-like in their gameplay mechanics and their movements, so those were the two that we agreed would make sense.
On the business strategy behind the collaboration…
Fils-Aime: It was a great opportunity for Activision to create something special that would play only on the Nintendo platforms. It was an opportunity to create these figures that would work on both the Skylanders games, as well as all the compatible games that either Donkey Kong or Bowser plays in. And so it really was an opportunity to do something unique but fit what each company was trying to do.
More: Amiibo, interview, Reggie Fils-Aime, top
SMT X FE was initially a a turn-based strategy game, devs on FE characters and pop idol focus, more
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 6 Comments
Genei Ibun Roku # FE, the working title of the Fire Emblem/Shin Megami Tensei crossover project in development with Nintendo and Atlus (and loosely translated as “Mirage Spinoff # FE”) is the result of one woman’s passion for Fire Emblem.
In an interview at E3, Fire Emblem producer and Nintendo group manager Hitoshi Yamagami told GameSpot that a Nintendo employee who loved Atlus games initially came up with the idea.
Yamagami on how a Nintendo employee who loved Atlus games came up with the idea…
“In our team at Nintendo Co., Ltd, there’s a woman who really loves the Shin Megami Tensei series. This is how this all started. And when she started this conversation within the company, we were working with Atlus at the time on a purikura [decorative photography] program for DSi and 3DS. At the time she said, ‘Mr. Yamagami, there’s something I would like to do. I want to make a game that mixes Fire Emblem and Shin Megami Tensei.’ And we said, that’s exciting, let’s give it a shot! But when we brought it to Atlus, they said, we’d like to but we can’t, we’re busy.”
– Nintendo abandoned the idea, until two years later
– Atlus approached them to revive the concept
“When they asked if I wanted to [work with Nintendo], I was heading the Devil Survivor series. So once that series finished, two years after that conversation, I said, let’s give this a shot.” – Takada
Xenoblade Chronicles X – first video with English voices
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Videos, Wii U | 7 Comments
More: Monolith Soft, top, Xenoblade Chronicles X
Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer features skin tone options
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 3 Comments
wait, does Happy Home actually give you skin tone options? pic.twitter.com/ujzrxdq14M
— megmar (@ran_num) June 17, 2015
@Sabriality @ran_num @Gliitchy Good eye! It does. 🙂
— Alison Rapp (@mnemosynekurai) June 17, 2015
