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Damon Baker, who heads up Nintendo of America’s third-party relations and indie development, has told Polygon that the company is “certainly exploring options and capabilities” regarding an early access program.

He said:

“We don’t have anything to announce, but I can say that we’re certainly exploring options and capabilities. So anything is possible. I guess the important part of it is we’re very conscious of it and definitely looking at it.”

In terms of the benefits of what an early access program would program, Baker noted that it could act as a beta program of sorts.

“Working out some of the kinks, the server loads or what matching those expectations so that it’s a prime experience when it does, when the full version actually launches. So there could be some benefits there, but I think it’s a very sensitive topic, because you wouldn’t ever want to ask for money for something that doesn’t become fully-realized.”

Lastly, Baker also commented on the Nindies@Home initiative that was held during E3 week.

“We had to change policies over this, guidelines. I mean we basically created almost an early access-type of situation because some of this content isn’t even coming out until towards the end of the year. So to be able to give such early visibility to some of the developers and these builds, there was a lot of work that went into it.”

Source

Update: All over! You can find the information rounded up below.


Nintendo’s 75th Annual General Meeting of Shareholders is currently progress. We’ll be posting everything that was shared during the event below, courtesy of translations from Cheesemeister.

Intro

– New 3DS selling well, but the old 3DS did not, so HW sales were 8.73m. SW selling well. Pokemon, Smash numbers.
– Mario Kart 8 at 5.11m, Smash Wii U at 3.65m. Wii U HW 2.88m.
– Entertainment has value, centering on dedicated platforms. Providing premium experiences only available on such. Making more SW.
– Xenoblade for New 3DS released. Rhythm Heaven, FE: if released. Supporting 1st-party and strong 3rd-party SW.
– On Wii U, Splatoon, Yoshi’s Woolly World, and Super Mario Maker are being released.
– Card-based and yarn amiibo are being released. The NFC dongle for old 3DS and 2DS being released. Looking to increase demand.
– Supporting amiibo on Smash 3DS with the NFC dongle.
– About DeNA, starting smart device apps this year. Smart devices different from dedicated consoles, so even w/ same IP, adapting play styles to suit smart devices will maximize value and drive the expansion of the gaming population.
– Continuing with film adaptations and character merchandising to increase mind-share of IPs. Ex: Universal agreement. More later.
– Making a marketing appeal for the IPs through experiences only possible at theme parks.
– Making progress with QOL. (No details given.)
– 1st measure: distribution of dividends.
– 2nd measure: selection of board members.

More:

Nintendo’s Yugo Hayashi is the director of Star Fox Zero. Prior to this, he was involved with level design on Zelda: Twilight Princess and directed Wii Fit.

Having developers work on a variety of different projects is part of an intentional plan from Shigeru Miyamoto. In an interview with Kotaku, he explained:

Miyamoto: In terms of trying to develop a developer I always try to get them to do lots and lots of different things. Mr. Aonuma is kind of always working on Zelda but for most other people I like to try to get them to try lots of different things. So someone who worked on the art direction for Zelda would then go on to Wii Fit U. That’s kind of how I like to do things. And now Mr. Hayashi is working with me pretty much every day.

Hayashi and Miyamoto went on to discuss something a bit random. Hayashi actually mentioned that he feels that him being the closest to Miyamoto in terms of seating helped him land the job for Star Fox Zero.

Shigeru Miyamoto

Shigeru Miyamoto has been responsible for some of Nintendo’s biggest gaming franchises. Without Miyamoto, the likes of Mario and Zelda wouldn’t exist today.

Nintendo games will always be the most important element for Miyamoto, but the company’s Shinya Takahashi feels that his creativity could be extended into other areas. Speaking with USA Today, Takahashi stated:

“For me, because it’s Mr. Miyamoto, I want him to continue making things as long as he wants to continue making things. I really think that Mr. Miyamoto will continue to be creative — and not just in the area of video games.”

Source

iDigitalTimes has some comments from Nintendo of America’s Scott Moffitt specifically about the 3DS. Moffitt addressed the 3DS’ success and lineup, why older models remain in the market, and commented on the lack of the standard New 3DS version in North America. Read on below to get a look at what was shared.

IGN has posted its full interview with Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime. When the two sides met at E3 2015 last week, Reggie discussed things like Yo-Kai Watch, amiibo, toys-to-life partnerships, and the Digital Event.

We have a number of excerpts from the interview below. You can read the full talk on IGN here.

Masahiro Sakurai once again published a new column in the latest issue of Famitsu. In his piece, Sakurai writes about the new downloadable content that came to Super Smash Bros. for Wii U/3DS.

Details from the column can be found below. If you’d like a full translation, head on over to Source Gaming.

– Sakurai mentions that the 3DS “isn’t suited for successive downloads, and there are people who don’t have Wi-Fi in their homes and go to convenience stores to connect, so we made sure to put a lot of forethought into the process.”
– He’s amazed that Ryu is in Smash, and was excited to work on him
– Sakurai put a bunch of effort into the small details
– When putting Ryu in Smash, there are limits based on the number of buttons and the control scheme
– Composer Yoko Shimomura and illustrator AKIMAN each played a little bit of Ryu in Smash
– Shimomura exclaimed “Even I can do a Shoryuken!”
– AKIMAN was shocked, saying “are you sure it’s okay to make performing a Shoryuken so easy?”
– The thing that left an impression on Sakurai when making Roy was recording his lines
– Same actor from Melee (Fukuyama) was used
– Fukuyama remembered details from the recording session for Melee extremely well like the names for characters, and even the other actors
– Sakurai was happy about this since he’s an actor who’s done a ton of projects since Melee
– Lucas, Roy, and Ryu were made before the ballot was created
– Sakurai “had a grasp on their popularity and demand, though”
– “From now until the end, it is going to be fan service”
– Since Sakurai can’t keep the team together forever, there will only be several more characters
– Sakurai asks for fans’ patience in making more content

Source

GamesBeat caught up with Animal Crossing director Aya Kyogoku at E3 2015 last week. While much of the discussion was focused on Happy Home Designer, Kyogoku also shared some comments about amiibo Festival, the series’ future, and even Smash Bros.

You can read up on some of Kyogoku’s comments below. The full interview is located over on GamesBeat.

This week’s North American Nintendo Downloads are as follows:

Wii U Download

Art Academy: Home Studio – $29.99 ($4 off if you have Art Academy: SketchPad)
Never Alone – $14.99
Shiftlings – $14.99

Wii U Virtual Console

Star Fox Command – $9.99
Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time – $9.99

3DS Themes

Comic Workshop 2: My Workshop
Harvest Moon: Chicken
Harvest Moon: Cow
Harvest Moon: Dog
Harvest Moon: Horse
Harvest Moon: Theme Bundle

DSiWare

G.G Series NYOKKI – $1.99
G.G Series THROW OUT – $1.99
G.G Series AIR PINBALL HOCKEY – $1.99
G.G Series VERTEX – $1.99
G.G Series GREAT WHIP ADVENTURE – $1.99
G.G Series ENERGY CHAIN – $1.99
G.G Series THE LAST KNIGHT – $1.99
G.G Series RUN & STRIKE – $1.99
G.G Series DRILLING ATTACK!! – $1.99

eShop Sales

Wii U

– Baila Latino is 33 percent off (reduced from $29.90 to $19.90) until 8:59 a.m. PT on July 14.
– Puzzle Monkeys is 50 percent off (reduced from $2.99 to $1.49) until 8:59 a.m. PT on July 23.
– Stone Shire is 50 percent off (reduced from $7.99 to $3.99) until 8:59 a.m. PT on Aug. 1.

3DS

– Grab discounts on 3D Sonic the Hedgehog, 3D Streets of Rage and more classic 3D games from SEGA beginning at 9 a.m. PT on June 25 until 8:59 a.m. PT on July 2.
– Attack on Titan: Humanity in Chains is 25 percent off (reduced from $39.99 to $29.99) until 8:59 a.m. PT on July 14.
– Aqua Moto Racing 3D is 50 percent off (reduced from $7.99 to $3.99) until 8:59 a.m. PT on July 2.

Price Reductions

– Pyramids is reduced to $1.99 (from $3.99).
– Big Hero 6 Battle in the Bay is reduced to $19.99 (from $29.99) beginning at 9 a.m. PT on June 26.
– Conception II: Children of the Seven Stars is $29.99 (reduced from $39.99) beginning at 9 a.m. PT on June 29.

Activities

Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. “Global Cup 2” Tournament – See how your Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. squad stacks up online in Nintendo’s Public Tournaments. Top players earn unique titles that are visible online and earn major bragging rights with their friends and around the world. The new “Global Cup 2” tournament runs from June 25 to July 1. Opt in via the SpotPass feature on your Nintendo 3DS family system for notifications on future tournaments, and click here for more information about multiplayer tournaments. Good luck, agents!

Source: Nintendo PR

Since some may feel that this news falls into spoiler territory, I’ll be posting the information after the break just to be safe.


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