Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker devs on the game’s creation
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 9 Comments
Polygon recently caught up with Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker director Koichi Hayashida and producer Shinya Hiratake. The two spoke about how the game came to be, and shared plenty of development information.
Read on below for a summary of the interview. Also be sure to check out Polygon’s full piece here.
Hayashida on how Captain Toad came about…
“We began with Super Mario 64. While Super Mario 64 was quite an interesting game, we heard that roughly 20 percent of gamers found it too difficult,” he said, brandishing a copy of the Nintendo 64 game. We kept that comment that the game was too challenging and made games like Super Mario 3D Land and Super Mario 3D World with that in mind.”
– In making 3D Land and 3D World, the team felt it was getting away from a fundamental design principle that made Mario 64 so special
– This was the idea that the levels were a sort of “diorama” or a “garden in a box”
– The studio was able to get back to that idea with the Captain Toad stages in 3D World
Hayashida on how Miyamoto suggested making Captain Toad into its own game…
“At the completion of 3D World, Mr. Miyamoto said, ‘That worked well; I think we should create a single spin-off title just featuring Captain Toad.’ The start of the conversation was, ‘Let’s take a lot of the elements that we have in 3D World and incorporate them’ into what eventually became Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker.”
– The team started out by making 100 stages
– Two issues: Toad couldn’t jump, and they were still basically making Mario stages
– Action felt limited without being able to jump
– Since Toad can’t jump, this also means enemies are overpowered
– The team addressed this with the plucking action, and by implementing some stealth
– The process of making a level begins with what mechanics/gimmick they’re interested in
– Stage set in the haunted house was originally a puzzle stage
– The two devs wouldn’t confirm/deny a similar approach of making more Nintendo spin-offs with other franchises
“When we were doing 3D World and creating these diorama-style worlds… we tested them using Mario as playable character. Because Mario has ability to jump, the types of stages we came up with became impossibly large. Mario made those stages too big, which broke our whole goal, so… it worked out that we had this character there.” – Hayashida
Update: Some clarification – Nintendo games to be eligible for Niconico Creative Endorsement Program
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 40 Comments
Update: Some clarification (and partial corrections) via the source below: the Creative Endorsement Program was originally created by Niconico and its parent company Dwango – not Nintendo. It was originally started in 2011 to reward creators who made highly-viewed videos. Nintendo’s announcement was that its games will soon be eligible for the program.
Fans will be able to create and post derivative works without any concerns. It’s not limited to Let’s Plays, but game music covers and song covers as well.
Nintendo games will be eligible for the Niconico program starting December 1. Once that date rolls in, we should receive more information!
Dwango has revealed Tokaigi “Game Party Japan” 2015, which is all about playing games together. It will take place on January 31 and February 1 next year.
Some extremely notable Nintendo information has come through the initial announcement. Nintendo will be a special sponsor of the event, and president Satoru Iwata appeared in a video. He stated that the company now officially gives its permission for anyone to use their properties for derivative works – Let’s Plays, music covers, fan art, and more were specifically showcased.
Additionally, Iwata announced a “Creative Endorsement Program”. This will allow Nintendo to provide revenue to creators who produce well-received work. At the moment, this program is only available on Niconico, as it is a subsidiary of Dwango.
UK software sales (Week ending 11/15/14) – Wii U/3DS charts
Posted on 10 years ago by Jarop(@gamrah) in 3DS, News, Wii U | 0 comments
The latest Wii U/3DS-specific UK software sales are as follows:
Wii U
- Mario Kart 8 – Nintendo
- New Super Mario Bros. U – Nintendo
- Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham – Traveller’s Tales
- Nintendo Land – Nintendo
- Disney Infinity 2.0 – Avalanche Software
- New Super Luigi U – Nintendo
- Hyrule Warriors – Omega Force
- Bayonetta 2 – Platinum Games
- Skylanders Trap Team – Beenox
- Just Dance 2015 – Ubisoft (France)
3DS
- Tomodachi Life – Nintendo
- Super Smash Bros. – Sora Ltd.
- New Super Mario Bros. 2 – Nintendo
- Mario Kart 7 – Nintendo / Retro Studios
- Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask – Level 5
- Super Mario 3D Land – Nintendo
- Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham – Traveller’s Tale
- Frozen: Olaf’s Quest – 1st Playable
- Animal Crossing New Leaf – Nintendo
- Fantasy Life – Level 5
More: Chart-Track, charts, sales, top, UK
UK software sales (Week ending 11/15/14)
Posted on 10 years ago by Jarop(@gamrah) in 3DS, News, Wii U | 0 comments
More: Chart-Track, charts, sales, top, UK
Nintendo Download (Europe, 11/20/14)
Posted on 10 years ago by Jarop(@gamrah) in 3DS eShop, News, Wii U eShop | 4 Comments
This week’s Nintendo downloads are as follows:
Wii U
Watch Dogs – €59.99 / £49.99 / CHF74.99
Watch Dogs – Conspiracy (DLC) – €4.99 / £3.99 / CHF5.90
Watch Dogs – Access Granted Pack (DLC) – €6.99 / £5.49 / CHF8.60
Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric – €49.99 / £39.99 / CHF 64.90
Rock Zombie – €6.99 / £6.29 / CHF9.80
Wii U VC
Wild Guns (SNES) – €7.99 / £5.49 / CHF11.20
Natsume Championship Wrestling () – €7.99 / £5.49 / CHF11.20
3DS
Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal – €39.99 / £34.99 / CHF51.90
Asterix The Mansions of the Gods / Demo – €34.99 / £29.99 / CHF44.90 / Free
Tetris Ultimate – €19.99 / £15.99 / CHF24.90
101 Pony Pets 3D – €4.00 / £3.59 / CHF5.60
Shin Megami Tensei IV – Snake Scale Equipment (DLC) – €0.99 / £0.75 / CHF1.20
Shin Megami Tensei IV – Clipped Wings 2 (DLC) – €1.79 / £1.49 / CHF2.20
Around the World in 80 Days (DSiWare) – €7.99 / £7.19 / CHF11.20
3DS VC
Lufia: The Legend Returns (GBC) – €4.99 / £4.49 / CHF7.00
3DS Themes
Pokémon: ONEMURI Pikachu – 1.99 / £1.79 / CHF2.80
Pokémon: Primal Groudon/Primal Kyogre – 1.99 / £1.79 / CHF2.80
Sonic Boom Theme – Free
Super Mario (Pastel Pink) – €1.99 / £1.79 / CHF2.80
Super Mario (Neon Green) – €1.99 / £1.79 / CHF2.80
Super Mario (Blue) – €1.99 / £1.79 / CHF2.80
More: Europe, Nintendo Download, top
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U screenshot (11/17/14)
Posted on 10 years ago by Jarop(@gamrah) in News, Screenshots, Wii U | 1 Comment
The final week is upon us (well… those of you in the North America), we’ll all be creating these moments in-game soon and it’ll be us picking up the slack for Sakurai on Miiverse!
The Top 10 Most Visually Appealing Nintendo DS Games
Posted on 10 years ago by Patrick(@Patricklous) in DS, DSiWare, Features, News, Reader Poll | 14 Comments
One of the big selling points of the Nintendo DS was its ability to render things in both 2D AND 3D. Wow! I mean sure developers could pull off polygons on the Game Boy Advance, but they probably shouldn’t have.
Like the jump from the 16-bit to 32-bit/64-bit consoles, the games on the DS contained a mix of art styles that don’t all hold up particularly well, but there are certain titles that overcome the low resolution of the console and deliver an experience that looks pretty darn nice. Consider this the top 10 least ugly games on the console, as voted by you:
Discussing Everything #7 – full replay
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Discussing Everything | 0 comments
Update: Now over, but you can find the full replay below.
This week’s Discussing Everything will begin at 4 PM ET / 1 PM PT as usual. We’ll be talking about the latest news, and you’ll have the opportunity to bring up any other topics/questions.
Note that you can log in with Facebook/Twitter, but these are optional. You can choose a random username as well!
[Interview] The voice of Shulk talks working on Xenoblade and Smash Bros.
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, Interviews, Wii, Wii U | 24 Comments
To be the main voice in a strange Japanese RPG that seemed fated for nothing but cult status in the west probably wasn’t the most notable credit on actor Adam Howden’s resume at the time of recording. Indeed, he did the beloved voice of Shulk in Xenoblade Chronicles on Wii – and by proxy, Smash Bros. – but has also lent his voice to things like Assassin’s Creed and The Old Republic, and it’s more or less chance that the 2011 (or 2012… or 2010, depending on your region…) ended up being his most renowned role, at least among the Nintendo-focused.
For some strange reason – being the talent that he is – Adam agreed to answer a few of our questions about Xenoblade, Smash Bros., and voice acting in general in an email interview we did. You can read all of what he had to say after the break!
Discussing Everything #7 tomorrow
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Discussing Everything | 0 comments
The seventh Discussing Everything will be held tomorrow. If you want to talk with us about the latest Nintendo news (or anything else really!) come join the chat at 4 PM ET / 1 PM PT. Those who live in different timezones can be find a countdown timer here.
