Big John Games shares first Lionel City Builder 3D screenshots and details
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS eShop, News | 4 Comments
Big John Games has been hard at work on Cube Creator 3D. However, you may recall that the studio casually also announced Lionel Trains 3D for the eShop last August. We hadn’t received any actual details about the title… until now.
Big John Games was kind enough to share first information about the game, which is now called “Lionel City Builder 3D: Rise of the Rails”. Screenshots and concept art are posted below.
According to Big John Games’ Ken Patterson, the team initially thought about adjusting the engine used by Coaster Creator 3D for this game since its sandbox “is really strong.” However, they soon became interested in adding some stories and playable missions. The sandbox remains, but Lionel City Builder 3D will offer these new elements as well.
Lionel City Builder 3D is set fifty years in the future. Due to the breakdown of transportation between communities, they are now isolated and in decay. With no way way to transport goods, commerce slows to a crawl and cities and communities’ economies are in ruin. You’ll play as “Vin”, who is a worker at a smelting yard. Vin decides to reestablish trains as transportation and sets out to connect communities in hopes of saving the day.
Going back to the sandbox mode, Lionel City Builder 3D will provide hundreds of objects to build and unique environments. Players can assemble a train and take it through user-created landscapes. And speaking of user-creation, it’s possible to share worlds with other players through QR codes.
There are a couple of months left remaining in Lionel City Builder 3D’s development. Once done, we should see it on the 3DS eShop.
Aonuma on Zelda: Majora’s Mask – reusing character models, bottles tease, why Clocktown’s bank vault isn’t affected by time, and more
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, General Nintendo, News, Wii | 7 Comments
Surprise, surprise! Another interview with Eiji Aonuma has appeared. The latest one comes from Game Informer, who spoke with the Zelda producer.
There are actually quite a few interesting questions and answers. Aonuma was asked if Majora’s Mask is all a dream, teased a special event in the 3DS version for finding all of the bottles (plus there’s an extra one in this version), and shared a development nugget about Twilight Princess’ development.
Head past the break for some interview excerpts. The full talk can be found here.
Kirby and the Rainbow Curse devs on the art style, missing copy ability, faster movement thanks to the GamePad
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 1 Comment
GameSpot has a new interview up with the developers behind Kirby and the Rainbow Curse. Supervisor Kazuhiro Yoshikawa, art director Teruhiko Suzuki, director Kazushige Masuda, and HAL Laboratory’s Shinya Kumazaki participated in the discussion.
Read on below for some comments from the various developers. You can also find GameSpot’s full feature here.
Say hello to our new night shift news writer!
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Site updates | 16 Comments
I do not sleep much. That’s probably why I’m tired all of the time! Much of my day is dedicated to ensuring that we’re totally up-to-date with news. But during those few hours when I hit the hay, there are a couple of folks to fill in for me. Jon joined us about a year ago and has typically posted a bunch of news Monday through Friday for a few hours. Kira fills in a bit later in the early morning. That’s how things have been on the site for awhile, but the situation is changing starting next week.
Due to the way Jon’s personal schedule has worked out, he’s unable to carry on with posting news from this point on. He’ll still be with us contributing features and other content, and we’re going to go over some possibilities in the near future. In terms of news though, which is the most important aspect of the site, I’m happy to say that we’ve found someone to take over Jon’s role – and you may have seen some of his work already.
Join me in welcoming LyonHart, everyone! LyonHart – or Dennis – actually started earlier this week, as he’s been tag-teaming the night shift with Jon while Kira has been on vacation over the past few days. Kira will be back next week, and that’s when LyonHeart is taking over Jon’s shift permanently. Kira is remaining on board with her regular shift.
I’m extremely grateful for Jon and Kira’s efforts over the past several months. Both of them have been instrumental in keeping the news cycle going all day long on Nintendo Everything! LyonHart is now up to the task of handling news, and I’m very confident in his abilities. Say hello if you have a moment. I’m sure he’ll appreciate it!
Rodea: The Sky Soldier devs on how the game came to be, why it took so long
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News, Wii, Wii U | 2 Comments
By the time Rodea: The Sky Soldier hits store shelves in Japan, it will be about 3.5 years since the game was originally announced. So what took so long? Prope’s Yuji Naka, along with director Jin Hasegawa, commented on this and more at Kadokawa Games’ “Rodea: The Sky Experience Tour 2014 ~First~”. You can find a summary of what was shared below, courtesy of 4Gamer and Siliconera.
– The Rodea discussions began with “what thoughts went into the creation of Rodea?”
– Director Hasegawa always wanted to make a game where you can fly
– He’s dreamed about doing this since he was a kid
– Before making Rodea, Hasegawa had always been involved in the development of games with violence, so making an all-ages game is something he’s been wanting to do for a while
– These two thoughts prompted Hasegawa to meet up with Yuji Naka
– After they met, he felt like he might be able to make two of his wishes come true
– Naka says a sequel to NiGHTS was highly demanded around the world, but it was never made sort of for the same reason that Steven Spielberg never made a sequel to E.T
– Naka: “I didn’t want to do anything that could possibly take away from the good that was NiGHTS”
– Naka instead was doing research and development for a game that would allow you to fly around the skies more freely
– Making a game that lets you freely fry around in 360 degrees proved to be difficult, even with access to a gyro sensor-equipped controller
– Naka came across the Wii while going about his usual trial-and-errors for finding a way to make something work
– By using the Wii Remote, he felt that he might be able to make a new type of action game that would give you the freedom of flight in 360 degrees
– Naka now needed to get a game company to get on board with his project
– Naka crossed paths with Kadokawa Games when it was determined that the game could happen
– Development began, but opinions held by the developers at Prope clashed with those of the publishers
– Naka says out of the 9 years of existence since the establishment of Prope, they’ve never had as many arguments as they did while working on Rodea
– In the end everything worked out and both the publisher and developer were able to come to an agreement
– Naka still remembers all the trouble that went into the making of the game
Mario Party series has sold nearly 40 million copies worldwide
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, DS, GameCube, News, Wii | 2 Comments
The Mario Party series has sold more than 39.6 million copies worldwide, Nintendo has revealed. A message posted on the company’s European website confirms the news.
That figure takes all sales into account up through December 2014. It also includes all games – Mario Party for the N64 up through Mario Party: Island Tour on the 3DS.
Mario Party 10 is the first Wii U instalment in the revered Mario Party series, which since its debut – Mario Party – on Nintendo 64 in 1999 has sold over 39.6 million* copies globally.
* Figure as of December 2014. This figure incorporates the following titles: Mario Party (Nintendo 64), Mario Party 2 (Nintendo 64), Mario Party 3 (Nintendo 64), Mario Party 4 (Nintendo GameCube), Mario Party 5 (Nintendo GameCube), Mario Party 6 (Nintendo GameCube), Mario Party 7 (Nintendo GameCube), Mario Party 8 (Wii), Mario Party 9 (Wii), Mario Party Advance (Game Boy Advance), Mario Party DS (Nintendo DS), and Mario Party: Island Tour (Nintendo 3DS).
The next Mario Party game, Mario Party 10, launches next month.
More: Mario Party, sales, top
New Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition trailer
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, Videos | 0 comments
Rodea: The Sky Soldier developer interview and trailer
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, Videos, Wii U | 2 Comments
More: Kadokawa Games, NIS America, Prope, Rodea: The Sky Soldier, top
Rodea: The Sky Soldier confirmed for North America and Europe, out this fall
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News, Wii, Wii U | 18 Comments
Update 2: Wii version is officially confirmed for the west, via Rodea’s English website. Check out the image below:
Update: NIS America’s PR doesn’t mention it, but the Wii version will apparently be brought over as well. Perhaps as a first-print bonus like Japan?
Rodea: The Sky Soldier is heading to North America and Europe. At its annual press event today, NIS America revealed that the company will be publishing Kadokawa Games and Prope’s title overseas. A release is planned for the fall.
NIS America intends to distribute Rodea: The Sky Soldier both physically and digitally. Additionally, both versions will be brought over – Wii U and 3DS.
Check out Rodea’s English boxart below. A collection of Japanese screenshots can also be viewed in the gallery. You’ll also find an overview after the break.
More: Kadokawa Games, NIS America, Prope, Rodea: The Sky Soldier, top
Nintendo financial results briefing Q&A bits – QOL department, New 3DS launch timing, more
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, New Nintendo 3DS, News | 9 Comments
Nintendo posted a Japanese transcript of its latest financial results briefing Q&A today. There isn’t anything too earth-shattering, but some interesting tidbits were shared.
Here’s a brief summary:
– Some talk about amiibo in Japan selling differently to the US, since the toys-to-life category isn’t really a thing in Japan yet (Skylanders and Infinity are both niche)
– Some talk of them doing experiments with amiibo that aren’t plastic figures or cards in the future
– Iwata says there is a lot Nintendo has to change
– This includes making better use of smart devices and character IP to drive their core hardware/software business
– QOL department is separate from others
– QOL department is comprised of staff from the hardware division, both software divisions, and the systems department
– QOL, using smartphones, and character IP licensing will be the big focus at the next meeting
– Nintendo’s ability to produce New 3DS units last year was low
– Nintendo couldn’t guarantee high shipments for all regions during the holidays so made a decision to focus on Japan (and a low-population region AU)
– There’s a question on marketing and Iwata’s answer makes it clear he knows it’s no longer an age where you can just do a ton of TV ads and guarantee something will sell
