Submit a news tip



Vanpool

Vanpool shutting down

According to a notice posted on Vanpool’s website, the studio is closing down. The company will be dissolved as of May 31, 2023 – which is today.

Vanpool is perhaps best known for the Dillon’s Rolling Western series on 3DS. The first game came out in 2012, followed by The Last Ranger in 2013 and finally Dillon’s Dead-Heat Breakers in 2018. It has since been working on the Kirby series with HAL Laboratory – specifically Super Kirby Clash, Kirby Fighters 2, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, and Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe.

More: ,

Did you know that Nintendo brought Dillon’s Dead-Heat Breakers to the 3DS in May? Perhaps not, as it definitely went under the radar. It was eShop-only in North America, and with Switch soaking up the limelight right now, the game’s producer believes that folks may not be aware that it was released.

In an interview with Kotaku, Nintendo producer Kensuke Tanabe spoke about wanting more people to play Dillon’s Dead-Heat Breakers. He also spoke about interest in creating another title with Dillon as an RPG.

Dillon’s Dead-Heat Breaker

Nintendo has posted one last Dillon’s Dead-Heat Breakers trailer to promote today’s launch. Get a look at the video below.

Dillon’s Dead-Heat Breaker

In an interview with Nintendo World Report, Nintendo’s Kensuke Tanabe and Risa Tabata as well as Vanpool’s spoke about the origins of the franchise and some of its influences.

When originally making Dillon’s Rolling Western, one of the first concepts was to have Goron tribe characters from The Legend of Zelda. Tanabe and Tsuda explained:

Nintendo published a new teaser trailer for Dillon’s Dead-Heat Breakers called “On a Roll”. Have a look at the short video below.

Dillon’s Dead-Heat Breaker

Nintendo Life caught up with a few of the developers behind Dillon’s Dead-Heat Breakers for an interview discussion. Producer Kensuke Tanabe and associate producer Risa Tabata from Nintendo as well as Vanpool’s Jun Tsuda participated.

We have a few excerpts from the interview below. There’s some talk about why the difficulty has been lowered this time, as well as interest in Switch and having a collaboration with Star Fox.

Dillon’s Dead-Heat Breaker

Earlier today, Nintendo sent out a demo for Dillon’s Dead-Heat Breakers on the North American 3DS eShop. Have a look at some footage below.

More: ,

Dillon’s Dead-Heat Breaker

Nintendo has published a new “Getting Up to Speed” intro trailer for Dillon’s Dead-Heat Breakers, out this month on 3DS. See it below.

Dillon’s Dead-Heat Breaker

Nintendo has updated the official Japanese website for Dillon’s Dead-Heat Breakers with some new gameplay clips. We’ve compiled the footage into one video below.

Dillon’s Dead-Heat Breaker

Nintendo has published a new Japanese web commercial for Dillon’s Dead-Heat Breakers. We have the advert below.


Manage Cookie Settings