Koizumi says Switch success is half-expected and half-surprising, talks Mario development and Zelda dev differences
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 12 Comments
This month’s issue of EDGE has a cover dedicated to Super Mario Odyssey. There really isn’t a whole lot new about the game itself, but the magazine does have a few choice words from Nintendo EPD’s general producer Yoshiaki Koizumi.
One of the topics Koizumi commented on was Switch’s success. Regarding the console’s performance thus far, Koizumi said:
“It’s half expected and half surprising. I always feel a certain amount of confidence in my work, and I imagine a lot of different scenarios. The one that’s come to fruition was one of the better ones I was imagining! We wanted people to have more time to play games.”
Super Mario Odyssey devs on Captain Toad, changes in kingdoms, elements for Mario 64 players, newcomer help, more
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 6 Comments
Game Informer went live with a new Super Mario Odyssey interview today. The site spoke with director Kenta Motokura and producer Yoshiaki Koizumi to learn more about the game.
Various topics were discussed, including Captain Toad, how kingdoms change while you play, and help for newcomers. Also teased were elements that will make players who played Super Mario 64 “happy”. Koizumi weighed in on how he’s becoming more of a face for Nintendo lately.
We’ve picked out the interesting excerpts from the interview below. You can read the full discussion here.
Yoshiaki Koizumi is hosting a Reddit AMA right now
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 3 Comments
Update: Bumped to the top. It’s now over – we have almost everything below.
Yoshiaki Koizumi, the producer of Super Mario Odyssey, has just started a special AMA on Reddit. He’ll surely be inundated with questions, but you can nonetheless try your luck at having your question answered.
The AMA can be found here. We’ll add in any interesting responses throughout the hour-long session below.
Of all the things Mario can take control of in Odyssey, which is your favourite?
Dinosaur!
Is Koichi Hayashida involved in the development of Mario Odyssey?
Yes, he is!
How did you come up with the mechanic of Mario possessing enemies and objects?
So when we wanted to create Mario games this time around we wanted to focus on the actions Mario can do and in previous Mario games he was able to get power-ups and new abilities. But this time around when we were making many different prototypes and changed our approach that found capturing or “possessing” enemies worked well so we stuck with that.
Nintendo talks Switch – origins / creation, going with one screen, name, online play, January event, much more
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 34 Comments
A little while back, Famitsu published an interview with Nintendo’s Shinya Takahashi and Yoshiaki Koizumi all about Switch in one of its issues. It was extremely extensive, covering the system’s origins and early development (including some involvement from Satoru Iwata). The two developers also touched on numerous other topics such as going with a single screen, choosing the name out of thousands, tying in smartphone usage to online play and making it paid, system updates, VR, and why the January event was held in Japan. Again, there is a lot here.
We’ve now readied a pretty complete translation of the interview. Continue on below for the extensive discussion featuring Takahashi and Koizumi.
More: Famitsu, interview, Shinya Takahashi, top, Yoshiaki Koizumi
Nintendo devs on the Mario game they’d play if they were stuck on an island
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Videos | 6 Comments
Nintendo of America put up a couple of additional videos for MAR10 Day on its Twitter account a few hours ago. In both, Yoshiaki Koizumi, Shinya Takahashi, and Shigeru Miyamoto were asked about the one game they’d play if they were stuck on an island. Find their responses below.
If Mr. Miyamoto could only chose one, he would choose #SuperMarioOdyssey. Who else is excited for that game? #Mar10Day pic.twitter.com/BcFao5PIt4
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) March 10, 2017
If you were stranded on a deserted island, which Mario game would you bring? #Mar10Day pic.twitter.com/YePD4LI93H
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) March 10, 2017
Koizumi on Switch’s initial vision, using more well-established tech, Joy-Con colors
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 62 Comments
Game Informer now has its own interview up with Nintendo’s Yoshiaki Koizumi. The two sides chatted about Switch with a few questions and answers. Koizumi talked about the initial vision for the system and how long it’s been since the plan was put in place, the technical side of things, and Joy-Con colors.
We’ve picked out these excerpts below. You can read the full interview on Game Informer.
More: interview, Yoshiaki Koizumi
How Nintendo came up with the idea of Switch
Posted on 7 years ago by Fernando in Switch, Videos | 15 Comments
IGN just uploaded a video about how Nintendo made the Switch. There are a lot of interesting statements from both Yoshiaki Koizumi and Shinya Takahashi.
Check it out below:
More: Shinya Takahashi, Yoshiaki Koizumi
Nintendo on wanting to bring people together with Switch
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 13 Comments
Nintendo has a notable goal in mind with Switch: bringing people together. In an interview with The Independent, general producer Yoshiaki Koizumi spoke about wanting to create an experience similar to cards. With cards, people are able to play together and “play eye to eye”. That’s where Switch’s portability aspect comes into play, including the Joy-Con.
Koizumi explained:
“When you have a deck of cards, you can get family and friends together and play games that everyone knows the rules to. It’s very accessible, everyone can sit down and play together, and that became kind of a root for us as we thought about this. For generations, people would play eye to eye as they thought about strategy. We wanted to recreate some of that experience using technology.”
“You need a certain kind of hardware to make that social situation possible. And in the past we’ve had that experience with NES and SNES of having two controllers and it definitely felt like the social experience where your friend would come over to your house and play with you, and so we wanted to make that situation not only more possible, but more visible outside the house, to see people playing together like that. It’s the addition of two controllers from the start that makes creating those things possible.
Of course you could go online and play video games with strangers that you’ve never met before, but something a little bit different is possible here, where you can take the system outside of your house and run into someone you’ve never met before, hand them a controller and start playing right there, and that’s the sort of thing that, when you experience it, makes the other person and yourself very happy.”
More: interview, Shinya Takahashi, top, Yoshiaki Koizumi
Koizumi: Switch supports bluetooth headsets, jack port usable in docked mode, hints at GameCube VC
Posted on 7 years ago by Matt(@OnePunchMaz) in News, Switch | 51 Comments
French outlet Melty recently had the chance to interview Yoshiaki Koizumi and Shinya Takahashi, who provided them with quite a few new details on the Switch.
First of all, while we already knew for a while that the Switch uses Bluetooth in some way, Koizumi now confirmed that the Switch is compatible with Bluetooth headsets – and that’s not all, as they (and regular wired headsets) can be used even when the Switch is in docked mode.
More: Shinya Takahashi, Yoshiaki Koizumi
Koizumi, Takahashi, Bill Trinen spotted at Nintendo New York, 1-2-Switch footage from event
Posted on 7 years ago by Zack in News, Switch | 8 Comments
Several important Nintendo figures were spotted at the Nintendo New York store recently, likely attending the private event that has been occurring since yesterday. Among those attending are Yoshiaki Koizumi, Shinya Takahashi and Bill Trinen. You can view some footage from the event below, along with the various Twitter and Instagram posts that the gang appeared in.
