Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
    Welcome to Nintendo Forums. We hope you enjoy your visit.


    You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free.


    Join our community!


    If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features:

    Username:   Password:
    Add Reply
    March 2015 Week 4 Nintendo News
    Topic Started: Mar 23 2015, 01:51 AM (361 Views)
    Brendan
    Member Avatar
    Pokémon Trainer
    First Screens From Banjo-Kazooie Spiritual Successor Are Revealed, Kickstarter Coming In May

    Posted Image

    Last month a group of former Rare developers had formed their own company, Playtonic, and were looking to create a "spiritual successor" to the Banjo-Kazooie series.

    During last week's EGX Rezzed, Playtonic showed off the first screens from the new game, currently called Project Ukulele, and revealed details on how it is going to fund development.

    Gavin Price, who worked on titles like Conker's Bad Fur Day, Banjo Tooie and Jet Force Gemini during his tenure at Rare, had this to say:

    "We honestly weren't expecting as big a reaction as we got. We've had tons and tons of emails, a massive fan response. But it's good, we want that pressure, we're really happy with that reception.

    Up until a few weeks ago [Kickstarter] wasn't really on our radar, but since we've had such a massive response from people, we're thinking that the game has to become a lot bigger, a lot broader, we want to do a lot more with it now to make people happy."

    The game doesn't have a solid title yet because Playtonic hasn't revealed the two lead characters, and is choosing instead to keep them under wraps.

    However, an edited screen has been found which appears to show one of the duo:

    Posted Image

    Price says that the final name is still being worked on:

    "We're still sending stupid ideas to each other, and thinking about how much to push the fact that this is a spiritual successor to Banjo-Kazooie. We're coming up with different puns... we'll get there in the end. Apparently the name Halo 5 is taken."

    Playtonic is promising non-linear gameplay and plenty of collectible items, the latter being a hallmark of the Banjo-Kazooie series. It has also been confirmed that like Banjo and Kazooie, the two playable characters in Project Ukulele will have special skills which are integral to progression.

    Making such an epic title requires cash of course, and as a fledgling start-up it should come as no surprise to learn that Playtonic is looking towards crowd-funding to create the game. Price explains why this is the case:

    "If we needed, we could make the game with a few hundred thousand pounds, but if we can go beyond that we will scale up the game and add features as fans want from us. We could do the game comfortably on Ł400,000, but if we had more to spend we could, for example, hire a proper QA team rather than beta testing it.

    And as for ourselves, we're not taking the best wages in our career right now, we've all come down in wages and we're in a tiny office, it's cold in the morning and too hot in the afternoon with all the computers on. But it's kind of how we like it, it's reminiscent of the early days at Rare in the barn there, in this place that was never supposed to be a development studio but was just a building next to a farmhouse."

    Posted Image

    The Kickstarter campaign is expected to go live in May, and Price reveals that Playtonic is very open to hearing what kind of stretch goals and reward tiers people want:

    "We don't want to force tiers and stretch goals on fans, we'd love to hear if people would like to voice characters, if people want to have early access to the game, perhaps, and this is just a pipe dream, if we can have a boxed N64 copy of the game to really play off the game's nostalgic feel. So it's about finding out what people want from us from the Kickstarter campaign and then creating it with that in mind."

    Playtonic is even considering creating its own NFC figure range which will function like Nintendo's amiibo. In fact, Nintendo seems to crop up a lot in relation to this new project, as Price explains:

    "Out of about 500 emails we receive every week, probably about 499 of them are shouting Wii U! Wii U! As a games fan, I've been a Nintendo fanboy since the NES days. Most of are fans are Nintendo fans as well. So while we can't confirm what platforms we will be on, some of that is beyond our control, but we are developing on Unity and we don't want to leave anyone out. And we'd try to ship simultaneously to make the biggest splash possible when the game comes out."

    To see the full announcement video of Project Ukulele at EGX Rezzed 2015, click on the link below:

    Playtonic: Rebirth Of The 3D Platformer

    Mario Runs From Left To Right Because Our Brains Prefer It That Way

    Posted Image

    Mario, like pretty much every other 2D platform star, runs from left to right. That's just the natural order of things, and has been since the platforming genre began decades ago. However, Mario's direction isn't just a stylistic choice. Apparently, our brains prefer left to right movement.

    Lancaster University psychologist Peter Walker is the man behind the theory, and he has analysed thousands of images of people and objects in motion in order to compile the journal Perception.

    Here's what he said:

    "What artistic conventions are used to convey the motion of animate and inanimate items in still images, such as drawings and photographs? One graphic convention involves depicting items leaning forward into their movement, with greater leaning conveying greater speed. Another convention, revealed in the present study, involves depicting items moving from left to right."

    Interestingly, this only seems to apply to moving objects, and not static images, like photographs. Walker's research would indicate that there's a "fundamental left-to-right bias for visual motion", and that means that Mario will always be better than his sibling.

    Everything We Know So Far About Nintendo's Deal With DeNA, Smart Device Plans and More

    Posted Image

    Nintendo has caused surprise and plenty of debate last week by announcing a new deal with DeNA, which will focus on a variety of areas. We'll see Nintendo IP on smart devices, a Club Nintendo successor, and Satoru Iwata also re-affirmed Nintendo's focus on its own gaming hardware by announcing its Codenamed NX platform.

    There's a lot to take in, so I've produced this Guide/FAQ to tackle what we know so far, and also to share logical ideas on what could come next.

    Let's get to it.

    The Deal

    So, in one sentence, what has Nintendo announced?

    Nintendo has announced a partnership with DeNA to bring its IP to new games on smart devices, and to also deliver services across all platforms including a loyalty program to replace Club Nintendo.

    Who are DeNA?

    DeNA, pronounced "DNA", manages and provides infrastructure for mobile and online services. With its headquarters in Tokyo and over 2000 employees, it owns and manages a number of subsidiaries in the mobile space, particularly in Japan. It partnered with Disney for work on mobile games in 2012, and owns the Mobage mobile gaming service, which is particularly popular in Japan with over 30 million users.

    How many shares will Nintendo own in DeNA?

    According to the agreement Nintendo buy around $181 million of shares in DeNA, which equates to a 10% stake, and DeNA will buy an equivalent value of shares in Nintendo. Nintendo will be the second largest shareholder in DeNA after the founding family.

    Wait, don't Sony also hold shares in DeNA?

    No, however Sony did own a shareholding of DeNA of around 13% which was sold off in 2013 for a reported $440,000,000.

    Posted Image

    Which Nintendo IP will be used for smart device games & apps?

    Nintendo has made clear that it sees "no exceptions" to the potential use of its IP in the partnership, meaning all franchises and characters will potentially appear in games and apps on smart devices.

    I'm hearing about plans for a "Membership Service", what's that?

    Satoru Iwata announced that Nintendo would be working on a membership service with DeNA, which will "create a connection regardless of the device the consumer uses". This strongly points to a unified account service that'll tie together content across smart devices, 3DS, Wii U and, in the future, NX.

    What is Nintendo NX?

    No real details have been given apart from Nintendo is working on a new "dedicated game platform with a brand-new concept". It has not been made clear whether this is the successor to 3DS, Wii U or potentially both.

    Posted Image

    What It All Means

    What do Nintendo mean by "Smart Devices"?

    Whilst no platforms have been mentioned, I suspect that Nintendo will be aiming to release its games and apps on both Apple iOS devices (iPad & iPhone) and Android devices, both phones and tablets. It is a lot less likely, but not impossible, that we will see them on Windows Phone or BlackBerry.

    Is Nintendo moving away from its own hardware, then?

    No, Satoru Iwata has explained that Nintendo is continuing its focus on its own hardware, and announced a new system with the codename NX. It will be shown more in 2016.

    Does this mean an end to Wii U and 3DS games?

    No. Don't be silly.

    Will we see 3DS games, or Wii U games coming to smart devices?

    No, Nintendo explained that only new games will be coming to smart devices and will be designed specifically for that hardware, it's likely they will be companion or simple games to popular franchises and will serve as a tool to get new consumers interested in Nintendo IP.

    Will we see Virtual Console games coming to smart devices?

    At the moment this is unclear, it hasn't been confirmed or denied directly by Nintendo. I wouldn't be totally surprised to see much older games on smart devices, perhaps as part of a subscription service, however there is no information at this time.

    Who will be developing the smart device games & apps?

    This will depend on the game or app in question, however both parties made clear that it will be a joint development approach. It would appear that DeNA will concentrate on the technical/online infrastructure elements of games whilst Nintendo concentrate on concept, IP and gameplay.

    Will this all use the Nintendo Network ID?

    It's not been confirmed, but I'd be extremely surprised if existing Nintendo Network IDs aren't the core login and point of access for Nintendo's new DeNA-driven services.

    Posted Image

    So, something like PlayStation Plus is possible?

    An early instinct is that there may be a service like this, but Nintendo hasn't explicitly mentioned a subscription service. Membership of its new loyalty program could be free, of course, and simply bring benefits for games bought or played across all platforms.

    So this will take the Nintendo Network ID into the cloud and solve complaints about accounts being tied to hardware?

    That shouldn't be assumed for this generation. There'll likely be full integration in terms of accessing respective services on smart devices, Wii U and 3DS, but the current infrastructure of NNIDs and content management on current generation hardware may still be tied to hardware.

    Does this also mean more cross-platform games?

    This move with DeNA to bring games to smart devices won't necessarily mean any more cross-platform gaming in the short term, and changes nothing in terms of the compatibility between Wii U and 3DS. What the future will bring with NX, however, is unclear.

    What could this partnership with DeNA mean beyond games on smart devices?

    DeNA's expertise is in managing platforms, particularly dealing with high volumes of traffic on services. Nintendo has had problems with this in the past, with its Network crash over the Holiday period in 2013 being a notable example. DeNA can certainly bring its knowledge and infrastructure to minimize these issues in future.

    But will this affect things like online services, the eShop?

    DeNA has a lot of success running gaming platforms and e-commerce infrastructure, so if Nintendo is aiming to launch a version of the eShop that's accessible on the web, smart devices etc, which it's been loosely trialing with eShop download sales on websites in North America and Japan, then DeNA could play a valuable role in that. We can envisage a future where you can login on a variety of platforms and apps, always with the ability to buy and manage downloads across any system.

    Is Nintendo doomed?

    Nope, but it'll sure be interesting to see how this all pans out.

    To read the full english translation of Nintendo and DeNa's presentation, click on the link below:

    Nintendo and DeNa Business and Capital Alliance Announcement

    Nintendo Doesn't Intend To Be A One-Hit Wonder On Smart Devices

    Posted Image

    During the Nintendo and DeNa Business and Capital Alliance Announcement, Iwata was keen to stress that the smart device market isn't an easy ticket to profits, something which is supported by the fact only a handful of traditional video game publishers have been able to create successes on smartphones and tablets.

    During the presentation, he said:

    "Just looking at the fact that several applications that earn great profits are highly visible in the smart device game business, people in general appear to see it as an easy money market. The fact is, however, it is a highly competitive market and only a handful of content providers have been able to show enduring results.

    If Nintendo cannot make it to that handful of winners, it does not make sense for us to be engaged in the software business on smart devices.

    Accordingly, we had been thinking that if we ever decided to do it, we would have to put ourselves in the best position to prosper. Many content providers who are succeeding on smart devices are depending on single hit titles. One of my goals here is, now that we are challenging ourselves with this endeavor by making use of Nintendo IP, to produce multiple hit titles at an early stage after we start releasing our software on smart devices."

    Iwata's comments relate to the huge number of "one-hit wonders" which have appeared on smart devices. Rovio's Angry Birds is a good example. The company has managed to spin off many sequels, but its other IP has thus far been unable to replicate the same success, and last year the company had to layoff some of its staff amid falling profits.

    It would seem that Nintendo's plan for mobile is very much like its plan for traditional consoles, to produce a wide range of quality titles rather than relying solely on a single IP.

    DeNA Dreaming of 100 Million Daily Users on Future Nintendo Mobile Downloads

    Posted Image

    Much of the focus around Nintendo's announcement of a partnership with DeNA has been on the prospect of the big N's IP appearing on mobile, perhaps overlooking various other aspects. One of these is the perspective of the deal for DeNA itself, and the services the company will offer beyond making Mario games for iOS.

    GamesBeat spoke to DeNA West CEO Shintaro Asako for his perspective on the deal, reflecting on how it's a partnership as important to the mobile services firm as it is for Nintendo. Though the company has achieved success and has produced content for clients such as Disney, it's not among the elite of companies in the smart device game space. Its ambition to be at the top of its market made Nintendo a target for its expansion:

    "Internally, we had a lot of strategic meetings. The one big solution was always that there's a giant IP holder in the market that hasn't stepped into the smartphone environment. Really, the reason they were convinced that they wanted to work with us was that we were so determined to work with them that we have really been talking to them since 2010. Yes, we were talking to them for a long, long time.

    Finally, Nintendo became ready to do this. And we were ready the whole time."

    It seems that Nintendo, led by Satoru Iwata, may have been most impressed by DeNA's long term approach, considering the broader picture over quick fixes. That's a philosophy that certainly seems to tie-in with Nintendo's work:

    One thing that we're always thinking about is how can we build a structural advantage over other people. When you look at other successful companies, like King or Supercell, a lot of them are using one successful title and then using that game engine for other titles. I think the people out there see that as not really a strong structure to be successful for a long time.

    Our approach was more about looking at their strengths, and then looking at our strengths, and when we get together we can do something bigger. Our initial discussions were around memberships and backend systems. Through this discussion we said that if we build this backend, we should obviously work on a game. And if we're making a game, we should use Nintendo IPs.

    That structural and networking expertise of DeNA could be hugely valuable to Nintendo, which has a mixed track record with its online services. Asako-san said the following:

    "Looking at successful players like King or Supercell, they have a massive user base, and they're very successful at creating content. But they haven't really built a backend system in the way we have done, and I think that's the key part. When you look at successful players in the mobile gaming space today, not many of them have created backend platform systems.

    Not many people talk about this but DeNA created the platform called Mobage. Also, we started our business in VC business, that was basically a platform. DeNA has been focused on mobile platform business, with one of them happened to be games.

    Backend is not something people see every day. We're willing to help them build that really sophisticated backend structure. It is not a sexy part. But we're willing to do it."

    Beyond that, like any business DeNA wants notable success, and sees Nintendo IPs as a route to significant downloads. Asako-san stated that it's not about a rush to lots of mobile game releases, but expressed hope that products from the deal can hit the 100 million DAU (Daily Average Users) mark:

    "I've wanted to create something globally successful, not only for kids, but for mid-aged people and beyond. The game should attract a huge range of people. We wanted to get a huge audience like Candy Crush, like 100 million users. We wanted to create something with that kind of DAU [daily active user] base.

    For this, I think the solution is not coming out with 10 or 20 games right away. We should pick the right game. We should actually create a smartphone-specific game that requires day-to-day social interaction. It's not just porting a Wii U game out to smartphones. But actually properly design a smartphone game.

    I think with the strong IPs they [Nintendo] have, and their strong game operation expertise we have, I don't think we're dreaming [about reaching] 100 million DAU. And by having that we can do, we wanted to get there. I think that King has that network today. With Nintendo, there's a huge possibility of that."

    The Wanderer Class and One Month of Free DLC Roam to Etrian Mystery Dungeon

    Posted Image

    Atlus has confirmed that until May 5th, all of the DLC will be available for download completely free. There will be five downloadable quests: three will task players with going into the dungeon to find a lost member of the team in exchange for more recipes to be used at the Amber Restaurant and two will have players hunting a particular monster in exchange for extra gold or experience. Tallied up, it’s about $8.50 in DLC being offered for free. A nice bonus for early adopters.

    Moving on, the Wanderer class was last week’s new class reveal. The Wanderer is a survival-centric class, capable of using various woodland themed magic to fight and possessing a unique ability to discover hidden paths on the map that can lead to secret rooms or act as shortcuts. Click on the first link below to view footage and screens of the wanderer in action and there's also new footage of the theme that will accompany the game at launch for $0.99, which you can see by clicking on the second link below:

    Etrian Mystery Dungeon: Wanderer and Mystery Box!

    Posted Image

    Posted Image

    Posted Image

    Posted Image

    Etrian Mystery Dungeon 3DS Theme

    Mobile Developers Extremely Positive About Nintendo's Move Into The Smart Device Space

    Posted Image

    While industry analysts might be conflicted about Nintendo's partnership with Japanese mobile firm DeNA, a deal which will see Nintendo's IP finally arrive on smartphones and tablets, the mobile development community has reacted in an extremely positive fashion, seeing the Japanese giant's entry into the market as something of a validation for mobile gaming.

    Kristian Segerstrale, COO of Super Evil Megacorp, feels that Nintendo's move will have a positive impact on mobile gaming in general, forcing other developers to raise their game:

    "It's great to see that more core game developers are taking mass market touch screens seriously as a primary gaming device. Having more AAA game developers enter the market is beneficial for both players and the industry as it raises the standards for quality."

    Meanwhile, Space Rhino Games President Michael A. Hoyos saw the agreement as a way for both Nintendo and DeNA to get one over on their rivals:

    "The deal with DeNA is like a small guy jumping on another small guy's shoulder to punch the big guys in the face. Not that DeNA and Nintendo are small, but the reality is they are no longer the leaders of their respective markets. The Nintendo/DeNA alliance is about to dominate mobile in a big way. From here to a year, we will all be saying, 'Oh yeah, they're back!'"

    Nancy Lu, Creator of Piiig Inc, referred to Nintendo as a "titan", but had some reservations regarding how the company would approach free-to-play on mobile:

    "Nintendo will be another titan in the mobile game industry, along the lines of Supercell. With their established brand name and likely support from Apple, they won't have issues getting visibility. The upsetting thing is that they will probably employ the same strategy of free-to-pay and cash in on virtual goods. For those of us who enjoyed playing Mario on consoles growing up, it will really change the way the game is played for the worse. I hope they carefully consider their monetization strategy so that they don't frustrate their old fans. If they do it right, it could really pave the way for a new wave of console-to-mobile games."

    Ben Cousins, co-founder of The Outsiders, even went as far as to suggest that revenue created by Nintendo's smart device projects could overtake its core business with this playful comment:

    "Anyone want to predict which year Nintendo's smartphone game business will be bigger than their home console business?"

    Finally, Vlambeer's Rami Ismail, arguably one of the most respected developers working in mobile gaming today, stated that now Nintendo is joining the smart device industry, all previous bets are off:

    "If Nintendo can go into the mobile market, all predictions about this industry are void. Only predictions after March 17th are now valid."

    Famitsu Discusses Splatoon Weaponry And Gives Details On Style Savvy 3

    Every week, Famitsu puts out a weekly edition light on Nintendo news. It seems both Japan and Western territories are in a lull of significant Nintendo games. However, this edition did give a bit more information on Splatoon, which is always welcome, and delved into Girls Mode 3/Style Savvy 3, if that's your thing.

    Previews

    Splatoon

    Posted Image

    Splatoon's spread offered information on two weapons in the game. First, the splash shooter (or super soaker) looks like the game's well-balanced default weapon. It was noted that because of the Splash Shooter's balanced design, it's up to the players own skill to use it effectively.

    Next up was the unfortunately named hot blaster. It will probably sport a different name upon Splatoon's English release. The hot blaster is a gun that shoots a projectile which explodes in a massive ball of ink after a set period of time. In other words, the hot blaster is a grenade launcher.

    Unfortunately, that's really it for Splatoon for last week's magazine. The rest of the spread was dedicated to an fan-art contest.

    Girls Mode 3/Style Savvy 3

    Posted Image

    Like the other Style Savvy games on DS systems, it appears players can work as make-up artists, designers, models, and the like. A new mechanic is the ability to create and design the inside and outside of a house, adding a new layer of gameplay with over 1700 unique items to decorate with.

    But wait, there's more: players can enter the house, and take selfies in it!

    Aside for creating and designing houses, not much seems new with Style Savvy 3. It still features an anime-inspired aesthetic and gameplay aimed at young teenagers. The Style Savvy games are quite popular outside of Japan, so Nintendo will likely announce a release date sooner or later.

    Reviews

    Kuroko's Basketball - 8/7/8/7

    Posted Image

    Kuroko's Basketball is a 3DS game based off a very popular Japanese anime starring several basketball-playing prodigies. All the reviewers seemed to enjoy Kuroko's Basketball quite a bit. They stated the game was a good choice for action fans, and while the basketball gameplay was pretty standard, it was also really easy to pick up and play. Another reviewer stated, "Making your own team and scouting for characters is interesting, but since you can only view the team members stat changes at the end of an event, it can be hard to keep track of how they are coming along." Previous Kuroko games haven't made it out of Japan, however, so don't expect this one too, either.

    Funassyi vs. Dragons - 7/7/7/7

    The Famitsu magazine from 2 weeks ago revealed the existence of Funassyi vs. Dragons, a gem matching game based off puzzle dragons. Funassyi is an unofficial but insanely popular mascot based out of the Chiba region of Japan. Funassyi is, more or less, a living pear. The reviewers unanimously gave it a 7 out of 10, agreeing that there were plenty of levels to enjoy, and that Funassyi's charm translates well to the 3DS. Indeed, one reviewer said, "even if you're not a fan of Funassyi, just hearing its delightful voice will put you in a good mood!"

    Again, don't expect Funassyi vs. Dragons to leave Japan.

    Unfortunately, that's all that was announced for Nintendo in last week's Famitsu. Hopefully next week will bring some more substantial information to chew on.

    Masahiro Sakurai Reportedly Promises That Mewtwo Super Smash Bros. DLC is Coming "Pretty Soon"

    Posted Image

    Though the wait of a few months may have tempered expectations for a while, it's easy to forget that Super Smash Bros. isn't yet complete: the Wii U version is yet to receive Tournies, while Mewtwo DLC is also hotly anticipated. That DLC fighter will be free to those who register both versions on Club Nintendo by 31st May, before later going on sale.

    That 31st March registration deadline has always meant it's close, but it seems that the development of the fighter is progressing towards its final stages. In an appearance by Masahiro Sakurai in a YouTube video, he reportedly states that it's due very soon.

    You can see this by clicking on the link below:

    [Smash Bros. 3DS · WiiU] Masahiro Sakurai Mewtwo distribution for / About Mewtwo release
    Posted Image


    My 3DS friend code: 1134-7907-6403

    Please PM me your 3DS friend code so I can add you.
    Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
     
    1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
    ZetaBoards - Free Forum Hosting
    Join the millions that use us for their forum communities. Create your own forum today.
    Learn More · Sign-up Now
    « Previous Topic · First Party Discussion · Next Topic »
    Add Reply