Perhaps not the most EXCITE-ing news.
Monster Games, the studio behind ExciteBots and ExciteTruck, is developing Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D for the 3DS.
This news comes from the Australian Classification Board, which labels Monster Games as the game's 'author.'
Monster Games last project was Pilotwings Resort for the 2011 launch of the 3DS in North America. Previously the studio had worked with Nintendo on Excitebots: Trick Racing, Excite Truck, and Excitebike: World Rally.
Donkey Kong Country Returns was originally developed by Retro Studios, previously known for their work on the Metroid Prime trilogy. It was released in November of 2010, and was a critical and commercial success.
Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D is scheduled for release this Summer.
I remember back when Silicon Knights did the MSG remake and I was shocked that Nintendo felt that was a worthwhile use of their time.Really? A remake was exactly the kind of project Silicon Knights was suited for. Their original projects take forever and a remake means much of the work is already done for them yet they STILL needed to delay The Twin Snakes. Has Silicon Knights ever met a deadline? I'm a fan of their work on Eternal Darkness, but good God Lemon, Silicon Knights couldn't even do a remake without their hands held.
ExciteBots was a great game, but the art style and actual style of the game was a little weird and hard to get behind.
This is an example of how basically a newish IP can be a great game and not find an audience. The audience looked at the visual and style and said no thanks. Even when the game got great reviews gamers didn't want that type of game.
However, if you had a very similar game with a recognizable franchise it would have been better. Or if instead of animal robots they were mechs that transformed around people, it could have been received better. I think people were really turned off over the style.
(isn't it part of the Excite series? Anyone who knows what Excitebike and Excitetruck were would know that this was a sequel).
I don't think this is a waste of Monster Games. They're an independent studio (according to Wikipedia) and this is an relatively easy paycheck for them. The game will perform well which in turn, reflects well on them. Sure, Nintendo could have commissioned an original game, but Monster Games is probably happy to be working on a project. They have a pretty good working relationship with Nintendo which beats, you know, closing up shop...I remember back when Silicon Knights did the MSG remake and I was shocked that Nintendo felt that was a worthwhile use of their time.Really? A remake was exactly the kind of project Silicon Knights was suited for. Their original projects take forever and a remake means much of the work is already done for them yet they STILL needed to delay The Twin Snakes. Has Silicon Knights ever met a deadline? I'm a fan of their work on Eternal Darkness, but good God Lemon, Silicon Knights couldn't even do a remake without their hands held.
(isn't it part of the Excite series? Anyone who knows what Excitebike and Excitetruck were would know that this was a sequel).
Actually, Nintendo said they were NOT sequels to the Excitebike series. They said it was a "spiritual sequel" (like how BioShock is a spiritual sequel to System Shock, which means they are not officially related to each other). So anybody who thinks Excite Truck and Excitebots are part of the Excitebike series would actually be wrong.
TJ, considering that Wikipedia has them listed together as a series, you are wrong.
The reason it didn't sell is because Nintendo announced the game two months before it hit shelves, gave it no marketing and didn't even bother to release it in Europe.I think there's even more to it than this. Since it was packaged with a wheel, it was probably seen as being too similar to Mario Kart Wii by the general consumer, and too "casual" by the "hardcore" gamer. It was also wasn't released in Japan either, unless you count over two years later as a special Club Nintendo reward.
They're a developer that has never made a bad game.That's easy when you only release four games within the decade.
Self-censorship is a virtue.Sloth is a sin though.
Self-censorship is a virtue.Sloth is a sin though.