Topic: Interview with Monolith Soft (Baten Kaitos)

[BlackNMild2k1]

Inteview with Mr. Hirohide Sugiura, President of Monolith Soft and Producer of Baten Kaitos Origins

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Originally posted by: Cubed3.com
C3: Has work begun on a Nintendo Wii version of Baten Kaitos or any ideas been formulated yet? And can fans expect Baten Kaitos to remain exclusive to Nintendo formats?

HS: At present, we do not have concrete plan to produce Baten Kaitos for Wii. However, there are several on-going titles exclusively for the Nintendo format. Please look forward to them.

C3: What are your thoughts about the WiConnect24 concept, being able to leave the Nintendo Wii on in order to download new content? How do you think this could be best incorporated into the RPG genre?

HS: I think it is an amazing concept. We will be able to make it clear how the function will be utilised in the game when the on-going titles are announced. We would rather refrain from commenting on the details at this point in time, since our competitors seem to be in the process of the development of their software.

C3: Finally, how do you see Nintendo doing against the competition in this generation?

HS: I feel Nintendo is aiming at the innovation of entertainment, while Sony and Microsoft are interested in technological innovation. Nintendo’s message of “the graphical beauty is not the decisive fun factor of games” has strongly reached out to the developers. And it is clear that more and more users are agreeing with Nintendo’s message, as the success of Nintendo DS indicates. I hope they continue to work on overcoming the innovator’s dilemma.

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Originally posted by: Jesusraz
Topics that couldn't be talked about, for various undisclosed reasons:

- Namco x Capcom, doing a similar thing with Nintendo
- Disaster: Day of Crisis, as Nintendo doesn't want it discussed yet
- Xenosaga I & II being translated, making me think something is going on (I've also asked Rising Star Games to enquire about bringing it to Europe, so fingers crossed in any case).

I see Monolith and Nintendo growing closer in this generation...

"Namco x Capcom, doing a similar thing with Nintendo" what do you think this means?

edit:

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As for the Namco x Capcom question - I originally asked if Monolith would be interested in doing something similar on a RPG with Nintendo characters, you know like a Namco x Nintendo RPG or something. I was told they weren't allowed to answer it, though...strange, huh?

[Arbok]

I love Baten Kaitos, in fact the sequel might very well might be the last GCN game I get, so more love from Monolith is always more than welcome.

[couchmonkey]

Sounds like that Super Smash RPG someone was suggesting a while back could happen.  That would be interesting.

[EasyCure]

a Super Smash RPG makes me think of that MK SubZero "rpg"....

[Karl Castaneda #2]

MK Myths: Sub-Zero is an awesome game, and I don't care what anyone says...

This sounds cool, though. Monolith isn't one of my favorite developers or anything, but they've made some good games, so +1 for their support.

[IceCold]

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Disaster: Day of Crisis, as Nintendo doesn't want it discussed yet

I really wanted some information on that game; hopefully what they're hiding is something awesome..

[GoldenPhoenix]

I am going to have to pick up a copy of Baten Kaitos, I've heard nothing but great things about it. Hopefully I can still find it and it is relatively cheap!

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Maybe you haven't read the forums much cuz I've heard lots of horrible things about it.

[Shorty McNostril]

I personally loved the game. That is one of my favourite games i have.

My thoughts...

[Arbok]

I loved the game as well, but it does seem to have some vocal haters.

Suffice to say, if card style games with RPG elements sound awful to you, then avoid it.

[Smash_Brother]

BK isn't a bad game, per se, but it's very slow and takes a little while to get going.

The card system gets better once you can use multiple cards and generate combos.

[Hocotate]

Baten Kaitos is definately one of my favorite RPGs and GCN games. I'm really looking forward to BKII (origins). Also, a NamcoxNintendo RPG would be an instant purchase for me.

[Bill Aurion]

HS: At present, we do not have concrete plan to produce Baten Kaitos for Wii. However, there are several on-going titles exclusively for the Nintendo format. Please look forward to them.

I'd like to apologize to the BK fans, but I'm pretty happy with this news...I would rather see them make even more new stuff than make more sequels to games that aren't doing so hot...

Also this seems to almost confirm that Monolith Soft is almost completely Ninty exclusive, which is nice...I can't wait to see how DoD turns out, and I'd love a more traditional RPG from them...

[Athrun Zala]

heh, I got BK last year, but haven't played much yet, as I have to finish ToS first....

an odd thing is that I had to buy it used, as I found it new in only one store and it's price was $65 oO (this was in the US btw)

and Bill, aren't they doing another Xenosaga?

[ruby_onix]

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aren't they doing another Xenosaga?

Nope, unless you mean #3 which comes out in America at the end of this month.

Xenosaga was originally supposed to be six games, but #2 didn't do as well as Namco expected, so they turned #3 into the end of the series. Xenogears was #5 in the "Xeno" saga that Monolith came up with when they were working for Square, but since Square owns Xenogears they said they'd have to re-write #5 by the time they got up to it (and the series would likely have evolved differently by that point anyways).

I do wonder what's up with the Monolith/Nintendo love. The Xeno series has done a lot more for Monolith than Baten Kaitos could even hope to do. Not that I'm complaing. As long as they don't waste their time making sports games.  

[Athrun Zala]

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Originally posted by: ruby_onix

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aren't they doing another Xenosaga?

Nope, unless you mean #3 which comes out in America at the end of this month.

Xenosaga was originally supposed to be six games, but #2 didn't do as well as Namco expected, so they turned #3 into the end of the series. Xenogears was #5 in the "Xeno" saga that Monolith came up with when they were working for Square, but since Square owns Xenogears they said they'd have to re-write #5 by the time they got up to it (and the series would likely have evolved differently by that point anyways).

heh, that's EXACTLY what I wanted to know ^^ (I knew there were going to be six, so that's why I asked)

[Louieturkey]

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Originally posted by: BlackNMild2k1- Xenosaga I & II being translated, making me think something is going on (I've also asked Rising Star Games to enquire about bringing it to Europe, so fingers crossed in any case).

They're adding III to the DS cart and releasing all of them together as one game in the US. (My hope anyways)