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[We talk with developer Fishing Cactus about the latest entry in the Shift series.]

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TalkBack / Shifting World Interview with Guillaume Bouckaert 

« on: March 28, 2012, 07:42:29 PM »

We talk with developer Fishing Cactus about the latest entry in the Shift series.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/interview/29662

In its original form as a Flash game, and later as a downloadable title on PSP, Shift traded on the potential for puzzles in the simple duality of a black and white platforming space.    

We recently had a chance to speak with Guillaume Bouckaert, Lead Designer on the upcoming 3DS entry, Shifting World, about the process of adapting the puzzler's formula to the handheld.

Nintendo World Report (NWR): The puzzles of Shifting World appear quite different in scope from the very contained, static levels of the Flash game. Is this an intentional change? Was the game conceived this way from the start, or did it come about naturally in development?

Guillaume Bouckaert (GB): When we started the project, we all wanted to make a bigger Shift than ever before. Making the puzzles larger was part of that process, and we defined the project like that from the start. 

NWR: What was your plan for taking this extremely popular Flash game and making it a worthwhile 3DS game?

GB: We wanted to expand the scope of the game greatly, make it worth of a retail release. So we worked on expanding the shifting mechanic, adding new ways to use it to solve puzzles. We also implemented some mechanics that we wanted to implement in the last version of Shift to be released on consoles, but that we had to leave out. And of course, we added a totally new mechanic to complement the shifting mechanic, one that allows you to switch from 3D to 2D and the other way around.

NWR: The version of the game you made for the PSP, Shift Extended, didn't drastically alter the look or structure of the original Shift, which Shifting World appears to do. Was there a conscious decision to use the system's hardware to expand or tweak how the game looks and plays?

GB: Yes, we wanted to act on the opportunity of making a retail version of the Shift series to change the looks of the game. We also wanted to take advantage of the 3D feature of the Nintendo 3DS, so keeping the game in the same look as the original Shift wasn’t an option.

NWR: In addition to the black/white shifting mechanic, players can now compress the 3D environment into 2D. What was the logic behind implementing this extra mechanic?

GB: This new mechanic came about through two different processes. The first was that we wanted to give the player a new ability in this version of Shift, something entirely new that would be different from the shifting mechanic. The second was taking advantage the 3D display capabilities of Nintendo’s latest portable console. In the end, we came up with that new mechanic (we call it layer-shifting). It adds a lot to the puzzles of the game, and it looks really cool in 3D when you use it.

NWR: How did the game come to be a 3DS-specific retail product? Was there ever any intention of doing a smaller scale version, similar to Shift Extended, through the eShop?

GB: Well, we’ve always wanted to make a retail version of Shift. Aksys (our publisher) was there to give us the opportunity, so we jumped on the occasion.

We’re glad to have been given the chance to work on the 3DS. It’s a very interesting system, and we’re hopeful that the Shift series will find a lot of lovers on that console.

NWR: Were there any changes made to the game as a result of it being a retail product as opposed to a downloadable title? Is there anything you had planned for this version that didn't make into the final game?

GB: The scope of the game grew to justify the fact that it was going to be a retail product, as opposed to a downloadable game. As for the things that were planned but didn’t make it into the final game, there are a few puzzle mechanics that we had to cut and leave out. In part due to our tight schedule, but also because they weren’t refined enough to make it into the final game.

That was also the case for our first Shift game on a console: some of the mechanics weren’t just good enough at the time to make it into the game. But a few refinements later, they proved awesome enough to be implemented in Shifting World.

NWR: Are there any plans to support the game with downloadable content?

GB: Not at this point. It’s something we might consider in the future, but right now we don’t have any plans for downloadable content.

NWR: Where would you like to see the Shift series go from here?

GB: I would love to see it expand on some other system, let the series grow. The next logical step would be to create a version of the series for the home consoles. We don’t have any plans for that yet, but we’d love to be given the opportunity.

[Portable espionage action.]

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TalkBack / Metal Gear Solid

« on: March 27, 2012, 09:47:43 PM »

Portable espionage action.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/extralife/29654

Ghost Babel (the Japan-only subtitle, used here in the interest of clarity) is a game of odd genesis. Taking selective mechanical and thematic inspiration from the preceding two entries in its franchise, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake and Metal Gear Solid (the latter of which had already lifted some choice traits from the former), the 2000 title would seem an unlikely candidate to produce a coherent and worthwhile experience from the combination, especially on the limited Game Boy Color platform.

The previous step in the Metal Gear franchise, from Solid Snake on the MSX2 computer to Solid on the PlayStation, brought about a host of precedential alterations to what had been the structure of the series up until that point. While it certainly sampled select gameplay elements from Metal Gear 2, Solid also formed the new mechanical, thematic, and cinematic base for the series as it did so, creating a distinct separation between itself and the older games. Ghost Babel, consequently, occupies a sort of middle space between the two, with a balanced approach to both the series' brand of stealth-action and narrative grandiosity.

Ghost Babel is a bit of recondensed package of the elements effectively extrapolated and deepened by MGS, a structure created by equal parts necessity and ingenuity. Like MG2, it employs a top-down, 2D perspective of the environments Snake works his way through, as well as a similar suite of tools (dynamic radar; gas mask; mine detector) and abilities (crawling; guided Nikita missiles) to facilitate completing the sneaking mission. The addition of mechanics from MGS, such as flattening Snake against a wall to hide or move through tight spaces, or tapping against a surface to strategically lure enemies, complements this traditional style, however, giving Snake a deceptively deep range of abilities that not only work smoothly, but do so within the four-button confines of the Game Boy Color.

As a sort of non-canonical companion to Metal Gear Solid, Ghost Babel inherently retains some of the former's tonal qualities. Characters, including Colonel Campbell, Mei Ling, and Solid Snake himself appear as their Metal Gear Solid selves, and even fresh faces like Chris and Jimmy fit post-MGS personality templates (Meryl and Otacon, respectively). Codec conversations and painterly cut scenes are used frequently to keep the plot in stride, and though conversation with a team member or adversary occasionally strays into the philosophical or existential, these resting moments are effectively pared down from their protracted MGS equivalents in the name of brevity and portability. Instead of a continuous flowing narrative, Ghost Babel segments events into stages of malleable length and type. Some involve carefully plotted treks across environments or through military structures, while others may simply be comprised of defeating a member of Ghost Babel's animalistic FOXHOUND equivalent, Black Chamber.

In the lineage of Metal Gear, we can chart characteristics of MG2 being blown up to precedential proportions in Solid, with a combination of the two then being distilled and streamlined in the mechanically sound and narratively swift Ghost Babel. A balanced and capable entry in a series often guilty of being heavy handed in both story and gameplay, Ghost Babel remains a tight combination of substance and necessary moderation.

[The new action-RPG aims for expanse on the 3DS.]

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TalkBack / Heroes of Ruin Preview

« on: March 26, 2012, 05:41:34 PM »

The new action-RPG aims for expanse on the 3DS.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/preview/29564

In a year potentially seeing the release of both Diablo III and Torchlight II, room for another isometric role-playing game heavy with dungeon exploration and loot management might not seem likely. While the aforementioned pair will reign over the PC space, however, Heroes of Ruin looks to fill the same role on the 3DS. Though its game exists on a more limited plane than the other heavyweights in the genre, developer n-Space seems intent on imbuing players with a similar sense of depth in Heroes of Ruin.

Players begin by choosing one of four mercenary characters vying to uncover the item necessary to removing the curse afflicting Ataraxis, ruler of the game’s central city, and earn a hefty reward. Each character (the Gunslinger, the Architect, the Vindicator, and the Savage) carries a unique motivation for completing the underlying quest, and embodies one of the game’s four classes: the Gunslinger excels in the use of firearms and all manner of ranged weaponry; the Savage relies on brute force and up-close attacks; the Architect employs a variety of spells to dispatch enemies; and the Vindicator moves through battles wielding a sword. Though the unique skills of each differentiate the characters’ combat styles somewhat, each has a suite of standard actions, including normal and charge attacks, blocks, and dodges.

Additionally, each class has access to three skill trees. Referred to as the Sentinel, Warden, and Crusader branches, these lines of similar skills can be upgraded with experience to bolster a character’s current powers or gain access to a handful of new abilities. Upon leveling up, a character also receives statistical bumps in three passive categories: Might (which governs the amount of damage dealt by the player), Vigor (a measure of a character’s health), and Soul (the amount of “energy” a character holds).

Though only a single character represents each class, player are able to customize their choice, first through variations in skin and hair color, and later by equipping acquired or purchased loot and items. An extensive randomization system governs the latter in Heroes of Ruin (including weapons), a feature that could presumably offer myriad paths of character customization, as well as incentives for thorough and continued exploration of the game’s numerous areas and side quests.

In addition to the single-player component, Heroes of Ruin features several online and multiplayer systems. Up to four players can drop into a game and play together using Wi-Fi or a local connection, with the game automatically fluctuating the difficulty to account for the number of participants present. During cooperative play, the game also tracks and doles out experience based on the amount of time spent with a given companion. Heroes of Ruin also uses both StreetPass and SpotPass to give players access to the Traders’ Network (a market in which players can buy and sell items with each other), and daily challenges and quests, respectively.

The release date for Heroes of Ruin is currently in flux. It was originally slated for an early 2012 release, but has been pushed back consistently. Right now, the 2012 part is the only thing we're sure about. It could be out by summer, or it could slip until fall. Who knows.

[The console follow-up, along with a handheld version, might be announced next week.]

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TalkBack / Epic Mickey 2 on 3DS?

« on: March 20, 2012, 01:40:58 PM »

The console follow-up, along with a handheld version, might be announced next week.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/rumor/29573

The long-expected sequel to Disney Epic Mickey could be shown as early as next week, along with a 3DS version, according to a tweet from Official Nintendo Magazine France.

Translated, the message reads:

"Presentation of the Epic Mickey 2 will take place next week. 3DS version, Power of Illusion, more classic 2D is also provided for."

Details taken from internal memos and marketing material in past months suggest Epic Mickey 2 might release on multiple platforms some time this fall.

[Renegade Kid's latest is a simple, colorful RPG.]

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TalkBack / Planet Crashers 3D Preview

« on: March 12, 2012, 06:26:09 PM »

Renegade Kid's latest is a simple, colorful RPG. 

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/preview/29523

While the visual tone of developer Renegade Kid’s DS games skewed a bit dark (the Dementium games; Moon), its recent 3DS projects (Face Racers: Photo Finish; Mutant Mudds) sit on the breezier end of the spectrum.

Planet Crashers 3D, the handheld adaption of an upcoming mobile and browser-based RPG, would appear to fit snugly into that pattern. Described by Creative Director Jools Watsham as a “light role-playing game," Planet Crashers incorporates numerous base-level RPG designs and elements. Players begin the game by crafting a generic hero—a freshly graduated cadet of the Planet Crashers Academy—through the game’s creation system, with the option of customization this hero or heroine later through purchased items and modifications.

Planet Crashers follows an uncomplicated quest/completion model. Players accrue assignments from characters or quest boards on the surfaces of various planets in the galaxy, and finish them to progress and eventually take down the malevolent entity bent on destroying the sun. Aside from conversing with characters on each planet, players can frequent shops to spend gold on new items and weapons, and take to multi-floored underground dungeon-like areas.

Combat in Planet Crashers is carried out in a simple, turn-based system. The 3DS’ top screen displays the character’s health and current level, and the bottom screen offers touch-based access to weapons, items, skills, and quests, while also providing descriptions of the character’s current location, experience, and gold amount, as well as level indicators for strength, defense, and speed.

Visually, Planet Crashers is comparable to two quite different games. The spherical shape and spinning surfaces of its spacial bodies are much like those of Super Mario Galaxy, while the landscapes, character, and object designs sport cartoon lines and geometry similar to those in the Animal Crossing series. Each planet in the game’s galaxy bears a unique aesthetic (e.g., a lush, grassy planet; a dark, spooky planet).

[A solid, if similar, follow-up.]

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TalkBack / Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2 Review

« on: March 09, 2012, 05:15:18 PM »

A solid, if similar, follow-up.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/29508

The catastrophic events of the first game notwithstanding, a potent demonic scourge once again overwhelms the Japan's cities in Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2. As part of a similar gang of teens caught up in the chaos, identifying and eliminating (or at least tempering) the threat once again falls squarely on your shoulders.

Though the calamity and confusion early on mirror that of the first game, which came out in 2009 on DS and was re-released for 3DS last summer, the narrative thread of DS2 effects a few choice changes. A cryptic website hosting "death clips" of individuals' demise replaces the visible "death clocks," providing a verbatim enactment of the incident to come instead of a nebulous indicator of days remaining. The tone set by the harsher foreshadowing is accompanied by destruction of greater intensity caused by the event, and a more visibly battered Japan, shown through scene-setting glimpses of buildings, streets, and cities, and the occasional animated cut scene.

Once the group collectively gains the ability to summon their own demons to fight the invasion and defend themselves, though, Devil Survivor 2 falls back into the strong, steady rhythm of the first game. The suite of tools used as part of the game's turn- and grid-based battles remains, on the whole, relatively untouched (as evidenced in the unchanged menu structures in and out of battle), save for the helpful addition of the Demon Compendium. Absent from the first game, the deep catalogue of creatures acts as a convenient bank, making each unlocked entry available (at a price) for use in the dense and invaluable process of fusion. Once you begin accruing demons through the Demon Auction, you can chose to create a new creature from their combination, which inherits certain statistics and traits of the two demons used, as well as skills allocated on your part. The resulting cycle (gain Macca, the game's currency, through battle, take bought or held lower-level demons, and merge them into useful, powerful beings), though deeply statistical in nature, has an addictive quality not unlike catching and leveling up Pokémon, or gathering and spending loot on shiny new equipment, and I spent a good slice of the time I played cleaning house of my team's old demons by pairing and upgrading.

Even in the frequent free-battle grinding sessions (often necessary to rank up characters and demons, and gain spending money), operating inside of the game's deep and defined mechanics is satisfying. You can work all manner of offensive, defensive, and passive angles once you reach the fusion stage, tweaking, balancing, and combining to forge a suitably stacked team for battle. In most regards, little has changed on the field. In addition to the prior customization of teams, positioning characters and managing spacing remains a point of important tactical attention; in-game battle objectives often include acting on key grid spots (e.g., get here; protect this person or point; stop X from getting away via X), and marking targets for Skill Cracking (unlocking a skill by defeating a certain demon or character). In all battles, most notably those involving one of the game's formidable boss creatures, managing the positions of each character—or where they should be several turns in the future—is an absolute necessity, and a rewarding strategic complement to crafting the teams involved.

As a whole, Devil Survivor 2's story of invasion, destruction, and frequent death is admissibly volatile and branching. Moment to moment, though, the cast of repetitious, one-note characters effectively siphons away much of the human drama inherent to the situation. Each day in the story's saga requires a certain amount of pre- and post-event conversation between characters, most of which are pedestrian and needlessly expository. A handful of optional, one-on-one conversations are available between battles, largely in service of the game's Fate system, a measure of the player's relationship with a respective character. As the level increases through successive conversations, certain character-specific perks unlock.

While one of the more interesting and noteworthy additions to Devil Survivor 2's largely lifted package, the system is little more than the player massaging a character's transparent opinion or assuaging their fears for a stat boost. You either chose correctly and play the chipper, ever-encouraging friend/leader, or pick the obviously more mean-spirited response and act the callous heel. With a more non-linear approach (something along the lines of Persona 4's school-centered interactions), these relationships might come to fruition in a natural and satisfactory way, but since the game feeds only through menus, conversations, and fields of battle, the choice is far less genuine; either you do it, do it wrong, or just chose not to. Fortunately, leveling up in these cursory areas leads to some useful battle characteristics; it's worth just plowing through the stilted interactions to get to the good stuff. There's good reason to be invested more in one part of the Devil Survivor 2 (the battle/customization systems) than the other (story and characters), and fortunately the game's ratio naturally favors the former.

Much of Devil Survivor 2 is a close replication of a handful of solid concepts. Losing time in its fundamentals and the sheer amount of subsequent content—a package structured across dozens of hours—is as easy as it is rewarding, but enjoyment of that concept will likely vary depending on how long and how many times you've traveled that road.

[The developer once again holds the rights to its 3DS platformer.]

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TalkBack / Fractured Soul Might See eShop Release 

« on: March 07, 2012, 10:49:32 PM »

The developer once again holds the rights to its 3DS platformer.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/29469

Endgame, the developer of Fractured Soul and its 3DS incarnation, Fractured Soul: Deep Void, might self-publish the latter through Nintendo's eShop service.

In an interview with Joystiq, Endgame managing director and co-founder Grant Davies (whom we spoke with about the games last month) noted that while N3V Games holds the distribution rights to the yet unreleased DS version (which was to be published by Graffiti Entertainment), the publishing deal made with Ignition Entertainment regarding Deep Void fell through.

"With the 3DS, we got involved with a publisher on that one," Davies said, "and they got to the point where they could no longer honor their contractual obligations to us."

The situation resulted with Endgame retaining the rights to the completed Deep Void, its plans for which may involve digital distribution.

"Now it's no publisher," Davies said, "and we have the rights, and we have a completed game, so that's why we're kind of thinking maybe eShop is the way forward."

[What's your dream sequel?]

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Podcast Discussion / Episode 24: To the Darkness of Time!

« on: March 02, 2012, 10:29:16 PM »

What's your dream sequel?

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/connectivity/29433

Allow this week's episode to take you between time and space into a parallel dimension where things are similar yet shockingly different.

Neal, Patrick and Zach are first through the time gate, bringing with them stories of direct sequels to existing Pokémon games. Unbelievable, I know. The unlikely band of heroes then goes on to discuss the games they most wish would receive proper sequels. Proving that inter-dimensional travel might just have some less than favorable side effects on the brain, Neal champions a Buck Bumble sequel. Yeah.

Emerging out of the portal through time next are Andy, Andrew and JP, who join Zach to talk about Resident Evil Revelations, the unexpectedly great 3DS exclusive. Slip into your most festive wetsuit and chew softly on a green herb while the boys have one final, thorough discussion about the game. If only they could have arrived from the future in time to prevent the unfortunate box misspelling...

The gate is closing, but before it disappears entirely, Scott and Nate slip through in search of Neal. Once reunited, the group sets out to rewrite history, starting with one simple fact: Chrono Cross is a very good game. "But how!?" you may wonder. Listen, and all will be unveiled.

Do you have questions about the alternate dimension that you'd like answered? Click here to send us some listener mail. Also, the Epoch uses iTunes reviews as fuel, so help some brothers out, won'tcha?

[A roundup of this month's Wii U news and rumors.]

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TalkBack / March to E3 2012 - February Edition

« on: March 01, 2012, 03:26:58 PM »

A roundup of this month's Wii U news and rumors.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/feature/29420

With February down, we're now one month closer to E3 2012 and another look at the Wii U. In the meantime, we've collected the relevant news around rumors floating around the console this month.

A handful of games received speculation as possible releases for the new system. Two Tribes, the developer of puzzle-platformer Toki Tori, elaborated on their interest in bringing the game's downloadable sequel to the WIi U, noting the potential of both the controller's analog sticks and its touch screen interface.

A Twitter post purported that Epic Mickey Developer Junction Point made mention of including "Wii U support for Epic Mickey 2." Information, as well as multiple variations of box art for the sequel to the 2010 platformer steeped in Disney animation history popped up in a Disney newsletter last year, stating that the game featured cooperative play and would see a multi-platform release. "Wii U support" could mean an entirely separate version of the game for the new system, or support for the Wii U controller in the Wii version through the new system's backward compatibility.

A sequel to Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing was revealed by toys at a booth at New York's Toy Fair, and was purported to have a holiday release for this year. The first game came out on numerous console and handheld platforms, so a Wii U version late this year might not be out of the question.

In a Twitter exchange, Double Fine founder Tim Schafer touched on the possibility of bringing the developer's upcoming, publicly funded point-and-click adventure game to the Wii U. The company campaigned to raise $400,000 for the project through Kickstarter, a goal eclipsed in a matter of hours; the total amount donated currently sits at $2.3 million with under two weeks left in the deadline. Tim responded to the follower's question by stating that, although possible, bringing the project to the Wii U would involve working with a whole new engine. Though the scope of the project expanded with the unexpected influx of support—Double Fine has since announced support for Mac, iOS, Linux, and Android systems—a downloadable version for consoles like the Wii U has not been explicitly addressed.

An Amazon France listing for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 surfaced earlier this month and was removed quickly after. The title, which would presumably be developed by Treyarch as a follow-up to the massively successful first Black Ops game, could theoretically release in close proximity to (and possibly for) the Wii U later this year.

Square Enix recently announced a starting date of February 23 for the Dragon Quest X beta in Japan. The title, which will see release on both the Wii and Wii U, doesn't have a confirmed release date for any region at that point.

A Lady Gaga game under Ubisoft's "Experience" music game banner (which has seen installments featuring Michael Jackson and the Black Eyed Peas) has been rumored as scheduled to release, possibly on both Wii and Wii U, sometime later this year.

A trio of games published by EA (which has been able to work with the Wii U development kit since last year) are rumored to be gracing the system. There is speculation floating around that claims Dead Space 3, the next space-horror title from EA and Visceral Games, will come to Wii U in addition to other consoles. Dead Space 2 was released on January 25, 2011. In September of last year, a handful of purportedly accurate details pertaining to the setting and plot of Dead Space 3 were revealed. Overstrike, the upcoming multi-platform game from developer Insomniac shown at E3 last year, may also be headed to the Wii U. Insomniac, best known for its Ratchet & Clank and Resistance games for Sony's PlayStation consoles, is rumored to also have a Wii U development kit. Lastly, Crytek (which is a partner with Electronic Arts) is rumored to be developing TimeSplitters 4 for Wii U and other consoles. Crytek, which has also had the opportunity to work with the Wii U development kit, acquired Free Radical, the developer of the first three TimeSplitters games, in 2009.

Several Nintendo patent filings also surfaced this month. The first provided insight into potential features of the Wii U system and controller. It makes mention of facial recognition through the controller, as well as the possibility of a 3D or HD display for the controller, which, in versions shown thus far, has displayed in a sub-HD resolution. The second was for an environmental sensor unit that could have various function, including detecting the room in which it's located as well as the current weather, and altering in-game content based on the readings.

Did we miss anything? Let us know!

[Knocking down the wall.]

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TalkBack / Contact

« on: February 29, 2012, 10:17:01 AM »

Knocking down the wall.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/extralife/29398

Contact's open is especially cold. You happen upon what appears to be a low-bit, white-haired old man, clacking away at keys in front of his computing machine. You let a moment or two slip passed while you wait for the inevitable greeting and/or identification, but he's clearly deep in his work. And so you wait, or, if you're less the patient kind, take to thumbing buttons, making the rounds to find the one that will get things in motion. Nothing. Clack clack clack.

It's a puzzlement, at least until you slide the stylus from its sheath, prod at one of the two animate objects on the screen, and find yourself smacked with a curious reality: there's no intermediary between yourself and this man, the Professor. He feels that jab, and reciprocates the action by speaking directly to you—the you holding the DS. Seems the system in your hands has bridged the respective planes of existence, giving you a window into and a modicum of control over his world. After running you through a gamut of identifying questions, the Professor requests your assistance with the retrieval of some particular items. Some kind of cells.

"Help me control the outcome," he suggests. "We can even pretend it's a game."

Contact, or rather the subsection of it in which you control the actions of a character in the Professor's world (a young boy named Terry), is indeed much like a game you might play. If you take the Professor's advice, you'd likely pretend it as a role-playing game, dense with exotic worlds and items and people, and that assumption would be partially accurate. Terry—the boy zipped away from his home and directly manipulated by you—fills the silent protagonist role roundly. He fights battles on his own once you toggle him into his aggressive stance (though you can equip him with a weapon or a stat-boosting sticker, activate his higher-tier attacks, and tend to his health), moves when and where you need him to, and requires little additional fuss. He's a surrogate, and when you exercise control and steer him through the relatively sparse trappings of the "game" to help out the Professor, you play a role through him.

What Contact lacks in what could be called traditional RPG personality is kind of inconsequential. The tone of disconnect and dissonance it imparts through aesthetic, gameplay, and conversation is intentional, and often more in service of inspiring puzzlement or genuine thought than a memorable moment of action or spectacle. For example: The Professor, though a friendly composite of detached humor and partial helpfulness, can't really be bothered to give a convincing damn about Terry or how he uses him, even though they exist in the same world. His disposition toward the boy, though, is probably not unlike your own, a commentary the game makes and revisits poignantly over the course of its surreal road trip.

[Iwata discusses the upcoming 3DS title with Masahiro Sakurai.]

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TalkBack / Iwata Asks: Kid Icarus: Uprising

« on: February 24, 2012, 04:11:18 PM »

Iwata discusses the upcoming 3DS title with Masahiro Sakurai.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/29392

Nintendo President Satoru Iwata sat down with Masahiro Sakurai, CEO and Director of Software Development at Sora Ltd., to discuss the development of the upcoming Kid Icarus: Uprising in a recent edition of Iwata Asks..

Iwata started the interview by comparing the battle mode of Uprising to what he imagines the Super Smash Bros. games would look like in a fully 3D space, and noted the similar fast pace of both games. He continued by pointing out that when the Nintendo-themed fighting game first arrived on Nintendo 64, many players did not fully grasp its concept. Sakurai agreed, and expressed his worry that people will also misunderstand battles in Kid Icarus: Uprising which, he noted, melds the rules of a first-person shooter with a simpler control scheme. He expressed hope that the controls will make sense to players once they have a chance to become acquainted with them.

Iwata likened this quandary to the difficulties Nintendo had with distinguishing Smash Bros. from fighting games preceding it. Sakurai noted that the introduction and broadening of a game and its concept is an intrinsic part of the style of games he makes, including Smash Bros., Kirby Air Ride, and Meteos. That is, the comprehension curve may be a bit steeper than other games, but persistence on the part of the player is rewarded. Sakurai continued by comparing his process to "disassembly and reassembly." He explained that each genre has its own "fun core," and that he tries to remove the unnecessary parts surrounding that core and rebuild around it somewhere new.

To illustrate this design theory, he noted how Super Smash Bros. was originally created to be "an antithesis to 2D fighting games" (a conversation documented in a previous Iwata Asks). He noted that while he enjoyed the more organic aspects that occur in fighting games (the "fun core" of the genre), he was less fond of having to pull off complex combos to achieve victory. In the place of combos, he wanted something that could work off the changing situations within each fight, an idea that became the basis for the cumulative damage mechanic in Smash Bros. He also noted similar decisions in Kirby Air Ride, where they focused mainly on the drifting mechanic instead of implementing a traditional brake/acceleration system, and Meteos, in which they reinterpreted the traditional risk/reward dynamic of a puzzle game into a system of resisting and pushing the blocks back.

Continuing on the concept of risk and reward, Iwata brought up an anecdote in which  Sakurai had broken down the risk/reward dynamic in Space Invaders (i.e., having to shoot from directly underneath the invaders to hit them, and chancing getting hit by their fire at the same time). Sakurai noted that while he knows there are other pieces that make a game fun, he often connects gameplay with risk and return.

Iwata steered the conversation in the direction of influences from the original Kid Icarus. Sakurai mentioned that while they gave careful treatment to the story of the new game, they were careful not to make it too serious, and instead shot for a "boisterous feeling like in Super Smash Bros." He remarked that Iwata's requests of him post-Super Smash Bros. Brawl were to make an original game, and to make something for the 3DS that "the in-house Nintendo development team wouldn't." He also said that his first idea given those guidelines was to create "a shooting game with air battles and land battles," while also having the idea to "revive a stalled series from the Nintendo lineup."

The conversation returned to risk and reward, with Iwata bringing up the Fiend's Cauldron from Uprising, a challenge system that allows players to bet hearts and test themselves to earn rewards. Sakurai explained that this mechanic allows players to determine the amount of risk and reward for themselves and their level of skill. He noted that he wants players to be able to have some agency in how they experience the game, whether that comes in simply flying through a level and enjoying the aesthetic or challenging themselves with a higher difficulty.

The second part of the interview will be posted after Kid Icarus: Uprising is released.

[Don't go into Snake Eater naked.]

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TalkBack / Metal Gear: Primer

« on: February 22, 2012, 10:22:29 PM »

Don't go into Snake Eater naked.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/feature/29333

Parsing the multiple layers of reference, symbolism, and exposition in the Metal Gear games can be a chore of bushwhacking at times. Even in Snake Eater, an entry decades removed from the more recent, mind-rending events of the series' chronology, the story-based trappings can get a little overwhelming.

To take the edge off that fatigue, we've touched on a few helpful points of reference in the series: the secretive sub-government entity known as the Patriots, and the titular war machines themselves. Obviously, there's a heap of additional MGS knowledge available out there to pore over, but these introductory items are a good way to acquaint (or reacquaint) yourself with the subject matter.

[The surreal Dreamcast classic might be headed to the handheld.]

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TalkBack / Seaman Port Planned for 3DS?

« on: February 20, 2012, 01:22:49 PM »

The surreal Dreamcast classic might be headed to the handheld.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/rumor/29313

A port of the virtual pet simulation game Seaman might be on its way to the 3DS, according to an article in the online edition of Japan's Nikkei business newspaper.

The article, which focuses on Nintendo, mentions an initiative on the part of the company to revive other publisher's titles on the 3DS in order to provide the system with stronger games, and cites Seaman, one of the best-selling Dreamcast games in Japan, as an example.

Series creator Yoot Saito hinted at the possibility of a Seaman game on 3DS in June of 2010 as part of an exchange with a Twitter follower.

[Still in a (3D) dream.]

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TalkBack / Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D Preview

« on: February 16, 2012, 10:04:55 AM »

Still in a (3D) dream.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/preview/29104

As stated in Danny’s impressions of Snake Eater 3D from last year’s Tokyo Game Show, the appearance of the Metal Gear series on Nintendo hardware is exceedingly rare and eccentric; aside from the NES version of the original game and its non-canonical sequel, Snake's Revenge, only two other titles from the inimitable stealth-action series (Metal Gear Solid on the Game Boy Color and MGS: The Twin Snakes on the GameCube) have made the jump.

Ostensibly driven by the multidimensional promise and graphical fidelity of the 3DS, Konami and Kojima Productions announced yet another reincarnation of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, specifically tailored for the handheld, at E3 in 2010. Since then, we’ve seen a handful of the ways the portable version differs from the others, with most relegated to taking advantage of the hardware.

In addition to the expected overlay of three-dimensional depth and the demoed gyroscope-based balance implementation, Snake Eater 3D lifts the aiming mechanic from 2010's MGS: Peace Walker, with basic movement assigned to the Circle pad and over-the-shoulder aiming done via the four face buttons (with the shoulder buttons handing aiming and shooting.) A Japanese retail listing for the game described an additional first-person mode; more recent screens show it as a standalone perspective option available on the fly from the touch screen that directly correlates to the first-person aiming from previous versions of Snake Eater. The game also supports the Circle Pad Pro, which provides another pad for aiming as well as weapon management via the add-on’s shoulder buttons.

Slinking through the dense Soviet jungle is further facilitated in the 3DS version by the inclusion of crouch walking, the intermediate movement position introduced in Metal Gear Solid 4 and perpetuated in Peace Walker, though the ability to go prone and crawl—which was absent from PW—remains. All action takes place on the HUD-less top screen, while the touch screen houses and handles health, stamina, and weapon and item management.

The strategic camouflage feature introduced in Snake Eater—in which your ability to blend into the environment and avoid enemy detection is bolstered by the pattern of Snake’s outfit—now includes a custom design option that imprints patterns based on photos taken via the 3DS’ camera. Though the examples shown thus far have skewed toward silly—the demo at TGS was accompanied by a polka-dotted bag—the functionality could feasibly have a practical application to Snake’s camo index given a proper player input.

While many of Snake Eater 3D's changes are purely cosmetic, a few mechanical tweaks—many of them from later games in the series—look to make the game somewhat more accessible to unfamiliar players. Snake Eater is one of the series’ strongest installments, and hopefully this version is worth the wait.

[Iwata discusses the returning fighting game with two of its producers.]

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TalkBack / Iwata Asks: Tekken 3D Prime Edition

« on: February 09, 2012, 06:25:40 PM »

Iwata discusses the returning fighting game with two of its producers.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/29227

In a recent edition of Iwata Asks, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata sat down with Kouhei Ikeda (producer of Tekken 3D Prime Edition) and Katsuhiro Harada (producer of the Tekken series) to discuss the entry that marks the series' return to a Nintendo platform.

Iwata began by asking the two to describe the series in their own words. Harada explained that the term he prefers is "exhilaration," or even a "rush," and noted that he sees Tekken overall as a very aggressive fighting game, with the loser often taking a "severe thrashing" during the process. Ikeda was in agreement, and commented that he got hooked on the series through the fluidity of the motions and the powerful attacks.

Iwata responded by wondering if the pursuit of the exhilaration of the attack created a fight against "a lot of contradictions." Harada noted that the place with the greatest contradictions occur is the rules, adding that they strive for a balance between the fun of delivering a devastating attack and the consequences of it being so powerful, and equated the fun of doing an Aerial Combo attack to the frustration the other player feels during without control. He explained that customer feedback has noted this frustration, but posits that if the attack were to be lessened in power or become less common, players would take it as a compromise of a core quality of the series. Ikeda followed up this sentiment by noting the constant attention paid to balance, and to "figuring out how much frustration we can permit the loser and still preserve exhilaration."

Iwata inquired as to how the two, as individuals experienced in the fighting game field, confronted the issue of accessibility for the latest Tekken title. Harada admitted that they're still very much figuring it out. He made note of the game's available handicap option, but added that, in reality, few people employ it. He also touched on the possibility of an auto-guard system or a simplification of the tactics, but noted that these don't work well in reality. He ended by noting that the most important thing is to make players want to practice.

Iwata summarized the line of thinking, saying that if players "arrive to a deeper place before they realize it and if they can find the fun there, they'll go in even deeper on their own."

Harada tied this sentiment into the inclusion of the game's customizable touch screen commands. He expressed it as an aid to players who might be looking to employ moves in a deeper fighting strategy, but unable to execute the complex combos to get there, and went on to equate it to providing the ingredients for players to cook with.

Harada also noted that, in making this game for the 3DS, they had a different type of customer in mind. He specifically mentioned wanting to grab the interest of players of the Super Smash Bros. series. He noted that, by including so many characters as well as the 3D Tekken movie, they're attempting to open as many doors as possible for people to find the series.

Harada then mentioned that, in approaching development on the 3DS technology, they were very particular about maintaining 60 frames per second. A footnote under the comment notes that although the game retains this frame rate during wireless play, stereoscopic 3D is not supported.

Ikeda finished by noting that a core concept was making "the most accessible Tekken," and offering a range of high-quality content, as signified by the Prime title.

Tekken 3D Prime Edition releases February 14.

[The unique platformer finds new life on the 3DS.]

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TalkBack / Fractured Soul: Deep Void Preview

« on: February 08, 2012, 08:34:30 AM »

The unique platformer finds new life on the 3DS.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/preview/29029

Fractured Soul's road to release has been notably rough. Initially slated only for the DS, the dual screen-heavy adventure-platformer found itself in limbo for some time as developer Endgame Studios shopped it around in search of publishing, which it eventually found in Graffiti Entertainment and Ignition Entertainment (for the DS and 3DS versions, respectively). Though a release had been schedule for late 2011, both games were moved back once more. While the 3DS incarnation (subtitled Deep Void) is expected to appear in the coming months, though no release date is scheduled for the DS version at this time.

Deep Void’s 2D gameplay is a tapestry of several different inspirations. Jake, the protagonist trapped aboard the craft, has the otherworldly ability to swap his physical form between two different realities on the fly as he explores the derelict remnants of a presumably eerie space station dense with monsters and dangers. The duality dynamic of Fractured Soul is akin to that of renowned schmup Ikaruga, in which players could switch the polarity of their craft on the fly to counteract matching enemy fire. In Fractured Soul, the hot swapping takes Jake back and forth between the twin realities displayed by the system's two screens. Flipping between the two incarnations of Jake is essential to avoiding environmental hazards, defeating enemies, and collecting the various items strewn about the station’s hard-to-reach nooks and crannies.

No major changes have been introduced for the jump to the 3DS, though the graphical style has been given a bit of a bump. The polygonal visuals of the new version add some depth to the Metroid-esque flat sprite look of the old, while maintaining the general aesthetic undertone.

This tricky, layered system is complemented by the core gameplay, a more traditional, Mega Man-style combination of shooting, and platforming via jetpack. Throughout the 30-odd levels, a number of environmental factors (including wind, ice, water, and inverted gravity) look to compound the difficulty of the asymmetrical conditions, making the experiences fast-paced and tight. In addition to exploring the interior of the station, Jake will pilot a craft in several top-down shooter levels, which employ the same switching mechanic.

Each of Fractured Soul’s levels is timed and ranked, and includes support for online leaderboards, making it ideal for speed runs, intense item collection, and general replay. It’s been a bit of a wait, but it’ll have been worth it if the game can deliver a solid platforming experience when it (hopefullly) comes out in just a few months.

[We talk with Grant Davies of Endgame about the DS and 3DS title.]

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TalkBack / Fractured Soul Interview with Grant Davies

« on: February 07, 2012, 11:14:35 AM »

We talk with Grant Davies of Endgame about the DS and 3DS title. 

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/interview/29173

Much like its core gameplay conceit, Fractured Soul has fluctuated from ethereal to corporeal and back again over the course of its lifetime. Originally conceived as an Ikaruga-like shooter that would split its binary gameplay between the twin screens of Nintendo's recently announced DS, the game—titled Slidatron at the time—hit innumerable snags on its way from conception to reality.

We recently had an opportunity to speak with Grant Davies, Managing Director at developer Endgame Studios, about the long and unique life of Fractured Soul.

Note: Grant posted a blog divulging in detail his experience making the game. It's an insightful story and an excellent primer for this interview, and I strongly encourage giving it a read.

Nintendo World Report (NWR): By the time a prototype of the game reached development (a process hindered by money and outside mismanagement), the shifting mechanic of Slidatron had been transposed from schmup to platformer, a decision bolstered by previous experience with the genre and the uniqueness of pairing it with the duality concept.

You mentioned having beneficial exposure to the genre, including handling the Rayman 3 source code. What principles or practices did you draw from these experiences during the design process? Have you kept or altered any of them throughout the course of development?

Grant Davies (GD):Two of the main areas we feel we benefited in from working closely with a AAA platformer like Rayman 3 were the player handling and camera. As a player, you can immediately tell the difference between a game that has had a lot of attention paid to its player handling, and we felt this was an area that we should devote a lot of time to. It did help to see how these games approached these problems from a source code point of view, though the main benefit was just playing the game so much that we could instantly tell any areas of Fractured Soul that weren't measuring up during development. Regarding the camera, we definitely borrowed some concepts from Rayman 3 relating to the stability of the camera to assist the player as much as possible in making difficult jumps. In the 3DS version, we took the camera a step further and implemented a path-based system to give even greater control over the parameters of the camera at any given point. It took a lot of development time to implement this, and it's something that if it's done right the player won't even notice. But these are the things that are important. We also took a lot from Mega Man in these areas, too.

NWR: A quandary you note early in the development was determining the difficulty curve for the screen-switching concept, and how the level of it you settled on precluded the interest you expected. From what we've seen, the mechanics of Fractured Soul still require a certain amount of skill and quick thinking. How did you go about pinning down the right amount of difficulty, especially with a concept many are unfamiliar with?

GD: There's no backing away from the idea that Fractured Soul is a core game—and we're unapologetic about that! We're reaching out to folks who have grown up with classics such as Mega Man and Castlevania. We didn't want to water down the content to the point that these gamers found it too easy to beat, but at the same time we needed to acknowledge that we're bringing an entirely new dimension to the genre, and therefore the game needs to introduce the player to it gently. After the first world, things heat up a bit, and then there's the challenges to get five stars on every level, and speedrun online leaderboards for the hardcore folks.

NWR: Do you feel like the market for a game like this is more open now, with the increased age of the systems and the familiarity people have with them?

GD: Definitely, and it's only come back in style in the last 5 years. Prior to that, platformers were shunned by publishers for a long time, but after the huge success of Braid, Limbo, Super Meat Boy, Cave Story, etc., they seem to be back in vogue. Our core audience will be adults now, gamers who have grown up with the classic platformers as kids, and within the entire gaming market, it's a niche. It's not going to have the widespread appeal of a Farmville or an Angry Birds, but I think those folks who grew up playing Mega Man and Castlevania will really get a kick out of it.

NWR: Much of the struggle to release the game—first as Slidatron, then Fractured Soul—seems to have come during the publishing process. In one instance, you mention how the development side of a company was all for taking on your game, since they believed in the fun and uniqueness of the concept, while the marketing side was against it. Was there anything you took out of this experience in terms of a business/creation relationship?

GD: Sure—this incident occurred when the game was still Slidatron. We acknowledged at that point that we had a branding issue, so we rebranded to Fractured Soul. These days we consider marketing before we make the game—nail down our target audience from the start, and aim to create the branding and experience around that. Slidatron was seen as a kids brand, and to a large extent it was, which was foolish on our part on several counts, not least of which because it was obvious from the start that the folks we were making the game for were gamers like us—adults in their 20s, 30s, and even 40s, who all grew up playing platformers.

NWR: If you were pitching Slidatron for publishing today, would you try to take it in a different direction for release (for example, a digital platform like the eShop or Steam)?

GD: Definitely. I believe digital delivery is the future for us, if not the entire industry, and we'd love to bring Fractured Soul to PC online stores, XBLA, and PSN in the future. Being a core game, I believe it would work really well on these platforms. I think the only barrier to these markets is the transaction model—at the moment the PC marketplace in particular has got this right and it works really well.

NWR: You mention that much of the development for the DS version was complete in 2010. What led to the creation of a 3DS version?

GD: From the moment we heard about the 3DS, it was obviously going to be a natural fit for Fractured Soul, with the greater power of the machine allowing us to make it entirely in 3D, and the online facilities allowing leaderboards, which was a feature we always wanted to put into the game. In contrast to the DS version, signing a 3DS version to a publisher did not take long at all—in fact, we had more than one publisher looking to pick up the game. I guess after seeing the DS version it was a fairly obvious fit for the 3DS.

NWR: What, if any, kind of alterations were made to suit the new platform? Were there any significant difficulties in the process?

GD: Gameplay wise, it was actually a fairly pain-free process, and the 3DS playing experience is very similar to the DS. We remade the artwork from the ground up, though, all in 3D. We also re-did the camera system to use a path system. The benefit to this is that we can control where the camera is at every point in the game. That is, there is no point where the camera will get wedged into a wall or stuck on a weird angle like some 3D games have. At every point, we can control the zoom, angle, look-ahead, and speed of the camera. This took a long, long time to implement and test!

NWR: How would you compare development on the 3DS to the DS?

GD: The 3DS was a much bigger effort with a larger team—Fractured Soul has a heavy art demand because it's over 30 levels and then it's across both screens. Also, being on a new platform, the engine was being developed in parallel with the game, which made it difficult to assess what level of detail we could cram into the device. Since both games play the same, we didn't have to do any new design for the 3DS, which made things a lot easier. Designing on a game like Fractured Soul is a massive time investment.

NWR: With its impending release, what are your feelings on the game's legacy? Do you have plans or ambitions to continue the series?

GD: I believe that it will strike a chord with core gamers who love classic platformers. Fractured Soul is one of those games where the developers and the players are the same—that is, we made the game because we love these kind of platformers too, so in that sense it's easy to measure the quality of the game we've made. It's the sort of game we'd all buy and enjoy at Endgame, so I hope there are other folks out there that share our passion for classic platformers.

As far as the future goes, as much content as there is in Fractured Soul, I feel like we're only just scratching the surface of this duality idea, and there are certainly plenty of puzzles and ideas that we were forced to hold back because we simply didn't have the time to do them this time around. So I'd love to be able to make a sequel—and that will depend on how this game is received. I'd also love to get Fractured Soul onto other platforms—I think it's a perfect match for PC digital, XBLA, and PSN.

[Obstacles, insurmountable heights, and the constraints of three dimensions leaving you frustrated? Crush 'em!]

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TalkBack / Crush 3D Preview

« on: January 25, 2012, 05:16:57 PM »

Obstacles, insurmountable heights, and the constraints of three dimensions leaving you frustrated? Crush 'em!

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/preview/29008

Crush 3D, a member of the first wave of 3DS games for 2012, actually has roots in the previous generation of handhelds. The game saw release in 2007 for the PSP, and now its dimension-warping puzzles are resurfacing to take advantage of the 3DS’ unique depth capabilities.

When we saw the game at E3 this past year, the game’s art style was quite reminiscent of the PSP version, albeit with a cartoonier aesthetic. Recent gameplay videos showing extended snips of gameplay have provided a better look at the visuals, which, when compared to the slightly dreamy dystopia of the original, sport a livelier color palate and a more whimsical disposition. The puzzle environments—which take place in the imagination of the protagonist, Danny—are best described as Super Mario Galaxy-esque, multicolored landscapes, littered with multiple pathways and puzzling geometry, which must be navigated using the titular mechanic.

In 3D, Danny can move freely in all directions; when the third dimension is “crushed” to a 2D plane, the physical geometry of the world changes with the perspective. For instance: Danny is stuck between two high columns. When the perspective is crushed from overhead, the tops of the columns become a seamless part of Danny’s current space, forming a walkway he can use to progress. The mechanic, which is much akin to a hybrid of the perspective-manipulation of Echochrome and dimension-swapping of Super Paper Mario, will hopefully benefit from the addition of actual 3D.

Though no new levels are being added to the already hefty 50-plus stage count of the original, a new challenge mode (which limits the time and number of crushes available) is, along with StreetPass functionality and a tutorial and hint system. If you missed it the first time around and don’t mind a little spatial reasoning, then keep this one on your radar.

[The community-driven racing sim now appears bound for Nintendo's next console.]

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TalkBack / Project CARS Confirmed for Wii U

« on: January 23, 2012, 03:55:49 PM »

The community-driven racing sim now appears bound for Nintendo's next console.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/29031

Slightly Mad Studios' Project CARS racing game is headed to Wii U according to an update on the game's website. Previously, the title was slated for Windows, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. Slightly Mad's previous games include Need for Speed: Shift and Shift 2.

The project, currently in development, invokes the participation of its community as part of its ongoing construction (CARS stands for "community assisted racing simulation"), with participants able to invest in the project and access regular beta builds of the game.

Project CARS is slated for release in 2013.

[Time to survive. Again.]

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TalkBack / Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2 Preview

« on: January 20, 2012, 07:12:09 PM »

Time to survive. Again.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/preview/28975

Though the series jumped to the 3DS for a remake of its first game, Devil Survivor returns to the DS next month.

The catastrophe-driven narrative of the original returns, as a host of otherworldly invaders descend upon the cities of Japan, and once again a plucky group of high school teens take it upon themselves to curb the destruction. As in the first game, they find themselves with the knowledge to prevent not only their own deaths, but those of others.

The core mechanic of the original—battling enemies with a highly customizable party of demons—doesn’t seem to have changed, although there are nearly twice as many to collect, customize, and fuse as in the first game. The biggest change thus far looks to be the emphasis on social interactions available between the player and the other human members of the party.

A new social mechanic, called the Enishi system, gauges the level of friendship held with other characters and, similar to the Social Link systems from Persona 3 and 4, unlocks special battle bonuses (like skills and elemental strengths) as that level increases. The importance of these relationships will ostensibly be compounded by the fact that each character is fully mortal and susceptible to permanent death during play, though it sounds as if these instances are based solely on choices made by the player, as opposed to mid-battle circumstances.

Though the premise rings similar to that of the first Devil Survivor, the new story, expanded battle customization, and new emphasis on intimate character interaction should at least make this game worth bringing the old DS out for.

[After an extended absence, the fighting series returns on the 3DS.]

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TalkBack / Tekken 3D Prime Edition Preview

« on: January 19, 2012, 07:02:12 PM »

After an extended absence, the fighting series returns on the 3DS.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/preview/28989

Given that it’s been a solid decade since the Tekken franchise last graced a piece of Nintendo hardware (it was last seen in Tekken Advance for the Game Boy Advance in 2001), it would be a bit disappointing for the latest installment, the 3DS-bound Tekken 3D: Prime Edition, to not justify and at least attempt to take advantage of its return.

The latest in the perennial fighting series advertises full support for the system’s 3D capabilities, reportedly maintaining a solid 60 frames per second even when running in 3D, as well as its Wi-Fi (ostensibly for online battles) and StreetPass functionality (for exchanging the game’s 765 collectable Tekken cards). To complement the more standard control scheme, four buttons inhabit the touch screen that can be mapped to standard attacks, throws, combos, and special attacks.

Prime Edition includes 40 of the series’ characters, along with an additional eight original stages crafted specifically for the game. The game card also comes loaded with Tekken: Blood Vengeance, a full-length GC animated feature film directed by Youichi Mouri, who handled the opening cinematics for Tekken 5 and Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion.

We’ll soon see how the franchise adapts to its second outing on a Nintendo machine, as well as how it holds up against the small crop of fighting games (e.g.,Super Street Fighter IV and Dead or Alive 3D) already available.

[How a family trio quietly coaxed magic from machines.]

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TalkBack / Super Follin Brothers

« on: January 10, 2012, 05:12:53 PM »

How a family trio quietly coaxed magic from machines.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/feature/28827

No system is without creators of noteworthy music, no matter how simplistic its hardware or esoteric its library. In fact, it's often the machines on the dustier, more technologically meager end of the chart that house the beeps and boops so many associate warmly with, and which serve as early precedential marks for the generations following. Their limitations inherently defined them—and their games—in all aspects (e.g., fidelity, design, input, music), setting clear technical limits but also leading to the frequent inspired used of the available resources.

In terms of immediate perception, few things arguably stood out as plainly as when a game could spring a handful of unexpectedly well-crafted tunes upon a player. Metroid did it. Duck Tales did it. Mega Man did it, then did it several more times. The NES landscape alone is littered with fitting examples, many of them courtesy of the quietly lauded Tim and Geoff Follin.

Hailing from England, the pair, along with programming-oriented third brother Mike, started dabbling in game music in the mid-1980s. Mike, the eldest, had taken to tinkering with the 8-bit ZX Spectrum personal computer several years prior, and soon landed a job programming for Insight Software. Tim, the youngest and in his teens at the time, followed Mike's lead. He held a casual interest in programming for the Spectrum, which led to experimentations with the audio component. After Mike gave him an opportunity to craft music for an Insight game—The Sentinel—the then-15-year-old Tim more or less became an employee of the studio, where he would go on to score Spectrum games such as Chronos, Solar Invasion, and Bubble Bobble.

After a year at Insight, Tim followed Mike to Software Creations, where he and Geoff would develop a majority of their scores, both individually and in collaboration with each other. After a brief stint at Malibu Interactive, the brothers largely removed themselves from the industry. Mike became an ordained minister within the Church of England, Geoff taught at a primary school, and Tim, having worked as a freelancer for several years, chose to step away from video game composing, citing the irregularity and general undependability of the work.

It's probably too easy to interpret the brothers' stint in games composition as fleeting or inconsequential compared to the Kondos or Uematsus or Tallaricos of the world—the well-known heavyweights. While the music the Follin brothers created may not be eminently hummable or actively define the title, there's no disputing the inspired craftsmanship put into every one of their kinetic soundtracks.

In an interview, Tim admitted that the music he and Geoff created did not always suit the respective games as well as it could have (a sentiment more or less proven through the deliriously inappropriate cosmic speed metal sensibility of the soundtrack for Spot, a simplistic board game for Game Boy staring the titular 7 Up mascot), but was instead the result of trying to extract a desired "cool" sound. This sound, which permeates the majority of both of the Follin brothers' scores, is a cocktail of galloping bombast, swirling arpeggios, dizzying height, and whatever other rhythms or styles that happen to find their way into the mix. Their layered songs also rarely rest on one or two somewhat memorable phrases (the title track to their SNES collaboration Equinox runs through about five). The trait, cursorily attributable to the brothers' progressive rock listening habits, also had simpler roots; one of Tim's expressed goals as a composer was to create transcendent, original sounds through technical limitations, which he and Geoff always did in spades.

Required Listening:

Agent X 2

(C64 - Tim + Geoff)

This early C64 composition works what would grow to be the brother's trademark sound into competent faux-spy themes.

Gauntlet III

(Amiga - Tim + Geoff)

While mostly on the settled, acoustic end of the spectrum, the brothers' arrangement is quick to rocket into a drum fill-heavy synth-metal gallop. Subsequent tracks trade in Gaelic interludes, ride heavy bass lines, and even work with scaled back woodwind leads.

LED Storm 

(Amiga - Tim)

While the high-altitude arpeggio synth sound of the beginning strains wouldn't be out of place in something like Super Mario Galaxy, the complex low end, hiccuping drums, and solid wall of sound that soon rise up almost sounds like an Anamanaguchi track.

Solar Invasion

(ZX Spectrum - Tim)

Vectron

(ZX Spectrum - Tim)

Aigina's Prophecy

(C64 - Geoff)

Altered Space

(GB - Geoff)

Solar Jetman

(C64 - Geoff)

Spot

(GB - Geoff)

Time Trax

(Genesis - Tim)

Incredible Crash Test Dummies

(NES - Tim + Geoff)

The soundtrack for this action figure/cartoon/comic tie-in is an incongruous but welcome slurry of pop and rock, delivered at breakneck speed.

Silver Surfer

(NES - Tim + Geoff)

While the aggressively beat-conscious intro track may be the hardest, most whiplash-inducing roller coaster of the bunch, the rest of the soundtrack—equatable to several minutes of incessant, stratosphere-shattering soloing—maintains the pace.

Solstice

(NES - Tim)

The regality of the opening track provides a fantastic build up for the ensuing blast, which nearly forces you to take a knee under its spectacle before dropping into extended, kicking jig, then moving into the rest of the prog-y soundtrack.

Target Renegade

(NES - Tim)

While much of TR's soundtrack plays out a lot like cheesy '80s rock, there are some wistful and worthwhile cuts sandwiched in between.

Equinox

(SNES - Tim + Geoff)

This sequel to Solstice takes advantage of its superior hardware to make a deeper and more varied song style, with delicate instrumentation and atmosphere.

Plok

(SNES - Tim + Geoff)

The soundtrack to this brightly colored platformer is the expected genre fare, but a bit manic, deceptively bombastic, and diverse in tone.

Spider-Man / X-Men: Arcade's Revenge

(SNES - Tim + Geoff)

As funky and fun as it is intentionally cheesy.

Super Off Road

(SNES - Tim + Geoff)

In addition to its clean, full-bodied guitar sound, SOR works in a palpitating, rhythmic sensibility and frenetic pace.

Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future

(Dreamcast - Tim)

Inimitably pleasant and emotional without getting sappy, the varied ambiance—interspersed with sad and even stressful tones—of this soundtrack is actively effective.

[The free add-on adds a ton of unique content.]

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TalkBack / Fan Crafts an Extensive Super Mario 64 Mod

« on: January 02, 2012, 02:03:10 PM »

The free add-on adds a ton of unique content. 

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/28842

A dedicated Super Mario 64 fan, calling himself Skelux, has released a complete modification for the Nintendo 64 classic.

Over a year in the making, the project is a full-featured expansion to the precedential Super Mario 64, and includes more than 30 original areas and 120 Power Stars to collect. In addition, it boasts new music and new objects for Mario to interact with.

The video accompanying the release shows large, colorful levels, many of which bear some resemblance to those in the Super Mario Galaxy games. The mod repurposes the assets, basic aesthetic, and enemies of the original (Goombas, Chain Chomps, cannons, Metal and Wing Caps, etc.) but tosses it all into an original and enticing package.

The mod is available for download on this YouTube page (along with more videos of gameplay and a partial DS port of the add-on), as well as the Google Site for the project, and requires a ROM of the game to run.

[A heaping helping of Mario Kart, Ambassador games, and Jeopardy on this week's episode!]

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Podcast Discussion / Episode 14: Big M and the Kids Table

« on: December 24, 2011, 12:40:56 PM »

A heaping helping of Mario Kart, Ambassador games, and Jeopardy on this week's episode!

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/connectivity/28788

The holidays are upon us, and in the spirit of giving, we at Connectivity are presenting you with a king-sized episode this week! Save the receipt in case it doesn't fit.

Neal sits down by a crackling fire, gaudy Christmas sweater worn proudly, alongside Karl Castaneda and, making his Connectivity debut, Mr. Jonathan Metts! As chestnuts roasts, the boys discuss the history of the Mario Kart series and debate time's oldest mystery: is Double Dash the best entry in the series? Short answer: yes. Long answer: yes, stupid.

From there, Neal, Mike, and Scott hop on a one horse open sleigh and ride through the quiet, nighttime streets of a small snow-adorned town. While on their way, they eagerly discusses Nintendo's gift to all the good boys and girls who bought a 3DS when it was crazy expensive, the GBA Ambassador games! The boys could be heard chanting "old games, old games!" as they went beyond the outskirts of the small town, disappearing behind a shroud a wet, falling snowflakes.

Sitting on the floor in front of the NWR Christmas tree, with legs crossed in front of them, Nicholas Bray and Pedro Hernandez remember fondly the oft-overlooked entry in the Mario Kart series: Super Circuit. Pour yourself a glass of eggnog and enjoy the trip down memory lane.

Bedtime approaches at the NWR household, and as the staff listens intently for the sounds of Santa and his Reindeer landing on the roof with presents in tow, Neal, Scott, Pedro, and Nate Andrews sneak out of bed and play one final game of NWR Jeopardy before their eyes grow heavy in want of sleep. 

Enjoy this extra long episode of Connectivity as you make your travels this weekend. Be sure to send us listener mail by clicking here. Have a wonderful holiday, and we'll see you back for our final episode of 2011 next week.

[Step into the maelstrom of aural delights that is MSF's music.]

100

TalkBack / Treat Yourself to the Mighty Switch Force Soundtrack

« on: December 23, 2011, 09:35:49 PM »

Step into the maelstrom of aural delights that is MSF's music.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/blog/28784

Aside from being out on the eShop at this very moment (and pretty good, from the sounds of it), WayForward's Mighty Switch Force also has quite the soundtrack, which—not to be outdone by bubbly, fast-paced nature of the game itself—is equatable to an orchestra-sized wall of grinning electronic fun.

The album, creation of composer and all-around swell guy Jake Kaufman (whom we interviewed a couple months ago), is available on Bandcamp, where players, fans, and connoisseurs of fine music can name their own price for the collection of twenty-three tracks. If it reaches #1 on Bandcamp (currently, it sits at #2), Kaufman will release the raw source tracks for people to remix to their content—so get on it! Here's a peak at what you can expect. For the full experience, buy the album HERE right now!

Caught Red Handed—After the blistering urgency of the title and intro, we're presented with this breezy, dubstep-laced track, which separates its time between throbbing bass and an echoey breakdown.

Launch Hearts—Fuel by a glimmering electronic backbeat, this track is driven up through several stratospheres of pop-y positivity at a breakneck speed.

Love You Love You Love—A mellower (if that's even possible) cut, propelled by vocal-esque verses and layers of intermingling ditties.

Jive Bot—Its bracingly heavy bass intro blossoms into a serious groove, riding the soaring melody and playing off the ever-present bottom end.

Whoa I'm In Space Cuba—This funky tango of a track is generously layered with dance-inciting piano, drums, and hand clapping.

Apprehend Them!—Don't let the early, serious strains deceive you—it quickly drops into a racing theme of whimsical escape.

Yummy—Another bass heavyweight, this track is as the title suggests, and evolves into an climbing, empowering riff before driving it deep into some speaker-shaking wubs and dubs.

Break Up Take Down—Sweeping and melodically wistful, it's accented with full-bodied crashes and toweringly intricate.

Final Level—Expansive and chasmic, this track echoes with malevolently enjoyable strains.

Final Boss—A relentless assault from the low frequencies is punctuated here by orchestral-style whines and shouts.

Tally Screen—A paired down retrospective piece, it's a spacious respite after the preceding aural siege.