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Cave Story+ hits the 3DS eShop soon, separate from Cave Story 3D
Cave Story+, an updated and 3D version of indie classic Cave Story, is slated to hit the 3DS eShop "in a month or so," developer and Nicalis CEO Tyrone Rodriguez told Destructoid. Cave Story+ is a remade, separate game from DSiWare's Cave Story 3D, not an update, meaning even those who own Cave Story 3D will have to purchase Cave Story+ new."I fought really hard to try to get it to be just a 'simple' update; I feel that Nintendo wanted the same thing too, but the logistics behind it are pretty huge," Rodriguez said. "The good thing is that if you already bought the DSiWare version on your 3DS and ever delete it, you'll still be able to download it. The update won't stop you from playing the prior version of the game."A version of Cave Story+ launched on Steam last year, but the 3DS version will be different even from that iteration, Rodriguez said. The eShop version can't handle the Steam HD art or new music, but the sprites will be rendered in 3D, set to the beat of the original soundtrack.Rodriguez teased a Steam update for Cave Story+ as well, saying, "You already know about the Cave Story+ Steam updates we have planned? How do online leaderboards for the challenges sound?" Sounds great, Rodriguez. Just great.
Disgaea team crafting a dungeon RPG for 2012, Nippon Ichi announces more
During a recent Nippon Ichi press conference, CEO Sohei Shinkawa announced a handful of projects the company is working on for the immediate future. The first likely won't require all that much actual work -- it's Cave Story 3D, which the company is publishing in Japan. He added that two other projects are in the pipeline: A new adventure game scheduled for a Japanese Summer 2012 launch, and a dungeon-centric RPG from the Disgaea team due out sometime in 2012. During a later Q&A, Shinkawa revealed that the company would like to release at least one Vita title next year, but did not confirm whether either of the newly announced projects would be that title. Shinkawa also revealed all this information while wearing a Prinny-shaped hat, so we're not sure we can believe a single thing he said.
Deja Review: Cave Story 3D
Not even a semi-controversial visual makeover can keep me from loving Cave Story. I admit to being a bit worried upon seeing the first screens of the new 3DS remake, Cave Story 3D, developed by Nicalis in conjunction with original creator Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya. And I admit now that the new polygonal graphics lack the extreme charm of the original pixels. But Cave Story is a wonderful game on any platform, in any configuration. Those new graphics are there to sell the game to non-"core" gamers who see 2D art as archaic, and who have no pre-existing knowledge of the indie game scene or of Cave Story. The game still works with its new look. Besides, I was really, honestly impressed with the redone art in several areas. I enjoyed seeing the game reinterpreted, after seeing the original so, so many times.
Cave Story 3D screens come in all dimensional varieties
What're you looking for, folks? Screens of Cave Story 3D's titular three-dimensional display, complete with left-right screen splitting? We have those. Want some slightly less complicated images of the game's spritely 2D mode? You know we got your back. (And we always will.)
Cave Story 3D includes 'expanded' stages and Prinny, but not original game
In an interview with Siliconera, NIS America producer Jack Niida hinted at a Prinny crossover in Cave Story 3D. "You can probably expect our most popular character in there. Aside from that, you might see him as an item, as well." Prinny is a shoo-in for NIS's most popular character, and it's been used in Cave Story 3D teaser images before (see above), so that's probably the dood in question. Niida also offered a bit more info about the expanded content in the 3D version, which Nicalis hinted at during our preview. "For the old time fans of Cave Story, there aren't brand new stages," he said, "but what we did for these stages is we expanded it. So, there is more to it than there was before. There are new areas to explore; long time fans will definitely see the difference." What won't be in Cave Story 3D is the original Cave Story. "That's one thing we were talking about too," he said, "but the problem was the amount of space on the card size. We sort of squeezed everything in and at this point we don't have enough space for it."
Cave Story 3D delayed until November
What's the opposite of "Huzzah"? Cave Story 3D, Nicalis's radical reinterpretation of the indie classic, won't make its appointed August 9 release date. Publisher NIS America confirmed to Joystiq today that the 3DS remake has been pushed back to November, putting its official release date in line with the date on GameStop's website. An NIS rep told us that the company would offer more detail about the delay in a press release, expected today. In the meantime, we suggest ameliorating the wait for Cave Story with ... the other version of Cave Story, on DSiWare or WiiWare. You know, to get you ready for Cave Story (3D).%Gallery-127295% Update: the press release is after the break, specifying a November 8 release. Producer Jack Niida says that the changes being made to Cave Story 3D are " in the small details, but in order to satisfy both the fans and the new players we need to make sure the game is done right."
Cave Story 3D preview: Pixel goes polygonal
I'll admit it: my excitement about a new version of Cave Story to play on the 3DS was tempered a bit by fears that it wouldn't turn out right. To put it more directly, my excitement was tempered by the first screenshots of Cave Story 3D. But upon playing the remake, it was immediately evident that developer Nicalis had been paying attention to the reaction to those first images, and is working to make something that reinterprets the environments of the retro-style original in a more palatable -- and more parsable -- way. It is not ruined by the 3D graphics.%Gallery-126407%
Cave Story 3D to feature dimension-defying 2D sprite mode
Torn between your love of the original Cave Story's beautifully pixel-drawn sprites and your excitement for Cave Story 3D's complete reinvention of the game's hovering island-world? You can now have your cave and eat it too: NIS America recently announced the game's 2D sprite mode, which takes the original, flat characters and enemies and places them in remodeled 3D environments, Paper Mario-style. Destructoid managed to get its hands on a pair of images of this double-dimensioned mode, one of which is posted above. Personally, we think it looks pretty gosh darn neat, though now we're going to have to worry about poor little Quote slipping through crevices in the cave floor. Guess it still beats getting squished by the wizard-king of Hell, but ... um, not by much.
Cave Story 3D dated once again, coming August 9
We saw one Cave Story 3D release date before, on Nintendo's quarterly release schedule, but that turns out to have been inaccurate -- or the game has been delayed since then. In any case, scratch out the "Cave Story day!!!" note you put on your calendar's June 19 box and rewrite it under August 9. NIS will release the game in Europe sometime in September. Along with announcing the date, NIS America released the box art image above, featuring protagonists Quote and Curly Brace checking out the 3DS logo on the side. The publisher also released a set of screenshots, each with a note that the game is "under development."%Gallery-122526%
Wii Play: Motion announced for June 13, Ocarina of Time 3D follows on June 19
Nintendo laid out its Wii, DS, and 3DS lineup for the second quarter of 2011 (which, yes, has already started), revealing a MotionPlus-based successor to the extremely successful Wii Play. Called Wii Play: Motion, the bundle will included 12 new minigames and, of course, a Wii Remote Plus. It'll be out and upselling everyone who goes out to buy a Wiimote on June 13. Nintendo is also publishing a Wii iteration of the hidden-object Mystery Case Files series, Mystery Case Files: Dust to Dust, on June 27. Nintendo's big 3DS release for the quarter, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, has also been given a release date: June 19. It'll be followed by third-party standout Cave Story 3D on June 28. Find more release dates for upcoming Wii, DS, and 3DS games after the break.
Interview: Cave Story's salaryman designer, Daisuke 'Pixel' Amaya
Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya is one of just a few Japanese names in the indie gaming pantheon, after developing 2004's Cave Story entirely on his own as a labor of love. This year, he came to the Game Developers Conference to present a long-overdue postmortem about the development of Cave Story and to promote the upcoming 3DS remake, which he's working on with developer Nicalis and publisher NIS America. During this presentation, Amaya showed never-before-seen footage of a beta version of Cave Story, including locations, characters, and enemies that didn't make it into the beloved indie game. Soon after the presentation, we sat down with the game designer, and found out that despite the popularity of Cave Story, he still has a day job. For now. " I still work full time as a salaryman," Amaya told Joystiq, "but from April I'm going to be a full time developer." He explained that he planned to leave his job as a programmer for large-scale printing equipment a year ago, but "everybody was like 'are you really okay with developing games?' They weren't really sure if I could support myself." As he also had to train his replacement, his transition to full-time game designer was delayed. " I have a wife, I have kids, so [his co-workers] were a bit worried. It's not like they doubt my skill."
Cave Story's Balrog shot in the butt -- in 3D
Okay, so it's not really stereoscopic 3D yet, but this teaser video is a really detailed look at the polygonal character models from Nicalis and NIS America's new Cave Story 3D -- some of whom are shot in the butt during the course of the video.
Cave Story 3D is a 'fully reconstructed' port for 3DS [update: coming this summer]
NIS America has announced it'll publish Cave Story 3D, a "fully reconstructed in 3D" version of Studio Pixel's shooter, on the Nintendo 3DS -- Nicalis will be handling development duties. This means that there will be polygons and, utilizing the tech of the 3DS, certain environments will have a kind of curvature introduced. "This curvature can be accomplished by defining a 3D spline that directly and uniquely maps to the 2D grid that the game is actually aware of," says a preliminary fact sheet for the game. So, in layman's terms, it's still 2D, but projectiles and characters will move around these curvature points as if it were a 3D space. Everything else about the game is still pretty much the same: you explore; you shoot guys; you get experience and upgrade stuff. We weren't given a launch date for this latest port (Cave Story is currently available on the PC, WiiWare and DSiWare), but we've got a gallery of concept art you're free to peruse. Update: NIS America announced a summer 2011 release date for this 3DS remake.%Gallery-116273%
