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Asura's Wrath reaction no surprise to Matsuyama, dot Hack for NA needs more fan support
CyberConnect2's president Hiroshi Matsuyama was signing autographs at Wondercon in Anaheim, CA this past weekend, and he kindly took a break from showing off his latest game – Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations – to chat with us about how his other games are doing. And by "other games" we of course mean the one with the god destroyer: Asura's Wrath. Despite both critical acclaim and a strong sales start, Matsuyama is still cautious about the new IP. "It's only been a month since it's been out," Matsuyama told Joystiq through a translator. He said that he expected both positive and negative reactions, and that's what he got. "Obviously, it was a challenge to create something new. And when you try to do that, obviously the people that get it will enjoy it. But for people where the game doesn't fit their expectations, they're not going to jump up as much." We also checked in on both the dot Hack title in progress as well as a possible sequel to Solatorobo, but for both of those, Matsuyama says he needs more support from North American publishers. For dot Hack specifically, "as long as we can get more requests from the fans, there's a possibility." But he there are other factors in play as well. "It's not that people don't know about it," he said. "But I think it's more than Namco Bandai Games America is not interested in the typical JRPGs and that's why they're not looking to pick it up." Matsuyama said he's not trying to make directly Japanese or Western games, however. "It's most important to be able to see the whole world. Back in the day, a lot of developers and publishers were focused on Japanese games and sent them out to North America. Obviously that's not going to be accepted as much. From our standpoint, we're really looking to create a game that's fun for everybody in the world." That said, we kindly asked Matsuyama to show us what might be the next evolution of the Asura pose, given that we've seen it twice already so far. But because Matsuyama happened to be in the Namco booth and not the Capcom booth (not to mention that he was dressed up as Naruto anyway), we got the very serene pose above. In other words, the Asura Pose has evolved yet again.
The Daily Grind: How should MMOs appeal to both hardcore and casual players?
It's the eternal struggle between players and the eternal headache of developers: the hardcores vs. the casuals. On one hand, you have a group of gamers who devour content like locusts, min/max in ways that make college professors weep in envy, and spend oodles of time in MMOs as a matter of fact. On the other hand, there are those who lack the drive, the time, or the intense competitiveness, preferring instead to enjoy content at their own leisure, staying within a comfortable zone, and working on large goals in small bits at a go. With such a diverse range of players, making MMOs appeal to both crowds (and everyone in between) is enough to make one cross-eyed. Recently at WonderCon, several MMO developers were asked about this very topic, but today we'd like to get your opinion. How should MMOs be designed to best appeal to both hardcore and casual players? Is it a futile task -- should studios simply pick one or the other to go after? Is there a magic formula that games haven't tried yet, one you've figured out? Let us know! Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
WonderCon MMORPG industry panel explores key topics of the day
At last month's WonderCon in San Francisco, three MMO industry experts sat down to do a panel on many of the pressing questions and issues that players have these days. The lively panel, moderated by PC Gamer's Josh Augustine, consisted of Dirk Metzger (Zentia), Scott Hartsman (RIFT) and Nick Huggett (Runes of Magic), each taking turns to address some of the questions that are commonly asked about these games and the industry at large. These topics included player retention, free-to-play vs. subscription business models, the endless comparisons to World of Warcraft, why MMOs tend to be fantasy-based, some of the biggest mistakes in the genre, how to appeal to both hardcore and casual players, the differences between the Asian and North American market, and the struggle to provide player-created content. The rise of social media also has a significant effect on MMO development, according to Hartsman. "What that kind of forces us to do, bluntly, is make better games right off the bat, because people will tell you if your game sucks." You can watch the video highlights of the panel after the jump.
New Spider-Man game swinging to WonderCon
As promised, Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions dev Beenox will be handling the next entry in the Spidey franchise. Moreover, the as-yet-unnamed title will make an appearance at this year's WonderCon, according to the event's website. A listing for the Activision/Spider-Man panel, to be held Saturday, April 2, details a presentation that will involve both "post-launch reactions" to Shattered Dimensions and "exclusive details, screenshots and videos of the next Spider-Man game." For all you hardcore Peter Parker fans in the crowd, Spider-Man 2099 co-creator Peter David and voiceover artist Josh Keaton will both join Beenox devs on the panel, along with Marvel veep of game production TQ Jefferson. Given the relative awkwardness of Keaton's placement on the panel, we're guessing he'll once again be voicing Spidey in the forthcoming game. Though details are guaranteed to show up at the panel, we'd also keep an eye on gaming magazines to unceremoniously announce it by name with a cursory text mention on the cover. Hey, you never know!
Grab a Solstice Reborn Lucky Ball code and enter to win
This week we're all about the GDC 2011 love here at Massively. Not only is our team working hard to bring you all the hottest news from the show, but we're also trying to hand off some of the convention fun in the form of digital swag! During our visit yesterday to see the Outspark team and catch up with all the company has been doing in its free-to-play games, we were offered a treat for Massively readers: a special code for a free Solstice Reborn Lucky Ball. When used, the Solstice Reborn Lucky Ball will give players a random item that will help them level quickly in the game. Potions? Something more powerful? Well, you won't know until you redeem yours! However that's not all this Lucky Ball can do. U.S. players who redeem Lucky Balls in Solstice Reborn are automatically entered into a drawing to win a trip for two to Wondercon in San Francisco. Twenty other second-place winners will nab a Solstice Reborn t-shirt of their very own. Curious about how to get your Solstice Reborn Lucky Ball? Join us behind the break for all the details!
Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions to be unveiled at WonderCon
According to the WonderCon 2010 event schedule, on Saturday, April 3, Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions will be featured in an afternoon panel hosted by the likes of Marvel writer Dan Slott, Spidey voice actor Christopher Daniel, Activision senior producer Meghan Morgan and creative director Thomas Wilson of developer Beenox Studios -- wait. Beenox who? You're probably not familiar with the studio behind the next Spider-Man game by name, and for good reason. The Quebec City, Canada-based studio Bennox, a wholly-owned Activision subsidiary since 2005, has long handled the publisher's dirty work, responsible for porting some 30 or so of Activision's licensed-franchise games to the Windows and Mac platforms. Beenox also handled the Dreamworks-based movie-to-game adaptations of Bee Movie and Monsters vs. Aliens, as well as Guitar Hero: Smash Hits. Clearly, Beenox has paid its dues and, with Shattered Dimensions, has its first shot at becoming a household name; if it can "un-suck" Activision's Spider-Man series. (Having been crowned Quebec's Best Employer in 2008 and the Company of the Year in 2006, by the Quebec Chamber of Commerce, it sounds like Beenox's staff of roughly 300 could be up to the task.) Additionally, the WonderCon event listing reveals a few tidbits about Shattered Dimensions, teasing "an exciting new universe never before seen in Spider-Man video games," featuring "unique, unexpected worlds," and the reveal of two "new" villains. This is not going to be your friendly, neighborhood Spider-Man, kids. [Via IGN]
X3F @ WonderCon: Castle Crashers Hands-on
Castle Crashers was by far the most fun we had at WonderCon. Everything (well, almost, we'll get to that later) about the experience was positive, interesting, and fun. The booth was hidden behind the Ubisoft one, and was encircled by folding tables covered in drawings. As with many artists who are convention exhibitors, the guys from The Behemoth passed the time by doodling, and (for the first time for these guys) allowing other people to doodle there too. Though the staff in the booth was constantly changing and there was a general commotion around where people were drawing, we were still able to get some good information and impressions. We were able to talk with one of the creators of Castle Crashers, as well as the original hit, Alien Hominid. We were able to play through the demo several times in a few different levels, and we got to see the reaction from the surrounding crowd, most of whom had never heard of the game before seeing it there. %Gallery-16793%
