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Super Mario 3D World doesn't herald end of Super Mario Galaxy, assures Miyamoto
Super Mario 3D World may be the "present culmination of 3D Super Mario," but that doesn't mean Nintendo's EAD team is done with Super Mario Galaxy games. Speaking in a recent Iwata Asks interview, EAD General Manager Shigeru Miyamoto assured fans there could be another entry in the series that appeared twice on the Wii to high acclaim. "The same team can't make both [Super Mario 3D World and another Super Mario Galaxy game] at the same time," Miyamoto said. "And we can't bring in a second party and slap the name Super Mario Galaxy on it. I suppose we could idealistically make both in Tokyo, but we want to do something new too, so there was that dilemma." The same interview revealed a few interesting tidbits about Super Mario 3D World, including that fifth playable character Rosalina is unlocked by beating the main game i.e. getting the ending, and her unique ability is a "special spin attack" (see above.) Also, the cloning power-up that lets you control multiple heroes was inspired by a mistake, after an EAD developer accidentally used a placement tool to put in two Marios. Not that it's very surprising, but 3D World Director Koichi Hayashida also noted Nintendo had the Wii U game in mind ever since it began development on 3DS entry Super Mario 3D Land. As for future Mario adventures, Miyamoto said, "Personally, I would like to take on a variety of new challenges with Super Mario Galaxy and design 2D Super Mario games in an easy-to-understand way within certain restraints." Super Mario 3D World is out next week on November 22 for the Wii U.
Iwata: Merging hardware teams could result in more hardware
Speaking to investors, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata elaborated on Nintendo's aims regarding the merger of its console and handheld development teams. Iwata takes the surprising stance that putting the two teams together in Kyoto will result in more potential platforms, not fewer. "What we are saying is that we would like to integrate software development methods, operating systems, and built-in software and software assets for each platform so that we can use them across different machines," Iwata said. "This means that if we manage to integrate our platforms successfully, we may in fact be able to make more platforms." Iwata explained that the ability to share development resources and assets between teams will allow them to work more efficiently, and that they would be "spread too thinly" if they tried to work on more than the current console and handheld platforms. As usual, it's impossible to guess what Nintendo is up to in specific terms. "We feel that we are nearing a saturation point in terms of simply improving performance or enhancing graphics," Iwata said. "What is far more important for the future of video games is whether we can make new propositions in other aspects and create games out of something that people never expected to see in the form of a game." The problem with things we never expect to see is that we don't know what to expect, and therefore what to tell you.
New Mario 3D and Mario Kart announced, playable at E3
During today's Nintendo Direct, company president Satoru Iwata announced that the team behind 3D Mario is working on a new installment for Wii U. A new Mario Kart is also en route to the platform.The games will be playable at this year's E3, during which we'll learn whether they'll be in homes by the holidays.
Nintendo to merge handheld and console divisions by next month
Nintendo plans to unite its console and handheld divisions by February 16, combining the two into a singular unit tasked with creating next-generation hardware. As reported by Nikkei, and then confirmed to Engadget by Nintendo, the combined unit will initially incorporate 150 handheld and 130 console engineers, and operate out of a new $340 million facility located just by the company's headquarters (pictured above) in Kyoto, with the facility due to be completed by the end of 2013.The move represents Nintendo's first major organizational restructuring in around a decade. In 2002, Satoru Iwata replaced Hiroshi Yamauchi as president of Nintendo, and initiated a move which saw the company's two Research & Development teams re-assigned into the Entertainment, Analysis, and Development division.Today's news follows speculation around Nintendo's restructuring plans which suggested Shigeru Miyamoto would retire from his position as Nintendo EAD boss, being replaced by EAD deputy manager Takashi Tezuka. In a 2011 interview, Miyamoto noted Nintendo ought to be "structured" to operate without him before he'd leave the company.
Lets-a go look at nearly 70 New Super Mario Bros. 2 screens
Stop looking at whatever else it was you were looking at and start looking at this incredible wealth of New Super Mario Bros. 2 screens. No, seriously, you should start looking. It's gonna take a while.
Pikmin 3 lacking online multiplayer because ... there are a bunch of Pikmin
Nintendo's upcoming Wii U console will be the company's most internet-enabled yet. Its Miiverse intends to greatly expand on the Wii's Mii Plaza, its Friend Codes will be "a lot simpler" than previous versions of Nintendo's online buddy system, and many of its retail games will also be available digitally. In that context, it's hard to understand why the Wii U's flagship first-party title, Pikmin 3, won't include online multiplayer."In the situation of Pikmin, for example, since you would have lots of individual, small creatures, the Pikmin, whose every movement and location is going to be really important in the game, it would be very difficult to sync up over an internet connection," Nintendo design lead Shigeru Miyamoto told IGN in a recent interview. While Miyamoto acknowledges that games like, say, Mario Kart Wii were online-enabled, it apparently wouldn't be possible with Pikmin 3 on Wii U.Mario Kart worked, he said, because Nintendo was able to make up for any dropped frames over an internet connection. The issues with Pikmin 3 going online are different, and apparently insurmountable. "Unfortunately, no online multiplayer for Pikmin 3," he said."But the co-op local multiplayer is really fun."
Sakurai explains Kid Icarus: Uprising's contentious controls
The thing about Kid Icarus: Uprising is that, even though it induces carpal-tunnel syndrome, it's just so gosh-darned fun. Developer Project Sora's director Masahiro Sakurai has offered some insight into the control scheme and some tips for a more comfortable gaming experience – beyond "use the stand," that is."I think any game needs to provide new experiences and stimulating things to discover, but if we provided run-of-the-mill controls for it, that cuts down on the game's potential," Sakurai told IGN. "If a player used to touchscreen-based aiming played against someone used to right-analog control, the first player would probably dominate. The speed is on a whole different level."As for the pain in your hand, Sakurai has an easy solution: relax. "If there are players who say that it makes their hand tired, that's because you're applying too much force. Try to relax and work on building a rhythm to your control. Place the pen in the middle of the touchscreen; when you're flicking it, take the pen off the screen as you're sweeping with it, and stop right there. That's the basic idea." So in short, don't press too hard and try to be more elegant in your wrist control – it takes practice.Oh, and if you're a lefty, just know how lucky you are to be able to play Kid Icarus: Uprising with a Circle Pad Pro – left-handed controls almost didn't make their way into the game. "Considering how close to the limit we pushed the 3DS during development, it's a miracle that we were even able to provide support for left-handed controls at the point of completion. Providing support for independent analog control was something that was technically impossible."
Old Nintendo picture book highlights young Miyamoto, other Mario vets
When Chris Covell went to a "local library" recently -- local for him being "in Japan" -- he didn't grab just any book. Instead, he grabbed a picture book made for children named "The Stars of Famicom Games: How Video Games Are Made," wherein legendary Japanese developers like Shigeru Miyamoto, Koji Kondo, and Takashi Tezuka are caught in revealing images, behind the scenes of Super Mario Bros. 3's development. Beyond all the devs looking many, many years younger (the images were taken in summer 1989), the photos depict an all-star development team crafting one of the most beloved gaming experiences of all time. If your morning has been sadly devoid of EPROMs and late '80s Japanese haircuts, this conveniently translated feature is perfect for you. [Image credit: Chris Covell]
Shigeru Miyamoto 'retiring from current position' at Nintendo, working on smaller games [update: Nintendo denies]
Update: A Nintendo spokesperson tells Reuters that the report of Shigeru Miyamoto stepping down to a different position is "absolutely not true." The company asserts the story is a "misunderstanding," and that Miyamoto has "no intention" of stepping down. Original story: "I'm not saying that I'm going to retire from game development altogether. What I mean by retiring is, retiring from my current position," Nintendo head of development and long-time game industry figurehead Shigeru Miyamoto told Wired's Game|Life blog in an interview this week. It appears, after a lengthy career spent creating some of the game industry's most popular and important franchises, Miyamoto is altering his role at the company. "What I really want to do is be in the forefront of game development once again myself. Probably working on a smaller project with even younger developers. Or I might be interested in making something that I can make myself, by myself. Something really small," he explained further. Miyamoto isn't quitting development, though. Apparently he's looking to start a new project in 2012, and hopes to show it publicly by year's end. "In other words, I'm not intending to start from things that require a five-year development time," he added. While he won't be changing roles immediately, the idea behind announcing his retirement is to spur the less veteran devs at Nintendo to step up. "I'm interested in doing a variety of many other things," he teased.
Oops! Game-halting bug in Skyward Sword (and how to avoid it)
If you're currently many hours deep into The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword -- say, around the "Song of the Hero" quest -- you'd better be careful. According to an email from Nintendo sent to Zelda Informer, you may encounter a game-breaking glitch if you complete tasks in a certain order during the "Song of the Hero" quest. If you save after the bug is in effect and don't have an earlier file as a backup, you'll have to start Skyward Sword over. If you complete the quest's desert leg first and speak to a Goron gentleman not once, but twice, the game locks out completion of the other two portions, halting all progress in the game. That said, it's pretty easy to avoid: just don't talk to the Goron more than once. Done! (Alternatively, do not complete the desert part first.) Nintendo gets more specific in describing the glitch in its letter, which we've dropped below the break. We've reached out to Nintendo to see if a patch will be issued for the game, but the company's official release unfortunately didn't indicate as much.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword review: Such great heights
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is a game that is going to mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people. For the base which took hold of Nintendo's initial vision for the Wii console, imagining future games where the controller in your hand was -- hey! -- not a controller, but the Master Sword itself; it is that. For those who simply imagined a narrative evolution of the long, long-stagnant Hylian franchise, it is that, too. For Wii owners who just want something to play, it is that as well. It must be that. As the flagship component of the Zelda franchise's 25th Anniversary, you couldn't ask for a better identikit of the series. As it moves through the all-too-familiar cycle of temples, tools and time-travel, it touches on the franchise's lowest points, adopts its most stellar attributes and, at frequent intervals, taps into a kind of magic that no game ever has before.
Super Mario 3D Land comes with new 3DS firmware
Japanese Super Mario 3D Land carts have started dropping into 3DS slots, and early reports from the country indicate that the game comes packed with brand new firmware for the system. What does the firmware update do, you wonder? Apparently, it makes the portable's friends list a bit more functional -- a button will now allow you to join a friend's game in progress. It seems that the update isn't an early release of the upcoming November one, which brings a variety of features. The firmware update also adds a modification to the console's ability to play flashcarts, a notorious game piracy culprit on portable consoles. Like most game-based firmware updates, the cart requires the update before allowing the user to access Super Mario 3D Land, so, uh, resistance is kinda futile. It's unclear whether the same firmware update will be present on US and EU carts when the game ships in the coming weeks, but we've asked Nintendo for clarification and will update the story if we hear back.
Latest Skyward Sword assets put Link in a trial by fire
Despite the obvious perils of venturing into volcanoes and "fire sanctuaries," our hero Link (of Zelda's lengthy legend) takes to both potentially fatal locales with his usual aplomb in these latest trailers for The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. Be careful, little Link!%Gallery-137841%
Deja Review: Star Fox 64 3D
We're of the firm opinion that your time is too precious, too valuable to be spent reading a full review for a game that was already reviewed many, many years ago. What's the point of applying a score to a game that's old enough to be enrolled in the sixth grade? That's why we invented Deja Review: A quick look at the new features and relative agelessness of remade, revived and re-released games. If you've spent any time with the Nintendo 3DS -- especially if that time was spent with the handheld's aeronautical launch title, Pilotwings Resort -- you're probably aware that flying games are right in this handheld's wheelhouse. Moving forward through the sky as objects and other pilots move towards, around and behind you looks invariably dope with the 3D slider turned on; this law is no less incontrovertible in the system's latest first-party remake: Star Fox 64 3D. But games can't live on dopeness alone -- they need meat on their bones as well. Star Fox has no lack of content, but if you owned the Nintendo 64 original and thoroughly explored its brief and branching campaign back in 1997, you've probably seen that content plenty of times before. Much like Ocarina of Time 3D before it, Star Fox 64 3D is banking on a single bulletpoint to earn your purchase: You've never seen that content quite like this.%Gallery-128694%
Dive through the clouds with Link in the latest Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword trailer
We've seen an awful lot of Link sporting goofy farmer clothes in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, but the latest trailer plays on key nostalgia factors. Green tunic? Check. Z-targeting? You bet! Losing Zelda to "evil forces?" Of course. And there's a bonus, too: big birds!
Ocarina of Time 3DS ad starring Robin Williams, his daughter, and a tremendous beard
The flurry of trailers reminding you of your long-time love for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time wasn't enough to get you excited for the 3DS remake? The latest TV ad, starring Robin Williams, his daughter (named Zelda, after the 1987 NES game), and his incredible grey mane should do it!
Nintendo mass announces Wii, DS game launch dates
Clearly, Nintendo wants the back half of your year to have a strong financial plan. In two lengthy lists we spotted on the company's press site, everything from Kirby Wii to Pro Jumper! Chimaki's Hot Spring Tour Guilty Gear Tangent was given a more clear release date, with Kirby arriving some time in fall and the latter mystifying DSiWare shopgoers on June 23. If one game starring a puffy pink monster just wasn't enough, how about one for your DS on September 19? 'Cause that's exactly when Kirby Mass Attack is launching. A whole mess of other release date/windows/seasons are categorized for your fiduciary planning needs, just beyond the break.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword preview: Swinging for the skies
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is the Zelda game I wanted on Wii five years ago, when the console launched. I don't mean that to say it's not good, because I sure had a great time playing it. I mean that to say that the "Wiimote as a sword" gameplay in Twilight Princess was gesture-based and awful, whereas Skyward Sword features excellent, near one-to-one control thanks to the required Wii MotionPlus. I lift the Wiimote, and Link lifts his sword. I slash diagonally, and he slashes with me, imperfections and all. In fact, aside from some seriously rough graphical edges -- literally! jaggies ahoy! -- The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is exactly the right Zelda game for Nintendo's soon-to-be-succeeded Wii console and it's oft-misused controller.%Gallery-125901%
Mario Kart 3DS preview: By land, by sea, by air
The highlight moment of my time with Mario Kart 3DS didn't involve blue sparks, bananas or any sort of weaponized carapace; though, naturally, all of those elements make a reappearance in the colorful racer. The key moment was the first time I hit a rather innocuous-looking ramp and, once airborne, produced a hang glider from my vehicle's undercarriage. It wasn't a particularly surprising moment -- your car's new utilities were revealed in the trailer showed during Nintendo's E3 press conference -- but it was certainly an interesting one. The new aerial and underwater portions of each track aren't just fresh new obstacles for you to dodge using the series' tried-and-true system of drifting, boosting and item-firing. They represent challenges for you to navigate using entirely new methods of control. %Gallery-125669%
Latest Ocarina of Time 3DS trailer plays the Song of Nostalgia
We're not above admitting that the latest trailer for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (ripped from the Japanese Nintendo Channel) got us a lot more excited than we thought we'd be getting for a nearly 15-year-old game. Head past the break to check it out ... and do try to contain yourself.
