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Cave Story dev: Nintendo opens Wii to Flash development
Nicalis's Tyrone Rodriguez went to a "secret developer summit" for Nintendo developers in Los Angeles this week, bringing back news of an important new announcement for WiiWare game creators: Nintendo has now made it possible to develop Wii games entirely using Flash -- something that is presumably most useful for WiiWare. We will probably hear more about this new WiiWare Flash functionality at GDC -- it seems an appropriate venue."This should open up the Wii to a lot of web developers who already can do killer Flash games," Rodriguez said. You may think of this as enabling more quick shovelware, but we think of it as enabling Dolphin Olympics 2.In other news, The Escapist has posted an interview with Rodriguez and Cave Story creator Pixel that provides some insight into the kind of DLC planned for Cave Story. Rodriguez said that the structure is being designed to allow "all sorts of fun stuff like Boss Rush Mode or other fan-requested modes."
Cave Story coming in April or May!
The whole Nicalis team contributed to the latest Cave Story blog post, providing a fairly detailed snapshot of the game's progress at this point. "If all goes well," Tyrone Rodriguez said, "you'll be playing Cave Story by the beginning of May or even end of April."Rodriguez is working on localizing the manual into Spanish and French, programmer Tiffany is working on the DLC, to make sure that "the game will be able to support all the new content that we have planned over the months following the initial release." And Yann and Nicklas (aka Nifflas) are finishing up the audio, and ... " also building the speech synthesizer that will sing lyrics over each song while the playing the game!" Which might be a joke.%Gallery-33861%
Another Cave Story screen as the game nears completion
Nicalis has posted its weekly Cave Story screenshot, and we have, as usual, been staring at it for a good few minutes, just taking in the lovely backgrounds and the detailed sprites. More details are starting to be filled in as the game approaches release: as Nicalis's Tiffany points out, the weapon icons have been updated with new graphics, and the UI text is back in its proper pixelated form, rather than the "smoothed" look it previously had.Tiffany also mentions that "the MIDI player is ready to go and the new music is on the way." Finally, the weak link in the WiiWare Cave Story experience, the music, is getting fixed! It sounds like the game is getting very close to release, and we could not be more thrilled.%Gallery-33861%
Cave Story's graveyard reborn in new screenshot
Nicalis is still cruelly doling out Cave Story screenshots one at a time, and those screens continue to be gorgeous enough to be absolutely worth posting on their own. The latest image features the Mimiga graveyard, home of the marketably adorable Pignon mushroom creatures, in both normal and Giant varieties, and the Gravekeeper, whose duties seem limited to attacking people with a knife. According to the blog post preceding this screenshot, Nicalis's Tyrone Rodriguez went to Kyoto this weekend to meet with Pixel and do something secret. Kyoto happens to be the location of Nintendo. Could there be some more wonderful Pixel projects on WiiWare, or even DSiWare, in the future? Or, you know, maybe they're doing something else in Kyoto. It is, like, a whole city.%Gallery-33861%
New Cave Story screenshot would be lovable even without the puppy
Ah, now this is what the new site design is all about: the ability to post jaw-droppingly gorgeous Cave Story screens at near-full resolution. (To see it in fully full resolution, click on the image!) This latest screen of the WiiWare version of Pixel's delightful game, posted on developer Nicalis's site, features new sprites for two of the game's creatures: a puppy, and ... that skeleton thing, which we bet has a name. (According to the leading Cave Story fansite, it is called a "Skeleton".)In the accompanying post, programmer "Tiffany" says the game is "close to done", hints at some secret Wii stuff (the DLC, or possibly even more), and says something that should be the cause of relief among the entire Cave Story fan community: "One of the more obvious bugs from the initial port was a notable sound bug – you know "bleeding ears" and all–which I am currently working on. We promise to get it right!" They're going to get it right.%Gallery-33861%
Brace yourself for a new Cave Story sprite
Following the post about DLC, Nicalis has now officially come back to blogging, and by "blogging" we mean "teasing us regularly about Cave Story". And, as they return to their schedule, we now find ourselves back in our weekly ritual of thinking dreamily about Cave Story in response to the posting of a new sprite from the game.This time, it's Curly Brace, who protects a group of Mimiga children and eventually joins protagonist Quote on his journey. The new sprite looks pretty great to us, but one Nicalis blog commenter classifies her new appearance as "fattie". We guess ... that one shaded square in her midsection is now white? And now she's totally fat?%Gallery-33861%
Cave Story Wii dev emerges, DLC confirmed
Some Wiimakes are worth waiting for. Er, let us rephrase. One Wii-bound remake is worth waiting for: Cave Story. But with developer Nicalis playing the hermit through Thanksgiving and the month of December, the outlook was quickly bleak-ening. Had the recession starved dead this fragile indie? Was WiiWare destined to mire in sandy beaches? The holiday season passed without a glimmer of hope -- a promise unfulfilled.But with the coming of the New Year, we renewed our faith, depositing 2000 Wii Points into our account -- just for Cave Story. Lo and behold, our call was answered! Nicalis emerged from the darkness, a so-called "night game" this week to bring testament: "Cave Story for Wii hasn't been killed," pledged the developer. "Truth be told we did try to make it in time for Christmas, however, we weren't able to do so." Fair enough.Nicalis continued: "We're still working ... to make sure it's faithful to Amaya-san's original while adding a few things for the console release." Wait for it ... "One of these new additions, I'm happy to announce" -- almost there -- "is Download Content." Hmmm, an uncertain path for sure. Will it be "oh, here, buy this character we forgot to add" or "and here's that time trial mode you wanted ... for a little more" kinda DLC? Or, a legitimate expansion of the story -- beyond the cave, so to speak? Back to the waiting game for us.(In the meantime, Nicalis has posted its updated Curly sprite -- seen above, on the right; and reminded us of the game preview in the January EGM -- the last issue in print ... ever!) %Gallery-33743%
Life is worth living: Nicalis confirms new Cave Story DLC
After a lengthy hiatus, Cave Story WiiWare developer Nicalis has posted a new entry on their development blog, confirming two delightful pieces of information: The lack of blog updates does not signify cancellation of the game, and DLC! Blogger "ara" said that the developer "... received enough e-mails demanding it that we're doing our best to include some new surprises in the WiiWare release." Nothing specific about the new content was divulged, but it's new Cave Story and we're having a hard time imagining how this news could get any better. We can only hope that this is new Pixel-developed, or at least Pixel-approved, material.%Gallery-33861%
Cave Story videos are almost great
These videos of the Cave Story remake (best viewed at IGN in full resolution) clearly depict a work in progress. They'd better! The new graphics look very promising indeed, and the game looks appropriately smooth in motion. But the music is still janky (though not as janky) and every sound effect is rendered as loud white noise.It's really distressing to have the usually delightful Grasstown stage marred by weird sound effects -- not to mention the occasional escape of text from the confines of the text box. We're giving Nicalis the benefit of the doubt, mostly because we want to make sure to continue sending good, happy thoughts their way. Cave Story requires your happy thoughts to live! %Gallery-33861%
Cave Story's robot less blocky, but still blocky
How do you draw a more detailed sprite of a guy who's basically a bunch of rectangles anyway? That's the dilemma Pixel faced with this Cave Story character, Malco the friendly, explosives-loving robot. Pixel has done an outstanding job of adding definition -- and a mandible -- to a character who seemed impossible to detail. With that new jaw of his, he could destroy some gum base.According to the blog entry accompanying this sprite, IGN will have new direct-feed videos of Cave Story tomorrow. Presumably, this will be our first look at the new artwork in motion!%Gallery-33861%
One very worthwhile Cave Story screen
Cave Story remake developer Nicalis has been spreading exclusive content around the web, turning our daily news crawling into a delightful Cave Story scavenger hunt. The latest release is this screenshot found on WiiWare World, featuring the updated, redrawn graphics.We have feared that the increased definition in the sprites and environments would change too much of Cave Story's unique look, but Pixel knows what he is doing. The new look is more detailed, but still retro -- it just looks like somebody sharpened the focus.If you haven't tried Cave Story yet, don't worry about waiting for the WiiWare version. Play the freeware game now. You'll be ready to start again when the Wii game comes out.%Gallery-33861% We're not going to stop talking about Cave Story any time soon. You may as well read up on it and join the discussion!
Exclusive: Cave Story's new Sue sprite
click for larger image Tyrone from Nicalis asked us if we wanted to run an exclusive Cave Story sprite comparison, and we responded by sputtering, mostly, and attacking the keyboard furiously with our frantic approval. The new sprite that Nicalis chose to share with us is Sue Sakamoto, whom you rescue fairly early in the game. Beyond that, we're a bit shaky on what people would consider a spoiler, so we're not offering any more biographical details. We're impressed by how much the new sprite resembles her character portrait, and by the fact that her scar is visible. This is the sprite that has really convinced us that the upgraded graphics are a good thing. They're still blocky, but more expressive and with more variation between the characters.After the break, we've got another sprite comparison, this one from the Nicalis blog. Huzzah!%Gallery-33861%
Cave Story: Mimiga Village's new construction
WiiWare Cave Story developer Nicalis's blog has featured comparisons of sprites from the original game with Cave Story creator Pixel's redrawn sprites for a few weeks. Today, instead of a new character sprite, Nicalis's Tyrone Rodriguez posted part of the updated tileset for the Mimiga Village environment, one of the first areas of the game. It still looks like Mimiga Village, but a bit sharper. Pixel seems to have taken care to be faithful to his original arrangement of rocks and grass, adding just a bit more detail. With every single visual element in the game being redrawn by hand -- and it is by hand, of course, rather than a filter, as Rodriguez points out -- how could Cave Story possibly be finished any time soon?%Gallery-33861%
Cave Story on WiiWare adds save slots for multiple plays
Tyrone Rodriguez has updated Nicalis's blog with the image above from Cave Story. As you can imagine, it informs us all that the game will have up to three save slots, allowing for multiple people to enjoy what is sure to be one of the most fun WiiWare titles yet. Just one of the many updates being done to the WiiWare version of the game, we're glad this is the case because a game like this deserves to be shared.Oh, and if you haven't already, be sure to read our interview with Tyron Rodriguez right here.%Gallery-33861% We're not going to stop talking about Cave Story any time soon. You may as well read up on it and join the discussion!
Wii Fanboy Interview: Nicalis' Tyrone Rodriguez talks Cave Story
Tyrone Rodriguez is the man largely responsible for making the upcoming WiiWare version of Cave Story happen. He got in contact with Daisuke Amaya, aka Pixel, seeking to collaborate on a commercial port of the freeware hit. They eventually decided on WiiWare, and now Rodriguez's company Nicalis is working with Pixel to port and update the classic for a new console.When the official announcement came out, we sent a few questions about the development of the new version, the changes being made, and the future of Nicalis and Cave Story. We've posted the interview after the break. If you'd like to see the current state of WiiWare Cave Story, you can see two gameplay videos, as well as another interview done by GameTrailers, here.%Gallery-33861%
Top 5: Biggest Tear-Jerkers
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/nintendo/Top_5_Biggest_Nintendo_Tear_Jerkers'; The video games as art debate is a ridiculous sham. It seems that many who fall on the "games are not art" side have rarely or never played a video game, often a product of an older generation. If your only experience with video games is hearing news reports about 7 year olds beating up hookers in Grand Theft Auto, then of course your view will be ignorant and bigoted. But that doesn't give critical validity to start creating arguments against that with which you are very unfamiliar. I know surprisingly little about Somalian Islamic Literature, which is why I don't make inflammatory statements about it. To suggest that any video game is incapable of being art is remarkably narrow-minded. Television and movies choreograph all characters' actions and responses, leaving the viewer as a mere canvas on which the creator's views and reactions are imprinted. Though it's often that a viewer connects with a character and draws individual interpretations, their failures and triumphs can always be placed on the choices of the individual. With gaming, however, the connection can be just as deep, and to some, deeper. When our character fails, we grumble. When our character succeeds, we rejoice. Don't like the outcome? Well, then, you should've done things differently, dummy. While I'm not suggesting that games are better than film, they are simply different and arguably just as valid as high art. At a primitive level, it's not uncommon to punch the sofa in anger after failing a gaming objective. Just the same, it's nearly expected to vocalize with triumph after conquering the same obstacle. Emotional response does not automatically equal art, but creating something which vents one's senses and emotions and appeals to those of others certainly is. Different than stubbing your toe or finding 20 bucks in the street, gaming situations were carefully orchestrated to provide an experience which is dependent on the gamer to interpret. Why should emotions such as fear, love, and sadness be excluded from gaming? Making my way down from my soapbox, I'll say that perhaps the most intimate display of emotion is crying. Here's the Top 5 moments in gaming that seem to get me every time. SPOILER ALERT: I hate having something ruined just as much as you do, so I'm giving a fair warning right now. This list contains spoilers for several high profile Nintendo titles. None are from the Wii (excluding the Virtual Console), but I will say that the fifth item refers to the WiiWare-bound Cave Story. If you haven't played the game and plan on purchasing it (which you definitely should!), please skip to number four. NEXT >> #ninbutton { border-style: solid; border-color: #000; border-width: 2px; background-color: #BBB; color: #000; text-decoration: none; width: 100px; text-align: center; padding: 2px 2px 2px 2px; margin: 2px 2px 2px 2px; } .buttontext { color: #000; text-decoration: none; font: bold 14pt Helvetica; } #ninbutton:hover { text-decoration: none; color: #BBB; background-color: #000; } The Top 5 is a weekly feature that provides us with a forum to share our opinions on various aspects of the video game culture, and provides you with a forum to tell us how wrong we are. To further voice your opinions, submit a vote in the Wii Fanboy Poll, and take part in the daily discussions of Wii Warm Up.
How updated are Cave Story's updated sprites?
On the left: the Mimiga named Toroko, one of the main characters of Cave Story, as seen in the original game. On the right: Toroko's redrawn sprite from the WiiWare version. You can see the sprites in actual size in the middle of the image. The new sprite is still pixelated and very charmingly retro, but now Toroko kind of has fingers and toes.We should probably hate an attempt to spruce up the already-wonderful Cave Story on principle, but, honestly, we think this looks great. It still looks like Cave Story to us. We can't wait to see what Pixel has done to the rest of the characters. If you hate it, of course, don't forget that the visual upgrade is purely optional, and you can choose to play the WiiWare game using the original graphics.%Gallery-33861%
Wii Warm Up: Your favorite reveal
There was a ton of stuff to come from Nintendo's big news day last week. What we're wondering is what your favorite item was? Were you stoked about a certain game more than any others? Are you thrilled to hear about Club Nintendo coming to the States? Was the Nintendo DSi your favorite thing from the show? Nintendo's storage solution? What was your favorite thing to come out of Nintendo's fall media summit?
Cave Story site open for exploration
The official website for the WiiWare release of Cave Story has opened, featuring faithful-looking screenshots (also in our gallery!) and a special, upbeat message from Pixel. A message, by the way, that lends further evidence of the WiiWare game's use of the Aeon Genesis fan translation. If they're named right there on the site, their work is probably in the game! The music, by the way, is "Moonsong" and it's a very ... MIDI arrangement.There's also a link out to an official blog maintained by producer Tyrone Rodriguez, in which it becomes clear that Rodriguez and Pixel are in frequent contact about the project. Pixel even sent Rodriguez the hand-drawn birthday card seen above!Our favorite part, however, is the wallpaper page. The selection of wallpapers is different for every user, but they're all wonderful! %Gallery-33861%
Joystiq impressions: Cave Story (WiiWare)
click to enlarge We played Cave Story at the Nintendo Media Summit, and other than controlling the game with the Wii Remote – old-school sideways, natch' – it's nearly the same as the free PC and Mac game. The retro look and gameplay make this seem like an overlooked garage-sale find, for good or bad. (Usually good.)%Gallery-33743%
