The Legend of Zelda series has been going quite strong for the past 20 years, ever since The Legend of Zelda first debuted on the NES in 1986. Yet for all the enjoyment I’ve gotten over the series, I have to admit one thing: there’s not a lot of innovation. Series creator Shigeru Miyamoto even admitted that the new Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword wouldn’t be a radical departure for the series.
I openly admit to being a Nintendo fanboy, and Super Mario Galaxy was one of my favourite titles of 2007, so I had some pretty big expectations for Super Mario Galaxy 2. The problem was only that it felt too sequely when it was first announced. While it did have Yoshi as well as some new power-ups, the title alone just felt less innovative than I’d expected from a mario game. In my opinion, Nintendo has always been able to bring in something new to the Mario series while still staying true to its core platforming mechanics.
Upon finally playing the game, I came to the realisation that Super Mario Galaxy 2 is the culmination of everything Nintendo has ever done with the Mario series. Everything from the music, the graphics, level design and boss battles is a reference to an older Mario title, or a new spin on something old. It almost seems to wallow in nostalgia, but unfortunately it doesn’t really seem to move forward.
Nintendo kicked off it’s E3 press conference in style this year, cutting straight to the point and bringing out what we all wanted to see: the next Legend of Zelda title, now subtitled “Skyward Sword”. It will feature full 1:1 sword control through the use of the Wii Motion Plus.
Nintendo continues its ongoing crusade to turn more people over to gaming with the upcoming Zelda Wii. According to series creator Shigeru Miyamoto, the series has grown a little too complex over the years. The newest installment in the franchise will have a more “player friendly” control scheme.
“For us, it is important to the to optimise gameplay and make the controls easier,” says Miyamoto in an interview with GamingMedia, “We do our best to make the controls player friendly, since Zelda has become complicated.”
He also added that the game will be “surprising”, though he was reluctant to reveal in what way:
“For us, two things are important: to meet expectations and to surprise people. How we do it this time, I will not reveal. Normally, we create the video sequences, and these sequences are expanded. But this time we started with the game structure. And then with the video sequences. So this time it was reversed. Therefore, we have had little so far from the game to show. But will publish a lot close to the game’s completion.”
While I understand the philosophy here, I wouldn’t exactly call Twilight Princess a “complicated title”, but I guess that comes with being a gamer. I’m still hyped up for the upcoming E3 reveal, though.
Shigeru Miyamoto is, above all else, known for having designed some truly great games, both in the past and present. Yet the man has no intentions of resting on his laurels, saying his best is yet to come.
In an interview with GamesTM, Miyamoto said: “In the past five years I’ve been working on such unusual titles like Wii Fit Plus and Wii Sports Resort. Ten years ago I could never have been able to imagine that I would be making games like that. That’s why I can say that the best is yet to come to me.”
Though when it came to the HD Wii, Miyamoto was a bit more vague:
“Technology is always evolving and Nintendo, just like other companies, is going to integrate those technologies into our new products as they develop. Whether that be a Wii HD, Wii 2 or an entirely new console, I am not in a position to say at the moment. I think that in the next generation of hardware, the challenge is how unique and different a product Nintendo is able to make.”
There were also vague hints about a new Starfox game, which I’ve still got my fingers crossed for.
Speaking with The Economist recently, all round gaming legend Shigeru Miyamoto made it known that, although online gaming has its place, it’s not going to be the biggest priority for him or Nintendo.
“Of course, we have Mario Kart, which can be played online by multiple people” he stated, “So we are gradually expanding the experiences using the internet, but my own personal focus is to try to entertain people, even if they are not connected to the internet. That is my first priority.”
Personally, this journalist couldn’t agree more. Make your games fun first and foremost, developers. Everything else beyond that is a bonus to the experience.
It seems to me that after Super Mario 64, your main series Mario games will come with one of two types of level select: hub worlds or world maps.
While Super Mario Galaxy was a selection of hub worlds, Nintendo has decided to forego this formula with the game’s sequel. This was confirmed by Shigeru Miyamoto through GameInformer:
“You can think of it in terms of something similar to Super Mario World or New Super Mario Bros. Wii, where you will have a rather convenient map to navigate.”
He continued, “We want players to focus on the joy of the action instead of getting to each game course. We wanted to make it as accessible as possible and as easy as possible for the players.
“Also because we’re going to incorporate a number of different stars and conquering all the stars is going to be one of the most challenging missions for the player, we want them to understand as easy as possible where they should go next and which places they should go back to in order to get access to the remaining stars.”
Which do you feel is the better choice for a Mario Game? World maps or hub worlds?
If there’s one thing most of us quickly forgot after E3 2009 it was the Wii Vitality Sensor. You know, that little dongle you put your finger into and it registers your pulse and other body signatures. In short many of us were a bit underwhelmed by the announcement and since then no one has heard anything about it.
That is until now: Shigeru Miyamoto recently received the Bafta Fellowship award and before his acceptance speech he had a little chat with games™ in which the Vitality Sensor was brought up:
“Whenever we are going to use any new device it is possible to expand the appeal to those who are new to the videogaming world.
Read the rest of this entry »
UK’s Official Nintendo Magazine has reported via a short Twitter update that Miyamoto confirmed the production of Pikmin 3 at the BAFTAs. According to Official Nintendo Magazine, Miyamoto claims that development is “well under way”.
See ONM’s Twitter update here.
No word yet on a release date, or even what platforms this will be released on. I’m sure we’ll see a Wii release, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it turned out to be a DS game, since the DS seems perfectly capable of playing Pikmin on.
We’ll keep you posted on any Pikmin updates in the upcoming days.
John Carmack, id Software’s genius, won this year’s Game Developers Choice Awards Lifetime Achievement Award.
The programming mind behind Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, and Quake is set to receive his award on March 11th.
“It’s no exaggeration to say that John Carmack and id Software have had a monumental influence on all modern 3D games, but especially the first-person shooter genre,” said GDC boss Meggan Scavio in a statement.
“John is one of the key figures in the history of video games, and we’re delighted to be giving him the Lifetime Achievement award this year.”
Previous winners of the award include Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto and Sims creator Will Wright.
Today’s a Miyamoto kind of day, isn’t it? Alongside the new Nintendo hardware announcement at the Japan Media Arts Festival, Shigeru Miyamoto clued listeners in on his inspiration behind Super Mario Galaxy–a hamster in a ball.
He revealed that he was taking care of a hamster during the development of the game and believed that putting Mario on a spherical world in a 3D environment would allow even inexperienced players to run freely and not get lost, while still providing a rich gaming environment to players.
Seems like such a banal thing to draw inspiration from, huh? I guess that’s why Nintendo doesn’t want Miyamoto divulging his hobbies–other people could start stealing his brilliance!
Shigeru Miyamoto has recently confirmed that Nintendo is working on some new hardware.
Speaking at the Annual Japan Media Arts Festival, Miyamoto revealed the company was working on something new, though no specifics mere mentioned. Miyamoto also mentioned he himself is working on a new motion-based game that will use the Wii Motion Plus.
There have been rumours speculating new Wii hardware for a while now, and the words “Wii HD” have been thrown around a lot. Satoru Iwata also suggested a motion sensing DS not too long ago.
Anybody want to guess what it could be?
During Nintendo’s latest financial briefing Mr. Shigeru Miyamoto revealed during a Q&A portion that the next Zelda will not only have “gorgeuous graphics”, but that the team is doing their best to be as creative and possible.
“On developing the recent Zelda for DS, I found out that one of Zelda’s core appeals is its uniqueness,” he said. “Of course we are preparing gorgeous graphics for the sake of users’ anticipation for a grand role-playing adventure [on Wii].
“But what I believe is very important is the realistic, actual feeling players have experienced themselves; the feeling to have really been on an adventure, to have explored the unknown terrains, to have solved the puzzle through trial and errors, to have themselves grown through various experiences!
“In that sense, a personal sense of creativity is becoming important among us. We have assembled one of the most creative team for the recent Zelda for DS, and we want to be as creative as possible for upcoming Wii Zelda.”
To me that sounds pretty sweet. I can’t wait to see what the guys at Nintendo come up with for the new Zelda.
Gaming godfather Shigeru Miyamoto says the next version of the Legend of Zelda series will make use of the Wii MotionPlus add-on. This is to provide more realistic sword combat and targeting.
“In this (instalment of the series), we’re using MotionPlus to make you feel much more like you’re actually fighting while holding a sword in your hand,” the Zelda creator said at a recent Q&A session in Tokyo.
MotionPlus will be used to target things on the screen instead of using the Wii’s infrared sensor. “In the previous game, you aimed at things by pointing at the screen, but this time we’ll use MotionPlus to create a much more convenient targeting system and a more pleasurable playing experience.”
Miyamoto himself admitted during E3 that he was hoping to make the new Zelda MotionPlus exclusive, and so far it looks like he’ll be getting his wish.
Those looking forward to a radically different Zelda game for the next Wii title in the franchise, along the lines of the Wind Waker major graphical shift, are going to be sorely disappointed.
The only information we have about the next Wii Zelda game so far is this Zelda concept art from E3 2009, earlier this month.
“I don’t think it’s going to be that radically different,” Shigeru Miyamoto told Nintendo Power in their latest issue.
So there you have it, straight from the man himself.
