E3 Feature: 2008 Nintendo E3 Developer Roundtable In-Depth
Posted by Jacob Lopez on 07.21.2008
After a press conference that left many fans somewhat underwhelmed, Nintendo took a select few into an invite-only event for a closer look at their E3 lineup. 411Mania was able to get in on the developer roundtable. Video was not allowed, and audio was only to be used for taking notes. What did Nintendo have in store for us?
We were first introduced to Katsuya Eguchi, best known for his work on the Animal Crossing series. Katsuya, who has a long history with the company, and is currently the producer for Animal Crossing: City Folk, Wii Sports Resort and Wii Music was about to give us an in-depth look at Nintendo’s latest announced titles, then sit back for a little Q&A.
The first game on Nintendo’s roster was Animal Crossing: City Folk, announced at their presser just one day prior to the roundtable. They fired up the game, and as Kapp’n the bus driver drove the character to their new town, Mr. Eguchi explained some of the game’s new features.
Fossil collecting is always fun!
As is making your own constellation
As the screens above show, the Wii version will still contain some familiar elements
Many of the holidays that were removed from the DS version will be making a return in City Folk. The villagers will once again celebrate Halloween, and characters like Jingle the Reindeer will return in celebration of holiday themes. A brand-new character, sort of an ‘Easter Bunny’, will hide eggs around the town.
A few new key features will include a carnival and a city to which the player can commute by bus. New items will automatically added via WiiConnect24. Now, thanks to WiiConnect24, players will be able to visit each other’s cities even when the other is not playing. No word on whether or not you will be able to chop down the other player’s trees while they aren’t around.
You can now visit the city, a first in the series
The biggest change to the Animal Crossing franchise, and what will probably change the future of the Wii’s online play, Wii Speak. The microphone plugs into the USB port, and sits nicely on top of the Sensor Bar. Eguchi explained the idea behind choosing an area mic over a headset. Animal Crossing is what Nintendo considers a family experience, and the development team feels that the online chat should be for everybody in the room. By the way, it picks up amazingly. I was concerned with it creating a possible feedback loop, but all is loud and clear.
Wii Speak
Sits nicely on top of the TV
One of the really great things about the new Animal Crossing is that you can import your characters from the DS version. Many of us do feel an attachment to our Wild World alter ego, and this is just one way to give us that Wii to DS compatibility. Your catalog will transfer, but bells will not. Animal Crossing has no moving van, so you will not be able to take your furniture with you.
You can also customize the front, back, left and right sleeves of your shirt. This gives you the most customization in Animal Crossing yet. You can then take a snapshot and gift it to your AC friends just to add that little element to the overall fun.
The game, unfortunately, still has its quirks. If you are in a multiplayer game, and your buddy loses his connection, everyone will be sent back home. Personally, I wish that this could have been fixed for the console version of the game. I just won’t make frienDS with people who have crappy Internet. Check out fellow 411'er Ramon's hands-on impressions of City Folk here: Animal Crossing: City Folk Preview
Next, we were presented with Wii Sports Resort. Due just in time for the Spring season in 2009, this game will be the first Wii title to rely on Wii Motion Plus.
Two things about Wii Motion Plus:
1. It looks better than it sounds.
2. It feels better than it looks.
The new device connects into the port on the bottom of the Wii Remote, and it has a thru port for the Nunchuck. It is an integral part of Resort’s gameplay.
The Disc Dog and Sword Fighting mini games really helps to show off the new 1:1 motion. Great thing about this is that Wii Motion Plus is how we originally imagined the controller to be. If anything, the concept has been improved and gameplay will definitely be kicked up a notch.
Disc Dog
To demonstrate, they ran the Disc Dog mini game and showed us just how accurate the motion detection can be. In this game, you toss a ‘flying disc’, and a Mii-like puppy will try to catch it. If you twist your arm, the ‘flying disc’ will turn right along with it. Because of this, there is a lot more to a throw than what would have been possible without the peripheral. Your throw relies heavily on your angle, and experimenting with it lead to several different results (more on that in my upcoming hands-on).
The Sword Play game was probably the best representation of the accuracy of Wii Motion Plus. Between matches, you must ‘click’ on the center of the screen to calibrate the Wiimote. This helps to keep things precise for the sword swinging action.
Sword Play:Nintendo is aiming for at least 10 minigames in Resort which will be released in the spring 2009
It would be nice to see Wii Motion Plus incorporated with future Wii games, and possibly even be built into future models of the Wii Remote as they continue to sell the add-on to current owners. According to Eguchi, it has been brought up, and both sides have been looked at. There is nothing definite yet, one way or the other.
A few concerns were brought up during the conference. Some asked if this new device will actually make it more difficult for their target audience to play, giving them too much freedom with the controls, in turn making them more complicated. This is always a concern for Nintendo according to Eguchi. While they realize that by making the game too difficult they will alienate some, making the game too simple will alienate others. Their challenge with many games is finding the right balance between the two.
Matt of IGN Nintendo was there and asked if this was sort of an admission that the Wii control wasn’t as accurate as originally planned. Eguchi said that he feels the Wii Remote was great as is, but Nintendo always strives to get more out of their gameplay. To them, it is not seen so much as an improvement as it is one more way to play games. Personally, I see it as an improvement, and realize that this may be the technology they were looking for from the beginning. Perhaps price was a concern back then?
One journalist asked if the new peripheral may push people away who want to play two player modes when one doesn’t have the device. This too, was something the company had to consider when developing the game, and while Eguchi said half jokingly, “I would like to say just buy another one,” he realizes that this will not always be the case. For many of us, Wii Motion Plus will be a pack-in with Resort. Many of the games in Resort will allow players to take turns, much like they did in the original Wii Sports’s bowling game.
Another question that was asked was that if third parties had been given a chance to try Wii Motion Plus in action and possibly develop for the add-on. Eguchi answered saying that he personally did not know, because he had no involvement with Nintendo’s relationships with third parties. He explained that while he would like to answer the question, he did not have that information. I can say personally, that all of the third parties I talked to on the showroom floor were just as surprised as we were when the device was announced. It is safe to say, that they probably had no idea that such a peripheral was in the works.
Finally, the man himself, Shigeru Miyamoto, was brought on stage. He was going to give us a look into Wii Music as only its creator can do. Miyamoto has always been one to go his own way despite what the competition says. He is led by his own artist’s intuition and his love for all things fun and simple.
Miyamoto’s major project this year is Wii Music, a game that brings the rhythm and music genre into the hanDS of an expanded audience. There are several ways to play and many instruments to choose from to keep the experience fresh but intuitive. With over 50 songs, and several different combinations allowing for different rhythms and play methods, new things should come quite easily for all who play. Miyamoto said that they could not pull kids away from it. For an older, more casual crowd, the game is simple. For children, the game is full of discovery. Which instrument to play? How fast to play? What happens if I do this instead? All these questions answered without the fear of penalty for playing the game their way.
Wii Music
The goal of Wii Music is to create a music experience without making a game that is overly complex
Unlike other music game projects, there is no way to lose in Wii Music. One European journalist described it as a toy when asking Miyamoto why he classified it as a game. Miyamoto’s answer, simple yet clever was, “Yup, that’s right, and that’s why it’s more interesting than a video game.” As the asker sheepishly shook his head, I thought to myself, “Didn’t Miyamoto originally come into the business and join Nintendo wanting to be a toy designer?” If so, then 30 years later, Miyamoto has finally gotten his wish.
Oh. Someone asked Miyamoto about Pikmin. Miyamoto explained that there are always teams working on Nintendo’s major franchises, and that the game will be announced when the time is right.
The beloved game designer finished the conference by saying, “We’re making Pikmin.”
