RipTen Videogame Blog » miyamoto

New Zelda Title Coming to 3DS, Majora’s Mask Remake Being “Considered” As Well

Sam Naylor — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 17:05:33 +0000

Legend of Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma has said in an interview that there is a new 3DS Zelda in the works.

The new game is not a remake but an entirely new game, though it will “utilize ideas from previous console iterations of the series.”

You mean there might be a boomerang or bow or bombs or dungeons or green-hatted protagonist? Nice.

Aonuma also mentioned that a 3DS Majora’s Mask remake is not to be ruled out, and Nintendo is in fact “seriously considering” the prospect once they’ve milked the last out of the Ocarina of Time remake.

Via Joystiq

E3 2011: Pikmin Skips the Wii – Announced for the Wii U

Garrett Hartman — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 04:14:40 +0000

Fans of the Pikmin series have been waiting years for a new game. Seven years to be exact and questions about the next game in the series have followed Miyamoto.

Last year at Nintendo’s E3 roundtable event Miyamoto acknowledged a Pikmin game in development for the Wii. This year he announced Pikmin has shifted to the Wii U.

Miyamoto had intended to celebrate Pikmin’s 10 year anniversary with a release, but once his eye caught the Wii U’s HD graphics and unique controller, he couldn’t turn back.

“I think that’s the perfect system for Pikmin. So we’re going to make it for that.”

Development for the new Pikmin game had gotten pretty far and Miyamoto teased, “maybe it won’t be too long before it’s ready for Wii U.”

Pikmin on Wii U…I’m sold.

Super Mario Bros. 25th Anniversary Party at Nintendo World Recap

Justin Berube — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 03:37:47 +0000

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending the Super Mario Bros. 25th Anniversary Celebration at the Nintendo World Store in New York City. I came to the event expecting a mid sized celebration, similar to the one hosted at the store to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Nintendo Power a few years back. Instead when I arrived,I was stuck in a huge line that formed to get into the store. I guess fans crave Mario more than Nintendo Power!

When I first entered the store I was in shock to see Nintendo of America President and COO Reggie Fils-Aime standing there. It wasn’t mentioned anywhere that the popular Nintendo figurehead would be attending the event and I made sure to give him a hearty hello. He says he recognized me from past events. I guess this is a step in the right direction as I’ve wanted to work for the company since I’ve been five years old. I did what I could do about that and now it’s time to leave luck to heaven…for now.

There were several things to do once inside. On the ground floor Mario fans could wait in line in order to tell their fondest Mario memories in front of a camera. Some of these will, apparently, be featured on Nintendo.com in the future. Sadly the line was too long for me to chime in, but I still got a shot of inside the booth for those who were curious.

Another line let fans get their picture taken in front of the iconic start of World 1-1 from Super Mario Bros. Nintendo also let fans hold up various Mario related props. Props included a Paragoomba, Bullet Bill, Coin, Star, Fire Flower, Question Mark Block, and more. Above is the picture I got with my girlfriend who is too embarrassed to be seen with me. I chose to hold the Star and the Coin for power and money, two things I don’t have.

Fans who got their photo taken were also given this sweet Mario t-shirt. The back of this shirt has the Super Mario Bros. 25th Anniversary logo on it. (Too see that pic check out the gallery at the end of this update.)

Nintendo had a nice Super Mario Bros. cake on display. I was checking out the cake, and then all of the sudden Reggie came out for the cake cutting ceremony. It wasn’t long before he announced that Shigeru Miyamoto would be the one cutting the cake. Needless to say the overcrowded store went crazy and only 10 people could see anything. I still managed to grab some photos.

Nintendo handed out cake and cupcakes to fans. I didn’t get any choosing to take this momentary distraction to check out the rest of the store. A choice I don’t regret. Miyamoto also watched as a top Super Mario Bros. speed runner tried his best to set a record. (and failed) You can read more about that here.

This was also the first time many Nintendo fans got to check out some of the new displays at Nintendo World. The showcase/museum on the 2nd floor of the store is much larger now and is on top of where a hole in the floor used to allow people on the upper floor to look down below. The space is utilized in a much better way now and it’s a welcome change.

Before leaving I was also given a free Mario Moustache. This is cool but I did miss out on another piece of Mario 25th Anniversary swag. Nintendo ran out of Super Mario Bros. 25th Anniversary Pullstring Backpacks. If anyone out there doesn’t want theirs, or if Nintendo wants to hook me up with one, please contact me.

Overall the event was a ton of fun but I felt like the store was overcrowded. It was nearly impossible for me to move around and I’m sure about a billion fire codes were broken. There are more pictures in the gallery and I apologize in advance for the poor quality of some of them. It was extremely hard to take pictures in such a crowded area.

Want to keep up with my coverage of Nintendo and Nintendo events? Follow me on Twitter @KingNintendoFan or Like Me on Facebook. Let’s talk Nintendo sometime!

Super Mario Bros. Speed Runner Fails In Front Of Miyamoto

Justin Berube — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 17:17:02 +0000

Nintendo held a grand event at the Nintendo World Store in NYC yesterday to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Super Mario Bros. The games creator, Shigeru Miyamoto, happened to be present at the event along with Andrew Gardikis. Gardikis has completed Super Mario Bros. in a record 5 minutes and was going to try to do it again in front of the game’s creator.

Unfortunately for Andrew he choked under the pressure and died several times on World 8-3. Those Hammer Bros. are no joke. I still give credit to Andrew for being able to play as well as he did under extreme pressure. You can’t expect a great run every time you play, but even in failure, Andrew proved his skill.

Source

Super Mario Bros. 25th Anniversary Original Glitches (Video)

Garrett Hartman — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 01:30:34 +0000

Super Mario Bros. is a ground breaking game that forever changed the video game landscape. It’s also very well known for it’s epic glitches. Among the most famous is the infinite 1-Up glitch. Need a few extra men? With good timing at the right spot, you could get 99 extra Mario.

To celebrate Mario’s 25th anniversary, Nintendo of Japan decided to create a compilation video to celebrate Super Mario Bros. greatest glitches.

New Japanese Kirby’s Epic Yarn Trailer Will Melt Your Heart

Garrett Hartman — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 04:59:04 +0000

While I can’t understand or read Japanese, the universal message of this new trailer released by Nintendo of Japan is clear: Kirby is cute … sickeningly so.

Kirby’s Epic Yarn has received much attention since being formally announced at E3 a few months ago. While Kirby fans have been clamoring for a new game, many surprised fans found they’re favorite character had been changed into yarn.

This new approach is reminiscent of Sony’s Little Big Planet with texture fabric realistic graphics. Kirby, while now made of yarn, is much cuter (as if that were possible).

Kirby’s Epic Yarn is due for a Wii October 17th release in North America. Enjoy Kirby’s heart-melting cuteness in the Trailer below.

Don’t Worry, Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto Is Wealthier Than We Thought

Chad Lakkis — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 08:46:19 +0000

We reported on some information yesterday that lead us all to believe that Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto, creator of some of the most iconic characters in gaming history, was an average at best paid employee within the Nintendo Corporation. Well, the information we sourced couldn’t have been further from the truth.

As it turns out, Miyamoto’s 2009 salary was $1.4 million (¥126 million), with a base of $678,000 (¥60 million). These figures place his base salary at Nintendo as second only to Nintendo President, Satoru Iwata, who pulled in a cool $2.09 million (¥187 million) with a base of $760,000 (¥68 million).

No wonder he’s always so darn chipper.

[Source: Kotaku]

Why Nintendo “Won” E3 2010

Sam Naylor — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 15:38:51 +0000

Welcome to the third in our multi-part series on E3 2010, and who the “winner” is. One writer will take each company, and argue why they “won” the show. In the words of a great man (well, a man, at any rate): “We may or may not feel that they won on all levels, however it is our job to convince you that they won based on the foundation of our piece.” Couldn’t ~~be bothered to~~ say it better myself.

My job, obviously, is to argue that Nintendo “won” E3 2010. Not only have Nintendo conquered the minds of the casual market, but they appear to have won back the minds of the hardcore market, too. How have they managed this? Well, they did so by putting on the best E3 press conference that I’ve seen in many years.

It wasn’t perfect- there were some low points. Perhaps touting the new Wii GoldenEye game as a proper successor to the N64 version was a bit misguided, given that the new one looks absolutely dreadful (in terms of recreating the original). However, I can’t hold this against Nintendo themselves, just whoever decided the content of the conference. Absolutely everything that Nintendo are involved with this year is already looking fantastic. Whatever your criteria for the “winner” of E3 are, surely the quality of the games is number one.

They began with a brand new Zelda title for Wii. One that looks even better than Wind Waker, and with the style of Ocarina of Time. A new Zelda is grounds enough to declare that they’ve pulled it out of the bag, but the fact that they’ve not only made what is probably the best looking Zelda game ever, but appear to have fixed the major problems with Twilight Princess’ controls, is just icing on an already delicious and fulfilling cake. Miyamoto explaining the game and then appearing on stage to show it off? It reduced me back to the state of wonder I fell into when he first wielded that sword and shield on stage.

By this point I was already ready to accept Nintendo back as my favourite thing in the world, but there was so much more to come. Kirby’s Epic Yarn was shown off, and gamers like me went crazy. It has an art style capable of creating joy where there was only misery, and gameplay that looks like a cross between Paper Mario and Kirby: Canvas Curse on the DS. Anyone who even looked at Kirby back in the day is already looking forward to this game, I’m sure of it. Obviously I’ve not had a chance to play it, but if I was going on the trailer alone, Kirby’s Epic Yarn would be the game of the show.

Not content with winning us over with adorable Kirby games and new Zelda titles, Nintendo then began to hit us over and over again with great-looking Wii titles. I felt like the N64 kid at Christmas when I saw the new Donkey Kong Country game- the SNES original was one of the best games on the system, and I’m sure than if this one is even half as good as that, it’ll be mind-blowing. We already knew about Metroid: Other M, but the trailer showing first-person and 2.5D platforming has made me look forward to a game I had no interest in; for the first time for a long time, Nintendo have managed to ignite a lost cause in me. For me, this shows that Nintendo have done better than the other companies, who floundered about failing to make me interested in stuff I already had an interest in.

Mario Sports Mix was shown as well, and the Mario Sports track record is not to be sniffed at- I don’t think this one will disappoint. As a party game it’ll be a lot of fun. Speaking of parties, Wii Party was also announced. I think a lot of people have let it slip under the radar, but think of it like this: it’s Mario Party, but you can play it with your family. Just because it uses Miis does not mean it should be brushed aside as a casual game; I genuinely think that it will be a hit with both types of gamer (as will the new Professor Layton game, which still looks brilliant).

Of course, the real star of Nintendo’s show was the 3DS. It looks like a DS, but it’s a whole new bit of handheld hardware. Nintendo were the only company to reveal a new console this year, and I think that’s definitely grounds to grant them the “winner” crown, but the 3DS deserves much more than that. Not only does it display 3D images without those stupid glasses, but the support for the system is phenomenal. Kid Icarus returning, an Ocarina of Time remake, Metal Gear, Saint’s Row, DJ Hero, a Harmonix Music game, and loads more games from huge franchises are all coming to the 3DS. For a console to have such widespread support at this point is brilliant for gamers, and is just another reason why Nintendo have “won” this year’s E3.

The crux of this argument is essentially that Nintendo have announced a huge volume of stuff that I, and many others like me, really do want to play. Not just a lot of stuff, or a few things that I really want- but a lot of stuff that I really want. What more could you want from E3? If the point is to get us excited about games, then Nintendo have clearly “won”. I haven’t been this excited about a console release since the original DS released for the first time, and Nintendo have recaptured that excitement with the 3DS and the lineup of games. If I haven’t convinced you yet, just remember that Nintendo have also created the best gaming advertisement in a very, very long time.

Miyamoto: 3D Isn’t Everything

Sam Naylor — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 22:31:48 +0000

Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto has been quoted by Nintendo Power recently, saying that not everything needs to be 3D in the games industry. The creator of Mario and Zelda, two franchises that have had success in both dimensions, says:

“I don’t think everything needs to be 3D, or that just because we’re seeing more 2D games now, that everything’s going to shift back to 2D. Instead, I think that what’s going on is that people are realizing the benefits of a 3D game, and at the same time, remembering what the benefits of 2D games were.

When going 2D, you need the courage to not be so attached to visual appearance of the games and to really pursue the gameplay experience.”

I find myself worrying about Miyamoto’s recent obsession with fitness and self-help using the Wii, but it’s quotes like this that restore my faith in him. Think about all of the times a game has been put onto the DS (or PSP, for that matter) in 3D, where it could have been in 2D and played a hundred times better. Some games work in 3D, like Mario Kart, but honestly the best experiences I’ve had on those platforms are all 2D. Get the gameplay down, and I’m sold on the game. If it happens to look great, that’s a plus.

Oh, and just a note to DS and PSP developers: 2D looks so much better than 3D on those platforms. Think about it: the late-era SNES games looked crisp and sharp compared to the early PS1 and N64 3D polygonal messes.

Miyamoto: Wiimote is a “continuous evolution”

Dylan Duarte — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 08:33:42 +0000

Speaking about the Wii Remote recently, Miyamoto called it a “continuous evolution” and mentioned technological advancements and videogaming.

“It’s a continuous evolution. Not all the Wii software requires Motion Plus, so it is appropriate for us to position it as a peripheral. Also, it was not technically feasible for the technology to be realised with such a compact size. The fact we are now being able to sell Motion Plus at this price, at this size, is the result of technological advancements in the field of microelectro-mechanical systems, which took place after Wii launched.”

I know a few people that think the Wii MotionPlus is a total gimmick, but I love it. I love the idea that Nintendo is a taking a few core features and perfecting them as much as current technologies allow. The joker over at GoNintendo remarked that he’s ready for the Wii MotionPlusPlus in 2010, but while he was most likely being sarcastic, I am eagerly awaiting the Wii MotionPlusPlus.

Miyamoto Joins Three of His Video Game Creations in a Legendary Animated Short

Chad Lakkis — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 23:39:30 +0000

Shigeru Miyamoto teams up with a trio of video game characters he created in an impressive short illustrated and animated by Newgrounds user, Awkward-Squid.

The concept behind the flash animation, titled “Legend of Miyamoto”, involves Mario, Link, and Donkey Kong helping their video game father make his way through their world. Squid says that the work was rushed a bit due to the fact it was being done as a university assignment, but I think it turned out great.

Check it out after the jump.

Make sure to head on over to Awkward-Squid’s user page and show him some love for this awesome piece of work.

Source: GoNintendo.com

Nintendo UK’s Payday: Wii Music Ships November 14

Sam Naylor — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 20:02:49 +0000

CVG reports that the release date of the uber-casual Wii Music has been confirmed at November 14. This follows the US release date of October 20 by almost a month, so nothing new there. Not that it even matters, as the ‘casual’ market in the UK is huge and Wii Music will make more money for Nintendo in the first week than there actually is in the world. That’s right, Wii Music will outsell money itself. More news after the jump.

Nintendo Wii Fanboy also reports that the Japanese Wii Music site has updated with news of three minigames; “Narikiri Orchestra”, meaning ‘Becoming an Orchestra’, “Awasete Handbell”, meaning ‘Connect Handbells’, and a “Tone-matching minigame”. All have video, so feel free to watch in preparation of the glorious waggling to be had on October 20/November 14. Oh, and there’s an Iwata/Myamoto interview at Wii.com for those who can read Japanese.

Source: CVG and nintendowiifanboy.com

Miyamoto Talks Tradition: Mario Game In Works

Chad Lakkis — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 18:48:08 +0000

In a recent interview with the UK based Telegraph, Miyamoto stated that there are teams working on new Mario, Zelda, and Pikmin projects.

“They are all working on more Mario, Zelda and Pikmin projects … And they all work in close proximity to me, so I can keep a good eye on them.”

Not exactly sure who “all” is, because surely the entire company is not working on a new Mario title — who would be left to fine tune Wii Music? Ok, ok, I will let it go.

Miyamoto adds that traditional games are his area of expertise and offers insight as to how the company rotates staff internally to ensure that the “traditional” titles always have people working on them.

“Making these ‘traditional’ games is what I am best at. Because games of that nature take upwards of two or three years to make, we always have to keep the teams working on those projects going. At any given time, the team could be five to ten people, or it could be 50-plus. People are always switching in and out of those teams.”

I can’t help but feel like this is all damage control 101, but even if it is, it shows that the company does care to some extent about its hardcore gamer base. It would seem that they realize their E3 presentation didn’t have the impact they had hoped for.

All we can ask now is that they learn from their mistake, and keep the traditional teams closer to 50-plus, with five people working on the next Wii Music.

Source: Telegraph.co.uk

In Defense of Wii Music

Emily Balistrieri — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 07:04:11 +0000

If you’ve been keeping up with Ripten’s E3 coverage, you may have come across the majority opinion on Wii Music…

Range: no rhythm, no tone, weren’t following each other, didn’t know if you were on pace

Chad: mass mayhem

Andrew: wasn’t working, sounded like a mess, all over the place, sort of hitting the buttons whenever he [Miyamoto] felt like it

Jon: could’ve given you all sticks and been like, “Have a great time…”

Those were quotes from the day 2 podcast following Nintendo’s press conference. Ever since that time, I’ve been meaning to introduce a second opinion. I’ve put in my demo time and come up with not complete and utter adulation, but at least a different understanding and a sense of where the fun lies. Hit the jump for these thoughts AND a Youtube of Miyamoto’s presentation.

First I’d like to tackle the negativity surrounding what you just saw in that video, by which I mean all the criticism of the end performance making no sense. Keep in mind that you’re hearing this from people who may or may not have much musical experience at all, and also, that it looks like a lot of fun (as I believe Andrew pointed out in the podcast).

The opening is, in fact, totally recognizable as the Super Mario Brothers theme. You have lead trumpet, second (harmony) trumpet, harmony marimba, and Miyamoto on the cowbell (or what sounded like a wood block most of the time.) Nothing was prerecorded (as opposed to what was speculated in the podcast), although they did have the drummer in a totally separate mode of the game, the drum kit, to demonstrate that aspect. I don’t think you’ll actually be able to use the kit like that to lay down a track in the Jam session, but there are plenty of other drum options.

I can tell this presentation was rehearsed, and I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. It’s a cool thing. They showed what a group of people can do who have organized themselves as a band. One of the other oft repeated criticisms I heard throughout the week, especially from Andrew (“Turkey in the m***f*** straw!”) was that the songs are all super old, which somehow means boring.

Knowing the song, though, really helps with the creativity part of this whole thing. You can’t improvise on a track you don’t know. The press conference showed that this band knew what they were doing (even if they aren’t actual musicians, or even Guitar Heroes) because they clearly marked off sections of the song as marimba and trumpet solos, and came back together for the finish. The second trumpet part, in particular, seemed very well thought out most of the time. The marimba and woodblock were a little less so, admittedly, but that doesn’t lead me to call this presentation a dud.

Now, onto my hands-on experience– and maybe this is a good time to get my less than enthusiastic opinion of the drum kit out of the way. I didn’t like it much at all. It’s a cool idea, especially using the balance board as foot pedals, but the way you have to hold different buttons or directions on the remote and nunchuck to get different drums just makes the whole thing prohibitively complicated. I don’t see the hardcore drummer set putting away Rock Band to take up this system, and it’s probably way too much for the casual audience to want to deal with. I could be wrong, since maybe the lessons work you up to it, but when I jumped on I just felt uncomfortably overwhelmed and wanted to get back to the jam session.

The first time I jammed I played lead Marimba on the show floor, to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. I had so much fun with that, that I asked to play another song, and this time did lead trumpet on Yankee Doodle–I would’ve tried out harmony or percussion except, for whatever reason, I was having trouble getting the sensor bar to register me pointing in those directions.

Anyways, lead is probably the easiest and most fun (as you might expect) part to play. Carry the melody, but carry it however you like! The most important thing to know about Wii Music, I think, is that those little light up, square characters in the lower right corner of the screen are not telling you when to strum, shake, or press a button–they are simply a tempo guideline (which in the final version, will be customizable).

What happens is that you know how the melody goes, so you can just play on the beats (or off-beats) that make the melody happen, but if you choose to embellish, the game automatically assigns notes that make sense. I.e. I sounded like a total pro on Yankee Doodle, because it’s a song I know and I had an idea what sort of “fills” would work. In fact, playing a jam session is a lot like playing fills on Rock Band drums. You are left to your own devices, to a certain extent, but that is why it’s exciting. You can design the tracks how you like.

The challenge to this “game” is making something that sounds like a song and not just some noodling around. It will involve layering your tracks from the bottom up: coming up with a good percussion beat first, some harmony parts that nicely complement the melody, and then setting the lead over that. Not everyone can be the soloist all the time, or the song will sound like crap, so it’ll also involve some team-based planning and turn-taking.

I’m excited to get more time with Wii Music. When people say it’s more toy than game, they are probably right–in the same way that Electroplankton was more toy than game. From what I’ve seen it will be pretty fun, and I especially look forward to the feature that lets you collaborate with friends by sending songs so they can add or edit tracks. There is definitely a lot more potential here than some are giving it credit for.

Miyamoto’s “Health Pack” Realized: The Evolution of Wii Fit

Emily Balistrieri — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 09:13:43 +0000

Takao Sawano, who works at Nintendo with Shigeru Miyamoto, gave a great lecture on how Wii Fit came to be– it turns out it was “in the center of Miyamoto’s brain as a concept even before the console was released.”

Planted in the middle of Miyamoto’s Wii conceptual diagram (along with Wii Play and Wii Sports brainstorms) were ideas stemming from the fact that Miyamoto just enjoys measuring his weight and collecting the information. Of course, to make the product have wide appeal, there needed to be more to it, because who weighs themselves in the living room?

While the software team was taking care of that area, Sawano and his team were hard at work designing the peripheral that would become the Wii Balance Board. His idea to have two scales came from seeing Sumo wrestlers weighed that way, since one scale wouldn’t be enough to measure over 330 pounds. Not that we are all huge, but just that charting the weight shifting between feet could be an interesting way to proceed. He showed pictures of various prototypes, including raw shots of the strain gauges, of which there are four in the final product.

“Connecting the Wii Remote is a clumsy solution, don’t you think?” is how Nintendo President Satoru Iwata responded to their already heavily tweaked prototype when they first presented it. So much for cutting costs! Now the Balance Board is a self-contained wireless device. The decision to widen the board to account for a shoulder width stance during exercise also added more cost. Luckily it seems that since the game is selling so well in Japan (over 1.4 million copies since it was released last December) third parties may be interested in developing for the peripheral as well, so we’ll have more to do with our new toy. One such title already released in Japan by Bandai Namco in January is called Family Ski, which features a more fleshed out skiing game. Sawano rolled footage of a Japanese comedian having a great time while pulling off jumps and navigating moguls.

Wii Fit hits Europe April 25 and North America May 19. Might wanna start jogging around the block so the Miis don’t leave you in the dust on Wii Fit Island.