Development News, Development Features

DirectX 11 seems to be the key

The teaser for Kingdom Hearts III shown at this year’s E3 sent a tingle down many fans’ keyblades. The title was confirmed for both the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One, but unfortunately appears to be another bust for the Wii U. Director Tetsuya Nomura was asked at Square Enix’s recent Future of Final Fantasy E3...

"They've probably got a plan, and you should never underestimate Nintendo"

Former Bullfrog, Lionhead and Microsoft Games Studios boss Peter Molyneux has once again voiced his opinion on Nintendo's place in the industry, directly contesting Shigeru Miyamoto's assertion that working with both hardware and software offers advantages to the Japanese...

Tingle! Tingle! Kooloo-Limpah!

Let's be honest here — there's not much love for Tingle in the west. This plump, comedic character started his life as part of the Zelda series, but has since starred in his own games: Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland and Tingle's Balloon Fight DS. Even so, his reputation among players is pretty dire — he's...

"'Is it fun?' Most executives don't ask that question first"

During E3, Nintendo of America sent its marketing and product executives into the wilds of the expo floor to be quizzed by various games writers. In some respects that's given us confirmation of things we already knew, such as the continued resistance to any thoughts of going mobile, and...

Hideki Kamiya reveals the playful one-upmanship within Platinum

Platinum Games is responsible for two of the Wii U's most eagerly-awaited third-party exclusives: Bayonetta 2 and The Wonderful 101. These two games look set to make good use of the console's unique GamePad controller, and will surely contain the kind of over-the-top action that...

Is the Conker creator working on Nintendo's console?

Chris Seavor — otherwise known as the man who created Conker's Bad Fur Day — has already stated that Wii U development interests him a great deal. However, he's now given his most convincing indication yet that he has something in the works for Nintendo's system. When asked on Twitter if he...

Platform to be confirmed

Grounding Inc is best known for its much-delayed Xbox title Crimson Dragon, which was originally intended for the 360 but has now been shifted to the Xbox One. A spiritual successor to Sega's Panzer Dragoon, Crimson Dragon is certainly a title worth making a fuss about — but Grounding Inc's Yukio Futatsugi has revealed...

Lots of indie developers want to get on board

Nintendo announced the Nintendo Web Framework during the Games Developers Conference in San Francisco in March. Essentially, it provides a method of developing software for Wii U by using open web technologies like HTML5 and JavaScript. Since then it appears to have been a hit with small developers as...

“They have a really great team there"

There once was a time when Nintendo was seen to be somewhat ignorant of indie developers, but that certainly isn't the case these days, as is evidenced by comments made by Capybara's Nathan Vella. Vella — who was speaking at recent independent gaming showcase — had nothing but praise for Nintendo's recent...

The Last of Us sets a standard

Nintendo, when on peak form and producing its landmark titles, is capable of producing some of the greatest video games in the industry. It's the master of universal genres such as 3D and 2D platformers, adventure exploration games, and can make kart racing look easy — as mediocre copycats often demonstrate. What...

Donkey Kong Country Returns designer Tom Ivey moves on

As we all know, Armature is a company founded by former Retro Studios staff members — and it would appear that they've added another to their ranks. According to his CV on LinkedIn, Tom Ivey — who was one of the designers on Donkey Kong Country Returns, which was recently ported to the 3DS...

But will it bring more funding?

While Precursor Games gears up for a second attempt at crowdfunding Shadow of the Eternals after shutting down its initial effort, CEO Paul Caporicci continues to push the message that the suspension is to implement “new, exciting opportunities.” In an interview with Polygon, Caporicci added that said...

Catering for a need for speed

The Wii U is short on racing simulations. In fact, aside from Need For Speed: Most Wanted and Fast And Furious: Showdown — neither of which could ever be described as hardcore racers — there's nothing to scratch that Gran Turismo / Forza itch on Nintendo's console. Which is precisely why Project CARS developer...

Backers from devs own site will be refunded if necessary

It was announced earlier last month that a spiritual successor to Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem was in development for the Wii U. The game in question, Shadow of the Eternals, received the Kickstarter and

Studio made of former Ubisoft staffers gains Wii U and 3DS approval

Tribute Games has been given approved developer status by Nintendo, which means we should be seeing some software from the studio hitting either the Wii U or 3DS eShop. [tweet https://twitter.com/Emi1yRogers/status/340090460838182913] It's not known what games Tribute will be...

German developer heaps more praise on Nintendo's system

Recently, we reported that Martin Sauter of Shin'en Multimedia — the studio responsible for the Nano Assault and Jett Rocket series — had made very positive comments regarding the Wii U. Now it's the turn of Shin'en's Manfred Linzner to make encouraging noises about the platform. Speaking...

Through his aptly named studio, Gory Detail

Christopher Seavor may not be an immediately recognisable name, but he was the project leader and widely-acknowledged creator of iconic Nintendo 64 title Conker's Bad Fur Day; it was a game famous for its poor taste and crude humour. Seavor's also voiced a fair number of characters and has credits on...

Time to get jealous?

In case you hadn't noticed, Microsoft lifted the lid on the Xbox One this week. The new system is the successor to the popular 360 console and will be getting plenty of support from the company's stable of internal developers — one of which is former Nintendo partner, Rare. The UK-based studio was purchased by Microsoft over...

"I've got to do something about this"

Last last year, Kotaku reported that Silicon Knights was on its last legs, crippled by mismanagement. The blame was laid squarely at the door of founder Denis Dyack, who has since left the company and joined Precursor Games — which is hard at work at the Wii U title Shadow of the Eternals. Dyack was accused...