Video: Take an Extended Look at Switch Exclusive Seasons of Heaven

Supposedly they don't even have a dev kit yet. Makes me wonder if the game actually exists, on the Switch anyway. This article goes more in depth on it. https://switchne.ws/2016/12/14/switch-news-will-not-publish-any-more-stories-about-seasons-of-heaven/

Hmm. I'll definitely keep an eye on this.

@A01 This is PC footage, which explains why it looks so good.

Well, just from this trailer alone I can tell this dog is much more responsive than Trico.
I kid, but this trailer sure looks too good to be true. At least the music is nice.

Some of the movement is a little wooden but it looks good.

C'mon Nintendo!!! Give them a dev kit. Make it exclusive!

@SLIGEACH_EIRE Don't get your hopes up. It's most likely some sort of scam.

@KirbyTheVampire Check this out:
https://www.amazon.com/Seasons-Heaven-1-nico-augusto/dp/1530951933

It's a self-published book that, judging from the description, the sample of the book I read, and the reviews that weren't clearly written by Nico's mom, is absolutely horrible.

So, is this real or not NL?

@A01 Even if it could, the Switch certainly couldn't. This is a tablet we're talking about here. I have no doubt it would still look great on the Switch, but not quite this good.

@A01 Optimization is key

Also the rocks didn't look too good on my phone (imagine how they look on a 50 inch TV) so I think they are clearly doing something because as you said, the PS4 Pro probably couldn't render scenes like this with acceptable performance (AFAIK PS4 Pro has a GPU pretty much equivalent to a RX 480) at 1080p.

15 fps masterrace

@JubilifeRival its you

o bb a triple

@KirbyTheVampire I'd answer that with the very first comment underneath that very article:
"Brand new, random blog calling itself “Switch News” refusing to publish news on one of the very few things about which there’s actually Switch news to publish. Good luck on your website."

No one has ever heard of "Switch News". They are literally a nobody in the world of gaming journalism, so whatever they say shouldn't immediately be taken as a gospel.

And the article is only talking about the first teaser shown, not about this new footage, so it can be ignored for the most part.

Yes, part of the trailer looks like it's based upon the assets from the Kite demo, but there are also a LOT of other assets now shown that are not available as a standard in the Unreal package, so these must have been made by them specifically.

And what they show does include actual gameplay, which is clearly visible by on screen prompts and such.

Sure this is all made and runs on a PC, but since it is in Unreal Engine 4, which is officially supported by the Switch, it can be scaled to fit in a fidelity that the hardware should be able to handle just fine.

It is true that Nico isn't a very popular person in France and in circles that know him, but that does not exclude him actually having a team and being busy making a game, that is going to be exclusive to and released on the Switch.

Not saying that this game will definitely come, they first need to secure some things, but they actually did visit Nintendo, so they must already be in talks about a dev kit, and once that's in, they can really get the ball rolling towards making this concept into a full game.

So let's just wait and see what happens, instead of already pouring on all the hate and distrust, shall we?

Might be wrong, but I think they said recently (on Twitter?) that this was running on Switch... Or am I thinking of something else?

And people also need to understand that with a game being made in Unreal Engine, it is very possible to already go ahead and make a start with programming without having a dev kit, since all it will need in the end is porting and optimization, since the Switch is fully compatible with that game engine, so a scale down and some fine tuning should be all that is needed, besides game/bug testing.

The essential takeaway here is that a party not having a dev kit does not mean that they can't already start with making a game, and that goes for any console or platform.

As long as you have a ball park of what the hardware can do, you can take that into account when programming for the game on any workstation available and work within these parameters.

So, if they program this game towards what the Tegra X1 can do, then all it needs is a final fitting before being able to put it onto the hardware itself.

@Moon They said it was in-game, but it was probably in-game on PC, not on the Switch, since from all reports, they don't have a dev kit (yet). Ask @DanteSolablood, he was the one tweeting them.

@ThanosReXXX I stand corrected, then. I've only been hearing that they've had no real contact with Nintendo and that they just cooked up a couple trailers and slapped "coming to Switch" on them. I should have done some proper research on the topic before posting, though. As we've seen quite often with the Switch, rumors spread quickly and are taken more seriously than they should be. If they've had actual contact with Nintendo, that brings their credibility up a notch.

@KirbyTheVampire I wouldn't lose any sleep over it, if I were you...
Mind you, being in talks with Nintendo is still no guarantee that the game (or any game in general, for that matter) is actually going to be published, so we will just have to wait and see how this pans out.

What actually would rack up their credibility score is being mentioned in the upcoming presentation in January...

Personally, I'm not interested in this game at all (especially seeing how unpolished it is in the video above), but I am however interested in ANY game that shows actual Switch footage. Honestly, I HIGHLY doubt that this game would be the first real extended footage we'd see of a Switch game. Booooo!!!

@JubilifeRival They seem very passionated and are Nintendo fans. Look here. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SrCesFQQw_0

Those animations are... stiff to say the least. Going to have to see how this turns out.

I was thinking about reading the book if I was intrigued by the game, but... I'll let this Amazon reveiw do the talking:

"It was recently announced that this novel would be getting adapted into a video game for release on the Nintendo Switch. So obviously, curiosity got the better of me and I decided to pick up the Kindle release. At $2.99, the price was right for basic curiosity.

I guess you get what you pay for.

I'll be perfectly honest: I've not read more than around 10 pages of the book. At that point, I realized that I simply can't do it. The formatting is terrible. There are no indentations at the beginning of paragraphs, there's only a double space between each. This might be a forgivable faux pas, except that sometimes the double space is missing and paragraphs run into each other. Syntax is strange. I suspect that the book was translated form French without any real attempt to localize it further, so the structure of descriptions and dialog feels incredibly unrefined. I can't read the French version, so I'm not sure how it compares to the English version.

It's fairly apparent that this is a self-published novel, one that never saw the hand of an editor to help mold the structure and iron out the formatting woes. And at over 500 pages in length, it's a hell of an ask of the reader to wade through such a murky production. Should the Kindle version see a revision that has the formatting issues ironed out — and maybe another pass at the translation — I'll give it another go. But as it is, it's not something I'd recommend to a casual reader."

And the other two reviews were obviously writen by the author's parents.

@Mega_Yarn_Poochy And yet, the French version is just fine, with none of those issues.

To write a book off based on text formatting is too pathetic to even take seriously. It is supposed to be about the story, not where the spaces or paragraphs are, so that review can be ignored.

You should post the other two as well, which were VERY positive. Let's keep things in perspective here. One negative review does not a disaster make...

Cant wait. Looks like my type of game.

Boy and dog? Last Guardian prequel?

It looks good so far and I'll keep it on my radar.

However, after reading the negative rumours about this game, I'm wary of it. If the doubts are true, then that could completely put me off this game.

@Nik-Davies I think it is a Fallout 4 prequel.

Hm...First rule of my gaming = No Adult games Allowed whatsoever !
If this game rated Teen, I might consider.
But, if rated Mature, Sorry, Banned from my list. Forever !

@ThomasBW84 One one hand it's good that you added that update, but on the other it is sad that you mentioned the one source that is completely new on the scene as being even remotely trustworthy in its reporting, especially since their protest is by and large directed at the guy behind the game and was made with the original teaser in mind, not this new trailer.

I would agree more with your wait and see stance, than with the "let's write it off before it even has a chance to land" stance...

This looks like a game running on a good pc but I don't think the switch is running that. They could just be using the switch name to get people excited about their game and it does not come to switch.

@ThanosReXXX And Unreal looks gorgeous!

@Anti-Matter Well, then you would possibly miss out on a potentially interesting game, then.

It might be about mankind neglecting the Earth, but the main characters are a young boy and his dog, so it probably won't be all that adult-oriented or heavy on the storyline in terms of violence or scary moments.

If it'll be released, it will probably get a teen-rating.

Does look a little too good IMO, for a first gen switch title. No Nintendo or official switch logos.

I wish them luck, as if this did come to switch I would be very interested. I'll wait for a release date and go from there...

@siavm Of course it's not running on the Switch. But that in and of itself says nothing. I'd invite you to read my earlier comments, which might shed some new light on the subject...

Nice looking game.
Now lets wait for the big switch games reveal on januari

PC footage people

Let's not get ahead of ourselves

@ThanosReXXX I agree with you, Nintendo is pretty good at coming out to speak against lies.

They had a teaser said more would be revealed on 19th and followed through. Could be fake I dont know, but I do know I do lot of Nintendo research and the site never once came up.

@DiscoGentleman What are you so mad about? If you've read the previous article about them, then you'd know that they are actually in contact with Nintendo and have been meeting up with them.

That doesn't guarantee that something tangible is going to come of it in the end, but it certainly doesn't mean that this is just click bait. The trailer is real, is running on Unreal Engine and there is a team busy doing at least something.

And most book reviews are positive, so no idea why you mentioned these either. And sites reporting negatively on this are mostly targeting the man behind the game himself, not so much the game. He may be a complete tool for all I know, but that says absolutely nothing about the game or the team working on it, since he's certainly not doing it all by himself, so let's just wait and see how this pans out before we gather up our torches and pitchforks...

@ThanosReXXX

Fine then, here's your other reveiws, by people who've never reveiwed another product before or after this one and sound really promotional.

"Nico Augusto's 'Seasons of Heaven', is a beautifully written, suspenseful - yet thought provoking novel. Augusto takes the reader on a tremendous journey of both life and death, provoking the imagination as well the mind. The characters are interesting, diverse and his storytelling capability makes the visualization of both the characters and the plot come to life as the novel unfolds. I couldn't put it down. I was intrigued from beginning to end, and I can't wait to see what this author comes up with next. It is a wonderful read! Bravo Mr. Augusto! I am a fan!

"Seasons of Heaven is a masterpiece. A book who actually can change your vision of the world forever.
Everybody need to read it and talk about it."

And yes, the formatting of a book is a really big deal to me and no doubt countless others. It could have the world's best story for all I care, but if the author can't care enough to properly format the story, then why should I care to read it?

Have you read the book?

From what I know and reading the article it's very clear it is vaporware.

@NiBar I watched that before commenting.

@Mega_Yarn_Poochy Spoiler alert: The book is the saddest piece of literature I have ever encountered

@JubilifeRival Why?

lol. This PC footage looks great. Honestly this isn't a good start for these devs in my opinion.

@Mega_Yarn_Poochy I could've written it as a 14 year old. There is essentially no substance to it- it's just a collection of clichés. I'm exaggerating slightly but the point gets across. The formatting is weird as hell and there are many grammatical errors, things as simple as subject-verb agreement. It's extremely hard to read/follow for these reasons.

As a side note, the barely-existent plot doesn't have anything to do with a boy and his dog.

Everybody get your popcorn, we got a bunch of mad PS4 fanboys in the room! 😂😂 Anyways looks great to me and hopefully it shows up in the January presentation.

@ThanosReXXX lol you're in here doing some real damge control 😂😂😂

@A01 lmao! If Switch can handle it, PS4 Pro could do it easily. The PS4 and X1 could easily do this as well, the Switch isn't going the be as powerful as those consoles if it only has a Tegra X1 in it

Why are people focusing so much on the book? Who cares if he's not the best author? It might be a bigger deal if he was writing the script and plot by himself, but he has a whole team helping him, lol. Focus on the game, not the book it was based on, especially since there's more than one person involved with the game.

@gatorboi352 Nope, not at all my man, just applying a wait and see stance instead of crapping all over this game based upon hearsay and "facts" from rather biased sources.

I never said that this game is definitely coming, as you would have been able to read in some of my previous comments, just that we should not judge something that we know little about, except the FACTS that there actually IS something in development and that they have been in contact with Nintendo vs some negative reports about the lead developer and a rather nitpicking Amazon review that focuses on something that has nothing to do with the story being good or bad.

@Mega_Yarn_Poochy And that is a wonderfully unbiased reply, thanks.

I've read a bit of the original version, and although not quite original in its premise, it really isn't as bad as that guy on Amazon makes it out to be.

He even admits that he doesn't know if this is simply a localization problem or not, and if it is, we can hardly blame the author. I suspect that the author knows his own language well enough to be able to construct grammatically correct sentences and paragraphs, so it's not on him.

Just because one review is longer and more specific in describing why he/she dislikes something, doesn't mean that this is the only opinion that counts. And again: he doesn't say anything about the story being good or bad, so if the book is actually bad is not something that I can assess from what he's written about it.

I like what I'm seeing, but the question is: Can they deliver?

Everyone who have studied well their Python knows there is only one season in Heaven and it is Christmas.

For all you French listeners out there, here's an excerpt from the audio book, so you can make up your own mind about this being an interesting enough story or not:
https://www.lessaisonsduparadis.com/extrait-gratuit

And here's a bit of the French version of the book. Although the paragraphing could indeed do with a healthy dose of editing, the grammar seems fine to me, and from what I've read, the story is actually kind of interesting as well.

There is no excerpt of the printed version, so I can't compare versions. (since I have no Kindle or other type of eReader, I don't know if text displays the same on a PC monitor or if it's formatted according to how it will fit on a reader)

According to the site, the book will be released in several cities and countries (NY, Los Angeles, Miami, Beijing, Tokyo, Moscow, Luxembourg, Belgium, Switzerland) and they have liaisons there as well. Their publishing agency is a company called C2Laure, who seem to be publishing quite a few books across the world.

But besides all that, the book is not the game, so even though it's based upon it, if it's actually going to be released, then it should be judged on its own merits, not upon those of a book that needs some more editing...

https://www.lessaisonsduparadis.com/les-artistes/

That's the entire team working on the game. Scroll down on the wall of photos underneath the profile pictures to see that the left most picture in the fifth row shows the team posing at Nintendo HQ and two pictures to the right of that one, the team watching/testing their game (or is that Breath of the Wild?), one of them showing his inner Nintendo geek by sporting a Mario Bros shirt.

There's even a picture showing a wall of Amiibos, but that could also be in a store. Or it's their own collection...

Unsure why people are critiquing the game due to the book's content. This isn't a licensed game. It's based on the content of the book — who knows how the story itself will pan out.

The visuals look nice, by compositionally, the music does not match. The first trailer we saw had more musical potential. This one merely has continual sequencing and a bit of textual movement. Kinda disappointed

Uh... Switch News is a (very new) blog. It's not a trustworthy source of information. So any vendettas they may have are going to come out in their writing, without necessarily being updated as time goes on.

@Anti-Matter Somehow, I find that hilariously bizarre... Based on your criteria, graphically violent T-rated games with blood and graphic depictions of using deadly weapons to go on mass killing sprees against human beings (especially in FPS titles) are potentially fair play. Meanwhile, M-rated games such as several of those in the Shin Megami Tensei series, especially the mainline titles, are automatically rejected, even though they barely depict graphically intensive violence, and it's rarely ever against human beings. Is a little bit of swearing, controversial topics, and partial nudity really that much worse than killing people for fun?

@gizmoto Hey, some people think French bulldogs are cute. They have really bad taste, but still!

@ThanosReXXX I have no idea what we'd do without you.

@ThanosReXXX @Moon And it was fun being featured on a lot of tech blogs for asking an obvious question. However, it was noted that while Any Arts Production was all too happy to confirm the trailer was made in-game, they avoided answering my questions about running on a Switch itself.

Personally, knowing that Any Arts Production has spoken to Nintendo & have been allowed to use the "coming to Switch" without being picked up by O'l Saint Ninty... I think it's likely they know roundabout how well the Switch will perform. Assuming they get a final Dev Kit, the game should look pretty close to this trailer.

Edit: Almost forgot to mention, the UnrealEngine team watches & supports Any Arts' Twitter like a hawk, for me this adds at least a little credibility to the team.

Yeah this is definitely running on PC!

i like that song.

Thing is Nintendo said they will tell us more about the games on the 12th I think we really need to hear these sorts of announcements from Nintendo themselves

This doesn't look like a good game, so whatever

If they can get it looking that good in the final release, then that would be great, but I wouldn't be surprised if it does fall short.
Regardless of that, though... I'm more interested in the gameplay than the aesthetics... looks like it's got potential as long as it doesn't get too repetitive, but one or two bits did seem a little rigid for my liking.

wow so many of you here are so gullible and haven't learned anything from all the other scams like this we've seen over the years.
Y'all so hungry for Nintendo exclusives you believe anything haha

@AyeHaley nuff said

This game looks really fun, a good 'exploration' game, and it's nice to get some decent games on a nintendo system (where the Wii U fell in many ways), so hopefully, these kind of games keep on coming to it, and makes the Switch actually stand out with more than just the usual kid-friendly Mario spin offs and regular nintendo games. No offense to Mario or nintendo's other greats, but they need more than just the usual...but, just like their past consoles, the buyers of the Switch, will only pick up the nintendo games, push the other great ones away, the 3rd parties will get mad that their games don't sell, no more others will come on the Switch, internet rumors and backlashes will begin about nintendo...blaming it on just nintendo when it's the consumers faults...and...we begin again! Wii actually had a lot of great 3rd party titles that were lost in the garbage that came out for it (the Munchables was a good title for it and so was Elebits)...however, no one really picked them up because they weren't made by nintendo themselves...which is then why many companies don't bring their games over to nintendo consoles.

Sorry, but this doesn't look like a game at all.

Looks too good to be running on Switch. I'd be interested in a game like this but it would look way more humble on Switch.

Beautiful graphics, but animation could be better. However, this is probably just the pc-version. I want to see the Switch version, if that happens.

@PlywoodStick Haha, thanks for the compliment, but you'll probably survive just fine. All I wanted to do here is offer some perspective to counter the all but instant dismissal of this possibly to be released game.

And both me and @DanteSolablood have provided enough hints that show that they are at the very least in contact with Nintendo and working with the approval of both Nintendo and Unreal Engine support.

@DanteSolablood Some good points, and thanks for chiming in.

@ThanosReXXX If you'd called my name a third time I'd have been obliged to show up anyway.

@DiscoGentleman I understood that you were talking about NLife, since that was abundantly clear, but still. There isn't much to tell yet about this game, other than it being in pre-production and the guy making it being a controversial person in his own country, but that doesn't exclude the possibility of this game being made.

And I'm not white-knighting anything here. Just offering up some facts and perspective. Facts that point to them actually being in contact with Nintendo and like DanteSolablood has also added, having official support and being watched by the Unreal Engine team.

I just don't like instant, largely baseless negativism, that's all. The site now mentioned in the updated article is completely new and unknown in the game journalism world, and they have a biased opinion based upon an old story that at the most was only valid right until Any Arts got the (apparent) official support of Unreal Engine AND Nintendo.

And the whole article is based upon conjecture, hearsay and their own, considerably biased opinion, so I thought it would be a good thing to sum up all the recent facts here, to offer people the perspective to objectively make up their own minds instead of mindlessly gobbling up all that some sources have to say.

@DanteSolablood I know that is from some fairy tale, but my memory has temporarily abandoned me...

Well it's a shame that this is clearly a sham now that the evidence has been placed on the table.

To me the most convincing part was the Unreal Kite world demo video. Seasons of Shaven are cleary stolen from that.

Already a game that is not representative of the final product.

@DiscoGentleman Ah, okay. Well, sorry for that misunderstanding then. I guess I should have made it more clear.

@Timppis You might want to read up on ALL the facts before you make such assumptions...

@ThanosReXXX Im willing to read any facts presented. At the moment it's overwhelmingly decisive on the hoax side.

@Timppis Actually no, it really isn't. I'd like to invite you to read all my comments in this thread, as well as those of DanteSolablood. THOSE are the real tangible and verifiable facts, the other stuff is old news and biased opinions, nothing more.

@ThanosReXXX You have actually not said or presented anything that is any kind of a proof that the game is a) coming to Switch b) coming at all.

You have presented a lot of promoting material which I am sure people at Any Arts are quite happy to have been spread.

What comes to DanteSolablood; "I know they are in contact" is quite easy to write.

See. I just did it.

Did you know there is Mario Extreme Sports Mix coming up and it's made by Retro. I know this.

Really easy.

@Timppis I don't know if you really are, but you come across as very cynical, a definite no when trying to decide in an objective manner what something is or isn't.

First off, I never said that the game is definitely coming, I'm just offering facts to give people perspective and with this information I show that it actually IS true is that they were either invited or have requested a talk at Nintendo HQ, and that has been granted, and you should know that literally no one gets to trespass on Nintendo grounds unless they have been invited or requested an audience, so that lends a LOT of credibility to their claims of at least being in talks and having offered the concept of their game to Nintendo.

And like @DanteSolablood has said, they have clearly been allowed to use Nintendo Switch in their trailer, something that should have immediate repercussions if they had no permission, and they are under very tight scrutiny of the Unreal Engine team, something that is regularly done to check (among other things) what developers are doing with their Unreal Engine license.
Oh, and he has also tweeted with them.

Those aren't just things we said, those are (like I already said) REAL and tangible facts, that anyone can verify. To deny or write it off immediately is at best unfounded.

If your current opinion is largely based upon the article from that site mentioned in the update of the article, then I can understand where you're coming from, but I've already explained away most of that, and they are a complete nobody to begin with. They are a far better example of people just saying something than we are.

@ThanosReXXX

ANYONE can take a picture with that sign. It is literally there to be taken pictures with. Look at Tripadvisor, Visiting Seattle or some other tourist site for it.

edit: They don't show Ninty guest passes, Ninty guides. They don't even mention anywhere visiting the place or having conversations. That is because they are full of it.

They don't have twitter account for heavens sake. The authors own personal twitter and facebook accounts work as their primary and official channels. Not the makings of a very professional team.

No other dev that we actually know publishing games for the switch have made such reveals and this is the one that should be the big red flag. Even the guys behind Steamworld games are being all hushy hushy. Then these guys come and go "Oh we have this amazing UE4 game that we can show you guys all by ourselves".

Their art and world is quite clearly stock art and based on the video comparisons might be even ripped off from other demos.

What comes to Dantesolablood tweeting to them? How the hell them answering to questions themselves adds to any credibility?

@Timppis https://twitter.com/AnyArtsProd
https://www.facebook.com/AnyArtsProduction/

If you claim something, then at the very least do decent research.
All I want is for more people to take a "wait and see" stance, which is the only logical thing to do, since we don't know either way, but the signs are there that they are in contact. There was a previous article on here that showed the tweet of them being at Nintendo and having talked with executives there, and having a lunch or dinner with them afterwards.

So, AGAIN: I'm not saying for a fact that this game is coming, but the opposite can also not be said, ESPECIALLY if you want to be objective about it.

This Nico character could be the biggest a*hole in France, but that has no influence whatsoever on this game possibly becoming a reality, since he is not working alone. As you can see on their web page, there is an entire team at work on both the game and the novel.

So, let's just wait and see. A lot smarter to stay in the middle than to have to eat your words once you're proven wrong...

Oh, and not all assets in the game are stock Unreal Engine ones, so that point is also not valid. And even if they were, it still wouldn't be. It is a proof of concept, an animated storyboard if you will. And Any Arts themselves have also not claimed that this is the final look.

They clearly stated that they hope to achieve similar results on the actual hardware, so it's not like they are bragging about this being the final design or something.

And the fact that they are replying to Tweets means that they are at least reachable, willing to answer questions and to put themselves out there. A bunch of scam artists wouldn't be so quick to put themselves in the limelight.

And if they are frauds, then it will come to light soon enough. It would certainly also raise a lot of questions concerning Nintendo's screening process of third parties...

@Timppis And this was retweeted by the Unreal Engine team themselves:
https://twitter.com/danacowley/status/806923104584744960

EuroGamer article link in the tweet as well. You know, EuroGamer? The ones that were almost 100% right about the Switch?

@Timppis @ThanosReXXX To be fair, the company DOES have a Twitter account... that's the one I contacted them on. Also, it is not Any Arts Production's own reply that lends them any credibility, it's UnrealEngine's responses & retweets that do that. The makers of the Unreal Engine themselves have at least acknowledged the studio's existence & are happy for their logo to be displayed on promotional material.

Your "red flag" has been addressed to, remember that they don't have a dev kit? That means they are not currently tied to any NDAs.

Finally, if you look at their Facebook page you can see development of the concept art that was sent out earlier on for this game including a whiteboard sketch of the dog that matches up with the art-style perfectly. This is their own creation.

I can't comment on the Nintendo meeting discussion as I've not looked into it deeply, but it's not unrealistic considering that André the Black Nerd can get invited in.

@ThanosReXXX

First of all: Well F*** me. I didn't find Any Arts production on my twitter search but there it is loud and clear. My mistake.

Why they don't use the studio twitter and facebook on the french game site as a contact is still beyond me.

I have not found the tweet that you mentioned of them being at Nintendo or having lunch at there. I have only seen the pictures that you showed me. I didn't find it from their twitter accounts either by browsing their media.

I know that it is easier to take a stance of wait and see. Unfortunately that only means that you are willing to give column inches and internet traffic to people that want to make money based on lies and cheats.

Why they don't address these issues themselves?

And not having a dev kit and not being tied to NDA at the moment is definitely not a good sign.

@Timppis Not having a dev kit or being signed to NDAs means they're an indie developer. This is neither a bad sign nor news. The same happened for the XB1 & PS4 launches, it's only a problem for the Switch because people feel burned by the Wii U and want to make it a problem.

@Timppis Well, it's not so much that it's easier to take the wait and see stance; the easiest thing in the world for people is to be negative, about everything, and they can just roll on through life, being gleefully happy when they're right (and God knows why, since being right about something ending negatively is hardly something to cheer about), and just shrugging their shoulders when they're wrong, because they don't care either way.

But waiting and seeing IS the most sensible approach, since we don't know either way, so the jury should still be undecided, but based upon the lead developer being a pompous you-know-what and possibly having extracted some misused financial support out of some companies (which in my opinion actually makes the companies look rather stupid to fall for that without having any preventive measures/clauses in place, but that's just me)

And again: we DON'T know if these people are lying and cheating. It is being said about them, but they have official support of the Unreal Engine team AND apparently also of Nintendo. And that says a LOT, as in a tenfold more than some rumors and salty articles about the lead developer, so their credibility is hugely overstated in light of this far more recent information.

Here's the Nintendo Life article with the Tweet acknowledging the official Nintendo invitation and visit:
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2016/12/nintendo_switch_exclusive_game_revealed_-_seasons_of_heaven

And not having a dev kit (yet) is no red flag whatsoever. I already explained that in one of my previous comments. Since the game is being developed in Unreal Engine 4, they don't even NEED a dev kit as long as they stay within the parameters of what the actual hardware will be able to do, so they will only need to fine tune and bug test it when they eventually do get a dev kit.

@yomanation Could go either way, since it's still in pre-production, and even Nintendo themselves have canceled almost completely finished games in the past, so who knows...

@DanteSolablood @ThanosReXXX

Steamworld developers are Indies and they have Dev Kit. A lot of others seem to have Dev Kits too. If they have visited Ninty and indeed have all the pieces together why NOT have a dev kit with upcoming exclusive game?

To Thanos: No being negative is not the easiest thing in the world. Not having an opinion is the easiest thing. Having a negative view on everything is just friggin stupid. Having negative view on something that has mounting evidence against it little by little by little by lot is neither stupid nor is it the easiest thing in the world.

Waiting and seeing is what led to western front being woefully weak in the early days of World War II.

That's how sensible that is.

I would love for that game to come and be awesome. Right now that seems as plausible as having Project Cars suddenly coming for it.

@yomanation Honestly? Beats me.

@Timppis Image & Form Games (the Steamworld devs) have been developing for Nintendo for years & are multi-platform developers. They're a much bigger operation... also can't seem to find confirmation that they do have a dev kit. Just a tweet from them stating Nintendo "definitely isn't skimping on power" - which according to the "always 100% right" Eurogamer is wrong.

I try and keep a balanced view & never claim to be correct except where there is proof. However, when people seemingly make the most dire predictions based on the most negative possible interpretation of no information, I do get irked.

Though I will di.... I will suffer paper cuts to defend people's right to express those opinions though!

@Timppis Of course I meant being negative and waiting and seeing in the context of the story, not waiting and seeing until a World War is breaking out, but if we're going to apply those kinds of examples, then this discussion will be transformed into something totally ridiculous.

And saying no to everything is actually really easy, so that IS factually the easiest option. And having no opinion doesn't exist, since that is also a choice hence also an opinion...

And there is no mounting evidence which is growing in any capacity: there's only "evidence" of the shallowest kind that was relevant from before the first teaser trailer that was shown. After that, no new negative evidence has come up, only a rehashing of these old facts.

@DanteSolablood and me have offered you facts, reason, evidence and perspective, and STILL you refuse to see the light, so either you are indeed really negative/cynical or just stubborn for no other reason than to be stubborn.

Well, whatever the case, I'll stay mildly optimistic about yet another game possibly coming to Switch, which is only better for everyone in the end because the more games & support, the better.

And don't be so stubborn about the whole dev kit issue either. There are DOZENS of examples of people starting to develop games for systems without having access to a dev kit, ESPECIALLY in the early stages of development. The fact that you keep bringing that up clearly shows that you haven't even got the slightest idea of how that works in practice.

Dev kits are initially only handed out to bigger parties, and there might also be a difference between physical dev kits and software dev kits. The latter ones offering a ball park for developers to work with, so that they know the limits of the hardware that they have to stay within.

Here's another indie developer that is making a game for the Switch, and he too doesn't have a dev kit:
https://twitter.com/PinkyElefante/status/809463817763594240
https://www.facebook.com/savethepink
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Dinehart

@Timppis Forgot to add the bit about the whole NDA thing, which is actually quite simple to explain with just a tiny bit of logical thinking:

If you don't have a dev kit, there's no info you can leak, other than those ball park specs that I previously mentioned, but that would probably be one of the clauses in the contract you'd have to sign in order to acquire a dev kit or official seal of approval from Nintendo (or any other console maker), so as long as they stay quiet about that, they can talk and reveal as much about the game itself as they want.

@DanteSolablood @ThanosRexxx

Image & Form said some things about the Dev Kit themselves in one of the videos that was published here in Nintendo Life. How not everyone in the team has actually seen it etc.

Thanos: You stated that being negative is somehow a state of being cynical a-hole of all things, of life, of every speck of dust with every joy of life being reduced to ashes. I merely contradicted that with as much.

I am wildly optimistic about Switch. In fact it got me back on Hype train after the last two years of Wii U drought kinda made me not want to purchase the ticket anymore.

But I have seen the Project Cars and it's likes that never came to Wii U and I have seen Mighty No 9 and it's like with the indie teams behind them ending up horrible horrible abominations of a game.

This has the markings of the latter. It has not all, but a lot of the signs of such.

I have yet see that Pinky Elefante developer to show flashy and shady UE-trailers all around the internet and going full rave mode for it.

I believe a lot of Indie developers still don't have dev kits. See how quiet they are? That's not a sign to anyone?

@Timppis The thing is, the Switch is a completely new road for Nintendo that they have literally switched to, no one should compare any circumstance surrounding it to those during the life cycle of the Wii U.

The Switch was a true back to the drawing board thing for them, and all signs up til now, save for the hardware leaks, are wildly positive and a far cry from anything surrounding the Wii U.

The guy making Pinky Elefante is a well-known gaming veteran, as you can see from the Wiki-link I posted, so that's why I selected him as an example, not specifically because of the game, but there are more examples out there, most of which have recently been mentioned on Nintendolife. Him not being as loud about it as Any Arts is just because he's not that type of person, and he has already done way more than Any Arts have, who still have to prove themselves.

But I'm pretty sure that almost all indies work or at least start without dev kits. Hardware dev kits can cost anywhere from €500 and up, because they are nearly always more powerful and expensive than the actual consoles, because they need to be able to let developers move around and tinker with the game assets.

That should make it clear why Nintendo isn't just going to hand out dev kits to just anyone, which is also why they would probably let these indies pitch their idea first and go into (several) meetings before they get the go ahead, and even then, they'll still be some ways off from receiving a dev kit, so they will probably have to come up with a playable demo first.

Nintendo might even assign someone to oversee the process to assure quality, something not always done, but certainly also not uncommon for them.

As for the always being negative thing: how could you not see that as something bad? I'd like to keep an open mind 9 out of 10 times, because that is simply the best way to be. Being negative isn't constructive, it doesn't offer solutions and it obstructs progress, so yeah, I stand by what I said.

This is not for you specifically, but my advice to people (both personal and professional in my role as a sales manager) is always: think in solutions, look at what you CAN do or get, NOT what you can't, and see the world and your life with a glass half full frame of mind, and you'll find it'll become all the better for it.

But the other way around is unfortunately more commonplace, especially on internet fora and in other comment sections.

@Timppis I actually found the article & they did mention getting Switch dev kits, so my bad. however, this is still very different to Any Arts Production who is a smaller, newer company. Dev kits go out to larger companies first & then filter down. That's why console launches tend to be primarily composed of larger studio games.

In regard to indie developers, there have been more talking about the Switch, including some reported on NL.
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2016/12/the_sacred_hero_teased_for_nintendo_switch_release_in_2018

I'm not saying that Seasons of Heaven is a guaranteed success or is will 100% launch. Only that the negativity it's garnered so far doesn't seem to be in any way fair.

Now as for the Wii U games drought & Mighty No.9... I can see how this might have jaded your opinion but they are both VERY different stories that could take hours to even touch upon. If you want to discuss those we'll need to go somewhere else. But Any Arts Production is neither a kickstarter OR trying to work on a console with limited engine support, those two issues aren't relevent to Seasons of Heaven.

@ThanosReXXX @Timppis I've been following this comments thread since I saw the article on Facebook yesterday and i even made a NintendoLife account just to reply.

All I have to say is that ThanosReXXX is either a Seasons of Heaven shill/developer, or a Fanboy in denial

People are allowed to have different opinions. The game looks shady, sorry. The animations look very bad, and you know what? A game in "early development" doesn't usually get a trailer. Developers wait for the game to be somewhat ready.

Seasons of Heaven already looks like a mess, and the developers should spend their time making it good rather than making trailers that are not at all representative of the final product, if there even is a final product to speak of.

@Ddanton Well, if people are allowed to have different opinions, then so do the two that are currently the only ones coming up with evidence...

Calling me a shill or whatever is pathetic to say the least. I am not invested in this game or the group developing it in any way. All I was advocating is for people to not judge so quickly based upon so little actual evidence, which is no more than using sound logic.

I'm too old and wise to be a fanboy, and if you knew me from being on here for more than 14 minutes, then you'd know my reputation is pretty solid, and there's more than one member that can vouch for that.

@Ddanton I can assure you @ThanosReXXX is neither a shill nor a developer for the game as I've had many a disagreement with him since before the Switch was announced.

People are allowed to have different opinions, even those who disagree with yours. Personally I just prefer people to have informed opinions. That's all.

Developers do release development footage all the time, it's just not usually for a console shrouded in so much mystery. Wish I'd seen a lot LESS of Battleborn! Releasing trading cards before the game was even finished. #rolleyes

@DanteSolablood @ThanosReXXX fair points guys. We'll have to wait and see, I guess.

@Ddanton Hope to see more of you on the comments/forums. Always good to have more opinions.

@Ddanton And THAT was literally all I was trying to get people to consider, as already mentioned in my earlier comments in this thread, but decent of you to reply in the manner that you did, so cheers.

@Ddanton And welcome to the site. You'll find that in general, it's one of the better independent Nintendo sites out there, and the comments sections here are some of the most decent of any gaming site on the web that I have ever visited, so you could definitely do worse than join NLife.

@JLPick
May I share my opinion ?
3rd parties are divided into 2: Japanese and Western (either Bonafide company or indies).
Some people like Western 3rd parties, some people like Japanese 3rd parties. Maybe because of perception. Some Western gamers might think Japanese games are weird (Not interested by quirkiness, Anime style, complicated gameplay, story based games,etc) and vice versa (Japanese mindset gamers might think Western games are boring, too mainstream, not Unique, Graphic oriented but not gameplay oriented, etc).
Because of that perception , no wonder some 3rd parties games (either Western or Japanese) neglected. When 3rd parties neglected, public will blame it was Nintendo fault because can't convince 3rd parties to develop wonderful games. Well, I admit there are also some shovelware 3rd parties (either Western or Japanese) that really lazy to develop decent games and just let Nintendo got negative feedback.
Sorry if i'm so amateur in gaming analizing, just want to share my thought. People should check some 3rd parties, some of them have good potential. I'm also looking for good 3rd party games, not just only 1st party by Nintendo (kinda boring then...).
Yeah, people should change a bit their perception about foreign cultures.

@Anti-Matter Good points! And you are right, people need to check out more 3rd party games...there are many that are great and enjoyable!

@ThanosReXXX

Thanks for the French excerpt. It's not terrible. I mean I'm intrigued and would read more, I suppose, but as far as writing goes it's a tad on the infantile side. I could (and have) done better. Mostly in English, of course!

It did make me interested in the game. I'm actually getting Le Petit Prince vibes from what I read which is promising. Completely different kind of story, of course, but maybe with that sort of style of telling. That would be excellent indeed.

Of course if it falls through, and at this point that seems likely, it would not be a great loss either.

@TheLobster You're welcome, and I agree, the style of writing is somewhat simplistic but not bad. I do believe it is his first book ever, so I decided to not judge it too harshly. The audio excerpt didn't sound too bad in my opinion either.

And funny you mentioned The Little Prince, since I was thinking something similar.

I'm not all that convinced it will fall through, though. They must really be class A scam artists if they manage to trick Nintendo. They did go there and talked to them, so I assume they pitched the concept of the game to them, which in turn allowed them to be able to mention Nintendo Switch in their trailer without getting a cease and desist notice, and they have an official Unreal Engine license as well, and the Unreal Support team is constantly retweeting them and watching them like a hawk, so either they are for real, or like I already said really good scam artists.

I'm still cautiously optimistic that the game is going to be a reality, not saying it definitely will, but I do think it's WAY too soon to tell that this is fake/vaporware.

@ThanosReXXX I really shouldn't judge someone else's writing when I myself have put my own novel through an "analyze your writing and find out what author you most write like" generator and gotten Stephanie Meyer. Ouch.

I agree, it is too soon to say either way if it is vaporware or not. We haven't even seen the Switch presentation for crying out loud! I'll be interested to see if this game is mentioned in it at all.