We are mere days away from the release of Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream on 16th April, so, just like clockwork, Nintendo has published another entry in its 'Ask the Developer' series, all about the upcoming life sim.
Expectedly, the discussion contains a whole lot of strangeness — with a game like Tomodachi Life, how couldn't it? — as the development team breaks down the importance of user-generated content (USG), and how it makes up the backbone of the play experience.
While touching on how each member of the team brought their own experiences and memories of the series to the table over the game's nine-year development (yes, really), director Ryutaro Takahashi confesses there was "a big debate among the team about whether Mii should be able to... break wind." And thus, we get a small amount of fart discussion in an official Nintendo interview, of all places!
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According to Takahashi, "Some people found it hilarious, while others thought it was a bit vulgar," leading the studio to add it as an optional 'Little Quirk' in the end — minor personality traits that you can prescribe to each of your Miis.
"We really obsessed over getting the sound just right," sound director Toru Minegishi added, revealing that some of his attempts were accused of being "a bit too realistic for my liking.” While he didn't put a precise number on it, programming director Takaomi Ueno admitted that the team "did so many retakes" to get the sound effect in that Goldilocks spot — juuuust right.
Adding to the toot talk (yes, there's more), art director Daisuke Kageyama chimed in to note that his department tried all sorts of visual effects to sell the wind breaking, too. "For a while, the fart effect looked like an explosion going off," he said.
Of course, it's not all toilet humour across the interview's three parts. The devs also touch on playtesting the game with their families, innovating the Mii design, and how the music came to be. Be sure to head over to the Nintendo website to read all three parts in full.