With EarthBound tearing up the Wii U eShop and finding its way into some gamers' hearts for the very first time, those responsible for breathing life into that world can look back on their handiwork with pride. Series creator Shigesato Itoi recently shared his piece, and we all thank him for the memories, but English players have someone else to thank as well.
In an interview with Kotaku, localization editor Marcus Lindblom expressed joy that EarthBound has finally become such a beloved cult classic today, considering how reviews around the time of the game's original launch were less than kind. "It was pretty difficult in some ways for those of us that had been involved," he said. "I guess the feeling at that time was -- and this is not a lot different than today -- graphics were a big important component to pushing forward the game industry. And a lot of people looked at EarthBound and considered the graphics to be fairly simplistic."
Lindblom recalled how he originally joined Nintendo as a call center rep, later became a Software Analyst in charge of localizing various games like Wario's Woods, then was left in charge of a new RPG called Mother 2. Another Nintendo writer, David Owen, had finished roughly 10% of the script before he moved on to other projects, leaving the task to Lindblom with some assistance from Japanese writer Masayuki Miura. He spent four months adapting the raw Japanese translation into readable English, working between 14 and 15 hours a day.
Sorry we're so late with getting The Daily Spelunk out to you today. It must be the weekend.
Regardless, we have an excellent episode today, as Jordan once again defies the odds and takes the fight to Hell itself. And I get thrilled by the prospect of an easy jetpack, which never really pans out for me. All this, plus we learn a little bit about a record-setting pilot in today's notable death. We're practically edutainment over here.
[Dtoid community blogger Handy has scoured the world over and uncovered just how lucky we are to have the games and consoles we do. Want to see your own words appear on the front page? Go write something! --Mr Andy Dixon]
While searching the PlayStation Network recently, my eyes were met with an odd site: a new Uncharted! Have they re-released them digitally? Is this the free-to-play multiplayer I heard about?
No. This is not Uncharted. This is Unearthed .
I instinctively dismissed it as some puzzle game trying to cash in on the success of Sony's flagship series, but oh no, it goes much deeper than that. Unearthed is the first game to come from Saudi Arabia, and darn it if they didn't set the bar high for themselves. Not content to rip-off Mario or Sonic, these guys have gone for the full AAA experience on their first attempt, and the results are... well....
With the success of Skylanders and Skylanders Giants , it was inevitable that someone would challenge the concept of marrying toys to videogames on such a large scale. So what better company than the juggernaut that is Disney, who was able to sink $100 million dollars into research and development for the project, titled Disney Infinity.
But Disney Infinity isn't exactly the same as Skylanders beyond the concept of toys as DLC. They're fairly different games -- for better, and for worse.
Nintendo big boss Satoru Iwata recently brought PlatinumGames director Hideki Kamiya onto Iwata Asks to discuss The Wonderful 101. In a followup roundtable, a healthy chunk of the W101 development crew went into even greater detail about the upcoming Wii U title.
Right out the gate, Kamiya revealed the origins of W101 as a Nintendo crossover game. The idea, pitched by Platinum CEO Tatsuya Minami, was to gather a bunch of Nintendo all-stars into a single adventure à la Konami Wai Wai World or Famicom Jump: Hero Retsuden . Kamiya's team then conceived of having tons of Nintendo characters on-screen at once, forming into different shapes using what would later be known as "Unite Morphs."
When this idea was brought to Nintendo Software Planning and Development Group 2 leader Hitoshi Yamagami, he exclaimed, "This is impossible!" Getting characters from different games to work sensibly in Smash Bros. was already a challenge, but the way this new Platinum concept was presented would have been even more challenging. The plan was shelved for several months, then Platinum returned with the same idea but replaced Nintendo characters with completely original superheroes. Now the wheels were finally turning.
Game accessory manufacturer Hyperkin recently announced the Pixel Art Controller line of PC / Mac gamepads. I took a look at the blocky SNES-inspired design and concluded that handling this hunk of plastic would have the same effect as rubbing your palms against a cheese grater.
The folks at Hyperkin were not about to let me drag their name through the dirt, so they hooked me up with a prototype controller so that I may get a feel for its construction. I spent the morning putting the beast through its paces, and I thought I'd share what I learned.
Again, this is a handmade prototype, so some of my criticisms may be addressed by the time the controller officially releases in September.
