When did work start for this title? Did the development start with the assumption that it would be a sequel to the Wii Sports series?
Yamashita: The project started a while after the Nintendo Switch system was released. Mr. Koizumi (2) called me and requested the development of a Nintendo Switch title in the Wii Sports series. And that’s how the project started.
So, it started quite a while ago.
Yamashita: Since it launched in 2022, one may wonder why it took so long.
You have been working on it since you received the request from Koizumi-san, haven’t you?
Yamashita: Yes. With the Wii Sports™ and Wii Sports Resort™ games, we came up with as many ideas as we could think of...and most of them were achieved and implemented in the titles, so we felt that we had done all we could. My impression at the time was that if we were to do a sequel in the future, it would be quite difficult. Therefore, when this Nintendo Switch Sports project started, I honestly felt that there weren't any sports left to be added.
So, your starting point was "there is nothing left to do," and you considered creative ways to add new things?
Yamashita: Yes. "There may not be so many new sports and types of gameplay anymore. But that's not good enough," and so on. I thought about a lot of things for a while and worked hard on my own. New members joined, and in the process of prototyping, we were conscious of creating something that looked new and different from the past. But we were so conscious of this, that we ended up going as far as having gameplay where you can play without swinging the Joy-Con™ controller. (Laughs)
Without swinging the Joy-Con controller...? The plan was to develop a Nintendo Switch title in the Wii Sports series, right?
Yamashita: That’s right. We started off with Wii Sports but got so caught up in making it look new, the swinging motion controls became a secondary consideration, and other aspects of the game, like the game’s atmosphere, became a higher priority for us to put our efforts into. But we were working so hard at the time that we didn't really question it. We were very conscious of creating something new no matter what... However, it didn't go well in the end. We had lost our way and were on the verge of losing the charm of Wii Sports. And by the time we acknowledged we'd pursued the wrong direction, years had already passed.
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