StarTopic Nintendo First Party Software Development |ST| Nintendo Party Superstars

[Tye]

The general thread is the descendent of the old Direct threads, and it is accordingly arguably the thread for which this site exists. It is untouchable. I agree, though, that it's not a suitable space for casual Nintendo speculation.

What I think would be, however, is the return of year-round Direct Speculation threads. To my memory, the first one was made after a request by TheMoon to get all of the shitposts out of his damn first party thread. In a way, we're in a similar situation now.

I'll ask about the idea in the site feedback and general threads.

If the “Nintendo” General Discussion thread has to be this untouchable thing to which rules that other threads follow don’t have to apply and off-topic discussion and shitposts are freely allowed or even encouraged, then it should at least be named appropriately—like “Famiboards General Discussion” instead, perhaps putting it in The Roost to replace the general chit chat thread that’s largely ignored—and we should have an actual Nintendo General Discussion thread in addition to that. That should solve the issue.

 

[Charamiwa]

I think there should just be a next gen thread, outside of tech talk. Now is the time for dreaming about potential Nintendo games and strategy, a new console doesn't come often.

 

[Nemesis24]

People want to talk about future switch games. A topic was made and was shut down by a mod who said this topic could be used too. The general discussion thread people don’t want to use and this thread has the usual posters crying about discussion.

people come in here to discuss arlo and many other things compltely unrelated so of course this will happen. this thread is for discussion around staff, development teams and related subject.. lol

 

[oracion]

1-UP Studio continues to grow.

データで見る1-UP | 1-UP Studio Inc.

1-UPスタジオ株式会社のオフィシャルサイト「1-UPスタジオホームページ」です。

1-up-studio.jp

 

[MisterSpo]

1-UP Studio continues to grow.

データで見る1-UP | 1-UP Studio Inc.

1-UPスタジオ株式会社のオフィシャルサイト「1-UPスタジオホームページ」です。

1-up-studio.jp

Fantastic growth as the co-developer for 3D Mario over the last decade; quadrupled in size. Hopefully we don't have to wait too long before we see more of their handiwork...

 

[astrogamer]

How Super Mario Bros. Wonder Pays Homage To The Past As It Expands In New Directions

Nintendo's developers explain how they looked to the past to determine the series' future.

www.gameinformer.com

We now know the art director for Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Masanobu Sato. It's in the last third describing the reason behind some of the Wonder's art style

Masanobu Sato

Masanobu Sato is an art director for Nintendo EPD Production Group No. 10. He has worked for the company since 2004, starting at Nintendo EAD with Nintendogs. He worked mostly on character and object design on the Mario series, most notably being in charge of animation for the Koopalings on New...

nintendo.fandom.com

 

[ItWasMeantToBe19]

Which Nintendo dev or IP would be best suited to a Souls like game.

 

[The Giant]

Which Nintendo dev or IP would be best suited to a Souls like game.

Urban Champion

 

[Raccoon]

How Super Mario Bros. Wonder Pays Homage To The Past As It Expands In New Directions

Nintendo's developers explain how they looked to the past to determine the series' future.

www.gameinformer.com

We now know the art director for Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Masanobu Sato. It's in the last third describing the reason behind some of the Wonder's art style

Masanobu Sato

Masanobu Sato is an art director for Nintendo EPD Production Group No. 10. He has worked for the company since 2004, starting at Nintendo EAD with Nintendogs. He worked mostly on character and object design on the Mario series, most notably being in charge of animation for the Koopalings on New...

nintendo.fandom.com

• 
  Super Mario Maker - Character Design

is it possible that this is the genius behind Weird Mario?

 

[ILikeFeet]

Which Nintendo dev or IP would be best suited to a Souls like game.

Monolith Soft and a new IP

otherwise, it'd have to be an external studio pitch that Nintendo picks up

 

[Giancarlo]

Which Nintendo dev or IP would be best suited to a Souls like game.

a reboot of Castle Muramassa by Retro Studios

 

[Tyrien]

Monolith Soft should be the one to make ARPGs now. or joint projects like team ninja, fromsoft, capcom... whatever
If it were made internally I guess the Zelda team? Otherwise Retro, but we know what retro needs to and is doing.

 

[Giancarlo]

what Nintendo team/subsidiary could do a survival horror game? it would be interting if Nintendo create a survival horror by one of it subsidiaries/internal team

 

[Giancarlo]

Monolith Soft should be the one to make ARPGs now. or joint projects like team ninja, fromsoft, capcom... whatever
If it were made internally I guess the Zelda team? Otherwise Retro, but we know what retro needs to and is doing.

dindt Monolith Soft was working on a action RPG?

 

[astrogamer]

is it possible that this is the genius behind Weird Mario?

As in refined the design? Because Tezuka said Weird Mario came from a glitch.
It's possible it's Sato but, there's like 6 other people credited with Character Design on Mario Maker

 

[Raccoon]

As in refined the design? Because Tezuka said Weird Mario came from a glitch.
It's possible it's Sato but, there's like 6 other people credited with Character Design on Mario Maker

imo weird Mario (left) and Weird Mario (right) are very different and whoever refined the glitch absolutely deserves creative design credit

 

[OctoSplattack]

what Nintendo team/subsidiary could do a survival horror game? it would be interting if Nintendo create a survival horror by one of it subsidiaries/internal team

I feel like they'd work with Koei Tecmo on a new Fatal Frame before attempting something in-house, since they still co-own the IP despite K-T nabbing the publishing rights for the fourth and fifth games to do multiplatform releases. As far as I know, anyway. Director Makoto Shibata is certainly up to do more of the series, and the remasters of those games seem to have done well enough to warrant... well, more remasters at the very least? Maybe? Maiden of Black Water did 340K in its first two months, while Mask of the Lunar Eclipse did 120K in its first three weeks (which isn't as good, but Resident Evil 4 released the same month, so...)

Nintendo is also sitting on the Eternal Darkness IP if they want to return to that over making a new property, should anyone in the company have interest in reviving it.

 

[AngryAlchemist]

what Nintendo team/subsidiary could do a survival horror game? it would be interting if Nintendo create a survival horror by one of it subsidiaries/internal team

Gamefreak make some pretty scary games

 

[Tyrien]

dindt Monolith Soft was working on a action RPG?

yes and that's partially why I bring it up. That concept art vaguely reminds me of zelda and a goddess statue. I thought maybe the statue of the goddess could be like the checkpoints. And maybe you play as a warrior princess Zelda. Who knows lol. It only vaguely looks like it.

 

[ItWasMeantToBe19]

What if Splatoon Side Order is a roguelite

This would be very good to me.

 

[Tyrien]

What if Splatoon Side Order is a roguelite

This would be very good to me.

It is another sign they are willing to implement modern trends.

 

[Adulfzen]

dindt Monolith Soft was working on a action RPG?

They supposedly still are considering their recruiting page for it is still up (and not Zelda related considering they have an entirely separate page for that).

急募アクションゲーム開発経験者スタッフ積極採用中！｜採用情報｜株式会社モノリスソフト

モノリスソフトのブランドイメージとは異なる意欲的なプロジェクト。アクションゲーム開発経験者を募集しております。

www.monolithsoft.co.jp

Rudimentary deepl translation :

RECRUIT
Urgently Seeking Experienced Action Game Developers
We are actively recruiting staff!
Job List
Technical Artist
Modeling TA/Animation TA/Effects TA
Programmer
Character Control Programmer (Action Part)
Tool/Environment Programmer
System/Framework Programmer
System/Framework Programmer
Effects Programmer
Effects tool programmer
Planner
Planner (Action Part)
Map Planner (Level Designer)
Event Planners
Designers
Main Character Designer
Concept Art Designer
Map Modeler
In-game animators
Event Production Staff
Management and Support
Project Managers
Other positions are also available! Click here for more details.

And obviously as a reminder hiring pages and the positions they're looking for never indicates the state of development of related projects as it just means getting more hands on deck instead of actually lacking people capable of already doing the tasks in the existing staff.

Why also Retro still recruiting for MP4 doesn't mean much for how the game is progressing unless people think those devs legitimately don't work if they don't have a specific position filled up in time.

 

[Tentacle-tropes]

I feel like they'd work with Koei Tecmo on a new Fatal Frame before attempting something in-house, since they still co-own the IP despite K-T nabbing the publishing rights for the fourth and fifth games to do multiplatform releases. As far as I know, anyway. Director Makoto Shibata is certainly up to do more of the series, and the remasters of those games seem to have done well enough to warrant... well, more remasters at the very least? Maybe? Maiden of Black Water did 340K in its first two months, while Mask of the Lunar Eclipse did 120K in its first three weeks (which isn't as good, but Resident Evil 4 released the same month, so...)

Nintendo is also sitting on the Eternal Darkness IP if they want to return to that over making a new property, should anyone in the company have interest in reviving it.

I think it would have to be another company wanting to take a stab at Eternal Darkness for it to see a remaster or new game.

 

[OctoSplattack]

I think it would have to be another company wanting to take a stab at Eternal Darkness for it to see a remaster or new game.

Most likely. Can't think of any studio that would have any interest though. My first thought would be Denis Dyack, but even if he wasn't busy with... checks... Deadhaus Sonata, I'm not sure if Nintendo wants anything to do with him after seeing him run Silicon Knights into the ground and fail repeatedly to crowdfund a new game afterwards.

 

[TheMoon]

Not sure what even the point is of the Eternal Darkness IP. The by-today's-standards-highly-questionable-but-hey-it's-patented(has that run out?)-lol "Sanity Meter"? The IP has no value beyond a few GameCube diehards clinging to it. If they wanted a horror game, they neither needed Dyack nor any this particular IP (even if they were to do something similar) to do anything. Their current horror IP is Luigi's Mansion, their grown-up horror sector is points at all the third party games.

If someone at Nintendo had interest in horror and came with a cool pitch, they'd make one. I doubt they're sitting there actively thinking "damn we need something to fill the horror void on our system" in general.

 

[Josh5890]

Not sure what even the point is of the Eternal Darkness IP. The by-today's-standards-highly-questionable-but-hey-it's-patented(has that run out?)-lol "Sanity Meter"? The IP has no value beyond a few GameCube diehards clinging to it. If they wanted a horror game, they neither needed Dyack nor any this particular IP (even if they were to do something similar) to do anything. Their current horror IP is Luigi's Mansion, their grown-up horror sector is points at all the third party games.

If someone at Nintendo had interest in horror and came with a cool pitch, they'd make one. I doubt they're sitting there actively thinking "damn we need something to fill the horror void on our system" in general.

Nintendo has also been publishing the Fatal Frame games for a while. I agree that there is no reason to bring back Eternal Darkness, save for maybe an NSO port in 2029 when Nintendo adds Gamecube games.

 

[Adulfzen]

Horror in general doesn't feel like a niche needs to fill themselves when it seems pretty likely Capcom will bring all the newest RE games on the next gen successor to the Switch (and honestly wouldn't be surprised to see other games like Silent Hill, the Dead Space remake and even Alan Wake 2).

The closest we have is Metroid and it tends to be more on the action side of things with some tense moments here and there. Will be interesting to see where Metroid Prime 4 lands.

That being said Nintendo could always end up partnering with a smaller third party studio in Japan to publish a game or something, such as Bokeh currently working on Slitterhead or maybe Unseen (Ikumi Nakamura studio who previously worked at Tango Gameworks).

And obviously Fatal Frame is still a good possibility considering Nintendo and Koei Tecmo like working together.

 

[OctoSplattack]

Yeah, I only mentioned Eternal Darkness because it's the only pre-existing Nintendo IP -- outside their aforementioned stake in Fatal Frame -- that's horror as opposed to horror-adjacent. There are a ton of more likely ways for the next console to have a Nintendo published horror game that doesn't include someone strolling up with a new Eternal Darkness idea.

 

[wakko]

It didn’t exactly stem for Arlo but Emily Rogers who provided some back ground info & other things about the “mandate”.

This entire conversation stems from Arlo

This just isn't true at all. Neither Arlo nor Emily were responsible for starting this.

It came straight from the mouth of Nintendo Producer Kensuke Tanabe. And he said it in 2020.

https://screenrant.com/paper-mario-original-characters-policy-nintendo-switch/

One of the producers behind the recently released Paper Mario: The Origami King shed some light on why the series has moved away from creating original characters, and it's the result of a weird Nintendo policy that fans are still trying to wrap their heads around. Paper Mario's earlier games were memorable in part due to their creative, trope-challenging characters, many of whom were based on previously existing species in the Mushroom Kingdom like goombas and koopas.

On July 2020, Nintendo's Kensuke Tanabe said:

"Since Paper Mario: Sticker Star, it’s no longer possible to modify Mario characters or to create original characters that touch on the Mario universe. That means that if we aren’t using Mario characters for bosses, we need to create original characters with designs that don’t involve the Mario universe at all, like we’ve done with Olly and the stationery bosses."

 

[carbvan]

This just isn't true at all. Neither Arlo nor Emily were responsible for starting this.

It came straight from the mouth of Nintendo Producer Kensuke Tanabe. And he said it in 2020.

https://screenrant.com/paper-mario-original-characters-policy-nintendo-switch/


On July 2020, Nintendo's Kensuke Tanabe said:

I need to be more specific and work on my phrasing in the future. I meant the conversation started by LongDrake.

 

[Tyrien]

They supposedly still are considering their recruiting page for it is still up (and not Zelda related considering they have an entirely separate page for that).

急募アクションゲーム開発経験者スタッフ積極採用中！｜採用情報｜株式会社モノリスソフト

モノリスソフトのブランドイメージとは異なる意欲的なプロジェクト。アクションゲーム開発経験者を募集しております。

www.monolithsoft.co.jp

Rudimentary deepl translation :


And obviously as a reminder hiring pages and the positions they're looking for never indicates the state of development of related projects as it just means getting more hands on deck instead of actually lacking people capable of already doing the tasks in the existing staff.

Why also Retro still recruiting for MP4 doesn't mean much for how the game is progressing unless people think those devs legitimately don't work if they don't have a specific position filled up in time.

Hey so that's great. Is the Zelda recruitment STILL up? even after tears of the kingdom's release?

Please link to the Zelda recruitment page if you can.

 

[ILikeFeet]

Hey so that's great. Is the Zelda recruitment STILL up? even after tears of the kingdom's release?

Please link to the Zelda recruitment page if you can.

「ゼルダの伝説」シリーズ開発スタッフ大募集！ | RECRUIT | モノリスソフト

現在モノリスソフトが募集中の採用情報をご案内します。

www.monolithsoft.co.jp

 

[Adulfzen]

Hey so that's great. Is the Zelda recruitment STILL up? even after tears of the kingdom's release?

Please link to the Zelda recruitment page if you can.

「ゼルダの伝説」シリーズ開発スタッフ大募集！ | RECRUIT | モノリスソフト

現在モノリスソフトが募集中の採用情報をご案内します。

www.monolithsoft.co.jp

The Legend of Zelda Series - Large Scale Recruitment of Development Staff
List of Open Positions
Technical Artist
Modeling TA
Effects TA
Animation TAs
Rigging Artists
Programmers
Character Control Programmers
Effects Programmers
Tools/Environment Programmers
System/Framework Programmers
Planners
Action planners
Map Planners
Quest planners
Scenario Planners
Designer
Character Designer
Concept Art Designer
3DCG Designer (Character)
3DCG Designer (Maps)
In-Game Animator
Event Animator
Management Support
Project Managers

For now that page is still up even if that was for TOTK and then there is another recruitement page for the Kyoto studio that assists EPD productions.

京都スタジオ大幅増員につきデザイナー大募集 | INTERVIEW | モノリスソフト

京都スタジオの採用情報やスタッフインタビューをご紹介

www.monolithsoft.co.jp

About Kyoto Studio
Monolith Soft became a member of the Nintendo group in 2007,
In 2011, we opened a studio in Kyoto, where Nintendo has its headquarters.

The majority of the members of the Kyoto Studio consist of designers,
In recent years, the studio has been involved in the partial contracted development of Nintendo's original titles such as "The Legend of Zelda," "Animal Crossing," and the "Splatoon" series.
The Legend of Zelda," "Animal Crossing," "Splatoon," and other original Nintendo titles.

 

[Tyrien]

I guess there's no concrete evidence that they are making their own Zelda game? Could just be them helping?

 

[ILikeFeet]

I guess there's no concrete evidence that they are making their own Zelda game? Could just be them helping?

people try to correlate the medieval fantasy art work to Zelda (and fail). that's about it. otherwise, they have a semi-permanent Zelda team to assist EPD

 

[Tyrien]

people try to correlate the medieval fantasy art work to Zelda (and fail). that's about it. otherwise, they have a semi-permanent Zelda team to assist EPD

I mean it is a royal looking blonde female with a crown and a statue of a goddess, but yeah who knows lol. Don't the games usually end up veering drastically from the original concept artwork anyways. Especially for an early recruitment.

 

[OctoSplattack]

I mean it is a royal looking blonde female with a crown and a statue of a goddess, but yeah who knows lol. Don't the games usually end up veering drastically from the original concept artwork anyways. Especially for an early recruitment.

Honestly, that recruitment image has been sitting there since August 2017 and we're no closer to knowing what the deal is with this game meant to be "an ambitious project different from the brand image of Monolith Soft" than we were six years ago.

 

[Giancarlo]

Honestly, that recruitment image has been sitting there since August 2017 and we're no closer to knowing what the deal is with this game meant to be "an ambitious project different from the brand image of Monolith Soft" than we were six years ago.

at this point this action RPG Monolith Soft is suposely working, turned into Xenoblade Chronicles 4

 

[Tyrien]

at this point this action RPG Monolith Soft is suposely working, turned into Xenoblade Chronicles 4

It could still be a Xenoblade action RPG for Switch 2. Even if it's not this fantasy one. We'll see. Really hoping for something different. Different art style. I'm really not a fan of xenoblade's art anymore.

 

[Adulfzen]

at this point this action RPG Monolith Soft is suposely working, turned into Xenoblade Chronicles 4

Hopefully not, I'd prefer if they could fully experiment with a new franchise while XB4 can retain similar gameplay concepts from previous entries.

 

[Saturnman789]

Which Nintendo dev or IP would be best suited to a Souls like game.

 

[MondoMega]

Saw a fun blog post on AlphaDream that may be of interest to people here.

アルファドリーム元スタッフの動向を調べてみた - Papen's Piling

お久しぶりです。ゲームやら私生活が忙しく何も書けておりませんでした。ただそんな中も、ゲーム業界の動向はたまに見ておりました。...

www.papenspiling.com

There seems to be a misconception going around in Japanese fandom, that's even made it to AlphaDream's JP Wikipedia page, that the majority of staff ended up at Tose following the studio's bankrupcy, and worked on Live A Live HD-2D and the upcoming Super Mario RPG remake. It's pretty interesting to see how easily this sort of thing spreads in spite of how easy it is to debunk, which the writer does in four steps:

• Tose's common model of being a "ghost developer" that goes uncredited makes tracking any staff specifically associated with them (and not other studios contributing to a project) difficult and unlikely.
• There's no public mention of Tose's involvement on Live A Live (which was led by Historia and Team Asano) in the first place.
• Simply looking at the credits of Bowser's Inside Story DX and seeing where some staff members have been credited since (much like a lot of the analysis done in this thread). Much like the findings here they determine Fantasian to have the most notable, abliet still overall modest overlap; but there are plenty of credits across the industry on titles from many publishers and studios.
• We know literally nothing about who is working on Super Mario RPG and the Wikipedia article pulls that claim from nowehere; but even under the assumption that Tose were developing it, and there were a notable count of former AlphaDream staff at the studio, their potential roles on the staff would likely be limited to planning, design and UI positions given how the 3D elements of the 3DS Mario & Luigi installments were all outsourced to other studios.

 

[TheMoon]

Hey so that's great. Is the Zelda recruitment STILL up? even after tears of the kingdom's release?

Please link to the Zelda recruitment page if you can.

You can just click on "recruit" and when you scroll down you'll see the Zelda job posting with a clearly identifiable image. No need to read Japanese. Just for future reference.

I mean it is a royal looking blonde female with a crown and a statue of a goddess, but yeah who knows lol. Don't the games usually end up veering drastically from the original concept artwork anyways. Especially for an early recruitment.

it's not a statue of a goddess, it's just a statue of a woman with wings.

The sound thing to do is never to associate ANY recruitment artwork directly with an unannounced game. Like the fantastical face-tree artwork they had for their 3DS job postings back in the day. It meant nothing. It's supposed to give a vibe of the sort of thing they're hiring for. just like when they ask for people with UE4 or whatnot experience. Doesn't mean they're even using that.

 

[Adulfzen]

Saw a fun blog post on AlphaDream that may be of interest to people here.

アルファドリーム元スタッフの動向を調べてみた - Papen's Piling

お久しぶりです。ゲームやら私生活が忙しく何も書けておりませんでした。ただそんな中も、ゲーム業界の動向はたまに見ておりました。...

www.papenspiling.com

There seems to be a misconception going around in Japanese fandom, that's even made it to AlphaDream's JP Wikipedia page, that the majority of staff ended up at Tose following the studio's bankrupcy, and worked on Live A Live HD-2D and the upcoming Super Mario RPG remake. It's pretty interesting to see how easily this sort of thing spreads in spite of how easy it is to debunk, which the writer does in four steps:

Was that based on something tangible like at least one or two employees moving there or pure speculation ?
Wouldn't make much sense for every single employees of a bankrupt company to find jobs at the exact same company instead of scattering here and there depending on demands (or at best funding a new studio based on the ashes of the old one but it'd need some funding).

 

[Tyrien]

You can just click on "recruit" and when you scroll down you'll see the Zelda job posting with a clearly identifiable image. No need to read Japanese. Just for future reference.

it's not a statue of a goddess, it's just a statue of a woman with wings.

The sound thing to do is never to associate ANY recruitment artwork directly with an unannounced game. Like the fantastical face-tree artwork they had for their 3DS job postings back in the day. It meant nothing. It's supposed to give a vibe of the sort of thing they're hiring for. just like when they ask for people with UE4 or whatnot experience. Doesn't mean they're even using that.

lol okay. and what is a woman with wings usually associated with?...an angel.. a goddess. Your sass is incredible.

Dude we get it. Don't get hyped with no evidence. But you are taking it one step further and sound delusional. In what world is a woman with wings statue NOT a goddess or angel. Why would they make a statue of something like that. What you are saying is honestly kinda unbelievable.

 

[ILikeFeet]

In what world is a woman with wings statue NOT a goddess or angel.

Xenoblade
Baten Kaitos

 

[Tyrien]

Xenoblade
Baten Kaitos

Dude can you elaborate? Your post suggests a woman with wings= xenoblade. I know what you are trying to say. WHAT IN xenoblade do you refer to?

 

[TheMoon]

lol okay. and what is a woman with wings usually associated with?...an angel.. a goddess. Your sass is incredible.

Dude we get it. Don't get hyped with no evidence. But you are taking it one step further and sound delusional. In what world is a woman with wings statue NOT a goddess or angel. Why would they make a statue of something like that. What you are saying is honestly kinda unbelievable.

I know you said "statue of a goddess" but you were trying to link it to Zelda's "statue of the goddess", weren't you? That's why I was picking it apart like that. Not sure why you gotta be so combative about this.

And an angel isn't really the same as a god/goddess so the closest association would be the statue of an angel. That was my whole point, there is no actual Zelda-connection aside from using generic medieval fantasy imagery.

 

[Superstarxalien]

'Super Mario Bros. Wonder' is Nintendo on Acid

The creators behind Mario's return to 2D break down the game's trippy visuals and design

www.rollingstone.com

Super Mario Bros. Wonder started development in 2019, after the release of NSMBU Deluxe.

 

[ILikeFeet]

Dude can you elaborate? Your post suggests a woman with wings= xenoblade. I know what you are trying to say. WHAT IN xenoblade do you refer to?

Both series feature people with wigns whom are not angels/gods. It's a tongue in cheek post.