Akira Toriyama heavily influenced Ken Sugimori’s art style, which you can easily see in early Pokemon illustrations. Toriyama’s influence on gaming extends far beyond just games he personally worked on.
Like A Dragon: Pirates in Hawaii looks fun, but I’m mostly looking forward to the Majima-themed Pop-up Pirate that’s in the special edition. It’s being made by Takara Tomy, the creators of the original toy!
The credits are out, and the director of Princess Peach Showtime is none other than Etsunobu Ebisu, the president of Good-Feel! The last game he directed was Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon on the N64 so it’s a surprising return to the director role.
Ten fun things I learned from Zelda Tears of the Kingdom Master Works:
1.“Dragons” were a major motif during development, and the game’s original name was Tears of the Dragon.
2.The secret stones were going to look like dragon fetuses, which led to the magatama shape
New employee retention rate in Japan is 70%. Nintendo’s is 98.8%.
Brand strength, the smaller number of new hires, and a strong employee welfare program a few reasons given in this really interesting article from Biz Journal:
Akira Toriyama illustrated many game box arts, but they were often completely discarded or replaced with 3D models in the west. It took quite a while before Toriyama’s art became a selling point overseas.
Test runs of the Donkey Kong ride in Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan are now underway! Here you can see some of its features like the false track and the barrel blast!
Japanese game stores are supporting different teams for the Splatoon 3 Grand Festival! Yodobashi Camera is for Past / Squid Sisters while Bic Camera is repping Present / Off the Hook! Hey Bic Camera, at least write your name on the sign!
I didn’t expect to walk into a store and see Persona 4 characters on a TV in 2022. The series is going to grab a lot of new fans on with the Switch releases.
#Persona
#JRPG
Palina is based on the ama (海女) which are traditional female pearl divers. Notice the distinctive white suit and diving mask. It’s cool to see the ama represented in a game, but Paulina hasn’t been going after Clamperls yet…
#PokemonLegendsArceus
#japan
Mario RPG was the culmination of a years-long friendship between Square & N and also the point where it abruptly ended, as SQ announced FF7 for PlayStation a month before SMRPG shipped. Of course ties have long since mended but this remake still feels like a full-circle moment
Japan’s Nintendo 64 hardware box art highlighted a unique colorful neon look. A stark contrast to the western versions which just featured a photo on the box.
Japanese toy maker Re-Ment is releasing Pikmin Terrarium toys on November 6! They’ve made a lot of Pokémon versions and I believe this is the first Pikmin one. All look amazing so I’ll definitely grab one (or six).
Japanese actress Yui Aragaki appears in the new ads for Super Mario Bros. Wonder, but also appeared in ads for other Nintendo games like Animal Crossing, Nintendo Switch Sports, and Ring Fit Adventure. Safe to say she’s the sole reason for the Switch’s success.
According to VGC, Another Code Recollection was developed in collaboration with Arc System Works. This was uncovered a while ago, but several people originally from Cing are credited on the remake, so it feels like they got the gang back again.
Women game directors at Nintendo:
+Aya Kyogoku (Animal Crossing series)
+ Kaori Ando (Tokyo Mirage Sessions, Sushi Striker)
+ Yurie Hattori (Style Savvy series)
+ Ayako Moriwaki (Super Mario RPG remake)
I predict many more in the future!
Emio - The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club merch is coming soon to Nintendo Tokyo! The keychain and bag can be reserved now, with the shirt coming later!
Nintendo Switch Online doesn’t get credit for just how many retro titles are finally getting worldwide releases. F-Zero Climax, Joy Mech Fight, Starfy GBA, Wrecking Crew ‘98, Panel De Pon, Mario’s Super Picross, and many more!
@Stealth40k
Second biggest Nintendo launch this year only after Zelda, and it even topped Kirby and the Forgotten Land’s huge debut last year.
The age of Pikmin is upon us.
The yellow trees in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom are likely based on the ginkgo trees that turn that color in fall. You can see plenty of them in Tokyo around November/December!
A collector in Japan may have somehow procured a prototype of the cancelled Game and Watch Tetris. No idea how but this is an unbelievable find.
#RetroGaming
A remake of The Hokkaido Serial Murder Case: The Okhotsk Disappearance released on Switch. It’s the follow-up to Yuji Horii’s The Portopia Serial Murder Case, which influenced Famicom Detective Club. 80s Japanese text adventure games are hotter than ever!
5.Ganondorf became the Demon King and Calamity Ganon, so they are the same entity. Also, the Gerudo stopped making boys kings after Ganondorf, although it’s unknown if any boys have been born since.
was chosen as the color for Zonai magic due to its readability in the game, the connection between the color and magic in the series, and to evoke the sense of the series’ past
4.The connection between the barbarians and Zonai is speculated upon. It’s stated that the tribe is possibly Hylians who worshipped the Zonai instead of Hylia, or they were Zonai who didn’t ascend to the sky. But there were thousands of years between the two civilizations.
Another official collab with Kagawa prefecture and Slowpoke: udon noodles themed after Pokémon Red and Green (and White). Red is plum, green is olive, and white is plain. I live the retro style art!
Here:
7.The shrine design is based on shimenawa strung around boulders, a Japanese purification ritual. While the Sheikah shrines were designed to trap the player until they solved it, the new shrines evoke a feeling of calmness and openness.
Another Code Recollection didn’t pass a million copies sold this past quarter, but I’m glad Nintendo is willing to invest in
niche titles to keep software momentum flowing on the Switch. Also the Switch 2 is in the game.
The new Pokémon for the Scarlet and Violet DLC are totally based on the Japanese folklore tale of Momotaro. His companions are a pheasant, a monkey, and a dog. Peach Pokémon confirmed?
early idea for the Depths was to have a prehistoric setting with giant plants and animals. They combined this with the concept of lighting up the dark.
9. Hinoxes originally had much stranger objects on their heads, including giant metal hats and diamonds
Mario vs Donkey Kong is directed by Vivek Melwani. A long time employee at Nintendo Software Technology, he also directed 1080 Avalanche and Ridge Racer DS. Nintendo is filled with people who have really unexpected credits and interesting careers.
Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa and Zelda director Hidemaro Fujibayashi both made the Variety 500 list of influential business leaders. As someone who has been a fan of Fujibayashi since the Oracle games, it’s amazing to see him become a household name in the gaming sphere.
Hours away from Splatoon 3 launching in Japan, the Japanese version of Splatoon 2 is filled with thank you messages and people getting ready to make the trip to Splatsville.
#Splatoon
#NintendoSwitch
The Deep Cut news segments seem heavily inspired by rakugo, traditional Japanese storytelling. I love how Nintendo borrows heavily from Japan’s past and utilizes elements in fun modern ways.
#Splatoon3
#NintendoSwitch
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom gummies from Bandai are coming to Japan in May. You get a sword shaped pick in each package. Finally my dream of eating ChuChus has come true.
See more:
Famitsu put out an interview with the devs of Splatoon 3 Side Order! Some fun factoids:
+ Weapon pallets are based on MIDI pads
+ Octo focused on the underground, so SO focused on ascending
+ Thematic focus on how sound affects memories
Full interview:
Did you know DigiPen’s music department helped create the soundtrack for the Mario vs Donkey Kong remake? They put out a great article about how this happened, plus more on the history between the school and Nintendo.
Read:
I missed this yesterday but Switch is now officially the highest selling console ever in Japan: 33.3 million vs. 32.9 for Nintendo DS. Switch isn’t just a game console in Japan, but an iconic piece of pop culture of the Reiwa era.
New controller keychains are now available at Nintendo Tokyo! They sold NES/Famicom ones originally but now SNES, N64, and GameCube join the series! It’s only available via gatcha machine, so hope you get what you want!
Princess Peach Showtime demo is out, and we now know the developer is none other than Good-Feel! They recently put out Mameda no Bakeru in Japan and are known for various craft related platformers. A predictable outcome, which makes you wonder why it was hidden for so long.
The Frog For Whom the Bell Tolls aka Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru is now on Nintendo Switch Online in Japan! Part Zelda, part Metroidvania, but also totally unique. Might be hard to navigate with zero Japanese but it’s worth at least trying!