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You remember Bob’s Game, don’t you? The humble 2D RPG made by a single, possibly loony, individual? Well nearly two months have gone by since the game’s creator Robert Pelloni was denied developer status by Nintendo and — other than a NYC littering spree — we’ve heard little about the game as of late. In an interview with Nintendo big boss Reggie Fils-Aime on MTV Multiplayer last week, however, the record was set considerably straighter.

When asked for his side of the story on what had come to pass, the Regginator had this to say: “He did submit to be a licensed developer. We have an evaluation process. We evaluated the opportunity. We decided at this point in time that he did not meet the requirements to be a licensed developer.” Well that about does it then, no? Apparently MTV wanted more from the conversation, pushing the CEO on what to do if a developer wants to work with Nintendo but doesn’t necessarily have two or three major games under its belt, “My hope is that any developer who has a compelling idea will reach out to our licensing organization and share their idea and go through the process of becoming a licensed developer for the Nintendo platform,” Fils-Aime said, “And we have a legacy of supporting that type of development.”

Unfortunately, as it seems, Mr. Pelloni’s game wasn’t quite “compelling” enough of an idea.

Reggie on Bob’s Game: Refused license doesn’t reflect on Nintendo’s support for the little guy originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 04 Apr 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nvidia’s PhysX technology is spreading everywhere, so it seems. Just a few days ago, the company worked out a deal with Sony, and now, the full-featured application programming interface and physics engine is coming to the Wii, too — with Nintendo seal of approval, no doubt.

SDKs are now available to registered Wii developers (and if you don’t know what an SDK is, then you’re probably not a developer and not getting one!). It’ll be interesting to see how the tech handles on Wii, considering the combination of a souped up physics engine and motion sensor control could yield some very exciting results.

Nvidia expands PhysX toolset to Wii originally appeared on Joystiq Nintendo on Fri, 20 Mar 2009 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: News, Interviews

According to Time’s latest interview with Shigeru Miyamoto, there may have been some genuine upending of tea tables during the making of Wii Fit, as opposed to the metaphorical kind that Shiggy prefers.

Chatting to the publication to promote the game, Miyamoto confessed that the he and his team felt “a lot of nervousness” while developing the title, and that the lofty expectations of other people caused some stress. The article also mentions that the game’s development “nearly led his 15-person development team to quit in frustration,” though we’ve no idea whether that’s Time slightly embellishing a story, or what Miyamoto actually said.

All this talk of feeling stressed, Shiggy, and yet our letters offering slow, sensual shoulder rubs still go unanswered. He can’t complain.

[Via Go Nintendo]

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Development times vary from game to game. But which companies take the cake when it comes to the longest development cycles or most delayed games? This list even starts with a game that was over a decade in the making before being released, and it’s not even Duke Nukem Forever! Every game in the list has a link to its development history. Here it goes:

1. Prey (3D Realms, 1995 - 2006)
2. Duke Nukem Forever (3D Realms, 1997 - Present)
3. Team Fortress 2 (Valve, 1998 - 2007)
4. Too Human (Silicon Knights, 1999 - Present)
5. Galleon (Confounding Factor, 1997 - 2004)
6. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl (GSC Game World 2001 - 2007)
7. StarCraft: Ghost (Blizzard, 2002 - Present)

For more background on each game read CVG. But be afraid, very afraid of Prey, because 3D Realms has already announced Prey 2. Release date 2017?

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Filed under: News, Controller

AILive has announced the next version of their LiveMove software, called LiveMove Pro, a motion recognition tool for Wii development. According to AILive chairman Wei Yen, developers are flocking to the new software, apparently showing an interest in good controls for their dang games: "We expect most existing LiveMove 1.x users to license LiveMove Pro as well as a significant number of new users," he told Gamasutra.

LiveMove Pro will allow developers to make games "that let players perform complicated motions tightly coupled to on-screen animations," if the completely unbiased AILive representative is to be believed. Anything to improve the occasionally iffy motion controls in Wii games is a-okay with us.

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Filed under: News

Super Mario Galaxy director Yoshiaki Koizumi gave the keynote at this year's Montreal Games Summit, discussing the evolution of 3D Mario. He has unique perspective on this, having been not only a 3D animator, but also co-director of Super Mario 64, then director of Sunshine and now Galaxy. His portfolio also includes work on Link's Awakening and directing the fantastic Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat.

It goes without saying that all the talk about the early development of Mario 64 is fascinating -- including descriptions of Miyamoto pantomiming certain movements for the animators -- but the really interesting part of the story is how the problems of 3D platforming influenced the design of Galaxy. The major problem? The camera.

The world of Galaxy is, basically, a world free of walls. Without walls, backtracking is reduced, and sudden 180-degree camera movements become unnecessary. "We should tune the game so people can play without ever having to think about the camera," said Koizumi. An admirable goal -- awful cameras have just about sunk the Sonic series and countless other 3D platformers.

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Filed under: News

Speaking at the Dow Jones Consumer Technology Innovations Conference, Reggie Fils-Aime talked about some upcoming Wii-related topics, including things other than how great Wii Fit will be. He discussed Japan's new TV Program Schedule Channel briefly, but only to mention that there are no plans for a U.S. release of such a service. Then, to answer the question proposed in the CNet article's title "Will the Wii be a set-top box?": no. Look to something like the Xbox 360, with which you can already purchase TV shows and movies, for something like that. The TV Program Schedule Channel is a neat convenience designed to get people messing with the Wiimote. Reggie mentioned that future channels "... may look like games. They may not look like games."

Other topics included Wii and DS development costs, which are obviously lower in comparison to other systems', meaning that a game can sell fewer copies and still make a profit. For Nintendo, of course, who is aiming at the biggest mass-market audience they can, this doesn't necessarily mean experimentation, but ridiculous profits. He also went on to talk about shortages, calling them "missed opportunities".

He also talked about how great Wii Fit will be.

[Via NeoGAF]

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