Latest Interviews - Page 2
January2024
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With a patch incoming, Pathea charts the road ahead
You may Pathea Games' My Time at Sandrock, a life sim game released late last November that we weren’t massively enthused with. We awarded it a 5/10 in our review, saying that the launch version's "bland presentation and technical hiccups" affected this sequel to My Time at Portia. The...
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Feature The Stunning Visual Delights Of 'El Shaddai', Inspired By Apple iPod Commercials
"...bringing El Shaddai to a new audience on the Nintendo Switch is exciting"
El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron is one of the most underappreciated gems of the PS3/Xbox 360 era. That's what people who've played the unusual action platformer, released back in 2011, will tell you. One look at El Shaddai — the only game developed by Ignition...
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Feature Bandle Tale - Exploring The "Least Developed Parts" Of The League Of Legends IP
"I think this is the first time we've ever let a player self-insert into one of our games"
Last year was a busy one for Riot Forge, which published three solid, indie-developed games set in the expansive Runeterra universe (The Mageseeker, Convergence, Song of Nunu), each featuring totally unique art styles and gameplay. Now the company is turning...
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Feature 'The Art Of Nintendo Power' Exhibit - A Guided Tour
"The whole mission is to share the work"
Have you ever seen an original Contra up close? What about an original Mario Kart? For Stephan Reese, organizer and showrunner for the non-profit Interactive Art Collection (and a Senior Producer at video game developer Bungie when he’s not busy doing that), it’s his life’s mission that you might have...
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Feature 'Rugrats' Dev's Mission To Make NES-Style Games "That Should Have Existed"
"I want people to feel like they're a 10-year-old kid again"
While sauntering through the Seattle Convention Center at this year's PAX West, we saw hundreds of developers showing off their biggest, flashiest games to the enthusiastic crowds — many of which had already been announced and were highly anticipated by fans. However, in a tucked-away...
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Feature "I Don't Want To Copy" - Paying Homage To Childhood RPGs With Sea Of Stars
"We just make the games that we want to make"
Back when Sea of Stars — Sabotage's follow-up to its hit genre-bending platformer The Messenger — was unveiled to the world in 2020, there was a sparkle in many an RPG fans' eyes. The game's stunning SNES-style aesthetic, the combo-centric turn-based combat, and the beautiful music, brought forth...
December2023
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Feature Pikmin Bloom Devs On The Joy Of "Human Connection" And The Absence Of Bulborbs
"Our Pikmin aren’t going to die"
While having a strong and deservingly ionate fanbase, it's fair to wonder if the Pikmin series has ever received the commercial success it deserves. Yet, Shigeru Miyamoto-san and Nintendo continue to nurture these little fellas and let them bloom however they like. The Nintendo Switch has just given us the...
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Feature Meet The Virtual Boy Fan Making New Tech And Games For Nintendo's Console Curio
"I thought, 'Hey, I can probably do that'"
As the reputed black sheep of the Nintendo console family, one might think 1995’s Virtual Boy to be the last piece of hardware capable of garnering an enthusiast following today. Discontinued after less than a year on the market and never released in Europe, the elusive red-and-black headset is ed...
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Feature What Video Game Consultants Actually Do, And Why ‘Kit & Krysta’ Are Doing It
Never A Minute consultants assess our killer game idea
I have an idea for a video game. Actually, I’ve been making it for about six months now. My video game is a rhythm-based game. It’s also an American football game. To play it, you choose between plays, just like any sports game … but your play only succeeds if you push the buttons in...
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Feature The Rise Of 'Scam Games' And 'Keyword Bingo' Firms Flooding Switch eShop
Sea of low-quality
It's difficult now to a time when the Switch eShop wasn't rammed with low-cost, low-quality games making it laborious to find the great new releases amongst all the dross. What began as an immaculately clean, functional store back in 2017 quickly ballooned and before long Nintendo was inundated with software submissions...
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Feature Meet The 'Arzette' Dev Salvaging The Zelda CD-i Games' "Genuine Potential"
"I didn’t make this game as a joke"
The year is 1991. 'Video games' — plastic, square-shaped cartridges that millions of people blow into every day — grip early-adopting proselytizers. Yet they don’t know their precious cartridge’s days are numbered. A mighty company from Kyoto rules the industry today, but a new laser-based challenger is...
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Breaking out into 3D
Following up on one of the most beloved entries in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise is no easy task, but for the ex-Sonic Mania devs at Evening Star, it was a simple case of leaning into their considerable ambition and diving headfirst into the world of 3D. Announced earlier this year during a Nintendo Direct presentation, the...
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Feature From Banjo To Mario - Grant Kirkhope Talks Big Huge Troubles And Composing For Massive IPs
Part Two: "How the f*** am I going to write music for a Mario game!?"
Last week, in celebration of Banjo-Kazooie's 25th anniversary, we published the first part of our career-spanning interview with Mr. Grant Kirkhope, composer extraordinaire and the man responsible for some of our favourite music ever, video game or otherwise. Part One covered his...
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Feature How Super Mario World Became An Award-Winning Book Of Verse
“Super Mario World has one of my most difficult experiences wound through its code"
Most of us have some childhood memory of games – be it Pokémon Blue, Tetris, or Super Mario Bros. When we dust off those old consoles, the games often trigger memories of our lives outside the screen too. In his heart-wrenching series of poems, If All the World...
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Feature From Bon Jovi To Banjo - Grant Kirkhope On The "Complete Fluke" Of His Rare Musical Journey
Part One: Mr. Banjongles
Grant Kirkhope is an interviewer's dream, and not just because he's responsible for some all-time great video game soundtracks. He’s great company — frank, funny, and loquacious. We spoke to him most recently for our Nintendo Life VGM Fest back in 2021 and only ended up publishing a small fraction of our chat in our...
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Feature A Visit To '84 Hashi', Tokyo's Secret Nintendo Staff Bar Now Open To You
Eiji Aonuma? “Drinking buddy.” Shigeru Miyamoto?...
There’s no shortage of fascinating Nintendo-related places to visit in Tokyo. You could explore shops for boxed Famicom games, sit down and eat a Kirby burger, or play Punch-Out!! in its original cabinet at a retro arcade. Yet one attraction was hidden from Nintendo diehards for years. A...
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Feature Nintendo Players UK - A Decade Of The UK's Biggest Nintendo Fan Community
Celebrating 10 years of meetups this August
In the gaming industry, Nintendo sets itself apart not just with the quality of its games and its evergreen catalogue of classic characters, but also a focus on community. Whether through software that brings people of all ages together, hardware features like Street, or the local multiplayer...
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Feature "Fans Have Waited Many Years For A Return To Form" - WayForward On Contra's Grand Revival
'Operation Galuga' launches in Early 2024
The Contra franchise has had a bit of a rough ride in recent years. Although fans and critics alike were generally receptive toward the 2011 title Hard Corps: Uprising, Konami put the franchise on ice for a total of eight years until the poorly-received Contra: Rogue Corps in 2019. Yet fans have continued...
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Feature Inside The Mind Of A Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom Speedrunner
Tearing through Hyrule
Since its release in March 2017, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has been an attractive game to speedrun for many reasons, and in our article last year, we were able to talk about its intricacies with two high-profile of the community, including the world record holder. In 2023, the sequel, Tears of the...
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"You cannot go through your life punching everything"
The Prince of Persia series is held near and dear to the hearts of many, whether you fell in love with the original platformers and their revolutionary rotoscope animation, The Sands of Time for its rewind mechanic and magical atmosphere, or maybe even the reboot from 2008 — which we're sad...
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"We actually don’t like to talk about Worldless as a Metroidvania"
Fans of 2D platformers in the Metroidvania mould aren't exactly lacking for excellent examples of the genre. It feels like every other game launching at the moment is either a roguelite deckbuilder or an explorative action platformer. It's a brave developer who dips a toe into this...
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Feature Dragon Quest Monsters Producer On Introducing Series To A Whole New Audience
Revisiting Chapters of the Chosen
As a beloved RPG series in Japan, Dragon Quest took a pretty long time to make waves in the West. In Japan, games in the mainline series get released on the weekends to stop people skipping work and school, and the franchise has sold millions just in its native home. Dragon Quest XI changed that. Originally...
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"My personal favorite is "Turnabout Reclaimed"
Ace Attorney fans have had a lot to love over the past few years. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy and the surprise localization of The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles on Switch gave us a lot to celebrate. But, as far as the main series goes, there's long been a gap that's been waiting to be filled on...
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Feature Zelda, "Linguistic Chaos", And The Challenges Of Bringing 'Outer Wilds' To Switch
"We love Outer Wilds and we’re thrilled it’s on the Nintendo Switch"
It's finally here — Outer Wilds has finally landed on Nintendo Switch, two years after it was originally meant to crash onto the system. And we've been champing at the bit to try out this indie darling. Incredibly immersive and visually arresting, Outer Wilds was critically...
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"It's a niche, but it's a dedicated niche, you know?"
If you have even a ing interest in video games (and we assume that you do, since you have found yourselves here), then you probably will have heard of Did You Know Gaming? Since its launch in 2012, the trivia-focused website and YouTube channel has amassed a huge following, showcasing...
November2023
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Feature Hearthstone, Magic & Mario - The Many And Varied Influences Behind 'Wild Country'
"We looked to take a page out of Nintendo’s book"
Revealed at Gamescom back in August and coming to Switch (and Steam) in 2024, Wild Country is described as "a cozy-competitive card game with city-building elements" by its developer, Lost Native. The game involves constructing buildings for the critters of Big Sky County while collecting cards...
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Exclusive Gorgeous New 'Snufkin: Melody Of Moominvalley' Trailer Confirms Switch Release
Coming next year, we speak to developer Hyper Games
First revealed in March last year, at the time we hoped that the nebulous phrase "PC and consoles" included our favourite Nintendo system, and today we can exclusively confirm that, yes, musical adventure Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley is coming to Switch in Q1 2024 (alongside all those other...
September2023
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Atooi boss talks Hatch Tales' delays and reviving a cult classic
Over 15 years since its initial release on the Nintendo DS, horror FPS Dementium: The Ward is getting a re-release on the Nintendo Switch eShop, utilising the 2015 3DS remaster as its foundation. While its creepy low-fi visuals and disturbing creature design have attracted a cult...
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Feature From Piston Hurricane To Today: Why Latinx In Gaming Exists
And why it needs your help to change the industry
Joe Tirado, a Latino game developer, has imposter syndrome. He said as such, during his own talk on Latine representation at this year’s Game Developers Conference. In response to a question about his feelings on being Colombian in an industry where he largely lacks compatriot peers, he confessed...
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A divine force
Saying that the original PlayStation was a treasure trove of RPGs is a bit of an understatement. But even with that statement, Star Ocean: The Second Story remains a standout to many RPG fans. Its blend of sci-fi and classic fantasy, action combat, and crunchy synth tunes hit a particular chord back in the late ‘90s. This was the...
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Feature 'Impossible' Port Master Randy Linden Talks Jurassic Park, BOTW, And His Favourite Ports
"Nintendo has both style and substance"
Randy Linden (centre) and Alena Alambeigi (left) from Limited Run with the Nintendo Life PAX team If there’s one thing you should know about art, it’s that changing it after a long time is really, really hard. Just look at classicist Emily Wilson, who in recent years became the first woman to ever...
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Feature 'Break The Game' Tells Speedrunner Narcissa Wright’s Story Through The Language Of Zelda
The new documentary charts a legend's return
It’s January 13, 2017 – the day of the Nintendo Switch Presentation. Unbeknownst to anyone until today, Nintendo’s latest console is going to be released in under two months, and with it the latest installment in The Legend of Zelda series, Breath of the Wild. A hush goes over the crowd as the final...
August2023
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Feature TikTok, Smash Bros., And Shaking Up 'Samba De Amigo' With Series Creator Shun Nakamura
"I hope that Samba [...] will become a major music game in the modern era"
If you know your Sega history, then you most likely know — and love — the maraca-shaking monkey Amigo. Samba de Amigo was a cult hit on the Dreamcast back in 1999, and this little monkey rattled his way into many a heart over the years. Laced with catchy Latin American...
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Feature "Madden Has Continued To Suffer" - Legend Bowl Dev On Their "Fresh" Football Game
"Legend Bowl was built to fill that void for football fans"
Over the past few years, the number of arcade-style American football titles on Switch has increased at a pretty steady rate. We recently saw Retro Bowl bring us back to the game's 8-bit roots, and Saber is looking to bring even more big-head Playgrounds-esque charm to the game with Wild...
July2023
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Video Disney Illusion Island's Creative Director Discusses Art Style, Inspirations And More
Mouse in the house
We are rapidly approaching the release of Disney Illusion Island in just a few weeks on 28th July, and we grow more intrigued by the combat-free metroidvania by the day. At this year's Summer Games Fest, two of our wonderful team (video producer Zion and staff writer Ollie) were lucky enough to go hands-on with the game and have a...
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Feature A Brief History Of Romance Of The Three Kingdoms, The Series That Spawned Dynasty Warriors
Sangokushi, from NES to Switch
It is the third century AD and war rages across the region that would one day become China. To the north, the Cao Wei state has been founded, led by Cao Pi after the death of his father. In the west, Shu Han’s founder, Liu Bei, considers himself the rightful ruler of all of China in the wake of the Han Dynasty’s...
June2023
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"To some extent, all of the characters in the game reflect the theme"
Nintendo's 2023 started off with a bang. Fire Emblem Engage launched in January and brought the series back to its combat-focused roots, forgoing the relationship-sim elements that had worked so well in its predecessor, Three Houses, for a game where the action came thick and...
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Feature A Kou Shibusawa Production - Changing History With Koei Tecmo's OG Strategy Studio
“The more we learn…the more it fuels our creativity”
History fans love to ask a good 'what if?' question. A completely hypothetical situation to explore how small changes could impact the course of world events. Video games that explore these kinds of questions usually fall into the grand strategy genre, putting players at the head of a...
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Feature Head Of Gust On 'Atelier Marie Remake' And Returning To Series' Alchemical Roots
Alchemical Origins
The Atelier series has, believe it or not, been with us since 1997 back when Atelier Marie: The Alchemist of Salburg was first released on the original PlayStation in Japan. In the years since, we've seen a pretty staggering number of additions to the franchise, with 25 mainline entries alongside a smattering of spin-offs. There's...
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Vatar you going to do about it?
If you're of a certain vintage you may just about being thoroughly impressed with the graphical prowess of Starbreeze Studios' Enclave when it first released on the original Xbox all the way back in 2002. Starbreeze was about to have a great big Vin Diesel-shaped success in the form of The Chronicles of...
May2023
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Feature "What If The Celebrated Detective Was Actually A Bit Of A Bumbling Fool?"
How lockdown led to comedy-mystery 'Loco Motive'
Creating an engaging and humorous point-and-click adventure can be a hefty challenge at the best of times, but for developer Robust Games, the endeavour provided a much-needed release from the isolation that the nationwide lockdowns spawned during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Since its initial...
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Feature How Metroidvania 'Afterimage' Crafts A Gorgeous Visual Identity In A Crowded Genre
"It has to be the cats!"
We've gushed plenty of times over the stunning-looking Metroidvania Afterimage by developer Aurogon Shanghai. From its beautiful animation style to stunning watercolour backgrounds and hand-drawn characters and world, amidst the bustling genre of Metroidvania, it stands out in the best possible way. The blend of colourful...
April2023
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Feature Cassette Beasts Dev On Doing What Pokémon Doesn't In A Zelda-Inspired Overworld
"We wanted to do something with a bit more maturity"
“How can two people make a monster-collecting game that does stuff that Pokémon doesn’t do?” This question was at the forefront of Jay Baylis and Tom Coxon’s early discussions on what would later become Cassette Beasts, a creature-collecting RPG with an emphasis on good tunes that...
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Feature Paranormasight Devs On Urban Legend, CRT TVs, And Potential Sequels
"We’re looking at a completely blank slate in of future developments"
Square Enix's stuffed slate of releases over the past year has given us some stellar titles, but among some of their biggest releases, this year's Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo should not be overlooked. Revealed during a Japanese Nintendo Direct in February...
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Video The Completionist Talks To Us About His Roguelike Game, Elsie
Plus, we interview the lead developers
We have known about Playtonic Friends' runnin' and gunnin' roguelike, Elsie, for a little while now (since around June 2022, if we're being specific), but did you know that the game is being worked on Jirard "The Completionist" Khalil? Yes, the YouTuber who just last month bought every 3DS and Wii U eShop game...
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Ninterview Menko Cards And Niche Nintendo History - The Hunt For Mario's Rookie Card
A different kind of 'game card'
If you have ever read up on the history of Nintendo, you know that before it went into the video game business, the company began life by making cards and other novelties. The hanafuda and playing cards which Nintendo produced from its formation in 1889 took a back seat following the popularity of toys like the Ultra...
March2023
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M2's Masanori Yagi talks Assault Suits Valken Declassified
The Assault Suits mecha action games arguably deserve a little more attention than they enjoy here in the West. Back in the 1990s, their distinct blend of platforming and run ‘n’ gun design did indeed see ports from their native Japan to the rest of the world – sometimes in a heavily...
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Feature Atelier Ryza 3's Producer On Crafting The End And Shifting Away From Fanservice
"I always look forward to the Xenoblade series!"
It's almost time to say goodbye to Ryza. The third and final game in the Secret trilogy, Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key, comes to Switch this Friday, and everyone's favourite tomboy alchemist — Reisalin Stout, or Ryza — will be once again donning her alchemist's staff to...
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Remaster launches worldwide this week
15 years after the original launched on the Nintendo Wii, Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse (carrying the series' Project Zero moniker in Europe) is finally making its way to the West in an official capacity on Switch. With revamped graphics and a host of new features, the game looks to recapture the...
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Feature Meet The Rayman Veterans' Roguelike That Blends Animated Absurdism With The Office
Are you planning to Have A Nice Death?
The industry just loves games about death, doesn't it? We've seen the grim reaper take up the scythe in multiple games, from the expletive and squeaky in Conker's Bad Fur Day to the 'travel agent' Manny Calavera from Grim Fandango. And now, Magic Design Studios is taking up the black cloak with Have A Nice...
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Feature Enjoying The Journey - How Square Enix Learned From The Past For Octopath Traveler II
"We aimed to evolve the formula rather than change it"
It has been five long years since the release of Square Enix's fantastic, multi-pronged RPG Octopath Traveler on Switch. Starting as a console exclusive on Switch before branching out onto other platforms, the game gave us eight different storylines to dive into, a range of protagonists to fall...
February2023
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Feature Super Nintendo World's Show Producer And Head Chef Shed Light On The New Park's Development
"Chef Toad is always working on something new"
Super Nintendo World is now open to the public, and our lovely Video Producer Zion got to go over and check out the new park for himself. As part of his visit, he managed to speak with two key figures from the park: Julia Thrash, the Head Chef at Toadstool Cafe, and Abbye Finnan, the Show Producer for...
January2023
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Feature Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider's JoyMasher On Dev Nightmares And Changing Direction
"It was originally supposed to be more linear, like Dracula X"
Publisher The Arcade Crew and developer Joymasher have just launched their latest retro-inspired title Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider, an homage to classic 16-bit action platformers like Shinobi III and Hagane: The Final Conflict. The game is a remarkably authentic retro experience that...
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Feature "Arcade Games Are Poetry" - 'Strider' Director On The Return Of 'Cannon Dancer'
"Now you can enjoy the miracle of a timeless classic of the past"
One of 2023's biggest surprises is the return of Cannon Dancer - Osman. Developed by Mitchell Corporation and released in arcades in 1996, thanks to a limited run of arcade machines for the game in the west, this side-scrolling gem was once lost to time. But very soon — 9th March...
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Feature How Do Game Developers And Artists Feel About The Rise Of AI Art?
Should we all be worried, or is it just a fad?
If you've had your ear to the ground for the past couple of years, you'll have heard at least some of the rumbles of debate over the ethics and impact of AI art. You may have even heard the names of some tools used to create AI art, like Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, and DALL-E. But you may also be...
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Feature Mecha And Memories - How 16-Bit Nostalgia Influenced SNES-Style JRPG 'Chained Echoes'
"Xenoblade Chronicles 3 nearly caused a delay"
A world where dragons exist and people pilot mechs? Not the most common of combinations — despite both elements often appearing in RPGs frequently over the years — but for SNES and PS1-inspired JRPG Chained Echoes, this is completely the norm. Revealed back in 2019, the game blasted through its...
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Feature "No Man's Sky Will Never Run On That" - Sean Murray Talks Defying The Odds On Switch
"I have a good history of being right sometimes and totally wrong other times"
Anyone who has played or has even been remotely interested in No Man's Sky over the past six years will most likely have heard of Sean Murray. The founder of development studio Hello Games and creator of No Man's Sky's ever-expanding universe, Murray's name sits above the...
December2022
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Feature Why Is Splatoon So Popular In Japan?
Nintendo is squids in
It happened almost overnight. One day in May 2015, Splatoon merch appeared everywhere in Japan. Baby inklings dangled from kids’ backpacks. Squid-girl stickers adorned pencil cases. Convenience stores d raffles for figurines, coffee cups, and Splatoon-branded bags. This explosion of Splat-swag was perhaps more of a...
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Noir goes lucid
One of the biggest surprises and standouts during the 13th September Nintendo Direct was the reveal of Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE, a brand new mystery game from Kazutaka Kodaka, the creator of the Danganronpa series. Set in a rainy city full of bright lights, and embracing a more dark fantasy style compared to the pink...
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Feature "Unfinished Business" - Why Gilbert & Grossman Returned To Monkey Island
Working with Disney, Devolver, and fans
Does Guybrush Threepwood still want to be a pirate? This, after all, was the Monkey Island protagonist’s very first proclamation 32 years ago: “My name is Guybrush Threepwood, and I want to be a pirate!” But given the fact that he’s only set sail in five previous Monkey Island adventures sprinkled...
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Feature An Interview With ZANE_ROCKS_36, The Cool Dude Behind DOOM-Style Shooter 'Slayers X'
The real Hypnospace Outlaw
Erm, so... Have you played Hypnospace Outlaw? If so, great; if not, here's a quick primer: Hypnospace Outlaw is a simulation game made by Jay Tholen, Corey Cochran, and Xalavier Nelson Jr. in which you play an enforcer of rules on "Hypnospace", a '90s-style version of the internet that happens while you sleep. In your...
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Feature Artist Larry Achiampong's Life Of Nintendo, Creativity And Inspiration
"That’s the beauty of video games, it’s our way of life"
While there are often discussions around the merits of gaming as an artform, we perhaps talk less about examples of games helping to inspire other contemporary art. Yet as years it's an inevitability, as the role of games in the lives of millions has transformed since the mid- to...
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Feature The Story Of Affordable Space Adventures, The Wii U eShop's Best Exclusive
"I don’t know why, but Nicklas was hanging around in the office!"
When Nintendo confirmed the closure of the Wii U eShop (and the 3DS store, too), thoughts immediately turned to exclusives that'll be lost. The most prominent of these on the system, we'd suggest, is Affordable Space Adventures, a unique game only on Wii U and destined to...
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Feature "Shovel Knight Feels Like Our 'Mario', But We Kept Wondering What Our 'Zelda' Might Be"
Yacht Club Games discusses the creative process for Mina the Hollower
Yacht Club Games is a company that needs little introduction, particularly thanks to the huge success and acclaim for Shovel Knight, a title that had multiple major expansions and campaigns over a number of years. The company has been busy beyond that too; last year it published...
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Full server shutdowns could be coming sooner than you think, too
Over the holidays we're republishing some choice features from the last 12 months. A mix of talking points, interviews, opinion pieces and more from NL staff and contributors, you'll find our usual blend of thoughtfulness, expertise, frivolity, retro nostalgia, and — of course —...
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Feature WayForward On Expanding The 'River City Girls' Universe, And Future Plans
"Hopefully players are interested in us expanding this further"
The Kunio-kun spin-off River City Girls returned earlier this month with the release of River City Girls 2, and Nintendo Life was lucky enough to catch up recently with game director Bannon Rudis as well as WayForward's director of business development, Adam Tierney. Before we dive in,...
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Feature Yuji Horii And Tachi Inuzuka - Making A Dragon Quest That Can Be "Enjoyed Casually"
Lifting the lid on Dragon Quest Treasures
The chest has been opened, and Dragon Quest Treasures has finally launched on the Switch today, 9th December. Originally proposed as an entry in the spin-off series Dragon Quest Monsters, Treasures sees fan-favourite character from Dragon Quest XI — Erik — and his little sister Mia embark on an...
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Feature Cuphead Creators On The Perfect Physical Edition, Animation, And Working With Netflix
"Partnering with the team at iam8bit was right for us"
It's kind of amazing to think that, before this month, Cuphead had never had a physical launch. This seminal run-and-gun indie, visually inspired by the rubber hose animation from the 1930s and the Jazz age, made a huge splash in 2017 on Xbox and Windows, and with a Switch port finally...
November2022
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Feature "We Received Many Requests To Bring Back The Puzzle Bobble Series"
Puzzle Bobble Everybubble's director on Bub and Bob's return
We're big fans of Taito's Bubble Bobble spin-off series Puzzle Bobble around these parts. We used to know it as Bust-A-Move in the West, and news that a new entry in the series was coming to Switch next year courtesy of publisher ININ got us rather excited. Puzzle Bobble...
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Feature From 'Retro Bowl' To 'Retro Goal' - How New Star Games Returned To Its Grass Roots
"it’s not just a quick and simple port over from mobile"
Earlier this year we became enamoured by Retro Bowl, a simple, addictive American football game inspired by '90s arcade classics from the team behind the hugely popular 'New Star' mobile series. While it may have been New Star Soccer which brought the team at New Star Games to our attention...
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Exclusive "There's Always A New Mess!" - Turning Real Life (And A Real Cat) Into A Tidying Up Game
An interview with developers Max Inferno
It's not often we get to do in-person interviews these days. It's even less frequent that we get to travel to a game studio to do them. But this might be a first, because for this interview, we actually got to go to a developer's house. It turns out that Max Inferno, the two-person studio making ...
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Feature "We Had A Lot To Learn" - Sloclap Talks Bringing 'Sifu' To Switch
"There’s always doubt regarding the reception of a game"
Having launched earlier this year on a couple of non-Switch platforms (yeah, apparently they exist!), Sloclap's Sifu has garnered much praise in the months since. A punishing 3D beat 'em up with roguelike elements and other genre ingredients, it struck a chord with PC and PlayStation-owning...
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Ah, but did that stop Joker?
Crashing onto the scene back in 2017, NieR:Automata was a breakthrough moment for Yoko Taro. Though the director gained infamy for the Drakengard series — including the original NieR on PS3 and Xbox 360 — and his unusual interviews, Automata is the game that truly put him and his team on the m
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Feature It Takes Two Devs "Confident" The Switch Port Will Exceed Expectations
"At the time when we signed on, it wasn’t a GOTY title"
When developer Hazelight Studios launched It Takes Two back in March 2021 in partnership with Electronic Arts, it's safe to say that the co-op action-adventure title took everybody by surprise. By combining split-screen gameplay with a narrative that's both hilarious and poignant in equal...
October2022
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Feature Meet Sea Power, The Talent Behind Disco Elysium's Exquisite Music
"We recorded and engineered the whole project ourselves"
A quick note before we begin: The following interview was conducted prior to the news that lead designer Robert Kurvitz, artist Aleksander Rostov, and writer Helen Hindpere had all departed from developer ZA/UM, apparently under involuntary circumstances. This feature is focused entirely on...
