http://cube.ign.com/articles/523/523136p1.html
June 14, 2004 - Did you find yourself salivating over our E3 impressions of Nintendo's quirky new Donkey Kong Jungle Beat game and wondering who exactly was behind the game's development? Thanks to an interview in the latest issue of Famitsu we now know the identity of the men behind the ape's latest outing.
Taking the production role for Donkey Kong Jungle Beat is Takao Shimizu. Direction is being handled by Yoshiaki Koizumi. Koizumi was director on Mario Sunshine while Shimizu served as an assistant director on the title. Now, the two are in charge of Nintendo's Tokyo development studio. Yes, the oft-spoken-of Tokyo studio (most of Nintendo's development occurs in the company's Kyoto head office, far to the South of Tokyo) now has its first game.
In the interview, the two creators reveal a bit of the history behind Jungle Beat. Shimizu comments, "While we were still at the Kyoto home office, Shigeru Miyamoto suggested that we make a game based off of Donkey Kong. Full development on the game began after we moved from Kyoto to Tokyo last July."
The actual idea of using the conga controllers for an action game came after the two, at Miyamoto's request, attended a meeting involving the controller. At the meeting, Nintendo shared with its developers the control system for Donkey Konga and allowed all to get their hands on the conga peripheral. Says Shimizu, "We took delivery of a sample version of the conga controller and after seeing that, Mr. Koizumi offered the idea [for the game]."
Koizumi, after revealing that he'd previously worked on character control and camera systems in previous titles, states "I'd been hearing from many people that recently control [in games] is difficult, and that's when I first had the desire to make a game that was simple and easy to understand. Until now, I've only made games that make use of a standard controller, so I wanted to at last make something that had a different form of input. It was then that I was introduced to the Donkey Konga conga controller."
Koizumi reveals that his team had some difficulties in making an action game using the conga controller. "You can't perform the same kind of moves with a conga controller that you can with a regular controller, so we had to think up some new mechanics."
Further in the interview, the two reveal their pleasure with the reception the game received at E3, particularly with the large number of light users and female players trying the game. "On top of that," comments Koizumi, "all who played the game were smiling." Shimizu was pleased with the communication that the game offers, pointing to an example from E3 where a girl, having trouble playing the game, was assisted by a male companion who helped with clapping.
What we saw at E3 was apparently just a small sampling of what can be expected from the final product. When asked about the inclusion of action modes beyond the mode of play shown at E3, Shimizu comments "Of course! We're preparing a whole lot, so look forward to it."
This may be the first game from Nintendo's Tokyo studio, but it's apparently not going to be the last. The studio is currently looking for experienced game development staff to create new game experiences. Judging by what we played of Donkey Kong Jungle Beat at E3, it seems that Nintendo's tradition of quality gaming will continue even in Tokyo.
Wow, this game will be awesome!
June 14, 2004 - Did you find yourself salivating over our E3 impressions of Nintendo's quirky new Donkey Kong Jungle Beat game and wondering who exactly was behind the game's development? Thanks to an interview in the latest issue of Famitsu we now know the identity of the men behind the ape's latest outing.
Taking the production role for Donkey Kong Jungle Beat is Takao Shimizu. Direction is being handled by Yoshiaki Koizumi. Koizumi was director on Mario Sunshine while Shimizu served as an assistant director on the title. Now, the two are in charge of Nintendo's Tokyo development studio. Yes, the oft-spoken-of Tokyo studio (most of Nintendo's development occurs in the company's Kyoto head office, far to the South of Tokyo) now has its first game.
In the interview, the two creators reveal a bit of the history behind Jungle Beat. Shimizu comments, "While we were still at the Kyoto home office, Shigeru Miyamoto suggested that we make a game based off of Donkey Kong. Full development on the game began after we moved from Kyoto to Tokyo last July."
The actual idea of using the conga controllers for an action game came after the two, at Miyamoto's request, attended a meeting involving the controller. At the meeting, Nintendo shared with its developers the control system for Donkey Konga and allowed all to get their hands on the conga peripheral. Says Shimizu, "We took delivery of a sample version of the conga controller and after seeing that, Mr. Koizumi offered the idea [for the game]."
Koizumi, after revealing that he'd previously worked on character control and camera systems in previous titles, states "I'd been hearing from many people that recently control [in games] is difficult, and that's when I first had the desire to make a game that was simple and easy to understand. Until now, I've only made games that make use of a standard controller, so I wanted to at last make something that had a different form of input. It was then that I was introduced to the Donkey Konga conga controller."
Koizumi reveals that his team had some difficulties in making an action game using the conga controller. "You can't perform the same kind of moves with a conga controller that you can with a regular controller, so we had to think up some new mechanics."
Further in the interview, the two reveal their pleasure with the reception the game received at E3, particularly with the large number of light users and female players trying the game. "On top of that," comments Koizumi, "all who played the game were smiling." Shimizu was pleased with the communication that the game offers, pointing to an example from E3 where a girl, having trouble playing the game, was assisted by a male companion who helped with clapping.
What we saw at E3 was apparently just a small sampling of what can be expected from the final product. When asked about the inclusion of action modes beyond the mode of play shown at E3, Shimizu comments "Of course! We're preparing a whole lot, so look forward to it."
This may be the first game from Nintendo's Tokyo studio, but it's apparently not going to be the last. The studio is currently looking for experienced game development staff to create new game experiences. Judging by what we played of Donkey Kong Jungle Beat at E3, it seems that Nintendo's tradition of quality gaming will continue even in Tokyo.
Wow, this game will be awesome!