Yosuke Hayashi, the head of Team Ninja, has urged Metroid fans to get behind the critically acclaimed franchise to ensure the series becomes even more successful. Hayashi paid tribute to the Metroid series in an exclusive video made by Shinesparkers to celebrate the series 25th anniversary.
“Happy anniversary to the Metroid series. I am personally a Metroid fan as well. I hope all us Metroid fans can get together and really support Metroid to make it even more successful in the future.”
Team Ninja producer Yosuke Hayashi told Nintendo president Satoru Iwata that he would love to make a Nintendo 3DS game that was firmly designed with 3D in mind. Apparently Hayashi was inspired by Shigeru Miyamoto’s comments regarding Super Mario 3D which will utilise the 3D visuals on the Nintendo 3DS so that gamers can precisely judge jump distances in the game.
“While I don’t know exactly when I will land any such future projects, I think the challenge of the games I make from now on will be quite rewarding…As a gamer myself, I’m looking forward to seeing what kinds of new games will appear for the Nintendo 3DS system. And as a developer, I want to challenge myself in the kinds of games that I make.”
- Yosuke Hayashi , Team Ninja
Team Ninja producer Yosuke Hayashi has blamed the lack of compelling software for the Nintendo 3DS as the reasoning behind the slow sales of the 3D console in Japan.
It’s been revealed that Sony’s PSP has regained the top spot in the Japanese hardware charts knocking the Nintendo 3DS into second place. Team Ninja’s Yosuke Hayashi believes this is because there’s more variety of software available on the PlayStation Portable.
“I believe the 3DS is a powerful console and it’s only been a short amount of time since it has been released,” the Dead or Alive Dimensions producer told us during a recent interview.
“In Japan, I feel that there isn’t enough software that can drive up the sales of the console. There’s a flow where people are looking towards the PSP where there is much more variety.”
“We see the potential in the 3DS and believe that once there are more games that can satisfy customers more people will start to realise the full potential of the console, so it’s still early days and we’re not worried about the future at the moment.”
- Yosuke Hayashi , Team Ninja
Tomonobu Itagaki, former head of Team Ninja announced that Devils Third a game for Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 could be scalable. He was then asked if he meant that it would be possible to port it across to the Nintendo 3DS but instead Itagaki said:
“More than that, although I can’t say this easily because I don’t have any information, it’s possible that Nintendo could release a higher end console. Something like that.”
Team Ninja’s hard work has paid off on Metroid: Other M with Metroid co-creator Yoshio Sakamoto stating that he couldn’t imagine a sequel to Other M being made without another collaboration with the Japanese development studio.
“As far as my opinion is concerned if we are going to make something similar to Metroid Other M in the future I cannot think that it would be possible for Nintendo to make it without collaborating with Team Ninja. After all they are that good a partner to us and we are pretty valuable to them as well.”
- Yoshio Sakamoto, Nintendo
Nintendo’s collaboration with Team Ninja appears to have paid off with the company releasing an action packed trailer for the forthcoming Metroid Other M which is due out in the United States, August 31st.
Yoshio Sakamoto, creator of the Metroid franchise has told online gaming publication Gamestutra that he’s extremely pleased with the work that Team Ninja have done in collaboration with Retro Studios on Metroid: Other M.
“I’d have to say that, if you wanted to maintain some sort of unilateral, top-down control over every aspect of the project, that’s probably easier to do in the long run, but that’s not something that I’ve ever wanted.”
He added: “I don’t feel like that’s something that yields the best results.”
“The best way to accomplish that, to find that sort of firmament that you can then put different arranged elements into, is to find the things that you can’t budge on – find the things that are essential, important, and you don’t want to change,” Sakamoto continued.
“Once you’ve got that established, you can bring in all sorts of talented people and let them collaborate and contribute to what you have there.”
Sakamoto had kind words for the Metroid: Other M’s director, Yosuke Hayashi, who works for Tecmo’s Team Ninja and who first came into the public eye due to his work on Ninja Gaiden Sigma. Said Sakamoto, “When we first brought him on, I didn’t just hand him a pile of documents and say, ‘Here you go. Please make this game.’”“Rather, we talked about what was essential and what was good in the Metroid series and tried to figure out how best to use his arts background and know-how to really push those goals forward.”
He concluded: “One thing that I really appreciate about him is he can really say some unexpected things every once in awhile that seem to come out of left field, but, since I know that we have the same end-goal in mind, even if we occasionally disagree or are surprised by each other’s means or routes of getting there, we know we’re going to end up in a good place. It’s the right kind of conflict, and our individuality comes out in the best way possible.”
- Metroid creator, Yoshio Sakamoto
