Game Informer’s Shadows Of The Empire Interview Sheds Light On Development And Miyamoto’s Involvement

Those of you who owned a Nintendo 64 back in the day probably owned a copy of Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire. It was graphically impressive at the time, but it had its flaws. Game Informer has published an extensive interview taking a look at the development of the Nintendo 64 exclusive title and it is well worth a read. Here’s what was said about Nintendo’s involvement in the game:

“Even within the LucasArts office, the Nintendo 64 was a carefully guarded secret. “We even had to have the controller hidden in a box with both ends cut out of the side, so you couldn’t see it. You would just put your hands in the side of the box,” Knoles says. “The analog stick was top secret.”

“Knoles was in his late 20s, excited to be the lead on a project for the first time on a new 3D platform. “I am feeling pretty good about what we got, and the feedback was certainly legitimate,” Knoles says. Miyamoto said the camera needed some work. Using Mario 64 as a reference, he said the camera should feel like a hot-air balloon tied to the character, and that’s how smoothly it should move through the environment. Miyamoto was also insistent that Dash’s feet always be visible. “Part of our problem, being a shooter, was the farther away you get from your character with the camera, the more inaccurate your shooting, turning, and aiming feedback becomes,” Knoles says, which caused some debate. “The other bit of feedback… I’d like to think something was lost in the translation, but I swear what I heard his translator say was, when we were talking about character animation, ‘Do you not to take pride in your animation?’” Knoles says, laughing. Knoles himself had done all of Dash’s animation, so he took it personally. “They were right, but it was harsh feedback at the time,” Knoles says. “That stung a little bit, but it was still pretty cool to meet Miyamoto.”

Source