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Tiny Diggers – An iPad Construction Truck Game for Kids Age 2-5

February 20, 2012 – 12:39 pm | 3 Comments

Tiny Diggers has just been released on the iPad and soon the Mac computer. Here’s the details on this fun, educational game from TouchTilt Games.
Tiny Diggers Delivers Learning With Construction Trucks For Kids on the …

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Kelbaugh: No online play in Corruption.

Submitted by on July 5, 2007 – 9:30 pm5 Comments

Getting closer.
In an interview on July 2nd with GamePro magazine, Michael Kelbaugh, Retro Studios’ president, made it as clear as it can be that there is no online play in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.

GamePro: Will Metroid Prime 3 have any online modes?

Michael Kelbaugh: No. It’s something we talked about early on, but we only have so many resources. We opted to devote those resources to making a better single-player experience.

That’s fine by me, I don’t think Metroid works online. I’ve always played Metroid for the single-player experience and I was concerned they’d spend energy working on an online mode rather than putting all their resources into making a great game like they did in Prime 1. So, for this news, I am relieved. Great interview, too.

Source: GamePro, tipped by Nintendojo.


Are there any unique challenges to being an American development studio working on a game for a Japanese company?

Well, let me refine that question a little bit. It should be: Are there any unique challenges to being a Western developer working in the Nintendo development environment? Because, really, that is where the challenge is. The challenge is applying Western methodologies in development and having those fit with Nintendo’s expectations as they relate to quality. Which is very, very refreshing because it’s never a situation where it’s date-driven, it’s always quality-driven. It’s never, “Okay, regardless of the game’s condition, it’s coming out August 30th.”

But on the flipside of that, we work for Nintendo, we are Nintendo, and the expectations for our games are intense. So meeting the quality standards for a Nintendo I.P. [intellectual property] is exceptionally challenging.

And my personal favorite:

If Nintendo came to you and said, “We really liked the Prime series, and we want to a boxed set of all three games, but we’d need you to adapt the first two games to the Wii-mote.” How long would it take to adapt those old games to the Wii-mote?

Oh, you’re talking about code that’s six, seven years old, so I can’t answer that without diving into it.

Though for the Tokyo Game Show, a couple years ago, we did take Metroid Prime 2 code and adapt it to the Wii controller, and that took a couple months. But to really do it right, and really incorporate all the features of MP1 and MP2, it would take a while. It’s just hard to really answer that without diving into it.

It’s a great idea, though.

Well, go ahead and do it. And have them packaged in a Samus helmet.

Indeed. And put the old games on the new engine as well. Better yet, keep making new Metroid games. We love them.

  • brent Kailbourn

    that’s what you get with an undersized console with gimmicky controls. prior-gen iterizations of Nintendo games without online features.

  • Cruds

    No online? I don’t even consider that bad news. If there is one thing I hate it’s running through an arena, blasting people.Racing games, Sport games e.g. Excite Truck, Mario Allstars – any kind of game where online doesn’t differ to much from the main experience – could be great for online. For a game like Metroid I rather have the developers concentrate on creating an epic experience than adding online mode just because that is what hot right now.

  • http://www.fpsrantings.com Mike

    I can’t say that multiplayer is hot “right now.” Multiplayer, when implemented really well, can extend the shelf life of any game. And you know what? It’s always been like that. So I can’t say it’s hot just right now.

    Metroid Prime Hunters for the DS is awesome because the single player adventure was terrific, and the multiplayer made the game a perennial favorite.

    Why?

    Even while I’ve finished the single player campaign, I keep coming back to play the well-made multiplayer, whether it be at WFC or a plain deathmatch over Wi-Fi between friends. We DS gamers consider Metroid as our Counter-Strike (i.e. our great multiplayer shootfest that’s always played by everybody). And the great part is, no matter how many FPS games are created for the DS, Metroid’s multiplayer will always be popular.

    It’s practically immortal now.

    That’s why it’s a shame that Prime 3 won’t have multiplayer. While it will surely have a fantastic single player experience (epic, if you will), it won’t be anything else beyond that. Sure, you can continue to play the game to uncover all the secrets, but it’s just not the same.

  • James

    Multiplayer is not simply running around firing at random assholes. There’s this thing called, “co-op” which, with a few friends, is absolutely awesome. Online co-op in Metroid? Sign me up.

  • http://www.aeropause.com Stephen

    Metroid’s going to need more returning characters if they’re going to have co-op. Having everyone play as Samus in the multiplayer mode in Prime 2 on Gamecube was just stupid. The enemies in Hunters are pretty forgettable, so they’re not much better. What are they going to do, make one person Samus and everyone else a marine? Yeah, I’ll be the marine. Oh look, I’m dead and generic.