“This time, we used the 3D for presenting the game, but next time I want to make software that involves 3D in the game design,” Team Ninja leader, Yosuke Hayashi, recently said to Nintendo’s president, Satoru Iwata. “When I read Miyamoto-san’s interviews, I realized that he designs games that can only be accomplished in 3D. Like games that involve jumping into the distance.”
When he said “this time,” Hayashi was referring to Dead or Alive: Dimensions, which will release on the Nintendo 3DS next week. Dimensions is a chronicling of the first four Dead or Alive titles, and while the game’s fighting system has been overhauled, the 3D effect from the 3DS is merely a visual upgrade and has no effect on the way you play the game. Hayashi says he’d like to change this with future projects.
“There’s a particular enjoyment to a game designed specifically for 3D,” Hayashi said to Iwata. “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.”
He elaborated: “I’m looking forward to playing games by all kinds of game developers. But I’ll be incredibly jealous the moment someone achieves something that until then seemed completely impossible, so I want to find that door and open it myself!”
Another point Hayashi considers important while developing Nintendo 3DS games is to keep in mind the difference between a console and a portable system. Team Ninja are also planning a Ninja Gaiden title for the 3DS, which Hayashi tells us will be “appropriate for a portable system” when they decide to show it off.
Food for thought:
Prior to Dead or Alive: Dimensions, Team Ninja collaborated with Nintendo on development of Metroid: Other M. Iwata appears to want the two companies to work together again, as he says: “We may be able to work together again in the near future, and it would be great if we did something that made you jealous or you did something that made us jealous.”
