IGN Insider Interview

GRR
http://cube.ign.com/articles/356/356126p1.html

Does anyone have Insider that can copy the interview here? It is supposed to have new details on Zelda, Rare, and E3..

IGNcube: Why the Star Fox Adventures delay to September?

Perrin Kaplan: Perfection. Have you ever known us not to change release dates on games in search of absolute perfection? You've seen Nintendo do this lots of times. It's the GoldenEye syndrome. So I think what gamers will get is a great product, and Miyamoto has been spending a lot of time on it. I'd love feedback from you guys when it launches and you see what it has become.

IGNcube: So this type of delay won't befall Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem as well?

Perrin: No.

IGNcube: Definitely not?

Perrin: Definitely not.

Jim Merrick: Hasn't it happened enough?

Perrin: Eternal Darkness is on schedule and Denis Dyack is half-dead [laughs].

IGNcube: He's been working his ass off.

Perrin: We love Denis.

IGNcube: You guys seem to have a lot of titles for the end of the year.

Perrin: I'm so glad that you say that. It's been really quiet for the first couple months of this year, and we know that you guys think that. It's typically a slower time of the year and we've been stockpiling some quantity that's ready to go. And we actually have probably the strongest back-half lineup in numerous years. I frankly think much better than our launch. There is a lot coming and I think you guys will be very happy.

IGNcube: Can you tell us if there multiple Zeldas underway?

Perrin: No.

IGNcube: It's just the one that's been shown then?

Perrin: What you thought is not exactly quite accurate. [Editor's note: we previously inquired about the possibility of a Zelda compilation featuring Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask and Ura-Zelda.]


IGNcube: Really? So then there is something like that happening?
Perrin: Not necessarily.

[laughter]

IGNcube: Well that clears everything up.

Perrin: Wait -- let us go into conference. [Leans over to Jim Merrick and whispers into his ear for a moment].

You're going to be happy. Don't you think, Jim? Your Zelda fix will be fixed for sometime.

IGNcube: Will the Zelda that we saw unveiled at Space World 2001 launch this year?

Perrin: Mr. Miyamoto would like to launch it this year. That's the plan. The end result is great. So I can tell you that's his plan, but, you know, once he gets himself all the way into it...

And I know you guys weren't 100% into the anime-styled Zelda he debuted at Space World, but it is really hard to do. It's quite complex. What do you think about playing a Zelda that looks like that?

IGNcube: We don't think anybody had a problem with the cel-shading, it was more the design of Link. He looked like a stained glass freak.

[Laughter]

Perrin: Stained glass freak. I'm going to pass that along to Miyamoto -- he'll like that.

Seriously though, we'd be interested to know what you guys think when Zelda launches. Miyamoto's interested in getting feedback. He went with his heart's desire on it, which is the best thing for an artist to do. Of course, he got a lot of positive and negative feedback when the game was first shown, particularly at Space World. And it takes a lot of confidence when you get mixed messages to go forward with it. Especially since the responses for his games are almost always unanimously great.



NOA's Perrin Kaplan flexes her muscles for the camera.


He's being real bold. I mean, he was bold in doing Pikmin. We were nominated for Pikmin as one of the top five games of the year last night.

IGNcube: Oh, definitely. Okay. So what is up with the relationship between Rare and Nintendo?

Perrin: Nothing. The status is the same as it's always been. We've got good stuff coming.

IGNcube: Will Wave Bird release in different colors?

Perrin: As far as I know it's just the silver. I think they want to see how it sells first. We always tip our toe in that way.


IGNcube: Sony has already announced its online plans. Microsoft, we hear, is brewing a good one. Where does Nintendo stand?
Jim: Sony and Microsoft have two different strategies. Sony has made a very good announcement. I'm not sure they have the plan behind it, but they've made a good announcement. They're at one end of the spectrum with GameSpy and the Tony Hawk thing going on -- do your own thing. Microsoft is at the opposite end of the spectrum with Xbox Live for $14.95 a month and some unknown amount of money up front, and of that the publishers get nothing. So it's a good business plan for Microsoft -- not so sure it's good for the publisher. And I'm also not so sure it's good for the consumer. I mean, $14.95 a month is fine for someone who's used to playing Everquest on the PC, but for the console gamer we'll have to wait and see.

Nintendo, though, is not going to jump in just because Sony and Microsoft are doing something. You can't compete by following others.

Perrin: Yeah, they didn't do Pokemon did they?

[Laughter]

IGNcube: What's happening with the Triforce hardware?

Perrin: More to come on that. Keep your ears open. There's definitely more to come.

IGNcube: What's to come?

Perrin: What's to come. Like I'm going to tell you. Your tip is that there is more to come.

IGNcube: Oh, more to come? We'll look into that.

Perrin: It's good. Actually, some neat things will be announced in the next 12 months that really have to do with people wanting more of Nintendo's best games and us coming up with ways to achieve that. The EAD team is just maxed out right now. We have the largest resource of any company and still it's maxed out.

IGNcube: We only know of a few games EAD is working on.

Perrin: Well, they're perfectionists. And they are working on some other things.

IGNcube: Speaking of other things, we were playing Resident Evil last night until two in the morning.

Perrin: That's why you look so tired.

IGNcube: We had it up really loud in our demo room and it scared the sh*t out of us.

[Laughter]

Perrin: We're really excited. Really excited about that one. Oh, and Final Fantasy. Square.

IGNcube: What's going on with that, by the way? There are conflicting reports everywhere. Can you clear it up?

Perrin: Yes. There is a Game Boy Advance title. There is a GameCube title. They will be connected.

Perrin: Did you guys like Pikmin?

IGNcube: Yes, except we thought it was too short.

IGNcube: Are there RPGs coming?

Perrin: I'd say there is stuff coming, I just can't get specific.

IGNcube: What's happening with GameCube hardware shortages in the US?

Perrin: The shortages were mostly in January, February and a bit in March to get Europe ready to go. I mean, it's hard to ship units globally. I think that caused some problems in January and February -- we had a lot of really dry shelves, and that causes consumer disappointment. But stuff is ramping back up and by July our numbers will be even higher than they were at launch.


IGNcube: Is it disappointing to you that Xbox has outsold GameCube in the US, even though GCN is $100 cheaper?
Perrin: Yeah, Microsoft is super aggressive and they're doing stuff right. I mean, we launched in two countries and they launched in one. We sold every last piece of hardware we could get. Had we been able to get half a million more units I think we could have sold that.

I think they had a great launch and did a really good job. I think it just about killed them to do it. I think we knew that everyone was going to do very well at launch. We expected Xbox to do well. If it hadn't, we would have been curious as to what went wrong. I'm a little bit surprised, though, that Microsoft has not had a better reception in Japan and Europe. And we'll see what 2002 does for them.

IGNcube: Yes. Now, though, you guys don't have any first-party titles for the first half of the year...

Perrin: You think I don't know that? [Smiles] Nintendo has, more so this year than any other, matched its product launches to the type of sales that generally happen for that part of the year. The second half, I hope, will have your heads spinning.

It's been slow this first quarter, but this is not a time of the year that's typically high and we also didn't have the hardware to support the software.

IGNcube: So you're meeting all of your projections then?

Perrin: Yes.

IGNcube: What is NST doing?

Perrin: Special games to make you happy.

IGNcube: Sequels?

Perrin: I wouldn't go that far.

IGNcube: Martin Hollis. What is Zoonami doing? Is the company making GameCube titles?

Perrin: Yes... maybe.

IGNcube: Yes, maybe? Anything we'll see at E3?

Perrin: Can't say. Good guy though.

IGNcube: What's happening for E3?

Perrin: Cool stuff. We'll be as big as last year and NCL will be just as involved. They're getting really excited about it.

IGNcube: Are there surprises?

Perrin: What do you mean by that?

IGNcube: Games we don't know about.

Perrin: Yes. But you also know about most of them and you'll finally get a chance to play them. E3 is going to be good, you guys will be happy with it.

IGNcube thanks Perrin Kaplan and Jim Merrick for the chat.

God, what the heck was that? I'm surprised they made that Insider only.. it's all just "well I don't know" crap on everything. They just tiptoed around half the questions.. hmm

That was a waste. I mean...it's "tantalizing", but not exclusive info.

What a load of garbage.

He basically teased us with tiny bits of info that we kinda already knew :rolleyes:

I hate the whole "air of mystery" that has to surround every Nintendo project these days. People want to know about the stupid games, and unless it's Zelda or Metroid I'm not going to buy it until I know something about it. Stupid mysteries.