Kosuke Yabuki on the future of Mario Kart, luck versus skill and Birdo. Wait, who's Birdo?
So a training mode could come in a future update?
Kosuke Yabuki: That's something I'm thinking about, something I'm considering. [The most recent update] focuses on a new character and various adjustments to the balance - but for future updates adding features to the training mode could definitely happen.
You say it's about always doing something new. On a surface level, Nintendo's been doing more new IPs - I think Splatoon was the first new character-led IP developed within Nintendo since Pikmin - and Arms came along soon after. Was that part of a movement within the company, something you were all consciously doing?
Kosuke Yabuki: Firstly, in that intervening period between Pikmin and Splatoon, there were some new IPs! Like Tomodachi Life and Rhythm Paradise, for example - I don't think that gap was so large! But around the time that Splatoon was in its early development stages, it's true to say that among the younger generation of developers at Nintendo, that desire and that idea of creating something completely new, it was definitely there.
On top of that, it's also a fact that Mr. Miyamoto, Mr. Eguchi [creator of the Animal Crossing series and deputy general manager of Nintendo EPD], Mr. Takahashi [general manager of Nintendo EPD] and other senior figures very much supported us in that. You know, there's always lots of different prototypes being experimented with and considered. For those to turn into real games, it's a huge team effort that requires a lot of manpower and a lot of talent, and without the overall support of the company, you can't achieve it. I'm grateful for the fact they didn't just say to me 'now you've got to make the next Mario Kart'. They allowed me to make Arms, and personally I'm very grateful for that opportunity.
That's something that fascinated me - Mario Kart is big business, it's a huge selling series. For that team to go on to a fighting game - which is quite a niche genre, and not only that, it's an all-new fighting game - it's quite a bold move.
Kosuke Yabuki: I think with any game, whether it becomes big from a business sense - before you create it, you don't know. Even Mario Kart, some point back in the past, we didn't know it'd be such a success and go on for such a long time! In terms of now, while maintaining and supporting existing franchises like Mario Kart, it's important to try new things. Something like Arms, we're working as hard as possible to make Arms into something that fans will enjoy for a long time to come in the future. How long it continues and how successful it'll be, it's new so we don't know that just yet. In terms of the updates we're working as hard as we can on these updates, on keeping the game as fun and as interesting as possible, for as many people as possible for as long as possible.
I'm happy with that. So, more generally speaking, how has Nintendo changed - how different is the company now to the one that you joined?
Kosuke Yabuki: It's difficult to answer how it's changed, because Nintendo is a company that's always trying to change, and is always in the process of changing. I don't have the impression of there being the kind of change that you could pin down to a certain point - it's more of a constant process. One definite example is what I mentioned earlier with the updates to Arms - we're in an era where those constant updates, that post-launch support, is very important, and that's something that's been brought about by changes in technology. It feels like we're in a different era now in that respect. And now Nintendo's moved into smart devices and mobile applications, that's also quite a big change. I think there are changes that come about because we're living in a different era and we need to adjust to that. One thing that doesn't change - and I've mentioned this quite a few times - is that impetus from Miyamoto and others to make something new, make something unique. How is the game you're making different? That's the thing that hasn't changed in my time, and it will probably never change for Nintendo.
3 von 4 Spielen ist ein Verlust und ich steige im Rangsystem einfach nicht ab 
spiele aber auch mit verschiedenen kämpfern : P
pretty rad ^^
finde ich besser als jede andere US commercial für Arms ^^
enguin:
