games on WiiWare, especially given the size limitations. How did the team manage to cram such high quality visuals into such a tiny package? Manfred Linzner: Jett Rocket was planned from the start to fit into 40Mb but, while we kept that in mind all the time, it wasn’t a major hurdle in development. Often when I download a game or a demo from digital shops I wonder to myself why the developers often need so much space. We simply continue to use our best size reduction techniques that we learned from GBA and DS development and apply it to current games. For instance, even on the eShop where those WiiWare size limitations don’t apply anymore, we used only 38 Megabyte for Fun! Fun! Minigolf Touch! This wasn’t planned- it just happened automatically. And we are sure users are happy they don’t need much time and SD card space to download our titles. Super Surf won’t have the same size limitations to work around. We’re pretty excited about the thought of a virtually unrestricted Jett Rocket game in 3D. What are you guys planning on doing with all of that new-found space? Manfred Linzner: We will take the space we need to make the most awesome Jett Rocket game but we don’t plan to waste precious memory of the users SD cards. The most mentioned omission from FAST: Racing League was online play. If it were to come to the eShop, would there be an interest in implementing the feature? Or is online play not a priority for Shin’en? Manfred Linzner: The truth for online games is that it simply doubles the development time and costs. It also means you can’t add certain features you can add when there is no online. So for FAST on WiiWare this would have meant a price tag of 20 USD. That’s way beyond what most users want to pay for a download game. Also, it depends on the platform. For instance, it’s much easier for us to make an online game for WiiU than for Wii. For future releases, online features will of course have a higher priority for us then in the past. One of my personal favorite features of your games is the music. I have absolutely no interest in golfing games, but I bought Fun! Fun! Minigolf Touch! anyway just to hear the music. Some developers get this wrong, but Shin’en gets it right- the music and sound always add to the game. Nanostray in particular had my favorite music of the bunch. What is sound design process for Shin’en? Musical inspirations? Manfred Linzner: When we started our company, we mainly created soundtracks for GBC and GBA games. It was around 200 titles, so we have a lot of experience in this area. For us, music is equally important as gameplay and graphics. When we create a new game, we July 2012 Special Edition
often try dozens of styles to see what fits best into the game. Once we settle on a style, we try to create the best audio experience possible. Nano Assault seemed to be a different kind of shooter for Shin’en in concept and gameplay- though; we did notice and appreciate the nods to Iridion with the tunnel sequences. What prompted the switch from the traditional shmup to a “twin-stick” shooter? Manfred Linzner: Nano Assault was originally a Wii prototype. When the new 3DS was announced, we had the idea to mix that prototype gameplay with the look of the Nanoscopic world. We quickly knew this was a perfect fit. The Twin Stick gameplay was necessary to allow gameplay that is no longer on a simple 2D plane, but in all directions. You guys have a history of starting a new shooter franchise on each Nintendo handheld, with the Iridion games on the GBA and Nanostray on the DS. Nano Assault is rather clearly a spin-off of the Nanostray universe. Does this mean we’ve yet to see the 3DS’s new IP? Or are we destined to break the pattern and encounter Nano Assault 2 in the future? Manfred Linzner: Currently, we don’t have plans for a new IP. In the last 4 years, we have created 5 new, successful IP’s, so we think now it’s time to take care of them. So our next arcade game is [a spinoff, and] not coming to 3DS, but to WiiU. In a recent discussion with you we found out that you are working on a new downloadable game for WiiU. It was mentioned that it is a futuristic action title. Are there any further details you can discuss with us at the moment about this title? Manfred Linzner: It’s a spin off and, due to the WiiUs power, a real jaw dropper. More details are to be released by the end of summer. What else does Shin’en have lined up for the next year or two? Manfred Linzner: We are currently planning to hit the WiiU launch window with our first WiiU download title. We have quite a few ideas what to do next, but haven’t decided yet.
Thank you for taking the time to talk with us and give us more insight into what Shin’en has been doing! We are looking forward to Jett Rocket and the future of Shin’en! Best of luck! FANBOLT GAMING DIGITAL MAGAZINE Page 9