I was also on the call and was going to write up a story for Gaming Age (the main site), but for some reason it's down and I've yet to find out why
Anyway, here's what I typed up while listening to the conference call. Please forgive any grammatical errors and/or spelling errors. It'll be pretty accurate, but not 100 percent quoted.
Pikmin 2 Conference Call
Tom Harland is Chairperson.
Tezuka & Hino from NCL
Tezuka producer
Hino Director.
Pikmin won AIAS for 2001 for most innovative game of the year.
Bill Trinnen from NOA will translate today. Worked on localization for the game as well.
Tezuka: In developing Pikmin 2 I was a producer giving advice to the development team about gameplay.
Tezuka: On Pikmin 1 I wasnt involved in game development, but did assist Miyamoto in a few game development details.
Hino: One of 2 directors on Pikmin 2. The other was Mr. Habbe. I was focused more on graphic design and character elements in the game.
Q: Gamers Edge: With the addition of Capt. Olimars assistant, how does this add to the complexity of the game?
A: Tezuka: In the original there was only 1, now there are 2 characters the player can control simult. This adds strategic elements and can control 1 character to complete one objective, and another character to go to another. Provides players with new challenges and more excitement.
Q: GI: Since the Jap version has been out for a while, has there been any thoughts on a Pikmin 3 or maybe a Pikmin game for the DS?
A: Tezuka: Well unfortunately we cant discuss any future development plans today. But, because the Pikmin games have been well received we look forward to developing future games.
Q: NOA: Much of the character art for the game is clay sculptures. Did you work in clay to create the characters for the game? Were they designed in clay or on paper or on computer?
A: All of those models you see in the artwork were sculpted in clay. We then took those sculptures and scanned them into digital versions and then combined them into collages to make the final art.
A: Tezuka: One of the members of our illustration team was very passionate about doing this and creating the artwork.
Q: Game Daily: Was the decision to do away with the 30-day timeline in response to critical opinions on the first game?
A: Tezuka: The original games focus was on getting the player trying to escape the planet in a given timeframe. So the player was challenged to go thru it in 30 days. We wanted to create a game with greater freedom to explore at leisure and to get to know the world better. That was why we eliminated the 30-day time limit. We do listen to user feedback and did take that into consideration with the sequel.
A: Hino: One of the points we want to stress about Pikmin 2 is that we removed the 30 day time limit. Original game we wanted to solve puzzles in a timeframe, this game we wanted to let them enjoy the world of the Pikmin to their hearts content and we hope people look forward to that. To be honest, although Pikmin and 2 are using same game system, youre going to find youll get very different experiences from the 2 games.
Q: CNP Media: How Pikmin 2 differs from Pikmin. What kind of details went into the sequel and how will these elements impact the gameplay?
A: Hino: The Pikmin games have a basic system where the player acts as a leader and gives the Pikmin tasks to complete. In addition to giving an additional character to control in Pikmin 2, weve added 2 more Pikmin. This gives the player more tools at their disposal to face the problems and the strategic elements. Weve made it more essential to give orders and to complete those goals. The characters act as the leaders.
Q: GameCube Advanced: Now that Pikmin 2 has been completed, is there any chance of the series expanding into handhelds?
A: No future Pikmin games have been announced, but our hope is that fans of Pikmin 2 will write in to Nintendo requesting more Pikmin games.
Q: Game Daily: Pikmin 1 was critically received well. One complaint was Pikmins length was short. How has this changed for the sequel?
A: We did receive feedback about the game length. We took this into consideration and realized that by removing the 30-day time limit we would give players a chance to explore the world more and by increasing the volume we think the game will provide a longer experience.
Q: IGN Cube: There are battle modes, but there isnt a regular quest co-op mode and Im wondering why not?
A: Tezuka: We actually wanted to include 2 player co-op at one point, but looking at the system, we decided to move the 2 player into other areas in the game.
A: Hino: We did experiment with 2 player gameplay in main game, but what we found is that if we developed the entire 1 player mode around the 2 player mode we had to change the 1 player game into something we didnt want to. By moving it into its own modes and maps we could keep the 1 player mode the way we liked.
Q: ToyQuest: Pikmin was very popular, but the people we spoke with didnt get as much from it, especially people that arent into strategy games. Non-Strategy folks didnt get as much enjoyment out of the game, and does Pikmin 2 address this?
A: Hino: If you look at Pikmin 2, youll see the surface maps are similar to the 1st game and creates a similar style of play. With the addition of the caves in Pikmin 2, a player goes underground with a set amount of Pikmin and cant increase or decrease the quantity. As they lose their Pikmin in battle, it makes the game feel like an action game than a strategy game. Its hard to categorize the game and put into a genre. It ahs taken the strengths of Nintendo to make the game one nice little package.
A: Tezuka: The nice thing weve done is that weve added a lot of these action elements, weve also made the controls simple enough that people who havent been good at action games in the past will find they can get to the end of this game, thus broadening the audience.
Q: Gamers Edge: If you could pick 1 new improvement in Pikmin 2, which one do you think will get gamers the most excited?
A; Tezuka: 1 thing weve tried to do with original and this one is to make the world feel like its very real. Kind of like you might think Pikmin really exist. One thing we tried to do with the sequel and to get people excited and nostalgic, youll notice items with logos and packaging you might remember from the past or that you might be playing now. Itll be fun to come across real-world objects as you play Pikmin 2. This will bring the game to a new level of realism.
Q: Game Cube Advanced: Weve seen that Nintendos movie ads in US has been interesting. And weve seen the Pikmin 2 midget commercial on the TV. Does Nintendo have further plans to market Pikmin 2 to the general consumer?
A: Tom: Overall Pikmin is supported with over $4 million in marketing. The TV commercial will run a broad spectrum. Some cinema ads will show Pikmin. 2 demo disc version are at retail and a wide variety of POP in stores. Pikmin 2 is also included with the Nintendo Street Teams. There wont be any holiday promotions that feature Pikmin. The marketing campaign will ramp up this next week.
Q: Game Daily: Was the game designed to pick and choose the items they want to achieve, but the hardcore gamers could try to find everything?
A: Hino: Yeah, actually that was one of our focuses was to give players freedom to play the game. The 1st objective is to collect money to repay the loan taken out. To repay the debt, players collect treasures. The player will go through, and can choose, how they want to repay the debt. You can choose which ones to get. Or you can play underground and bring back corpses of insects to pay off the debt. The advanced gamer will want to find every enemy and treasure, which will give gamers a very long and challenging game to play.
Q: Game Daily: Regarding the collection aspect, there have been comparisons to SSB: Melee and was wondering if this was a similar system, and was this intentional?
A: hino: No, actually. I havent actually played SSB and havent tried to copy the system. The idea was to give the players an option to collect the treasures and give players a lot of text and back-story for each individual item so they can read and get enjoyment out of collecting the items.
A: Tom & Bill: A lot of the names and humor have come from the NOA localization dept. Some of the names are very funny. The concept behind the items and descriptions
most items on surface are normal, but the humor comes from the fact that Olimar and Louie are looking at these objects as visitors from another planet and try to figure out what the item is used for. This leads to humorous names for the objects. Some of the writers went all-out and made the game very enjoyable.
Q: Play Magazine: The 1st Pikmin was focused on outdoors with plant moving and the water, how has that improved with the sequel?
A: Hino: With Pikmin 2 we had much of the same staff as Pikmin 1. We ended up going with a very similar image as the 1st game. One thing we struggled with after Pikmin 1 released, we found that when users were asked how big Pikmin were, players had very different ideas as to how big they are
from small creatures to people-sized. With this game we tried to stress their smallness, we focused in on size of Pikmin compared to other items in the world, like branded items. This creates a realistic way to show the Pikmins true size.
Final Comments:
Hino: I think 1 of the biggest strengths with Pikmin 2 is removing the time limit. Weve added in larger maps, and more than double the enemies and double the items. Players can take their time to explore the world and can decide which monsters to fight or what treasures to find. People can go treasure hunting or simply hang out and watch the day pass by with the music playing in the background. Its this freedom that weve given the player that makes Pikmin 2 a success.
Tezuka: I feel the Pikmin series is something we have passionately tried to create and to create a new genre. I feel its very different from any other games out there. The music isnt even able to be classed since the Pikmin create their own music as you play the game. Weve created these new creatures in the game and they react to the pikmin and it feels like the world is its own real world. With pikmin 2 well see a lot of people pick up and play the game and hopefully a lot of people will pick up Pikmin 1 if they had missed it. Im looking forward to seeing how people react to Pikmin 2.
