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What is HAL up to?

Hero

Member
After playing a round of SSB:M the other day, I asked myself what the heck HAL was doing.

I mean, have they announced what they are currently working on? Kirby and the Magical Mirror has been released recently, so what else do they have up their sleeve?

I imagine the next installment of SSB is already under way, but I wonder if we'll see a SSB DS before SSB Revolution.

One other thing that raised my curiousity was how in Pikmin 2, later in the game you start getting spam e-mails from Nintendo, telling you to visit their website. However, it shows a sillhouette of a character at the top, and for some reason they reminded me of the Earthbound characters. Could this be a hint of Mother 3 being worked on still?

Any other speculation? Rumors? Information?
 

Hero

Member
Prine said:
Didnt the Director/Producer at HAL leave sometime ago?

What did MGS3 have to do with anything though?

And yeah, last I heard though Nintendo got him back.
 

Mama Smurf

My penis is still intact.
And yeah, last I heard though Nintendo got him back.

Where did you hear that?

They might have been working on the European version of Animal Crossing and Mario Party 6. I don't believe Mario Party 6 for a second though, I think the NOA website has just made a mistake.

Hopefully they're working on a DS game, maybe a GC one too.
 
Didnt the Director/Producer at HAL leave sometime ago?

Masahiro Sakurai is the guy you're referring to. He was a director of Smash Bros. and several of the Kirby titles. And no he's not back at HAL. It's rumored that he left because he's tired of the sequalization of games in the industry. It's unknown if he ever intends on making another game even. He said that if he does, he mainly wants to go the route Yoshiki Okamoto went and create a studio to develop original titles.

And by the way, Mother 3 is being developed for the Game Boy Advance.
 

Hero

Member
Mama Smurf said:
Where did you hear that?

They might have been working on the European version of Animal Crossing and Mario Party 6. I don't believe Mario Party 6 for a second though, I think the NOA website has just made a mistake.

Hopefully they're working on a DS game, maybe a GC one too.

I -think- I remember either John TV or EAD Ninja saying that a long time ago, though I may be mistaken.

If I had to guess though, my bets would be:

SSB Revolution (online)
SSB DS
Mother 3
Kirby DS
 

Ristamar

Member
Hero said:
I -think- I remember either John TV or EAD Ninja saying that a long time ago, though I may be mistaken.

I hope they did. Masahiro Sakurai is good and obviously loves what he does.
 

Mama Smurf

My penis is still intact.
I'm just a bit worried about the series, now that the main man behind it has gone (if he's not back). Apparently he was the real driving force behind the game, he's the reason Smash Bros Melee is so packed with extras.

While Metroid was never as big as Smash Bros, nor was Gunpei Yokoi the main guy behind it, look how long it took to get us a sequel after he left Nintendo/died. Even Nintendo aren't stupid enough not to develop a sequel to Melee though, surely. They're not Sega.

*hopes*
 

Dan

No longer boycotting the Wolfenstein franchise
Hero said:
I -think- I remember either John TV or EAD Ninja saying that a long time ago, though I may be mistaken.
I believe it was just some sort of agreement between him and HAL, so that their current projects wouldn't be affected, or something along those lines.
 

djtiesto

is beloved, despite what anyone might say
JC10001 said:
If they were smart? Super Smash Bros: Mayhem for the Revolution launch.

Dude, I had this idea for the name of the game :D

Smash on Revolution = SOLD
 

Shiggy

Member
They only did Kirby's Air Ride and SSBM for the GCN. Also they finished Animal Crossing which will arrive in a few days.

I think they have some secret titles.
 
Last I heard, Iwata was in dicussions with Sakurai, to possibly put him as the Director of a new Hal developed title, even though he's no longer tied to Hal. I would really like to see something new from Hal soon.
 
As much as I liked Super Smash Bros. Melee, I'm not dying for a sequel. I mean, what else would they do? The GC game is damn near perfect.
 

cvxfreak

Member
I'm very surprised there wasn't a KAR2. That gave off an "every year sequel" kind of thing. New courses, characters, etc. Ah well, SSB3 cometh!
 

lordmrw

Member
JC10001 said:
If they were smart? Super Smash Bros: Mayhem for the Revolution launch.


Definitely. The problem Nintendo has always had when launching systems is that they never have a steady stream of exclusive games to continue to drive sales. I would hope they plan on fixing that this time around. They've already lost Ken Lobb because of that.
 

snapty00

Banned
A moderator over at IGN knows Ken Lobb to some extent (and has at least talked with him on a few occassions), and he said that Lobb didn't leave for money. Apparently, he really was genuinely dissatisfied with Nintendo's direction and his role at the company. And apparently, Microsoft had been after him (and others) for a while, so it's not like he went over to Microsoft on the first offer given to him.
 

Prine

Banned
ToyMachine228 said:
Speaking of Ken Lobb, he's been quiet...Very quiet.

yeh, his last interview was with Matt from IGN prior e3, thats when he stated Conker as being one of the best looking games on Xbox
 
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