Now that we know Brace Yourself Games is working on a cross-over between Crypt of the NecroDancer and The Legend of Zelda series, it has raised questions about what else could be on the horizon.
When the Sonic The Hedgehog creator Yuji Naka first found out about an indie developer working with one of Nintendo’s most iconic series of all-time, he took to social media to reflect on his own experiences with the Japanese video game giant.
According to NintendoSoup, Naka explained how Cadence of Hyrule reminded him of a time when he asked Nintendo if he could borrow Mario for a game and was denied. Now, after the recent Nindie Direct announcement, Naka feels as if Nintendo has changed a lot.
Do you agree with Sonic's creator? Would you like to see more indie developers working with Nintendo's IP in the future? Tell us down in the comments.
Cadence of Hyrule looks really fun. I think it's great that Nintendo are more willing to take risks with their IP's and lend them to other devs.
All the legendary creators at Nintendo are nearing retirement, so yes, they desperately need young people with fresh ideas.
Uhm... isn't he aware of the Sonic & Mario Olympics Games?
@Forestt That game came after decades of rivalry... and it was more Nintendo borrowing a SEGA character rather than the other way around.
Yes they change. As careful as a dinosaur, but they do change.
Nintendo changed the moment the Switch trailer was released. It has reinvented itself in a manner that many never thought was possible.
They’ve really changed for the better.
I think he's right, but it hasn't been an instant thing. It's been one small step, then another small step, then another. Some crossover games from the Wii days onwards, a more open and friendly approach to indie developers, willingness to change up long established formats and return to long dead ones. This latest thing is just another small step in what absolutely does add up to a giant leap.
I think it's really nice of Nintendo to lend one of their strongest IP to a indie developer, but I doubt that happened without careful research and certainty they were working with a high quality studio. Surely the developers are working under Nintendo's watchful eye and heavy hand.
That is not to say it isn't worth the challenge and praise, but Nintendo didn't just pop out of the shadows and said "Hey, here os Link and Zelda for you! Go nuts you guys!"
Have they? Yeah, It's not like there weren't signs with Mario & Rabbids or Fox in Starlink. Doing it with an indie (after careful vetting) was a logical next step.
I’d really like Next Level Games to put something else out. A punch out or a Mario Strikers. Their last game was federation force... and that was a decent game underserved by franchise starvation.
According to some Wii U owners Nintendo hasn't yet changed enough. They want to see Nintendo putting fresh IP out or giant new franchise updates that justify buying a Switch for them.
I'm a newbie to Nintendo so I don't feel that of course but I hear them.
The biggest misconception about Nintendo is that their success is from the characters Mario, Link, Kirby etc. The truth is they want a good game mechanic then the character is laid over the top. If you look at Cadence of Hyrule, Hyrule Warriors, or Mario vs Rabbids they stand up as games that Nintendo probably wouldn’t come up with themselves (The concept of a Rhythm RPG is perhaps one of the most original ideas in a while), but by putting Nintendo characters in the game gets eyes on very sturdy, fun games.
I think Nintendo's increasing collaboration with Xbox to the advantage of both is indicative of a huge new openess to to non-Japanese things. It's great. Can only improve both companies.
Now if we can have some more AAA Nintendo games alongside the indies I would be happy.
@Masurao There is probably no group of people out there who have internalized Nintendo's design philosophy more than indie publishers and devotees like Davide Soliani. Gradually bringing these people into the fold is a huge step towards the company's future while preserving its identity.
@DanteSolablood That’s actually untrue. SEGA were awarded the Olympics license, and requested to use Mario to give the game more appeal (hence, as previously mentioned, the game was developed by SEGA).
@MrGawain I do not know about the future, but right now if you show an original and fun demo to Miyamoto, he will most likely lend you his characters. There was an interview some years ago in which he stated that most requests for remasters and collaborations get declined because all the developers show him is how neat the graphics are/how cool the design is, while all he cares about is whether it is fun and original or not. ...or something along those lines anyway. Either way, just look at Kickstarter, they rarely ever mention gameplay and just throw around names and concept art.
@DanteSolablood those games were SEGA developed, are you sure?
Which means what? If you base you intake of information on 140 or 280 characters then you are a sad individual lacking the ability to think in larger concepts.
I don't think the change is a good thing. Launch year was amazing and not much since. How long do we have to wait for a full fledged Legend of Zelda game? We're two months away from the year halfway done and no word of a sequel of Breath of the Wild or a New Switch Legend of Zelda game. I mean Links Awaking may be fun for a while. Cadence of Hyrule maybe too. Those games are short compared to Breath of the Wild. Is the Switch only going to have one full fledged Legend of Zelda game? Will a New Legend of Zelda ever come to the Switch? Links Awaking will be fun, but look at the graphics it could of came out on the 3DS. The Switch is about halfway through its life and one one full fledged Legend of Zelda game... The Wiiu had more.
For all the people bringing up M&S at the Olympic Games, Naka had left Sega by that point. And yes, co-creator, please.
Nintendo's change is bad. They forgot what made themselves so important in the gaming industry. Having standards! They lost that ideology. Now they let anyone on their platform, and now the last straw they're letting indie devs use their IPs. Idc when people use IPs for fan made games, that's way different. You know it's not official, this game for Zelda is fan made and is official. I think I'm just really upset that Nintendo lost its standards ideology.
They're certainly a lot more open than they used to be. In this world you can't prosper by isolating yourself and having an insular way of doing things.
I would use the word evolved.
@Masurao Uhm, who's retiring from Nintendo?
The Sonic games are awful, I never liked them at all. Cool and interesting design, but once I played them, I didn't understand what people liked about them.
@Zidentia Sorry, I meant to tag this under random. Fixed.
With a modern continues system it was pretty easy to slowly get better at each zone and move to the next. I could hardly beat the first level of Sonic 1 or 2.
"Borrowing Mario" still might not exactly be in the cards for Naka.
But after Kingdom Battle and Mario Run, and things like Hyrule Warriors and now Cadence of Hyrule (both of which you will notice don't contain the magic words "Legend of Zelda"), and with an upcoming Mario movie from Illumination, Nintendo is obviously rolling with the IP licensing deals.
@Zidentia I am not a sad individual. You're a sad individual!
@MrGawain thearhythm final fantasy anyone?
You started this by calling me a name.
Yes that's a cool story Naka, now go ask them again and this time maybe they'll allow you to make that awesome Sonic Mario crossover platformer game that we always dream of.
This article has no "substance", no real information and it is surely written by a 7 year old wannabe journalist.
@Zidentia Kids these days right and from the Netherlands too, a country which I honestly respect. I thought Dutch people are nice people but I guess there's one bad seed in every apple and this one just got loose.
@CoastersPaul Maybe is not the game for me.
It's a mixed bag with the Switch. Nintendo has gotten a bunch of good-to-great Indie games for its eShop library, but a nigh-unnavigable MOUNTAIN of virtual shovelware. Nintendo making a collaboration with such an Indie studio suggests they have confidence in that particular studio to maintain a certain expectation of quality for their own IP, but from a marketing standpoint it's just as much about selling the concept of "Nindies" to Switch users via exposure. Which means, deep down, they know their catalog is bloated with way too much garbage but want to demonstrate to gamers and reassure Indie developers of their commitment to Indies going forward.
In the long run, however, I think the pendulum will swing back toward the center; the overall benefit of having more titles of dubious quality on the eShop (and which nobody buys or plays) will prove less than the old standard of having fewer games of higher overall quality. Companies are in business to make money, after all, and inevitably Nintendo is going to realize (again, assuming they already haven't) that the majority of their Nindies are dead weight. And Nintendo's approach will then "change" yet again.
Eh, Its all good. Thanks for the message.
@Zidentia Don't tell me I need to explain to you a tweet can be a news story, or at least the foundation for it.
Yea, the switch will only have 1 full fledged Zelda game.
Zelda game then much smaller Zelda’s and older zeldas until a new system hits.
Personally I’m happy with BOTW, but I never expected any kind of follow up. Switch has so much on it there’s no way I’ll ever tear through my back catelogue. If you need another mainline Zelda game, I’m just saying I wouldn’t hold my breath.
What even is this three paragraph article.
@Dilated You can only find the shrines so many times before it becomes a chore. I am just sad, that's why I loved the Wii so much. I could play Ocarina of Time, Majoras Mask, Link to the Past, Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, and Skyward Sword. And the Switch gets what?.... I don't want to buy a 3DS. If you can't tell they are my favorite series. I don't like the new way of business.
Yuji Naka? You mean the a-hole who wouldn't even let STI/SoA borrow his NIGHTS engine for Sonic X-Treme? Sorry, Naka is a notorious jerk. No sympathy.
@biglittlejake Nothing to say that Nintendo isn't going to pump out some ports of the rest of the back catalogue. The switch is only in its 3rd year and quite frankly we are seeing some amazing stuff due out. I would be happy if they are working on ports or something new. Even if the next big Zelda adventure is on switch 2 I'm happy.
I've always wanted to play a platformer/action/adventure game featuring characters from both Sonic and Mario IPs together.
I agree with Beermonkey, it’s not out of the question for us to see ports of some of the previous Zelda games hit the switch. Personally I would like to see the N64 games get ported over. It may be that so long as the 3DS is around they aren’t going to move these games but it’s a wait and see. I get it though, I was let down when they gave up the Virtual Console in favor of the current NES only games on the service. They should have SNES and N64 on there, for some reason they are choosing not to.
It's hard for me because I have a PS4 and Switch. The Switch is becoming a second console. All these ports that are celebrated for coming to Switch are normally more expensive than on my PS4. I am longing for a full-fledged Nintendo game, not something that looks 20 years old. Look at the sports games and compare from the Switch to PS4 and Xbox. The Switch looks closer to PS3 graphics than 4 or One. I won't say anything else, I don't want to argue with a Nintendo fanboy.
@Masurao It was those "old cats" that got Nintendo to where they are. I wouldn't be to excited to see a younger crowd in there. I think the younger generation isn't as, how can I say it, enthusiastic to work as hard. I see too many people in the work force between 18 and 30, they are "soft". However, Nintendo isn't going to hire just anybody. If anything they should look to Japan for replacements.....no I'm not Asian. Better work ethic.
@Dilated I wish there was virtual console too. The virtual console will probably be on smartphones before the Switch.
changed? maybe they don't like you...or sega that much.
@Masurao don’t know how true your comment is. A lot of those old developers are training the newer generation employees. Just take a look at any Nintendo series through the decades and how different developers have been credited with the game. Only thing that has changed is that Nintendo allowed an indie developer to make a game using their IP. Others like Namco, Capcom, and Team Ninja has already made games using Nintendo’S IP.
@Forestt @DanteSolablood But... the Mario & Sonic series is developed by Sega.
Candidly on the Port’s comment.
For me, when they first announced the switch and I saw the graphics it had, I wanted one as I assumed many x360 and PS3 games would be ported to it and I would have those games on the go.
I say the more the merrier! Sure we can always use more 1st party Nintendo products but I’ll never understand the hate prople give to ported games.
I love having Diablo 3 on the go, or Skyrim, SMBWiiU, Final Fantasy Games, especially XII incoming right around the corner and the Resident Evil remaster! Thank you Nintendo.
I’ve played these games but having them for when I’m staying at hotels or at my cousins is so amazing.
Wow, people are complaining that BOTW and Mario Odyssey sequels are not out yet? Both of these games were masterpieces and in the case of BOTW, I am STILL playing that game into my second year. If they release sequels for them, they have high standards to meet.
Also, I have such a backlog of games to play that likely I'll never touch due to how much time I have anymore. Between a wife, a job, a family and other things, I don't have hours to park in front of a TV and game. I take the moments as they come.
I love all the variety of games we are getting for the Switch. The 1st party exclusives, the indie titles and the growing lineup of 3rd part ports. I think the graphics on the Switch are beautiful and I never played most of these games before, so they are fun and fine for me.
One thing I do like that Nintendo is doing is being hands off on censorship. They used to be hardliners on censorship and now, you could say they offer more freedom than even PlayStation does in this regard.
@Maulbert If my hard work was copied without asking permission I would also throw a fit. Especially for a terrible concept like x-treme.
......DOES ANYONE ELSE REMEMBER WHEN NINTENDO LET THE PUZZLES AND DRAGONS CREATOR MAKE A MARIO THEMED GAME!?!?!? Why is everyone acting like this is some groundbreaking stuff when Nintendo let some random mobile game studio make a Mario game based off their game on the 3ds? Nintendo has changed it's view on this subject years ago, so why only now is it being brought to light?
@kingbk Well, just recently Playstation started cracking down on censorship and has even forced its developers to keep quiet about it, getting the ones who do talk into a lot of legal trouble. So ya Nintendo has definitely passed Sony in that regard.
leaving the cursed seal of quality, and suporting the indie scene is one of their best move ever made.
thank god indie games are saviours of gaming. without them no new concepts wich leads to new ips.
nintendo knows this, thats why they are suporting these guys.
next big thing would be produce consoles with made ports more suitable for thirthparty developers, and to listen more to the gamers in terms of sharing content.
but at least to make developers decide to port GTA. farcry etc. you get the point.
@AlienX So? He's hardly earned the cachet he gets. He programmed Sonic. He's done crap otherwise, and is a notorious dickbag in the industry. I say screw him.
Have they changed? Yes and no. They’re still the same Nintendo, pushing boundaries in a different way to the “norm” be it software or hardware, though still a little stubborn in some areas.
But they’ve obviously evolving slowing and reaching out to others, even to their competitors.
But the one thing people are getting wrong, or are assuming with this indie colab, is that they believe this means they’ll colab, with indie devs in particular, in a way that they’ll be able to make “fangames” official games, similar to Sonic Mania, which at this point in time, I can’t see that happening.
These colabs Nintendo wants the developers to do something different and to their strengths, like telling Ubisoft “Mario can’t jump”, so they came up with an XCOM Mario game, or Cadence of Hyrule is a rhythm game ft LoZ.
At the most, if they’re lucky enough, indie devs may get to work with Nintendo on a top IP, be it new or remake/remaster (i.e. Grezzo) or a dormant IP (which could be a good idea), but they aren’t going to give an indie dev one of their top IPs and tell them “go nuts”.
I wish the Sonic series would just wither away; it had its time but now it’s just embarrassing to see the devs struggle and fail with each new entry. Someone just pull the plug on it already!
I agree that Nintendo is changing, but not for the worse. Nintendo always had severe trust issues when loaning their IPs and rightfully so. Overtime they've learned to trust in people who have proven to have an undying love, dedication, and respect for Nintendo IPs. Ubisoft's dev team proved it with Mario+Rabbids and StarlinkXStarfox(even though I kinda hate Starlink). Brace Yourself Games has already proved it with how beautiful Cadence of Hyrule looks.
This is just my opinion, but I think what has changed about Nintendo is that they have realized major third party publishers are never going to fully support their platform no matter what they do or how successful the platform is.
So I think they've decided to turn to indies to help them build a platform library instead. It's a good proposition for indies: come to the platform where you have a better chance at exposure because the spotlight won't be hogged by big budget AAA releases. And if your game is really good, Nintendo will promote it.
This won't work, he's still not getting Mario.
I agree with @AlphaElite, Nintendo knows they can't always, if at all, have the full support of major 3rd parties, except for occasional less-than famous franchises, and such.
Seems like a step in the right direction. It's good to see them easing up a tad on their IPs since, in some cases, these smaller developers really do have a better understanding of what people want. Mania is a testament to that.
From what I've recollected, when that indie approached Nintendo with the idea, it seemed like the japanese devs, after hearing it, were also interested on the collab. Nintendo has been quite open on why they accept collaborations: "Games that we can't make". Hyrule Warriors and Kingdom Battle are some examples of this. Probably Naka's proposal wasn't interesting for Nintendo because of this and they denied it.
Nintendo still mad at sega for stomping them out in the 90's.
@Masurao Like what? Are Splatoon, ARMS and Labo not-so-fresh to you?
@Geostyle Didn't the SNES outsell the Genesis worldwide? Where's the stomping in that?
@Dog well I'm speaking from someone who lived in Yugoslav and America. Weeb.
Dear mister Naka...maybe Nintendo didn't like your idea?
Anyway: Nintendo must have a lot of faith in the Necrodancer developer, that's for sure. The first trailer looked really great, I think it pays of. I wonder if Nintendo might do a physical version. Since its the Zelda brand, I might want the physical version. Who knows?