17th May 2006, 7:52 AM
Quote:Katsuya Eguchi interview
Katsuya Eguchi is - among other things - the man best known for being 'Mr Animal Crossing'. A director at Nintendo's EAD design division in Japan, Mr Eguchi has worked on all the various versions of Animal Crossing as well as the upcoming StarFox DS and Wii Sports titles.
We took some time out to chat to Mr Eguchi at E3, through his interpreter, about the future of Animal Crossing and the potential offered by the Wii Remote controller - beginning with the new Wii Sports title announced at E3.
Mr Eguchi, what was idea behind creating Wii Sports?
"Initially when I was told the features that would be included in the Wii, because of the motion sensor I thought that swinging is very natural. And when I was thinking about different applications for that swing I thought sport is something that everyone understands; everyone's picked up a racket at some point in their lives or swung a bat, so that's kind of how we came to use tennis, baseball and golf."
Will there be other sports featured in the game?
"Within the Wii Sports category there are action sports like tennis, baseball, golf and then we have motor sports, so you might see something like a jetski or a bike. There could be various applications within motor sports but they will all exist within the Wii Sports title.
"What's on the show floor is just kind of a sample. We don't know exactly what we'll have yet. There will probably be more action sports and motor sports."
Will the Wii Sports games be multiplayer?
"The baseball game that we have on the show floor is just a home run derby but there are also versions where one player is the pitcher and one is batting - both players using Wii Remotes. It's actually a lot of fun. I don't know if you've had chance to play it but there is a real battle between the pitcher and the batter because the pitcher could throw a fast ball and then on the next turn throw a slow ball, and throw the batter's timing off."
What can you tell us about a potential Animal Crossing game for Wii?
"Unfortunately there isn't a whole lot I can tell you right now but I can tell you that, because of the controller, you'll be chopping down trees by swinging your arm, you'll be digging holes by kind of making a digging motion at the ground, you'll be fishing just like you're holding a fishing rod.
"In addition, through WiiConnect24 even while a player isn't playing in their town, a friend could come visit them and leave them a letter or gift - so there's that aspect of the Wii that will definitely affect the game."
Can you give us any more examples of what WiiConnect24 will offer?
"If a player is playing a game where they have a score, it could be posted to a scoreboard showing all the rankings of people throughout the world. That might be one application. Unfortunately I can't really share any more than that because right now we're still very much in the planning stages.
"Also, you know the caricatures of Mr Iwata and Mr Miyamoto playing Wii Sports Tennis at the media briefing? Miyamoto-san has actually expressed a desire to allow people to create several such caricatures and send them out over WiiConnect24. That could be a possibility. Maybe if you have a member of your family that's particularly good at art, they might be able to pick up the Wii controller and create a caricature very simply. The images of Miyamoto-san and Iwata-san were also created very easily."
You're also working on StarFox DS. We were really impressed by the single-player game on the show floor. What will the online gameplay be like?
"It'll be similar to Mario Kart in that you can play online with friends and strangers, with four pilots in one match and everyone using an Arwing. So just think of Mario Kart as a guide to how StarFox will work."
As big fans of multiplayer Mario Kart, we can't wait to try it with StarFox! Mr Eguchi, thanks for your time.
For more info on StarFox DS and Wii Sports, see our hands-on previews at the Homepage.
Nintendo of Europe