• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Retro Studios Hires Uncharted 3, Darksiders Artists. Crunch Time "This Year"

Status
Not open for further replies.

Shikamaru Ninja

任天堂 の 忍者
The thing there, is that even after dropping the turd that was Other M, Sakamoto likely still has the juice to veto or sabotage any efforts for Retro to officially take over Metroid.

You are right. Sakamoto should be cleaning toilets. Nevermind his resume from WarioWare to Metroid: Zero Mission, or his most recent Rhythm Tengoku and Tomodachi Collection intellectual properties. He was obviously faking it for 30 years.

A 2d Mario game would be neat. Perhaps Retro could make Mario cool again, give him back some grit and personality. NSMBWii and DS were fine games, but they really stripped down much of the character of the Mario world. There's all ages and approachable material, and there is bland and boring. Mario has fallen far into the latter.

Mario Galaxy is the Mona Lisa of gaming. And New Super Mario Bros. is more like a bridge game for the whole family. One game is critically acclaimed, the other sold nearly 30 million world wide copies. But you want Retro to make Mario "cool" again?
 

Darryl

Banned
I don't understand this. Zelda would be a better use of Retro's resources than... pretty much anything besides a new IP.

Unless they're as restrained by Zelda tradition as EAD 3, but I don't see why they would be.

i agree, a zelda reboot would be a great idea. if they want to get core gamers on-board, than that's their easiest way in. the series has so much potential but goes unmilked.
 
I have my doubts about Retro or any other western developer pulling off a proper Zelda. It needs that wacky Japanese approach, so a game about some guy with a jelly bag cap and sword doesn't feel awkward. Western studios would probably take that medieval setting way too seriously.

You are right. Sakamoto should be cleaning toilets. Nevermind his resume from WarioWare to Metroid: Zero Mission, or his most recent Rhythm Tengoku and Tomodachi Collection intellectual properties. He was obviously faking it for 30 years.

I wonder how many Sakamoto bashers even knew his name before Other M. Ridiculous.
 

Nilaul

Member
Maybe a Halo style game. Nintendo really needs that one franchise to win over the dudebro's.

With non linear levels, larger variety of environments, landscapes that actually alien, AI that makes every playthrough unique. AI that more specifically doesn't run into you to commit suicide like a magnet attracted to the main character. Also a non cliche story.

Yep sounds like the job for Retro studios.
 

MadOdorMachine

No additional functions
If Retro were making another Metroid Prime, they would have had to start it before Other M. It's possible, but at that point I think they wanted a break from the series. I'm guessing they were targetting Wii U but Nintendo had them make DKCR in the mean time. I think another MP game is unlikely, but a FPS isn't.
 

totowhoa

Banned
DKC:R was one of my favorite games the year it came out. Absolutely loved it. But I'd be a little disappointed if Retro was working on a sequel to it. I'd like to see something else from them, and after seeing them go from MP to DKC:R, I'm not really to concerned with what it is. New IP or a new take on a current IP is fine with me.
 

Alrus

Member
If Retro is truly working on a game to bring the "hardcore" crowd to the Wii U, it certainly won't be a Metroid game, the series is a bit too niche for that.

I feel like Retro might be working on a new F-Zero. (I'm serious)

Why would Nintendo waste one of their most talented studio on a franchise that doesn't sell and can be done fine by third parties?
 

DDayton

(more a nerd than a geek)
As long as we're all speculating, why not an open-universe space combat game? Starfox mixed with the original Star Raiders... bounty hunter quests, etc..
 

Shikamaru Ninja

任天堂 の 忍者
F-ZERO. Why would Nintendo waste one of their most talented studio on a franchise that doesn't sell and can be done fine by third parties?

You get to this point. I am not sure if it is a generational gap or just serious discord. But someone using the word waste and F-Zero in a sentence.

"it can be done fine by third parties" <--- I will not address that one. It stands too strong.
 

Plinko

Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
If it's an FPS I'll be incredibly disappointed.

I'd much rather have it be an Uncharted-esque adventure game or another game in the Metroid universe.
 

Plinko

Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
People still believe this shit?

I actually thought the idea that Nintendo needs to win over the dudebros to actually be successful was the most wrong comment in that post.
 

zroid

Banned
for the love of Palutena and the Chozo, please let the next Metroid be on Wii U and either 2.5D or hand-drawn. :X
 

Shikamaru Ninja

任天堂 の 忍者
for the love of Palutena and the Chozo, please let the next Metroid be on Wii U and either 2.5D or hand-drawn. :X

Does this really make sense though? What actually makes business sense is Retro Studios developing an FPS. It is at least an attempt to capture some gamers who ignored the past catalogue of Wii games.
 
I got two ideas.

Star Fox, of course that's been said to death, I just want it to happen!

But my real other idea is; how about an original 3D mascot platformer that takes after Jak/Ratchet/Sly/Crash/Spyro? Basically all the classic Sony mascot IPs?

Nintendo needs a kickass western mascot, yeah Mario is huge and fits anywhere, but I think Nintendo could use something with a 'tude that's more westernized, and that can't be made by Nintendo JP.

Retro I think fits the bill perfectly, I mean now they're hiring artists and designers from the biggest studios around, why not?

Banjo was one, but he's not here anymore, and he was more or less a DK spin-off (now legally he's not).

I don't know if Retro needs to make a buffed-up weasel with machine-guns for arms, but something that's different from the Nintendo's own mascots (Mario, DK, Kirby, you get the idea).

Edit: I just remembered another idea I had before; now about helping NST finish Project HAMMER? Basically it'd be like Hunters, NST should get the creation credit, but Retro helps with the tech and remaining design if the key NST folks behind Hammer have left.
 
You are right. Sakamoto should be cleaning toilets. Nevermind his resume from WarioWare to Metroid: Zero Mission, or his most recent Rhythm Tengoku and Tomodachi Collection intellectual properties. He was obviously faking it for 30 years.



Mario Galaxy is the Mona Lisa of gaming. And New Super Mario Bros. is more like a bridge game for the whole family. One game is critically acclaimed, the other sold nearly 30 million world wide copies. But you want Retro to make Mario "cool" again?


Never said your lord Sakamoto should be cleaning toilets. He headed a project which sold a considerable amount under what Nintendo was aiming for. Unless Nintendo is unlike any other company on Earth, his clout and pull likely took a hit. You can act like a fool and spout out weak sarcasm and run a list war all you want. Your poppa doesn't have a list of blockbuster titles in his past. Some nice titles, nothing huge. Other M was his big play at being a "celebrity game director", and it missed.

About Mario. Save the moronic hyperbole "Duh MOna Lisa of gaming hur hur". Yes, the 3d Mario games get lots of love, and are wonderful looking games. So, why does that disqualify mainline Mario from getting the same treatment? Mario 2, Mario 3, Mario 4 all sold huge numbers with fun, strong art and style. Clear out with that lame "bridge family game" stuff. The public prefers 2d Mario to 3d Mario. As such a huge seller, 2d Mario should be given just as much attention as Nintendo's more favored 3d version. 2d Mario easily outsold it's 3d counterpart, without all the charm and visual appeal of Galaxy's much stronger art direction. You don't think that sprucing up it's look and style would gain it even more success?
 
Never said your lord Sakamoto should be cleaning toilets. He headed a project which sold a considerable amount under what Nintendo was aiming for. Unless Nintendo is unlike any other company on Earth, his clout and pull likely took a hit. You can act like a fool and spout out weak sarcasm and run a list war all you want. Your poppa doesn't have a list of blockbuster titles in his past. Some nice titles, nothing huge. Other M was his big play at being a "celebrity game director", and it missed.

About Mario. Save the moronic hyperbole "Duh MOna Lisa of gaming hur hur". Yes, the 3d Mario games get lots of love, and are wonderful looking games. So, why does that disqualify mainline Mario from getting the same treatment? Mario 2, Mario 3, Mario 4 all sold huge numbers with fun, strong art and style. Clear out with that lame "bridge family game" stuff. The public prefers 2d Mario to 3d Mario. As such a huge seller, 2d Mario should be given just as much attention as Nintendo's more favored 3d version. 2d Mario easily outsold it's 3d counterpart, without all the charm and visual appeal of Galaxy's much stronger art direction. You don't think that sprucing up it's look and style would gain it even more success?

hey another malstrom zombie
 

SomeDude

Banned
You are right. Sakamoto should be cleaning toilets. Nevermind his resume from WarioWare to Metroid: Zero Mission, or his most recent Rhythm Tengoku and Tomodachi Collection intellectual properties. He was obviously faking it for 30 years.


Yoshio Sakamoto has entered IGA and John Romero territory. He's a hack now, and should be taken off the metroid franchise and possibly fired from nintendo.
 

Alrus

Member
Never said your lord Sakamoto should be cleaning toilets. He headed a project which sold a considerable amount under what Nintendo was aiming for. Unless Nintendo is unlike any other company on Earth, his clout and pull likely took a hit. You can act like a fool and spout out weak sarcasm and run a list war all you want. Your poppa doesn't have a list of blockbuster titles in his past. Some nice titles, nothing huge. Other M was his big play at being a "celebrity game director", and it missed.

Err... You are award that both Rhythm Tengoku and Tomodachi sold extremely well right? And the Wario Ware games sell pretty well too. Much better than any recent Metroid game at least.

Shikamaru Ninja said:
You get to this point. I am not sure if it is a generational gap or just serious discord. But someone using the word waste and F-Zero in a sentence.

"it can be done fine by third parties" <--- I will not address that one. It stands too strong.

In terms of sale it's a complete waste to put Retro on a game that won't even get close to selling 500k copies. Not matter how good the game is(I'm well aware of that don't worry), there's a reason we didn't get any F-zero game this gen.

Also GX was made by Sega wasn't it ?(well Amusement Vision but that's still Sega) Why not get them to make a new one as well, they did a damn fine job last time.
 
Retro studios can't work on a zelda game,they have 80 employers,skyward sword had a staff of over 200,a hd game will need even more,even ead couldn't finish skyward without the help from monolith/ead tokyo/digitalscape/freelancers,etc.
 
Retro studios can't work on a zelda game,they have 80 employers,skyward sword had a staff of over 200,a hd game will need even more,even ead couldn't finish skyward without the help from monolith/ead tokyo/digitalscape/freelancers,etc.

They've been stocking up on a lot of new hires, in case you haven't been following the thread. And the WiiU project might not be Zelda, but all the evidence suggests that they're not hiring for Donkey Kong.
 
Nothing about the people they're hiring would suggest that it's a platformer, much less DKCR2. Why would you need Gray Ginther for Donkey Kong? If there is a DKCR2 I think it'll be on 3DS, not WiiU.



*smiles and nods*

Gray ginther worked at Ratchet & Clank,a cartoon plataformer,two designers came from red fly who worked in mushroom man,a cartoon plataformer,Brad Taylor worked at Epic Mickey,a cartoon plataformer,Timothy Wilson worked at borderlands,a cartoon game,Sylvia Rowland worked at ninjump,a cartoon 2d plataformer.

The new only guys that haven't worked at plataformers are Eric Koslowski and Brad Taylor
 

zroid

Banned
Does this really make sense though? What actually makes business sense is Retro Studios developing an FPS. It is at least an attempt to capture some gamers who ignored the past catalogue of Wii games.

Nono, I'm not suggesting Retro is making it. I don't know what they're doing, but I hope it isn't (and doubt it will be) another Metroid in the same vein as the Primes.

Also, christ, I hope they're not making an FPS. Fastest way to alienate me is to make a mass-market FPS...
 

Shikamaru Ninja

任天堂 の 忍者
2d Mario easily outsold it's 3d counterpart, without all the charm and visual appeal of Galaxy's much stronger art direction. You don't think that sprucing up it's look and style would gain it even more success?

I believe the art style was actually chosen because it is not intimidating to casual players meaning adult non-gamers, female non-gamers, all those "blue ocean stereotypes". It would not surprise me at all if Nintendo conducted several focus groups before deciding on the "New Super Mario Bros." motif. Consider the heavy amount of female designers working on the NSMB series. The truth is that it worked. The sales were phenomenol.


They've been stocking up on a lot of new hires, in case you haven't been following the thread. And the WiiU project might not be Zelda, but all the evidence suggests that they're not hiring for Donkey Kong.

They are listed at 77 employees right now. Skyward Sword on Wii was much more than that. I can not imagine the time and staff the HD version will require.
 

Instro

Member
Does anyone here really believes that retro studios is working at anything that's not dkcr 2 ? for the sake of god...

It's likely they would have been building their next gen engine and in turn their next game long before DKCR was released. The timing doesn't exactly fit. For a company that Nintendo has used for technical showpieces, a DKCR sequel doesn't really fit the bill when they will want to be showing off their new console.

Also I believe we've gotten hints that whatever they are working on is not Zelda and is not a DK sequel.
 
Maybe a Halo style game. Nintendo really needs that one franchise to win over the dudebro's.

Nintendo will never capture that market.
A) They don't have the studio ability to even touch something along those lines.
B) Sony has chased that Market with considerably more likely resources and they have never gotten close.
C) Nintendo has no idea how to even begin creating the type of online infrastructure a game like that would require.

I....M....O
 

zroid

Banned
Nintendo will never capture that market.
A) They don't have the studio ability to even touch something along those lines.
B) Sony has chased that Market with considerably more likely resources and they have never gotten close.
C) Nintendo has no idea how to even begin creating the type of online infrastructure a game like that would require.

I....M....O

For selfish reasons, desperately clinging to the hope that you are right.
 

Shikamaru Ninja

任天堂 の 忍者
Nintendo will never capture that market.
A) They don't have the studio ability to even touch something along those lines.
B) Sony has chased that Market with considerably more likely resources and they have never gotten close.
C) Nintendo has no idea how to even begin creating the type of online infrastructure a game like that would require.

I....M....O

I agree with B. Not sure about A and C.

But Nintendo may spend the first year just releasing some atypical first-party games throwing caution to the wind. Release Eternal Darkness 2, Retro FPS, and maybe another random game. The odds are slim but maybe you actually establish a successful intellectual property with new gamers. At the very least you do some image marketing for third parties to grab the baton and run with it.
 
Retro Studios After Donkey Kong Country was released,in bold the ones that left the studio.

Executive Producer
Michael Kelbaugh

Senior Development Director
Bryan Walker

Production Manager
Ryan Harris

Production Coordination
Shane D. Lewis

Senior Design
Tom Ivey
Kynan Pearson
Mike Wikan


Design
Andy Schwalenberg
Bill Vandervoort
Brandon Paul Salinas
Jay Fulle
Russell O'Henly

Contract Design
Jonathan Delange
Stephen Dupree

Art Director
Vince Joly

Art Lead
Ryan Powell

Principal Art
Elben Schafers

Technical Art
Chris Voellmann

Senior Art
Chuck Crist
Luis Ramirez

Art
Amanda Rotella
Jay Epperson,
Matt Manchester
Quinn Smith
Sean Horton,
Ted Anderson
Teague Schultz,
Thomas Robins,
Russel Lingo


Contract Art
Mark Brady
Reed Ketcham,
Michael Witt

Senior Animation
Dax Pallotta,
Derek Bonikowski
Will Bate

Animation
Carlos Mendieta,
Raphael Perkins,
Stephen Zafros

Contract Animation
Chris Torres,
Nick McBride

Additional Thanks
Danny Richardson, Sammy Hall

Engineering Director
Tim Little

Senior Engineering
Aaron Walker,
Alexander Quinones
Jim Gage
Mike Miller

Engineering
Akintunde Omitowoju,
Andy Hanson
Dan Higdon
Eric Rehmeyer
Frank Maddin
Jesse Spears
John Sheblak
Jose Guerra
Rhys Lewis
Ryan Cornelius


Operations
Al Artus
Ethan McDonald
Faith Casper
George Thomas
Kellie Prinz Johnson

Translation & Administration
Akiko Furukawa-Laban







56 full time employers

After the game they lost 5 employers and hired 4 of the contractors


55 full time employers















Current Retro Studios,in bold new employers :


Executive Producer
Michael Kelbaugh

Senior Development Director
Bryan Walker

Production Manager
Ryan Harris

Production Coordination
Shane D. Lewis

Lead Design
Tom Ivey

Design
Andy Schwalenberg
Bill Vandervoort
Brandon Paul Salinas
Jay Fulle
Russell O'Henly
Jonathan Delange
Stephen Dupree

Aaron Black
Nestor Hernandez
Paul Schwanz

Art Director
Vince Joly

Art Lead
Ryan Powell

Principal Art
Elben Schafers

Technical Art
Chris Voellmann

Senior Art
Chuck Crist
Luis Ramirez
Gray Ginther

Art
Amanda Rotella
Jay Epperson,
Matt Manchester
Quinn Smith
Sean Horton
Ted Anderson
Teague Schultz
Thomas Robins
Russel Lingo
Reed Ketcham
Timothy Wilson
Sylvia Rowland
Eric Koslowski

Lead Animator
Will Bate

Senior Animation
Dax Pallotta
Derek Bonikowski
Stephen Zafros

Animation
Carlos Mendieta
Raphael Perkins
Stephen Zafros
Chris Torres
Dominic Pallotta
Kyle Ruegg



Engineering Director
Tim Little

Lead Enginner
Aaron Walker

Senior Engineering
Alexander Quinones
Jim Gage
Rhys Lewis

Engineering
Akintunde Omitowoju,
Andy Hanson
Dan Higdon
Eric Rehmeyer
Frank Maddin
Jesse Spears
John Sheblak
Jose Guerra
Ryan Cornelius
Nathan Nordfelt

Tony Bernardin

Operations
Al Artus
Ethan McDonald
Faith Casper
George Thomas
Kellie Prinz Johnson

Translation & Administration
Akiko Furukawa-Laban









67 full time employers
Just 12 more than the team that made dkcr.




Sorry if i missed someone tell me,please someone help me to complete this list.
 

MadOdorMachine

No additional functions
If it's launching this year, that means a relatively short dev time. I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that they were working on something else between MP3 & DKCR. They could have started the game back then, but even if they had assetts started, it still only gives them 2 yrs. after DKCR. Take into account that they're not only working on new hardware, but also moving to HD.
 
Current Retro Studios,in bold new employers :

Design
Jonathan Delange (you bolded him, yet he's not new)
Stephen Dupree (again, not really new)
Aaron Black (Zipper and Sucker Punch)
Nestor Hernandez (Red Fly)
Paul Schwanz (Also Red Fly)

Senior Art
Gray Ginther (Vigil and Insomniac!)

Art
Reed Ketcham (not new)
Timothy Wilson (Escalation and Gearbox)
Sylvia Rowland (NetDevil and Backflip)
Eric Koslowski (Naughty Dog, Planet Moon)

Animation
Chris Torres (Midway, Critical Mass, and Creative Threat)
Dominic Pallotta (Moonbot and Visceral)
Kyle Ruegg (Raven and Gameloft)

Engineering
Nathan Nordfelt (Bethesda)
Tony Bernardin (tricky to find, has a linkedin page with nothing, but his supposed moby page is old)

Edit: Contract Environmental Artist
Brad Taylor (Edge of Reality, Paradigm)



Wow, didn't realize they had 15 new folks! :O

I'll gather their credits to recap.
 
Edit: Wrong thread! While I'm in here, I wouldn't mind them developing Metroid Prime 4, but I also wouldn't mind them doing a new IP/Bringing back a Classic.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom