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[DaBoss]

http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/3ds/luigis-mansion-dark-moon/0/0

Iwata: (looking at the Next Level Games staff on a video-conference monitor) Thank you for wearing Luigi hats!

Miyamoto: I'm not wearing one today! (laughs)

Everyone: (laughs)

Iwata: You produced in the form of a mentor this time?

Miyamoto: What do you mean by a "form of a mentor"?

Iwata: A mentor can mean a guide, or a teacher. I think that to the hands-on development staff, you were a sort of spiritual teacher.

Miyamoto: I wasn't anything that cool! I suppose I was like a shepherd.

Iwata: A shepherd? (laughs)

Miyamoto: Yeah. Even then, I didn't give clear instructions like "Go that way!" but I served as a sort of a sheepdog by just saying, "Don't go that way!"

Iwata: In other words, instead of saying "Please, head this direction with development," you just said, "That direction is the wrong one."

Miyamoto: Right. That way they wouldn't do anything unnecessary and almost all the work they did would lead to the final result.

Iwata: Indeed, the development phase for this project was very long.

Ikebata: Yeah, it was long. We've been involved with this title since 2009, so it's been a little over three years.

Chad: I've had two children since then! (laughs)

Iwata: Congratulations! (laughs)

Ikebata: And each time, Miyamoto-san would ask, "So?"

Miyamoto: Yeah. I simply asked "So?" and had them briefly answer how the project was going. I always ask everyone when regular meetings are over, "So? Briefly, what was today's meeting about?"

Iwata: In other words, since you might ask them about it, everyone who attends a meeting prepares a summary of its main points, and as a result, everyone concentrates better on meetings.

Miyamoto: Right.

Iwata: That's your strategy?

Miyamoto: I'm gunning for them. (laughs)

Iwata: (laughs)

Bryce: Miyamoto-san's comments contained many hints for development, but one that made a particular impression on me was when he said, "Make something better today than you made yesterday." That's incredibly important as a director, so by putting those words into effect, even across a long development period, we were able to concentrate on each day.

Brian: And hearing rumors that Miyamoto-san was coming to Canada, people from other development companies were hanging around our company. They wanted to exchange data with Miyamoto-san via StreetPass8, so they held a Nintendo 3DS over their heads! (laughs)

Bryce: I think that stairway boss was the first upending of the tea table.

Iwata: (laughs)

Bryce: At first, we were considering a plant boss.

Ikebata: Because of the big tree on that stage.

Bryce: But Miyamoto-san said that was too ordinary.

Bryce: After running up all those stairs, if a really strong boss appeared, it would be stressful, so we decided to treat facing that boss as a special bonus for successfully climbing up the stairs.

Miyamoto: We want to create a memory so that when looking back, players would think, "The boss in that building was the stairs!" (laughs)

Miyamoto: Actually, when making the game for the Nintendo GameCube, we had experimented with a multiplayer mode in which Luigi would encounter Luigi.

Iwata: Oh, that's right.

Miyamoto: So I thought, "This time, we gotta do it!" I said, "I don't care if it's eight players or four or what, but we're doing it!"

Ikebata: I haven't seen the prototype for the Nintendo GameCube, but Hideki Konno9, the director of the previous game, had also told me that they couldn't put in a multiplayer mode last time, so they wanted us to do it this time.

Iwata: What is your favorite part, Bryce-san?

Bryce: My favorite part is how, while this is a game about ghost-busting, it's humorous and has dramatic developments. Also, even as someone who made the game, when I play the final version, I can enjoy Luigi's reactions and play in trepidation of the various tricks— like how ghosts will appear. Early in development, we learned about a keyword in Japanese called "karakuri" (mechanism or trick) from Miyamoto-san, and that is at work throughout the whole game.

Iwata: Ah, there are a lot of karakuri this time.

Miyamoto: I'd like to say one last thing. We released Luigi's Mansion 12 years ago, and lots of people around the world said, "Make another one!" and "Let's make another one together!" Thanks to them, we're finally able to bring a new Luigi's Mansion to the world. What's more, this is "The Year of Luigi," with celebrations and everything, so on Luigi's behalf, I'd like to express my appreciation. (bows deeply)

Everyone: (laughs)

Iwata: I fully expect that the Year of Luigi will get off to a magnificent starting dash!

Bryce: That's why we brought these hats! (All three put on their hats again and pump their fists.)

Iwata: (laughs) I can sense even through the monitor how much fun you had making this. Thank you for today.

Will update with excerpts.

 

[EloquentM]

Omg yeassss

 

[PhantomR]

And they brought the NLG guys in. Outstanding.

They unveil during this Iwata Asks that NCL is officially buying out NLG, right?

 

[Blood Diamonds]

Wow that Brian Davis guy is really hot...
I mean yeah! Another Iwata Asks!

 

[grimshawish]

So basically they expected Luigi and Mario at Christmas. Makes sense.

Wow that Brian Davis guy is really hot...
I mean yeah! Another Iwata Asks!

You can leave your hat on

 

[Hot Coldman]

Next Level: Yes making this game was a lot of fun, it started when-
Miyamoto: YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP.

SHUT UP.

SHUT. THE. FUCK. UP.

*ahem*

This game started when...

 

[zroid]

*dead*

 

[StreetsAhead]

Chad I've had two children since then! (laughs)

Iwata Congratulations! (laughs)

Children are hilarious!

 

[serplux]

Ahh, so they were working on something for Nintendo before Luigi's Mansion 2...

 

[Penguin]

Iwata Miyamoto-san, I suppose you don't need to introduce yourself.

Miyamoto Huh? But I want to! Um…I'm Miyamoto from Nintendo. (laughs)

Someone wants their intro

 

[grimshawish]

Miyamoto - Not cool enough to be a spiritual teacher, but cool enough to be a shepherd.

 

[Rebel Leader]

Iwata: Miyamoto-san, I suppose you don't need to introduce yourself.
Miyamoto :Huh? But I want to! Um…I'm Miyamoto from Nintendo. (laughs)

(laughs)

 

[thetrin]

Man, I love Iwata Asks. Everyone is so cheery and happy, and they really delve deep into some cool inside baseball.

Miyamoto - Not cool enough to be a spiritual teacher, but cool enough to be a shepherd.

The Shepherd.

Wrex.

Miyamoto.

 

[Gonzo The Great]

Nintendo needs to buy this company immediately.

 

[Blood Diamonds]

Next Level: Yes making this game was a lot of fun, it started when-
Miyamoto: YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP.

SHUT UP.

SHUT. THE. FUCK. UP.

*ahem*

This game started when...

lololol

 

[JazzmanZ]

is Bryce holiday leonardo dicaprios double?

 

[StreetsAhead]

Miyamoto The boss that appears on the first stage is a spider. And, for example, sand is the theme on the "Old Clockworks," so if you made a pyramid and had a mummy boss appear there or a sphinx boss—ideas that anyone can come up with—the result would be an ordinary action-adventure game. Thus, the setting is a mansion, so I tried to decide up front that the stairs are the boss in this building or the clock is the boss in this building. And apparently that gave everyone trouble.

When he's right...

 

[nckillthegrimace]

Wait, you can dodge while sucking up ghosts? Is that mentioned in the game at all? I haven't seen anyone talk about it.

 

[chickdigger802]

lol brian davis.

Anyone else think giantbomb?

 

[GAMERG0D]

Miyamoto: The title this time in Japanese is Luigi's Mansion 2, so it may look like your typical sequel, but even though we used assets from the previous game—such as a haunted mansion, the Poltergust and Professor E. Gadd—the game content has quite drastically…

It's not the same content.

 

[grimshawish]

Iwata: Well, when something is going well, people want you to stay out of it.

 

[Hero of Legend]

It's not the same content.

I would like to know WHY they changed the title for NA...

 

[Chie Satonaka]

Nintendo needs to buy this company immediately.

Strange this hasn't happened yet.

 

[Zoramon089]

Miyamoto Like what I watched on television the day before. (laughs)

Ikebata Yeah! (laughs) Like, "I watched such-and-such a drama yesterday."

Iwata (laughs) But what does that have to do with Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon?

Ikebata But he talked about how, within the structure of a drama, events unfold within the story arc of a single episode and how it was produced and filmed, so I realized that paying attention to such things while watching TV shows is important for game development. And Miyamoto-san was watching programs I had never seen, so the next week, I tried to watch them.

Miyamoto is like an anime character...in real life

 

[GAMERG0D]

I would like to know WHY they changed the title for NA...

Yeah, you'd think a numbered entry would sell more copies.

 

[Madouu]

ooh yes, time to take a break from monster hunting!

 

[Chromie]

(laughs)

It wouldn't be an Iwata Asks without some (Laughs)ter!

I wasn't anything that cool! I suppose I was like a shepherd.

Always downplaying himself.

 

[javac]

DAT Iwata depth of field.

 

[Conor 419]

Amazing the effect Nintendo has on small teams.

 

[OmegaZero]

Luigi humming?
All over my face.

 

[FearMyWrench]

Bryce: I think that stairway boss was the first upending of the tea table.

Iwata: (laughs)

Bryce: At first, we were considering a plant boss.

Ikebata: Because of the big tree on that stage.

Bryce: But Miyamoto-san said that was too ordinary.

Iwata: It must have been hard to undergo tea table upending.

Ikebata: Well, it was hard, but it happened relatively early on, so the damage wasn't that severe. As for that plant boss that we were thinking about at first, we hadn't even started making it yet, so…

Iwata: There weren't many things on the tea table.

Ikebata: Yeah. So they didn't scatter that much.

Miyamoto: Maybe just a tablecloth and candles.

Ikebata: Right…like that. (laughs)

The tea table!

 

[grimshawish]

Wow that stair video is impressive looking.

 

[DaBoss]

Brian: And hearing rumors that Miyamoto-san was coming to Canada, people from other development companies were hanging around our company. They wanted to exchange data with Miyamoto-san via StreetPass8, so they held a Nintendo 3DS over their heads! (laughs)

This is pretty hilarious.

 

[oatmeal]

These always sound scripted...

I love them.

Brian And hearing rumors that Miyamoto-san was coming to Canada, people from other development companies were hanging around our company. They wanted to exchange data with Miyamoto-san via StreetPass8, so they held a Nintendo 3DS over their heads! (laughs)

(EDIT)

This is pretty hilarious.

Damn you

 

[Drago]

I would like to know WHY they changed the title for NA...

People are more likely to buy (what seems like) a spin off before they buy a sequel to a game they never played (which is most of the younger audience)

That's how I see it at least. I like Dark Moon better anyways.

 

[grandjedi6]

I would like to know WHY they changed the title for NA...

A ton of marketing and focus groups suggesting that a "Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon" would get a better reception than a "Luigi's Mansion 2"

Strange this hasn't happened yet.

Whats the advantage of doing so? No one benefits. Plus: Nintendo hates buying companies anyways.

 

[popyea]

Chad: I've had two children since then! (laughs)

Iwata: Congratulations! (laughs)

Chad: Why is that funny? (laughs)

Iwata: I don't know... (laughs)

 

[speedpop]

Luigi humming. Brilliant.

 

[Conor 419]

Chad: I've had two children since then! (laughs)

Iwata: Congratulations! (laughs)

Chad: Why is that funny? (laughs)

Iwata: I don't know... (laughs)

LOL

 

[StreetsAhead]

Luigi humming?
All over my face.

It is indeed amazing.

 

[Hot Coldman]

I feel like Miyamoto must be pretty chuffed he can hand off a game like this to an overseas studio and have it turn out wonderfully. More weight off of his shoulders.

Well, he was actively involved still, but it's fairly different.

 

[Neiteio]

YES, NLG REPRESENT.

NOT SIDELINED.

REPRESENT.

 

[Kazerei]

This is one of the most amusing Iwata Asks so far XD

 

[jett]

How did this game take three years to develop?

 

[zroid]

How did this game take three years to develop?

(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻

 

[DaBoss]

Bryce: For Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, we'd been told to always keep beginners in mind as we made it. In the end, I think it turned out so both skilled gamers—of course—and beginners can enjoy it.

I find this quote hilarious because of Carolyn's review.

6.5 from Gamespot because the game is supposedly too hard/frustrating.

http://www.gamespot.com/luigis-mansion-dark-moon/reviews/luigis-mansion-dark-moon-review-6405758/

 

[AntMurda]

Kind of crazy that the guy who worked on the game every day (Iketaba-san) gets listed as "supervisor" and the guy that got verbal information from Ikebata about the game once every two weeks gets the title of "producer".

Gotta love Nintendo PR! Hey this 60 year old dude is still making coool games man.

 

[grandjedi6]

How did this game take three years to develop?

Well, to be fair, they apparently started working on it without knowing what the hell a 3DS even was. I assume that must have added considerably to the pre-production time.

 

[Soriku]

Chad: I've had two children since then! (laughs)

Iwata: Congratulations! (laughs)

Chad: Why is that funny? (laughs)

Iwata: I don't know... (laughs)

What the hell lol? (Laugh) backfires?

 

[Exterminieren]

How did this game take three years to develop?

It's spent much of the last year getting a performance overhaul, by the looks of things. Comparing it to the earliest trailers, it's so much more polished now than it once was.