NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams

[K-project]

Oh bugger! I've had this on pre-order for ages already, and now you tell me it's been put back again?! I can't wait to get this, and it's one of my most anticipated Wii titles. I loved the Saturn original dearly, and the Wii controller has to be the most logical step for this game.

 

Surprised there's not more love for this on the internet. I expected NiGHTS fans to come out of nowhere to profess their love but it's just not happened yet really.

[Zechs Merquise]

Oh bugger! I've had this on pre-order for ages already, and now you tell me it's been put back again?! I can't wait to get this, and it's one of my most anticipated Wii titles. I loved the Saturn original dearly, and the Wii controller has to be the most logical step for this game.

 

Surprised there's not more love for this on the internet. I expected NiGHTS fans to come out of nowhere to profess their love but it's just not happened yet really.

 

This needs to be put back, as SEGA need to get it right. SEGA have lost a lot of what made them a geat company. They used to be up there with the best when it came to software development, but over the last few years, especially with Sonic, their output has been poor. It's time they started to focus and get their big franchises back on track.

 

If Nights comes out next summer it doesn't bother me as long as it's great. As this game has such a hardcore fanbase it's importnat that they get it very right, it could shift a lot of systems.

[K-project]

Oh yeah, don't get me wrong - I'm all for a delaying a game to get it right. And NiGHTS is definitely a game I want to see done right. I'm just lamenting the loss of a game I wanted to play up to Christmas!

 

There's some new pics here for you. I think this is looking lovelier everytime I see it, but I wonder if only those of us with prior knowledge of the game feel this way....?

[gekko]

I'm glad this has been put back as I was looking at my pre-orders and starting to worry about financing all these purchases! I'm going to have plenty of games to keep me busy until the end of the year so it'll be something to look forwards to in January.

[Zechs Merquise]

Oh yeah, don't get me wrong - I'm all for a delaying a game to get it right. And NiGHTS is definitely a game I want to see done right. I'm just lamenting the loss of a game I wanted to play up to Christmas!

 

There's some new pics here for you. I think this is looking lovelier everytime I see it, but I wonder if only those of us with prior knowledge of the game feel this way....?

 

Nights is started to shape up, and those screens look much better than the first batch that were released. I think Sonic looked ok on the Wii, it's certainly one of the better looking titles, and by all accounts is much better than the PS3 or 360 Sonic game. However it still wasn't quite the AAA product we expect from SEGA and their No1 mascot.

[Owen]

Should have been released this Xmas in Europe, really.

 

Bad move Sega.

 

Also, the game isn't going to change now. If it's out this year in USA we are going to get the EXACT same game.

[Tellyn]

http://gonintendo.com/?p=28153

 

Control schemes include:

 

- Wii Remote

- Wii Remote and Nunchuk

- Classic Controller

- GameCube Controller

[Helmsly]

Its so cool to hear this music again (on the Japanese site)

 

http://nights.sega.jp/nights2/

[pedrocasilva]

Its so cool to hear this music again (on the Japanese site)

 

http://nights.sega.jp/nights2/

That's it; i'm pluggin my Sega Saturn in the living room and I'm gonna play NiGHTS now.

[Helmsly]

1UP have a preview and some screenshots on NiGHTS: Exclusive look at virtual pets, multiplayer, and much more.

 

http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3164128&sec=PREVIEWS

 

Race Mode -- also known as "the online one" -- pits two players against each other to see who can finish a level first. You fly through yellow rings to build up "dash power" to boost forward (or the occasional more potent green rings for extra power), and try to avoid spike rings along the way. One player controls NiGHTS while the other takes the reins of longtime enemy Reala.

 

Both characters also make their way into Battle Mode -- "the offline one" -- which is essentially a game of hot potato. This mode centers on "the Mareballoon," a giant ball that explodes when its internal clock runs out of time. NiGHTS and Reala can grab it and throw it at each other, and bounce it off objects, in an attempt to explode it in their opponent's face three times before the same happens to them.

 

[khilafah]

gonna pre-order japanese version today. 13th december release date.

[jammy2211]

This game has an online mode? Awesome. Thought trading items was all you could do online, but it sounds pretty cool.

 

This game might actually be on my to-buy list. Depends when Zack and Wiki is delayed until I guess.

[pedrocasilva]

NiGHTS Retrospective:

 

-> http://gamevideos.com/video/id/16039

 

More footage: (after CoD4)

 

-> http://zdmedia.vo.llnwd.net/o1/Podcasts/110907.m4v

 

 

Interview:

 

1UP: It's been 11 years since the original NiGHTS came out on Saturn. What made this the right time to bring the series back?

 

Takashi Iizuka: Well, I've always wanted to come back and make another NiGHTS. But I would say it's primarily two things. First, the timing was excellent with the new Wii platform and I thought that was very suited to NiGHTS. Secondly I've had a responsibility for the Sonic game over the past years, and that's always been my first responsibility. But now is a good time to take a step back and do a NiGHTS game since Sonic is being covered by some other development teams.

 

1UP: Is it true that NiGHTS was really your baby? Other people within Sonic Team have had pet projects, like Burning Rangers, but NiGHTS was your game wasn't it?

 

TI: Yeah, that's definitely the case. I designed the NiGHTS characters and the NiGHTS world basically from scratch so I definitely have a strong personal attachment to that.

 

1UP: A couple years ago when Phantasy Star Online offered one of their special events, they had a downloadable version of NiGHTS for the GBA, which turned out quite well, actually. So obviously there's been interest in the NiGHTS franchise, but whose idea to make a downloadable version was that?

 

TI: Basically there were a lot of team members who liked NiGHTS, not just myself. So there are a lot of NiGHTS references coming up in Sonic games, NiGHTS billboards, etc. What came of the GBA game was just us saying "Hey, let's make NiGHTS on the GBA," not necessarily to attach it to PSO. PSO was just the means of delivery.

 

1UP: Why did you go through all that trouble to create a working demo of NiGHTS on the GBA and not make an actual, full game out of it?

 

TI: There were some concerns about the control scheme, for one. We weren't sure if it was really suited to NiGHTS. Also, it wasn't a formal project, it was just something we did on the side out of our affinity and love for the project as a whole, so we figured the best thing for the game was to just provide it as a bonus, free to the people.

 

1UP: Urban legend has it that former Sonic Team president, Yuji Naka, didn't want there to be a sequel to NiGHTS, which is something Naka confirmed in my own subsequent interviews with him. Can you give us your side of the story? Is there any element of truth to the rumor, and now that he's gone, has that contributed to the door opening for the NiGHTS sequel?

 

TI: Naka-san, like everyone on the team, was pretty much a huge fan of the project. He wasn't necessarily against making another NiGHTS, he was just always saying we had to add something, make new gameplay elements, have a reason to make a new NiGHTS and not just make a sequel without adding anything.

 

1UP: What would you say that Journey of Dreams does to achieve that? Is it the control scheme?

 

TI: I think I would have to say it's the ability to take the classic NiGHTS gameplay, adding new elements, new ways to have fun for old fans of the game, and to introduce NiGHTS to new people as well, and give a boost in the arm to the franchise.

 

1UP: But what specifically would you say is 'new' in this game?

 

TI: To focus on the previous concerns about the new elements, were particularly focused on the fact that creating a sequel after a long time lag, you have to worry about keeping your previous fans, and not disappointing them with something completely new, which they may not like. We're trying to walk a fine line between that and adding new elements and new technology to attract new users. I think I've definitely been successful at that. But as far as the new features, there are new missions like the river rafting and 3D adventure sections that don't just involve flying. There are a wide variety of things to do.

 

1UP: One thing that Sega's been really inconsistent with over the years is maintaining their franchises. They create new IP, then let the momentum dwindle to the point of irrelevance. Sega's done it with Panzer Dragoon, Burning Rangers, all kinds of games. Entire generations of hardware will pass and by the time Sega finally gets around to doing another one, the current generation of gamers doesn't remember the original. Now with the Wii you're finally making a new NiGHTS. Is it hard for a game creator to keep polishing and finessing a series like this, when you take a decade off in-between games, or is it refreshing, after having so much time to let ideas sink in?

 

TI: Actually it's more ideal to release sequels more frequently, just to keep the franchise alive in people's minds and keep people thinking about it. I've wanted to make a new NiGHTS for a long time, but just couldn't, unfortunately.

 

1UP: If you were able to would you have liked to have created one for Dreamcast or GameCube?

 

TI: Yes, I did want to make one on Dreamcast and GameCube, we even had design documents in the preliminary stages and presented some ideas many times, but for various reasons the projects didn't go anywhere.

 

1UP: There's been 11 years between the Saturn NiGHTS and the new Wii NiGHTS. Are there any things you would have liked to have put in the original game that just weren't possible technologically that you are implementing now?

 

TI: So almost everything in the game now is closer to the original vision. 11 years ago when we were making action games, it was kind of harsh on the users, you weren't able to have as nice as a learning curve as we'd always want to have. Now we can make a more ideal learning curve, the ability to really tell a story well with the new technology, also specifically because of the technology we can increase the scale of the world, as well as give the user a more visceral feeling of flying.

 

1UP: How large a part does sound play in the game? Will you be taking full advantage of Dolby Digital to, say, convey the sensation of wind whistling past your ears or make you feel like you're flying through the rings?

 

TI: It's using Dolby Pro Logic II, so it's not a full 5.1 experience, but we do use some positional audio to give gameplay clues. It's similar to the Q Sound we used on the Sega Saturn version of NiGHTS. At the time we used Q Sound to create a similar soundscape.

 

1UP: One of the most original features of the game was the Nightopian A-Life. Will you continue to develop the A-Life in Journey Of Dreams, and will you use the WiiConnect functionality to, say, let the Nightopians grow and migrate over to anyone on your friends list?

 

TI: I really liked the Nightopian feature as well, and this time we wanted to take that even further and create an almost realistic life, so that will definitely be coming back. One of the major points of feedback we got from the original Saturn users was that NiGHTS is very time-based, but lots of users said "Hey, I want to take it more easy and explore the Nightopian A-Life at a more leisurely pace, have more fun with it." So we built a system this time where you can have more fun with it. There's a particular plane or area that the Nightopians live where you can visit them.

 

1UP: Using the Sega Saturn's internal clock was an innovative way to plant Easter Eggs in the original NiGHTS. Will you use the Wii's internal clock in a similar fashion?

 

TI: At the time we thought "What cool things can we do with the specific architecture of the Saturn?" And having a clock was not something many consoles had something like that, so we used it. But today it's a much more common element in consoles, everybody has it, so it wouldn't really be interesting to do things with the clock, we felt. But we did look around and ask "What is specific and cool about the Wii architecture that we can build of the game?" So we did decide to do something like that that's equally cool or cooler by today's standards.

 

1UP: One thing that made the first game so awesome was the NiGHTS soundtrack, even the vocal track "Dreams, Dreams." The main theme, along with the Panzer Dragoon theme and the main theme for the first Grandia, were three of the most amazing game scores to this day. Are you working with the same composers for Journey Of Dreams?

 

TI: Thanks for the compliment on the music. I appreciate that. I definitely felt the same way, I really loved the music, so as soon as I decided to make a new NiGHTS, the first people I talked to were Mr. Hataya and Mr. Sasaki, who did the original music composition and signed them up to the project.

 

1UP: So they weren't Sega staff?

 

TI: Hataya-san is still working at Sega, but Mr. Sasaki is freelancing now. But we're still working with both of them on NiGHTS.

 

1UP: I noticed on the NiGHTS Journey Of Dreams website that some of the music are classic NiGHTS tracks, re-done. Is that using a full orchestra or is that just really good programming?

 

TI: A real orchestra. Last month in Los Angeles we hired a live orchestra to do the music.

 

1UP: It sounds really good. Do you plan to release a soundtrack, maybe in Japan?

 

TI: We'd definitely like to release it on CD, so we're preparing that.

 

1UP: The original character designer, Naoto Oshima, who now is the president of Artoon, was largely responsible for the Saturn game's visuals. Now that he's no longer at Sega, how are you maintaining the look and feel in the new character designs and enemy designs?

 

TI: As you pointed out, Oshima-san is no longer at Sega, and he was the director as well as the original character designer for the original NiGHTS. But as well there was Hoshino-san, a character designer who worked on the original NiGHTS, and he handled Nightmaren, Elliot and Claris' character design, and he's the main character designer on Journey Of Dreams, so we're confident that we've captured the style of the original NiGHTS.

 

1UP: So Oshima was responsible for the original NiGHTS character design, and Hoshino did everything else?

 

TI: Yeah, he specifically worked on the NiGHTS character, but he provided artistic direction to the entire design team.

 

1UP: How is your own role changing in what you do for the sequel compared to what you did in the original game?

 

TI: On the previous NiGHTS I was the lead game designer, but with the sequel I'm wearing a few more hats, director, producer, and lead game designer.

 

1UP: Ah, so you're still lead designer, that's good news. Will we see any appearances by Elliot or Claris?

 

TI: No, Will and Helen are the protagonists of this new NiGHTS, so they're the only kids to be featured.

 

1UP: Now that you guys are reviving the NiGHTS franchise, do you think you'll ever do one for the DS because the whole stylus control seems like it would lend itself to the hardware, by drawing NiGHTS' path out in front of him.

 

TI: That's a great idea, I'd like to do it. Right now we're not working on it but it's definitely something on our minds.

 

1UP: Sonic and the Secret Rings also came out on Wii. Is Journey using the same engine as Secret Rings?

 

TI: It's using a different engine. Being part of Sonic Team, we share technology and know-how and tools, but this is a totally different engine.

 

1UP: How different is it working on this game in the U.S., as opposed to doing the original one in Japan?

 

TI: The previous NiGHTS was released in the final days of the Saturn, so we weren't completely happy with the sales of NiGHTS abroad. So this time we concentrated on designing a NiGHTS that would have a universal appeal. One of the major differences is just being here allows a much better focus on markets abroad, and talking to people about their ideas, what they think would make sense, even the names of Will and Helen, for example, were affected. In the previous NiGHTS we didn't get any input at all, not from Sega of Europe or Sega of America, not for a single point of the game, we just made it all on our own.

 

1UP: Are the main characters named after anyone in particular?

 

TI: [Laughs] No, not at all.

 

1UP: Will any of the classic NiGHTS bosses, like Reala, make a return in Journey?

 

TI: The Nightmare world was created by Wizeman from the original game, and Wizeman will definitely make an appearance, along with other things that we can't reveal yet.

 

1UP: So Wizeman is the Eggman of NiGHTS?

 

TI: [Laughs] Well, he's not as humorous.

 

1UP: You mentioned that you had ideas for new NiGHTS games on Dreamcast or GameCube. How far did any of that get? Was it ever a tech demo, or did it only get as far as a planning document?

 

TI: Actually we didn't get very far at all, not even as far as design documents, and definitely not as far as creating a tech demo.

 

1UP: Well, thats all weve got, Iizuka-san. Thank you for taking the time to reveal the history of the NiGHTS legacy with us and good luck on Journey of Dreams!

Source: http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3164230

 

Good interview.

[That Guy]

If anyone watched The 1UP Show this week, NiGHTs is actually looking fairly decent now. Did see some stupid mini game thing in it, which looked terrible, but the reason for actually playing the game looks exactly like the Saturn version with better graphics, which can't be bad.

[pedrocasilva]

If anyone watched The 1UP Show this week, NiGHTs is actually looking fairly decent now. Did see some stupid mini game thing in it, which looked terrible, but the reason for actually playing the game looks exactly like the Saturn version with better graphics, which can't be bad.

I've seen it... and I really liked it all.

 

The mini game... the water "boat" one? seemed like the ones in the original, where NiGHTS transformed into stuff, didn't seem like a mini-game, although if it is... it's a expansion of a existing feature. (I might have missed it, the one you're reffering to, though)

[That Guy]

I've seen it... and I really liked it all.

 

The mini game... the water "boat" one? seemed like the ones in the original, where NiGHTS transformed into stuff, didn't seem like a mini-game, although if it is... it's a expansion of a existing feature. (I might have missed it, the one you're reffering to, though)

 

Could be. Looked a bit naff I thought. Think I'll buy it in the new year, as the rest looked like classic NiGHTs. Didn't play much of the original, so looking forward to this.

[pedrocasilva]

Rumors:

NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams delayed again!

The return of Sega's high flying hero is pushed back another month.

 

It has been reported by one of the "NiNJAS" at NiGHTSintoDreams.com that NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams has been delayed over a month. It now has a January/February release, with only a few days seperating the release of the game in America and Europe.

 

Whilst this hasn't been "officially" confirmed, this source has been spot on accurate in the past. NiGHTS is now a 2008 title, completely missing the Christmas holiday rush, and giving the game an extra month of much needed polish.

 

Whilst I'm sure many are dissapointed (including myself) it does appear Sega is giving this team the time it needs to polish the game up properly.

 

Expect a new news update as soon as the new official date has been revealed by retailers.

 

Special thanks to NiD's Martijngamer, whom personally reported it straight from Sega Europe.

Source: http://www.sonicstadium.org/sonicnews/361/

 

 

New Trailer:

 

-> http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2007/11/12/exclusive-new-nights-journey-of-dreams-trailer-with-character-transformations/

 

Looking good.

[Ren of Heavens]

Good. We'll all be busy with SMG this side of xmas anyway.

[Owen]

I only think thats fair, everyone should get it the sametime.

[Blue_Ninja0]

From what I see on that new trailer, it looks much more polished than the first videos we first saw of the game. The bit where you control the kids looks bad though.

[pedrocasilva]

Sega advertises NiGHTS on Mario&Sonic:

 

 

 

Nice thinking, Sega.

[ShadowV7]

Good idea to promote it. Hope it get's delayed so it can get polished and not for spite like Brawl

 

Hahahaha they would of had it in a few weeks.

[pedrocasilva]

New images:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Artwork:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Pit-Jr]

They need to schedule this as far away from Galaxy as possible. Perfect this and release it in 6 months please! It seems to be shaping up quite nicely though

[Owen]

The US delay was a rumour it seems, it's still scheduled for December 18th, which is a whole month away yet, Mario Galaxy may not have an effect on sales of Nights at all, as it's still got another 4 weeks on the shelf before Nights is released.

 

I'm not sure how consumers think in the new year normally, but is releasing this in Jan a good idea? I personally buy games all year round, but others keep them for special occasions.

 

I think Nights should have been released in 07 if you ask me, a week before Christmas or something?!