General Switch Discussion

[MindFreak]

To be fair, the current Lead Producer could have resigned so they need to get a new one. And that this doesn't mean that the game is not in development. 

What is the role of a lead producer? As I read it, it's a project leader or supervisor that ensures that production is going well but development can easily be continued for some time without one. 

Edited August 15, 2020 by MindFreak

[Julius]

6 minutes ago, MindFreak said:

To be fair, the current Lead Producer could have resigned so they need to get a new one. And that this doesn't mean that the game is not in development. 

I mean, part of me kind of doubts that that's the case, but if it is, then that doesn't exactly invoke much confidence either.

The game may well be in development to some degree, but it's all muddied a bit by the issues it's clearly had so far. Are they starting from scratch and redoing pre-production, conceptualising new enemies, ideas, level design, etc.? Or have they hit the ground running with the old work that they've done from the previous team and are streamlining that? 

We might not ever know exactly how far along they were at this point in time right now, but based on how blunt they were with how poorly they though development was going in that update last year, I'd have to guess it's the former. Of course they might use bits and pieces of the old work, and it's not that black and white, but to me it at least sounded like they wanted to start over. 

Quote

What is the role of a lead producer? As I read it, it's a project leader or supervisor that ensures that production is going well but development can easily be continued for some time without one.

Yeah that's what I took it as too. From what I've read before, I know it generally seems to be a bit different in how you get the role and what it entails when it comes to Japanese development, but Retro are a western studio, so I would assume it would be similar to other western studios in that regard.

I think my main concern would be why the Lead Producer role is being advertised to begin with. 

Let's say someone resigned as Lead Producer, as you suggested might be the case (it's a fair point and not one I'd really thought about). It might be the normal process to consider external applicants also, but should there not be someone already on the team familiar enough with the project and the direction that it's going in capable of stepping in, if development is already a year and a half in? 

Like you said, they should be able to get by without one hypothetically for a little while, but it raises more questions than anything else for me. And for a game which we already knew was having development issues, it doesn't make me feel any more confident as a potential consumer. 

[MindFreak]

(Why isn't this in the Metroid Prime 4-thread, by the way?)

There is a number of reasons that a previous Lead Producer could resign that don't have to be due to bad development - pension, moving away, wanting to try something new, better offer, etc. I agree, it's not an overly good sign, just something that is a possibility that I haven¨t seen anyone mention at all. It is also very reasonable to hire someone from the outside as a good project leader will easily be able to facilitate any project within a domain that they are familiar with. I've met several of them in my work (IT development on large projects, both small scale and large scale). They do wish for someone with 10+ years of experience with the role so that would entail that they need someone who can step in relatively quickly, and give such a person a month or two and they should be quite as capable as the previous lead.

I do think that the game was completely restarted with none of Namco's assets being reused. Reusing them could actually take longer than just making new ones

I'm not saying that all of this has to be the case but it very well could be nothing to worry about. It could also mean that we are in for another delay.

[MindFreak]

Oh, just saw someone mention that games can have multiple lead producers. They would probably just like to have another one. 

[Will]

11 hours ago, Julius said:

How they've managed to bottle the production of a sequel to one of their most critically acclaimed series like this is completely beyond me, though. How can you still be looking for a lead producer over a year and a half after the last update we got stated the old work had been effectively canned?

I don’t think this is a position directly working on the game. Reading the job description it’s more likely this is somebody supervising the Producers on all of the games being made and managing production services for them. So I don’t think it’s as worrying as it first might seem (though definitely could be).

11 hours ago, MindFreak said:

To be fair, the current Lead Producer could have resigned so they need to get a new one. And that this doesn't mean that the game is not in development. 

Having a look on LinkedIn my guess is that this is a new role and nobody was doing it before. Probably the gap between Producers at the studio and whoever it is they report to was getting too big so they’re hiring somebody to sit between them.

11 hours ago, MindFreak said:

What is the role of a lead producer? As I read it, it's a project leader or supervisor that ensures that production is going well but development can easily be continued for some time without one. 

Any Production role can vary massively between different companies. This one sounds more like a management and service continuation role than somebody working on a specific project day to day.

10 hours ago, Julius said:

Let's say someone resigned as Lead Producer, as you suggested might be the case (it's a fair point and not one I'd really thought about). It might be the normal process to consider external applicants also, but should there not be someone already on the team familiar enough with the project and the direction that it's going in capable of stepping in, if development is already a year and a half in? 

It would really depend on how many Producers the team has, how lean they run things and the kind of progression path they have at the studio. Of course there will be many people familiar with the project but they may not be skilled in this area or be at the right level to take on this role. There could also be legal reasons they need to advertise externally (say, if the best internal applicant is foreign but the role is receiving some sort of grant money they may need to consider local talent first), or maybe they just want to benchmark the market for that role?

They may not even have the role available, but want to see what is out there for any number of future planning reasons.

4 hours ago, MindFreak said:

Oh, just saw someone mention that games can have multiple lead producers. They would probably just like to have another one.

They definitely can, on a big project with multiple studios there could be a very large number of people in production for it. I’d still go with my guess that for this particular role it’s something new sitting above whatever production is happening on specific titles.

[WackerJr]

The development of Metroid Prime 4 sounds like such a struggle with so many difficulties to the general public.  While I am a little concerned, I’m assuming the ‘duck’ approach where we’re getting an impression of the frantic unwieldy paddling going on under the surface, but when we finally see the game, it was be beautiful and graceful, ala the duck above water. 😄

This seems reminiscent of the first Metroid Prime and all the development difficulties that faced.

[Mandalore]

Apart from Metroid Prime 4 and Breath of the Wild 2 which seem years away, are there any big Nintendo games to look forward to?

[Ashley]

3 hours ago, Mandalore said:

Apart from Metroid Prime 4 and Breath of the Wild 2 which seem years away, are there any big Nintendo games to look forward to?

Remakes (confirmed and rumoured)?

[Glen-i]

3 hours ago, Mandalore said:

Apart from Metroid Prime 4 and Breath of the Wild 2 which seem years away, are there any big Nintendo games to look forward to?

Bayo 3, if you count Bayonetta as a honorary Ninty character. (I do)

But that's a long way off too.

[Ashley]

Bayonetta is too horny to be a Nintendo character

[Glen-i]

27 minutes ago, Ashley said:

Bayonetta is too horny to be a Nintendo character

Bowser has 2 horns, doesn't stop him.

(He's also the only Ninty character that appears in Bayonetta... Technically)

Edited August 16, 2020 by Glen-i

[Ronnie]

5 hours ago, Mandalore said:

Apart from Metroid Prime 4 and Breath of the Wild 2 which seem years away, are there any big Nintendo games to look forward to?

Wouldn't be surprised to see BOTW2 next year, or at least I think that's the plan.

And given Paper Mario had a two month reveal > release, who knows what's on the way...

[Helmsly]

Probably nothing to this but 

 

[drahkon]

Oh look, another port.

[Ike]

Hope it gets the Wind Waker HD treatment and they streamline it. Will be nice to get a non-blur-o-vision version.

[Happenstance]

As long as you can play it without motion controls then I'd be interested in finally trying Skyward Sword.

[Julius]

23 minutes ago, Helmsly said:

Probably nothing to this but 

 

My reaction here is the same as with the hopefully coming Mario 3D Collection: as someone who hasn't played it, I'm totally onboard. Though I've only played BOTW at this point, and would like to make myself a bit more familiar with the series as a whole before I would be willing to dip into Skyward Sword. If there's any truth to it, would be curious to see how Nintendo changed the game, if at all, in terms of gyro/motion stuff especially, considering how deeply routed it seems to be in those mechanics. 

19 minutes ago, drahkon said:

Oh look, another port.

But at the same time, I totally get this reaction. For those who have played the game especially, I do wish there were more newer games on the horizon.

Obviously this pandemic doesn't help with that, and I think we're only going to see more and more ports in the next year or two - not to undermine how much work goes into a remaster/port by any stretch, but it's the smarter decision from a business and development perspective right now to still get games out there at a relatively consistent rate, at least until they can return to the office and kick development into full swing on other projects. 

Though it would be nuts to me if the next 6 months of the Switch is seriously just Pikmin 3 Deluxe, Mario 3D Collection, and Skyward Sword. There has to be something new in that time, at least you would hope. 

NOW IF SOMEONE COULD PLEASE GO AND POKE THE BEAR THAT IS SQUARE ENIX AND TELL THEM TO GIVE US A FINAL FANTASY I - VI COLLECTION, OR JUST STRAIGHT (not mobile, don't you dare) PORTS OF GOOD VERSIONS OF THOSE GAMES, that'd be really appreciated. 

[Glen-i]

It's probably nothing.

9 minutes ago, Happenstance said:

As long as you can play it without motion controls then I'd be interested in finally trying Skyward Sword.

Skyward Sword isn't designed around button presses at all. So I really doubt that's gonna happen.

[Ike]

9 minutes ago, Glen-i said:

It's probably nothing.

Skyward Sword isn't designed around button presses at all. So I really doubt that's gonna happen.

Split joycons support only?

[Happenstance]

They’ve got to do something, they wouldn’t want to lose a lot of their user base with the Switch Lite

[Glen-i]

4 minutes ago, Ike said:

Split joycons support only?

Possibly. Providing a more traditional button method of swordplay would mean redesigning every single aspect that involves swinging the sword in a specific direction. Enemies and puzzles would have to be completely reworked to such a degree that you might as well make a new Zelda game with that much effort going in.

As for the controls being restricted to Split Joy-cons? Not so certain on that. The Nunchuk motion was really only used to do a shield bash, that could probably be assigned to a button. Although swinging a Pro Controller probably won't feel as natural as it does with a Wiimote due to the different shape. But that couldn't be helped.

1 minute ago, Happenstance said:

They’ve got to do something, they wouldn’t want to lose a lot of their user base with the Switch Lite

That's the main reason why I'm skeptical Skyward Sword is happening. The game is intrinsically designed around the Wii Motion Plus. It's like asking why you can't play all of Wii Fit without the Balance Board.

It's not like Splatoon, where gyro is the ideal way to aim, but you can get away with using dual-stick aiming if you really want. Every single enemy encounter (and quite a few puzzles) is designed around Link's ability to swing the sword in any direction. You just can't replicate that with a traditional control scheme.

[Dcubed]

It would just require split Joy-Cons.  You know, the controllers that come in the box.

There are plenty of Joy-con only Switch games already.  Why would this be any different? The game is intrinsically ties to its motion control gameplay; it’s the only sensible option.

[Happenstance]

I think they could map the directional swings to one of the sticks without having to redesign things too much. Say maybe putting it on the right stick and having you hold the right trigger then move the stick.

[Happenstance]

Just now, Dcubed said:

It would just require split Joy-Cons.  You know, the controllers that come in the box.

There are plenty of Joy-con only Switch games already.  Why would this be any different? The game is intrinsically ties to its motion control gameplay; it’s the only sensible option.

Not every box.

[Dcubed]

13 minutes ago, Happenstance said:

They’ve got to do something, they wouldn’t want to lose a lot of their user base with the Switch Lite

Joy-cons can be used on Switch Lite anyway.  You know, just like Ring Fit Adventure and Super Mario Party...