Posted November 12, 2012 (edited) Wow! This took up staff from a lot of various teams! (NST, Next Level Games, PDD, NBD) I suppose it makes sense to ask for co-operation from various western studios when you're making an international video chat app though! Iwata Earlier, when Takeda-san talked about wanting to put an element of play, you addressed that by adding a feature where during Wii U Chat, you can draw pictures and write letters using the touch screen of the Wii U GamePad. Tamiya Yes. We wanted something you could do while you were chatting to make conversations more fun. You can use the Wii U GamePad to draw and write, so this was an idea that kind of came up naturally. It's actually a lot more fun than you'd think. You're not often able to doodle on someone's face in real life, but you might have the urge to try. When we tried it, it broke the ice, and it spurred conversation. Normally you can never doodle on your bosses face, but we were able to do so during development. In fact, when you're doodled on, it actually makes you happy. Iwata It makes me excited thinking about cases when a grandparent would use it with his or her grand child. Did this feature take shape like the way it is now since the beginning? Tamiya Actually, at first we wanted to make a simple, whiteboard feature. You would press a button to switch modes to have the whiteboard appear on the TV screen, where both sides could draw pictures on it as they liked. But when we tested it, because there was a white screen in front of you it was a bit much for customers who weren't confident in their drawing skills, and it was even more so because you were being put on the spot by the other end watching you. Also, you would be able to express more if there were more colors and pen types, but people became too preoccupied in drawing, and slowed down conversation. Interaction with the other side lessened, and the sense of being together got thinned down where you felt uncomfortable and not able to look at the others' expressions. Iwata Oh, that would be the opposite of "family happiness". Tamiya It was. On the contrary, by placing an image in the background in advance, the pressure of feeling like you're forced to draw something lessened than when a whiteboard was shoved against your face. Some people were of the opinion that it sounded difficult to draw on top of a moving image, but when we tried it out, we found all sorts of amusing things to do with it, like have the person move along with what you were drawing. Now I wouldn't have expected that to be a problem! It makes sense when you think about it though (goes to show what I know about psychology!) Although with video chat requiring the user to quit the game they're playing in order to receive a video call, I'm never going to use it anyway. Until that problem is fixed (and there's no technical reason that would prevent it from working really, there's more than enough RAM and CPU cycles free to do it), the app is completely useless IMO. Edited November 12, 2012 by Dcubed Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted November 12, 2012 You have to quite the game? That's... Stupid. Their demo implied you didn't have to at all, are you sure? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted November 12, 2012 You have to quite the game? That's... Stupid. Their demo implied you didn't have to at all, are you sure? Iwata: That makes sense. By the way, I can imagine all sorts of possible situations, like what if the other person is playing Wii U? Or what if they aren't using their Wii U? What happens in those cases? Tamiya: First, when the other person is online with Wii U, and you call them, their Home Button will flash to let them know a call is coming in. If they open the Menu, they'll get a message telling them they have an in-coming call, and if they answer it, the Wii U Chat session begins. Iwata: But they have to end the game they were playing, right? Tamiya: Yes, they will have to end the game. Iwata: There must be technical hurdles involved, but I hope this is an area that we can improve on in the future. What if the other person's Wii U isn't turned on, or if they aren't logged in? Tamiya: They wouldn't be able to tell from the Wii U, but you can leave a message that appears in the messages list on Wii U Chat, and also through a message on Miiverse. Sucks, but at least it's something that Iwata said he wants to fix. That original pre-E3 ZombiU OctoG123 video is probably how they envisioned it, but couldn't get working in time for launch. I suspect that it'll get sorted in a future update... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted February 7, 2013 (edited) Fludd! EDIT: just seen 'other' thread: GENIUS! Interesting read. Shame NST are heavily involved. Shouldn't they have them making Wave Race/1080 games?! Also: great how they passed the baton and the Japanese teams worked while the American team slept and vice versa. That's what should happen to make them complete games quicker! Get Miyamoto and co. to start developing Wave Race tracks and NST to add elements when Shigs and co. are asleep. Then when Miyamoto wakes up he goes mental at the breakfast table and changes it all. Then when NST wake up the next day it's a totally different game! That would be a good Iwata asks! Edited February 7, 2013 by tapedeck Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 22, 2013 http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/wiiu/thewonderful101/1/0 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted September 19, 2013 Where the bloody hell is our Pikmin 3 Iwata Asks!? It's the only major 1st party game in the last 7 years to not get one! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
