Nintendo news (August 19): Astral Chain / EarthBound

19 August 201919 August 2019 Lite_Agent Astral Chain, Bandai-Namco, Cygames, Dragalia Lost, Earthbound, PlatinumGames, Shigesato Itoi, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Today’s Nintendo news: Nintendo Minute episode and latet DevBlog post for Astral Chain, but also…

EarthBound
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Dragalia Lost

Nintendo Minute (Astral Chain)

Here’s the latest episode of Nintendo Minute, which is about Astral Chain this time around!

Hi, we’re playing some Astral Chain today and challenging ourselves to finish the cases with a 30 minute time limit! This game has such a cool environment and concept that we hope you guys will check it out when it launches for Nintendo Switch on Aug. 30. As always, thank you so much for watching and we’ll see you next week!
-Kit & Krysta

Speaking of Astral Chain, the latest DevBlog post is already live. It’s Part 1 of a post about a key element of pretty much any game: the UI. It’s from Rui Onishi (Lead UI Artist) and Yasutaka Saito (UI Artist). Click here to check it out, along with various video clips!

Here’s an excerpt:

A game’s user interface needs an overall design concept, just like characters and environmental art do! The main defining characteristic of ASTRAL CHAIN’s setting is that it’s a technologically advanced near future, with plenty of information and detail shown through holograms. I took on the mantle of lead UI designer right as the development team was focused on strengthening that setting. Thus I had a goal as I designed the UI: Make it look and feel like a hologram projected in physical space, as if it were something the main character uses themselves, not just the player’s way to interact with the game from outside.

Astral Chain (Switch) comes out on August 30th worldwide.