Nintendo's reliance on Mario, Zelda and Pokemon is sometimes a loudly vocalized source of frustration for fans of the company hoping for something new. The good news is that you're getting a brand new character in Wii Sports Resort's island.
Shigeru Miyamoto, general manager of the Entertainment Analysis & Development Division—the team responsible for Wii Sports Resort—tells Nintendo president Satoru Iwata that the destination in the Wii sequel is essentially the star of the show. Wuhu Island, Miyamoto says, is designed to join the likes of Mario and Donkey Kong as a new Nintendo franchise, seen in multiple games.
"We really polished up the island, turned it into a resort and actually made the location into a kind of character," Miyamoto says in the latest "Iwata Asks" interview. "This will then lead to a range of island series... You could have adventure games, role-playing games, city-building simulation games... It will be fun to see all the ideas that we can come up with, won't it?"
Despite all the "(laughs)" peppered throughout the interview, Miyamoto sounds quite serious about "licensing it out as a franchise," meaning we could see Super Mario Resort or Tingle's Fantasy Island or... who knows what this madman will dream up next?
Miyamoto further justifies the idea by saying Wuhu Island will breed familiarity, like a real world city or town.
"We thought it would be a fun idea to have a location that everyone knows and then have all sorts of stuff going on there," he says. "It would mean that players would already know the town like the back of their hands by the time they came to buy the next adventure game. Everyone could play in a location they were familiar with which would truly turn it into a miniature garden."
Wait. Miniature garden? OMG PIKMIN 3 WILL BE ON AN ISLAND!
Iwata Asks: Wii Sports Resort [Wii.com]