Tag Archives: Akihiro Hino

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch isn’t aiming to corner the western RPG fan, instead focusing on the aspects of JRPGs that continue to shine, according to Level-5 boss Akihiro Hino.

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Level-5 has created some of the most successful Japanese exports of the generation, yet its inner workings remain a mystery. Dave Cook speaks with the CEO Akihiro Hino to gain some insight.

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Videos for Nano Assault EX, Denpa Men: They Came by Wave, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked videos and a message from Level-5 president Akihiro Hino are all posted below the break. The games where shown during a Nintendo Direct broadcast this evening for Europe. To get caught up on all that was announced, we have a lovely bullet list for you here complete with dates for games like Paper Mario Sticker Star and more. Games and demos heading to the Nintendo eShop in North America were announced this evening as well, and you can get caught up on all the release dates and demos headed your way here.

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Level-5 CEO Akihiro Hino has told Famitsu the firm and Studio Ghibli’s would consider a sequel to Ni no Kuni should the title do well overseas. Hino also said he is confident the west will give the title a chance considering the success of past titles from Level-5. It was also noted in the interview that the reason for a delayed release in the west was due to the team taking its time to ensure a proper translation, especially considering the title contains over one million words. Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch will release during the first quarter of 2013 on PS3 complete with a digital version of the Magic Master book accessible from the game menu. Thanks, Andriasang.

Namco Bandai’s announced it’s releasing Ni No Kuni for PS3 in Q1 2013 in Europe, a major shove from merely this year.

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Acclaimed PS2 launch title Dark Cloud didn’t tick all the boxes for developer Level-5.

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Level 5′s confirmed it’s to release Ni No Kuni for the US next year.

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Andriasang has translated a number of comments made by Japanese developers on the potential of Wii U.
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Level-5 International America Inc. recently opened its doors, and now the firm has sent word its has launched a corporate website as well as a Twitter and Facebook page. Posted over on the later, is a video message from Level-5 CEO, Akihiro Hino, in which he lays out his business strategy for the North American office. “Level-5 IA will not only release games developed in Japan, but we are also planning to create original content for the U.S.,” he states in his message. “The Japanese and North American markets are quite different, but we hope to make innovative games that our fans in the US will enjoy.”

You can watch the video below, courtesy of Siliconera’s YouTube channel.

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Level 5 has announced that the Professor Layton series has shipped 12 million units worldwide since its inception in 2007. Four titles in the series have launched on DS, with a fifth – The Mask of Miracle – appearing on 3DS. A sixth game is in development, according to Level 5 boss Akihiro Hino.

Thanks, Andriasang.

Level-5 CEO Akihiro Hino has said the firm expects to mark around 20 announcements during its annual Level-5 Vision press conference this year.

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Capcom dev head Keiji Inafune has confirmed in an interview with Diamond Online that the publisher is teaming up with Level 5.

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Level 5 CEO Akihiro Hino has revealed that one of the developer’s newest projects concerns time-travel.

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Level-5 CEO Akihiro Hino has tweeted that the Professor Layton developer a game in the works, and it’s to be announced in this week’s Famitsu.

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Level 5 has said in a speech welcoming potential recruits to the studio that the developer is working on unannounced PS3 and Wii titles.

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Level-5 CEO Akihiro Hino has told Official Nintendo Magazine that the firm has no plans to release Professor Layton on Wii, despite the success of the franchise.

“This trilogy comes to a conclusion with Professor Layton and the Last Time Travel, but we will be releasing the first title of the new trilogy, Professor Layton and the Flute of Malevolent Destiny in Japan,” he said.

“We currently have no plans for a Wii release.”

As long as there’s more for DS, fans of the series will be happy, we reckon.

Thanks, CVG.

Level 5 president and CEO, Akihiro Hino, has explained to Wired why it takes so long for Professor Layton games to make it outside of Japan.

Not only do puzzle differences with Japanese linguistics or customs need to be substituted, but some graphical elements need a bit of tweaking as well.

“Like any game localization, it takes time and manpower to update a Professor Layton title, especially the puzzles and any graphical elements that need adjustment,” said Hino. “We all try to carefully manage this process so that there is not such a long gap between releases.

“Of course, we also want to let each title have time to perform on the market before releasing the next game.

There ya go.

Thanks, GoNintendo.

Grasshopper Manufacture’s Goichi Suda, Level-5′s Akihiro Hino, and Q Entertainment’s Tetsuya Mizuguchi chat about E3 in the latest Famitsu, and all seem to agree that motion control stole the show.

“Hardware-wise, it was all about Project Natal,” Suda told the magazine. “It’s hard to really understand it unless you use it, and it remains to be seen what you can do with it, but I think it’ll be a huge device. We developed No More Heroes with the Wii remote in mind, but now I want to think about games with Natal in mind. I have to ask myself, as a game designer, what new games can be done with this, what can be an interesting experience and challenge, and I’m looking forward to that.”

“With new technology announcements like Natal and the [PS3] Motion Controller, it’s like I have a feel for the new generation, or that the door to the future has been opened,” said Tetsuya Mizuguchi. “It’s a wholly different impression of the future than we had before. It’s not a shift from 2D to 3D or in the number of polygons, but it’s games trying to open up an entirely new door. I thought it would take longer, but it’s happening faster than I expected.”

You can also get their views on what games were the most exciting to them at E3 via 1UP.

Level-5 president Akihiro Hino has told Nikkei Trendy that current adoption rates of PS3, Wii and Xbox 360 pose a problem for modern third-parties.

“There isn’t a clear winning system,” said the Professor Layton creator. “This is a problem for a company like mine.”

Level 5 believes that games created for only one system won’t sell as well – plus developers who focus on 360 and PS3 are more concerned over HD format than the consumer.

“This is why the Wii has sold better than the other two platforms,” he added. “It’s a truly difficult era.”

When you factor in handheld adoption rates, said the exec, DS blows all others out of the water.

“As a publisher, we can’t just not develop for consoles,” he added.

“We considered quite a bit and have now pretty much decided on the direction that should be taken. We were able to make many popular series like Professor Layton, Inazuma Eleven, and Ni no Kuni.

“We will use such series as weapons to evolve our console business.”

Thanks, GoNintendo and Andriasang.

According to the latest issue of Famitsu, not only is the Professor Layton and the Eternal Songstress movie scheduled for a 2010 release in Japan, but Level-5 will be releasing a new Layton DS trilogy to go along with it.

The first offering, Professor Layton and the Devil’s Flute, is set three years before the Curious Village took place.

Our hero is in a strange town besieged by a giant who goes bonkers whenever a mysterious flute is played. Layton’s trusty sidekick Luke is present, as well as a new female pal named Remi Altava.

“The series wrapped up its trilogy with Professor Layton and the Last Time Travel, so there was a bit of resistance to making yet another new title,” Level-5′s Akihiro Hino told Famitsu.

“However, we received word from a lot of gamers during development asking if this was really the end, and that was all the inspiration we needed to create a new trilogy, a ‘second season’ of Layton.”

“With this trilogy, we’ve got puzzles and tricks that go across all three games”, he added. “I think each individual game is going to take a lot more time to complete than before. We’re challenging ourselves here because we don’t want people to think it’s the same thing over again.”

Devil’s Flute is slated for a fall release in Japan, with the Eternal Songstress film continuing where Devil’s Flute leaves off.

Hows that for movie-game interaction?

More through the link.