Tag Archives: lostwinds

The LostWinds franchise may be revisited in the future once Frontier Developments gets Elite: Dangerous and Coaster Crazy Deluxe out the door.

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Frontier Developments has announced it’s opening a new development studio in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The firm said the region has been on its “radar as an attractive geographic and commercial environment,” in which it can create titles as be surrounded by the pool of local universities graduates and various indie developers. “We are excited about opening an office in Halifax, our first outside of the UK,” said COO and president David Walsh. “The studio will be up and running during August, collaborating with our teams in the UK. We are looking forward to working together with our new colleagues, integrating quickly into the Halifax area and making a positive contribution to the Nova Scotia business community.”

LostWinds2: Winter of the Melodias has released on the App Store for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. It includes the ability to switch between summer and winter at will, new wind powers, new environments and characters, and graphical tweaking specifically for iOS devices. It will run you$3.99/£2.49/€2.99. Trailer is below.

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Here’s a second batch of shorts for your hump day.

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LostWinds and Elite creator, David Braben, has said that the approval system implemented by Apple for the iPhone App Store has resulted in many of the games being a “pile of rubbish”.

Because of this, Braben feels a stronger approval process should be considered for the service.

“There’s a little bit of a ‘gate keeper’ thing with Nintendo which raises the bar very slightly because you’ve got to have dev kits, but that’s a good thing,” he told CVG. “Look at iPhone; there are so many games that aren’t up to scratch, without being too negative about it. It’s very hard to find the good stuff amongst the rubbish.

“Another thing I resent is applications or games that are designed to look like something else that’s been successful and people accidentally buy them, or they’re slightly cheaper and they assume they’re getting a cheaper version or the same thing.”

More through the link.

Frontier’s David Braben, creator of Elite and the upcoming sequel to LostWinds, has defended Lionhead’s Milo & Kate and the reputed “smoke and mirrors” aspect of it.

“I think there is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of with good, complex smoke and mirrors,” he told Eurogamer during Develop. “With all of these things, we’re building interesting worlds, and there are so many different ways you can do that. Milo & Kate showed some of that, and some of the things we’re working on will show some of that too.

“There are so many different dimensions to it: I often bore on about film, but it shows how much more there is out there that we haven’t touched yet in the game space.”

Braben also went on to discuss how AI in games have improved by “degrees we haven’t noticed.”

Via KokuGamer.

A couple of Nintendo rumors are floating about the web today, one of which concerns a LostWinds 2 announcement at E3.

According to a source close to French site LiveWii, Nintendo is expected to make the announcement for the WiiWare title during its presentation.

Although we’ve know for quite some time a sequel was imminent, don’t take it to heart until we hear otherwise.

However, GoNintendo has it on good authority from a GameStop employee that Nintendo will release a Lime Green DS bundle for Mother’s Day, complete with Personal Trainer: Cooking.

That sounds a bit more likely to us.

Our mom’s would smack us over that one, though. No joke.

Thanks, D’toid.

[UPDATE]: Looks like the bundle has been confirmed.

Square Enix is to publish Frontier’s LostWinds in Japan, the company’s confirmed.

“Square Enix is a very successful, development-led organization with a total commitment to quality,” said Frontier boss David Braben.

“Frontier shares those same core ideals and we are very pleased to be doing business together. Square Enix’s strength in Japan will give LostWinds the chance to shine there, as it has done elsewhere.”

LostWinds topped the WiiWare charts in both the US and Europe upon launch of the new distribution system in May 2008.

Press release after the link.

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Speaking to VG247 at Develop, Frontier’s David Braben confirmed that there are no plans in place to bring WiiWare smash LostWinds to either Live or PSN, but that the UK developer has other plans for downloadable 360 and PS3 content.

“Not at the moment, no,” he said when asked if LostWinds would make it to other consoles.

“But be will be supporting Live and PSN with something else… We at Frontier have this really fun [forum] called Game of the Week. That gets so many rich ideas – we’ve got this rich bucket of ideas – that it makes sense to do a project that’s appropriate to a platform.”

Braben refused to be drawn on the identity of any game for PSN or Live, saying only that he “can’t talk about it” at the moment.

Frontier had a good experience with using WiiWare as the distribution platform for platform adventure LostWinds, with Nintendo confirming the game as the most downloaded on the service in Europe.

Hopefully we won’t have to wait too long to find out what David’s up to here.

Everyone knows Frontier’s going to do a LostWinds sequel, right? From the sound of it, so does Frontier.

“We’d be stupid not to look at the LostWinds world,” studio boss David Braben told VG247. “But we’re not announcing anything yet.”

Stupid indeed. Press surrouding the WiiWare adventure was “positive,” to say the least.

“I was pleasantly surprised,” said Braben of the reaction to the game. “One of the problems of writing games is that you’re expecting to do well, because it’s your baby and you love it, but I’m very pleased with what we did.”

Braben said the development of LostWinds took him back to the good old days of bedroom coding.

“It reminds me of development a long time ago, where three or four months seemed like a long time,” he said.

Don’t be vastly shocked if you hear about a sequel sooner rather than later.

Like, dur. Nintendo’s Laurent Fischer has confirmed to GI that Frontier’s LostWinds is the most downloaded WiiWare content in Europe, followed by Gameloft’s TV Show King and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life As A King from Square Enix.

“We’re not communicating on precise figures – this is confidential – but LostWinds has the highest download level in Europe. And then you have the other titles which come close by, like TV Show King and of course Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles,” he said.

More through the link. Read our LostWinds review here.

After the launch of WiiWare in Europe and Australia last Monday, the game at the top of our list was always Frontier-developed platformer LostWinds. We now own it. Here’s our review.

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Frontier’s David Braben is unsurprisingly very happy about the response LostWinds has been getting across the board.

“‘Pleased’ is an understatement,” he told GI of the reaction from critics and fans.

“The reaction has been exceptional – from both reviewers, which is very pleasing, and also the user reviews are extremely high – we’ve also had very many people who have taken the time to email us directly with their entirely positive feedback, which is very appreciated.”

The cutesy adventure launched in Europe alongside WiiWare last night. More quotes through the link.

Nintendo’s new download service, WiiWare, has now launched in Australia and Europe.

Six titles appeared in the channel in the early hours of the morning, including the seemingly superb Lost Winds and the first Wii demo, namely Dr. Mario.

The full list of titles is as follows:

• Dr Mario Online (and demo) – 1000 Points
• Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King – 1500 Points
• LostWinds – 1000 Points
• Star Soldier R – 800 Points
• TV Show King – 1000 Points
• Toki Tori – 900 Points

Look out for our Lost Winds review in the next couple of days. Couple of shots after the link, just in case you don’t believe us, or something.

By Mike Bowden

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And here it is. The service launches on May 20 in Europe and released yesterday in the US.

• Dr. Mario & Germ Buster (Nintendo) – 1000 Wii Points
• Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King (Square Enix) – 1500 Wii Points
• LostWinds (Frontier) – 1000 Wii Points
• Star Soldier R (Hudson) – 800 Wii Points
• TV Show King (Gameloft) – 1000 Wii Points
• Pop (Nnooo) – 700 Wii Points
• Pirates: The Key of Dreams (Oxygen)
• Toki Tori (Two Tribes)

That was quick. Frontier’s site’s carrying confirmation of a second LostWinds title and is allowing you to sign up for upcoming info on the game.

Click here to REGISTER FOR ADVANCE INFORMATION on Frontier’s forthcoming LostWinds sequel containing amazing new gameplay as Toku and Enril’s incredible adventure to save Mistralis continues – Frontier is registered under the UK’s Data Protection Act and won’t use your details for any other reason.

LostWinds launched alongside WiiWare in the US yesterday, and is attracting a fair amount of attention for being actually “good”. Thanks, GoNintendo.

It’s tiny, but it says what you wanted to hear: Frontier’s LostWinds is worth your money. Of course it is. The WiiWare game launched yesterday alongside the service in the US. The piece’s conclusion:

The lack of a map and short length aside, this game is great and should definitely be a part of any Wii owners library. It is one of those games where you can just stop, relax, and just soak up the atmosphere. The future of Wii Ware looks good if games like LostWinds will continue to come out on the service.

More through the link.

Wii download service WiiWare’s now launched in the US, Joystiq reports.

The channel offers 40Mb-ish games for various amounts of Wii Points, the one we’re hankering after most being Frontier’s LostWinds. You can find the full line-up after the link.

WiiWare has already launched in Japan and hits Europe on May 20.

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Just in case you’d forgotten, LostWinds is launching alongside WiiWare in the US today.

The Frontier-developed adventure is a definite star in the service’s launch line-up, featuring “Toku, a young boy who is the only one who can help you in your quest to release a curse placed on the stunningly presented, magical land of Mistralis.”

You cannot say fairer than that. Press release after the link.

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Nintendo’s launching Wii download service WiiWare in America tomorrow, and has now put up its official website. Launch titles have now been confirmed as:

• Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King (Square Enix, 1 player, Rated E for Everyone – Mild Fantasy Violence, Mild Suggestive Themes, 1,500 Wii Points)
• LostWinds (Frontier Development, 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone – Mild Fantasy Violence, 1,000 Wii Points)
• Defend your Castle (XGen Studios, 1-4 players, Rated E for Everyone – Cartoon Violence, 500 Wii Points)
• Pop (Nnooo, 1-4 players, Rated E for Everyone, 700 Wii Points)
• V.I.P. Casino: Blackjack (High Voltage Software, Inc., 1-4 players, Rated T for Teen – Simulated Gambling, 700 Wii Points)
• TV Show King (Gameloft, 1-4 players, Rated E for Everyone, 1,000 Wii Points)

WiiWare launches in Europe on May 20, and has already released in Japan.