Nintendo has begun releasing what is known as the “Classics” Line on its eShop which will consist of older games being rereleased for the 3D medium of the Nintendo 3DS. Through interviews and observation is seems that maybe the development team over at Nintendo bit off more than they could chew as games that previously were successful in 2D are monstrously complicated and different when given a 3rd dimension.
The first classic to be rereleased for 3D was Excitebike, an awesome game. This rerelease as well as the “Classics” Line seemed like a good move from all stand points, however, it seems as thought the line will be limited, so far only to include 6 games.
In an early June interview by Iwata Asks, Nintendo gave no reason for the small scope. However, over time it became apparent that the challenges of development may have curtailed Nintendo’s original plans for a larger game series.
3DS software planner Takao Nakano noted that simply applying 3D effects to older games is far more challenging than even Nintendo anticipated. When Nintendo attempted to port Namco Bandai game Xevious, they discovered making the game’s ship appear to float in the air had unintended consequences on gameplay. Suddenly the timing of attacks was off, as was the game’s animation. The original developers had never intended for players to detect the transition of attacks between the ship and the ground below in this top-down shooter, so adding a 3D effect changed everything. Nakano told Iwata, Nintendo President, that the result was a game that took almost 20 times the original intended development time.
Which, believe me, is a huge business expense for a very risky reward. It is likely that during this there was an executive decision made to limit the line and devote that time and energy on a less problematic project.
Despite the extra time and expense, the game was completed. And many of the games intended for the conversion will still be processed. Nakano mentioned that Tennis for the NES was considered, but it was determined that the added 3D did not really enhance the game as much as was hoped. If that wasn’t enough, actually hitting the tennis ball with the 3D turned on proved challenging. “It took as much work as making a tennis game from scratch… we had to conclude that the resultant value would not be worth our hard work, so we scrapped it,” Nakano concluded.
Source: IGN.com
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