gamescom Opening Night Live 2024: Everything Xbox Revealed

gamescom Opening Night Live 2024: Everything Xbox Revealed

Gamescom 2024 Hero Image

At today’s gamescom Opening Night Live, fans were treated to a bevy of new game reveals and amazing trailers that gave a glimpse of what’s in store from Xbox. This included big news like the release date of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, gameplay from the Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 campaign, and the announcement of early access starting soon for Towerborne. But that’s not all! Fans were also given more details on Diablo IV, Starfield: Shattered Space, and more!

Xbox Game Line Up Asset

With Opening Night Live 2024 complete, gamescom is officially underway, and Xbox will be on the ground floor with one of its most dramatic-looking booths ever – we can’t wait for you to see it! Not only will we have many of the games mentioned here on display, but many titles for both Xbox and Windows PC will be playable, like Ara: History Untold and Age of Mythology Retold, as well as games from our partners like Genshin Impact, Star Wars: Outlaws, and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, giving you the chance to explore all the different ways you can play your favorite games across Cloud, Console, and PC.

Catch up on all of today’s news and reveals from Xbox below:

Age of Mythology: Retold Heads for Launch with Brand New Trailer

Coming September 4, 2024, for Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, Steam, or play it day one with Game Pass.

Age of Mythology: Untold Key Art

During Opening Night Live fans around the world were treated to a new Age of Mythology: Retold trailer. Focusing on Arkantos, the hero of the game’s 50+ campaign missions, we hear the voice of Athena, coaxing Arkantos to adventure. Showcasing stunning graphics and mythological magic, the trailer gives us another taste of how much players have to be excited about. The trailer also showed the bacchanal of chaos that comes in the final Wonder Age, a new addition to Retold.

Whether you choose to play through the campaign alone or with friends, vs AI or in ranked multiplayer, every game will be different. Advanced Access starts August 27, 2024, at 5pm PT for those who pre-order the Premium Edition and full global launch kicks off on September 4, 2024, on Steam, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X|S. You can learn more about what it’s store by checking out our hands-on preview of Age of Mythology: Retold here on Xbox Wire.

Ara: History Untold Debuts Launch Trailer Ahead of September 24 Release

Windows PC, Steam, or play it day one with Game Pass.

Ara: History Untold Key Art

Ara: History Untold helped kick off gamescom 2024 with the world premiere of its launch trailer at Opening Night Live. The trailer, featuring a combination of live action and gameplay, puts the player in focus, inviting you to explore, create, rule, and conquer in the world of your imagination. Ara: History Untold is an upcoming grand strategy game where you build a nation and lead your citizens throughout history as you compete head-to-head with rivals to prove you are the greatest ruler ever known. Create your own story of history when Ara: History Untold launches on September 24, 2024. Pre-order and pre-install today! It’s your world now.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Shows Off the Action-Packed “Most Wanted” Campaign Mission

Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows PC, Steam, Battle.net, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, or play it day one with Game Pass

We got a look at highlights from one of Black Ops 6’s signature Campaign missions, “Most Wanted”, as Frank Woods’ team attempts to locate and retrieve legendary operative Russell Adler. Beginning with a covert infiltration of a political fundraiser (with a cameo from Governor of Arkansas, Bill Clinton no less), we then see a descent into a CIA Black Site, and a bike riding escape sequence worthy of a classic action movie.

Along the way, we see how Campaign developer Raven is innovating – while this is a classic set piece-driven CoD mission, player choice is at the forefront. There are multiple options for how to get access to the Black Site, and you can choose to go loud or quiet as you infiltrate – it’s your mission. This is just a taste – we’ll learn much more about Black Ops 6 MultiplayerandZombies when the Call of Duty NEXT event kicks off on August 28, before Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 launches on October 25.

Never Fight Alone – Mercenaries are Coming to Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred

Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows PC, PC via Battle.net, Steam, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4

The first expansion for Diablo IV releases worldwide on October 8, and game director Brent Gibson took to the gamescom stage to introduce the Mercenaries – a new feature coming to Vessel of Hatred. Mercenaries are your companions in battle, who grow in strength and can be customized to support your playstyle. Each mercenary is unique in the role they serve, so no matter your class or build, you’ll find a mercenary that’s right for you!

The team also introduced the Dark Citadel, a new co-op PvE experience that will put everything you know about combat to the test through a gauntlet of cooperative puzzles and mechanics, as well as the Kurast Undercity – an intense new multistage, time-attack dungeon that gives you the control over the challenge as well as the loot you will find!

Diablo IV Mercenaries Screenshot

There’s a lot to uncover with these new upcoming features, as well as across the Diablo universe, so Diablo general manager Rod Fergusson, lead game designer Rex Dickson, systems designer Aislyn Hall, and Diablo Immortal’s executive producer Peiwen Yao will be joining us on the Xbox broadcast live at gamescom to share more about what’s to come.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Coming December 9

Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, Steam, or play it day one on Game Pass

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Key Art

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is coming to Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, and Steam on December 9, 2024. Step into the shoes of the legendary archaeologist as he sets off on his latest global adventure. Play it on day one with Game Pass, or up to three days early by pre-ordering the Premium Edition, Premium Edition Upgrade, or Collector’s Edition.

The release date was revealed alongside a brand-new trailer. Get a new look at Indy’s journey around the world and the tools at his disposal as he faces off against sinister forces. From the whip and revolver to his trusty journal and camera, you’ll need everything he’s got to unravel the mystery of the Great Circle.

Starfield’s Shattered Space Arrives on September 30, and the REV-8 Land Vehicle Is Available Today

Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, Steam.

Starfield Screenshot

To the people of the Settled Systems, House Va’ruun is a mystery. Some call them fanatics. Zealots, even. They are seen as violent aggressors. But there’s so much more to this secretive faction. In Shattered Space, the first major expansion for Starfield, you will visit the homeworld of House Va’ruun, hear their story, and make choices that will determine their future. Shattered Space launches on September 30.

In addition to the Shattered Space release date reveal, Opening Night Live also showed off the new REV-8 land vehicle that’s landing in Starfield in the latest update. The update goes live just a few short hours after Opening Night Live and will be available to all Starfield players. Just visit a ship technician and add the REV-8 module to your ship to start touring planets in a new way.

Towerborne Announces Early Access Begins September 10

Early Access begins September 10 on Steam. Coming 2025 to Xbox Game Preview on Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, and Game Pass.

Towerborne Key Art

Towerborne showcased a brand-new trailer during Opening Night Live that gave us a fresh look at its striking, vibrant world and crisp, action-packed gameplay. The latest game from Stoic (Banner Saga Trilogy), Towerborne seamlessly blends the best parts of side-scrolling brawlers and action RPGs to create a unique adventure where you take on the role of an Ace, a hero who must protect humanity’s last sanctuary from malevolent forces that lurk outside the tower walls.

You can experience Towerborne starting September 10, 2024, when early access begins on Steam; later via the Xbox Game Preview program on Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, and with Game Pass in early 2025. To learn more about Towerborne and how Stoic is bringing their latest creation to life, check out our Xbox Wire piece here.

The Worldsoul Saga begins August 26 with World of Warcraft: The War Within

PC via Battle.net

World of Warcraft: War Within Key Art

2024 is a year of anniversaries for the Warcraft universe, which is turning 30 in the same year. Hearthstone celebrates 10 years, Warcraft Rumble approaches one year, and of course, World of Warcraft… which turns 20 years old in November! Feel old yet?

World of Warcraft: The War Within launches globally on August 26 and is the first installment of The Worldsoul Saga—the most ambitious story arc in WoW history. With four new zones to explore, as well as ongoing gameplay and system updates to support players of all types, this is the perfect time to celebrate the last 20 years of WoW as Blizzard prepares for the next 20 years and beyond!

Overwatch 2 is also getting in on the celebrations, revealing their new in-game collaboration with World of Warcraft. In mid-September, skins featuring some of the most iconic World of Warcraft characters will be made available, including Widowmaker as Sylvanas Windrunner.

Keep an eye on the Warcraft X account for more information about how you can celebrate Warcraft’s anniversaries alongside Blizzard, and join the Xbox broadcast live from the show floor at gamescom where we’ll be speaking to senior game director Ion Hazzikostas and associate art director Tina Wang about all things World of Warcraft!

The post gamescom Opening Night Live 2024: Everything Xbox Revealed appeared first on Xbox Wire.

Little Nightmares III: co-op gameplay detailed in new trailer

In Little Nightmares III, players follow the journey of Low & Alone, two best friends looking for a way out of the Nowhere.

Trapped within the Spiral, a cluster of distorted areas within the Nowhere, they will have to work together to survive in a dangerous world full of delusions and escape the grasp of an even greater threat lurking in the shadows.

Little Nightmares III returns to Gamescom with a brand-new trailer, highlighting the synergies between the two characters and teasing new environments to explore!


Little Nightmares III: co-op gameplay detailed in new trailer

Co-operative features and new puzzle-solving mechanics

Little Nightmares III is the first game in the franchise to feature 2 players online co-operation. The latest trailer shows some of the co-operative gameplay mechanics that will be useful when players play together in co-op, or solo with the other character controlled by AI. 

Low and Alone, the two playable characters, are both best friends and very complementary. They each have an iconic item: the bow for Low and the wrench for Alone. 

Working together will be key to progress in the game. For example, in the trailer we see that Low can bring down smaller enemies with his bow, while Alone has to finish them off on the ground with her wrench. 

You can also see Low put his bow to good use at the end of the trailer, saving Alone from the petrifying glare of Monster Baby. 

However, teamwork isn’t only about using items. It is also about clearing the way for your partner so they can help you move forward in turn. You’ll need to be proactive and take initiative for both of you to make it through. 

“The relationship between the two characters is very strong, and we were keen to explore that bond in the game. It is even more relevant when we see them working together to escape the many threats that make up the Nowhere”, mentioned Wayne Garland, Little Nightmares III Game Director at Supermassive Games.

New settings, faithful to Little Nightmares’ atmosphere

Teamwork is at the heart of the trailer, but it’s not the only new thing players will experience as they play through the game’s compelling story. By including co-op, we wanted to offer something fresh for the players, unique to Little Nightmares III, while retaining the beautifully disturbing atmosphere of the series. 

You’ll feel it in the new environments, which are full of mysteries and revelations. You’ll also find the same tension and suspense as these two charming new characters face even greater risks than before, searching for a glimmer of hope in a world filled with darkness.

Necropolis is a good example of a new type of location in the game. In spite of its abandoned state and warm desert colors, the city feels eerie and unsettling. Don’t be fooled by this windswept, brightly lit environment. Danger is everywhere, and Monster Baby is easily roused when new toys tumble into her crib… 

In the trailer, you can also spot a variety of other regions of the Nowhere, each one more unsettling than the last. Some of them might be reminiscent of places you might have explored in previous Little Nightmares games, like dank and gloomy vents and the gears and pistons of pitiless machinery. Some are more unfamiliar, like a rickety Ferris wheel, a shadowy circus tent, or a massive, complex clockwork mechanism. 

You’ll have to be patient before we can tell you more about these places and their inhabitants! More news about Little Nightmares III will be revealed in the near future, so stay together, little ones.

Little Nightmares III will be released in 2025 on PS5 and PS4.

All five of you will get a free buggy when you next boot up Starfield

Fine, that was slightly mean of me. There’s clearly at least fifteen people still playing Starfield, and Bethesda are today rewarding their commitment with a free buggy named the Rev-8. Today! It actually looks pretty nifty. With it, you’ll be able to hop, jump, and skip the tedious ballache that was hoofing it across the RPG’s needlessly large planets. Here’s a looksie:

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ARC Raiders Reinvents Itself As a PvPvE Battler

Back in 2022, ARC Raiders revealed itself as a co-op shooter with stylishly post-apocalyptic guerillas fighting robotic attackers that rained from the sky onto their ruined world. We haven’t heard much since. Now, developer Embark Studios is back, telling us that two years of development have refined its free to play co-op shooter into a PvPvE extraction shooter instead. It’s still a game where teams of scavengers hit the surface world hunting for the things their underground colonies need amid robotic occupation… but now they’re competing with any other scavengers that get in their way.

Also new: ARC Raiders will release in 2025 with a $40 price tag.

“Years back we announced [ARC Raiders] as a co-op only game,” said executive producer Aleksander Grondal. “But since, through extensive playtesting and internal evaluation, we evolved it into a PvPvE action survival shooter, an evolution that for us surfaced the best version of what this game could become.”

That seemed clear from the way the developers spoke about it, and from internal playtest videos that I saw during a live event. Machines were an omnipresent threat to a roving trio of raiders. Some could be taken out by quick coordinated attacks, like flocks of smaller drones, or were best avoided, like heavier fliers armed with rockets. Others were larger, more vicious multi-limbed crawlers that groaned out mechanical roars and which we only saw attacked via ambush tactics. Other teams of scavengers were the truly surprising threat—either glimpsed briefly in the distance, encountered in an interior where both parties were surprised, or spotted as an ambush at an extraction point.

Listen to the world around you in moments of silence.

“This is a game that lives on tension,” said chief creative officer Stefan Strandberg, “where you have to be on your toes. Listen to the world around you in moments of silence.” Strandberg’s statement really hit home with what I saw of ARC Raiders, which was very distinctly lacking in heavy background music, instead favoring environmental noises like wind, trees, water, footsteps, and the noises of characters cracking open boxes with tools.

There was space for all that noise, too, and fights between both players and machines are intended to be spaced out. “The game needs to have the room to build tension properly,” said Grondal, “and that means the pacing between interactions of other players and the AI needs to have enough space for you to feel that.”

The enemies previewed had very distinct sounds to them as well: Fliers had a precise quadcopter buzzing and signal beeping, while rolling explosive bombs had a rotary whine and four-legged hunting walkers had a grinding groan and whir. If the ARC Raiders delivers on this promise, it’s definitely the kind of experience where veterans will recognize and hunt enemies based on the sounds of individual weapons and the weight of footsteps.

It will at least make ARC Raiders stand out when compared to many other modern multiplayer shooters, which are often going louder, faster, and more in sync with a musical score. Strandberg and Grondal were clear that Embark wants ARC Raiders to be a slower and more decisive game – one with consequential choices in how you play and what your setup was beyond the precise details of your gun mods. (Though, I have to say, there was definitely a big page full of gun mods.)

Strandberg in particular said that the studio’s goal was to make it a “rich sandbox of gadgets and tools beyond your military shooter” while still being “grounded” and “tactile.” That seemed at least partially evident in how characters jogged around the world and did heavy vaults over obstacles while laden with equipment. It was also clear in the gadgets they used in footage: One clip showed a player with a kind of grappling gun that pulled them to the upper window of a building, while another showed a player hooking to some kind of stationary zipline.

In another fight a player first deployed a smoke grenade to put cover between himself and an ARC machine walker, then placed a land mine nearby before continuing to run… only to throw a “lure grenade” to the mine’s location once a little further away. The robots are clearly tough, though—only after repeating the trick a second time did it go down, and that was all the grenades the player seemed to have.

The players of the brief gameplay demo escaped their jaunt to the surface via a subway stop—after some tense cat-and-mouse gunplay with another team camping the extraction site. Their “time on surface” clocks read 11 minutes, 39 seconds as the loot screen rolled. They didn’t yet know exactly how many people would be in a match, but they did say that crossplay was intended and that ongoing matches currently backfilled new teams as older ones extracted.

ARC Raiders should release with a “robust” live service experience, including regular free updates post-launch.

Grondal said that ARC Raiders should release with a “robust” live service experience, including regular free updates post-launch.

As to how the team felt about the switch from a focus on co-op to the PvP element being front and center? “We kept the good parts, and that was 100% the right decision,” said Grondal, “and the game is so much better for it.”

RoadCraft is a heavy construction sim from the makers of MudRunner

Announced at this year’s Geoffcom, RoadCraft is a new game courtesy of the vehicular bods behind MudRunner and SnowRunner. This means it’s very much a simulation game where you’re fighting terrain with tyres, except this time you aren’t just driving about, but managing a fleet of machines to carry out heavy construction work. Think a mixture of logistics, cars, cranes, and paving some lovely new roads from a once dilapidated junk heap.

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Save 20% Off the Xbox Elite Series 2 Pro-Grade Controller With Component Pack

Walmart is offering a 20% discount on the professional-grade Xbox Series X Elite Series 2 Wireless Controller. Right now you can grab it for only $142.33 shipped (normally $180). This is the original Black model that includes the component pack. The newer Elite Series 2 Core controllers in White, Blue, and Red do not include the component pack and they normally retail for $140. The component pack retails for $59.99.

Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 for $142.33

Includes component pack

The Xbox Elite Series 2 Core controller features better build quality and lots more customizability than the stock controller that comes with the Xbox Series X console. Some of the pro gaming features include adjustable-tension thumbsticks, wrap-around rubberized grip, and shorter hair trigger locks. The component pack, which is bundled with this controller, includes an extra sets of paddles, thumbsticks, D-pad, and case.

Check out the best Xbox deals today for more discounts on Xbox accessories.

Lost In Cult Is Launching A Huge Book On The History Of Grasshopper Manufacture

Includes interviews with Suda51 and Shinji Mikami.

Book publisher Lost in Cult has announced it will be launching a comprehensive book celebrating Japanese studio Grasshopper Manufacture.

Written by Blake Hester and clocking in at over 400 pages, Kill the Past: 25 Years of Grasshopper Manufacture will launch in Q2/Q3 2025 with pre-orders available now until 18th October 2024.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Xbox Insiders: Everything You Need to Know About Xbox Game Pass Standard

Hey Insiders, let’s talk Game Pass! Starting today, we’re offering Xbox Insiders the option to try out and provide feedback on our new membership, Xbox Game Pass Standard.

We created a new membership option in the Game Pass family to give players more choice in how they discover and play games and provide different prices and plans so players can find what works best for them. For those looking for a larger library with hundreds of games to play on your console, plus all the benefits of Game Pass Core including multiplayer access, Game Pass Standard may be the option for you. Game Pass Standard also includes select member deals and discounts, including up to 50% off select games.  

Hundreds of great games will be available with Game Pass Standard at launch. Players will get access to select titles as part of the new Game Pass Standard library, with more games being added throughout the preview period. Once you join the preview, you can look up the Game Pass Standard library to find your next favorite game.

During this Xbox Insiders preview, you can sign up for just $1. Any renewals during the preview period will also be $1 per month. At launch, Game Pass Standard will be available for $14.99 USD per month (pricing varies by market).

If you’re looking for other console membership options, Game Pass Core has a select collection of over 25 Game Pass games, online multiplayer access, and select member deals and discounts. Game Pass Standard includes everything available in Game Pass Core, plus hundreds of great games. If you are looking for those benefits plus day one titles, specific entries to Game Pass Ultimate library, access to EA Play, cloud gaming, Perks, Quests, and additional discounts for games in the Game Pass library, Game Pass Ultimate might be the best option for you.

Some games coming to Game Pass Ultimate (day one games or other game entries) will not be immediately available with Game Pass Standard and may be added to the library at a future date (can be up to 12 months or more and will vary by title). We’ll continue to share with all Game Pass members when games are being added and available to play for each plan.

 If you’re interested in joining the Insiders preview, please go to the Xbox Insider app located in the Microsoft Store. Terms and Conditions are located there.  Game Pass Core members with less than 2-months stacked onto their account, Game Pass for Console and PC Game Pass players who are a part of the Xbox Insiders program can participate and share their feedback.

As always, huge thank you to all our Insiders – you are a wonderful community, and we appreciate all your feedback.  If you’re an Xbox Insider looking for support, please join our community on the Xbox Insider subreddit. Official Xbox staff, moderators, and fellow Xbox Insiders are there to help.

We’re excited to hear from those that join Game Pass Standard during the preview, and we’ll have more to share on availability for all players coming soon!

The post Xbox Insiders: Everything You Need to Know About Xbox Game Pass Standard appeared first on Xbox Wire.

Get Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for 40% Off, Stock Up Now and Avoid the Price Hike (Extended)

Woot! (which is owned by Amazon) is offering the best deal on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. Right now you can get a 3 month code for only $36.49. Microsoft recently raised the price of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate to $19.99 per month, so now you’re saving 40% off a 3 month membership. Note that you can purchase multiple codes and apply them to your account, up to a maximum of 36 months. This deal was supposed to expire last week, but Woot! has extended the deadline to August 23.

Note: There is a coupon code “VIDEOGAMES” that takes $3 off one order. If you purchase multiple gift cards, this code will only work on a single gift card.

3 Months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for $33.49

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate gives you access to a library of hundreds of Xbox games, including day one releases. You can play them for the entirety of your membership without any restrictions. You do lose access to them once your membership is over, but if you ever decide to renew, all your past achievements and progress will be saved. You’ll also have access to Xbox Game Pass for PC. Although there aren’t nearly as many games as there are on Xbox, there are still plenty of AAA titles to keep you sated. Other perks include exclusive membership discounts, the ability to play your games across multiple devices with cloud gaming, free access to EA Play membership, as well as bonus in-game content and rewards. It is an exceptionally good – almost essential – membership for Xbox gamers. New release games are not cheap, and being able to play them without buying them will save you a lot of money and easily recoup the cost of the membership.

Looking for more Xbox deals? Check out all of the best Xbox deals today.

Takaya Imamura Interview: Original F-Zero Designer Was ‘Really Surprised’ by the Series Revival

When F-Zero rose from the dead in 2023’s September Nintendo Direct, no one was more surprised than the man who designed Captain Falcon over three decades ago.

Ex-Nintendo designer Takaya Imamura was with the company for over 30 years, with credits on all-time classics like The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, Star Fox 64, and F-Zero. But when F-Zero 99 launched on Nintendo Switch last year, it was the first entry in the franchise without Imamura’s input, and the creator admits he wouldn’t have thought of the 99-player online direction for the series.

“The first thing I thought was really that if I’d still been at Nintendo, I don’t think I’d have been able to take this approach to it.,” Imamura says. “So I was really surprised that they made such an original take on the IP on the game itself and arranged it in such a fun way.”

Imamura may not be at Nintendo anymore, but he still holds his two main creations – F-Zero and Star Fox – very close to his heart. In fact, Imamura has already found his way back to video game development, as he’s working on a new project with an art style that’s very reminiscent of his pair of Nintendo darlings. OMEGA 6: The Triangle Stars uses the same retro future art style that Imamura built his career on, and it’s the first game he’s worked on since leaving Nintendo three years ago.

“I think it’s the first time I’ve drawn pixel art since Star Fox on Super Nintendo, which has been a while,” he says with a smile.

Imamura’s OMEGA 6 began with a 2022 manga published in France that’s now being adapted into an adventure game due out on PC and Nintendo Switch in 2025. It’s set around a journey to locate a new home planet for the human race, and Imamura says he put his all into the original comic before beginning work on the video game.

While Imamura himself tinkers on a new IP, he also comments on the state of the games and entertainment industry, noting how difficult it is for a new idea to take off.

“I think Nintendo’s real peak was when [Shigeru] Miyamoto-san was in a really central position and they were creating lots of new IP. But at the moment – and this is not just related to Nintendo – but at the moment, in the games market and in general in the entertainment world, it’s really tough to bring a new IP to market and have it be successful.”

Read on for IGN’s full interview with Imamura-san (through an interpreter), where we discuss where F-Zero goes from here, his new project OMEGA 6, why Star Fox 64 is still the most special game he’s worked on, and the keys to Nintendo’s success in the future.

IGN: When you spoke with IGN in 2021 right after you left Nintendo, you said F-Zero wasn’t gone for good, but a grand new idea was needed to bring it back. Last year, Nintendo revealed and released F-Zero 99, the first F-Zero game released that you weren’t involved with. What were the emotions when you saw F-Zero finally return from the outside?

Takaya Imamura: First off, I was really surprised. The first thing I thought was really that if I’d still been at Nintendo, I don’t think I’d have been able to take this approach to it. So I was really surprised that they made such an original take on the IP on the game itself and arranged it in such a fun way.

IGN: Why don’t you think that you would’ve been able to take that direction?

Imamura: I think it was mainly because when I saw it, I thought, “Well, that’s just like Nintendo to take this direction.” And for me, F-Zero, I’ve been working on it so long that I’ve got this… My vision of it is not as flexible as whoever took the reins on [F-Zero] 99 and was able to basically think outside the box and recreate what it was.

IGN: So now that Nintendo has acknowledged F-Zero again in this way, where do you think this series can go from here?

Imamura: If you’re asking me, in my imagination, I’m seeing something scaled up akin to F-Zero GX. But given Nintendo’s got the reins at the moment, I think they as a company will probably take it in the direction for a wider range of players, including casual gamers as well. So it’s an IP that can really capture a wide range of players.

IGN: I think that we’re in agreement that GX is the pinnacle of the F-Zero series, but basically every F-Zero game is fantastic and the sales numbers didn’t always reflect their quality. And that led to a near twenty-year hiatus. I’m wondering, as the series progressed, did you and the team ever feel like you needed a big sales hit to keep the series alive? Or as a creative were you never really focused on that side of things?

Imamura: Of course, the most important thing of any product is that it sells. So that was the first thing on our mind. We can’t just focus on game fans. We couldn’t, I couldn’t when I was at Nintendo. But F-Zero and Star Fox tend to be supported by more core gamers than casual, and Nintendo obviously needs to be able to approach a wider range of players. So yes, of course, the first thing on my mind was to have something that sells. But these games seemed to have better support with a more core gamer audience.

IGN: So you just mentioned Star Fox, and last time we spoke with you, you called Star Fox 64, “the game of your life.” And I think a lot of fans agree that is the highlight of that series. I’m wondering if you can share why Star Fox 64 is so special to you beyond the fact that you put so much care and hard work into it.

Imamura: I think it’s difficult to express exactly why I feel that, but I think it’s probably mainly because out of all the games I’ve worked on, it’s the one where my vision has been most reflected in the final product. I was able to put most, if not all, of the ideas I had into the game. So it’s the game that I’ve made that has the most of me in it. I’m a huge film and game fan myself. And I think probably Star Fox 64 has the most elements of that, homage to other creative works, film, games, et cetera.

[Star Fox 64] is the game that I’ve made that has the most of me in it.

IGN: We’ve talked about F-Zero and Star Fox, and now you’re working on OMEGA 6, and it only takes a glance to see the similarities in your character design with those two Nintendo series we’ve touched on. OMEGA 6: The Triangle Stars uses your iconic retro future art style that F-Zero and Star Fox share. Can you just tell me very simply to readers who may not know, what is OMEGA 6?

Imamura: I don’t know if it’s the elevator pitch, but in a single phrase, the best way to describe it would be that it’s the video game spin-off product of me really wanting to become a manga artist, a mangaka, and creating a comic, putting my all into this comic and then spinning off into a game.

IGN: I find that really interesting because you left Nintendo to try something new, and you’ve been teaching, you wrote this manga, but through it all, it’s led you back to video game development. And I’m wondering when you left Nintendo, if you planned to eventually work on another game again and how that all came to be.

Imamura: Well, I had actually been thinking about game development. It was on my mind after I’d left, but I wasn’t thinking about something quite as large as OMEGA 6 has become. It was more a compact, smaller experience at first, but then we started adding things, and before I knew it, here we are.

IGN: What excites you the most about OMEGA 6? And what do you want to tell fans of your previous works about it to get them excited as well?

Imamura: Well, one of the things would be that I basically drew every single pixel in the game. So the first thing would be that I want the fans to look at the pixel art and enjoy it basically. I think it’s the first time I’ve drawn pixel art since Star Fox on Super Nintendo, which has been a while.

IGN: So speaking of that, the Super Nintendo was a long time ago, and you saw Nintendo through many highs and many lows. And right now, Nintendo’s riding what you could call an all-time high, at least financially speaking. In your opinion, what about Nintendo’s leadership and direction keeps the company relevant both across the generations that you were there for and into the future?

Imamura: Obviously, it’s just my opinion, but I think Nintendo’s real peak was when Miyamoto-san was in a really central position and they were creating lots of new IP. But at the moment – and this is not just related to Nintendo – but at the moment, in the games market and in general in the entertainment world, it’s really tough to bring a new IP to market and have it be successful. So I think what Nintendo will need to do is to work on new IP and also the existing IP, become something like Disney in terms of having all these IPs that they can create products from.

IGN: I want to make sure we touch on Zelda because you were the art director on Majora’s Mask, which is one of the most visually interesting games in the series. And the story is different and mature as well about sadness and regret. What it was like working on a Zelda game that’s still so distinct from the rest of the franchise?

Imamura: That’s quite a well-known episode in that the president of the Nintendo at the time, [Hiroshi] Yamauchi, the order came down from him to make a new Zelda in one year. And so it came down to two points. One of them was that we had the previous Zelda and we wanted to differentiate it from that. And the other one was how do we create a new world, something that is very new, that is distinctively different from previous Zeldas in such a short time? And that was basically what we came up with. We took a different path visually and conceptually. My job on the art side was to make it different from Ocarina of Time – as clearly different as possible. And that’s why we ended up with the world that that game is set in.

I think Nintendo’s real peak was when Miyamoto-san was in a really central position and they were creating lots of new IP.

IGN: I’ve always been very fascinated by the design of Majora’s Mask itself, the item. When I was a kid, I used to just stare at the cover art of it on the Nintendo 64 box. What were your inspirations for the design of the very creepy mask?

Imamura: So in Osaka, there’s a museum that collects lots of different artifacts and clothing from different ethnic groups. And I often go there for inspiration for different designs and stuff. And for the mask in particular, that was one place where I absorbed a lot of design ideas from.

IGN: My final question here is, as the person who created Tingle, every time a new Zelda is revealed, are you hoping that Tingle shows up in some capacity?

Imamura: [Laughs] I haven’t seen him in recent games, but I think there is a character similar to Tingle in Tears of the Kingdom.

IGN: Thank you so much, Imamura-san. I appreciate the time, and best of luck with OMEGA 6 and at gamescom.

Imamura: Thank you for your time as well.

Parts of this interview were edited for clarity.

Logan Plant is IGN’s Database Manager, Playlist Editor, and Super Ninfriendo on Nintendo Voice Chat. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

Blogroll image credit: Takaya Imamura (https://twitter.com/ima_1966/status/1351786503815397376/photo/1)