GDC ’09: Nintendo made Rhythm Heaven developers learn how to dance
Literally
Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has been up on stage at this year’s GDC (which Jon’s been avidly liveblogging) talking up Nintendo like he was wearing a brain slug, but without actually saying a great deal about anything.
He did let slip, however, that the DSi game Rhythm Heaven – pegged as the system’s first DSi game (yes, yes - we know it works on the DS, too) - was designed by teaching the developers to dance.
Okay, so it’s not quite Strictly Come Wii Balance Board On Ice, but it’s interesting to think that a bit of plank spanking was put to effective use in fine tuning the rhythm mechanics of the gameplay.
The game’s already sold 1.7 million units in Japan, and the crowd at GDC got terribly excited about matters when Iwata announced that everyone looking at him would be getting a free copy.
