Hello everyone. My name is Satoru Iwata from Nintendo. Now that Fire Emblem will become available for the first time on the Nintendo DS, I would like to take this opportunity to introduce everyone to all the attractions that this game will offer on a new format. However, this occurred at the same time when I had to head off to the U.S. for the E3 press conference in Los Angeles. With all the demands on my schedule, at first I thought it might be impossible to make this interview happen, but then I came up with an idea.
The idea was to ask Mr. Masahiro Sakurai from Sora Limited to interview Narihiro-san from Intelligent Systems on the exciting developments in Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon. I’m sure everyone is familiar with Sakurai-san’s work on Super Smash Bros., and Narihiro-san has worked extensively as producer of the Fire Emblem series. Sakurai-san’s deep familiarity with the Fire Emblem world can be felt keenly through his work on Super Smash Bros., so it only seemed natural to ask him to do the interview. What immediately came to mind was the memory of Sakurai-san singing the Fire Emblem song on stage at the August, 2002 Super Smash Bros. Melee orchestra concert, sponsored by HAL Laboratory.
So while I was at E3, Sakurai-san did the interview for me, and he is about to give you the background and news on Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon. With his passionate enthusiasm towards the game, I’m confident he can get the story from Narihiro-san from a perspective that only Mr. Sakurai can provide, and one that is uniquely different from my own.
Perhaps readers may feel these last-minutes changes are a little sudden, but please make yourselves comfortable and enjoy the interview.
*This interview was held in the summer of 2008, right before the release of Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon for the Nintendo DS in Japan.
1. Curate Wrys: A character appearing in Vol. 1 of Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon (Japanese title: Ankoku Ryū to Hikari no Tsurugi), built originally for the NES. This character does not appear in the sequel Mystery of the Emblem (Japanese title: Monshou no Nazo), also built for Super NES, but he will appear again in this latest remake.
2. R.O.B. (Robotic Operating Buddy): A peripheral device that could move wirelessly through an interlock connection to the NES. R.O.B. also appeared in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
3. Nintendo Wars: A strategy simulation game released in Japan on August, 1988 for the NES. Better known in North America as Advanced Wars, is a series of games that Intelligent Systems worked on. This series became popular in Japan, but did not reach the US until the Game Boy version was made in 2001.)
4. Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon: A simulation role playing game released in Japan on April, 1990 for the NES. With the release of Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon on the Nintendo DS, Fire Emblem returns to its roots with a complete remake of the original, with added new features including touch screen controls, multiple save options, and a new chapter in the beginning that sheds light on the main character Marth, of his early years.
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