Notion Games - Super Ubie Land influences, name change ideas, future Wii U/3DS support
A portion of a NintendoEnthusiast interview with Andrew Augustine, the owner, founder and lead artist at Notion Games...
NE: Why did you decide to make Super Ubie Land and what are the games own influences?
AA: I have a 3 year old son and a ton of games that are out today are geared towards adults. I wanted to create a fun game that challenges his gaming skills and at the same time is suitable for his eyes.
Super Mario World 3, Donkey Kong Country, Kirby, and many more great games from the NES and SNES era were excellent examples of how you can create an amazing experience without all of the gore and vulgar language.
I am not against those type of games by any means (I enjoy them myself) but I wanted to create an option for everyone to enjoy.
NE: Ubisoft took issue with the original name ‘Super Ubi Land’, what was your first reaction to this, did you ever consider naming it something entirely different?
AA: The name Ubi is just the character’s name. It was a way to work well with the “Up Up Ubi” title. So we had zero problems in the app store about using the name. Once we became Nintendo developers I guess we were finally on the “radar” and Ubisoft took notice. We were pretty bummed out but we did fully understand Ubisoft’s view on the situation.
We went through many names, Yubi, Oobi, Omie, etc. and even thought of changing the name completely like “Escape from Climate Island.” Matthew decided to just ask if adding an E to the end of the name would be enough. And Ubisoft agreed that it would be fine. So again, we thank them for working with us and allowing us to retain as much of the name as possible.
NE: Is there any chance we may see the game ‘Team Notion’ on the Wii U? If so, when could we expect to hear more?
AA: I will bring as many titles over to the Wii U and 3DS as we can. You can expect to hear more about Team Notion in 2014. We will be tackling that game head on and now that I have more experience creating a full game the process should prove to be easier.
NE: Why did you decide to make Super Ubie Land and what are the games own influences?
AA: I have a 3 year old son and a ton of games that are out today are geared towards adults. I wanted to create a fun game that challenges his gaming skills and at the same time is suitable for his eyes.
Super Mario World 3, Donkey Kong Country, Kirby, and many more great games from the NES and SNES era were excellent examples of how you can create an amazing experience without all of the gore and vulgar language.
I am not against those type of games by any means (I enjoy them myself) but I wanted to create an option for everyone to enjoy.
NE: Ubisoft took issue with the original name ‘Super Ubi Land’, what was your first reaction to this, did you ever consider naming it something entirely different?
AA: The name Ubi is just the character’s name. It was a way to work well with the “Up Up Ubi” title. So we had zero problems in the app store about using the name. Once we became Nintendo developers I guess we were finally on the “radar” and Ubisoft took notice. We were pretty bummed out but we did fully understand Ubisoft’s view on the situation.
We went through many names, Yubi, Oobi, Omie, etc. and even thought of changing the name completely like “Escape from Climate Island.” Matthew decided to just ask if adding an E to the end of the name would be enough. And Ubisoft agreed that it would be fine. So again, we thank them for working with us and allowing us to retain as much of the name as possible.
NE: Is there any chance we may see the game ‘Team Notion’ on the Wii U? If so, when could we expect to hear more?
AA: I will bring as many titles over to the Wii U and 3DS as we can. You can expect to hear more about Team Notion in 2014. We will be tackling that game head on and now that I have more experience creating a full game the process should prove to be easier.
Related Posts:
- A Tale of Two Wii U Games - kotaku
