Retro Studios president and CEO Michael Kelbaugh commented on several topics while speaking withGameSpot, including the Wii U’s technical prowess.
According to Kelbaugh, the console is “a powerhouse”, adding, “It’s more than adequate to make great games on.”
“Unfortunately, the perception is that it’s not a very powerful machine. That’s just not true. It’s a powerhouse. It’s more than adequate to make great games on.”
Kelbaugh also mentioned that the Wii U is a “great box to make games on.”
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze was Retro’s first title for Wii U. Moving from Wii to the new console required a steep learning curve, but Kelbaugh said the team was more than ready to face the challenge. Thanks to the Wii U’s added power, artists at the company became “uncorked” and free from the “traditional limitations” they’d been under while working with Wii.
“It was really fun being able to crack that open for the first time and learning HD techniques; pixel shading, having a lot more horsepower and how that impacts the team. It was really fun to watch our artists just go crazy because now they didn’t really have to worry about polygons anymore. ‘Make as many as you want!’”
Lastly, Nintendo producer Kensuke Tanabe has confirmed that Retro Studios is working on a brand new game, and it’s been in development for a few months. As for what it is, Kelbaugh won’t say much.
“We love working with Donkey Kong. It’s a great character. It’s a lot of fun. We love working with Metroid Prime, with Mario Kart; those are fun, fun games to work on. So, you know, you can’t lose,” he said. “Every one of those IPs have been a lot of fun to play with and work on and [we'd] love to come back to them sometime.”
