 You may remember that our first developer interview back in November was with a happy Scotsman/Australian going by the name of Nic Watt. This happy chappy was in charge of the development of WiiWare favourite Pop, and we recently got back in touch to ask a few more questions regarding his upcoming DSiWare iteration of the game. Below, you can find out all about Pop Plus in the first ever DSiWare-focused interview.You're making a version of Pop for DSiWare - why did you choose to port it to Nintendo's upcoming handheld? Nic Watt: We are massive fans of Nintendo hardware and software and for us Pop felt like a natural fit. Like the iPhone version the touch screen nature of the DSi really helps with the tactility of the game. In particular you feel so much more involved with the game being able to tap bubbles to pop them and to touch and wiggle them to pump them up.
What are the limitations in creating games for this service? Will the presentation be downscaled noticeably?
Obviously the DSi is not as powerful as either the Wii or the iPhone however we are really pleased with the results we have achieved and in particular have managed to keep the bubbles looking good even though the DSi has a more restricted palette and ability to do transparencies.
 What's unique about this version of your bubble popping game?Pop Plus: Solo as we are calling this version has several new modes above those found in the iPhone version. The WiiWare one had 4: Training, Normal, Advanced and Chill as well as 1 bonus round type Machine Gun. The iPhone had 6: Training, Normal, Advanced, Chill, Bonus Mode and Timed Mode as well as 3 bonus round types; Machine Gun, Detonate and Defend. This version all of the above as well as 2 brand new bonus modes and a heap of new badges. We are also working hard to add two brand new modes to Pop Plus; Adventure which will feature 3 boss battles, a first for the franchise and Challenge mode where players can create new, short challenges for themselves.
Are you still keeping multiplayer in the game, and how will it work? Pop Plus: Solo will not have any multiplayer in it in part so we can try to make launch of the DSiWare service and also to keep the cost of the game down. We are looking at adding a second DSi version Pop Plus: Versus which will contain about 4 multiplayer modes and include DSi to DS download play. Players will be able to download Pop Plus: Solo or Versus separately.
Are there any other new modes that you are going to introduce?
As I mentioned above we are adding in 2 new bonus round types to bring the total to 5, heaps of new badges to bring the badge total closer to 100 and we are working very hard on completing Challenge and Adventure mode. Over and above the WiiWare version the DSiWare version will have many new modes. Bonus Mode which we introduced in the iPhone version allows players to play 3, 5 or 10 rounds of their favourite bonus round with each level getting harder than the last. Timed mode which we also introduced in the iPhone version asks the player to score as high as he or she can in 1, 2 or 5 minutes which is great for short bursts.
 We will also be including the classics: Chill where the player can chill out and pop bubbles with no time or score pressures, Normal where the player tries to progress through as many waves as possible and get a high score, Advanced which tasks the player with scoring 9,999,999 in as short a time as possible and of course Training which allows the user to master the basics.
How far into the development are you with Pop for DSiWare, and when are you expecting it to be released?
We are very far into development of Pop Plus: Solo and are trying our best to get it out in time for the DSiWare launch in the US and hopefully Europe.
Is there anything at all that you could tell us about how Nintendo are handling the DSiWare service?
Nor really. As far as we understand it is pretty similar to how WiiWare works. Most applications will be smaller than WiiWare ones due to the nature of the DS and I think their price will reflect that.
The last time we spoke, you were finishing off the iPhone version of Pop - how did that go?
We are really pleased with how the iPhone version has gone. Already we have won 1 award from Pocketgamer and were finalists in 6 Best App Ever awards. The iPhone is a tough market to break into and we are trying our best to keep pushing Pop with new updates and the like.
 Any other, non-bubble related titles planned for the future, yet, and do you have any plans to expand the series further?
We are looking to our next franchises now that Pop Plus is getting closer to completion. We hope to have something to announce in respect to that in the next few months.
Anything else to say to our readers before you go?
Nic Watt was talking to Billy White Thanks very much for our second interview Nic, and we can't wait to get our hands on the DSi version of Pop! A review of Pop Plus Solo will be online shortly after release on the European DSi shop channel. Links |
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