When Kikizo asked Insomniac's Ryan Schneider about other games taking influences from their Ratchet & Clank series, Ryan mentioned one game in particular that seemed to crib from them. You're not going to like it!"One that we're even extremely flattered by is Super Mario Galaxy, with their spherical worlds; we did spherical worlds in Going Commando, and Up Your Arsenal. It would be amazing to think that Miyamoto-san thought that was so cool that he wanted to incorporate it into Mario Galaxy."
You know who else did spherical worlds? The universe. You may remember some awesome levels like Earth and
[Via GoNintendo]













Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-04-2007 @ 4:16PM
Fullmetal Salchemist said...
This post is made of win.
Or "Wiin." Whichever works.
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10-04-2007 @ 4:24PM
Marasai said...
I have 4 words for Ryan: Raphael the raven's fort.
you know that Yoshi's ialsnd boss who you fight on a sphericla world?
Can someeon remind me who made that game again...I wanna say insomniac but I think it might be....
oh yeah. MIYAMOTO.
Schneider should go back to making his half featured platformer.
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10-04-2007 @ 4:26PM
Mr Khan said...
Now, this might be a bit esoteric, but the fully spherical worlds within one area was done in Sonic Adventure 2, specifically Dark Story level 12: Mad Space (a Rouge area with very irritating gravity mechanices between spherical worlds)
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10-04-2007 @ 4:28PM
Steve said...
He's referring to those extremely small "spherical" levels in the two R&C games. It was the first time I played anything like that. You should actually play the games he's talking about before you make snarky comments. If you see the levels he's talking about (e.g. Giant Clank vs. the robot) you'll see immediately what he meant by "spherical worlds".
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10-04-2007 @ 4:29PM
Fullmetal Salchemist said...
Isn't the special stage in Sonic 3 a "spherical world"?
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5b/Sonic_3_Special_Stage.png
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10-04-2007 @ 4:43PM
troy said...
Yeah, Steve, IF you play. Which nobody has. Which is precisely why he didn't need to be so 'flattered,' because I bet his ideas weren't released prior to 2000, when Mario 128 was demoed. And why, pray tell, if he realized what a great idea it was, did he not actually make a game like that and just have it as a throwaway part of two throwaway games on a throwaway system? Because he is a big meglomaniacal douchebag? I guess that's it!
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10-04-2007 @ 4:46PM
PsychoWarden said...
Throwaway games on a throwaway system? The Ratchet and Clank series is hugely popular, both in the US and Japan, and anyone who calls the PS2 a throwaway system is a fanboy of the highest caliber, and not the good kind of fanboy either. Check your facts before you go out insulting people.
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10-04-2007 @ 4:49PM
mian said...
"You know who else did spherical worlds? The universe."
Nice line. =)
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10-04-2007 @ 4:50PM
Michael C. Sherrin said...
Nice to see Ratchet and Clank giving themselves props for innovation.
******
Michael C. Sherrin
http://www.prodigeek.com/
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10-04-2007 @ 4:54PM
Jimmijam said...
Ratchet & Clank Going Commando is my favorite PS2 game. Those guys at Insonmiac are talented bunch. The Spherical Worlds were awesome.
It's really moot where the idea came from. If we (gamers) get to play and enjoy them, why should anyone care?
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10-04-2007 @ 4:59PM
SuperDave said...
@Steve
I have both of those games and beat them.
See Marasai's comment. This was done on Yoshi's Island. Yeah it was in 2D but in perspective only. So this was done way back in the Super Nintendo days by yes...Miyamoto.
Oh and btw I love the Miyamoto picture for this story. Perfect.
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10-04-2007 @ 5:02PM
SuperDave said...
By the same token guys, let's not get carried away. The Ratchet & Clank games were pretty fun and some of the best platforms around Definitely not "throwaway games".
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10-04-2007 @ 5:02PM
SuperDave said...
Oops, meant to say "platformers", not "platforms".
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10-04-2007 @ 5:04PM
comtar said...
What? The universe made round worlds? That's heresy, everyone knows the world is flat... A spherical world? That's as insane as stating the Earth revolves around the sun. Everyone knows the sun goes around the Earth.
Now excuse me, I have to sacrifice a virgin to appease the gods of the crops so our fruit can be plentiful this year.
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10-04-2007 @ 5:19PM
LuigiHann said...
Psychonauts also has some cool levels with... questionable gravity. No spheres that I've come across, but still some pretty crazy levels with twisty platforms, each with their own gravitational pull.
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10-04-2007 @ 5:37PM
Mr Khan said...
I've never really gotten a chance to play R&C, but its starting to sound good
But the point of all this is that platformers have been playing with gravity for a while now, between the many counter-examples here
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10-04-2007 @ 5:39PM
samfish (MSDF- Nurse Outfit!) said...
If they honestly think that and don't know ANYTHING about Mario 128 and are unaware that Miyamoto has been talking about this for about 8 years...the Insomniac crew's ego MIGHT just be the size of Jupiter.
BUT in fairness...
"It would be amazing to think that Miyamoto-san thought that was so cool that he wanted to incorporate it into Mario Galaxy.""
It's not like he actually said, "Miyamoto saw our games and incorporated it into Mario Galaxy."
He was just kinda...fantasizing, for lack of a better word.
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10-04-2007 @ 5:41PM
troy said...
Sure, the negativity of my posts were kind of mindless, but that is just the kind of mindless response that people making claims like that are asking for. If the idea of spherical worlds really so clearly came from them, then real gamers would know and give props. If you have to tell people to give you props then whatever you are making a big deal of isn't a big deal, at least in my estimation. I would say that only people who give a shit about games would even know what dude was talking about as it is: if he really came up with the idea first then people would know without it being jammed down their throats. Sure I'm a fanboy, i'd admit it right now! I'd rather puke than play a PS2, or three. So what? It's not as though Nintendo payed for me to like them and not the others: I just naturally do. It's their success and the other's loss.
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10-04-2007 @ 6:17PM
Chintz said...
It's not a videogame, but the novel The Little Prince (Le Petit Prince) and the anime and movie(s?) inspired by it featured a bunch of tiny planets that took the prince a few seconds to run around. I don't know if that book invented the concept but it was written like fifty years ago or something. Anyway it's easy to imagine a game designer coming up with this idea independantly of having seen it somewhere.
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10-04-2007 @ 6:38PM
troy said...
Le Petit Prince! Not only did I see the cartoon as a child, but I also read the book in high school French class. Good stuff, and TOTALLY the true origin of spherical planets, if the universe can't be held responsible. ;) Wink. And I totally agree about the fantasizing thing above, that's probably the spirit they intended it in. I mean: John Lennon got tall crap from his Jesus comment and he meant it in a way that nobody took it, meaning something actual and obvious and not insulting so I will just be cool about it now.
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10-04-2007 @ 7:25PM
Beowulf said...
Why the heck was the Insomniac guy even compelled to drop that line? Why? What does Miyamoto and Super Mario Galaxy even have to do with their game? Their system? What's the point? Do they feel it's their major competitor? Are they releasing at the same time as Galaxy? Do they have no confidence in their product? Why in the heck would you make a DIG at Miyamoto when Miyamoto doesn't even intrude on Ratchet&Clank or any of their games? Hasn't this guy done his homework and even looked at gamasutra or any game website were Mario 128 gets referenced repeatedly? I can excuse him not knowing about Yoshi's Island, but Mario 128? Does everyone who works for Sony automatically transform into a jerk? Is this some sort of plague? WHY, MISTER ANDERSON? WHY?
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10-04-2007 @ 8:23PM
Sonic_13 said...
That guy is only saying that for attention. Really, claiming that you were the inventor or spherical planets? It's not like they haven't existed for 14 billion years prior or anything....
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10-04-2007 @ 11:44PM
linebeginstoblur said...
I think you guys should give him a break. When you create something on your own, and see someone else doing it too, it's hard to know if it's influence or if it's "great minds think alike." I'm not saying that he invented it, but if you're not familiar with people doing it before, and you think of it on your own, then you just may not be aware of examples such as the aforementioned Miyamoto's previous work. Also, in regards to other games previously that used that style, when you're asked a question like that on the spur of the moment, it's hard to think about it and fact-check anything that quickly. Don't forget that the question started with acknowledging that they themselves have been influenced by many things.
I am positive that Schneider did not mean to insult Nintendo or Miyamoto. He did not say that he created the entire style on his own. And anyway, we all make mistakes. I wouldn't be surprised if companies like Insomniac (who also created Spyro) and Nintendo both drew inspiration for certain features from each other.
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10-05-2007 @ 3:03AM
sain said...
You guys are taking what he said out of context....really. He just said that he would like to think Miyomoto took the idea from their game after all their game came before Mario Galaxy.
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10-05-2007 @ 5:40AM
G'Tron said...
On this note, check out "Mo Hawk and Headphone Jack" for the SNES. It's an esoteric little Sonic clone with the typical high speeds and huge worlds, but the gravity system is really unique; there are in fact parts where you launch yourself from planet to planet by running fast enough to achieve escape velocity. An underrated and underexposed game, with at least one feature cool enough to make it into the Mario universe.
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10-05-2007 @ 9:16AM
L said...
Oh, yeah, I forgot about that in that Ratchet and Clank game. But I doubt Miyamoto even knows what Ratchet and Clank is. He's said often in interviews that he rarely actually plays video games so even if he does know about R&C I doubt he's played it or that particular level. Besides, R&C doesn't have a gravity system like SMG. And it's not as if Nintendo doesn't have experience with it. In Animal Crossing: Wild World the world was sherical. What about that old episode of Dragon Ball Z where Goku trained on a tiny planet that he could run all the way around? I could just say they all ripped off that.
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10-05-2007 @ 9:36AM
Zan said...
Don't be jerks, ok guys? The guy only said he would be FLATTERED to think taht Miyamoto actually took inspiration from their game. HOW is that complaining about Nintendo ripping them off? Jesus!
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10-05-2007 @ 10:51AM
mint400 said...
oooh some japanese guy said that it would be cool to think of that some other japanese guy was inspired by japanese guy #1's games.
i'm gonna rant about that in multiple blog comment posts.
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10-05-2007 @ 10:56AM
mian said...
@Zan: You're wrong. Click the read link.
"Yeah, I think that it’s flattering… well OK, first of all, there was a PlayStation 2 game which I won’t name, that was more or less a direct rip-off of Ratchet and Clank. There’s evidence all around us I think, of certain games that have borrowed from Ratchet and Clank. One that we’re even extremely flattered by is Super Mario Galaxy, with their spherical worlds;"
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10-05-2007 @ 12:53PM
JIB said...
Mr Khan thats what Ive been saying since I first heard about the game 2 years ago.
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10-05-2007 @ 3:10PM
James said...
First and foremost, I feel sorry for Tony -- being a Nintendo fanboy is all good and well, but don't let it preclude you from playing good games on other systems. Square didn't magically stop making awesome games when Sony broke away from Nintendo on the PSX. If you haven't played any Final Fantasies after 6, you are doing yourself a great disservice. Likewise, R&C makes a great series; even the PSP version is a hell of a way to spend a bus ride.
On Le Petit Prince, I totally agree that we've found the source of tiny worlds possessed of inexplicable gravity. I never played that far through Yoshi's Island (for some reason, I tried to get into it a few times over the years but always lose interest after the first two worlds), but I'm pretty sure that R&C were the first "real 3D" mini-world games I've ever played, at least. I'm not sure that Mario's new design had anything to do with R&C, and he's definitely adding some new flare, like jumping from planetoid to planetoid, but I think making this a reason to slight Insomniac is just plain crazy.
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10-07-2007 @ 4:41PM
deleted said...
"We're not going to jump into Nintendo fanboy mode and spew venom at Mr. Schneider for daring to impugn Miyamoto-sama…"
Are you still in high school?
"You know who else did spherical worlds? The universe. You may remember some awesome levels like Earth and Pluto Neptune."
You made this whole post in fanboy mode! Besides, Insomniac and Miyamoto both stole spherical worlds from Gitaroo Man.
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