Trivia / Nintendo Software Technology

• What Could Have Been: Project H.A.M.M.E.R., also known internally as Hammer Man and Machinex. The game was announced at E3 2006, and was initially conceived as a gritty Beat 'em Up title that would attract "hardcore" gaming audiences to the Wii. However, the game underwent a Troubled Development, going through multiple revisions over the course of its development (including a complete Lighter and Softer overhaul) before ultimately being cancelled in 2009. A major exposé on the game's development cited the major issues to be that the core gameplay wasn't fun, and the serious creative conflicts between the American staff and Japanese producers that arose in trying to resolve this. Additionally, after the game was cancelled, NST wasn't entrusted with any major projects for several years after the fact seemingly because of how poorly development went (only with the 3DS port of Super Mario Maker would they begin to be more involved in significant releases again, eventually codeveloping Bowser's Fury), meaning it's entirely possible Project H.A.M.M.E.R. failing to come together meant we missed out on other game releases as well.

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