Cubed3′s sister site, Cubed3 Korea posted an interview with Kim Hyung-Noh, the Director of the MapleStory DS project back on 14th April, 2010, the day before MapleStory DS launched in South Korea. The article is completely in Korean at the moment, with the officially translated English version waiting to be cleared by Nexon before it gets posted here. However, it was only a matter of time before someone picked up on the original article and tried to translate parts thanks to the wonders of online translation machines.

• The DS team is different from the one that makes the PC version of MapleStory, but everyone in the company understands the core aspect of the game, so advice and feedback were regularly given to create a nice balance between what makes the PC edition fun and bringing a new experience to DS;
• Both the Korean and Japanese arms of Nintendo helped out on the development side;
• The Director of the project estimates a good 30-40 hours of gameplay, with there being four separate stories to play through, plus other features that are unlocked when the game is completed and the ability to collect coupons to use in the PC version of MapleStory;
• Multiplayer features were eventually dropped from the plan because everyone preferred to focus on the single-player mode instead;
• Customisation levels are low compared to the PC game since the focus is indeed on the single-player adventure;
• Cost-related problems and development issues meant that download content could not be included, despite wanting to initially have such a feature;
• The plans for the Western release have not yet been finalised, but Kim Hyung-noh does want the coupons trading feature included in the eventual Western release.

• Nexon is consulting with Nintendo about bringing the limited edition red MapleStory DS Nintendo DSi system overseas (see image below);
• Nexon’s deal with Nintendo was only for MapleStory DS, but if this game sells well enough, further discussions with Nintendo will take place to bring more of Nexon’s games to DS;
• Nothing is being planned for Wii at the moment, but the team is still considering creating something for the current home console leader in South Korea;
• WiiWare, and other download services, are the natural evolution for game development, so if the market increases sufficiently, Nexon will consider that route.

With regards to the point about the success of MapleStory DS meaning more Nexon games come to DS, the good sign is that it seems the game is already off to a flying start. Popular Korean website Naver has the DS game ranked at No.7 on its search rankings as of 17th April, up from No.15 the week prior to the game’s release. This is seen as a massive achievement due to videogames normally not standing a chance against the popularity of online PC titles. The Korean forum where this news stems from, Ruliweb, implies that being listed on Naver may well be a more powerful advertising tool than the recent slew of TV adverts. At the time of writing, MapleStory DS has climbed up to No.6 on the game-related search rankings.

With any luck, Cubed3 will be given the go-ahead to post the full English interview next week, and will also be receiving MapleStory DS in order to bring readers a hands-on report for the eagerly awaited release. For now, though, anyone able to read Korean can check out the full interview with Kim Hyung-Noh, Director at Nexon, right here.