We’re still a bit away from the release of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door on Switch On May 23Mr, but thanks to last week’s hands-on previews, we now have confirmation of the game’s frame rate. Nintendo’s latest remake will run at 30FPS (down from 60FPS on the GameCube original), but that’s not a decision the developers took lightly, suggests Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon director Abebe Tinari (thanks, iGamesNews).
The director recently took to Twitter to say that he “can sympathize” with the Paper Mario devs, drawing on his personal experience with Bayonetta Origins to explain why the game might not run at the higher framerate that many expected.
“The hardest part of being a game developer is making decisions about what to prioritize,” Tinari emphasized in a Twitter thread where they shared insights into game processing costs and how even the simplest visuals or mechanics can carry their own weight. “I promise you, it was not a decision taken lightly or out of ‘laziness’.”
It’s an interesting read, especially considering how easy it is to jump to conclusions about things like this. We’ve attached the entire thread below so you can check out Tinari’s full thoughts on the situation and their proposed reasoning for why it might have happened.
Of course, this is just one person’s opinion and it is by no means the the ultimate reason for Paper Mario’s 30 FPS frame rate, but it’s always good to hear the insights of the pros.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door opens on Switch next month. For a reminder of our thoughts on the remake so far, you can find our hands-on review below.