Maybe it was John Carter or director Brian De Palma's box office bomb, Mission to Mars, but the creators of Fire Emblem Awakening, after early discussions about setting the game on Mars, decided against the idea.

"We made proposals that were a complete departure from the medieval worldview so far," said Intelligent Systems' Masahiro Higuchi, who served as project manager, "like Fire Emblem completely in the modern world or the one which has the sense of a fairy tale. But they were too far out, so we couldn't get started."

Producer Hitoshi Yamagami also talked during the Iwata Asks segment, adding that the Mars concept was a "drastic break" that "didn't go very well."

The game's character design and illustration responsibilities went to Kozaki Yusuke, who previously created illustrations for a Fire Emblem trading card series in Japan. The visual design's goal for Fire Emblem Awakening is to draw in a deeper base of fans to the franchise.

"We aimed for design that would bring in new players," added Yusuke. "To be honest, in the past, I've tried Fire Emblem a few times but always stopped partway through. I didn't think it was boring, but it was difficult to come into the series in the middle. I was that kind of person, (and it) actually inspired me to accept this job."

Fire Emblem Awakening hits the Nintendo 3DS on February 4th, 2013. Should this medieval tale change its scenery to the Red Planet? Tell us what you think!

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