Support NeoGAF

[teh_pwn]

PRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICEEE CUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTTTTTT!!!

It needs games. I wouldn't buy it at $50, but I'd consider it at $350 if it had games.

 

[Instro]

Which is another reason why Nintendo's refusal to expand in the west is so mystifying.

I think the company is generally hesitant because of the problems they had with Retro early on, and NST as well for that matter. In general they do not buy studios up, western or otherwise, Monolith being the exception of course. I'm not sure what the reason is for that, perhaps they prefer to hire on an individual basis rather than taking on the baggage of a full team. They really should have attempted to create studios in Europe and America years ago though, they are only just now getting around to rebuilding NST which is pretty sad. Particularly when their resources are so split between handheld and console games, they should have more employees than pretty much every other game company in the world.

 

[Khrno]

First party wise I do think it's an interesting comparison that Sony really has a total of two internal games announced for Vita, presumably in favor of supporting the PS4, despite having a first party on par with Nintendo from a staffing perspective.

Nintendo is about 5000 people total these days, while EA, Activision, and Ubisoft are all 8000-9000 employees. Mass hiring might be in Nintendo's interest, since as you have noted earlier, Nintendo keeps missing obvious release dates with their software.

Of course, it's hard to find 4000 new people in Japan given that one of Capcom's primary stated reasons for Western outsourcing is the lack of developers in Japan who can make HD games, with Capcom having much more humble aspirations than the size disparity I mentioned between Nintendo and major HD third party publishers.

The main problem with Nintendo first party model, is that it's only based in Japan. Nintendo are lacking games in different genres because they can't make them themselves in Japan, so they leave that space to third parties but they aren't interested on producing quality products on Nintendo consoles, or anything at all.

Those 4000 new people that you suggest should be hired in the US, Canada, Europe. A sort of WWS (from Sony) management should be organized to deal with all the studios worldwide, and produce many more types of games that would differentiate from the usual Nintendo software, but remaining of top quality as most Nintendo games.

Even if an umbrella management like that isn't formed, then both NoA and NoE should have their own studios, and make games on their own, not waiting for Iwata or Miyamoto to greenlight them. This all boils down to Japan of course, but the lack of power, of initiative, that the other 2 branches have, is what is hindering the most as a company.

 

[big youth]

didn't Nintendo comment on this just recently? Someone did

there is far less company loyalty in America than in Japan. here in America we are expected or even encouraged to switch jobs the second we get the opportunity to advance. I think Nintendo fears the talent will leak if they buy a Western dev.

 

[Mondriaan]

Which is another reason why Nintendo's refusal to expand in the west is so mystifying.

They've got Retro hard at work on an unnamed U title, but I suspect that Nintendo's old guard doesn't really trust them with anything, so why expand them (or anyone else they've acquired in the west)?

 

[teh_pwn]

As a Wii U owner, it's really looking to me as if there was no reason that Nintendo should've even released the Wii U when they did. Sure, they'd be going up against the other consoles if they delayed, but at least then they could've had games ready. Maybe the hardware could've been cheaper or they could've gone for a bigger bump in specs.

And that's just considering if they still went with the largely unappealing GamePad as their main selling point. I'm not even thinking about if they totally revamped their console. What a mess...

Their mistake was thinking they captured lightning again.

Wii's lineup was better, but still bad at launch. Gamecube was significantly better. But Nintendo was rewarded for the mainstream gold mine, so they went straight for it again.

And what has Nintendo's software developers been doing? Do they even have many? Games like Wii Fit and Wii Sports seem like tiny projects, like 6 months with 20-30 people.

 

[Instro]

The main problem with Nintendo first party model, is that it's only based in Japan. Nintendo are lacking games in different genres because they can't make them themselves in Japan, so they leave that space to third parties but they aren't interested on producing quality products on Nintendo consoles, or anything at all.

Those 4000 new people that you suggest should be hired in the US, Canada, Europe. A sort of WWS (from Sony) management should be organized to deal with all the studios worldwide, and produce many more types of games that would differentiate from the usual Nintendo software, but remaining of top quality as most Nintendo games.

Even if an umbrella management like that isn't formed, then both NoA and NoE should have their own studios, and make games on their own, not waiting for Iwata or Miyamoto to greenlight them. This all boils down to Japan of course, but the lack of power, of initiative, that the other 2 branches have, is what is hindering the most as a company.

To the first point, no it isn't, they have studios outside of Japan just not enough. To the second point, SPD 2 oversees games developed outside of Japan already. NoA and NoE shouldn't have any creative control because they have no game developers working within their organizations. The proper course would be to expand the role and scope of SPD 2 I think, simply because they already have tons of experience working outside of Japan.

 

[Sandfox]

Their mistake was thinking they captured lightning again.

Wii's lineup was better, but still bad at launch. Gamecube was significantly better. But Nintendo was rewarded for the mainstream gold mine, so they went straight for it again.

And what has Nintendo's software developers been doing? Do they even have many? Games like Wii Fit and Wii Sports seem like tiny projects, like 6 months with 20-30 people.

The actual launch window looked decent IMO but things obviously didn't work out lol

 

[Aquamarine]

I think the company is generally hesitant because of the problems they had with Retro early on, and NST as well for that matter. In general they do not buy studios up, western or otherwise, Monolith being the exception of course. I'm not sure what the reason is for that, perhaps they prefer to hire on an individual basis rather than taking on the baggage of a full team. They really should have attempted to create studios in Europe and America years ago though, they are only just now getting around to rebuilding NST which is pretty sad. Particularly when their resources are so split between handheld and console games, they should have more employees than pretty much every other game company in the world.

Well if you remember, Nintendo acquired a large stake (top 10 shareholders) of Bandai. When Namco and Bandai merged, Nintendo never actually sold their shares.

To this day, Nintendo STILL HAS millions of Namco Bandai shares they never sold off. Because of this, I wonder if Namco Bandai approached Nintendo and unloaded Monolith Soft to them for an immensely cheap price, in return for perks, like Monolith working with Banpresto to create strategy games....maybe a reduction in royalties as well?

Regardless, Nintendo purchasing Monolith Soft really was a special case fueled by unique circumstances (although the purchase has significantly benefited Nintendo creatively).

But yeah. Silicon Knights fiasco + Retro fiasco + Retro fiasco + NST fiasco have completely dissuaded Nintendo from investing in the West. They do have a couple of great studios contracted out (Monster Studios and Next Level Games), but that's as far as it goes.

 

[big youth]

Just like myself and many people on this board, Nintendo expected Nintendo Land + 2D Mario + Monster Hunter to make for a big launch. throw in NG3, ZombiU, Tekken, etc and it looks like a big launch that will result in hardware sell outs through the holiday.

it's hard to draw any conclusions at this point. if PS4 also bombs in Japan we may think the country is in no hurry to buy new home consoles.

 

[StreetsAhead]

Also, bear in mind how much Nintendo likes to 'oversee' (control) projects. Dealing with time differences, travel, and language barriers is a hassle, too. They should expand in the West, and we all know that they could overcome/deal with those issues, but they don't.

 

[donny2112]

Wii Fit was something that gave major momentum to sales of "the Wii Sports machine"

In Japan, Wii wasn't bundled with Wii Sports. Wii Fit was a hardware driver all on its own.

As mentioned several times, high price + casual software = depressed sales, so no, Wii Fit U won't sell like Wii Fit. It will drive some amount of hardware, though, so again, it would behoove Nintendo to coincide Wii Fit U's release with a price drop to get some of that group to join in for the reduced total price.

 

[Father_Brain]

It's sad to think how little difference replacing Iwata would make, because most indications are that NCL's corporate culture has serious problems - rampant Japan-centrism, Not Invented Here syndrome, penny-pinching on first-party development and (seemingly) third-party relations - that go well beyond the man at the top.

 

[AranhaHunter]

Funny how Sony has an incredible 1st party in the west, but a worthless one in Japan and the East, except for PD and Nintendo is the other way around, except for Retro.

 

[AntMurda]

To the first point, no it isn't, they have studios outside of Japan just not enough. To the second point, SPD 2 oversees games developed outside of Japan already. NoA and NoE shouldn't have any creative control because they have no game developers working within their organizations. The proper course would be to expand the role and scope of SPD 2 I think, simply because they already have tons of experience working outside of Japan.

It is actually Kensuke Tanabe's SPD3 that produced games with Western developers. Hitoshi Yamagami's SPD2 produces games with Japanese developers. And Nintendo started an American production (apart from their developers here) arm that handles the Mystery Case Files games and Sing Party amongst others.

But yeah. Silicon Knights fiasco + Retro fiasco + Retro fiasco + NST fiasco have completely dissuaded Nintendo from investing in the West. They do have a couple of great studios contracted out (Monster Studios and Next Level Games), but that's as far as it goes.

That looks like you are extrapolating random cases together. NST had no fiasco, it was NCL who started swaying away from core heavy games supposedly and screwed NST. That was actually bad NCL management. Silicon Knights situation was completely away from Nintendo. Retro Studios situations were also quite different. I think generally Nintendo prefers meticulous micromanagement in Kyoto and Tokyo, obviously it doesn't feel comfortable having autonomous developers in other continents.

Ultimately, SONY has taken a contemporary globalized approach to development by creating a central world wide hub (SCE World Wide) which creates an environment that supports and nurtures development talent from Japan, America, and Europe equally. Creative forces have autonomy and creative identity.

Nintendo is the opposite. They remain a Japan-centric company that treats its external developers in America and Europe, like red-headed minions. There is zero autonomy and just way too many restrictions.

 

[Baki]

It's sad to think how little difference replacing Iwata would make, because most indications are that NCL's corporate culture has serious problems - rampant Japan-centrism, Not Invented Here syndrome, penny-pinching on first-party development and (seemingly) third-party relations - that go well beyond the man at the top.

Nailed it.

Sony has made strides to fix its Japan centric approach.

 

[StreetsAhead]

It is actually Kensuke Tanabe's SPD3 that produced games with Western developers. Hitoshi Yamagami's SPD2 produces games with Japanese developers. And Nintendo started an American production (apart from their developers here) arm that handles the Mystery Case Files games and Sing Party amongst others.



That looks like you are extrapolating random cases together. NST had no fiasco, it was NCL who started swaying away from core heavy games supposedly and screwed NST. That was actually bad NCL management. Silicon Knights situation was completely away from Nintendo. Retro Studios situations were also quite different. I think generally Nintendo prefers meticulous micromanagement in Kyoto and Tokyo, obviously it doesn't feel comfortable having autonomous developers in other continents.

Well, apparently Project HAMMER was in development hell and not really very fun, anyway. They've found their 'Donkey Kong & Mario Mini' niche now, and it's likely to stick for a while.

 

[shinra-bansho]

In Japan, Wii wasn't bundled with Wii Sports. Wii Fit was a hardware driver all on its own.

As mentioned several times, high price + casual software = depressed sales, so no, Wii Fit U won't sell like Wii Fit. It will drive some amount of hardware, though, so again, it would behoove Nintendo to coincide Wii Fit U's release with a price drop to get some of that group to join in for the reduced total price.

If there isn't a price drop prior to Wii Fit U, do you think Japanese consumers will drop ¥37K/¥32K to play it?

If there is, say, a ¥5K yen discount; do you think consumers will pay ¥32K/¥27K to play it?

 

[AntMurda]

Well, apparently Project HAMMER was in development hell and not really very fun, anyway. They've found their 'Donkey Kong & Mario Mini' niche now, and it's likely to stick for a while.

The one impression on GAF was that it was good. A bit repetitive because of the swing mechanic. It wasn't in development hell because of NST, but because of NCL. They decided that the core audience wasn't there and then forced them to transform the game to Wii Crush. Wii Crush is when the game was stuck in development hell and just discordance as to what the game should even be.

 

[Myshkin]

At least Wii U is stabilizing.

Your deadpan-fu is strong.

 

[jrDev]

Am I too late for the doom yet?

Hell, I'll join in anyway...Nintendo needs to not do a Vita or their in trouble. Actually they announced a few games a few weeks ago but they need to start churning them!

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

I don't think I called the Vita dead last February, though frankly I thought the system was in trouble from the start.

I continue to think the Vita comparisons are misplaced as long as zero big selling software is announced for the system, while knowing that significant Nintendo 1st party output is in the works.

Nintendo is in a lot of trouble and frankly I think of you look at my post history the last few months, I have admitted several times I was wrong about Wii U launch sales and taken Nintendo to task almost daily for what they have done as far as post launch support.

If you want to call me biased, feel free to do so- we all are to some extent. But I do try and approach these threads with a good faith effort.

New Super Mario Bros U wasn't a big title? Sold gangbusters on the Wii. Literally insane numbers. The Wii U version was a huge flop in comparison.

If that game can't generate sales, I seriously doubt some quality "core" games will. Wii never did well on the back of those titles anyways.

 

[Baconsammy]

New Super Mario Bros U wasn't a big title? Sold gangbusters on the Wii. Literally insane numbers. The Wii U version was a huge flop in comparison.

If that game can't generate sales, I seriously doubt some quality "core" games will. Wii never did well on the back of those titles anyways.

NSMB2 on 3DS didn't move handhelds either. If the console/handheld is doing well already, NSMB will too. It's one of those games that once you finally decide to buy a piece of Nintendo hardware you buy along with it. Clearly it's not a system seller on its own.

 

[StreetsAhead]

The one impression on GAF was that it was good. A bit repetitive because of the swing mechanic. It wasn't in development hell because of NST, but because of NCL. They decided that the core audience wasn't there and then forced them to transform the game to Wii Crush. Wii Crush is when the game was stuck in development hell and just discordance as to what the game should even be.

Well, I stand corrected then.

 

[saichi]

NSMB2 on 3DS didn't move handhelds either. If the console/handheld is doing well already, NSMB will too. It's one of those games that once you finally decide to buy a piece of Nintendo hardware you buy along with it. Clearly it's not a system seller on its own.

In this definition, what game is a system seller on its own in Japan and in the west?

 

[Nirolak]

I am pretty sure they can find developers for 3DS in the worst case scenario, and gradually move their more capable staff to Wii U games; in a more optimist scenario, noting that Nintendo's almost a generation behind what Capcom's high end technology was and will be, pretty soon, they can even find developers capable enough to squeeze Wii U. Actually, I think this will become one of their main advantage against PS4 as long as Japan market and Japanese centered games and developers are concerned.


But I don't really think any sudden increase of staff is in their favor. One of the reasons they could handle the massive drop in Wii sales, was that they didn't have a lot of work force to pay for.

Of course you could argue that if they had a lot of more developers, they could probably make enough games to prevent the situation from happening to begin with; but I don't think any of these companies grow large in a short time; the last major publisher that I remembered doing something sudden to rush games, was Disney with Epic Mickey.

I believe they are much better off with spending their money on collaboration with Japanese 3rd parties as a 'short' term solution, as not only it will not burden them with development teams that may have worked on games that may flop and doesn't warrant further development, but also it will strengthen their ties with the 3rd parties while at the same time allowing them to use their diverse range of IPs.

They should have expanded more rapidly, but now that they didn't, it's not a wise choice to do that in a short amount of time.

I don't mean that they should do this tomorrow, but let's say they set a timeline of 10 years, that would be about 400 people worldwide each year, which isn't super explosion growth.

Even if we lower that to 3000 over 10 years, that's 300 more a year, which would still make a notable impact in the shorter term in combination with things like partnerships.

The main problem with Nintendo first party model, is that it's only based in Japan. Nintendo are lacking games in different genres because they can't make them themselves in Japan, so they leave that space to third parties but they aren't interested on producing quality products on Nintendo consoles, or anything at all.

Those 4000 new people that you suggest should be hired in the US, Canada, Europe. A sort of WWS (from Sony) management should be organized to deal with all the studios worldwide, and produce many more types of games that would differentiate from the usual Nintendo software, but remaining of top quality as most Nintendo games.

Even if an umbrella management like that isn't formed, then both NoA and NoE should have their own studios, and make games on their own, not waiting for Iwata or Miyamoto to greenlight them. This all boils down to Japan of course, but the lack of power, of initiative, that the other 2 branches have, is what is hindering the most as a company.

Yeah, I think hiring internationally, or at minimum Japanese people who makes games that are different than what they currently make, would be a good idea.

Retro, Intelligent Systems, and Monolith add both support for their core products as well as producing content that is not typical of the company's overall image, so I feel setting up more studios like that would help.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

NSMB2 on 3DS didn't move handhelds either. If the console/handheld is doing well already, NSMB will too. It's one of those games that once you finally decide to buy a piece of Nintendo hardware you buy along with it. Clearly it's not a system seller on its own.

Then that brings us to the question again of what WILL be a big system seller?

Their attempt at another Wii Sports phenomenon with Nintendoland didn't pan out. Is anyone honestly expecting the soccer mom crowd to care about Wii Fit again? I doubt anyone even uses it regularly who bought it. And if they do, why would they feel the need to upgrade?

A lot of the titles that were responsible for the Wii hysteria simply aren't going to be able to strike lightening twice; so we're left with Nintendo releasing core titles and have a huge lackluster third party lineup. In other words, GameCube.

 

[Baconsammy]

In this definition, what game is a system seller on its own in Japan and in the west?

Animal Crossing, Monster Hunter, Pokemon- Japan (edit: I'm no expert on Japanese tastes. These are just 3 games I see bump hardware sales in a huge way when they release. There's probably more)

Pokemon - West

Then that brings us to the question again of what WILL be a big system seller?

Their attempt at another Wii Sports phenomenon with Nintendoland didn't pan out. Is anyone honestly expecting the soccer mom crowd to care about Wii Fit again? I doubt anyone even uses it regularly who bought it. And if they do, why would they feel the need to upgrade?

A lot of the titles that were responsible for the Wii hysteria simply aren't going to be able to strike lightening twice; so we're left with Nintendo releasing core titles and have a huge lackluster third party lineup. In other words, GameCube.

Nintendoland and Wii Sports aren't system sellers unless the underlying gimmick they rely upon is a system seller. Thus you see the huge difference between the success of Wii Sports and Nintendoland. Nintendoland without an attractive gimmick is just a minigame collection. Meh.

 

[AntMurda]

Retro, Intelligent Systems, and Monolith add both support for their core products as well as producing content that is not typical of the company's overall image, so I feel setting up more studios like that would help.

I'm not sure how well thought out that was. Metroid Prime? Donkey Kong Country? RetroStudios nor Intelligent Systems are creating any NEW IPs expanding the portfolio of what Nintendo has already created. In regards to Retro Studios, as I mentioned above, the problem with the few Western studios that work under or for Nintendo, is that they have no autonomy and merely follow templates to create Japanese Nintendo type sequels. Hiring more people is irrelevant if the management doesn't change.

If Nintendo wants to remain a global hardware manufacture, it has to decentralize and de-homogenize development to represent a bigger demographic of consumers and potential consumers.

 

[StreetsAhead]

I don't mean that they should do this tomorrow, but let's say they set a timeline of 10 years, that would be about 400 people worldwide each year, which isn't super explosion growth.

Even if we lower that to 3000 over 10 years, that's 300 more a year, which would still make a notable impact in the shorter term in combination with things like partnerships.

We'll know in April how many people they hired this last FY when they release the reports, no?

Current number is 5,095 full time employees WW as at Sept 2012.

 

[serplux]

Animal Crossing, Monster Hunter, Pokemon- Japan (edit: I'm no expert on Japanese tastes. These are just 3 games I see bump hardware sales in a huge way when they release. There's probably more)

Pokemon - West

You missed Dragon Quest in Japan (everyone also seems to leave this out when talking about system sellers, I notice). Also Animal Crossing sells more in the West than in Japan...

 

[Khrno]

To the first point, no it isn't, they have studios outside of Japan just not enough. To the second point, SPD 2 oversees games developed outside of Japan already. NoA and NoE shouldn't have any creative control because they have no game developers working within their organizations. The proper course would be to expand the role and scope of SPD 2 I think, simply because they already have tons of experience working outside of Japan.

I'm sorry but I don't agree with that. NST hasn't done anything in a while and they don't have enough manpower as it is, a small team in America comprised of what a few hundred people maybe, won't be able to do much. In Retro's case their quality output is undeniable, but quantity not so much, this could be fixed by employing more people, simple enough. So besides a game or two a year for any of their platforms, is Nintendo western studios efforts enough compared to the Japanese studios? Not in the slightest.

So SPD2 oversees western development basically, that's cool and all, but what are they overseeing, just about 3 or 5 games that might be under development in Retro and NST at the moment. My point before was that the Nintendo is out of touch with many western gamers, you can call them the PS360 owners who have never cared about Mario games, Nintendo needs people that can make games that differ to what they usually do in Japan.

Basically, if Nintendo had a similar amount of western studios as Sony for example, their general first party output as a company would be greater than what they currently do, and of a bigger variety of genres to appeal many, if not most type of gamers.

Nintendo need to establish new studios in other regions, they have to diversify their development much more. Third party studios used to argue in many cases that they didn't want to put their games in the Nintendo consoles because that was no place for their type of games, then Nintendo should make those type of games to show other developers that Nintendo consoles are the place for every type of game, but that's an impossible task for their current studios I'm afraid.

 

[Baconsammy]

You missed Dragon Quest in Japan (everyone also seems to leave this out when talking about system sellers, I notice). Also Animal Crossing sells more in the West than in Japan...

It sells more, but it's not a system seller. This new game really appears to be one in Japan though.

 

[serplux]

To the first point, no it isn't, they have studios outside of Japan just not enough. To the second point, SPD 2 oversees games developed outside of Japan already. NoA and NoE shouldn't have any creative control because they have no game developers working within their organizations. The proper course would be to expand the role and scope of SPD 2 I think, simply because they already have tons of experience working outside of Japan.

They definitely need more Western studios. I could see Next Level Games becoming a fairly big Western studio for Nintendo; with how wonderful Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon looks, I'd like to see them try their own IP/work on bigger projects.

 

[famfrit]

If 3DS can't beat last year with that, I'll be proven wrong. Maybe I'll eat a hat.

3DS 2013 First Party
-Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon (March, all)
-Tomodachi Collection (April, JP)
-Daigasso Band Brothers
-Mario & Luigi RPG 4: Dream Team (Summer)
-Mario Golf World Tour (Summer)
-Donkey Kong Returns 3D (Summer)
-Pokemon X & Y(October, all)

3rd Party:
-Ace Attorney
-SMT4
-Youkai Watch
-Kaiou: King of Pirates
-Prof. Layton
-Monster Hunter 4
-Inazuma '13
-Gyrozetter
-Monster Hunter 4

awesome third party support. Vita dont have any chance against this, its a shame for a so powerful device like vita.

Spoiler

Soul Sacrifice, Pokemon and SMT 4 looks the must have portable games of the year for me

 

[StreetsAhead]

How big is Next Level, though? They seem only capable of working on one or two games at a time. Monster Games seems even smaller. Retro is less than 100, iirc. None of these studios are pumping out games at fast rates.

EDIT: Just realised Next Level is hiring a technical director.

Voted the 'Best Company to Work for in BC' and one of Canada's Top 100 Employers, Next Level Games has made its mark on the gaming industry by creating a company where people can make the games they love. We are well known for our work with Nintendo on critically acclaimed titles like Punch-Out!! and Mario Strikers Charged, and most recently Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon.

RESPONSIBILITIES
Next Level Games has a new opening for a Technical Director. The successful candidate will be taking the technical helm of a project for one of the largest and most successful publishers in the world as well as helping to move NLG's technology forward. Made up of seasoned, passionate and talented game developers, highly respected for their quality work and creativity, we know what it takes to make a great game while still maintaining balance between work and life. The Technical Director will:
Provide leadership for the technical vision of the game
Proactively develop and mentor programmers
Collaborate within a tight knit team of Directors
Communicate positively and enthusiastically

Hmm???????

 

[deviljho]

Does Lego City Undercover has a Japanese release date?

 

[StreetsAhead]

Does Lego City Undercover has a Japanese release date?

No. Nothing but Wario, Luigi's Mansion, and Friend Collection are dated in Japan from Nintendo (up to April 28th).

 

[serplux]

How big is Next Level, though? They seem only capable of working on one or two games at a time. Monster Games seems even smaller. Retro is less than 100, iirc. None of these studios are pumping out games at fast rates.

Last I've heard, Retro has expanded to past 300 for their upcoming game. And Next Level has a decent amount of employees (I think just below 100), so they could be expanded if Nintendo decided to help them grow.

 

[AntMurda]

Last I've heard, Retro has expanded to past 300 for their upcoming game. And Next Level has a decent amount of employees (I think just below 100), so they could be expanded if Nintendo decided to help them grow.

LOL 300? They are about 90 people. NST is about 50 and Monster Games about 30.

 

[Nirolak]

I'm not sure how well thought out that was. Metroid Prime? Donkey Kong Country? RetroStudios nor Intelligent Systems are creating any NEW IPs expanding the portfolio of what Nintendo has already created. In regards to Retro Studios, as I mentioned above, the problem with the few Western studios that work under or for Nintendo, is that they have no autonomy and merely follow templates to create Japanese Nintendo type sequels. Hiring more people is irrelevant if the management doesn't change.

If Nintendo wants to remain a global hardware manufacture, it has to decentralize and de-homogenize development to represent a bigger demographic of consumers and potential consumers.

I wouldn't consider Metroid Prime, Fire Emblem, or Xenoblade to be what your average consumer thinks of when they hear Nintendo, but I would consider Donkey Kong Country, Mario Kart 7, Paper Mario, and Skyward Sword (art support from Monolith on that one) to fit.

That's what I mean by they provide both variety to Nintendo's line-up as well as bolstering their primarily product line-up.

If they hire 1000 people and put them all on platformers and minigame compilations, that's not going to be as useful as adding more strength in other genres and tastes.

We'll know in April how many people they hired this last FY when they release the reports, no?

Current number is 5,095 full time employees WW as at Sept 2012.

Yeah it should be somewhere in the filling.

 

[shinobi602]

Jesus Christ Nintendo....fucking DO SOMETHING.

 

[AntMurda]

I wouldn't consider Metroid Prime, Fire Emblem, or Xenoblade to be what your average consumer thinks of when they hear Nintendo, but I would consider Donkey Kong Country, Mario Kart 7, Paper Mario, and Skyward Sword (art support from Monolith on that one) to fit.

That's what I mean by they provide both variety to Nintendo's line-up as well as bolstering their primarily product line-up.

Well. I mean the average consumer doesn't know those low selling titles even exist. I mean the most internal facet of Nintendo created Band Brothers, Brain Age, English Training, Rhythm Heaven, Wii Sports, Wii Fit and Tomodachi Collection which were just as atypical to Mario and Pokemon as the titles you listed. Only that they were completely new IPs and sold droves.

The point being is that for a Western developer to be really effective, they would have to be able to operate apart from Nintendo's Japanese producers. Otherwise you just get Luigi's Mansion 2, Donkey Kong vs Mario 12, Mario Soccer 13, etc. Instead of a new IP developed for a Western market.

So SPD2 oversees western development basically, that's cool and all, but what are they overseeing, just about 3 or 5 games that might be under development in Retro and NST at the moment. My point before was that the Nintendo is out of touch with many western gamers, you can call them the PS360 owners who have never cared about Mario games, Nintendo needs people that can make games that differ to what they usually do in Japan.

Again, SPD2 and SPD4 are for Japanese developers (Platinum, Treasure, Sandlot, Tose, Arika, Suzak, etc) and SPD3 is for Western developers (Retro, NST, Monster Games, Next Level Games, Headstrong, Curve Studios, etc)

 

[perfectchaos007]

One of these days Nintendo won't botch a new console's launch. One of these days...

 

[Nirolak]

Well. I mean the average consumer doesn't know those low selling titles even exist. I mean the most internal facet of Nintendo created Band Brothers, Brain Age, English Training, Rhythm Heaven, Wii Sports, Wii Fit and Tomodachi Collection which were just as atypical to Mario and Pokemon as the titles you listed. Only that they were completely new IPs and sold droves.

The point being is that for a Western developer to be really effective, they would have to be able to operate apart from Nintendo's Japanese producers. Otherwise you just get Luigi's Mansion 2, Donkey Kong vs Mario 12, Mario Soccer 13, etc. Instead of a new IP developed for a Western market.

I'm not trying to preclude that. I even suggest it in one of my posts.

I just think that, at minimum, they should do something that increases their variety in the eyes of at least some of their audience.

If they decide they would rather all jump off the roof of NCL than hire a single additional Western person, then at least hire Japanese people that will spend a fair amount of time making things for new audiences instead of starting four more platformers.

Would they benefit far more from like a AAAA Western action/adventure and/or shooter game? Quite possibly, but that might be so far out of their wheelhouse that they're going to refuse to ever do it, but regardless, they should at least do as many baby steps as they can.

 

[DXB-KNIGHT]

Jesus Christ Nintendo....fucking DO SOMETHING.

They already said back in January Direct that they ain't doing anything for Jan, Feb and most of March, so the low sales were expected.

 

[deviljho]

They already said back in January Direct that they ain't doing anything for Jan, Feb and most of March, so the low sales were expected.

This is true, but it sucks because people are speculating on what the software library might look like 1 year out, 2 years out. It's easy to say, "just wait a few months, you'll see." I mean, that's my stance, but I can't realistically expect anyone to evaluate the Wii U in a vacuum based on a handful of first party titles and some collaboration announcements.

I'm sure that they are doing stuff, but it's "behind the scenes" and that doesn't inspire any consumer confidence. It is a bit puzzling because people are wondering about 3rd party support, library, price, graphics, marketing, PS4, etc...

 

[zroid]

EDIT: Just realised Next Level is hiring a technical director.

Hmm???????

Interesting...

 

[TheUnknownForce]

Also note to anyone worried about anything Wii U past March: March/April is about time another Nintendo Direct or at least a press release should emerge with date for the second quarter. They are not going to let a second straight quarter end up empty after these sales.

 

[deviljho]

Also puzzling is that, apparently, in order to publish on the Japanese eShop, you need a Japanese publisher. Doesn't sound so indie friendly.

http://www.siliconera.com/2013/02/2...-the-first-download-only-wii-u-game-in-japan/