Preface
As an lifelong fan of Nintendo, I think there has never been a better time for fans to make an impact on Nintendo's direction. Nintendo is taking great strides to show they are listening to the community. They famously embraced the competitive Smash community, asked the community for suggestions for new games, and they're even considering revising their much maligned region-locking policy. We should take advantage of their increased attention to collectively discuss realistic, fruitful directions.
What the Maker Movement is
A famous element of the Maker Movement is independent programming. Individual programmers can make wildly popular apps and develop crucial insights from data.
A less famous but possibly more important element is 3D printing: the creation of arbitrary 3D objects without a factory. Right now, you can use the Maker Bot to print any 3D object you want. You can get the schematics for any real-world object by scanning it with 123D Catch on your phone. You can also find or share the schematics for fantasy objects from Thingiverse. Analysts see 3D printing as a successor to the cell phones and the internet, other revolutionary and ubiquitous technologies. It's easy to imagine a world in which companies are vying for people to print objects based on worlds they've copyrighted.
Generally speaking, the maker movement isn't restrained to any one technology. As Wikipedia puts it: The maker culture is a contemporary culture or subculture representing a technology-based extension of DIY culture... 'Maker culture' emphasizes learning-through-doing (constructivism) in a social environment. Maker culture emphasizes informal, networked, peer-led, and shared learning motivated by fun and self-fulfillment."
Why embracing the Maker Movement is good for Nintendo in the short term
Nintendo fans are notoriously enthusiastic. Embracing the Maker Movement will help Nintendo integrate that enthusiasm with its own creative efforts. There are several great, free Pokemon fan games out right now. Pokemon Zeta Omicron has a huge following, and when its creator announce a sequel (Pokemon Insurgence), it immediately became the number 1 trending subreddit. Then, there's Project M, a fan mod of Super Smash Bros Brawl with more active competitive players than Brawl itself.
Nintendo fans aren't just making games, we're making everything from clothing to gardening accessories to music to video content. Nintendo fans are already producing content comparable to that of a corporation, and as the barrier to creation is lowered, this paradigm is only going to increase. Nintendo should find a way to monetize this.
Why it's good for Nintendo's future
Embracing the Maker Movement does at least three critical things for Nintendo in the long-term.
1. It keeps them in the minds of smart 12-18 year olds. A lot of people enjoyed Nintendo games hand-in-hand with science fiction books, extracurricular academics, and other things that led them to success in this nerd-friendly world. Miyamoto is still your favorite game developer's favorite game developer, but Nintendo's brand is steadily weakening among teens as the NES/SNES generation gets older.
Right now, the next generation of physicists, programmers, and engineers are in hacker spaces participating in the maker movement. Nintendo should plant the seeds of inspiration and loyalty in those kids.
2. It forces them to embrace other, related technological trends. Nintendo was late to online and HD gaming and they're still suffering as a result. A dev who helped them build their online network said Nintendo execs couldn't even identify what features users enjoyed from their competitors.
If Nintendo was managing a public API, a modernized R.O.B., or otherwise had makers as their customers, they would need to stay abreast of current tech which would help them catch features as they trend in popularity.
3. It lets them extend the Nintendo brand. With the new short-form videos, the talk of an amusement park, and the Quality of Life platform, it's clear that Nintendo is trying to branch out and become more than a games company. Being part of the Maker Movement gives them that opportunity. They could reposition themselves like Lego or Disney so that a significant part of their revenue no longer comes from their original core competency.
How Nintendo is already embracing the Maker Movement
Nintendo's done a good job with encouraging people to be makers during this generation. Pushmo, Art Academy, and Mario Maker are all heavily focused on user-generated content. They even have SmileBasic and Petit Computer which let you program on your 3DS. Then, there are the partnerships with Let's Play artists.
How Nintendo can further embrace the Maker Movement
Here are a few things Nintendo should consider.
1. Catalog as much data on game usage as possible, and publish some of it. Examples include: What are the most popular fire types used in Pokemon battle? How often do karts beat bikes in Mario Kart and on what tracks? How long does it take most people to pay off their house in Animal Crossing? Really, anything that can be tracked should be tracked. Nintendo shouldn't be collecting this data via focus groups or Club Nintendo when they could just have it send directly from the device to their servers. Most of it should be proprietary, but anything they release will be poured over by fans and used in competitive analyses.
2. Publish schematics for 3D printing items from Nintendo worlds. People are already making items from popular media, but I don't know of any company that officially promotes their work being reproduced. Most companies simply don't bother to sue because there are few early adopters. Nintendo would get a lot of free promotion with a well-designed set of tutorials on 3D printing that just happened to get people making Pokeballs, Ness bats, and other similar staples.
3. Promote maker styles of gameplay in their popular franchises. Nintendo is already going this way with Pokemon Art Academy and Mario Maker, but they can take it to the next level. Mainline Pokemon games should let you design clothes and accessories that you can offer for download from other players. Mario Kart games should let you share popular kart customizations too. The key here is letting people share their designs, so makers don't fell like they're creating for only themselves.
It would be even greater if they make a game where a substantial portion was crowdsourced, like an MMORPG where players can build entire towns. Minecraft is proof that children are capable of enjoying and participating in such a world.
4. Plan for social media sharing from day one. It's too difficult to share in-game photos on Miiverse, let alone Instagram or Facebook. The lack of Twitch integration in the 3DS and Wii U is proving to be a nightmare for Nintendo. Everyone sharing Nintendo games on Twitch either bought an expensive capture card and modded their system, openly plays pirated software, or holds a camera pointed at the screen which looks horrible. This is no way to support a maker culture, where in-game creations, achievements, and tutorials need to be shared.
5. Promote fan made work. Club Nintendo rewards are panned year after year, while fan art and products reach higher levels of quality. Just as with Let's Play artists, Nintendo should find a profit-sharing program for people who make Nintendo fan work, so they can put their advertising muscle behind the highest quality products. At the least, they should be driving traffic to the artists and musicians behind digital fan work.
Of course, Sakurai already understands this and retweeted a famous Youtuber's reaction to his Nintendo direct.
Conclusion
I'll close off with a quote from the Smithsonian, after they turned to the crowd for help with mass cataloguing. "When they had folks get involved in transcribing, they started to get more donations, people really got engaged, their website traffic went up, Meredith Stewart of the Office of Innovation at the National Archives and Records Administration told Forbes. This process can snowball. The more people are involved, the more history is preserved, the more attention the organization receives, the more funders see value and donate, the more resources the organization has to devote to its mission"
The single message to communicate to Nintendo's leadership is this: Help us help you.
As an lifelong fan of Nintendo, I think there has never been a better time for fans to make an impact on Nintendo's direction. Nintendo is taking great strides to show they are listening to the community. They famously embraced the competitive Smash community, asked the community for suggestions for new games, and they're even considering revising their much maligned region-locking policy. We should take advantage of their increased attention to collectively discuss realistic, fruitful directions.
What the Maker Movement is
A famous element of the Maker Movement is independent programming. Individual programmers can make wildly popular apps and develop crucial insights from data.
A less famous but possibly more important element is 3D printing: the creation of arbitrary 3D objects without a factory. Right now, you can use the Maker Bot to print any 3D object you want. You can get the schematics for any real-world object by scanning it with 123D Catch on your phone. You can also find or share the schematics for fantasy objects from Thingiverse. Analysts see 3D printing as a successor to the cell phones and the internet, other revolutionary and ubiquitous technologies. It's easy to imagine a world in which companies are vying for people to print objects based on worlds they've copyrighted.
Generally speaking, the maker movement isn't restrained to any one technology. As Wikipedia puts it: The maker culture is a contemporary culture or subculture representing a technology-based extension of DIY culture... 'Maker culture' emphasizes learning-through-doing (constructivism) in a social environment. Maker culture emphasizes informal, networked, peer-led, and shared learning motivated by fun and self-fulfillment."
Why embracing the Maker Movement is good for Nintendo in the short term
Nintendo fans are notoriously enthusiastic. Embracing the Maker Movement will help Nintendo integrate that enthusiasm with its own creative efforts. There are several great, free Pokemon fan games out right now. Pokemon Zeta Omicron has a huge following, and when its creator announce a sequel (Pokemon Insurgence), it immediately became the number 1 trending subreddit. Then, there's Project M, a fan mod of Super Smash Bros Brawl with more active competitive players than Brawl itself.
Nintendo fans aren't just making games, we're making everything from clothing to gardening accessories to music to video content. Nintendo fans are already producing content comparable to that of a corporation, and as the barrier to creation is lowered, this paradigm is only going to increase. Nintendo should find a way to monetize this.
Why it's good for Nintendo's future
Embracing the Maker Movement does at least three critical things for Nintendo in the long-term.
1. It keeps them in the minds of smart 12-18 year olds. A lot of people enjoyed Nintendo games hand-in-hand with science fiction books, extracurricular academics, and other things that led them to success in this nerd-friendly world. Miyamoto is still your favorite game developer's favorite game developer, but Nintendo's brand is steadily weakening among teens as the NES/SNES generation gets older.
Right now, the next generation of physicists, programmers, and engineers are in hacker spaces participating in the maker movement. Nintendo should plant the seeds of inspiration and loyalty in those kids.
2. It forces them to embrace other, related technological trends. Nintendo was late to online and HD gaming and they're still suffering as a result. A dev who helped them build their online network said Nintendo execs couldn't even identify what features users enjoyed from their competitors.
If Nintendo was managing a public API, a modernized R.O.B., or otherwise had makers as their customers, they would need to stay abreast of current tech which would help them catch features as they trend in popularity.
3. It lets them extend the Nintendo brand. With the new short-form videos, the talk of an amusement park, and the Quality of Life platform, it's clear that Nintendo is trying to branch out and become more than a games company. Being part of the Maker Movement gives them that opportunity. They could reposition themselves like Lego or Disney so that a significant part of their revenue no longer comes from their original core competency.
How Nintendo is already embracing the Maker Movement
Nintendo's done a good job with encouraging people to be makers during this generation. Pushmo, Art Academy, and Mario Maker are all heavily focused on user-generated content. They even have SmileBasic and Petit Computer which let you program on your 3DS. Then, there are the partnerships with Let's Play artists.
How Nintendo can further embrace the Maker Movement
Here are a few things Nintendo should consider.
1. Catalog as much data on game usage as possible, and publish some of it. Examples include: What are the most popular fire types used in Pokemon battle? How often do karts beat bikes in Mario Kart and on what tracks? How long does it take most people to pay off their house in Animal Crossing? Really, anything that can be tracked should be tracked. Nintendo shouldn't be collecting this data via focus groups or Club Nintendo when they could just have it send directly from the device to their servers. Most of it should be proprietary, but anything they release will be poured over by fans and used in competitive analyses.
2. Publish schematics for 3D printing items from Nintendo worlds. People are already making items from popular media, but I don't know of any company that officially promotes their work being reproduced. Most companies simply don't bother to sue because there are few early adopters. Nintendo would get a lot of free promotion with a well-designed set of tutorials on 3D printing that just happened to get people making Pokeballs, Ness bats, and other similar staples.
3. Promote maker styles of gameplay in their popular franchises. Nintendo is already going this way with Pokemon Art Academy and Mario Maker, but they can take it to the next level. Mainline Pokemon games should let you design clothes and accessories that you can offer for download from other players. Mario Kart games should let you share popular kart customizations too. The key here is letting people share their designs, so makers don't fell like they're creating for only themselves.
It would be even greater if they make a game where a substantial portion was crowdsourced, like an MMORPG where players can build entire towns. Minecraft is proof that children are capable of enjoying and participating in such a world.
4. Plan for social media sharing from day one. It's too difficult to share in-game photos on Miiverse, let alone Instagram or Facebook. The lack of Twitch integration in the 3DS and Wii U is proving to be a nightmare for Nintendo. Everyone sharing Nintendo games on Twitch either bought an expensive capture card and modded their system, openly plays pirated software, or holds a camera pointed at the screen which looks horrible. This is no way to support a maker culture, where in-game creations, achievements, and tutorials need to be shared.
5. Promote fan made work. Club Nintendo rewards are panned year after year, while fan art and products reach higher levels of quality. Just as with Let's Play artists, Nintendo should find a profit-sharing program for people who make Nintendo fan work, so they can put their advertising muscle behind the highest quality products. At the least, they should be driving traffic to the artists and musicians behind digital fan work.
Of course, Sakurai already understands this and retweeted a famous Youtuber's reaction to his Nintendo direct.
Conclusion
I'll close off with a quote from the Smithsonian, after they turned to the crowd for help with mass cataloguing. "When they had folks get involved in transcribing, they started to get more donations, people really got engaged, their website traffic went up, Meredith Stewart of the Office of Innovation at the National Archives and Records Administration told Forbes. This process can snowball. The more people are involved, the more history is preserved, the more attention the organization receives, the more funders see value and donate, the more resources the organization has to devote to its mission"
The single message to communicate to Nintendo's leadership is this: Help us help you.
