General Nintendo

Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 31 Comments

Examiner has put up another excerpt from its interview with Nintendo of America executive VP of sales Scott Moffitt. In these latest quotes, we get to see what Moffitt had to say about Nintendo taking risks, which he says is “in our DNA”.

He stated:

“It’s in our DNA, it’s what makes us tick, and it’s what brought all of us to Nintendo. We like to be a company that’s willing to take some risks on a franchise like Splatoon, propose new forms of gaming to gamers, and see what their reactions are.”

“Often times, those [ideas] work, sometimes they don’t, it’s always risky to be an innovator, but that is woven into our DNA and is a bedrock value for Nintendo.”

As for why Nintendo continues to take risks, Moffitt says that it’s all for the gaming community. He explained:

“I think gamers have come to appreciate that from us, but also to respect it and expect it. They want us challenging the norms and challenging conventions, and I think that’s part of our role in the broader industry.”

Source

More: interview, Scott Moffitt, top

Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 35 Comments

Super Smash Bros. director Masahiro Sakurai has once again written a column in the latest issue of Famitsu. In this week’s magazine, he tackles the topic of those who are bothered by extra features in games.

You can find a summary of Sakurai’s column below. For the entire column, check out the full translation on Source Gaming.

– Sakurai mentions how a game review organization handed out high marks to a simplistic puzzle game
– He says that since it didn’t have extraneous features warranting demerits, it was able to earn the high score
– Sakurai feels this isn’t the right way to review a game
– He’s been looking at user reviews for Fire Emblem Fates, and noticed that there were many comments saying “I don’t need this; I don’t need that, either”
– Ex: inviting companions to your house and stroke their heads/faces to raise your affinity level
– Sakurai feels that players who are bothered by this sort of feature should simply ignore it
– Sakurai: “Developers include all sorts of bonus features simply because they want to provide a little something extra for the fans.”
– Even if bonus features were removed, that doesn’t mean they’d “make room” for something else
– Sakurai: “If you approach game development with a demerit-based mindset, it doesn’t leave much room for anything extra, and games become pretty dry—and that’s just no fun.”
– Sakurai points out that Smash Bros. has plenty of unnecessary content
– However, taking out features means you’re left with “a bare-bones, niche-market game”
– Sakurai understands that some people want a minimalist-type of game, but Smash Bros. isn’t targeted at that niche market
– While some believe that superfluous features should be removed, others feel the opposite way
– Sakurai points out that not all bonus features to “plump up a game” are designed with everyone in mind
– Sakurai: “At the same time, games are a form of entertainment, so I sincerely hope people realize that “user abstinence”—not using unwanted content—is also a valid option.”
– Ultimately, he thinks you shouldn’t force users to play extra features in order to complete a game
– As long as the above point holds, Sakurai believes developers should be able to make games the way they see fit
– Even if you’re not interested in a certain feature, someone else might be

Source

More: Famitsu, Masahiro Sakurai

Posted on 9 years ago by Dennis Gagliardotto(@LyonHart_) in General Nintendo, News | 97 Comments

A few days ago Nintendo Treehouse’s Chris Pranger appeared on the Part Time Gamers Podcast to discuss what it’s really like in the process of localizing, touching on costs, to labor, to decision-making from how the market in a particular region looks. Obviously, localizing games from Japan to America is a lot of work. Tons of translations have to go into it as well as heavy consideration into how lucrative a product can be for a particular market and if it’s worth it. Chris Pranger touched on why attempting to localizing the more obscure titles is always a tough sell, and the laborious and arduous nature of it all:

The hardest thing for everyone to understand and to accept — and I’ve seen this first hand in the company, that this is typified — people think that obviously they’re right, and what they like or dislike has to be the norm. Why would it be otherwise? And they just say the classic “Why do you hate money? Why do you hate money, Nintendo?”

And it’s like “What are you talking about? We’re trying to make…obviously it has to make calculated risks, but at the same time, one of those risks…and I mean they’ll bring up games that are very Japanese games, like Captain Rainbow for instance. They’ll bring that up like “Look how many people want this. Don’t you want money?” And we’ll be like “Yeah, we do want money, which is why we know it’s a colossal waste if we ever try to localize that in this current market, because look at you people. You don’t make up a big enough group.

The hardest part for people to realize is how much money it takes sometimes to make a game like…if it’s a Japense game, to bring it over the States. Not just translating and then localizing and marketing, but if it’s a game that has substantial voice text, oh my goodness! That is a collosal cost to bring that over. And some games you look at and you’re like “Well how are they going to bring that over?” and it’s like “Well, they can’t.”

You look at something like even Xenoblade Chronicles. People love that game, you know, within a certain group. That game is not the type of game that just pulls in enough to justify the costs on that. So that’s like, we got it in the States by luck, that NoE decided “Oh, we’ll take the fall. We’ll localize that.” Okay, cause someone is going to have to eat the costs somewhere, because that game is guaranteed to not sell enough to justify how big that game is. You know, hundreds of hours, all voiced. That’s a lot of money that goes into that.

And people are like “Why do you guys hate money?” We don’t. That’s why you literally can’t make everything. And people don’t like finding out that their fanbase is actually too small to justify the costs of the thing they want.

It’s unfortunate that a lot of games we’d like to see localized don’t see the light of day due to market appeal in a region, but at the end of the day – as much as it’s great to appease the fans – business comes first. If it makes sense, and it can be profitable, it’ll be done. If not, tough luck.

Source

More: Chris Pranger, Nintendo Treehouse

Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 3 Comments

Super Mario Bros. is getting a soundtrack in honor of its 30th anniversary. In Japan, the two-disc set is due out on September 13. Pricing is set at 3,240 yen.

Here’s the lineup of games featured in the soundtrack:

Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario Bros. 2
Super Mario Bros. 3
Super Mario Land
Super Mario World
Super Mario USA
Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins
Super Mario 64
Super Mario Sunshine
New Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario Galaxy
New Super Mario Bros. Wii
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Super Mario 3D Land
New Super Mario Bros. 2
New Super Mario Bros. U
Super Mario 3D World
Super Mario Maker (bonus track)

There’s no word on this time about the soundtrack’s availability outside of Japan.

Source

More: Japan, Mario, top

Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Rumors | 0 comments

There has been plenty of talk over the past few days about GameStop’s amiibo pre-order event. This will be taking place on Saturday, and provides consumers with an opportunity to reserve the Retro 3 Pack containing the R.O.B., Mr. Game & Watch, and Duck Hunt figures.

GameStop has now opened an official page for the event. If you need to find a local store, visit this link.

Thanks to Austin G for the tip.

More: Amiibo, GameStop, top

Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 2 Comments

Speaking with Examiner, executive VP of sales at Nintendo of America Scott Moffitt spoke about the company’s commitment to indie titles and developers.

Moffitt told the site:

“We’ve really been embracing the independent development community and there is a lot of really great indie content coming to our platform, more so than [before] on Wii or predecessor systems. Our eShop is stocked with great indie games, so we try to rotate them through and promote them from time to time with developer support.”

Examiner also asked Moffitt if Nintendo will work with Playtonic when it comes time to promote Yooka-Laylee. Regarding this, he said:

“We’ve show a much more open stance to indie developers, so never say never.

Source

More: indie, interview, Playtonic, Scott Moffitt, Yooka-Laylee

Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 1 Comment

The Mewtwo amiibo will arrive in Europe on October 23, Nintendo has announced.

Today’s news comes straight from the company’s official Twitter account:

Nintendo has yet to say when the Mewtwo amiibo will be available in North America.

Source

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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Videos | 1 Comment

The new Rare Replay package contains a pair of interesting videos. We get to learn about the making of Banjo-Kazooie as well as Conker’s Bad Fur Day. Both videos can be viewed below.

As a bonus, we’ve posted one more video after the break. Staffers talk about what makes a Rare game in it.

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More: Banjo-Kazooie, Conker's Bad Fur Day, Rare

Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, General Nintendo, News, Wii U | 0 comments

Nintendo UK has announced its 2015 Summer Tour. The company will be bringing a selection of Wii U and 3DS games to five locations nationwide, including Super Mario Maker and Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash.

Here’s the full lineup:

– Splatoon
– Yoshi’s Woolly World
– Super Mario Maker
– Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash
– Super Mario 3D World
– Mario Kart 8
– Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate
– Tomodachi Life
– Puzzle & Dragons Z + Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition
– Super Smash Bros. for 3DS
– Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire
– Animal Crossing: New Leaf

The Nintendo Summer Tour will take place at the following locations between August 12 and September 13:

12th – 17th August – Manchester Arndale
20 – 24th August – Intu Derby
27th – 31st August – Westfield London
5 – 6th September – Intu Metrocentre, Tyne and Wear
12th – 13th September – Intu Braehead, Glasgow

Along with playable games, visitors can also step inside “Mario’s World”. This is an area of the stand featuring a life-size Piranha Plant statue and giant green pipes. There will also be Mario themed rewards such as hats, moustaches and a limited edition Super Mario Bros. 30th Anniversary pin. Attendees can also take photos in front of an Animal Crossing themed board and check out the current and upcoming amiibo collection.

Source: Nintendo PR

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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, General Nintendo, News | 9 Comments

Nintendo has once again come out victorious in a patent case in a federal court in Washington state. Here’s the news straight from the Big N:

REDMOND, Wash., Aug. 5, 2015 – On Aug. 4, 2015, Nintendo won a patent case in a federal court in Washington state, which marks two such wins in separate cases just a few weeks apart. On July 9, 2015, Judge Ricardo Martinez issued a ruling in the latest case that sided with Nintendo on 10 out of 10 disputed issues regarding the scope of the patent. The rulings led the patent holder, Secure Axcess, LLC, to agree that Nintendo’s well-known hand-held systems, including Nintendo 3DS XL, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo DSi and Nintendo DS, do not infringe. Secure Axcess is a patent-assertion company that originally filed suit against Nintendo and 11 retailers of Nintendo products in a Texas court in January 2013. Since then the case was transferred to the Washington court, where it has now been dismissed.

“We are very pleased with the court’s rulings and outcome in this case, and will continue to vigorously defend our innovative products against patent lawsuits,” said Devon Pritchard, Nintendo of America’s General Counsel and Senior Vice President of Business Affairs.

In the case against Nintendo that was dismissed on July 17, a federal court judge found that eight of Nintendo’s popular hand-held systems, including the Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo DSi, Nintendo DS and Game Boy Advance systems, do not infringe a patent asserted against those products by Quintal Research Group, Inc.

Source: Nintendo PR