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Post by Max Galactica on Apr 27, 2016 11:02:04 GMT -5
So, Nintendo decided to randomly announce that the NX will be coming in March of next year, and that Zelda U will be a Wii U and an NX title. The interesting thing is that they outright denied that it would be an NX title a while ago, but I suppose that's typical for them.
Obviously, none of this really matters to me since I won't be able to play any of it until I get back from Perú. Hopefully they'll have some solid titles right at launch, unlike their previous few consoles.
Another interesting thing is that they said that the NX won't be at E3 this year. They'll have Zelda U, but as far as we know, that's it. It seems like it'll be a mostly dry E3 for Nintendo if they don't do anything with the NX. I also think they shouldn't have announced all of this in the way they did. They should've done it in a Direct or something.
Anyways, what are your thoughts on the announcements?
EDIT: Bonus question: When do you think they'll announce the next Monolith Soft game? I'm thinking probably around the release of NX. Then it will release in late-2018 to early 2019.
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Post by Wolfe on Apr 27, 2016 23:50:17 GMT -5
These announcements aren't so random; they were part of the latest financial briefing for Nintendo's investors in Japan. They might not have been so widely publicized if not for all the scrutiny on Nintendo these days.
What's interesting to me is the decision to push back the NX into the 2017 calendar year, but not the holiday season. It'll fall short of five years since the Wii U's launch (which is the norm, contrary to what journalists who don't seem to remember anything before the 7th generation believe), but a 2017 date may still salvage some faith from current Wii U owners. They still need Wii U games this year, though, and I don't think Zelda will be the only game at E3. What they said is that it will be the only playable game on the show floor.
So why March? Well, Nintendo has said they're investing in a stronger launch lineup, but I think they're also counting on adding more titles to the NX's library in the following months. This whole console generation was starved for software out of the gate, and I think Nintendo is being receptive of that and trying to draw people who got burned by offering a better library for the NX's first holiday season.
As for the next Monolithsoft game, considering XCX's yearly appearances leading up to its release, I guess we could get our first glimpse of it as part of the first presentation about the actual NX.
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Post by DarknessLink7 on Apr 28, 2016 16:00:07 GMT -5
I think it's great that we finally got a release window for the NX, so I'm hype for that! Zelda being delayed though... Not very happy about that. It's not that I can't wait, I'm just bummed that they've been so unreliable with the information. Also, regarding E3, just like Wolfe said, we're most likely gonna get multiple games in the presentations.
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Post by flameheadshero on Apr 28, 2016 19:25:27 GMT -5
I'm surprisingly ambivalent about it. On one hand I'm pretty disappointed that Zelda is getting delayed. On the other hand, I somehow am ironically amused by it. Very strange feelings indeed. If Zelda was still my favorite Nintendo IP, I'd probably be more upset but some new Nintendo JRPG series came out a few years ago and dethroned it for me...
The NX is just... I don't know what to think about it. Ultimately, I don't mind the delay because I never planned on buying it right away anyway. I've barely owned my Wii U for two years now so I'm still fresh on that and I've been planning on getting a PS4 soon. So I can wait on the NX, in fact, I've always waited a bit to buy Nintendo consoles.
As for the new Monolith Soft game, of course I want to hear about it as soon as possible but then again, I think X may have been announced TOO early. The long, long wait may have worked against them in a way in keeping up excitement on the game. I think next year's E3 would be a safe bet for the announcement
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Post by Wolfe on Apr 29, 2016 11:13:50 GMT -5
flameheadshero -- I was just starting to get comfortable with the idea of a PS4 myself, before this whole "PS4 Neo" thing came up. The problem is that most of the PS4 games I was interested in are still in development, so they could end up being "Neo enhanced" and screw over regular PS4 owners with even shoddier sub-30fps framerates. I'm not going to buy a Neo for full price, I don't want a PS4 if it'll be a second-rate experience on the games I wanted to play, and the NX will be out before those games are finished, so I'm waiting for more details on both systems. I'll buy the NX when it has games to play (like you said, it pays to wait a bit), but if the Neo is obligatory, the NX will probably have games before the Neo gets a price drop. If Project CARS 2 becomes an NX game like Slightly Mad Studios suggested, that would eliminate half of the incentive for a PS4, too.
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Post by flameheadshero on Apr 29, 2016 15:26:18 GMT -5
Seems reasonable to at least wait until after E3 to decide on getting a PS4. I probably will. I think I'm just waiting for a price drop or sale before I jump on one. I already know a few games I want to play on it that are out now.
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Post by Wolfe on Apr 29, 2016 16:21:15 GMT -5
I've been keeping a txt file with a list of PS4 games I'm looking at. The Wii U doesn't have the healthiest library itself, but Nintendo's games are more my style compared to the likes of MGSV, Dark Souls 3, or Fallout 4. If I had a PS4 it would pretty much be a racing game machine, like my PS2 and XB360.
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Meta
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Post by Meta on Apr 29, 2016 17:18:21 GMT -5
Zelda, I'm fine with. My main worry is that it won't be as good as X anyway, so I'm not super duper hype for it yet. Glad we're getting long overdue footage at E3.
I agree that "only playable game at E3" will not mean "only game at E3", so I'm not worried there. A bit bummed about NX, but if it gives them time to perfect it and make a good launch lineup, they'd better do it. Not that I'll probably get it at launch.
None of this affects me, really, but I worry a bit (with my nonexistent) about how it will affect Nintendo. I want them to be a target for 3rd parties and investors again simply because I want to see them do well (and maybe not be such an object of mocking on forums but that's always gonna happen).
I just feel like they have no idea what they're doing in anything but making games (but I do NOT want them going 3rd party). Online often sucks, they censor T and M rated games (granted nothing I care about is censored, and I usually play devil's advocate in the discussions and assume there's a good business reason, but I can't ignore that they're being compelled to bow to the whims of the obnoxiously oversensitive society we're in, and seem to be catering toward casuals in this regard even for the M and T games (I guess that's more to avoid negative attention from media than parents).
Amiibos are constantly understocked in NoA and NoA is horrid with VC releases. And now they're dipping into mobile and that really worries me since...well I hate mobile gaming. And don't get me started on the travesty that is My Nintendo.
It's just, how do you mess up so much? And how do you get one not to mess up so much? I love Nintendo, I really do, but I want to see them DO well, and they're shooting themselves in the foot a lot. I'm tempted to blame the fact that it's a Japanese company and perhaps cultural values have to do with it but I honestly don't know. I know they have the capacity to be alright for a long time, but every little screw up still worries me.
Sorry to be a downer!
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Post by Wolfe on Apr 29, 2016 18:17:11 GMT -5
Meta -- Nah, your points are valid. As far as online stuff goes, Nintendo lacks experience and infrastructure more than anything else, but they need to do better with the NX. I don't play Splatoon because mutual lag-kills with a room full of Japanese players is not fun, and it's pointless to even try SSB4 online. However, I hope that Nintendo doesn't open the gates to humongous patches and day-one updates, or subscription-based multiplayer. On censorship, I've wondered if Nintendo isn't simply placating today's outrage culture by altering something as a gesture (eg. XCX's breast slider and Lin's outfits) while conveniently neglecting other "troublesome" elements (eg. every other female character in XCX). It's certainly not about parents or "family friendly" values anymore, just stupid internet outrage. On the flipside, they get hammered by anti-censorship outrage each time, but so much of that is fueled by anti-Nintendo trolls that it's difficult to tell how much it really hurts Nintendo in the end.
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Post by flameheadshero on Apr 29, 2016 18:51:59 GMT -5
I've been keeping a txt file with a list of PS4 games I'm looking at. The Wii U doesn't have the healthiest library itself, but Nintendo's games are more my style compared to the likes of MGSV, Dark Souls 3, or Fallout 4. If I had a PS4 it would pretty much be a racing game machine, like my PS2 and XB360. I'm not really into those games myself. I'm really more into Japanese-like stuff (I know MGS and Dark Souls are Japanese but they are very western-like) which is what I'll get the PS4 to play. Star Ocean V is on my radar and I know I'll get Kingdom Hearts III whenever it feels like coming out. I'm sort of on the fence with FFXV. There are a couple games I want that have already come out so I could likely get them cheap. Zelda, I'm fine with. My main worry is that it won't be as good as X anyway, so I'm not super duper hype for it yet. Glad we're getting long overdue footage at E3. I agree that "only playable game at E3" will not mean "only game at E3", so I'm not worried there. A bit bummed about NX, but if it gives them time to perfect it and make a good launch lineup, they'd better do it. Not that I'll probably get it at launch. None of this affects me, really, but I worry a bit (with my nonexistent) about how it will affect Nintendo. I want them to be a target for 3rd parties and investors again simply because I want to see them do well (and maybe not be such an object of mocking on forums but that's always gonna happen). I just feel like they have no idea what they're doing in anything but making games (but I do NOT want them going 3rd party). Online often sucks, they censor T and M rated games (granted nothing I care about is censored, and I usually play devil's advocate in the discussions and assume there's a good business reason, but I can't ignore that they're being compelled to bow to the whims of the obnoxiously oversensitive society we're in, and seem to be catering toward casuals in this regard even for the M and T games (I guess that's more to avoid negative attention from media than parents). Amiibos are constantly understocked in NoA and NoA is horrid with VC releases. And now they're dipping into mobile and that really worries me since...well I hate mobile gaming. And don't get me started on the travesty that is My Nintendo. It's just, how do you mess up so much? And how do you get one not to mess up so much? I love Nintendo, I really do, but I want to see them DO well, and they're shooting themselves in the foot a lot. I'm tempted to blame the fact that it's a Japanese company and perhaps cultural values have to do with it but I honestly don't know. I know they have the capacity to be alright for a long time, but every little screw up still worries me. Sorry to be a downer! I feel very similarly to you. Zelda is my second favorite Nintendo IP after Xenoblade but somehow I'm not that excited. I'm guessing I will be the more we learn about the game. I don't mind if it's not as good as X though. Zelda is a very different type of game that I enjoy for different reasons. I'm actually pretty annoyed by the censorship stuff. In Fire Emblem Awakening, it didn't bother me. In Fatal Frame, I was annoyed and then Xenoblade X and Fire Emblem Fates - especially Fates got me irritated by cutting outfits and cutting an optional game mode. Now with Tokyo Mirage Sessions censoring outfits and straight up denying us DLC giving signs of more censorship to come, I'm just kind of sour with Nintendo of America now; like I had a tolerance that has gradually been worn away game by game. Especially since they aren't even going to bother dubbing the game or even subbing the battle dialogue but will put the money and effort to protect us from swimsuits. They priorities seem in the wrong place to me and I get the feeling they don't really like or even care about these types of games. Even more, their censorship practices are very tight-lipped and extremely inconsistent so we can't even understand why Nintendo is doing this more and more. I mean, I still have the game preordered because I ultimately buy these games to play them but I don't get who Nintendo is trying to appeal to with these edits they keep making and it feels very condescending that they deem we can't handle some very tame stuff like a bust slider. Tokyo Mirage Sessions is going to be such a niche title yet somehow they are doing everything they can to shrink the already small consumer base they have for the game. Kind of another reason I'm glad to play some JRPGs on PS4 as I know things won't be arbitrarily censored. Amiibo bother me too. I own some but it wasn't actually the availability that has me annoyed but Nintendo's insistence of forcing them into games (one point for XBX for not using them.) I like buying cool figures of characters. I don't like being forced to buy a $13 toy just to get what amounts to DLC. There always should've been an option to buy amiibo locked content separately and have the amiibo basically be a season pass, as it already is, which would save you more money in the long run. I was interested in Codename STEAM because of the FE characters but immediately was turned off by it when I realized I needed all 4 amiibo to play the characters. Twilight Princess HD, which is one of my favorite games of all time felt like it was more of a rush job to sell amiibo than an honest effort to bring an old game into the present age like Wind Waker HD was. I feel like I'm ranting at this point but I'm actually pretty calm about this. Though to some extent, I want to just say "I'm done with you, Nintendo." At the same time, I want them to do well because of Monolith Soft. The NX is going to really have to impress me to get me hyped to buy it but I know even if it disappoints me a new Xenoblade game will have me taking out my wallet.
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Post by Primulus on Apr 30, 2016 19:22:11 GMT -5
I've been keeping a txt file with a list of PS4 games I'm looking at. The Wii U doesn't have the healthiest library itself, but Nintendo's games are more my style compared to the likes of MGSV, Dark Souls 3, or Fallout 4. If I had a PS4 it would pretty much be a racing game machine, like my PS2 and XB360. I'm not really into those games myself. I'm really more into Japanese-like stuff (I know MGS and Dark Souls are Japanese but they are very western-like) which is what I'll get the PS4 to play. Star Ocean V is on my radar and I know I'll get Kingdom Hearts III whenever it feels like coming out. I'm sort of on the fence with FFXV. There are a couple games I want that have already come out so I could likely get them cheap. I'm actually pretty annoyed by the censorship stuff. In Fire Emblem Awakening, it didn't bother me. In Fatal Frame, I was annoyed and then Xenoblade X and Fire Emblem Fates - especially Fates got me irritated by cutting outfits and cutting an optional game mode. Now with Tokyo Mirage Sessions censoring outfits and straight up denying us DLC giving signs of more censorship to come, I'm just kind of sour with Nintendo of America now; like I had a tolerance that has gradually been worn away game by game. Especially since they aren't even going to bother dubbing the game or even subbing the battle dialogue but will put the money and effort to protect us from swimsuits. They priorities seem in the wrong place to me and I get the feeling they don't really like or even care about these types of games. Even more, their censorship practices are very tight-lipped and extremely inconsistent so we can't even understand why Nintendo is doing this more and more. I mean, I still have the game preordered because I ultimately buy these games to play them but I don't get who Nintendo is trying to appeal to with these edits they keep making and it feels very condescending that they deem we can't handle some very tame stuff like a bust slider. Tokyo Mirage Sessions is going to be such a niche title yet somehow they are doing everything they can to shrink the already small consumer base they have for the game. Kind of another reason I'm glad to play some JRPGs on PS4 as I know things won't be arbitrarily censored. Star Ocean V didn't even dodge the censorship bullet, although it got censored in Japan as well, and the censorship was entirely unnecessary. Apparently an 18 year old in fashionable underwear is too lewd now. But for the most part the JRPG rush on the PS4 does look like they won't be censored - Tales of Berseria's devs want to prevent its censorship, Ys VIII is probably going to XSEED (which seems to have a welcome monopoly on Falcom games as of late) and there's a number of others on the way I haven't made quite as much of a mental note over yet. I'm hyped enough for Ys VIII to want a PS4 just for that game though. As for Nintendo and censorship? Allow me to rant for a bit... I'm very much on the same fence as you about Nintendo right now. The censorship issue is partially why I'm actually holding back from Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE at the moment, although there's also the issue that I have a vacation coming up soon and I'll likely be stretched thin financially, so my gaming budget is such that I'm not buying any systems or games until June at soonest. I've got plenty of unfinished games to work on at the moment (currently playing Ys VII) anyway. Still, it feels like Nintendo of America is terribly out of touch, and it's getting frustrating now.
What perplexes me though? Is how Xenoblade Chronicles X didn't get censored compared to Fatal Frame, Fire Emblem Fates and now Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE. Sure, a lot of Lin's costumes got censored (except for the Party Suit and the True Plastron set, which leads on to ask "the hell was the point of all the others?"), the bust slider was removed (I'm convinced the person who ordered this doesn't play video games) and the fundoshi was changed to white boxers on everyone. Then you have the bunny outfits, all the swimsuits, the light Meredith armor set, all uncensored on all remaining seven female characters (or eight counting the avatar), including Celica who looks almost as young as Lin. It's almost like the team that worked on Xenoblade Chronicles X must've fought tooth and nail to keep as much of it uncensored as possible, and considering Takahashi appeared to be overseeing the localization (and the fact that Takahashi consumes a lot of western media), I wonder if he had anything to do with how little was censored compared to the other three major releases that got censored.
A note about me and censorship, by the way: I consider it to be wrong regardless of what is being censored. Even if I find it personally offensive, it's not okay to censor the works of another person. Suppose I wrote a story, and suppose I decided certain things were a certain way that many people overseas were offended by. (This is more than likely, honestly, as I personally tend toward darker themes.) To censor these things in my story's translations so as not to offend the sensibilities of others would be a slap in the face to my work. It's unfortunate that they were offended, but if I wrote something to be a certain way, I'd like it to remain that way for its translated versions. It is with this empathy I have toward content creators (and respect for the work of others) that I care when games (and all other forms of media) are censored to avoid offending the sensibilities of others. It tells me that the company behind the publishing doesn't stand by the original authors and creators who poured their blood and sweat to create these things. (I'm not against editing with the blessing of the original author, however. I'm purely talking about when a work is changed to avoid controversy or otherwise negative press.)
So to me, it doesn't matter how much the censorship is something I personally care about or not. It could be offensive to me, and I'd still defend it. That said, I find it troubling when the "offensive things" are something as mundane as pantyshots and cleavage, or a swimsuit. It just strikes me as an extremely negative view toward the female form and sexuality if those are your hot buttons.
It is with the above that I feel like Nintendo of America doesn't support the developers who make their games in the first place, to be so heavy on censorship. Nor does the company respect the prospective fans who might by their games. This is frustrating, because I see what Nintendo of Japan is doing and want to support them and their work, but Nintendo of America is so out of touch that it's making me regret being a Nintendo fan at times. If Nintendo of America really wants to keep doing this, the company should, for future games, make a censor that can be turned off by the player, and let the players choose.
Rant over! As for the subject of Zelda U/NX and the NX? I'm ambivalent as well. I'm taking a "wait and see" approach, but the next Xenoblade game will more than likely win me over and surely it will be an NX title. And hopefully Takahashi is ambitious enough to push the NX to its limits, just as the Wii U had been pushed to its limits. Otherwise however, I know nothing about the NX, but I'm open to considering whatever it has to offer. Surely, a Super Mario Galaxy 3 for the NX as a launch title would probably make me more interested than anything else, though. That's one rumor I'm hopeful is very true.
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Meta
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Post by Meta on Apr 30, 2016 20:17:28 GMT -5
We wouldn't have this problem if there was just more communication between NoJ and NoA. Is there anything the latter even does as far as making the software goes besides localize?
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Post by flameheadshero on May 1, 2016 12:10:34 GMT -5
Primulus I really agree with everything you're saying about the censorship. The inconsistency really does bother me. In FE Fates, they cut out the skinship mini game which was weird but not at all inappropriate, cut out all swimsuits but keep this (NSFW): In Fatal Frame, they cut out two swimsuits but replace it with a skin tight Zero Suit Samus costume that leaves little to the imagination in a game about suicide that's already rated M. Here in X, you already described the weird inconsistencies but I also think that there may have been a decal for the barracks with a woman in the bunny bikini that doesn't exist in the Western release which is just really odd. I never thought about internal arguing about what should and shouldn't be censored but that does make sense. Now we have #FE. I honestly expected them to censor it based on their past habits but yet I'm still disappointed. If tame pictures of people in swimsuits are already censored, I know there's even more to come and it feels like NOA just doesn't have any respect for the source material at all. They'd much rather dictate what's appropriate for us to see than to give us the option to see and judge for ourselves. I don't know if it's because they're overly concerned with their image, or if they have an agenda, or if they're just afraid of "outrage" from twitter posts and Kotaku articles. The big thing that really annoys me is that - that I don't know. If NOA at least came out and said why they are making these changes, I could at least understand them and disagree. But here, it just seems like they don't care at all about what we think. Which I think is true. Remember Chris Pranger? He was an NOA employee who got fired because he appeared on a podcast and spilled the beans about how NOA just doesn't care about niche games and niche audiences - even citing Xenoblade as an example of that. #FE really does feel like a release out of obligation - as Fatal Frame was - and not like a game NOA actually cares about releasing for the fans. They still want to aim for the family friendly Wii audience with every title they bring over and if the Wii U was doing better than it was, they probably wouldn't release some of these titles. It's just in the current state of affairs that they feel the need to push out these things because we're some of the few Nintendo consumers left on Wii U. If NX is a success, I expect games like #FE and Fatal Frame to never make it overseas. Just another reason, I'm looking into getting a PS4. Meta Besides localization, NOA is basically just marketing and advertising. Look at Reggie's background and it makes sense why their priorities are where they are. Since they are basically just a marketing arm, it's no wonder that they're overly concerned about image and have been censorship happy.
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Post by Primulus on May 1, 2016 19:42:36 GMT -5
flameheadshero - Yeah, that just doesn't make any lick of sense. I think honestly Nintendo of America has a bit of identity crisis going right now, as Nintendo of Japan is moving in a direction that NoA doesn't want to move in. NoA wants to be the family-friendly toy company that is wholesome and always reliable for grandma and grandpa to buy Christmas presents for their children, rather than attempting to appeal to core gamers. They want to be a casual company because they don't see the money in anything else. The moment they step out of that casual company facade, they believe everything will crumble. I think it's become clear that they have some really outdated and quite frankly terrible ideas about their place in the industry. Instead of trying to adapt to the current environment, they want to keep the old Wii era going as long as possible. In addition to that, NoA's marketing and advertising branches are terrible and honestly most of them don't even deserve jobs in the industry anymore. That's not hyperbole or cruelty on my part. I don't have any hostility toward them. When I say they don't deserve jobs in the industry, I mean they're terrible at their jobs they have now. They don't know what to market or advertise, and who to market and advertise to. They're banking so hard on the cash cows and giving very little marketing toward any of their other IPs right now. They do greatly prioritize the games most resembling the casual-friendly of Wii era, but then abandon things like Xenoblade and Xenoblade X, both of which were largely funded by NoE to get pushed to the west. They've become inherently distrustful of all JRPGs since the Wii era as well, after the poor performance on games like Metroid: Other M and the Tales of Symphonia sequel, but I don't think they ever understood why those games performed so poorly. It seems as if they just insert their own prejudice into their understanding of why they failed instead of actually looking at the fact that both games were critical failures and not very well liked because they were perceived as bad games. They assumed all games like them would also fail, instead of giving proper analysis to the quality of these games and how fans of their genres felt let down by them. In other words, NoA looked at how those games failed and blamed the fact that they appealed more to hardcore gamers and not casuals as to the reason they failed, without even a hint of understanding that they were seen as bad games by fans of those genres. Had either even the slightest hint of quality that something like Xenoblade Chronicles had, the result would've been much different. EDIT: In case someone misconstrues what I am saying, I don't think they should necessarily be fired. It's just that Nintendo is, in America, under-performing in part due to these failings. Struggling to return profits in a business in which they're better off to adapt to the current marketplace. Nintendo is currently a niche gamer's console, and there is money in being that, but as long as NoA refuses to see it and try desperately to appeal to the casual audience, the more NoA's boat will likely sink.
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Post by Wolfe on May 2, 2016 3:00:01 GMT -5
NoA wants to be the family-friendly toy company that is wholesome and always reliable for grandma and grandpa to buy Christmas presents for their children, rather than attempting to appeal to core gamers. They want to be a casual company because they don't see the money in anything else. The moment they step out of that casual company facade, they believe everything will crumble. I don't think NOA is even that coherent. I think you had it right with your later comments. They don't understand why games sell well or poorly, they don't understand what consumers want or how they think (both casual and core), and their marketing and advertising is a cringeworthy effort, when they actually bother to try at all. I don't know what they're doing over there. Take Xenoblade X for example. I don't think it was really abandoned like you said, because it actually got a fair bit of attention with streams and videos and stuff. But from the random and very cruddy Direct-like presentation in April to the super-condensed, hammy, and oddly-scheduled Survival Guide series, NOA's handling of it was just so oblivious and incompetent. Still, I haven't seen them do any other game any better in recent years unless they share a video that NCL made, so XCX is what it looks like when they try.
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Meta
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Post by Meta on May 2, 2016 5:00:05 GMT -5
I thought the survival guides weren't too bad.
Everything else, yeah I pretty much agree with. NoA has few dozen screws loose.
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Post by flameheadshero on May 2, 2016 15:49:21 GMT -5
NoA wants to be the family-friendly toy company that is wholesome and always reliable for grandma and grandpa to buy Christmas presents for their children, rather than attempting to appeal to core gamers. They want to be a casual company because they don't see the money in anything else. The moment they step out of that casual company facade, they believe everything will crumble. I don't think NOA is even that coherent. I think you had it right with your later comments. They don't understand why games sell well or poorly, they don't understand what consumers want or how they think (both casual and core), and their marketing and advertising is a cringeworthy effort, when they actually bother to try at all. I don't know what they're doing over there. Take Xenoblade X for example. I don't think it was really abandoned like you said, because it actually got a fair bit of attention with streams and videos and stuff. But from the random and very cruddy Direct-like presentation in April to the super-condensed, hammy, and oddly-scheduled Survival Guide series, NOA's handling of it was just so oblivious and incompetent. Still, I haven't seen them do any other game any better in recent years unless they share a video that NCL made, so XCX is what it looks like when they try. I actually liked the survival guides. They were basically the information videos Japan got before the game came out there except that one had Elma and Lin talking about the game instead of the narrator guy. Still I agree with your overall premise. I remember being kind of annoyed during this past E3. They spent so much time on pointless crap no one cared about. During the digital event they had this whole part of the program dedicated to a developer story for Yarn Yoshi, keep in mind that we already had a developer story for the game either the past year or the one before that. This time, it was just one of the employees at the studio - not someone who made the game part of the game - talking about how they decided to make their own little yarn yoshis to gift to their coworkers and how that led to the idea of selling Yarn Yoshi amiibos. Yay...! Meanwhile XBX got a very short trailer in between some other short trailers that didn't really tell us anything about the game other than the fact that it did indeed exist. It annoyed me that they dedicated so much of their time to "Hey guys, isn't Yoshi so adorable?" "Look we're sorry there's no Zelda U but look at Link wear goofy outfits!" "Mario! Mario! Mario!" XBX by all means, should've been a big game for Nintendo's holiday season ESPECIALLY because Zelda U and Star Fox got delayed. So what does Nintendo push the hardest come Winter 2015? Mario Tennis. There were some !New! Nintendo 3DS commercials running at that time. What games did they feature? Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, Triforce Heroes, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon and Smash Bros. Hey... what about that game that's the only New 3DS exclusive? Xeno-something? No? OK. We're just going to advertise games that are already a year old. Nintendo buying Monolith Soft seems like something Nintendo of Japan primarily wanted and that NOA really wants nothing to do with. I hate to sound so negative about Nintendo because I've been playing on their console for years and enjoy their games but I'm just tired. I think the most accurate way to describe how I feel towards them is that they've slowly eaten through all the good will I had for them with bad decision after bad decision. Like my love for Nintendo has been eroded.
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Meta
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Post by Meta on May 2, 2016 19:43:33 GMT -5
Well on the bright(?) side, seems like Kimishima knows that it's too late to save the WiiU so they're just gonna focus a lot on 3DS this year and hopefully next year NX will have a strong launch.
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Post by Wolfe on May 3, 2016 2:40:35 GMT -5
I thought the survival guides weren't too bad. I actually liked the survival guides. They weren't that bad, no, but they sped through the information too quickly for the uninitiated, while not really offering much to all the fans who had already watched the subtitled Japanese presentations. I don't know who they were intended for. I hate to sound so negative about Nintendo because I've been playing on their console for years and enjoy their games but I'm just tired. I think the most accurate way to describe how I feel towards them is that they've slowly eaten through all the good will I had for them with bad decision after bad decision. Like my love for Nintendo has been eroded. I actually feel the opposite; I felt similarly spurned after the Gamecube and Wii, but for me Nintendo has redeemed themselves with the Wii U. The Gamepad renewed my confidence in Nintendo's hardware ideas (the Wiimote is great when used right but ultimately did not deliver), and the Wii U's library renewed my confidence in Nintendo's first-party titles. Nintendo's courtship of indie devs has supplanted the lack of traditional third party support as far as I'm concerned, and they've demonstrated willingness to take steps in the right direction with things like online functionality. There are certainly bad decisions in the Wii U, but I guess as I see it, that's just Nintendo; they've always shot themselves in the foot, going all the way back to the ill-designed front-loading NES and the software licensing practices that engendered resentment from third parties since the beginning. I've been sorta used to it since Square packed up and moved to the Playstation -- leaving me to play Final Fantasy VII on our family's Pentium 1 computer a year after everyone else -- almost solely because of Nintendo's choice to stick to cartridges for the N64. I have confidence in the NX and its games. Chances are it'll be worth it to me for the next Mario Kart and Xeno game alone. I just wish Nintendo of America would wake up and get a clue.
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Post by Primulus on May 3, 2016 6:12:30 GMT -5
I thought the survival guides weren't too bad. I actually liked the survival guides. They weren't that bad, no, but they sped through the information too quickly for the uninitiated, while not really offering much to all the fans who had already watched the subtitled Japanese presentations. I don't know who they were intended for. I hate to sound so negative about Nintendo because I've been playing on their console for years and enjoy their games but I'm just tired. I think the most accurate way to describe how I feel towards them is that they've slowly eaten through all the good will I had for them with bad decision after bad decision. Like my love for Nintendo has been eroded. I actually feel the opposite; I felt similarly spurned after the Gamecube and Wii, but for me Nintendo has redeemed themselves with the Wii U. The Gamepad renewed my confidence in Nintendo's hardware ideas (the Wiimote is great when used right but ultimately did not deliver), and the Wii U's library renewed my confidence in Nintendo's first-party titles. Nintendo's courtship of indie devs has supplanted the lack of traditional third party support as far as I'm concerned, and they've demonstrated willingness to take steps in the right direction with things like online functionality. There are certainly bad decisions in the Wii U, but I guess as I see it, that's just Nintendo; they've always shot themselves in the foot, going all the way back to the ill-designed front-loading NES and the software licensing practices that engendered resentment from third parties since the beginning. I've been sorta used to it since Square packed up and moved to the Playstation -- leaving me to play Final Fantasy VII on our family's Pentium 1 computer a year after everyone else -- almost solely because of Nintendo's choice to stick to cartridges for the N64. I have confidence in the NX and its games. Chances are it'll be worth it to me for the next Mario Kart and Xeno game alone. I just wish Nintendo of America would wake up and get a clue. The survival guides were really not that useful for marketing the game. Sure, they were pretty well produced, but for the most part the survival guides didn't seem to reach anyone who wasn't either sold on the game already, or who wasn't on the fence to buy or not at the time. They did nothing to increase the awareness of the game, and ultimately Nintendo of America failed to do anything to increase awareness. The spread of the game was almost purely word-of-mouth, or the little segments of the Nintendo Directs getting people's interests. Even then though, Nintendo of America's trailers tended to be boring and uninspired compared to Nintendo of Europe's. I actually have mixed feelings on the Wii U. It was a good system overall, but had so many missteps. The fact that you had to jump hoops to get surround sound at all, just for example. It was an underpowered piece of hardware when it came out, and developers were often frustrated with it. (I remember one developer of a game I liked a lot dropping their Wii U version of their game saying they could never get it to even work.) However, the biggest misstep of the Wii U was advertising in North America. They utterly failed to advertise that it was a new system and not just an upgrade to the Wii for most casual audiences in the first place, so if Nintendo of America wanted to get that same casual audience as before... well, they missed the mark by a mile. Casual gaming audiences practically didn't realize it even existed until it was too late, making its only salvation hardcore gaming audiences... which then Nintendo of America shoots itself in the foot over by censoring their games, not bringing out niche titles and then botching the releases of the niche titles they do release (looking at you Fatal Frame). All things that the hardcore gaming audience tends to abhor. (Especially censorship. For every game censored on PC, count how many mods come into existence which do nothing but restore what was censored, usually within a week or two of the game's release.) With the lack of third party support, the lack of basic support features (such as surround sound), the lack of proper advertising to casual gaming audiences, the lack of proper appeal or advertising to hardcore gaming audiences... it's quite clear just how the Wii U ended up the way it did. However, it was a charming system with interesting ideas, although very few games to take advantage of these ideas properly. It sounds, however, that the NX wants to try to take what was good about the Wii U's second screen and play that up, so it will be interesting to see that in action.
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