Nintendo Cancels Camp Miiverse in Honour of Satoru Iwata

ok

Will it come back later? Hopefully it will at least come back next year

Don't worry, Nintendo. We understand completely...I didn't even mean to do that just then. Anyways, let's just take some more time to remember Iwata and appreciate him for who he was, what he represented, and all the happiness and joy he brought to us all.

I also wonder about the Splatfest. All anticipation for it has vanished, and the death of Iwata is all they are talking about in Inkopolis.

But Super Mario Maker releasing on September 11th in NA is ok?

I feel bad for his family, Nitneod and everyone, but canceling something that is supposed to be fun for kids isn't sending a good message to kids. Does anybody really think Iwata would want it canceled, the gamer at heart?

If SMM can release on 9/11, kids should be able to enjoy their summer doing fun Camp Miiverse things. Seems hypocritical to me.

Understandable.

The business world still goes on every 9/11 each year. Its just another day. Stores open, things get sold and released just like normal.

@rjejr I wish people would stop trying to make a conspiracy out of Nintendo releasing a game on September 11. Yes, September 11, 2001 is a tragic day in U.S. history, I do not deny that, but HOW that relates to a VIDEO GAME RELEASE (and a Mario game at that) is beyond me.

Nintendo releases games on Fridays. Super Mario Maker is being released in mid-September worldwide, and that day just happens to be September 11. That's all there is to it. There's no conspiracy or "hidden message" behind it like people are making it out to be.

Nintendo isn't doing anything wrong by canceling Camp Miiverse. I'm sure they'll end up reviving it in August but, at the moment, the company is mourning the loss of their CEO.

I'm not trying to start an argument here at all, but I just don't understand why there's a huge fuss around Nintendo releasing a game on September 11.

@rjejr
I get the feeling this has more than one reason for the canceling. Like some have said I was taken aback by how the plaza in Splatoon was almost 100% people talking about Iwata's passing and playing with the Zapper to honor him. The social media necessary to keep this event going and celebrating might be a bit at odds with how fans themselves are dealing. In addition I have a feeling there is a bunch of activity on dealing with this going forward. Important PR responsibilities that everyone across Nintendo is going to have to deal with (even before Iwata passed away) maybe taking personnel off of running the event. I mean, Shigeru Miyamoto said it was a shock to him. If he didn't expect this, I don't think the final preparations for a transition would be in order (beyond what had been prepared before his surgery a long time back).

Anyway, as @Bass_X0 says generally business goes as usual on 9/11 in the US and with good reason. It's that mentality that the more that changes the more the terrorist act succeeded. It will still be a challenge to promote that game on the actual day in social media, but I'll go pick it up on that day without reservation.

@rjejr Probably because 9/11 is mostly a U.S thing, and as far as I'm aware has no significance to Nintendo, other than it being the closest Friday to Mario's anniversary. Maybe it is a bit cold that they release it on that day, but other than that it seems fine.

On the other hand Iwata's passing was incredibly significant to Nintendo, considering his immense influence and history with the company. So it makes since they would want to mourn him, although I do agree that they shouldn't cancel Camp Miiverse considering how much Iwata cared for having fun.

Kinda surprised that they did this. But whatever floats their boat.

Camp Miiverse can or cannot be cancelled. It does not matter, because we will seek to have fun, no matter what we do. Iwata wouldn't have it any or ther way, so this debate must come to a close now, in light of his ideals.

As the great man himself would have said "Please understand"

@123akis Nintendo did NOT have to release it on 9/11. Yoshi was already released in the EU, but it isn't due in the US until Oct. Xenoblade X already released in Japan but it isn't releasing until Dec in the west. Captain Toad released before Christmas in the US, after Christmas in the EU. SMM did not HAVE to release on 9/11 in NY, Nintendo choose to. And they choose to cancel Camp Miiverse. Their actions are contradictory. When is Devils Third coming out in the US?

@Yoshis_VGM How does closing Camp Miiverse have anything to do with Iwata passing away on Sunday?. Was he waking up every morning deciding what that days action was?

@Bass_X0 Well than why not have Camp Miiverse, people die every day, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers die ever day, why cancel fun camp activities for that?. I feel certain Iwata wasn't personally running it.

@Aromaiden - That last part was my point, I don't see Iwata wanting kids fun being taken away, and that's what Camp MIiverse is supposed to be about, fun. Kids in the US doing Camp Miiverse things probably don't know or care who Iwata is, they just want to have fun. Now if things were getting mean spirited, people being nasty calling him names or whatever, fine, but all I've seen is respect.

@rjejr What does closing Camp Miiverse have to do with Iwata's passing? Everything! That's the whole reason why it was closed, as is so plainly laid out in this article. Nintendo's global president and CEO died, so Nintendo is taking certain actions to mourn his loss and to recover. This just happens to be one of their decisions.

@rjejr Obviously,you cannot accept that 9/11 date has nothing to do with a Mario game releasing at that date. Give the rest of the readers a brake though.

Maybe there is something more going on, like organising behind the scenes. After all, losing a CEO is a big thing. Perhaps he was even to have played a role in some way, introducing stuff or whatever or someone else who was going to do that has been moved around. You can never know with Nintendo. Maybe it's also a cultural thing in Japan too, to cancel festive things when significant people die. It's normal here, but perhaps the practice is taken to fewer extremes as we've got that "stiff upper lip" thing going on too.

I find this kind of.... sad and I don't get why.... if I were them, I'd do it more in something of dedication or something to honour him. It would have made a great way for fans to do stuff in his honour.,

@rjejr

You need to get over the 9/11 thing. It's just another day. Sure, several people died that day like... 15 or so years ago but there have been worse things that have happened and if they accommodated everyone for their tragedies, then we'd never be able to have game releases except for a few days a year if any. Nintendo is not going to cling to the past. Sure, they do this for this year, but in the future, they will have moved on in the future and especially in 15 years. It isn't contradictory at all because one thing happened this year, the other, 15 years ago. If they are going to pause for a moment, then it would be best for the year which it occurred. Seriously, get over it.

@rjejr
I understand you live in New York and 9/11 probably hit you harder than most here.

But they do have a point- almost every day in history has some notable horrific event attached to it. The world doesn't revolve around the United States as much as we tend to think it does sometimes, and as horrific as the day was, to say that no retail products can release on that day is taking it too far. Because if you follow that line of thinking then movie theaters shouldn't play movies on that day. And restaurants shouldn't serve meals on that day. And airlines perhaps shouldn't fly on that day. I could go on but I think you get the point.

It's horrible, we will never forget, but life does go on. And just like November 22th (Kennedy assassination), December 7th (Pearl Harbor), July 7th (London bombings), etc... life goes on.

If games can't release on September 11 then they can't release on any of those other dates either. And if they can't release on any of those other dates they can't release on any date in the year. Because if you actually look up catastrophic events I believe you'll find one for every day in the calendar.

Don't mind Miiverse that much but even if I did, I would understand Nintendo's decision. Anyone who thinks they are gonna start doing good because of Iwata needs to seriously shut up.

@JaxonH Good point bringing up November 22, as that was the day Super Mario 3D World was released in 2013.

Essentially, life moves on. Business continues as usual. Tragedies happen every day (as far as Nintendo is concerned, July 11 could be considered a day of "tragedy" now). 9/11 was indeed tragic, but so were all the other events you listed, and more. So really, @rjejr, it's not a big deal.

....Surprisingly, everyone on Miiverse commenting on this are behaving. >.>

@JaxonH @Yoshis_VGM Thanks for mentioning November 22, as that was the date of Super Mario 3D World, The Legend of Zelda a Link Between World's and Mario Party 3DS in 2013. The 22nd of November also happens to be my birthday the world goes on. The pain of the day's tragic events (whatever that day maybe), remain in the annuls of history, but life has to go on. 9/11 is still a touchy day in the 15 years post attack, just like (I'd imagine) that 11/22 was a rough day for a decade or so after '63.

But back to the topic.
I think its a little weird to cancel the events, we're all sad, but why cancel the events??? Strange, but I bet Nintendo feels so lost after this sudden loss.

9/11 will likely always be touchy because it's remembered by the date. If a product advertisement said "RELEASING PEARL HARBOR DAY!" obviously that would be horrible. But saying "RELEASING 12/7!" is fine. But since 9/11 is also a real date... yeah, people will always freak out about it.

Also, I agree that cancelling the event is silly. Iwata would want the people to play games. "GIVE THOSE PEOPLE GAMES!!" (Arnold Schwarzenegger voice)

@rjejr
9/11 did bush, jet beams can't melt steel fuel, neva5get, these blast points too accurate for sand people, demolition job I rate 9/11 stars, Nintendo illuminati conspiracy

That's kind of what you're sounding like. Bad and good things happen every day. What you want it released 9/4? Can't, the western Roman Empire fell that day in 472 AD.

It's the closest Friday to Mario's original release, if in 1985 smb was released on 9/11 would you still have a problem if an event happened 16 years afterwards?

9/11 was a tragedy yes, but it's not something to rework our entire schedule around

Should have just changed teams toad and yoshi to just team iwata

@Mode7 Honestly speaking, as tragic as it was, 9/11 is really only a sensitive topic for Americans. Around the world that date is just another day, it's only different for America because they're the ones who were affected by it. On the other hand the rest of the world was left mostly unaffected by it, so they have no issues with the day.

While we're at it just make September off limits since that one event happened

@HandheldGuru97 I'm sure that's part of it. Nintendo just lost their CEO, so I'm pretty sure they're at quite a loss right now as they're trying to recover and look for a successor.

@HandheldGuru97
Course though April 30 stays touchy to me

@Yoshis_VGM
Anyone know who takeda is?

@rjejr 9/11 was 14 years ago, Iwata died mere days ago. 9/11 isn't a legendary sport star who gets their number retired, it's not a public holiday where nothing can happen, maybe it's time to move forward from 9/11, and it will take a little bit to enable people to start moving forward from Mr Iwata's passing.

@Aromaiden True. I don't think anyone anywhere, US or otherwise, should take issue with a date. It's just a date.

NoA knows it's a sensitive date though, as they've listed it as "11th of September," when typically in the US we say the month first. To name a horrible event after 1/365th of the year isn't fair to the date! They should have called it something else.

@Mode7
We do, it's called the WTC bombings, but we did have one in the 90s and attacked the pentagon

@rjejr
What happened on 9/11 is terrible and must not be forgotten, but in 2015 life goes on, and that date is as valid as another to release a game. And remeber, Nintendo releases the game that day on all the Americas, not only NA, and for most is just another calendar day.
If we keep talking about sensitive dates, why don't we see just how many other countries have "sensitive dates" and propose they don't release games those days? There would not be a single day available!

@Luna_110
On another note do you think a Friday the thirteenth would be a good day for any game?

@Mona-Reggie True, I suppose there are multiple names... but as one of the most common is saying the date, it strikes Americans when they hear it even in other context... which is kind of a strange and unique situation.

And yes, Friday the 13th would be a great day for SMM ghost house DLC.

@rjejr

Everyone, every business handles these things and grieves in their own way. To compare the urgent passing of a great figure to the anniversary of an event that time has contextualized, it's just not relevant. But you seem eager to troll others with your personal grievances, even on this occasion.

@Mona-Reggie Maybe it would be a good idea to do a poll to evaluate? A bit more seriously though, for some people its an unlucky day due to the movie or something like that.... Where I live, the bad luck date is Tuesday 13th, so no problems for me on Fridays!

@Mona-Reggie Wait... it already has ghost houses!?! I had no idea... awesome!

@Luna_110 @Mode7
Of course 1/365th of the population was born that day. Do we bar them from celebrating?
My grandparents were married that day in 1964, do I prevent them as well?

A poll would be rather difficult since most of the posters on this site are from the UK. It would be interesting though, see what it means to them

But to me, it was just a Tuesday...the 13th

@Mode7
Those boos must obviously represent the victims! Nintendo is a conspiracy!
-some people

@Mona-Reggie Podoboos can't melt steel beams.
-those same people

@Mona-Reggie
A poll, out of curiosity, would be interesting to see everyone's perspectives, but at the end of the day, dates are just a numbers. As you said, their meanings will differ for each person. Now, we should be a bit more excited that we're getting the game in a little less than two months!

It would be disappointing if the upcoming Splatfest gets cancelled as well.

@Luna_110
We could also go the weird philosopher route and say time is an illusion. I'm certain there are a few Brits that don't know what 9/11 is. I don't know when the queens birthday is

@Yoshis_VGM

Yea! Especially since it would make more sense if Nintendo released all their big games on December 7th

It really is a tragic blow for Nintendo, not just as a company but as a collective of artists and friends. I do hope they won't completely halt summer entertainment as it would only further damage them in this crucial time, but I totally respect their not wanting to carry on la-dee-da during such a dark time. I just hope they don't end up letting the dark tone repel any newcomers.

What I'm about to say is going to make a lot of people angry. However, that's fine because much like other things i've said, it places logic above knee-jerk gut reactions, and therefore is going to be more valid. So i've absolutely no doubt that what i'm about to say is the right thing to say, and is only common sense that I say it flat-out, blunt, to the point, and with no regrets:

September 11th, 2001, was nearly 14 years ago. People need to get over it.

Yes, I just said that. Do you think i'm being insensitive? Do you think i'm being rude? Do you think i'm being disrespectful? Do you think that i'm dishorning it? Well, too bad. Because it's right. That statement is right. It was 14 years ago, get over it.

It was a terrible thing. THEN. It was the largest and most massive tragedy to happen in the United States. THEN.

But there is a thing called the grieving process. The most disrespectful thing to do when it comes to the memory of 9/11 is to continue to let it fester in you and ruin the date and your entire life by it. People lose loved ones. I HAVE LOST LOVED ONES. And the grieving process is something that everyone goes through. But HEALTHY, FUNCTIONING people get over their grief in time.

Before 2001, September 11 was a day just like any other. And I have a news flash for people. September 11th, is STILL just another day. It wasn't "just" another day THAT year, but the following year, it was. Sure the harm that the ATTACKS THEMSELVES still lingered in the public consciousness still hurt, and it hurt for years. But as time has gone on, well over an entire decade PAST that, it's time to move on.

But September 11th is just a day like any other. I'm going to be very brutally honest here, and again, I don't care what feelings this hurts, because this is a dose of reality that needs to be understood... Remember the attacks themselves? Understandable, if not a little clingy to the past instead of moving on from it, but still somewhat understandable.

Etching the DAY into your public consciousness as some kind of "holy day" to sit around and feel sorry about yourself for, every single time that date HAPPENS to roll around every 365 days, for over 14 years consecutively? It's obsessively dangerous and more than a little disturbed. Getting buttwrecked about ANYTHING happening on the precious holy 9/11 every single year is not only incredibly stupid, it's woefully counterproductive, especially when other normal things happen on a day in which nothing is happening, and was 14 friggin' years ago.

If some dog somewhere in the United States happens to take a crap on the ground in a public park on 9/11 in 2013, when you aren't around to see it, does that "Ruin" your precious holy day of 9/11 remembrance? No, of course not. That's stupid.

If a random couple in their own home decides to kiss each other on the day in 2011, is that "disrespectful" to 9/11 because they dare to be happy about their relationship on 9/11? No, of course not. That's stupid.

If somewhere out in the middle of Alaska, someone happens to accidentally drop a sandwich on the ground and then pick it up and throw it in the trash on that day in 2014, does that "disrespect" 9/11 by the act of this one person who did this completely unrelated thing? No, of course not. THAT'S STUPID.

If someone goes into a Taco Bell which happens to be open on that day, in 2009, orders a Bean Burrito, then eats it while heading home from work, and then decides to watch a movie he bought from a store, does that "destroy the solemness of 9/11?" NO. IT DOES NOT. BECAUSE THAT IS VERY STUPID.

So you may have realized that every single one of those things were completely unrelated to the actual topic at hand, had nothing to do with anything, and seemed like weird, random, everyday, uncontrollable, isolated, meaningless occurrences taking place just because they happened to happen on the same day, despite having nothing in common with terrorists, bombings, buildings or planes. So what's the point? Where am I going with all of this random, disconnected nonsense?

Well, be sure to pay close attention to the one defining similarity between those random occurrences and this final example:

What if Nintendo happened to just release a video game featuring Super Mario in 2015, and someone bought it, took it and brought it home, and played it. Does this random video game being randomly released for random people to buy and play, somehow encroach on the deep sovereignty of the 9/11 attacks? NO. OF. COURSE. NOT. BECAUSE. ....and be sure to follow me on this one. ...THAT. WOULD. BE. .......STUPID.

So, I really don't know how much more plain I can make this. But just in case, here's a recap. Dogs making dump in a park has nothing to do with 9/11. A kissing couple has nothing to do with 9/11. Alaska has nothing to do with 9/11. Sandwiches have nothing to do with 9/11. Taco Bell has nothing to do with 9/11. And Super Mario Maker has nothing to do with 9/11. Each and every single one of these things can theoretically happen on the date that just happens to occupy the eleventh day of the 9th month of the year. BUT THEY HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. THEY SHARE NO COMMON THREAD WITH ANYTHING THAT HAS TAKEN PLACE 14 YEARS AGO.

When terrorists hijacked a plane and flew them into the side of the world trade center killing many people, that was a terrible, horrible, unspeakable thing. THAT HAPPENED TO FALL ON A RANDOM DAY.

I'm not unsympathetic to the people that lived through this, or even the people of New York City that dealt with the things that happened and a certain extent of it's aftermath, but not only is it ridiculous to hold onto this grief for over 14 years, whether or not that's still an issue, holding every random thing that happens on that same day accountable 14 years later for everything that DARES happens on it, is honestly pretty stupid.

And just as unrelated as all those things I mentioned above are to the actual 9/11 attacks , so too is the idiocy of continuing to let it ruin everything in your life for you and cause you to become so miserable and whiny for every random and unrelated reason, that you wouldn't be satisfied until you singlehandedly put the entire WORLD in time-frozen stasis until the 24 hours of this damn day every year ends, so that nothing happens to defile this precious day of wallowing in your self-righteousness, in order to protect it from ANYTHING randomly happening on it at all.

To get so selfishly and irrationally upset about a Mario game coming out on this day, is just as dumb as getting outraged and irrationally upset about the fact that millions of people are also going to take a pee in their bathroom that day at some point, and to claim that "uritating on 9/11 is not cool, brah". Despite the fact that not only will probably everyone ELSE go to the bathroom at some point, but also, so will you, very likely. Or breathe. Or eat food. Or use your eyes to see. All of which, I suppose are to be equally considered to be offensive.

How dare Nintendo release Super Mario Maker on Sept 11? How dare you take a pee on Sept 11? How dare you walk your dog on Sept 11? How dare you breathe on Sept 11th? This is the kind of Social Justice Warrior stupidity of our culture today that permeates it. This kind of ludicrousness. And the complaints about Nintendo releasing this game are every bit as stupid and perfectly equivalent to this kind of whiny stupidity as any of the dumb examples I cooked up.

It's not just well past time to get over this thing. It's at least 10 years past time to get over this. And holding this same day every year as the "how dare you do anything on this day" crap, is every bit as eye rolling and ridiculous as the people who still think that a black cat crossing your path or breaking a mirror or walking under a ladder is actually going to bring you bad luck all day. It's superstitious nonsense that everyone else goes along with, despite how stupid it is to still be going along with it, just because everyone else does and everyone else regards it as a thing even when it shouldn't be, anymore.

It's just a day. It's just the 11th day. It's just a Mario game. And it's just a September. Stop being so dumb. Get over it. Get over yourself, too.

@rjejr: You are comparing the company's loss of its CEO mere days ago with a terrorist act anno 2001. Are you serious?

@night Wow! That was one long post. I agree with you actually. It was time to get over it years ago. I just don't get the post about 9/11 in a Camp MiiVerse thread?

They cancelled camp MiiVerse to respect the passing of Mr. Iwata which is understandable after a few days. Maybe the office people at Nintendo are mourning which I am sure they are. He probably had many friends at Nintendo Headquarters.

I can still hardly believe that Iwata is gone.

Are people seriously freaking out about a game being released on 9/11? It's been 14 years. Nobody freaks out when business goes on as usual on Dec. 7. I'm old enough to remember 9/11 vividly, so it's not something I take lightly. However, the world moves on - I don't think 14 years is too soon. For those of us who remember 9/11 - you may also remember what we were told to do the next day - if you don't go shopping, the terrorists win.

@DiscoGentleman I agree on that, and it likely is.

I'm certain there are a few Brits that don't know what 9/11 is.

Nope. Everybody knows what it is, except maybe young children.

Can we, like, drop the argument on 9/11?

It seems completely out of place in this article.

@Morpheel I think it's already dropped. The one who commented first about it hasn't answered.

@Olmectron -yet-.

It's just a precaution.

@JaxonH - Why does everybody keep picking on 1 side of my argument or the other - 9/11 or Camp Miiverse - when my argument isn't about either of them, it's about Nintendo treating them both differently? Of ocurse I can understand why Nintneod would release SMM on 9/11, and I can understand why they would cancel camp Miiverse, but those are opposite actions to similar events - death, that's my problem, the hypocrisy of the 2. Of course it's easy for anybody to tear my argument apart by only picking on 1 side b/c that's not my argument, it's the juxtaposition of the 2. W/o both sides there is no argument.

@rjejr
Well the two just don't seem comparable. A company losing their CEO is an understandable reason for rescheduling a few things and cancelling any festivities that may have been slated that week.

@JaxonH - "understandable reason"

But you can't think of any "understandable reasons" not to a release a "world building game" in the city where the flagship Nintnedo World Store is located in on the anniversary where 3,000 people were murdered?

People keep saying, it happened, that was a long time ago, get over it, nobody cares about that anniversary anymore, and then in the same sentence/breath say the anniversary of a 30 year old game is important. A game anniversary is more important than the murder of 3,000 people. And you know what, that isn't even Mario's anniversary, that's the 13th. The 30 year anniversary of a videogame is so important that they have to get it as close as possible w/o actually being on that date, the date that it doesn't matter that 3,000 people were murdered b/c that happened 14 years ago.

How does that make any sense? A videogame anniversary is more important than mass murder, a game HAS to come out that day. That's logic?

Maybe there are reasons not to have Camp Miiverse this week, all the same reasons not to release a world building game in NYC on the anniversary of 9/11 to mark that games anniversary. The 2 are very comparable.

@rjejr

No I can't think of a single reason why not to. For the reasons listed above. If there was one single reason not to release the game then video games would never be able to release because there would be a reason on every day of the calendar year. Days of tragedies far worse than the 9/11 attacks.

Tragedies come and go and there are too many in history to start not releasing games just because something bad happened on that day many years ago. But with Iwatas death, it's fresh. They haven't even found a replacement for him yet. This is actually impacting their business whereas a tragic event years ago does not impact their business.

@JaxonH - "Days of tragedies far worse than the 9/11 attacks"

OK, I'll bite, name me some NYC tragedies worse than 9/11?
OK, NY state tragedies?
USA tragedies?
NA?
Not the Oklahoma City bombing, not the Denver movie theater shooting, not Columbine. I know the US is chuck full of horrible events, but how many of those dates can you name off the top of your head? How many people don't know the date 2 planes flew into the Twin Towers?

I know our ancestors killed over 1 million Native American's, but that was spread out over years, not on any given day.

Remember, we are talking about releasing a game in NA. Nintnedo doesn't have to ship to all countries on the same day, they rarely do. Not even for Splaltoon, and that's an online shooter, it shipped on different days in Japan and the west. I don't care what day the game releases in Japan or the EU, but if they are going to shut down Camp Miiverse for a week to honour Iawata they should ship a day earlier or a week earlier or later for SMM in the US. Consistency.
.

When my favorite videogame console ages, I like to praise it on the pedestal I have at home dedicated to it. None must do anything else but praise it as well on that day, and I get mad when someone celebrate something else, or do something productive at work because everyone must be praising the pedestal or altar (whatever you may call it) just like me. Doing anything else is disrespectful.

About the article, it's a shame they cancelled it, but they have more than enough reasons to do so.

@rjejr why does it have to be a New York tragedy? Nintendo sells to more than just New York. They sell their products worldwide and Americans are no more important than Russians were the Japanese or the French or any other nation that has experienced a tragedy.

Should they not release games on the date the atom bomb dropped on Hirishima? What about Nagasaki? What about the day Hurricane Katrina hit? Should they not release games on that date either? What about the tsunami in Japan? What about the tsunami in Indonesia? Should they ban those dates from releasing games as well?

Believe me the list could go on- probably indefinitely. You make an exception for one tragedy then you're going to have the British saying, "what, so British lives are less valuable than American lives? You don't release games on 9/11 but you release games on 7/7? The day of the London bombings?

It's a no-win situation when you go with that approach. Yes there are plenty tragedies far greater than 9/11. In fact it pales in comparison to every one I listed above. Even if the tragedy wasn't as bad, where do you draw the line? OK so they don't release games on a day 3000 people were killed. Now they have to not release games on all the other days 3000 people were killed. What about the days were 2900 people were killed? Is that OK?

No. If you go to Wikipedia right now you will find a major tragedy on all 365 days of the year. You can't not released games because bad things happened on that day.

@rjejr

It's because they are different. One happened 14 years ago and the people have been honoured multiple times. Iwata died a few days a ago and nothing has been done in his honour yet. It doesn't matter if they involved death because every day involves death. The difference with this is how long ago it happened and to be honest... compared to what has happen in history and the past, this is really a minor catastrophe compared it's competitors. More kids (yeah, kids, not including everyone else) die in Africa a day just from living than that event. The only reason why we can remember those dates is because the media fills the web with it and they go on about the war on terror. If they never did that, no one would remember and no one would care except those that it affected. We remember it because it basically caused a war where a bunch of crap happened and was used as an excuse to invade other countries. That's why we remember it, because the US basically makes people remember it because they go on about it.

Also, remembering dates also doesn't mean much either because how many people know when WW2 began or ended? Not many. Most people will just remember Nov 11 because of when WW1 ended but no one gives a care about WW2. See my point? It is basically you care about the first and the rest doesn't matter. You have your week of honouring, then your yearly anniversary (maybe) and then boom, gone. So seriously, get over it. 9/11 is just another day which co-insides with the Anniversary of Mario and Nintendo's releases schedules. They don't need to attend to your feelings when you don't want to let something go. 9/11 is old, Iwata passing JUST happened. I hate to say it, but it is people like who who make me care less and less about something like that.

I can't think of another video game company that this type of things happen to. It's a testament to Mr. Iwata and his vision. For all the dude bro gamers and hardcore gamers out there that forgot what pure unadulterated fun is, Nintendo stands as a beacon of hope for the industry. It really is a culture all its own and I hope we can cultivate it to keep the company thriving for decades or another century to come.

@JaxonH - No, I would not release a game IN JAPAN on the day of the tsunami or in Indonesia on the day of their tsunami either. London bombings weren't as big a deal, sorry they just weren't. The US went to war w/ both Iraq and Afghanistan b/c of 9/11. Airlines were shut down for 2 days across the US. And it wasn't just NY, DC was also attacked, people were killed in an airplane in a field fighting attackers. It was basically the beginning of WWIII which we are still living w/ today.

And the reason I keep mentioning NYC is b/c that's where the Nitnedo World Store is, it's not in Boston or Philly or Chicago or Indianapolis of San Fran or LA. It's in midtown Manhattan, and that's not a good day to be having a big release party in midtown Manhattan. I wouldn't be surprised to see protesters outside of the store that day. Hopefully not, but NYers are protest happy - see Al Sharpton - we're the land of banned 16oz sodas. So I do think it's a mistake. It's their choice, and I understand why they are doing it, and I wouldn't go and protest it myself, life does go on. but they are unnecessarily opening them selves up for potential controversy. The company is having enough issues as it is, why risk it?

But that still isn't my point, the point is releasing that day while also closing Camp Miiverse sends a conflicting message, it values 1 life above 3,000. Open both or close both, they can do whatever they want as long as it seems consistent. It's easier to agree w/ and argue in favor of someone when they are being consistent.

But I still would never celebrate a game anniversary by releasing on the memorial days of the 2 nuclear devastation or the more recent tsunami event in Japan. I personally just wouldn't. Maybe any old game could release that day, but I'm not making a big production out of it on nay of those 3 days.

And that's another of my points, they aren't just releasing a new game on 9/11, they are celebrating an anniversary, a 30 year anniversary of a videogame. So they are in celebratory anniversary mode, which makes people think of other anniversary's on that day. I think I would be much more forgiving if it was just Yoshi's Woolly World releasing that day. Its not so much the releasing of the game as the 30 year anniversary celebration taking place in their flagship store in midtown Manhattan that I think is the problem. And even that wouldn't have been a problem, and we woudln't even been discussing it, if they just last Camp Miiverse play itself out over this week.

@rjejr
Nintendo isn't a political party. World events that happened in the past are of no concern. And it's impractical to play musical chairs with release dates in each country just because once upon a time something tragic happened on that date on the calendar.

Iwata was their own, personal CEO. That's the difference. And he JUST died. They're understandably scrambling to figure out what to do next. It's not a matter of valuing one life over 1,000. It's the fact he was their CEO and he JUST passed. A person only dies once. The funeral hasn't even been held.

This isn't some memorial 15 years after the fact. He died 4 days ago. And he was their president.

World Trade Center victims were not Nintendo's president, and they didn't die last Sunday.

Tragic events don't mean every company across the world has to forever not do anything on that day. And neither does Iwatas passing. But its a ONE TIME THING. They're not gonna close Camp Miiverse next year, or the year after, just now, during the time of grieving

@ikki5 -Well I just replied to most of them to Jax, but do you realize most of your argument is based on what ifs? What if they media didn't cover it? What if the US didn't use it as an excuse to justify a war? What if what if what if. Well here's the thing, we don't live in a world of what if's, we live in the world, period, and you are right about all those things,the mass media does drive it home, the US govt did use it as an excuse to attack a country that wasn't even invlved, and the whole thing is played out to death. But that's the way it played out, you can't rewrite history. (Well you can, but you have to conquer it first.)

And if nobody cares about what happened that day, why the flying fig should we care that a vieeogame released 30 years ago around that time? It's peopel like you who are the problem - "oh, it's just the anniversary of 3,000 people dieing,who cares, it's just another day." Yet at the same time it's all "OMG it's the 30 year anniversary of a video game, I'm going to fake call in to work and spend the nitre day locked in my house playing every Mario game ever made!!" THATS the contradiction, saying anniversaires don't matter while at the same time saying it's the most important thing ever! If the anniversary of 9/11 doesn't matter why should it matter what day SMM comes out? Anniversaries matter, or they don't. People want to pick and choose what anniversaries matter and what ones don't and they want everybody who disagrees w/ their choice to just STFU not even realizing that defeats their entire argument for releasing that day.

Sorry for my probably adversarial tone - but you started it w/ this: "but it is people like ". Once I'm set off I'm off and running.

@JaxonH - "And it's impractical to play musical chairs with release dates in each country"

OK, did you seriously just write that about Nintedo? A company that only seems to have 2 types of release dates - delayed releases dates or staggered release dates? Don't you think it was harder for them to release on the same day in each country than not to? How many Nitneod games release the same day in each country? Not SPaltoon, not Yoshi, Not XCX. Are you really trying to argue that it's easier for Ntinedo to have the game come out on the same day in each country - to manage the shipping and stock and all of that - that's it's easier to release on the same day than on different days?

If you want to say it's hard to change it after that fact, that I'll agree w/, but you can't really think a Day 1 global release is easier to do than staggered, can you? I'm sure you realize most console videogames release in the US on Tuesdays, I doubt it would have been all that difficult to have the game release on the 15th in the US. Or the 13th, the actual 30th anniversary. I'm pretty sure there were several notable Nitneod games that released on a Sunday.

@rjejr
You're missing the bigger picture. It's bad enough they have to time their releases strategically around the 300+ games a year other platforms receive. To then make a list of the top 500 tragic events and have to dance around those too is impractical. And for what? Releasing a game on a day that coincidentally coincides with a tragic event of the past is not offensive to anyone, except those looking to be offended.

It boils down to what I said before. If 9/11 was the ONLY tragic event in the world that ever happened, ok maybe. But tragedies happen all the time, and have been for thousands of years. You make an exception for 9/11 you have to make an exception for every other tragedy that's ever occurred. Which is a list longer than you could read in a day. It's just impractical.

It's like expecting nobody to go grocery shipping on a day a tragic event occurred. Or expecting no one to go to work. Or video services to not rent movies.

Video games and current events are not related. What happens in the world sucks but you can't go expecting businesses to dance around every bad event

Like I said before, there would be no days left in the year to release games on.

Well, can't release on Jan 1st because such and such happened on this day and people died. Well, can't release a game on Jan 2nd cause such and such happened on this day... Etc etc.

Remember the date. Remember those who lost their lives. But don't expect the world to stop every time the anniversary of some tragice event [insert month and day here) rolls around.

@JaxonH - "You're missing the bigger picture."

Well, maybe i am, and really, even I'm getting a bit tired of this discussion at this point, but lets try something else since I think you are confusing my sense of what the bigger picture actually is.

What're you're thoughts on the use of swastikas? If you think people should be free to wear t-shirts w/ swastikas on them and hang swastika flags in front of their homes b/c it was just 1 war out of all the wars in the world and we can't ban every flag or symbol there ever was so why ban the swastika, then we aren't ever going to see eye to eye, b/c like it or not, 9/11 isn't just 1 day or 3,000 deaths, it's sort of taken on a life of it's own, like the swastika. Obviously in a reverse way - swastika bad, 9/11 good - but it represents something more than what it is. So if you're ok with the general use of swastikas, you're ok w/ anything.

And if you don't want to go all the way back to WWII, try present day S. Carolina, same thing, a debate about the meaning of symbols.

http://www.foxcarolina.com/story/29565332/haley-calls-for-unity-as-kkk-plans-weekend-rally-in-sc

@Mona-Reggie - "9/11 did bush, jet beams can't melt steel fuel, neva5get, Nintendo illuminati conspiracy"

Yeah, believe me, I know, it's just one of those things where people either agree w/ you, or you're a nut case, there is no agreeing to disagree. It's almost impossible to have any type of rational discussion about anything to do w/ 9/11 b/c people just say "truther" and the discussion is over. So yeah, I'm aware of the mechanisms people use when they don't want to be bothered having a discussion, but I don't want to have a discussion w/ those people anyway.

@rjejr
Well, I think the fact the swastica was part of a war is completely irrelevant to why it was banned a lot of places. That's just circumstantial coincidence. It's because of what it stands for nowadays as well as what the Nazis did. But it being a war flag is just chance- it could've been any group of people who did those horrible things- and a war might not necessarily have even been fired over it.

BUT. I do believe in freedom. And if some guy wants to wear a shirt with a swastika on it I think he has that right. At least in this country. I mean a lot lot of people have them tattooed on their arms- you can't exactly tell people they have to have their tattoos removed.

But I don't think 9/11 is more significant then any other number of major tragedies. It's like when I used to live in Dallas as a kid- I used to think it was one of the top three cities in the country along with NY and LA, and I thought it was always the center of attention. It wasn't until I became a teenager that I truly started to grasp how many major cities there are in this country. Granted Dallas IS big, especially with Ft Worth and metropolis connecting the 2, but the point is it wasn't as significant as I thought it was when I was living there as a kid.

I'm not saying 9/11 isn't significant- it's not every day the two tallest buildings in the country get brought to nothing. But I do think Americans are going to think it more significant than everyone else in the world who have had their own tragedies to deal with. It's also still somewhat recent (within last 20 years).

But anyways, I can't even remember what I was going to say. Basically ya, I get what you're saying about swastikas but most wars don't entail throwing 6 million civilian people in ovens and cooking them alive, leading them in gas chambers, and the like. It's the nature of those gruesome acts that really puts people off, the fact the swastika was a national flag in a war was just coincidence.

@rjejr
Btw, don't think I'm trying to downplay the significance of 9/11. It was a really bad day and definitely the biggest coordinated attack in my lifetime.

Just keeping perspective is all.

I really don't understand the outrage of SMM coming out on 9/11. I can see a point about a big festive release party in downtown Manhattan, but it's been 14 years since 9/11/01. And I don't say that because I'm saying we should get over it. I say that because we've had movies, books, music, and more have release dates of 9/11 since then. I don't see why Nintendo gets singled out when we've had stuff come out on that date since 2001.

@JaxonH - Not to unbury the dead horse so we can beat it some more, but I just came across this comment and my heart literally skipped a beat, and then I thought about the FBI, CIA, NSA or whoever parsing thru all these comments searching for "terrorists" who are rejoicing, and then I thought of you.

"September 11th cannot come fast enough!"

It never even dawned on me how many people would be writing comments like that, counting down the days and all of that, and how many people could potentially take it the wrong way. I almost responded to the guy to be careful what he typed, some people might take it the wrong way, but I've already been accused of being a "truther" once on here, which I'm not, but I'm not starting that again. If the FBI goes breaking down his door, that's his problem.

Hope my tinfoil hat isn't uncomfortable to sleep in tonight.

BTW, I probably read that guys' comment like that b/c I just finished watching a show on Nova on PBS about flight MH370 and 9/11 was mentioned several times.

@rjejr
Hey I like the rjejr tin foil hat. It's rather trendy nowadays. And be sure to check the house for bugs so the NSA doesn't spy on you

How's it been going lately? Sorry I haven't had much time to respond lately. Been rather busy lately. But hey I got a promotion to "Quality II Programmer" the other day, so that's cool. You need any amiibo? I'm selling off all my extras (had 50+ duplicates and it was beginning to be too much). Don't have but maybe 17 left but maybe there's something you've been wanting? Thought I'd ask before the rest are sold out.

EDIT: Ok I said "lately" like way too many times in those first few sentences lol

@JaxonH - Congrats on the promotion!!

NSA doesn't have to spy on me, they can just click on my profile and read all my NL comments.

I didn't refer to myself as "rjejr" when mentioning the tinfoil hat did I? If I start referring to myself in the 3rd person please hop a plane to NY and smack me in the head.

I'm afraid to ask you for amiibo b/c I don't want to get hooked, and I'm not even sure what's out and what isn't, or what my kids want, so once again I'll have to say thanks but no thanks.

OK, time for more Xenoblade Chronicles, I have some special characters to go kill.