Comments 1,093

Re: French Domination Predicted For Wii U

Bankai

So, having had a look around IDG's sole consumer publication in France, PCWorld, I see no reference to this data. Admittedly my French is a little hazy, but I know how to type "Wii U" into the search bar.

Now, assuming that this data is not published on the website, I am led to wonder what a journalism media company would do with data analytical if not publish it? The only thing I can think of is perhaps it was an off-the-cuff remark at an event.

Or perhaps it was a typo and it really was IDC that published the report. IDC has a expected trends report for the games industry through to 2016, but I can't check the numbers there as the report is some $4000 or thereabouts.

Given the source news article you've quoted there has absolutely no source attached to it, and given the way I know IDG operates, I am highly suspicious this data means anything whatsoever.

If you could please link to the actual source of the data, rather than a news story claiming it is sourced data, it would be greatly appreciated in clarifying my confusion, thanks!

Re: French Domination Predicted For Wii U

Bankai

IDG? As in my former employer? That is the same company that no longer even owns a dedicated gaming publication after dumping Gamepro globally, and is staffed by journalists, not market analysts. They're in no way qualified to make market predictions. Unless IDG in France is different to like, the ten other IDG business units I worked in at one point or another.

Are you absolutely sure it was not a mistranslation or something and these numbers come from IDG and not IDC? Because IDC is an analyst company and therefore more likely to be number crunching and making market predictions.

Re: Reggie: Miiverse Is Going To Be Unlike Anything You've Seen Before

Bankai

So rather than give us details, Nintendo is telling us "relax, it's going to be awesome."

If it was going to be awesome than, two months out from the console release, Nintendo would be showing off just how awesome with details.

None of this adds up. I suspect a repeat of the 3DS when almost all the online functionality needs to be firmware patched in after release.

Re: The Wii U Is Region Locked, Of Course

Bankai

@TheSolarKnight As I said, Sony is leaving the region locking up to the developer, and not mandating it on the hardware side. This is fact - Persona Arena's region locking is the work of Atlus, not Sony.

And the PS3 is region-free. There is no restriction to the number of PSN accounts you can make (I have four), and if you download a game on your Japanese PSN account you can play it on your American PSN account. Discs-based games are also completely playable on any account you have set up, regardless of region.

The DRM comparison is apt because both region locking and DRM come from the same business driver. It's about controlling the logistics and access to content so that, in theory, the content owner can better work within the market. I'm not wholly against the idea... until you consider that other people have already proven it unnecessary.

Re: The Wii U Is Region Locked, Of Course

Bankai

@damo and you seem to think that just because I'm calling Nintendo out for anti-consumer and completely unnecessary practices, then I must therefore not understand why Nintendo is doing what it's doing.

I don't need you telling me it's raining if I'm looking outside and water is falling from the sky.

Why this conversation is going nowhere is that I'm saying Nintendo is wrong, you're saying 'this is why Nintendo is doing it,' I'm saying 'yes but Nintendo is wrong,' and you're saying 'the is why Nintendo is doing it.'

Again, I know the business argument behind region locking but that doesn't change the fact it is no better (or any more necessary) than DRM. In fact, it is nothing more than the hardware equivalent of DRM.

Re: The Wii U Is Region Locked, Of Course

Bankai

You think Nintendo's business model is acceptable. Nintendo's business model is stubbornly outdated. Ergo, if you don't think it's a good idea, you are at least defending it.

My utopian vision of a global market would only be utopian if it hasn't already happened. And there is Sony, Google and Apple with global content markets that allow developers, not platform holders, to decide where to publish games.

So really, my utopia is the reality, and Nintendo is the creaky old grandpa insisting on the good ol' days.

Or did I imagine that my PS3 plays Japanese games, or that I have Japanese language games on my Australian iPhone, and really Nintendo's just doing what everyone else is?

Re: The Wii U Is Region Locked, Of Course

Bankai

@Damo Oh I know why Nintendo is shutting down game importing. The difference between you and I seems to be that you think stubbornly sticking to completely outdated business models is a good idea.

In the age of digital distribution and logistics rationalisation Nintendo would be far, far better off shrinking its subsidaries to localised marketing functions and expanding the Japanese central location to cover the global market. People would buy a console, and could then buy their content from one centralised app store (which is how the Apple app store works - it is up to the developer, not Apple, which regions the content is made available). The local offices, of 10-20 people, would organise a third party logistics service and work with local marketing agencies for marketing campaigns.

There is no reason whatsoever Nintendo needs a large publisher function in the US, EU or Australia any longer. That's the old way for doing business and perhaps Nintendo would seem like a far smarter business if it took a couple of leaves from EVERYONE ELSE and started applying some innovation to its business structure as well as its products.

Re: The Wii U Is Region Locked, Of Course

Bankai

@Grodus wow that is ignorant.

There are a lot of games that are actually really good that, for reasons of cultural differences or sensitivities, are never localised outside of Japan.

I care a great deal when region locking happens, because it means I need to by two f'ing consoles to get access to all the interesting games.

Re: The Wii U Is Region Locked, Of Course

Bankai

So because Microsoft does it Nintendo is justified in maintaining a policy Sony has proven is unnecessary?

What kind of logic is that? If Microsoft tries to tell me I can't play Japanese games on the next Xbox because I live in Australia I am going to be pissed off. If Sony reverses its policy on region locking for the PS4 I am going to be really pissed of since I would assume the PS4 will use PSN and I have content from all over the world on that.

The failings or potential failings of other companies does not excuse Nintendo, the great shining light of 'we care about our customers' and 'we are innovative' for being obnoxiously backwards.

Re: The Wii U Is Region Locked, Of Course

Bankai

Good to see Nintendo refuses to learn.

OH BUT THEY CARE ABOUT THEIR CUSTOMERS SO MUCH.

So much so that Sony has managed to give customers region-free gaming for a whole generation now... and Nintendo hasn't.

Yep. Really thinking about the customers more than the pocket book.

Re: 3DS "Bookstore Anywhere" App Bringing eBooks to Japan

Bankai

TBD - oh, sure, I'm not denying that there is some kind of market for a 3DS eReader, but it's a niche one at best, given how popular the devices that do eReading better are.

If you're serious about reading, and serious about getting an eReader, the 3DS is a very distant fourth, is what I'm saying here.

Of course, if you're a serious reader and happy with physical books, and want a digital supplement, and only have a 3DS, then there's probably no need to go out and buy a dedicated eReader or iPad if you haven't already got one

Re: 3DS "Bookstore Anywhere" App Bringing eBooks to Japan

Bankai

I never claimed the 3DS screens were horrible. I said they were of a lower resolution than four devices that I already own. I have a Kindle, iPad 3, iPhone 4 and Vita. These devices all have higher resolutions than the 3DS. This isn't my opinion, this is scientific fact.

For most people (ie anyone who doesn't have a special attraction to a specific piece of electronics), you want the best possible experience for whatever you're doing. If you're playing a game, you want the best gaming experience. If you're reading a book, you want the best reading experience.

Reading experience is directly tied in to the crispness of the text as (and again, there is scientific proof for this), the less blurred the text the more comfortable the reading experience. For anyone serious about reading, they need a Kindle. The new iPad could possibly be a compromise since the Retina display is essentially ultra HD. For anyone serious about reading manga, the iPad is the better device. I wouldn't recommend the Kindle for reading manga, since the Kindle is very, very poor at displaying images.

Given that many of the very same people who have criticised me in this thread have also criticised the iPad as a gaming tool because "the experience is inferior without buttons," I would have thought that they would have got the idea that perhaps a dedicated eReader or a better-resolution display might be better for reading page after page of text than a fuzzy, relatively low resolution display.

And that's where my comment RE nuclear weaponry came from. A certain few people on this website (to be expected, but infuriating nonetheless) have turned Nintendo into a genuine fetish where it can't possibly be inferior to anything else at doing anything. A certain few people here would claim it's better for web browsing than a PC/ iPad, watching YouTube than a big screen. They would like to see the 3DS have a word processing app because they would rather do an assignment on their 3DS than an actual laptop, and they would rather see the 3DS running a nuclear arsenal than whatever company it is that currently runs such things.

tl;dr it is not my personal opinion that the iPad and Kindle are better devices for eReading than the 3DS. It's scientifically-supported fact. And therefore the only people that would get value from a 3DS eReader are the most casual of readers.

Re: 3DS "Bookstore Anywhere" App Bringing eBooks to Japan

Bankai

Because, Harmoknight, a 3DS cannot display text at a resolution even close to a physical page of text.

The iPad retina screen doesn't really come close either, but it at least has far higher resolution on the 3DS, meaning the text and lines for graphics are crisper. Ereaders are comparable to text on a physical page, but that's because they're not really 'screens' at all.

Point is, as far as reading platforms go, the 3DS is a distant fourth.

Re: Sony: Wii U Offering "Something That Vita and PS3 can do Quite Easily"

Bankai

With Cloud saves, I think the real strength of the cross-compatibility of Vita and PS3 in the future will be the ability for people to take their PS3 game on the go with them, and then play it at home on the big TV - that's something the Wii U can't do.

Furthermore, as I said before, the Wii U is simply doing the exact same thing AirPlay offers, but using different technology (otherwise Apple would likely have a patent and sue anyway). I lol when people think that Nintendo is being innovative with this one. Adding buttons to AirPlay is not innovation.

Re: Sony: Wii U Offering "Something That Vita and PS3 can do Quite Easily"

Bankai

Man the traffic on this website would explode if NintendoLife could get Apple to admit that it already does what the Wii U is offering with AirPlay.

Unfortunately for NintendoLife Apple doesn't give two hoots about throwaway quotes.

Anyway, Sony's right. The PS3/ Vita combo can indeed do what the Wii U is offering.

Re: Review: Bookstore Dream (DSiWare)

Bankai

@ThomasBW84 - it's all good. To me Circle is another Gameloft - stealing creative companies' work and making cheap, inferior copies of it.

I don't find it ethical and I would rather people play the real game. Luckily we're both able to express our critique so people can compare and contrast

Re: Review: Bookstore Dream (DSiWare)

Bankai

If you copy the art style, the structure of the game, the theme, and the form of music of another game, it's plagiarism.

To claim otherwise... Well, there's a Mario 3D Land ripoff which is more different to the real Mario 3D Land than this to Kairosoft games.

Apparently people only want one company to sue another when the victimised company is Nintendo

Re: Super Mario 3D Land Clone Hits iPhone, and Looks Rubbish

Bankai

Oh yes. Let's use a couple of illegal copies as proof that all iOS gaming is crap. What absolutely brilliant logic.

The Chinese ripped off the Wii and called it the Vii. Quick, better burn all our consoles because its proof that there is no good gaming hardware out there.

Re: Talking Point: Are Wii U Games Going To Be Too Expensive?

Bankai

Yeah, games are way too expensive.

It would have been far better for these multi-million dollar games to have been priced at $50, thereby guaranteeing the closure of any development studio that doesn't hit absurdly-high sales figures.

It would have been better because that extra $10 for the consumer is just so unfair, right.

Re: Pachter: Expect a Wii U Price Cut Next Year

Bankai

Choice of photo + subheading...

This is like the third time in two weeks that you guys have done deliberately misleading sensationalism to try and illicit a response from your readers, guys. Poor form.

Pachter is doing a perfectly professional analysis of the Wii U's price point and the market conditions it's being released into.

I guess that's not as much fun to report on unless you add a troll face image and a subhead that has nothing to do with what Pachter actually said, hey?

Please don't become another IGN. Under James NintendoLife had legitimate journalistic credibility.

Re: Rodney Greenblat: Nintendo Works on Creativity and Originality in Games "24/7"

Bankai

Sony spends an absolute crap-tonne on supporting creative, independent studios. Demon's Souls (which Japan Studio assisted) and thatgamecompany are on PS3, not Nintendo.

Seriously this is the most ridiculous, factually incorrect statement I have seen made all year. I'm going to assume the developer was quoted out of context, because I like to think most developers are not complete idiots, and I'm gonna give him the benefit of the doubt.

Re: Sorry Lost Planet Fans, EX Troopers Isn't Coming To The West

Bankai

@kkslider5552000 Ubisoft is running on very high margins though, so it can afford to throw more money at creating and marketing new IPs. Have a look at Capcom's financials. They don't justify the same kind of risk profile that Ubi can run at, so the fact that Dragon's Dogma exists at all, let alone was marketed into a successful franchise launch is impressive.

You can thank Just Dance for a significant chunk of that money. This is why gamers should be thankful for "shovelware".

Re: Sorry Lost Planet Fans, EX Troopers Isn't Coming To The West

Bankai

@kkslider5552000 Which Sony/ SE new IP has been marketed "well?" I'm honestly struggling to think of any. Little Big Planet, I guess.

It is incredibly expensive to market a new IP, vs an established franchise. We're talking in many multiples to gain the same market traction. You'll find the games industry, when it does create a new IP, now takes a long-term view of the franchise. I.e. it knows the first one will underperform in the market, but the marketing goal is to sell enough copies to justify a sequel. If the franchise is going to be a successful one, it's the second game that needs to take the market by storm - and you'll find marketing budgets for the sequel tend to be elevated.

Considering that Capcom has probably the most successful new IP at the end of the console generation - Dragon's Dogma - I really don't think it's fair to say Capcom is incapable of investing in new IP, or marketing them (any moreso than anyone else in the industry). People underestimate just how hard and costly this stuff is to do.

Demon's Souls/ Dark Souls is the perfect example of how new IP marketing works now. The first game was released to almost no fanfare, but Dark Souls had a big marketing budget, because the first game proved it was a potential hit franchise.

Re: Bethesda Yet to Decide on Support for Wii U

Bankai

Bethesda supported the Wii. There was that Mario Party clone, Medieval Games, that Bethesda published. I'm sure the Wii U can expect similar support, while the PS4 and XBox 720 will have to make do with Elder Scrolls and Fallout games.