"Perhaps it was the zeitgeist kicked off by Minecraft that made this trend so dominant, but as games get bigger and more time consuming, there's an acceptance among some developers that there are gamers not interested in running from A to B and following the story."
Which is ironic, because Zelda is one of the games that established open ended gameplay in the first place!
So during our E3 demo, my Nintendo rep called someone else over to watch my screen. Apparently I was the only person they had seen that day who forwent the narrative and climbed to the tip top of The Temple of Time instead.
And yes, something special does happen when you do that
@Kirk I think you underestimate how good this game looks in person, and by how combining realism with cartoon characters it immerses you more greatly than necessarily those pulling for one over the other.
And yes, I've played and beaten a great chunk of those games you listed. If this were PC Life or XBOXLife, you would have read similar types of praise for them, too. Firewatch is particularly engrosing. Thanks for the comment.
@Jaredfrogman there are falling piano notes that occasionally whisp in, usually when you discover something major. Similarly, getting into a fight makes a tense bass line occur for as long as you're fighting, but it's FAR more subtle than in the Zelda games before. The very subtle music cues ars really quite artistic in and of themselves!
In which Nintendo learns that apps need consistent, if not weekly or daily engagement from the development team, much unlike console or handheld titles.
Yes, metacritic is convenient. Yes, a score is an inoffensive, attractive option.
But we must also consider this: This convenience has led to some very serious issues in our field. And yes, the uniqueness of games have led to scores changing how they get created.
With these facts in front of me, I believe that losing that basic convenience and risking someone not reading (so?) are lesser problems than incentivized industry contracts and dumbed down reader bases.
If I can make any additional comment I just want to make clear that I don't even believe that the goal of any review should be to tell consumers how to spend money.
I do acknowledge that this directly contradicts the form and function of most media websites, and that this is a problem not easily solvable. Resume hate mail.
Sad to see Erik go. I've had a few very pleasant run-ins with him at media events, and without a doubt, Erik was the most empathetic and personally invested Nintendo rep that you could meet. He would stay to answer questions and talk to fans, and if for some reason he needed to leave, he'd make sure to find a time that you could talk later. Trust me, this is not necessarily the expectant relationship that media is used to having with their subjects.
Sad to see you leave Erik, and I hope you keep visible on social media wherever you land next!
I think Nintendo fans who only play Nintendo titles would benefit greatly from playing a game like Witcher, Fallout, Mass Effect, etc. There is an entire dimension to what games can do that Nintendo rarely touches on, and I'm not sure for good reason.
That said, the inverse is sometimes also true. That is to say, Zelda games (and nintendo games for that matter) are profoundly contained to a singular tone, almost like a fairy tale, and far less like a complex game using video game logic. It's really pretty remarkable, and that impact is lost if you only play specific titles.
Twilight Princess is lower on the totem pole for me as far as Zelda games go. It apes Ocarina of Time a little too much, never really gaining its own identity. But it does feature some stunningly fun dungeons, and I'll always be washed in nostalgia when I hear the little subtle tings of its gameplay: Midna's concerned grunts, the wolf coming over the wiimote, the sound of the twilight realm opening...2006 was a great year!
@Annoying_NPC "NoA is saying "You are not mature enough to handle women in their underwear in a game rated M. You can't handle a girl in a bikini and a breast size slider" These features were in the Japanese version, not the North American version. That's not censorship?"
NOA is saying that the content isn't suitable for the culture, not that their audience can or cannot "handle" it.
If society truly is only as fast as the slowest member, then problematic entertainment such as a breast slider on an underage character does more harm than good. What statement is being lost by this change? Is this Tiananmen Square, or is this a JRPG menu option? Are you aware what censorship truly is, and what it hopes to subvert?
Personally, I wonder why a game like Fire Emblem needed the anime tropes and sexual cliches to begin with. The game already stands alone as one of the best incarnations of strategy rpg's today. I feel debating tired choices is a better place to put forth one's energy, as opposed to debating the philosophical purity of stylus petting.
@Gridatttack Only because people KEEP asking me this...even though its the first thing written on the page...
~From now until the start of the new year we're going to be republishing some of what we feel are our best features of 2015. Hopefully this will offer the chance for newer readers to catch up on content they might have missed and allow long-time fans to reacquaint themselves with features they enjoyed the first time around.~
@Just_Ethan "That's an unusually low score for a first party Nintendo game."
While that statement may be true, I still marvel at how a 7 out of 10 is construed as a "bad" score. Not trying to single out just one reaction, but its saddening that video game review scores have turned into 6-10 (TERRIBLE/ehhhh/good but deeply disappointing/almost great/MASTERPIECE)
Anything below a 6 is mostly undheard of, and the scores of 1-4 are virtually never used, thus pointless.
One of the nicest people you'll ever meet in the world of video games. Awesome video guys! Also a long one...you should make an interview/fan questions version
I wish I would have known you were doing questions. Charles had some small roles in David Fincher movies and I've always wanted to know if he'd ever met him!
@FLUX_CAPACITOR To you and others, I encourage you all to disagree with both me and others often - but please keep things civil in the comments unless you want moderation to come down on you.
To answer your question, there are cases of non-big wigs using colorful language, but it is few and far between (compared to major talking heads, which are far more plentiful than most realize, and far more than I could quote) Furtheremore, do not underestimate the fact that a Nintendo Treehouse Employee IS a fairly high up position; this man is responsible for almost ALL the text in Animal Crossing: New Leaf, a major Nintendo release.
But there definitely are some instances that come to mind. Nintendo's own marketing of France at NOE once remarked that only "geeks and otaku" would desire a harddrive for their console, and he remained unscathed. How about Bungie's Luke Smith giving that infamous E3 interview just a few months ago? He is still with the team.
Conversely, remember Sony dropping and SUING commercial personality Kevin Butler because he appeared in a tire commercial holding a Wii Wheel? These things are absolutely at the discretion of the employer. My mindset is that Nintendo is in their own rights, but ought to move the goalposts a little bit further out, joining the ranks of other professionals in the industry. Pranger did nothing as malicious as even the examples I gave.
@Kirk I just read some of your replies, and I appreciate your candor and your viewpoint.
What makes this situation fascinating is that to me, it's such a gray area. Many are saying that "well, of course he did wrong, so he should be fired!" I wager a great many of these people have neither heard the podcast, nor understand what it is exactly that they're defending.
On the other hand, even if ignoring the emotional components of this story, I absolutely understand why Nintendo would fire him - even if hypothetically it wasn't against his terms of employment to speak out (which knowing Nintendo, seems highly unlikely).
My point with this story that many people have seemingly glossed over (or I didn't do a good enough job stressing) is that just because you can get fired for talking about interpersonal work topics, doesn't mean you should (or maybe even shouldn't, to be fair!), and MOST IMPORTANTLY, there are plenty of examples of game developers who speak with very similar candidness (that is to say, intimate, but not necessarily inappropriate) all throughout the industry. In my estimation, regardless of this whole Pranger situation, Nintendo ought to consider the benefits of a slightly more open workforce - even moreso than they already have been with simply allowing twitter feeds or whatnot.
@SquirrelNuts Thanks for pointing that out - a previous report had his name spelled "prangar", so we erroneously went off of that. It looks like they have corrected their misspelling, and we will do so as well shortly. Apologies to Pranger.
@NandN3ds "This does not mean a multi-billion dollar corporation should play fast-and-loose with company transparency. But talking about general company reasoning and interesting creative anecdotes shouldn't be so taboo."
A final word for me on this: A lot of people are playing armchair HR person with this. For some reason, standards of bureaucratic conduct are ingrained in so many people that they feel almost personally offended if they hear someone was out of line at their job. Question why you feel this way.
I recall off the top of my head people like Kevin Levine telling a reporter about market research and how most college kids have never heard of Bioshock, and the lengths they went to to try and market to them.
Gabe Newell has been so frank with Valve's customer base on virtually everything other than sequels. It's common knowledge that he goes through spells where he personally answers questions in his inbox, saying things that would otherwise force someone like Reggie to step down if he was ever recorded saying.
Someone like Doug TenNapel or Senran Kagura or other, let's call it open minded developers? They certainly are still in the industry. Heck, Warren Specter told me himself what he thought about specific developers and their creative practices - ON the record!
These people are at the top of their development teams, but they also have frequently worked for bigger corporations. I am not saying what Prangar did was equatable to the general day in and day out conduct of the average game maker. FAR from it, as I spelled clearly out at the top. But who among you wasn't refreshed to hear most of what he had to say? And then who among you don't feel more enlightened about the company you follow after having heard most of those things?
I, for one, enjoy the idea of a more transparent Nintendo. Nintendo employees ARE allowed to talk about their jobs more today than ever before. He obviously got his wires crossed during that interview, but it's not as shocking as some of the more fervent gut-reactions would have you believe. Not even close.
@aaronsullivan "One way in which Nintendo can defuse this in the future is to be more transparent about costs and process"
This is EXACTLY it. Why foster an environment of secrecy and bureaucracy? Are investors seriously hinged on import statuses of niche titles so much that it's worth the goodwill of your consumer base? Just make the general difficulties of localization common knowledge, and you avoid looking like an evil corporation. In turn, employees aren't grinning through their teeth when they're asked "WHERE IS THIS GAME" on a daily basis.
Let's get this out of the way right now: the impetus of the piece is that while he probably did enough to consider termination, nintendo's standard is not as universal as with other game makers.
People act like he was giving out release dates and secret projects. He didn't. In the eyes of Nintendo, he most likely just disclosed more than they were comfortable with. That comfort I am (for the most part) questioning here.
@Mogster his work is actually scaled to be quite affordable! My personal opinion is that just getting a small poster from his site is kind of a steal. (I didn't tell him that!) You should check out a local art gallery some time to compare prices.
Remember, don't think of this as paying an upcharge on an amiibo. For one, you can't buy this in a store, and Charles only signed them with the "here we gooo!" written on the sides because he knew it was for charity.
The way it typically works at shelters and hospitals is that they keep a running list of games kids have said they wanted to play (provided they even have a system to play on). If a kid is sitting in a shelter or a hospital for however much time (sometimes days, weeks, even months), they might be asked if they want to check out a game if they're lucky. For hospitals, the need is such that one floor might have a console, say the ICU, whereas another floor won't have anything at all.
The ability for kids to normalize their otherwise unpleasant time is a huge part of the recovery process. Seeing the amazement from a kid recovering after an accident or dealing with chronic pain or who has no parents playing the game they see endlessly advertised on TV, but which they had zero hope of ever playing, is marvelous.
So think of it like this: You are not really buying an amiibo. If you bid on this, you are literally buying a game, two games, or if we're lucky, even a console for dozens, if not hundreds of kids to get a chance to play.
@Mr_Zurkon - I actually highly recommend starting with Human Revolution. The original Deus Ex is essential gaming, but it has also aged as you would expect a very old PC game to have aged. Both are usually super cheap on Steam though.
I talked to the Deus Ex team about Human Revolution on the Wii U. No official comments, but they did tell me they were still very, very proud of the Director's Cut released on the Wii U. I've played the game originally on the PC, and then a 2nd time on the Wii U, and I was surprised how much the gamepad genuinely added to the experience. It's seriously the best version of the game - against all expectations!
@GrailUK Does it not contextually enhance your understanding of something by understanding how it got there? Don't you want to know which paintings Frida painted after she found out Diego was cheating on her? Don't Public Enemy's songs make more sense understanding the politics of the early 1990's?
As it goes then, don't you find it just a little strange that Hideki Kamiya has no involvement with this title? Isn't it odd that this game looks nowhere NEAR as good as Yoshi's Wooly World, Mario Kart 8, Mario 3D World, Smash Bros U, or virtually any other 1st party Wii U title? Or Bayonetta 2, for that matter? What's going on here?
Nintendo Life impressed upon you their thoughts of the demo itself, and yes, that often includes the context in which the game was presented to us - as it should be. Neither of us were disingenuous about our honest takeaways, and I hope you at least appreciate that our goal is to not just to be a mouthpiece for Nintendo's PR team.
I wanted to add for our readers that I am not vehemently against motion controls in general. I have played just about a trillion eShop titles on the Wii and Wii U. I absolutely love Wii Sports Resort, for instance. Aside from the business-political quagmire that I see the title in, I just feel like overwhelming focus on motion controls is totally wrong-headed for this franchise.
In regards to holding down the trigger for target view, it really is no help locking on to an aggressive AI who is super good at keeping behind you (like in the old star fox games) when you still have to get to their ship using body motions.
Morgan will hate me for disclosing this, but he did tell me on the showfloor that he is awful at Star Fox games, and that's why he may have loved it. (I don't believe him though!)
@Tony_342 Thanks for pointing that out Tony! The artwork really is amazing.
To the point of Dream Team however...for as visually GREAT that Dream Team is, I find it to be the antithesis of an RPG: almost everything you can do is entirely linear. Leveling up brings with it little consequence. as you are virtually always the level you're supposed to be at any point in the story. And most importantly, the game absolute bludgeons you over the brain with tutorials...even THIRTY HOURS IN! Incomprehensible.
That said, I still tepidly enjoyed Dream Team, but its the only Mario & Luigi game I've never finished.
Obviously Armada/ Assault doesn't look overall "better" in the more obvious ways games have improved since ten years ago. Explosions look better now, polygon counts are higher, etc. But character models are stuff and glossy, not flowing with hair and organic like before. The lights blurred, wove through the action, and popped more even back then than they do now. And the water effects of this new game, I'll just say, aren't there to impress.
In terms of the voices, I think I did hear some new voice work. A couple times I even laughed out loud. But when I first heard all the familiar taglines, I went from assuming it was fan service to realizing they may have been placeholders.
It wasn't fun to write this up. I love Star Fox. The demo wasn't "unfun" altogether...I could see how it might improve greater exposure. But this was more effort than it was entertaining.
Comments 171
Re: Feature: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is Nintendo's Boldest Step Into Contemporary Game Design
"Perhaps it was the zeitgeist kicked off by Minecraft that made this trend so dominant, but as games get bigger and more time consuming, there's an acceptance among some developers that there are gamers not interested in running from A to B and following the story."
Which is ironic, because Zelda is one of the games that established open ended gameplay in the first place!
Re: Tell Us What to Do in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
So during our E3 demo, my Nintendo rep called someone else over to watch my screen. Apparently I was the only person they had seen that day who forwent the narrative and climbed to the tip top of The Temple of Time instead.
And yes, something special does happen when you do that
Re: Hands On: Embracing Freedom in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
@Kirk I think you underestimate how good this game looks in person, and by how combining realism with cartoon characters it immerses you more greatly than necessarily those pulling for one over the other.
And yes, I've played and beaten a great chunk of those games you listed. If this were PC Life or XBOXLife, you would have read similar types of praise for them, too. Firewatch is particularly engrosing. Thanks for the comment.
Re: Hands On: Embracing Freedom in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
@Jaredfrogman there are falling piano notes that occasionally whisp in, usually when you discover something major. Similarly, getting into a fight makes a tense bass line occur for as long as you're fighting, but it's FAR more subtle than in the Zelda games before. The very subtle music cues ars really quite artistic in and of themselves!
Re: SurveyMonkey Intelligence Breaks Down the Declining Usage of Miitomo
In which Nintendo learns that apps need consistent, if not weekly or daily engagement from the development team, much unlike console or handheld titles.
Re: These Radical Retro-Themed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Figures Are Coming to San Diego Comic Con
Dang, if only Nintendo Life knew of any reporters who lived in San Diego and were going to Comic Con.
Re: Nintendo is Getting Into the Movie Business
In house? They had to outsource an app, but they can write and produce movies?
Re: Soapbox: Why Websites Don’t Need to Give a Game a Review Score (and Probably Shouldn’t)
@Dezzy To you and some other readers:
Yes, metacritic is convenient. Yes, a score is an inoffensive, attractive option.
But we must also consider this: This convenience has led to some very serious issues in our field. And yes, the uniqueness of games have led to scores changing how they get created.
With these facts in front of me, I believe that losing that basic convenience and risking someone not reading (so?) are lesser problems than incentivized industry contracts and dumbed down reader bases.
Re: Soapbox: Why Websites Don’t Need to Give a Game a Review Score (and Probably Shouldn’t)
@AlexOlney IS THAT ALL YOU GOT?! - Pit, 2012
If I can make any additional comment I just want to make clear that I don't even believe that the goal of any review should be to tell consumers how to spend money.
I do acknowledge that this directly contradicts the form and function of most media websites, and that this is a problem not easily solvable. Resume hate mail.
Re: Soapbox: Game Reviews Always Need a Final Score
I actually fundamentally disagree with my wonderful colleague Alex
Ah, opinons!
Re: My Nintendo Platinum Points Are Being Gifted to Former Club Nintendo Members in North America
Seven time platinum member status, don't fail me now!
Re: Treehouse Veteran Erik Peterson Is Leaving Nintendo After 13 Years
Sad to see Erik go. I've had a few very pleasant run-ins with him at media events, and without a doubt, Erik was the most empathetic and personally invested Nintendo rep that you could meet. He would stay to answer questions and talk to fans, and if for some reason he needed to leave, he'd make sure to find a time that you could talk later. Trust me, this is not necessarily the expectant relationship that media is used to having with their subjects.
Sad to see you leave Erik, and I hope you keep visible on social media wherever you land next!
Re: Editorial: The Legend of Zelda Offers Youthful, Optimistic Adventures in a Generation of Mature Quests
I think Nintendo fans who only play Nintendo titles would benefit greatly from playing a game like Witcher, Fallout, Mass Effect, etc. There is an entire dimension to what games can do that Nintendo rarely touches on, and I'm not sure for good reason.
That said, the inverse is sometimes also true. That is to say, Zelda games (and nintendo games for that matter) are profoundly contained to a singular tone, almost like a fairy tale, and far less like a complex game using video game logic. It's really pretty remarkable, and that impact is lost if you only play specific titles.
Twilight Princess is lower on the totem pole for me as far as Zelda games go. It apes Ocarina of Time a little too much, never really gaining its own identity. But it does feature some stunningly fun dungeons, and I'll always be washed in nostalgia when I hear the little subtle tings of its gameplay: Midna's concerned grunts, the wolf coming over the wiimote, the sound of the twilight realm opening...2006 was a great year!
Re: Editorial: Game Localisation Isn't Just About Preserving The 'Pure' Original
@Annoying_NPC "NoA is saying "You are not mature enough to handle women in their underwear in a game rated M. You can't handle a girl in a bikini and a breast size slider" These features were in the Japanese version, not the North American version. That's not censorship?"
NOA is saying that the content isn't suitable for the culture, not that their audience can or cannot "handle" it.
If society truly is only as fast as the slowest member, then problematic entertainment such as a breast slider on an underage character does more harm than good. What statement is being lost by this change? Is this Tiananmen Square, or is this a JRPG menu option? Are you aware what censorship truly is, and what it hopes to subvert?
Re: Editorial: Game Localisation Isn't Just About Preserving The 'Pure' Original
Good article Tom.
Personally, I wonder why a game like Fire Emblem needed the anime tropes and sexual cliches to begin with. The game already stands alone as one of the best incarnations of strategy rpg's today. I feel debating tired choices is a better place to put forth one's energy, as opposed to debating the philosophical purity of stylus petting.
Re: Feature: The Poor Career Choice of Super Smash Bros. Professionals
@Gridatttack Only because people KEEP asking me this...even though its the first thing written on the page...
~From now until the start of the new year we're going to be republishing some of what we feel are our best features of 2015. Hopefully this will offer the chance for newer readers to catch up on content they might have missed and allow long-time fans to reacquaint themselves with features they enjoyed the first time around.~
Re: Feature: Our Top 10 Wii U Retail Games - Third Anniversary Edition
I fought hard for you, Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director's Cut. I fought hard.
Re: Sega: Recent Sonic Games Haven't Been "Acceptable", Looking To Replicate The Past In Future Outings
I wrote this once upon a time:
http://tay.kinja.com/why-sonic-needs-to-slow-down-1641462087
Re: Review: The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes (3DS)
Thomas! I didn't think the Nintendo Life scale even ALLOWED scores to get lower than an 8!
Re: Review: Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer (3DS)
@Just_Ethan "That's an unusually low score for a first party Nintendo game."
While that statement may be true, I still marvel at how a 7 out of 10 is construed as a "bad" score. Not trying to single out just one reaction, but its saddening that video game review scores have turned into 6-10 (TERRIBLE/ehhhh/good but deeply disappointing/almost great/MASTERPIECE)
Anything below a 6 is mostly undheard of, and the scores of 1-4 are virtually never used, thus pointless.
Re: Site News: Nintendo Life's Alex Olney Revealed As YouTuber Finalist For Games Media Awards 2015
WOW, they'll give awards to ANYBODY these days, it seems!!!!!!!
Re: Miyamoto: Star Fox Zero Has Been Delayed "I am very sorry"
Ahem.
Re: Video: Charles Martinet Talks Super Mario Maker And Answers Your Questions
@Damo Yeah, I've always wanted to ask him about it. But it seems weird to walk up to him at E3 or Comic Con or whatever and be like "soooo..."
But hey, I'm not above it. I'll put it on my list for next year.
Re: Video: Charles Martinet Talks Super Mario Maker And Answers Your Questions
@Damo He plays a role in The Game with Michael Douglas and Sean Penn, and he does a voice for Zodiac. Weird, huh?
Re: Video: Charles Martinet Talks Super Mario Maker And Answers Your Questions
One of the nicest people you'll ever meet in the world of video games. Awesome video guys! Also a long one...you should make an interview/fan questions version
I wish I would have known you were doing questions. Charles had some small roles in David Fincher movies and I've always wanted to know if he'd ever met him!
Re: Feature: A Pokémon Retrospective: Generation 1 - 1996 to 1999
@Samuel-Flutter I think I vaguely remember this contest...? You won it? What did you receive them in??
Re: Feature: A Pokémon Retrospective: Generation 1 - 1996 to 1999
That Charizard card? I have it.
Bow down.
Re: Interview: Simogo and Dakko Dakko Explain Why Year Walk is "Coming Home" on Wii U
Simogo is the most underrated game developer working today. BAM - I said it.
Re: Talking Point: Nintendo's Dismissal of Chris Pranger Highlights Issues With Company Culture
@FLUX_CAPACITOR To you and others, I encourage you all to disagree with both me and others often - but please keep things civil in the comments unless you want moderation to come down on you.
To answer your question, there are cases of non-big wigs using colorful language, but it is few and far between (compared to major talking heads, which are far more plentiful than most realize, and far more than I could quote) Furtheremore, do not underestimate the fact that a Nintendo Treehouse Employee IS a fairly high up position; this man is responsible for almost ALL the text in Animal Crossing: New Leaf, a major Nintendo release.
But there definitely are some instances that come to mind. Nintendo's own marketing of France at NOE once remarked that only "geeks and otaku" would desire a harddrive for their console, and he remained unscathed. How about Bungie's Luke Smith giving that infamous E3 interview just a few months ago? He is still with the team.
Conversely, remember Sony dropping and SUING commercial personality Kevin Butler because he appeared in a tire commercial holding a Wii Wheel? These things are absolutely at the discretion of the employer. My mindset is that Nintendo is in their own rights, but ought to move the goalposts a little bit further out, joining the ranks of other professionals in the industry. Pranger did nothing as malicious as even the examples I gave.
Re: Talking Point: Nintendo's Dismissal of Chris Pranger Highlights Issues With Company Culture
@Kirk I just read some of your replies, and I appreciate your candor and your viewpoint.
What makes this situation fascinating is that to me, it's such a gray area. Many are saying that "well, of course he did wrong, so he should be fired!" I wager a great many of these people have neither heard the podcast, nor understand what it is exactly that they're defending.
On the other hand, even if ignoring the emotional components of this story, I absolutely understand why Nintendo would fire him - even if hypothetically it wasn't against his terms of employment to speak out (which knowing Nintendo, seems highly unlikely).
My point with this story that many people have seemingly glossed over (or I didn't do a good enough job stressing) is that just because you can get fired for talking about interpersonal work topics, doesn't mean you should (or maybe even shouldn't, to be fair!), and MOST IMPORTANTLY, there are plenty of examples of game developers who speak with very similar candidness (that is to say, intimate, but not necessarily inappropriate) all throughout the industry. In my estimation, regardless of this whole Pranger situation, Nintendo ought to consider the benefits of a slightly more open workforce - even moreso than they already have been with simply allowing twitter feeds or whatnot.
Re: Talking Point: Nintendo's Dismissal of Chris Prangar Highlights Issues With Company Culture
@SquirrelNuts Thanks for pointing that out - a previous report had his name spelled "prangar", so we erroneously went off of that. It looks like they have corrected their misspelling, and we will do so as well shortly. Apologies to Pranger.
Re: Talking Point: Nintendo's Dismissal of Chris Prangar Highlights Issues With Company Culture
@NandN3ds "This does not mean a multi-billion dollar corporation should play fast-and-loose with company transparency. But talking about general company reasoning and interesting creative anecdotes shouldn't be so taboo."
A final word for me on this: A lot of people are playing armchair HR person with this. For some reason, standards of bureaucratic conduct are ingrained in so many people that they feel almost personally offended if they hear someone was out of line at their job. Question why you feel this way.
I recall off the top of my head people like Kevin Levine telling a reporter about market research and how most college kids have never heard of Bioshock, and the lengths they went to to try and market to them.
Gabe Newell has been so frank with Valve's customer base on virtually everything other than sequels. It's common knowledge that he goes through spells where he personally answers questions in his inbox, saying things that would otherwise force someone like Reggie to step down if he was ever recorded saying.
Someone like Doug TenNapel or Senran Kagura or other, let's call it open minded developers? They certainly are still in the industry. Heck, Warren Specter told me himself what he thought about specific developers and their creative practices - ON the record!
These people are at the top of their development teams, but they also have frequently worked for bigger corporations. I am not saying what Prangar did was equatable to the general day in and day out conduct of the average game maker. FAR from it, as I spelled clearly out at the top. But who among you wasn't refreshed to hear most of what he had to say? And then who among you don't feel more enlightened about the company you follow after having heard most of those things?
I, for one, enjoy the idea of a more transparent Nintendo. Nintendo employees ARE allowed to talk about their jobs more today than ever before. He obviously got his wires crossed during that interview, but it's not as shocking as some of the more fervent gut-reactions would have you believe. Not even close.
Re: Talking Point: Nintendo's Dismissal of Chris Prangar Highlights Issues With Company Culture
@aaronsullivan "One way in which Nintendo can defuse this in the future is to be more transparent about costs and process"
This is EXACTLY it. Why foster an environment of secrecy and bureaucracy? Are investors seriously hinged on import statuses of niche titles so much that it's worth the goodwill of your consumer base? Just make the general difficulties of localization common knowledge, and you avoid looking like an evil corporation. In turn, employees aren't grinning through their teeth when they're asked "WHERE IS THIS GAME" on a daily basis.
Re: Talking Point: Nintendo's Dismissal of Chris Prangar Highlights Issues With Company Culture
Let's get this out of the way right now: the impetus of the piece is that while he probably did enough to consider termination, nintendo's standard is not as universal as with other game makers.
People act like he was giving out release dates and secret projects. He didn't. In the eyes of Nintendo, he most likely just disclosed more than they were comfortable with. That comfort I am (for the most part) questioning here.
Re: Video: Get Happy with Our Super Mario McDonald's Happy Meal Unboxing
You've arrived, Alex.
Re: Interview: Game Artist Orioto Discusses his Creative Process and Which Game Creator Wasn't So Hot on his Tribute
@Mogster his work is actually scaled to be quite affordable! My personal opinion is that just getting a small poster from his site is kind of a steal. (I didn't tell him that!) You should check out a local art gallery some time to compare prices.
Also, always support artists when you are able!
Re: Interview: Senran Kagura Producer Kenichirō Takaki Bares All
...
Re: Video: This News Anchor Sure Is Excited About Super Mario Maker
I'm just gonna say it right now. My local news guy is ROLLING.
Re: Gold and Super Smash Bros. Mario amiibo, Signed by Charles Martinet, Up for Auction to Support Child's Play
Remember, don't think of this as paying an upcharge on an amiibo. For one, you can't buy this in a store, and Charles only signed them with the "here we gooo!" written on the sides because he knew it was for charity.
The way it typically works at shelters and hospitals is that they keep a running list of games kids have said they wanted to play (provided they even have a system to play on). If a kid is sitting in a shelter or a hospital for however much time (sometimes days, weeks, even months), they might be asked if they want to check out a game if they're lucky. For hospitals, the need is such that one floor might have a console, say the ICU, whereas another floor won't have anything at all.
The ability for kids to normalize their otherwise unpleasant time is a huge part of the recovery process. Seeing the amazement from a kid recovering after an accident or dealing with chronic pain or who has no parents playing the game they see endlessly advertised on TV, but which they had zero hope of ever playing, is marvelous.
So think of it like this: You are not really buying an amiibo. If you bid on this, you are literally buying a game, two games, or if we're lucky, even a console for dozens, if not hundreds of kids to get a chance to play.
Re: Nintendo's Gearing Up With Competitions and New Game Demos at San Diego Comic-Con
Aw man, sounds great but San Diego is all the way across the country, a-...
WAIT A MINUTE, NO ITS NOT I LIVE IN SAN DIEGO! WOO HOO!
Re: Interview: Warren Spector on the State of Nintendo, His Future, and How Epic Mickey Annoyed Core Gamers
@dadajo - I love that we're getting live, on the scene reports straight from Disney Land
Re: Interview: Warren Spector Discusses Game Choices, Development Leadership and Shigeru Miyamoto
@Mr_Zurkon - I actually highly recommend starting with Human Revolution. The original Deus Ex is essential gaming, but it has also aged as you would expect a very old PC game to have aged. Both are usually super cheap on Steam though.
Re: Interview: Warren Spector Discusses Game Choices, Development Leadership and Shigeru Miyamoto
I talked to the Deus Ex team about Human Revolution on the Wii U. No official comments, but they did tell me they were still very, very proud of the Director's Cut released on the Wii U. I've played the game originally on the PC, and then a 2nd time on the Wii U, and I was surprised how much the gamepad genuinely added to the experience. It's seriously the best version of the game - against all expectations!
Re: Splatoon Version 1.3.0 Update Due on 30th June, Gameplay Adjustments Detailed
Oh, so we get detailed patch notes for Splatoon now, but not Smash Bros.? Thanks, I THINK.
Re: Hands On: Logging More Flight Time With Star Fox Zero
@Tender_Cutlet I finished two degrees, and all I got was this lousy Star Fox game.
SHOTS FIRED
Re: Hands On: Logging More Flight Time With Star Fox Zero
@GrailUK Does it not contextually enhance your understanding of something by understanding how it got there? Don't you want to know which paintings Frida painted after she found out Diego was cheating on her? Don't Public Enemy's songs make more sense understanding the politics of the early 1990's?
As it goes then, don't you find it just a little strange that Hideki Kamiya has no involvement with this title? Isn't it odd that this game looks nowhere NEAR as good as Yoshi's Wooly World, Mario Kart 8, Mario 3D World, Smash Bros U, or virtually any other 1st party Wii U title? Or Bayonetta 2, for that matter? What's going on here?
Nintendo Life impressed upon you their thoughts of the demo itself, and yes, that often includes the context in which the game was presented to us - as it should be. Neither of us were disingenuous about our honest takeaways, and I hope you at least appreciate that our goal is to not just to be a mouthpiece for Nintendo's PR team.
Re: Hands On: Logging More Flight Time With Star Fox Zero
I wanted to add for our readers that I am not vehemently against motion controls in general. I have played just about a trillion eShop titles on the Wii and Wii U. I absolutely love Wii Sports Resort, for instance. Aside from the business-political quagmire that I see the title in, I just feel like overwhelming focus on motion controls is totally wrong-headed for this franchise.
In regards to holding down the trigger for target view, it really is no help locking on to an aggressive AI who is super good at keeping behind you (like in the old star fox games) when you still have to get to their ship using body motions.
Morgan will hate me for disclosing this, but he did tell me on the showfloor that he is awful at Star Fox games, and that's why he may have loved it. (I don't believe him though!)
Re: First Impressions: Getting Into the Fold With Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam
@Tony_342 Thanks for pointing that out Tony! The artwork really is amazing.
To the point of Dream Team however...for as visually GREAT that Dream Team is, I find it to be the antithesis of an RPG: almost everything you can do is entirely linear. Leveling up brings with it little consequence. as you are virtually always the level you're supposed to be at any point in the story. And most importantly, the game absolute bludgeons you over the brain with tutorials...even THIRTY HOURS IN! Incomprehensible.
That said, I still tepidly enjoyed Dream Team, but its the only Mario & Luigi game I've never finished.
Re: The Current State Of Virtual Reality Just Isn't Fun, Says Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aime
Reggie Translator:
"Not fun" = "We can't make a profit off of it"
Re: First Impressions: Our Maiden Flight In Star Fox Zero Prompts Mixed Emotions
Just a few notes guys.
Obviously Armada/ Assault doesn't look overall "better" in the more obvious ways games have improved since ten years ago. Explosions look better now, polygon counts are higher, etc. But character models are stuff and glossy, not flowing with hair and organic like before. The lights blurred, wove through the action, and popped more even back then than they do now. And the water effects of this new game, I'll just say, aren't there to impress.
In terms of the voices, I think I did hear some new voice work. A couple times I even laughed out loud. But when I first heard all the familiar taglines, I went from assuming it was fan service to realizing they may have been placeholders.
It wasn't fun to write this up. I love Star Fox. The demo wasn't "unfun" altogether...I could see how it might improve greater exposure. But this was more effort than it was entertaining.