Nintendo "Troubled" by Gamers' Demand For Content

[The Wooster]

Nintendo "Troubled" by Gamers' Demand For Content

Nintendo of America president, Reggie Fils-Aime, calls the community's demand for content "insatiable."

Nintendo is worried that customers can't get enough of Nintendo's products, at least according to Reggie. Fils-Aime.

"One of the things that, on one hand, I love and, on the other hand, that troubles me tremendously about not only our fanbase but about the gaming community at large is that, whenever you share information, the perspective is, 'Thank you, but I want more.' 'Thank you, but give me more.' I mean, it is insatiable," he told Kotaku.

Among the big three, Nintendo's reliance on its first-party titles is relatively unique. So any Nintendo presentation, even one that details a new console, like this year's E3, is often seen as "underwhelming" if it isn't loaded with appearances from the company's old guard, Mario, Zelda and their ilk.

"For years this community has been asking, 'Where's Pikmin?' 'Where's Pikmin?' 'Where's Pikmin?' We give them Pikmin. And then they say, 'What else?,'" Reggie continued.

"They say, 'Ho-hum, give me more.' So it's an interesting challenge," he added.

Reggie goes on to point out that what the core gaming community often dismisses as banal or dull can often go on to sell millions of units and become a "phenomenon," perhaps highlighting Nintendo's oddly dysfunctional relationship with its "core" fans.

"I would argue that the gaming community actually is unable to differentiate between a phenomenon and something that is 'ho-hum... Until they play it," he said. "Until they experience it. Until their friends and their non-gaming associates say, 'Hey, have you seen X?'"

Source: Kotaku [http://kotaku.com/5920572/the-trouble-with-the-never+satisfied-gamer]

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[Richardplex]

I have never seen a person use the word "Ho-hum" in that manner before.

Also obligatory "they ask for English localisations of our games, we give them nothing, and they ask for more".

 

[Suicidejim]

I can only assume Reggie has a chip installed that immediately censors swear words and replaces them with 'ho-hum.' At least, I think so. I genuinely don't quite know what he was trying to say.

And yes, this is how it works. You give us stuff, we consume it, then ask for more. Then you give us more, and it continues. If we didn't do that, we'd have rendered the gaming industry bankrupt a long time ago.

 

[TheLazyGeek]

That's the cycle though. That's how consumerism works, Reggie. The problem is when you seem to be falling behind demand, which has been going on for Nintendo with its core audience for a few years now I think.

 

[Epona]

Fans screaming for more. This is a problem most companies WANT to have. The real problem, Reggie, is that Nintendo of America has a poor reputation giving fans what they ask for. Give us more Virtual Console titles we ask but Reggie says "No" while we watch Japan and Europe get them. We ask for JRPG's but Reggie doesn't want to release them here and it takes a movement to get Xenoblade Chronicles and The Last Story.

Yes Reggie, people want more, you have to quit whining about it and actually release more.

 

[VoidWanderer]

"I would argue that the gaming community actually is unable to differentiate between a phenomenon and something that is 'ho-hum... Until they play it," he said. "Until they experience it. Until their friends and their non-gaming associates say, 'Hey, have you seen X?"

But... that's not an arguement.

Of course the players won't know the game is going to be a phenomenon or 'ho-hum' until they play it!!!

What a stupidly moronic statement.

Now where is that 'Stupid things people say' thread?

 

[Mr. Omega]

Reggie, there are dozens of game companies that WISH they had your problem...

On one hand, he has a point. Nintendo shows off a bunch of exclusives for WiiU like Pikmin, Mario WiiU, Rayman Legends, ZombiU, Project P-100 and Lego City, and shows they're going to have the upcoming 3rd psrty titles like Assassin's Creed 3, Darksiders 2 and Aliens Colonial Marines. And the common complaint has been "Where's Zelda? Where's Metroid?". And once they are shown, the response is going to be "Ugh, ANOTHER Metroid game? ANOTHER Zelda?". Nintendo is the company that can never win. They could announce they somehow found the cure for cancer and gamers would find something to complain about.

But on the other hand, maybe they should just do something. Make the games. There are plenty of people who are happy for Pikmin 3 coming out, and they'll buy it. But nobody is really going to be able to buy Pandora's Tower when it just isn't available now is it? I'd buy the old Bomberman 64 games for the Virtual Console, but the problem is that they aren't there. Yes, a lot of the fan complaints are just bitching, but there are real issues that need to be fixed. First and foremost, in my opinion, is Nintendo's blatant favoritism among its audiences.

 

[Mr. Omega]

"I would argue that the gaming community actually is unable to differentiate between a phenomenon and something that is 'ho-hum... Until they play it," he said. "Until they experience it. Until their friends and their non-gaming associates say, 'Hey, have you seen X?"

But... that's not an arguement.

Of course the players won't know the game is going to be a phenomenon or 'ho-hum' until they play it!!!

What a stupidly moronic statement.

Now where is that 'Stupid things people say' thread?

I believe what Reggie is talking about is the tendency of 'hardcore gamers' to dismiss anything that doesn't fall into their definition of what a proper 'hardcore' game should be, until their non-hardcore friends manage to convince them how good it actually is.

One example would be Psychonauts. Brilliant game. Absolutely tanked on release, because at the time sci-fi shooters were the big thing, and 'gamers' didn't see the appeal of a kiddy-looking platformer. Then people actually started playing it, and word got around that the game was actually really good, and now people won't shut up about it.

See also Ico, Beyond Good And Evil, and pretty much the Nintendo DS and every game on it. Gamers are notoriously conservative in their tastes, and have this weird double standard of moaning about the lack of original games available while simultaneously refusing to by new original games that become available. It's only when the likes of Yahtzee then start parroting on about them that they then get the courage to try something they normally wouldn't.

I'd hate to put words in Reggie's mouth, but I'm pretty sure that's the sort of thing he's talking about.

If this is actually what he meant, I'd say I agree 100%. But since we can't be sure, I'll just say I agree with this argument right here.

 

[VoidWanderer]

"I would argue that the gaming community actually is unable to differentiate between a phenomenon and something that is 'ho-hum... Until they play it," he said. "Until they experience it. Until their friends and their non-gaming associates say, 'Hey, have you seen X?"

But... that's not an arguement.

Of course the players won't know the game is going to be a phenomenon or 'ho-hum' until they play it!!!

What a stupidly moronic statement.

Now where is that 'Stupid things people say' thread?

I believe what Reggie is talking about is the tendency of 'hardcore gamers' to dismiss anything that doesn't fall into their definition of what a proper 'hardcore' game should be, until their non-hardcore friends manage to convince them how good it actually is.

One example would be Psychonauts. Brilliant game. Absolutely tanked on release, because at the time sci-fi shooters were the big thing, and 'gamers' didn't see the appeal of a kiddy-looking platformer. Then people actually started playing it, and word got around that the game was actually really good, and now people won't shut up about it.

See also Ico, Beyond Good And Evil, and pretty much the Nintendo DS and every game on it. Gamers are notoriously conservative in their tastes, and have this weird double standard of moaning about the lack of original games available while simultaneously refusing to by new original games that become available. It's only when the likes of Yahtzee then start parroting on about them that they then get the courage to try something they normally wouldn't.

I'd hate to put words in Reggie's mouth, but I'm pretty sure that's the sort of thing he's talking about.

While that makes a lot more sense, I would have had less problems with his statement if he didn't say he could make an arguement about it, when it is an almost established fact.

 

[shadowstriker86]

i guess thats why people are called consumers, rather than customers, cause like a fat guy at an all you can eat buffet, we devour everything and still ask for forty-seconds

 

[thisbymaster]

This must be the only company that is complaining that people are buying what they produce.

 

[Johnson McGee]

So Reggie's body wasn't ready after all?

 

[mjc0961]

"For years this community has been asking, 'Where's Pikmin?' 'Where's Pikmin?' 'Where's Pikmin?' We give them Pikmin. And then they say, 'What else?,'" Reggie continued.

Hey, to be fair, for me the "what else" is just a release date and price for the WiiU and the release date for Pikmin 3 so I can give you guys some money.

Also thanks for finally giving us Pikmin 2 for Wii. Took you guys long enough, but thanks for finally listening on that one.

 

[MammothBlade]

First world CEO problems, eh? Like other people said, most companies would be more than willing to exploit that sort of demand.

Even so, his comments might be taken out of context. It seems as if core fans are demanding too much from old, tired franchises such as Mario and Sonic. It could hamper the creative freedom of Nintendo.

 

[l3o2828]

So maybe you should stop producing the same game every single time?

 

[BrotherRool]

Maybe they could make something that other people actually want to develop games on?

 

[Sylveria]

We can't see X Reggie, Capcom hates Megaman now.

Hey btw, where's Earthbound 3 Reg?

But alright Reggie, we'll stop asking for you to give us reasons to give you our money. I'm sure Sony and Microsoft will be happy to take it instead.