Nintendo Boss Blames Boring Games For Industry Slump

[Weaver]

Well I think the issue has been a combination of the economy, and raw greed on the part of the gaming industry which has become corperate and is setting increasingly high margins for what it considers to be a success.

"We are in a game slump, despite the industry making billions in profit".

The only one who says that is you.

SOME companies are doing well. Others are losing millions of dollars.

Losing millions of revenue. They're still making money. When a business "loses money" it just means that they're revenu is not as high as last quarter's, they're still in the green.

OT: I agree with Iwata. Perhaps a bit ironic coming from the company which relies MOST on it's established IPs, but hell, their games are fun.

 

[StriderShinryu]

Lemme get this straight, the owner of Nintendo, Nintendo is criticizing company's for unoriginality... I have to go and think some things through now....

This, this and this. And this again. I think it's a tad hypocritical for them to say this, even if one factors in how "inventive" they are.

Yep, have to agree with this train of thought. It's been a long time since Nintendo has really done much at all in the mentioned categories.

 

[More Fun To Compute]

This shouldn't be a surprise. Since Iwata became president he has made sure that Nintendo try to make games and systems with new concepts that have a very broad appeal. With things like Mario Kart Wii and NSMB Wii they have also started to sell these new broader audiences on more traditional video game experiences.

Other companies have successes with things like Guitar Hero which they, let's say, exploit until they seem very boring then have no new concepts that are good enough in the wings to replace them.

Considering that FF13 has sold 5 million worldwide, God of War 3 has sold 2.5 million, Modern Warfare 2 has sold 18 million, Red Dead has 3 million, Heavy Rain has 1.3 million and Uncharted 2 has sold 3.5 million, I'm at a loss for what the hell this dude is talking about.

Maybe it's because the only Nintendo games that are raking in sales still are ones that have been out for over a year already.

Some games might be so expensive to make and market that 2 million sales is not enough to make money. Other games might make the dev a fortune if they sell 100k.

The real problem with a lack of "fresh games" is how much money they have to spend to get sales.

 

[John Funk]

Well I think the issue has been a combination of the economy, and raw greed on the part of the gaming industry which has become corperate and is setting increasingly high margins for what it considers to be a success.

"We are in a game slump, despite the industry making billions in profit".

The only one who says that is you.

SOME companies are doing well. Others are losing millions of dollars.

Losing millions of revenue. They're still making money. When a business "loses money" it just means that they're revenu is not as high as last quarter's, they're still in the green.

OT: I agree with Iwata. Perhaps a bit ironic coming from the company which relies MOST on it's established IPs, but hell, their games are fun.

$33.8 million operating loss [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/98858-Analysts-Say-Take-Two-Takes-Too-Long-to-Make-Games] = expenses were $33.8 million higher than revenues.

An "operating loss" means that you were in the red.

 

[Treblaine]

Must resist....pointing...out...obvious Wii joke.......

But hey, more good games are always a good thing.

Nintendo did admit it was partially their fault. 2008 and early 2009 was a serious dry spell for Wii and DS too and in fact across the industry, all platforms nothing really stood out for me and more than before I held of buying games to wait for them to fall even lower in price. Probably because I valued them so little and was not very keen at all to play them.

But Nintendo at least are trying to correct this now, E3 2009 was a DISASTER, but look at their E3 line-up this year:
-Goldeneye Wii
-Metroid: Other M
-Epic Mickey
-Donkey Kong Country Returns
-Zelda: Skyward Sword
-Kirby Epic Yarn
-MGS3 3D remake
-Kid Icarus 3D
-Star Fox 3D
-Zelda 3D
-Mario Kart 3D
-Resident Evil: Revelations 3D
-Street Fighter 3D

one thing I know... I need to find some income.

On your list, only Epic Mickey is a new game. The rest are remakes in 3D, remakes of old games on new consoles ("new" consoles) and sequels nobody even wants anymore.

Sequels "nobody wants any more"? Metroid is a LONG awaited 2D sequel. It will have been half a decade since a new Zelda came out and it is HUGELY anticipated. Remakes may be unoriginal but people DO still care about them, love for Goldeneye is still strong, along with other Nintendo classics like Zelda and Star Fox.

See, something doesn't have to be original for it to be GOOD! You know; exciting, fun, engaging.

COD4 was a sequel yet very distinct, unique and fun; Team Fortress 2 also a sequel yet is not held back by that at all. GTA4 was effectively a remake of GTA3. Nothing wrong with drawing on established franchises and genres, especially if it means they are more likely to be fun and satisfying to play by refining rather than attempting "continuous revolution".

I think there is a temptation to be overly-cautious about sequels after COD and Resistance and Halo, sequels just seem to be "pumped out" at a rate that prevents them achieving their potential. But all the sequels I've mentioned are long awaited and have long been in development also remakes fondly remembered with a great desire to be replayed.

Mind you, I'd like to add that Nintendo is not alone, Sony is delivering the goods as well with an incredible 2011 line-up.

 

[Jared]

He is saying what everyone is thinking...all the good games are coming out around same times, and those filling in the gaps whilst no big names are falling short of the line ; ;

 

[Gormers1]

Eh yeah cause its always the new and innovative games that sells...

 

[Weaver]

Well I think the issue has been a combination of the economy, and raw greed on the part of the gaming industry which has become corperate and is setting increasingly high margins for what it considers to be a success.

"We are in a game slump, despite the industry making billions in profit".

The only one who says that is you.

SOME companies are doing well. Others are losing millions of dollars.

Losing millions of revenue. They're still making money. When a business "loses money" it just means that they're revenu is not as high as last quarter's, they're still in the green.

OT: I agree with Iwata. Perhaps a bit ironic coming from the company which relies MOST on it's established IPs, but hell, their games are fun.

$33.8 million operating loss [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/98858-Analysts-Say-Take-Two-Takes-Too-Long-to-Make-Games] = expenses were $33.8 million higher than revenues.

An "operating loss" means that you were in the red.

Okay, you're right about that. I'll admit I didn't know take-two was in the red (though I guess it's not surprising). You win THIS round!

They should see a huge boost soon though:
Stronghold 3, Mafia 2, Civilization V, Max Payne 3 (not that I'll buy that one)

 

[Mordwyl]

Eh yeah cause its always the new and innovative games that sells...

He said fun, actually.

Iwata has a point. The newest game I still play today is Team Fortress 2 because it's different in a good way.

 

[Gormers1]

Eh yeah cause its always the new and innovative games that sells...

He said fun, actually.

Innovation and fun seemed to be two sides of the same coin according to him.

 

[T-Bone24]

Yep, new and interesting games like Okami and MadWorld sold like hotcakes.

 

[AMMO Kid]

Must...fight the urge...to make...Nintendo...jokes...

Nintendo! Nice to see you smack talking your own company you lazy bunch of/

Dang it! I gave in - good thing I caught myself...

 

[xyrafhoan]

Nintendo has had no trouble making games that are fun, even when it comes to pseudo fitness games like Wii Sports and Wii Fit. I'm more willing to bet this is a stab at Namco-Bandai for blaming Nintendo for the failure of their (piss-poor) games for the Wii, not to mention the other developers who just can't be bothered to elevate their games over the level of cheap novelty.

 

[Rect Pola]

Eh yeah cause its always the new and innovative games that sells...

He said fun, actually.

Iwata has a point. The newest game I still play today is Team Fortress 2 because it's different in a good way.

Yeah, but being all three still doesn't mean good sales. How many people passed on Beyond Good and Evil? Gamers are a fickle lot who demand freshness, and yet crave consistency to the point we completely ignore what is new.

 

[KDR_11k]

Lemme get this straight, the owner of Nintendo, Nintendo is criticizing company's for unoriginality... I have to go and think some things through now....

This, this and this. And this again. I think it's a tad hypocritical for them to say this, even if one factors in how "inventive" they are.

1. He did say Nintendo has that problem too
2. He complains about boring games, doesn't mean unoriginal. A game can be original and boring as fuck, in fact that happens a lot when an inexperienced game designer throws convention out of the window because he overrates innovation. Anyone can make things different, few can make things good.
3. The talk about inventive games is about reaching new customers, all that Wii Fit stuff and its ilk. People often say Wii sales slow down because everybody who wants one has one, that's true but the solution is not to accept that as inevitable but to find ways to make MORE people want one.

Large parts of the industry have been stagnating appeal-wise, they have their market and make game after game for that market with their own growth and shrinkage tied directly to the performance of that one market. As we have seen that led to a lot of layoffs and bankruptcies. Demographically the hardcore market is shrinking, the low birth rates in western nations combined with reducing interest in core gaming among children (supposedly the number of gamers among children is decreasing) mean the influx for the market is being cut while the core gamers who grow older become less capable of investing the time to keep gaming. Companies that put all their eggs into that basket are shrinking with it (yes, yes, Modern Warfare 2, did you know that outside of that the market was shrinking?). Companies that vomit out garbage labeled "casual" aren't really doing any better, nobody buys garbage. Sometimes one of these companies accidentally gets it right but they are incapable of reproducing their successes and any attempts fail. Seems Nintendo is the only one who has that figured out.

 

[tehweave]

DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Whoo! That felt great.

But seriously. Control innovations are one thing. If companies can't figure out how to combine fun gameplay (NOT MOTION CONTROL) and a decent story they're going to lose me entirely. As sad as that would be.

 

[Antari]

Its good to see a ceo actually reading something other than stock balance sheets these days! Nintendo you may win the battle yet.

 

[TyroSe7en]

Ya... I have been pretty bored with video games lately, feels like the same junk with a new texture pack over and over again.