Nintendo: Where Do We Point the Finger of Blame?

[Mario92]

This thread pretty much summed it up http://gbatemp.net/threads/nintendo-and-the-current-online-infrastructure.360424/
They also got loads of people mad other day by giving Zelda Four Swords which can't be even bought for free - for USA only and shared information worldwide with 2 differend facebook pages: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...27.41729.170177419710063&type=1&stream_ref=10

And I still think biggest flaw they have overlooked is localisation. Nothing is translated so only games some people can understand is those Wii Sports and Mario titles. Sony and Valve have had finnish translations years already and they target more "hardcore" audience. Other thing is their regional differences in approaches as nowdays people do have internet to find out about things Nintendo does and doesn't do and where. This is also why people are getting angrier about region locking when they know they are buying device they can't even use to play all the games they buy.

 

[mkdms14]

I believe part of there problem has to do with the infrastructure in which they sale games(link to system and not a account), no price drops ever with any of there first party titles, they need to drop the gimmicks and come up with a name for there system that speaks "Revolution".(Hell they probably could of used that name instead and would of helped as well) Part of the underlining problem with Nintendo right now is whenever there are early warning signs of a possible problem or in this case catastrophe they do little to nothing to address the problem before its too late. Take Blockbuster, Hollywood Video, Circuit City, ect... What happen? They were slow to react to a problem and it caused them to close up shop. Not saying that will happen to Nintendo but it is a possibility if they don't wise up and really change some of there "traditional" business practices.

 

[Ulieq]

Sadly Nintendos only issue is putting together crap home console hardware and not catering to 3rd parties. The real question is, why do they do it? It never made sense that they didn't compete on the home console market, and their pour treatment of 3rd parties is known throughout the industry. They just don't care about anyone except themselves. And don't get me started about their attitude towards the west. It's like all the fathers of Nintendo Execs were world war 2 vets and hate the west with a vengeance.

 

[hksrb25s14]

Nah man Nintendo will never fail, I love playing the same games but with better graphics, and a bulky wii u remote that I can barely hold, psshh.... who needs ps4/xbone graphics 8gb ram is over rated I'm good with 2 or whatever, we don't need past 4gb of ram , most games required 2gb, and I love waiting long for my games to be released. Ps4 and xbone are is FAIL.
And the 3ds is da bomb diggy, I only have one eye and loving the 3d.

Nintendo forever!!!

 

[emigre]

Yeah, Nintendo really fucked up with the Wii U.

 

[jalaneme]

WhiteMaze, add to that the refusal to go region free on any of their consoles and the price fixing on their first party titles, especially in europe, and delaying games in europe a lot too.

 

[Wisenheimer]

This thread pretty much summed it up http://gbatemp.net/threads/nintendo-and-the-current-online-infrastructure.360424/
They also got loads of people mad other day by giving Zelda Four Swords which can't be even bought for free - for USA only and shared information worldwide with 2 differend facebook pages: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...27.41729.170177419710063&type=1&stream_ref=10

And I still think biggest flaw they have overlooked is localisation. Nothing is translated so only games some people can understand is those Wii Sports and Mario titles. Sony and Valve have had finnish translations years already and they target more "hardcore" audience. Other thing is their regional differences in approaches as nowdays people do have internet to find out about things Nintendo does and doesn't do and where. This is also why people are getting angrier about region locking when they know they are buying device they can't even use to play all the games they buy.

I am not sure with the localization. Most of their big games are translated into Spanish and French and many games are in Portugese, but Nintendo does not sell well in Latin America compared to its competitors. In third world countries, piracy is often the norm (you would be hard pressed to find a game shop selling legit products) and, especially outside of Asia, it can be hard to even find Nintendo products unless you go to a "boutique" store catering to foreigners.

 

[Bobbybangin]

It's weird when you think that the DS and Wii were the #1 and #2 sellers of last gen and that currently the 3DS and Wii U are the current #1 and #2 sellers of this gen, yet Nintendo is considered as flopping. Mind you, they're still making a profit. Albeit, at a 30% decline over the previous year, but they're still making a profit.

 

[orcid]

I think they just waited too long with a new console after the Wii was dead. In this time many people, who owned only a wii, bought a PS3 or a xbox360 and with one of this consoles the average gamer doesn`t really want a Wii U. It was right that they didn`t make a high-end console to compete directly with the PS4 and xbox one. A profitable, cheaper console with great games was the right way making money and no losses, but they shoud have lowered there sales expectations because of the mistake waiting too long with the wii successor.

And I still think biggest flaw they have overlooked is localisation. Nothing is translated so only games some people can understand is those Wii Sports and Mario titles. Sony and Valve have had finnish translations years already and they target more "hardcore" audience.

They localize everygame at least Multi-5 which is the biggest part of the market. And games like Layton are localized in even more languages.
I can rate only the german localisations and they are really great and are not only dumb 1:1 translations of the english text. In my opinion Nintendo makes the best localisations in video games.

 

[Mario92]

I am not sure with the localization. Most of their big games are translated into Spanish and French and many games are in Portugese, but Nintendo does not sell well in Latin America compared to its competitors. In third world countries, piracy is often the norm (you would be hard pressed to find a game shop selling legit products) and, especially outside of Asia, it can be hard to even find Nintendo products unless you go to a "boutique" store catering to foreigners.

Spanish has 410 million speakers, French 75 million, Finnish 5 million. Of course they have translated most common languages. If I look my 3DS theres 8 languages - 8 LANGUAGES! Same thing with Wii U, console released in 2013! Meanwhile console from 2006 PS3 has 20 including most of their first party games translated to them all, Steam 26 with all Valve games supporting all those languages (Portal 2 had whole new dimension added to it with subtitles fully translated). Questiong then becomes do you want console that only plays Marios or do you want console that not only has kid friendly games translated to your native language but also all the games you would like to play yourself?

I understand english almost perfectly but many people don't especially the "casuals" they are aiming at.

 

[Dork]

overpriced mediocre games
When i can buy Skyrim Legendary Edition for 40 euros, it is insane to ask 50 for a handheld same-old Pokemon. I-N-S-A-N-E. Get it?

No, not really. Value is entirely subjective, trying to set an objective value is absolutely insane.

Do you realize how much work was Skyrim compared to Pokemon, and what value it provides? There is just no comparison.

No, and neither do you, unless you were on the development teams for both Pokemon and Skyrim.

 

[elMagnate]

It does matter when the future games that are going to be released for those other systems are going to need to be dumbed down to run on the Wii U.

1st. Dumbed down means easier, not "with less graphics"
2nd. The other consoles are more powerful, Nintendo has been more powerful than the competition 2 times, and it lost those two.
3rd. Nintendo's biggest successes have always been less powerful than the competition. The DS (154M vs PSP 80), 3DS (45M vs 4M PSvita) Wii (101M vs PS3 and 360 80M), Game Boy (110M vs Wonderswan, Lynx...), NES (60M vs SMS 15M)...
4th. New gen consoles are the weakest they have ever been compared to current PC's ($650 PCs get similar graphics than consoles do)
5th. Due to the PS4 and XBONE architecture, x86-64, graphics nor performance are not going to improve the slightest because developers already know the platform. This 20% better than last gen graphics are the ones we're gonna have for the next 6 years)
6th. Wii U power PC architecture can be exploited further as developers get used to it. These means, graphics are gonna be 10% better than last gen consoles, basically, almost as good as PS4 and XBONE, + cheaper, + comfy controller + no online subscription bullshit.

If you want graphics go buy a PC. Better get used to 720p @ 30FPS.

 

[RodrigoDavy]

I am not sure with the localization. Most of their big games are translated into Spanish and French and many games are in Portugese, but Nintendo does not sell well in Latin America compared to its competitors.

Only Nintendo games I know that are translated to portuguese are the european versions of Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7. They don't seem to care much about brazilian/portuguese players.

In third world countries, piracy is often the norm (you would be hard pressed to find a game shop selling legit products) and, especially outside of Asia, it can be hard to even find Nintendo products unless you go to a "boutique" store catering to foreigners.

Not true. At least in Brazil it's very easy to find Wii U/3DS titles selling in video game shops or at the mall. Of course, it is way easier to find pirate X360/PS2 games but nowadays many people have consoles that can't be easily hacked.

 

[elMagnate]

I am not sure with the localization. Most of their big games are translated into Spanish and French and many games are in Portugese, but Nintendo does not sell well in Latin America compared to its competitors. In third world countries, piracy is often the norm (you would be hard pressed to find a game shop selling legit products) and, especially outside of Asia, it can be hard to even find Nintendo products unless you go to a "boutique" store catering to foreigners.

What are you saying m8? Barelly any Nintendo games are translated to Portuguese?

Pokemon, for example, is in Korean (50M potential consumers), Japanes (120M), English (410M), Spanish (420M), Italian (60M), German (100M) and French(75M), plus a bunch of other non-native speakers of this language. Translating these games to Korean or Italian seems rather stupid while you're neglecting Portuguese, Mandarin or Russian, you're neglecting markets with almost no speakers of any of these languages (maybe Portuguese understand okay Spanish, but before these two last games, all games we're brought to all Latin America in F*cking English, can you believe that?)

Nintendo shouldn't neglect countries like Russia, Brazil or China (and Taiwan with 80M), massive markets. If you sell your console at $1000 there and games over $100 of course everyone is going ot pirate. Now with the e-shop people can buy games at Canadian or Amercan prices, so games shouldn't be a problem mostly, but still...

 

[Wisenheimer]

Only Nintendo games I know that are translated to portuguese are the european versions of Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7. They don't seem to care much about brazilian/portuguese players.


Not true. At least in Brazil it's very easy to find Wii U/3DS titles selling in video game shops or at the mall. Of course, it is way easier to find pirate X360/PS2 games but nowadays many people have consoles that can't be easily hacked.

I think Latin America is in the US sphere of influence, so the government has been more responsive to not allowing piracy to be as prolific as in many developing nations.

On the other hand, in Asia and the Middle East, it is very prolific. Even in wealthy Arab countries, you can find counterfeit goods in the backroom of boutiques in the big Western-style malls.

 

[WhiteMaze]

Nintendo needs to be more original, instead of just releasing first-party remakes and ports of previously released games (some people may disagree with this, but it's probably true).

Also... there's too much Shovelware (games that no-one will buy, let alone play) nowadays being released from third-party developers and not just for the WiiU!

Edit: it's just a good job that we haven't got JLN about anymore making crappy games, as they used to... lol :L

Agreed to a degree.

 

[RodrigoDavy]

I think Latin America is in the US sphere of influence, so the government has been more responsive to not allowing piracy to be as prolific as in many developing nations.

Sphere of influence sound so much like Cold War, haha

The US really pressure my country to fight piracy, but I think piracy sales are being affected by the internet. We have consoles that use external hard drives and micro-sd cards so people can just download their games on the internet. And also, it's way easier and cheaper nowadays to download and burn your own DVD games. It's fairly common to see salesman who decided to sell legit products because piracy is not as lucrative as before. I guess in countries where people don't have much access to computer or internet sales from digital pirated products must be better

 

[Wisenheimer]

Sphere of influence sound so much like Cold War, haha

The US really pressure my country to fight piracy, but I think piracy sales are being affected by the internet. We have consoles that use external hard drives and micro-sd cards so people can just download their games on the internet. And also, it's way easier and cheaper nowadays to download and burn your own DVD games. It's fairly common to see salesman who decided to sell legit products because piracy is not as lucrative as before. I guess in countries where people don't have much access to computer or internet sales from digital pirated products must be better

Well, it is true. The US still has its Monroe Doctrine. All of the Americas is our exclusive zone of military and economic influence, especially since Russia stopped being able to afford to keep military bases in Cuba. Now, there is a big push to make the whole continent part of a free trade zone like NAFTA, so you can ship goods all the way from Tierra Del Fuego to the Bearing Straight without so much regulation.

And, of course in the wealthier countries, like Argentina and Chile, or even Brazil and Mexico (for the middle class, not the poor villagers or slum dwellers), there is h disposable income and 24/7 electricity.

You go to the poorer countries, and this is not necessarily true. Like, in Pakistan, all the gameshops pretty much sell nothing but pirated Xbox and PS games unless you go to an expensive boutique. I mean, in a place like Argentina, when the average middle class household is making $30,000 per year, a $50 game is a luxury, but it is not a huge sacrifice. In Pakistan, when a bread-winner is taking in two or three hundred dollars a month, that is just not realistic for the average person.

Of course, you can still find counterfeit goods in Chinese shops on Canal Street in New York, and you still read about customs seizing containers full of them off of ships in Oakland or Los Angeles, so it is not just a third world problem. People sell pirated movies, games, and counterfeit luxury goods on the streets of Washington DC. But it is not as blatant. There are no shops out in the open displaying this kind of stuff. It is more like a drug deal. If you go to Malaysia, Iraq, China, et cetera, this stuff is in market stalls.

 

[weatMod]

the problem is not that they rely on their old standby most popular miyamoto franchises , the problem is they dont release enough of them, and good quality ones, all they release are absolute shit tier iterations of popular franchises , sorry but its true , they dont focus enough on putting out more quality games of their popular franchises , too many fucking mario parties and 2.5 d games and no full 3d games ,no games where we can even move the damn camera, no games that take full advatage of the new hardware, 3ds is turning 3 and we have got no full 3d iterations of mario ,zelda or even any metroid game period ,no SSb , the games they have released are too easy iMO mario 3d land , LOZ ALBW , etc. and absolute shit tier offerings on 3ds eshop ,

they should have had LO albw developed and released years ago and beeen releasing a full 3d zelda by the release of ALBW ,they should have had full 3d iterations of their popular franchises ready for both the release of the 3ds and wiiu or atleast a one of either a mario zelda or metroid caliber and another shortly there after

im old enough to remember getting my snes and n64 on release day packed in with smw and m64 this is how they used to sell hardware had they had an epic zelda out this x-mas that looked like the demo i would have already bought a wii u by now, just for that one game

and the design of the wii u was a disaster from the start, looks like the wii aesthetic wise , the controller is just gimmicky ,nintendo used to deliver groundbreaking hardware innovations thats what kept them relevant ,they failed miserably with this generation in that department

as for online ironically they focus too little on it ,but other consoles this gen are focusing too much on it, i really dont want this integrated social networking BS on my gaming console , this is a horrible idea

 

[farmin]

While I agree with a lot of points against Nintendo, especially their bizarre focus on rigid region restrictions, the third party support stuff is total garbage.
Plenty of third parties developed for the Wii but couldn't be bothered working within the graphical limitations so used it's high sales figures to offload cheap bargain bin crap instead of creating genuinely interesting games. Most of the third party support for the Wii U so far has been an atrocious effort on the developers part, half-assed, buggy ports of 2 year old games launched with the Wii U which obviously didn't sell well. Zombi U didn't sell well either, it's also a pretty badly made game but because it's on the Wii U it's the console's fault and Nintendo needs to work harder.
Resident Evil 4 sold 1.6 million copies on Gamecube to the PS2's 2.2 million despite the PS2's install base being about 7 times bigger than the Gamecubes.
So much of the problem lies in the majority of third party developers being so terrified of working hard on a great game and releasing it exclusively on Wii U.
Worst case scenario: port it to every console under the sun later if it bombs.