Topic: Nintendo Aims to Make New Video Game Genres

[NWR_Neal]

2011 might have been a bust, but Nintendo's Satoru Iwata has hopes for a bright future.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/28255

Nintendo's looking to make new genres of video games next year, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata proclaimed after apologizing to investors at today's Financial Results Briefing for missing the financial forecast for the first half of the fiscal year. 

The goal of these new genres, according to Iwata, is to attract people who are not interested in video games. "[We] will aim to develop and launch products that can provide meaningful surprises to the public," he said. He believes they have an advantage because of their ability to integrate hardware and software ideas, and their previous success in a wide variety of demographics.

Nintendo wants to make sure the 3DS has its fair share of long-tail, evergreen games, much likes it predeccesor. The DS had Nintendogs, New Super Mario Bros., and Mario Kart DS sell millions of units over a long period of time. Nintendo hopes Nintendogs + Cats, Super Mario 3D Land, and Mario Kart 7 can function in the same manner.

While Nintendogs + Cats was released in the first half of the year, other big releases were delayed, causing sales to slip. Additionally, the company couldn't make last year's hits sell well enough into 2011.

Iwata also discussed how he wants to leverage social media more, citing last week's Nintendo Direct as a good first step. He wants to separate the investor briefings from the consumer-focused announcements.

[NWR_Neal]

Ironically, we're reporting information from the investor briefing that pertains to consumers.

[xcwarrior]

We just want games. Stop over thinking it Iwata. Give us games.

[Razorkid]

We just want games. Stop over thinking it Iwata. Give us games.

Nintendo needs more than just the games to succeed, they need to contemporise in order to reach their full potential. From his statements and the announcements made, Iwata sees this, I just hope he is able to execute on it in a timely manner.

[Ian Sane]

The goal of these new genres, according to Iwata, is to attract people who are not interested in video games.

ARRRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!!
 
So the same non-gamer bullshit as before?  That's the goal?  You guys didn't do that enough with the Wii?
 
How about you get the people that ARE interested in games for a change since you scared every fuckin' one of them off with the Wii?  You guys talked about trying to get core gamers back and now you're talking about non-gamers again.

[BlackNMild2k1]

That's what the big 3rd party push is for Ian.
all the games you whine and complain about not getting.

[noname2200]

I'm pleased and delighted to hear that. Although I'm less certain that they can do it again.

[Chozo Ghost]

The goal of these new genres, according to Iwata, is to attract people who are not interested in video games.

ARRRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!!
 
So the same non-gamer bullshit as before?  That's the goal?  You guys didn't do that enough with the Wii?
 
How about you get the people that ARE interested in games for a change since you scared every fuckin' one of them off with the Wii?  You guys talked about trying to get core gamers back and now you're talking about non-gamers again.

I knew they weren't serious about attracting core gamers from the very millisecond that Reggie announced what the name of the console was going to be. At that moment my heart sank and everything I had hoped for had been dashed to pieces. The name "Wii U" is about as good at attracting Core gamers as Citronella is at attracting mosquitoes.

[broodwars]

I'm less interested in Nintendo creating "new genres" (which I think is just a Nintendo buzz phrase right now) than them creating new franchises.  I'm sick of the constant parade of Mario, Zelda, Kirby, Metroid, etc.  Please, Nintendo...Pikmin was the last new "core" franchise Nintendo made, and it was practically a GameCube launch title.

[Chozo Ghost]

It wouldn't be so bad if Nintendo was going to do a two pronged approach and do that casual bullshit with one hand and then the stuff everyone else wants with the other, but I don't think that's going to be the case at all. More likely than not Nintendo is going to do with the Wii U exactly what they did with the Wii, which is the only new IPs will be casual crapware and then they will pump out the obligatory Mario, Metroid, and Zelda sequels and expect that the Core crowd is going to be kept satisfied with that and nothing else.

The only good thing I can say for Nintendo about all this is Core gamers have already been pissed off with the Wii fiasco, so I don't think they can do much worse in that respect. But even though it can't get worse, it probably won't get better either, unless the third parties somehow show up like the riders of Rohan during the battle of Pellenor on Lord of the Rings and save the day unexpectedly by filling in those gaps which Nintendo refuses to fill, but that is a long shot.

[BlackNMild2k1]

It wouldn't be so bad if Nintendo was going to do a two pronged approach and do that casual bullshit with one hand and then the stuff everyone else wants with the other, but I don't think that's going to be the case at all. More likely than not Nintendo is going to do with the Wii U exactly what they did with the Wii, which is the only new IPs will be casual crapware and then they will pump out the obligatory Mario, Metroid, and Zelda sequels and expect that the Core crowd is going to be kept satisfied with that and nothing else.

Isn't the bolded red exactly what you asked for in the bolded black?


A 2 pronged approach where one hand handles the causal stuff while the other hand handles the core franchises that everyone wants?


What you want is a 4 pronged approach where
1. Casual titles
2. Core franchises we all want
3. New IP's for core gamers
4. All the 3rd party stuff, no excuses.

[Ian Sane]

I'm less interested in Nintendo creating "new genres" (which I think is just a Nintendo buzz phrase right now) than them creating new franchises.  I'm sick of the constant parade of Mario, Zelda, Kirby, Metroid, etc.  Please, Nintendo...Pikmin was the last new "core" franchise Nintendo made, and it was practically a GameCube launch title.

Yeah this is exactly how I feel.  I still like the old Nintendo franchises but I'm getting kind of bored of them.  Don't take away Mario, but don't give me JUST Mario.  And if logistically they have to scale back on existing franchise to fit them in, then scale back on Mario sports titles and stuff like that.  Keep the "real" Mario and Zelda and stuff like that and redirect the energy put towards the unessential spin-offs to new stuff.

What it really is, is that I don't like being taken for granted.  The vibe I got from the Wii is that they would just give the core gamers sequels and that would be "good enough".  There was a real "the fans will stick around regardless" attitude that really turned me off.  Don't assume I'll stick around with a token effort, because I won't.  Any time a company in anything has lost my loyality was when they assumed they no longer had to try to keep me.  I can't stand it when companies spend all their effort looking at who isn't there customer and ignores who is.

That's what the big 3rd party push is for Ian.
all the games you whine and complain about not getting.

That would be pointless.  I already have a PS3 so if the core gamer focus is to be handled entirely by third party support there is no point in owning a Nintendo console.  I like Nintendo games.  They're really good at them.  I want core games from THEM while also having good third party support.  And if they just go all casual like with the Wii, they won't get the third party support in the first place.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Are Mario, Zelda, Metroid, etc. etc. not core enough?

Why do people swear that Nintendo has ONLY made casual games for the last 5 years?
I'm sure if someone put out a list and broke it into 2 categories, you would see that Nintendo's output has been very similar to previous generations and for the most part pretty close to evenly split between casual and core games.

The only mistake Nintendo really had with games this generation was not having a system that catered to easily getting 3rd party ports. If we got all the 3rd party multi-plats, then there wouldn't be all this complaining.
This gen started off pretty damn strong with the support, but then it just died out.

Wii U, form all the rumors and reports, seems to be on track to outdo PS360 by a decent margin, so getting all the 3rd party love shouldn't even be an issue. Nintendo isn't gonna suddenly drop their core franchises and focus exclusively on iPhone like games for the Wii U and hope that 3rd parties don't drop the ball like they did on a rushed 3DS launch. So I'm not really sure where you 're coming from with your argument.

[Chozo Ghost]

BnM what I meant to say is there wouldn't be anything new. No new "core" IPs.  The fact Mario, Zelda, etc. will be on the Wii U is a given. No Nintendo console is ever without them, but where is the new stuff?

[Ceric]

...
Why do people swear that Nintendo has ONLY made casual games for the last 5 years?
I'm sure if someone put out a list and broke it into 2 categories, you would see that Nintendo's output has been very similar to previous generations and for the most part pretty close to evenly split between casual and core games.
...

These are just Wii games published by Nintendo Only (Like MH Tri was published in some regions by Nintendo.  Didn't make the list.)  I also considered anything fairly Niche to not be Casual by definition.   Fill free to put in corrections I haven't actually played most of these but I've probably read about them.

Casual:
        Wii Sports
        WarioWare: Smooth Moves
        Wii Play       
        Mario Party 8
        Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree
        Link's Crossbow Training
        Endless Ocean
        Wii Fit
        Wario Land: The Shake Dimension
        Wii Music
        Animal Crossing: City Folk
        Common sense of people power TV (Japan only)
        Wii Sports Resort
        Wii Fit Plus
        Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (Published by Nintendo in Japan only)
        NHK Kōhaku Quiz Gassen (Japan only)
        Endless Ocean 2: Adventures of the Deep
        PokéPark Wii: Pikachu's Adventure
        Wii Party
        Kirby's Epic Yarn
        FlingSmash
        Mario Sports Mix
        Wii Play Motion       
        Mystery Case Files: The Malgrave Incident

Non-Casual:
   Excite Truck
   The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
   Super Paper Mario
   Pokémon Battle Revolution
   Mario Strikers Charged
   Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
   Donkey Kong Barrel Blast
   Battalion Wars 2
   Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
   Super Mario Galaxy
   Eyeshield 21: The Field's Greatest Warriors (Japan only)
   Disaster: Day of Crisis (Japan, Europe and Australia only)
   Mario Super Sluggers (Japan and North America only)'
   Fatal Frame IV (Japan only)
   Captain Rainbow (Japan only)
   Super Smash Bros. Brawl
   Mario Kart Wii
   New Play Control! Mario Power Tennis
   New Play Control! Pikmin
   New Play Control! Donkey Kong Jungle Beat
   Punch-Out!!
   Metroid Prime: Trilogy
   New Super Mario Bros. Wii
   New Play Control! Pikmin 2 (Japan, Europe and Australia only)
   Another Code: R – A Journey into Lost Memories (Japan and Europe only)
   New Play Control! Metroid Prime (Japan Only)
   New Play Control! Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (Japan Only)
   New Play Control! Chibi Robo (Japan only)
   Tact of Magic (Japan only)
   Excitebots: Trick Racing (North America only)
   Sin and Punishment: Star Successor
   Super Mario Galaxy 2
   Metroid: Other M
   Super Mario All-Stars 25th Anniversary Edition
   Dynamic Slash (Japan only)
   And-Kensaku (Japan only)
   The Last Story (Japan only)
   Pandora's Tower (Japan only)
   Xenoblade Chronicles (Japan and Europe only)
   Donkey Kong Country Returns

[broodwars]

Are Mario, Zelda, Metroid, etc. etc. not core enough?

Those franchises are fine, but I don't want just those franchises from Nintendo.  I've been playing those franchises for almost 23 years.  I'd like to see a new core franchise from Nintendo, like I already mentioned with Pikmin.  New franchises would allow Nintendo's teams some time to recharge from constantly doing the same games over and over and over again, so we could very well see improvement in the traditional titles as well.

[BlackNMild2k1]

I agree that Nintendo need to stretch it's legs and get out from under Mario, Zelda and the usual suspects more often, but it's not like new (and almost forgotten) IP's haven't surfaced over the last few years. It's just that they haven't done particularly well especially when compared to the go-to IP's. And that's why they always fall back to Mario, Zelda, etc etc.

Just looking at Ceric's list there are:
Excite, Battalion Wars, Fire Emblem, Disaster, Capt. Rainbow, Punch-out, S&P, a few other games that never made it out of Japan or just didn't make it to the U.S. (like Op. Rainfall games).

So it's not like the only core games they have made were Mario and Zelda for the last 5 years either.

[Ceric]

I will say that if I don't get a Battalion Wars with online Multiplayer single and squad based for WiiU someone is going to be stalked and brought to Justice.

[BlackNMild2k1]

There was an ex-employee that worked on the BW series that said "afaik Nintendo has no plans for a BW game for the Wii U"

but then again, he is an ex-employee, so what the hell would he know.

[Ceric]

I really doubt to see one till 3 years in or so.

[Chozo Ghost]

Battalion Wars could be Nintendo's answer to COD if it were made into an FPS.

[Ceric]

Battalion Wars could be Nintendo's answer to COD if it were made into an FPS.

No

[Ceric]

Battalion Wars could be Nintendo's answer to COD if it were made into an FPS.

No

To clarify on that I rather see Metroid turned into an FPS.

[Ymeegod]

Nintendo did a great job in some areas this generation--the WII and DS both had great platformers from the Mario series/DKC ect but it lacked in others like RPGs, FPSs, ect.

I actually like some of the new genres Nintendo played with like Brain Age and even the EDU types like the Professional Cooking but the problem is Nintendo hasn't expanded since 2002 so these titles are spiltting up it's focus so much that Nintendo is leaving huge ass gaps (hense where third party games should step in). 

And things are going get worse considering HD games take more manpower as it is.  Nintendo always talked about third parties support (GC era) but they need to attract more help from them then mere ports--money talks and Nintendo has plenty saved up.

[Chozo Ghost]

Nintendo will never pay 3rd parties for support, exclusive or otherwise, and frankly I don't think they should because that sets a terrible precedent. If you have to pay someone like Rockstar for their support, then what are other developers going to think? They are probably going to demand they get paid for their support too, and I think in the end it would probably do more harm than good.

3rd parties should make their money the honest way by selling products to consumers, not by extorting Nintendo for bribe money.