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« on: February 05, 2003, 07:46:57 AM »
I sent this letter to Nintendo europes consumer services people some time before christmas, and since they haven't bothered to acknowledge me since, i thought I may as well share its contents with everyone I can, it's a bit on the long side, but please bear with me...
"Dear Mr Gosen:
I decided to abstain from purchasing a US imported Gamecube around this time last year and held out for the European release of the console on the back of the promises that you yourself had made regarding Nintendo’s future treatment of the European marketplace, looking back, I wish I hadn’t bothered.
As I write this I have just been informed of the European release date for Metroid Prime. The 28th of March 2003, over four months after its US release. You would think it would be a priority for Nintendo to release what is arguably their biggest title since Ocarina of Time in what is rapidly becoming the largest market for videogames as soon as was reasonably possible. Instead, I have to wait what is an obscene length of time for the finished game to arrive whilst my flatmate plays the US version in the next room.
I appreciate that Europe can be a difficult market to tackle with its myriad cultures and languages, I also appreciate that Nintendo have a Pan-European language translation policy and that gamers expect flawless PAL conversions, and maybe a 60hz mode in their software, but these delays are getting beyond the joke. I don’t claim to be an expert on games development but I refuse to believe that it takes 4 months to translate and optimise even a fairly text-heavy game such as Metroid prime, which, incidentally, isn’t nearly as text heavy as Zelda must have been, which arrived on these shores a mere couple of weeks after its US arrival. Incidentally, my import copy of Metroid Fusion cost some £15 less than it otherwise would have from the UK high street. Without the hype from its big brother to fall back on, the game appears to have by all accounts flopped in the UK. Would it not have made more sense to release the two games together in time for Christmas? Nintendo seems very keen to promote the connectivity that exists between the Gamecube and Gameboy Advance. I get the nagging suspicion that Metroid Prime is all but ready to go and is being held back for marketing purposes, the logic of which continues to elude me.
Much as I hate to say this I honestly believe that for all their ultimately hollow promises Nintendo’s treatment of their European fanbase has actually gone downhill since the dark days of the N64. The sad fact is that Nintendo have almost nothing with which to market its console to the casual consumer this holiday season. Seeing filler material such as Mario Party 4 being hyped as the next big thing is more than a little depressing. Starfox’s combination of obscure licenses and a game that is frankly not up to the standards I would expect from a Nintendo published title will not help it shift hardware this Christmas, and the sad truth of the matter is that Mario Sunshine has come and gone. Reiterating a list of games I probably own or have owned does not change the fact that Gamecube is currently being outsold on an almost 2 to 1 basis by its closest competitor the Xbox, a console that I personally believe has almost nothing going for it.
Metroid Prime would have been the perfect game to show the atypical cars and guns demographic that make up the majority of the videogaming market the kind of superior product that Nintendo can offer, unfortunately by the time they find out it may already be to late. Nintendo are currently on a slippery slope and the Gameboy Advance is not going to save its big brother from obscurity unless urgent action is taken. Release dates are my biggest concern, but there are also other issues, such as the overpricing of GBA software that need to be addressed as well. If the situation does not improve then I may be forced to join the ever growing import crowd and purchase an Import Gamecube from the US (alongside an NTSC compatible TV) and I may have to sell my PAL Gamecube to fund this decision, either that or it will be relegated to playing the abundance of cheap PAL second hand software. There is almost no benefit (I am aware of issues of warranty) to owning a PAL Nintendo console anymore when my flatmate can play the newest Nintendo titles as soon as they hit the market, and substantially cheaper as well, and what of the quirkily innovative and enthralling Animal Crossing? It looks like I may never get the chance to play this game. Ever.
I hope you understand that I am not out bear a grudge, I am simply a concerned fan who feels that Nintendo are doing their fans (and themselves) a disservice by failing to keep up with the PAL market, I hope you try hard to address these issues for your companies own benefit as much as anyone else, and I look forward to seeing a change of policy towards Europe on the part of Nintendo in the future.
Sincerely,
Rory Cresswell
"
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