Topic: 3rd Party Characters in 1st Party Games?

[OldMan Nintendo]

Although we've all talked about seeing characters like Sonic and Tails in the next generation of Nintendo-exclusive games, like Mario Kart and SSB:M, are you really confident that Nintendo is gonna allow such cross-overs to go down?

Grant it, they are under a new administration and that Nintendo is letting 3rd-party companies develop their biggest franchise games (SEGA with F-Zero, for example), but I don't think that we will be seeing characters like Sonic and Mega Man with their own racers in the next Mario Kart game, nor will we see them in the next Smash game.

Yeah, it sounds overly pessimistic, but I really don't see it happening.  

[mouse_clicker]

miyamoto himself said he wanted to put Sonic in Mario Kart, so if HE thinks it's a good idea, I'm pretty sure Nintendo would allow it.

[ShockingAlberto]

Well, Miyamoto would only allow it in games that aren't his "favorite children", if you know what I mean.  Sonic in Mario Kart?  Maybe.  Simon Belmont in Zelda?  Don't hold your breath.  Mega Man in Mario?  Not a chance.

-- ShockingAlberto

[thepoga]

he didnt really say he WANTED to. he is always careful of what he says to the press. he just wants people to wonder about things. he using mindgames on you... hes controlling it. mwahahahahaha. or something. yeah...
when people ask him that he never really says that he himself wants it that way. he just says "maybe.''
i dunno, if u can find an article quoting it say so. but dont link to the site. YOU SHALL GET BANNED! MWAHAHAHA. it would be funny if they started banning people at random. just kiddin. ok. whatever. yeah. uh huh. right. im an idiot. im so sad... hehe...

[EggyToast]

There's a difference between "I think it could be fun" and "they're letting us use their characters royalty free as long as we agree to put their name all over the finished product as well as their sponsors.  Watch for the Sega and Mountain Dew billboards in Mario Kart!"

Nintendo can never just plop a 3rd party character in -- they'd have to go to the 3rd party's legal dept. and request a license for it, and, although they COULD come to an agreement where the 3rd party agrees that including the character in a 1st party game could help out the 3rd party's game sales, most likely they'll ask for a royalty.

If MK64 sold around 8 million, and if Nintendo included Sonic at a $.05 royalty, Nintendo then has to pay Sega $400,000 dollars of royalty fees.  I'm sure that's $400,000 that Nintendo would rather keep and use one of their own characters, since they have dozens and dozens of characters both new and old.

[mouse_clicker]

But it's certainly okay if Nintendo licenses THEIR characters out to OTHER companies who have less money than they do.

[kennyb27]

Yeah, let's clear it up that Miyamoto said what he did.  He commented, laughingly, that "it would be fun" to see that.  Before the translation to english that may have meant "it would be funny to watch" or something along those lines.  Don't hold your breath about 3rd party characters in the game.

[OldMan Nintendo]

Quote
Originally posted by: EggyToast
There's a difference between "I think it could be fun" and "they're letting us use their characters royalty free as long as we agree to put their name all over the finished product as well as their sponsors.  Watch for the Sega and Mountain Dew billboards in Mario Kart!"

I certainly agree on that point, which is another reason why I don't see 3rd party characters on 1st party Nintendo games anytime soon.  Unlike Sony and Microsoft, Nintendo doesn't have money to throw around in order to continuously pay royalties for other characters in their exclusive games.  If anything, surplus spending money should go to commercial advertisement because Nintendo doesn't have many commercials on the air when compared to Sony and Microsoft.

Besides, Nintendo's franchise characters are all well-known among the public and can fuel their own games.  

[Hostile Creation]

I don't particularly want Sonic in Mario Kart.  I like Sonic, but he's just not for Mario Kart.  That's for Mario characters.

[Kulock]

It might be interesting to see the Triforce angle pushed slightly, since those two companies (Sega and Namco) do have special agreements with Nintendo. Maybe one character per each company in a new Smash Bros. (Sonic and Klonoa or Pacman, probably. ;P) I don't want to constantly see Sonic in Mario games, but since they have been famous long-time rivals from a corporate standpoint, it'd be fun to see them show up together once in a game, even if it was for something stupid. (DKC "cameo" notwithstanding.)

But, c'mon, Klonoa would make a great Smash Bros. character.

[KDR_11k]

If they put Sonic into MK or SSB, then I demand Captain N and Ridley for SSB as well. But, of course, neither will happen.

[BlkPaladin]

It can happen but its a really sticky legal mess. The creators of the properties put into the game will want a chunk of the profits from a game. And that may diminish the returns that Nintendo or any other company is looking to get back from a game.

[kennyb27]

Quote
Unlike Sony and Microsoft, Nintendo doesn't have money to throw around in order to continuously pay royalties for other characters in their exclusive games.

Nintendo has the money, they just choose not to use it as often or in the same ways as their competitors.