Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata has apologized for the approach the company took at this year's
E3 press conference and the perception that it has abandoned the "core gamers." He tells
Forbes that the feelings of neglect Nintendo fans might be feeling is a "misunderstanding" and the company wants to "get rid of that misunderstanding by any means."
Iwata explains "big titles" require time and Nintendo didn't think this was the year to announce any.
The other thing Iwata's conversation with Forbes covers is the continuing Wii supply shortage in the US. The CEO expresses that Nintendo is 100% committed to having Wii be available this holiday, but can't make any guarantee. He believes the best he can do right now is say the company is doing its best to supply the States with consoles.
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BigSoftie, you're right. The licensing fees cost far more than the budgets required to create a game on the 360 and PS3. The wii-mote is holding back a lot of creativity as well. You're teh smartz.
what are you talking about? nintendo has the cheapest devkits of the current gen systems. i don't know about licensing fees, though.
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I think what a lot of people fail to realize as well, that The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass is the first handheld Zelda title developed by the core Zelda team (outside of Link's Awakening). It wasn't developed by a third party. So whatever Zelda title they are working on, they cut into that time with PH. Holiday 2009 is definitely the earliest we'll see Wii Zelda, which shouldn't be that big of a deal considering the four year wait for Twilight Princess. And TP had both Four Swords Adventures and Phantom Hourglass in development at the same time.
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There have never been more than two main series Zelda titles on a single console. NES had I and II, SNES only ever got LttP, N64 had OoT and MM and the GameCube actually had more than most, if you count FSA and TP along with WW. Same goes for the main Mario series, more or less.
So before everyone goes nuts about the absence of a new Zelda game (then complains that Nintendo makes too many sequels) lets just remember that Zelda games aren't like Madden or FIFA retreads. They put a lot of time into each one, hence why it's generally agreed to be one of the greatest game series of all time.
Or, the tl;dr summary - time is linear, guys. That means we have to wait for stuff. Deal with it.
Well it maybe true that we only get 1 or 2 Zelda games per Nintendo console, we've had 0 for the Wii so far, as I hardly count a GC port a Wii game, even though the graphics may be the same. I'm sure they could've announced another Zelda game.
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They are even increasing the production, and een at this current rate, is selling a lot faster than the PS2 did.
Just because they sell a lot doesn't mean they aren't capable of making more. The demand has been high from the get go, Nintendo just isn't investing in more factories because they want it to be unobtainable.
Reminds me of this comic:
http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=269
And this is getting ridiculous. Part of the problem is, that you guys (not only commenters, but also the bloggers) really think that the only games available for the Wii this year is Wii Music and Animal Crossing.
Tell me: Is Resistance 2 and LBP the only games coming this year for the PS3? Of course not. There are a lot of games that Sony fanboys know , that Joystiq don't report, and that wasn't announced on this E3.
I only see bash about the Wii having no games, and thats ridiculous, specially coming from PS3 fanboys. Yes, you just barely had your first truly AAA title, MGS4, just a month ago. But the Wii already have a lot of great titles (better reviewed than MGS4 btw).
And you guys are hyped because Sony announced Killzone 2, Resistance 2 and LBP. Guess what? Those games were announced years ago. What else did they show? God of War? That was CGI and it wont be released anytime soon.
The Wii has a lot of games that can be considered as good games coming this year... a lot. And there are not "just wait until..." games, because the Wii is still selling.
Just because you guys don't know about the upcoming games, it doesn't mean that there are no games. Heck, I just bought Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Dungeon for the Wii. Is an easy roguelike/dungeon crawler RPG, and I can tell you that that game is a lot more hardcore than a lot of PS3 title.
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I also have to second the Chocobo Dungeon recommendation-- I didn't pick it up because I'm not a big fan of Rogue-likes (in one of those twists of irony, they're always TOO hard for me), but it definitely IS something for the core audience.
You use the same tired fanboy excuse that your system of choice is in the lead. Well I'd like to see how many of those people buying Wiis are truly having fun with them, including you.
Games scoring 80 or better
PS3 58
Wii 25
I used to be a huge Nintendo fan. I was extremely excited for the Wii, and I planned to wait on line to be one of the lucky ones. Nintendo's line up of "shovelware" and casual games has pushed me away from them to such a degree that I don't even want a Wii anymore. The Wii has some great, impressive games, I admit... but in reality the Wii has hundreds of games, more games than any other system, and therefore it has the most crap.
Nintendo's E3 conference could have been their time to shine in the eyes of the hardcore gamer, but they chose not to wow us. Now, I know that you're known around here for your blind Nintendo fanaticism, but I for one am through.
By the way, I'd like you to name any Wii game that got better scores than Metal Gear Solid 4 all around. I'm not a PS3 Fanboy, but you're just begging to be proven wrong.
Dead Space
Street Fighter IV
Far Cry 2
Resident Evil 5
Quantum of Solace 007
Fallout 3
Tekken 6
MK VS DC Universe
Mirror's Edge
Dark Void
UFC 2009 Undisputed
Fight Night Round 4
PURE
Star Ocean: The Last Hope
Final Fantasy XIII
MassEffect 2
Bioshock 2
50 Cent: Blood on the Sand (I keed :P)
Left 4 Dead
Soul Calibur 4
Mercs 2
Saints Row 2
Prince of Persia
Prototype
TC HAWX
Darksiders: Wrath of War
Dude I know lists suck but the proof is there. At least Gamecube had a fighting chance in the competition. Nintendo knows EXACTLY why they are winning this thing and thats why they are attacking aggressively with soccer mom smiley lady at E3 this year.
:(
No dude... I didn't said that. I said that there are a lot of announced games. But, here in Joystiq there are never announced. For example: this next weeks two games by Telltale are going to be released on the Wii: Strongbad, and Sam & Max.
"By the way, I'd like you to name any Wii game that got better scores than Metal Gear Solid 4 all around"
Based on Metacritic average reviews: Super Mario Galaxy and Twilight Princess are above MGS4, and SSBB has the same score as MGS4.
I guess is a matter of preference. Just like you are waiting those games, I will buy some of those games too. I want Gears of War 2, Street Fighter IV, Fallout III, Fable, Mirror's Edge.
But I'm also waiting for a lot of Wii games. I definitely want Tales of Symphonia 2, Soul Eater (by Square Enix) and specially Fragile: Farewell Ruins of the Moon, by tre-Cresendo (this is my most wanted game for all this year), just to name a few.
And by the way, Nintendo is holding back supply to fuel demand. It doesn't matter if the Wii is the #1 system in the U.S. The components used to manufacture a Wii are not as advanced as a 360,a PS3, or even an iPhone.
No dude... I didn't said that. I said that there are a lot of announced games.
But what if I want to play Fable 2? Or Mirror's Edge? Or Fallout 3? You know I wouldn't be here bitching if the Wii had good third party support and low first party offerings(Sony I'm looking at you). Basically the 360 and PS3 are getting very similar lineups pretty much making them comparable while the Wii is "trying something new" which is industry code for targeting soccer moms.
Dang, I've never even heard of these games. To each his own brotha. Still, Nintendo sold out the "Core" gamers AND the Nintendo franchise lovers. I really hope Iwata is sincere and starts firing some people high up so we can get back to the *real Nintendo Power.
So Iwata apologized, OK, well done, now could he also shed light as to what they're working on?
Second, if you think Reggie and Cammie did their casual show without Iwata's aproval I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell to you.
It's sad that the main reason people like to hate on Nintendo is the fact most of them grew up with the Playstation and enjoyed seeing Nintendo fail, seeing them succeed frightens them. I bet most of you wouldn't object if it was Sony who was milking casuals(which both Microsoft and Sony are starting to do. I can't wait until they officially announce their motion based controls later this year).
That list is GOLD for Gamers.
The Wii has just STARTED taking the bashing that the PS3 did for a year and a half...so, I will say you have no right to bitch about a weeks worth of Wii bashing...talk to me in lets say oh....540 days or so.
As for this article?
At this point in time Nintendo is doing one of these things as to the reason of shortages STILL.
A. Refuses to build more factories or enough of them to meet demand, that way...it creates a want with the scarcity of the console.
B. They are REALLY doing everything they can to meet demand...if that is the case, then CLEARLY Nintendo logistical skills are at a 6th grade level.
I say A...Nintendo is NOT dumb.
That list also has a high number of GTA clones and/or FPSs. Unless you say "core" gamers only play games with gratuitous violence, sex and guns.
I will never, evah evah evah evah evah evah tell you that you lack imagination.
Well done sir.
Everyone keeps saying that the Wii has "good" games coming, which I won't necessarily disagree with. The problem is that Nintendo is abandoning promoting these "good" games in favor of promotion a ton of casual stuff that will mostly likely be either mediocre or trash.
Nintendo could have completely salvaged their conference at the end if they had taken five minutes at the end to say, "Hey, check out these potentially great core games we have coming." They wouldn't even necessarily have to be first party titles. I would be far more excited to see some AAA third-party titles even hinted at for the Wii, seeing as that's one of it's greatest weaknesses.
So what can we tell from this? Either A) Nintendo doesn't have any great games coming in the pipeline for the Wii or B) Nintendo thinks that casual games are far more important than core games.
Either way is bad news.