Messages

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TalkBack / Re: Voice Chat, Wii U Bundle, New Characters Announced for Mario Kart 8

« on: April 30, 2014, 02:09:56 PM »

Did anyone know this direct was coming? I swore I never even heard about it until someone told me today. Anyway, I love getting a free game. Preordered MK8 and now happy to receive a free game. Always wanted to pick up pikmin as I never had a chance to play the franchise before.

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TalkBack / Re: Nintendo Subsidiary Closing in May

« on: April 25, 2014, 04:19:15 PM »

Could be due to the fact that they are consolidating their business for China since China will be finally allowing console sales in around July and having a headquarter in Hong Kong makes much more sense.

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TalkBack / Re: Comparing Wii U's Sales to GameCube, Wii

« on: April 23, 2014, 07:01:50 PM »

I think Nintendo thought 3rd parties would fill in more of the gaps.

But yeah, Nintendo could really use this time to build their personnel numbers.  Honestly, buying some teams and letting them make whatever and throwing it on the eShop could be how Nintendo finds their next big franchise.

This is another thing that really bothers me with Nintendo. They hold such tight leashes on how certain things should be done that a lot of potentially great ideas were probably tossed away before it could be really thought out. Their development teams may be creative, but their execution is so conservative and set in their own ways. I'm not sure if that is how businesses in Japan work in general, but in my brief time traveling in Japan, I noticed that they have a really disciplined but restricted caste system. You are pretty much doing as you are told. You do not question the higher ups. They do not respond well to changes. I think Nintendo in some ways falls into this category.

If third parties are not willing to develop games, they have to either create their own teams and build up their talent or buy the whole team. I'm sure if they are open-minded with their development, talented individuals will seek them as well. Most of us grew up with Nintendo and the same people would love to develop for the company they were so fond of back in the day.

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TalkBack / Re: Comparing Wii U's Sales to GameCube, Wii

« on: April 23, 2014, 06:14:31 PM »

Wii U sales have definitely been dismal compared to their previous consoles. However, if Nintendo wants to turn it around, I believe there is still a chance for them to do so. They will most definitely finish last in the console race, but I think they can redeem themselves by acquiring developers or publishing games that are not the usual Nintendo 'norm'. For example, Titanfall is not your typical Nintendo type of game, but I'm sure their system can run it if they approach or bought a developer that is capable of producing such games. But all this has to be done NOW. I always wondered why Nintendo never bought any big developers with all the money they have in the bank. With all the franchises that were available with the THQ bankruptcy, they could have built a bigger portfolio for themselves. It was good to hear Iwata talking about acquiring different companies. Hopefully, it will not be just japanese developers but also western developers. Most games nowadays take at least 2-3 years in development to be released so if they want to bring back some respectability for their console, it has to be done now.

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TalkBack / Re: Three Reasons Why I’m Not Excited for Mario Kart 8

« on: April 23, 2014, 05:33:30 PM »

I think it is still too early to know how this Mario Kart will turn out. Although I do not agree with it, Nintendo loves keeping their secrets until the last moment before their game releases. I still remember watching E3 last year and was totally underwhelmed about Mario 3d world. At the time, I haven't even bought the Wii U given how the system was performing. However, once they released more info later in the year, I knew I had to get the system before the game comes out. There must be more information that still need to be released. I think a large part of that will be the online functionality. If online play is done right, I think there will be a lot more excitement for this game. Also, would Mario Kart have DLCs? That may be another way to continually get people interested in the long term. We will find out more in the next Nintendo Direct. Personally, after watching some of the previews of Mario Kart, I am excited. Just thinking of playing with a bunch of friends, local and online, with all the new and revised tracks was enough for me to pre-order the game.