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[z0m3le]

Nintendo can do nothing to gain more 3rd party western support until their console becomes viable with a large install base. If the 3ds could have received western ports, it would have. Same thing with the Wii. Switch can receive those ports because it is the same development environment as other consoles, and from everything we've heard, it is actually the easiest of the 3 to make games for and ports using popular engines can be brought to the console in around a week.

Now Nintendo's goal the next 12 months should be to surpass wii u's Ltd Sales, going into E3 2018 with that sort of momentum, can attract lingering 3rd parties to bring their ports over and be willing to talk about exclusive deals.

Currently we are probably going into this E3 with a 1st party focus and likely more Ubisoft titles, probably cod as well.

 

[xochipiltontli]

Nintendo America and Europe should be able to act more independent from Japan.

The best market for the N64 was the USA, where the N64 wasn't even that off from the SNES sales, to a large part a result of Nintendo America be able to provide the right games for the American market.

Nintendo needs another Howard Lincoln. Despite the PS1's dominance he managed to form good relationships with a lot of western devs in a way Nintendo has been unable to do since.

 

[bobbychalkers]

I've been saying for a while that they desperately need to get back into that. They haven't had a consistent partner like that since the early GameCube era with Rare and they've pretty much turned their own western studios sans Retro into technical teams that work on small games now. AAA western 3rd parties aren't going to come en masse. They need to initiate that change themselves. They've shown time and time again that they aren't against funding new IPs and collaborating with Japanese developers that they don't even own (Last Story, Pandora's Tower, Wonderful 101, Bayonetta 2, Tokyo Mirage Sessions, etc. so they should expand to include western devs in that pool too.

No credit for Next Level Games and Retro?

I thought Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon was a very nice collaboration. It felt like something Nintendo EAD would put out in terms of quality and charm (for the most part).

Its not nearly enough. They are hamstrung by what NCL wants and aren't nearly as prolific as Rare was in their heyday. Dark Moon was amazing but Federation Force pretty much shows that certain higher-ups in Nintendo don't know how to appeal to western audiences.

 

[z0m3le]

Nintendo needs another Howard Lincoln. Despite the PS1's dominance he managed to form good relationships with a lot of western devs in a way Nintendo has been unable to do since.

Or burn them.

They need to build a new rare, they should be expanding retro into a 5 game studio, I mean if platinum can do all these games at the same time, why can't Nintendo build a retro that releases 2 to 3 games a year? Also keep platinum busy with exclusives.

 

[UnemployedVillain]

Or burn them.

They need to build a new rare, they should be expanding retro into a 5 game studio, I mean if platinum can do all these games at the same time, why can't Nintendo build a retro that releases 2 to 3 games a year? Also keep platinum busy with exclusives.

Well Retro is already a 2 game studio from what I've heard, they've just been expanding slow, or focusing solely on the Switch...And 2-3 releases is a LOT

 

[nynt9]

Japanese Devs make the better games anyway. All the west does is open-world shooters with rpg elements and social media integration.

There's always posters like this getting defensive in Nintendo threads. It's like one can't like Japanese games without feeling the need to attack western AAA games. As if what you described is the only type of game made in the west.

 

[Reptars Revenge]

I've said it before, but Nintendo really needs to expand Retro. They should be a two team studio. It's crazy that we have debates on if we should get a new DK or Metroid next. We should be getting both.

You mean a new DK game or another DK game next.

 

[bahamut zero]

So I take it that you haven't paid attention or know anything about western games at all.

Nah, i'm informed enough. I even like the Gunplay in W3

You might think so, and some might even agree with that for some reason, but you can't deny that western games are the big sellers now. If you're a company platform holder, it's a no brainer to want to work with these companies.

Sure, but it's Nintendo we're talking about. At this point in time I'm not even sure anymore if Nintendo is just hard to work with for 3rd parties (except indies) or if 3rd parties just don't want to care anymore.

 

[Ahasverus]

Nah, i'm informed enough.

Ok

I even like the Gunplay in W3

What?

 

[z0m3le]

Well Retro is already a 2 game studio from what I've heard, they've just been expanding slow, or focusing solely on the Switch...And 2-3 releases is a LOT

If they could expand Monolith to a game every year, as well as retro, I'd be fine with that. They are focusing on a single platform now and only planning to release 3 mobile titles a year, which sounds pretty unimportant to be honest, good for their balance but not going to effect their output on switch.

They do need to build a western studio house that can do 2 more games a year over what they have now though, they don't have much western appeal and I think switch will sell fine in Japan, so their focus should be on improving their western market.

 

[MarkRenton]

Will we ever have TV commercials for games saying "coming to PS4, Xbox One and Switch" because i miss the times where i owned only a Nintendo console and didn't feel left out. :/

 

[z0m3le]

Will we ever have TV commercials for games saying "coming to PS4, Xbox One and Switch" because i miss the times where i owned only a Nintendo console and didn't feel left out. :/

Heck Sony has pushed Xbox 1 off 3rd party games by running their own commercials and YouTube channel videos removing xb1 as well. I mean having the game on the go is amazing but do we need everything on those platforms coming to switch? Let's just hope it gets big games like destiny 2.

 

[moltonasty]

Japanese Devs make the better games anyway. All the west does is open-world shooters with rpg elements and social media integration.

Besides the fact that "best" is subjective, the western devs hold a much bigger share of the gaming market today and Nintendo would do well to actually do something to appeal to that market.

 

[SmokedMeat]

Japanese Devs make the better games anyway. All the west does is open-world shooters with rpg elements and social media integration.

Your ignorance is showing junior.

 

[RichiRamjag]

There's always posters like this getting defensive in Nintendo threads. It's like one can't like Japanese games without feeling the need to attack western AAA games. As if what you described is the only type of game made in the west.

His statement was silly, but in the AAA space, I kind of agree though. Everything is very cookie cutter, by the numbers lately. There are still some western devs out there doing their thing, but the output of large studios games in the west recently is killing my passion for gaming. Thankfully, we have a lot of talented indie companies springing up that don't really get the attention they deserve (sadly).

Your ignorance is showing junior.

Lot of random junior hate lately lol.

 

[Mashing]

Honest question, would any major western 3rd party company actually WANT to do this? I always got the impression that western devs didn't care about Nintendo collabs at all. I think EA did something once with Motion + and Tiger Woods Golf, but I don't think anyone else has done it.

Would be interesting to see, but I doubt something like that is gonna happen anytime soon.

If Nintendo is willing to moneyhat a game (and assume most of the financial risk) then any 3rd party would be foolish to turn them away.

 

[Trago]

I feel like Ubisoft, Activision, and Warner Bros. would be safe bets if there would ever be collaborations, but If Nintendo could strike a deal with some of the bigger names like EA, Bethesda, and Rockstar, that would definitely turn heads. I guess Skyrim on Switch is a start. and I doubt EA would do anything after Fifa is released.

 

[Octavianus]

"Indie games don't count"

Are they even real games anyway?

 

[MarkRenton]

Heck Sony has pushed Xbox 1 off 3rd party games by running their own commercials and YouTube channel videos removing xb1 as well. I mean having the game on the go is amazing but do we need everything on those platforms coming to switch? Let's just hope it gets big games like destiny 2.

Does Nintendo even have the online infrastructure to handle something like that?

 

[SmokedMeat]

Nintendo needs another Howard Lincoln. Despite the PS1's dominance he managed to form good relationships with a lot of western devs in a way Nintendo has been unable to do since.

Acclaim and THQ dying hurt Nintendo's western third party support, as they were huge contributors. WB and UBI Soft haven't really filled the gap to the same extent.

I don't understand why Critereon turned down the chance to work on F-Zero. Was it bad timing? Were they on a different project at the time?

 

[EDarkness]

If Nintendo is willing to moneyhat a game (and assume most of the financial risk) then any 3rd party would be foolish to turn them away.

I don't think it's quite that simple. If the company isn't hurting for cash, and doesn't want the responsibility of working on Nintendo hardware or working with Nintendo in general (Nintendo doesn't have the best reputation in the industry), then I imagine big companies wouldn't do it. Some small ones would (like myself...heh, heh). I doubt EA, Bethesda, or Take Two would do it. Ubisoft would since they have a history of working closely with Nintendo. Maybe Activision...maybe.

 

[Trago]

If Nintendo is willing to moneyhat a game (and assume most of the financial risk) then any 3rd party would be foolish to turn them away.

I'd love it if Nintendo maybe saved some games from development hell ala Bayonetta 2 like Rockstar's Agent.

 

[Shaii]

Why are we having a thread like this every week?

Did the others get locked?

 

[FinaruDensetsu]

3DS does just fine without western games. The main issue is getting third parties. If they can get Japanese third parties it'll be fine.

The people who only want Western games arent buying a Nintendo system anyway.

 

[Ridley327]

Unfortunately, a lot of the major western developers are owned by a publisher, and I think that as far as the publishers are concerned, those resources are better spent on their own IPs, rather than loaning them out to someone like Nintendo. Even some of the larger independent developers out there, like Bungie, Gearbox or CD Projekt Red, have their own big titles to work on.

More dedicated resources to small indie support would be nice to see, but I'm not really seeing a lot of potential out there for Nintendo to make The Next Call of Duty or The Next Grand Theft Auto happen with what's realistic. I'd love to see Nintendo usher in a big B-tier game renaissance, but I don't know how many gamers in the mainstream would respond positively to that.

 

[The perfect Dark]

I want Boom Blox 2 on Switch.

 

[Ridley327]

Acclaim and THQ dying hurt Nintendo's western third party support, as they were huge contributors. WB and UBI Soft haven't really filled the gap to the same extent.

I don't understand why Critereon turned down the chance to work on F-Zero. Was it bad timing? Were they on a different project at the time?

I think that it was bad timing, as EA was shifting them into becoming the dedicated NFS studio, which didn't seem to sit well with some members of the team as they had left some time thereafter. It's a tantalizing "what if," but in retrospect, it's more obvious why it didn't happen.

 

[RampagingSoul]

Japanese Devs make the better games anyway. All the west does is open-world shooters with rpg elements and social media integration.

I play and like more games that have come out of Japan than here in Western countries like America, European countries, etc, but there are plenty of games developed by Japanese devs that have been bad just like there have been bad games by western developers.The west doesn't just develop the games you speak of especially when you consider more than just AAA publishers/developers and speak of the variety of indie games on the market from western developers along with Japanese developers. Games are games, no matter where they are made, and they all vary in quality. Your statement is just as bad as someone saying that all that comes out of Japan are JRPGs with various elements like dating sims and such. Developers all around the world are making great and varying content.

 

[Aaronrules380]

Unfortunately, a lot of the major western developers are owned by a publisher, and I think that as far as the publishers are concerned, those resources are better spent on their own IPs, rather than loaning them out to someone like Nintendo. Even some of the larger independent developers out there, like Bungie, Gearbox or CD Projekt Red, have their own big titles to work on.

More dedicated resources to small indie support would be nice to see, but I'm not really seeing a lot of potential out there for Nintendo to make The Next Call of Duty or The Next Grand Theft Auto happen with what's realistic. I'd love to see Nintendo usher in a big B-tier game renaissance, but I don't know how many gamers in the mainstream would respond positively to that.

Yeah, people forget opportunity cost is a thing. Even if Nintendo assumes most of the financial burden (which would be completely unfeasible on the necessary scale) it ignores that you still have to convince the third party that devoting the same man power to another, non money hatted game that could potentially sell far more is worth it.

 

[Trago]

Unfortunately, a lot of the major western developers are owned by a publisher, and I think that as far as the publishers are concerned, those resources are better spent on their own IPs, rather than loaning them out to someone like Nintendo. Even some of the larger independent developers out there, like Bungie, Gearbox or CD Projekt Red, have their own big titles to work on.

More dedicated resources to small indie support would be nice to see, but I'm not really seeing a lot of potential out there for Nintendo to make The Next Call of Duty or The Next Grand Theft Auto happen with what's realistic. I'd love to see Nintendo usher in a big B-tier game renaissance, but I don't know how many gamers in the mainstream would respond positively to that.

I'd say that they were sort of on to something with indies on Wii U. If not big western publishers, then definitely some partnerships with talented independent developers could help widen the appeal of their platform. Shin'en comes to mind. They need more.

 

[PSqueak]

No credit for Next Level Games and Retro?

I thought Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon was a very nice collaboration. It felt like something Nintendo EAD would put out in terms of quality and charm (for the most part).

Didn't you get the memo? We don't talk about those developers in GAF unless you talk metroid.

So im sorry, according to Metroid GAF you can't use Next Level games as a positive example ever again because it doesn't matter that 99% of their nintendo collaborations have been pure gold, nope, they're shit because they failed metroid.

As such, you can't be positive about the critical acclaimed DKR games, because "it's fucking donkey kong" and not metroid which Retro should be working on!

 

[bahamut zero]

What?

Like, when he shoots the monsters with his sword and stuff. Guns, Swords, Magic, who cares. All the same nowadays. Everything goes pewpew.

 

[Platy]

Rayman legends and the Bit Trip Runner trophy in Smash (which also had rayman ones) AND the fact that the first 3rd Party Amiibo was Shovel Knight must count for something

 

[bahamut zero]

the western devs hold a much bigger share of the gaming market today

You sure that speaks for quality though?

 

[Aaronrules380]

A lot developers would die to work for Nintendo. A lot. You just think EA/Ubisoft or something. We have tons of developers that could work on their franchises much better then EA/Activision etc.Obsidian,Team17,United Front,Sumo Digital,Starbreeze(Metroid?),TaleWorlds, etc etc
a lots indies.

Why not fucking collaborate with Metroid 2.5 devolopers instead of dmca-ing .

Because those wouldn't make the money or attract the audience they need?

 

[Gruco]

Random thought, but I've always felt as though Insomniac and Nintendo were a match waiting to happen, as the style of games and audience seems to overlap very well. Not holding my breath or anything, but it just seems like something both should realize.

 

[z0m3le]

Does Nintendo even have the online infrastructure to handle something like that?

Destiny servers are not ran on live or psn, they are third party servers, this is why when the servers go down unforeseeably, they are usually down for both platforms at the same time.

 

[Terrell]

That's why they are now working on NASCAR games, which aren't coming to Nintendo systems?

The question wasn't if they were able to work with Nintendo, but if they were willing to. They've clearly established that they're willing.

I'd much rather they establish more Western studios, if only for the different perspective in making games. There's no reason NOA should only be a North American sales branch or localizer

There's not a reason NoA needs to be involved in that process, technically. SPD (now a wing of EPD) travels into the Americas all the time to consult on production of games.
But I'm not against the idea of establishing Western studios, it can be done successfully.

Nintendo needs another Howard Lincoln. Despite the PS1's dominance he managed to form good relationships with a lot of western devs in a way Nintendo has been unable to do since.

No, he didn't forge good relationships. if he did, they wouldn't have collapsed the way that they did.

 

[UnemployedVillain]

There's not a reason NoA needs to be involved in that process, technically. SPD (now a wing of EPD) travels into the Americas all the time to consult on production of games.
But I'm not against the idea of establishing Western studios, it can be done successfully.

.

I mean, NOA is in the region, are also primary english speakers, are more familiar with North America and (probably most importantly) are in the same time zones. Trust me, if you're doing significant work with a region, having a branch in that time zone to do the bulk of it is immensely useful. Technically they don't have to, but it'd be bizarre if they weren't

 

[Chindogg]

Rayman legends and the Bit Trip Runner trophy in Smash (which also had rayman ones) AND the fact that the first 3rd Party Amiibo was Shovel Knight must count for something

"Indie games don't count."

 

[Terrell]

I mean, NOA is in the region, are also primary english speakers, are more familiar with North America and (probably most importantly) are in the same time zones. Trust me, if you're doing significant work with a region, having a branch in that time zone to do the bulk of it is immensely useful. Technically they don't have to, but it'd be bizarre if they weren't

Nintendo has functioned in this capacity without a go-between on multiple occasions successfully.

 

[bobbychalkers]

Rayman legends and the Bit Trip Runner trophy in Smash (which also had rayman ones) AND the fact that the first 3rd Party Amiibo was Shovel Knight must count for something

Those are cool gestures but that's not nearly enough to make a difference.

Random thought, but I've always felt as though Insomniac and Nintendo were a match waiting to happen, as the style of games and audience seems to overlap very well. Not holding my breath or anything, but it just seems like something both should realize.

That would be a cool collaboration.

 

[Flui111]

Like, when he shoots the monsters with his sword and stuff. Guns, Swords, Magic, who cares. All the same nowadays. Everything goes pewpew.

I want whatever you're smoking

 

[Kureransu]

Why are we having a thread like this every week?

Did the others get locked?

You might want to edit that and say add meaningful to the thread my friend.

On topic:

In a perfect world (for me), nintendo would do collabs with western 3rd parties to get their own games of top franchises (not counting sports), that would help to give the Switch it's own library. I mean high quality variation that stand alone on its on.

It doesn't HAVE to be this way for EVERY game, but i look at a franchise like kingdom hearts as a great example. You have 1,2, and soon to be 3 on the playstation home consoles, but chain of memories, birth by sleep, 358/2 days, and dream drop distance were on handheld. They all fit into the mainline story and honestly if you don't play them, it makes more the mainline games confusing due to story holes filled by the portable versions.

Since it's almost safe to assume the power difference in consoles are so much that the games will suffer greatly on switch, why not just make a version that ties into the other console version. (I know the real reason is money, just speculating). Especially if this is a going to be a complementary console for most people.

I was thinking like a resident 7.2, where they tell the story of how

Spoiler

Eveline

came to be and tie in with the Bakers. It would be a full out RE, just spec'd for the Switch.

but i know it's wishful thinking.

 

[Ridley327]

The question wasn't if they were able to work with Nintendo, but if they were willing to. They've clearly established that they're willing.

Considering that NASCAR Heat seems to have been a flop critically and commercially, I suspect that Monster is going to make sure that their foot manages to stay in Nintendo's door, if they didn't already. Even if it's ultimately another port job, that's still steady work for a studio their size.

 

[EDarkness]

"Indie games don't count."

I was under the impression we were talking about big third party companies....

 

[Mr-Joker]

Nintendo America and Europe should be able to act more independent from Japan.

Sega US and European branch were independent from Japan and it led to internal strife and was one of the cause of them leaving the console market. So my guess is that Nintendo wanted to avoid that by tightly keeping a close rein on them.

But it isn't like that the European and US branch have no influence, it was the US branch that came up with the idea of the NES mini and Nintendo of Europe were the one that approached Criterion Games to make an F-Zero game.

I don't understand why Critereon turned down the chance to work on F-Zero. Was it bad timing? Were they on a different project at the time?

Because they were busy with Need for Speed: Most Wanted.

As such, you can't be positive about the critical acclaimed DKR games, because "it's fucking donkey kong" and not metroid which Retro should be working on!

I know you're joking but it was so annoying seeing folks dismissing Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze as they felt Retro should be a Metroid studio and not "waste" their talent on project like Donkey Kong or Mario Kart 7.

 

[MisterGrey3000]

I mean outside of Ubisoft and Activision (who I think they should spend a lot more time and effort to work with btw), the vast majority of AAA western 3rd party developers don't seem very interested in creating the kinds of games that sell well in Nintendo's typical software ecosystem.
And I'm sure (by this point in time) that Nintendo is well aware of the fact that the kind of software western 3rd parties put a lot of time and resources into tend to bomb spectacularly on their consoles.
Historically, consumers playing on Ninty systems seem to be more inclined to pick up a new colorful platformer like Sonic the Hedgehog or Rayman over PlayStation/Xbox-style experiences like Batman Arkham City.

Unless Nintendo starts sidelining stuff like Mario and Animal Crossing in order to heavily invest in creating experiences like Uncharted or The Witcher 3, there's just no significant gain for them in developing lots of western collaborations/partnerships at the moment.

 

[emag]

I'd like to see Nintendo focus more on bringing Western indie games to the Switch platform (Shovel Knight and I Am Setsuna are a nice start, but just a start). There are tons of them that would be wonderful on a handheld console.

 

[Vinc]

Sign a 10-game deal with Playtonic as soon as Yooka-Laylee and its DLC are out the door.