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[UnemployedVillain]

There are people in here suggesting they do, even posting screenshots.

Nintendo throws them in there from time to time. They just don't brag about them and make them key selling points.

And that was my point with posting the screenshots. People are reading this statement in the same vein as those who respond to racism with "I'm colorblind/don't see race" and act in a way that clearly shows their insensitivity to the problems certain races encounter.

I, however, see it more as a "No comment. We let our games speak for themselves". Obviously Nintendo's devs, the creators, the people who actually have a hand and creative input in their games have their own thoughts and feelings on different issues and sometimes their games reflect those while other times they don't. When Reggie said political statements are for other people to do, I think he literally meant that while our games might include elements that can be politicized, Nintendo aren't in the business of commenting on those. They simply let them be interpreted as they will. It absolves them of having to handle any potential controversy while not flat out ignoring the concerns people have rightly brought up.

Now whether you think Nintendo has a responsibility or not to comment, might be up for debate, but making it out as if they're flat out ignoring these is incredibly disingenuous, yet I see a number of people, who clearly haven't played a Nintendo game in a while, seeming to do so

 

[Soldiussnaku]

Eh, time for nintys pr blunder after Sony's and ms this e3.


They need a better answer though. The it's FUN! defence is a little thin these days in these.clearly highly political charged times. Sony and ms has convincingly shown where they stand on important issues via both their games and actions.

Ninty has in the past ,but their wishy-washy attitude is always a disappointing aspect to them.

 

[UnemployedVillain]

Ninty has in the past ,but their wishy-washy attitude is always a disappointing aspect to them.

I can't imagine how anyone could find Nintendo in the past taking more of a stance on these issues than they do now

 

[Holy Order Sol]

Just because you can view everything through a political lens doesn't mean it always makes sense to do so. It's fine to want out no matter how many people come trying to drag you like "NUH-UH CAN'T ESCAPE".

 

[Yoshimitsu126]

Should have said it's up to the developers and then say something like "But here at Nintendo we generally want to be inclusive."

 

[Jintor]

I want to see Woke Reggie.

Someone stick a mario cap on this guy

 

[Audioboxer]

So I watched the video which I'm not sure how many people did. They had some guy on directly before Reggie talking about politics and "family matters" wrapped up around review categories for violence/sex and saying "now politics too!". This is after a section on FC5. I don't think reviews need a political section I'm just saying the framing prior to having Reggie on was "adult content" and then talking about family gaming. Nintendo are always careful how they're presented as a family company.

Anyway, personally I would say this was more about asking Reggie directly after FC5 and him giving a neutral answer not to ignite any tensions between Nintendo/Ubisoft/FC5 devs.

I don't really think it's there for extrapolating to every single Nintendo game ever released given... some of them are political in nature. Reggie seems to have a soundbite at the end following FC5 talking about Christian fundamentalism. I mean, to be completely blunt, even if FC5 came out on the Switch (sorry if it is) it wouldn't be something Nintendo would directly do. That being a Nintendo developed in house Christian extremist shooter. For everything Reggie seems to be getting accused of in this topic I think it's fair to say many of us would drop dead the day Nintendo in-house put out a game where you're gunning down religious nut jobs.

Watch the video folks, the framing and build up to giving Reggie his 10 second clip adds a bit of context. It's not a totally random interview, the whole thing kicked off around games often displaying visceral forms of violence (even attacking Trump was in there lol) and then cut to Nintendo/Reggie after labouring how families may view adult/violent/political content. It's mainly tied up around FC5 and Reggie literally having a 10 second answer...

 

[Mael]

Just because you can view everything through a political lens doesn't mean it always makes sense to do so. It's fine to want out no matter how many people come trying to drag you like "NUH-UH CAN'T ESCAPE".

Similarly because you decide to ignore the political message doesn't mean it's not there either.

 

[jdstorm]

Being "non political" is just code for apathetic. Its a bad choice. If even Jimmy Fallon is doing the ocasional political joke then Nintendo should have an oppinion.

What Reggie said was just bad PR. A lot of people find your typical AAA murder simulators like GTA fun. If Nintendo was only focused on making the most "fun" shouldnt they then also be targeting that audience?

A much better answer would have included the appropriate buzzwords like Diversity, inclusive, family friendly, traditional values, fairness/fair play.

Something like.

We at Nintendo are a diverse company that is focused on bringing people together through inclusive family friendly co operative experiences that can be experienced by everyone. We believe that gaming is something that should be enjoyed with others. Its about bringing people together and "sharing the joy"* of overcoming a challenge with a friend or competing fairly and honestly in pursuit of self improvement.

*look i even subtlely reference Nintendo's official Switch marketing campaign in a natural way.

 

[WrenchNinja]

What a stupid answer

 

[Nev]

Similarly because you decide to ignore the political message doesn't mean it's not there either.

He said statements, not messages.

 

[patrickthehedgehog]

Why is this a shock to anyone? I think I'd prefer Nintendo games to continue to be an escape from all of this shit-garbage stuff going on in real life.

 

[UnemployedVillain]

Being "non political" is just code for apathetic. Its a bad choice. If even Jimmy Fallon is doing the ocasional political joke then Nintendo should have an oppinion.

What Reggie said was just bad PR. A lot of people find your typical AAA murder simulators like GTA fun. If Nintendo was only focused on making the most "fun" shouldnt they then also be targeting that audience?

A much better answer would have included the appropriate buzzwords like Diversity, inclusive, family friendly, traditional values, fairness/fair play.

Something like.

We at Nintendo are a diverse company that is focused on bringing people together through inclusive family friendly co operative experiences that can be experienced by everyone. We believe that gaming is something that should be enjoyed with others. Its about bringing people together and "sharing the joy"* of overcoming a challenge with a friend or competing fairly and honestly in pursuit of self improvement.

*look i even subtlely reference Nintendo's official Switch marketing campaign in a natural way.

Honestly it seems like that's what a number for people in here want. They want him to say the right buzzwords. They don't seem to actually care what Nintendo has done in their games, or their company culture (the actual metrics on their stance on politicized issues), only that Reggie give the expected "right" answer

 

[RRockman]

Ummm... if Nintendo chooses to not make political statements in their games then that's ok. It's their IP, their rules. However, I don't like the second half of his statement because it implies that fictional works cant make political statements and be fun at the same time, which is grossly incorrect.

 

[NewGame]

I hope there's a Venezuela level in ARMS, and Splatoon better have a Kamikaze bomb you can run into other players.

And Mario better throw his hat onto Donald Trump

And everyone better be black gay disabled women that are strong and independent who's lives matter not because they are more important than other lives but because of the unfair discrepancy between black people and white people in the criminal justice department of the U S OF A

But Yoshi can be about eating fruit or whatever

 

[Pineconn]

I don't want to be deluged in liberal opinions when I play [Nintendo] games. I get plenty of that here and on other websites.

So, yeah. Bring the fun; leave the messages.

 

[WrenchNinja]

Honestly it seems like that's what a number for people in here want. They want him to say the right buzzwords. They don't seem to actually care what Nintendo has done in their games, or their company culture (the actual metrics on their stance on politicized issues), only that Reggie give the expected "right" answer

I care quite a bit about what theyve done in their games, like Awakening and Fates with their create a character not having any skin tones while letting you know your dad in the former is dark skinned while youre pasty white

BotW is not the end all be all answer to sweep away criticism

 

[UnemployedVillain]

I care quite a bit about what theyve done in their games, like Awakening and Fates with their create a character not having any skin tones while letting you know your dad in the former is dark skinned while youre pasty white

BotW is not the end all be all answer to sweep away criticism

Not saying it is, or even remotely implying all their criticism can be swept up. For every fault like in FE, I can point to Pokemon and Splatoon having increased skin tone options and in general diversity to the characters. My point is, taking Reggie's essential "No comment" as indicative of the direction or stance of the company as whole (which already makes no sense), while ignoring that their games are factually addressing issues of inclusivity more and more (the ones that are usually deemed "political" doesn't make sense to me. Granted this is a thread addressing what he said, but I don't know why that should override what devs are actually doing

 

[WrenchNinja]

Not saying it is, or even remotely implying all their criticism can be swept up. For every fault like in FE, I can point to Pokemon and Splatoon having increased skin tone options and in general diversity to the characters. My point is, taking Reggie's essential "No comment" as indicative of the direction or stance of the company as whole (which already makes no sense), while ignoring that their games are factually addressing issues of inclusivity more and more (the ones that are usually deemed "political" doesn't make sense to me. Granted this is a thread addressing what he said, but I don't know why that should override what devs are actually doing

Pokemon is a weird answer to give considering they stepped back in ORAS arbitrarily and brought it back in Sun and Moon only to give one additional darker skin tone. But hey baby steps I guess. And this is nitpicky but for all their inclusivity with Splatoon 2 they sure don't want to show those other tones on the boxart.

Maybe you can read his statement positively but it just seems generous.

 

[UnemployedVillain]

Pokemon is a weird answer to give considering they stepped back in ORAS arbitrarily and brought it back in Sun and Moon only to give one additional darker skin tone. But hey baby steps I guess. And this is nitpicky but for all their inclusivity with Splatoon 2 they sure don't want to show those other tones on the boxart.

Maybe you can read his statement positively but it just seems generous.

ORAS was a remake though. They basically said "R/S didn't have customization so this won't", despite it including all the other modern updates, so I'm not sure I'd count that. The fact that it was brought back in S/M kind of makes it not arbitrary

And Splatoon 2 is weird, because the female squidling on the box is much lighter than she appears to be in any other version of her, including the amiibo and in the Salmon Run art

 

[AmayaPapaya]

I'm glad Nintendo stays away from certain political ventures. I do love political games, but I also love Nintendo games for what they are. I can show them to anyone without worrying about them not understanding it, or having a certain opinion. Also, I want games sometimes where I can put every down (metaphorically and literally) and just have fun. There is a market for that, and there should be a market for that. Nintendo has earned their right to be in that space.

I think of Far Cry 5, on the other hand, and that's a game where they are inserting theirselves in the political sphere, but it looks like they are intentionally ignoring certain elements (like racism), and I think that deserves to be critisized.

Also, as a side note, Nintendo is sometimes political in small ways too, which is good to see. Like what the poster above mentioned. But they do try to stay uncontroversial, which is fine.

 

[Currygan]

Eh, sounds like an oversimplified answer, but Nintendo's focus is fun and always will be so I dont really know how he could have answered differently

 

[Boss Mog]

About the expected answer from a human mascot lol

It's hilarious that "gamerz" try to pretend there are no problems but literally every exec understands you're all potentially gamergaters and does their best not to offend walking wallets

People know there are problems but some people play games to have fun, to escape the shitty reality and they don't want political statements in there, I don't see what offends you about that?

 

[Metrotab]

Good for Nintendo. Most of their games come close to the escapist ideal of video games for me, games where you go to just have some innocent fun and can remove yourself from the daily slog and stress. Heavy-handed political statements generally do not fit in such an experience, and it is perfectly justified for artists and developers to take a more apolitical approach to their game content.

 

[jdstorm]

Honestly it seems like that's what a number for people in here want. They want him to say the right buzzwords. They don't seem to actually care what Nintendo has done in their games, or their company culture (the actual metrics on their stance on politicized issues), only that Reggie give the expected "right" answer

I care greatly about what Nintendo do in their games. I just think they are mostly doing a good job. However Reggie's job in this instance is PR. He needs to understand that its not enough to do a good job, but that you need to be able to communicate to your audience/target market that you are doing a good job. Just look at the WiiU. Great games, but it became a complete bomb due to poor marketing.

This statement is not representative of competant PR and should be open to criticism.

 

[Albino_Yeti]

I care greatly about what Nintendo do in their games. I just think they are mostly doing a good job. However Reggie's job in this instance is PR. He needs to understand that its not enough to do a good job, but that you need to be able to communicate to your audience/target market that you are doing a good job. Just look at the WiiU. Great games, but it became a complete bomb due to poor marketing.

This statement is not representative of competant PR and should be open to criticism.

I'd argue that he is saying exactly what his target audience wants him to say.

In my experience, Nintendo fans play Nintendo games for innocent, pure, escapism fun, not social commentary.

 

[balgajo]

I can understand what he is saying but I also agree that he expressed poorly​.

I have a question. Tetris is political? I really don't get the "everything is political" argument. Even though I appreciate games that touch on what I consider political subjects.

 

[CambriaRising]

I can understand what he is saying but I also agree that he expressed poorly​.

I have a question. Tetris is political? I really don't get the "everything is political" argument. Even though I appreciate games that touch on what I consider political subjects.

Tetris is very political

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/18/-sp-tetris-russia-video-gaming

 

[Massive Duck. C.M.]

People know there are problems but some people play games to have fun, to escape the shitty reality and they don't want political statements in there, I don't see what offends you about that?

"Hilarious" does not mean "offensive" and the rest of your statement has nothing to do with what I said

 

[RPGam3r]

I'm fine with this. Not all things are political, nor do they need to be.

 

[NHarmonic.]

Of course we have the nintendo defense force here unable to see the point.
Politics for nintendo also involve inexistent lgbtq representation in their games, if you haven't already realized. And that's only one example.

 

[Bruno MB]

I can't disagree with him.

 

[brandonh83]

I agree with him, there's a time and place for anything but if that's not their goal or prerogative it just isn't. I also don't exactly look to videogames to get some commentary on real life bullshit that is already bullshit without a game trying to tell me or remind me of said bullshit.

 

[Alebrije]

Videogames are for fun, agree with Reggie.

 

[Ogodei]

I'm afraid that Mario's red cap might become problematic to some at this rate.

Mario had the red cap before Trump made his abomination, and Mario will have his red cap when Trump is just a half-remembered fever dream.

 

[balgajo]

Tetris is very political

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/18/-sp-tetris-russia-video-gaming

The context sorrounding the game I already knew. Though there's isn't anything political about the experience itself.

 

[Puck Beaverton]

Political Nintendo would be hilarious

 

[UnemployedVillain]

Of course we have the nintendo defense force here unable to see the point.
Politics for nintendo also involve inexistent lgbtq representation in their games, if you haven't already realized. And that's only one example.

Well that would require Nintendo games to feature relationships period. I can't even think of a handful of their games that do so, aside from maybe Fire Emblems (which seem more like eugenics simulators than anything). Although there seem to be a number of LGBT characters in Zelda, but their biggest, inexcusable failing was Tomodachi Life, which they actually addressed.

http://kotaku.com/nintendo-apologizes-for-not-putting-gay-marriage-in-tom-1574185262

We apologize for disappointing many people by failing to include same-sex relationships in Tomodachi Life. Unfortunately, it is not possible for us to change this game's design, and such a significant development change can't be accomplished with a post-ship patch. At Nintendo, dedication has always meant going beyond the games to promote a sense of community, and to share a spirit of fun and joy. We are committed to advancing our longtime company values of fun and entertainment for everyone. We pledge that if we create a next installment in the Tomodachi series, we will strive to design a game-play experience from the ground up that is more inclusive, and better represents all players.

Although we don't have a sequel to actually see if they've kept their word

 

[wartama]

The argument of 'no politics, just have fun' is annoying when, as a player, I can't have fun with the choices Nintendo and other developers make in their games. I cannot enjoy a game with a socialization aspect that does not allow me to play as a female. I cannot enjoy a sim game that does not allow me to change my skin colour. I wince every time I see a game that wants me to take it seriously when the main female characters are dressed in clothing that does not make sense. And now, even though I cannot wait to pay Super Mario Odyssey, taking the 'damsel in distress' trope to a whole new level with Bowser forcing Peach to marry him, the storyline is no longer 'fun'. It's scary. And I don't know whether the devs know the implications or are just ignorant.

Yes, Nintendo is allowed to create whatever they want, but they need to understand that the choices they make in their games that they think are no big deal can alienate their audience. They are catering to a global market, the least they can do is be aware of the politics surrounding their choices.

 

[Macleoid]

Not making a statement is an endorsement of the status quo and is inherantly a ... political statement.

 

[mindatlarge]

Games are an escape for me, from the world in general and all the stresses and ugliness it can produce. I think his answer points to that sort of outlet for those that count on games to just get away. Politics, as we all know, is something that's saturating pretty much every facet of media these days. Do we really need it on Nintendo platforms too?

 

[jdstorm]

I'd argue that he is saying exactly what his target audience wants him to say.

In my experience, Nintendo fans play Nintendo games for innocent, pure, escapism fun, not social commentary.

You dont need to have "social comentary" in games to make a political statement. For instance making a "Space Shooter" in 1986 staring the female Samus Aran is a political statement.

Making Peach playable in various Mario sport titles dating back to the early 1990s (IE Super Mario Kart, Mario Tennis) is an inherently political statement when proffessional sports are largely gender segregated.

Having Twintelle in Arms as a modern update on the typical ideal beauty/attractive character archtype while being dark skinned and playable is a political statement.

What was the last game you played where a playable black woman was represented as the ideal standard for beauty?

Nintendo doesn't get it right all the time, and has a way to go in some area's. However to say Nintendo games are apolitical is factually incorrect.

 

[ViolentP]

It's all quite simple. If Nintendo takes a stance, regardless of what it is, you will have a subset of the userbase that will be vocally against it. This could affect their bottom line.

Considering the primary purpose of Nintendo is to maximize profits, you know what the smartest stance is? No stance. Many will be upset, but no one will be boycotting.

It is the correct financial move.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

You dont need to have "social comentary" in games to make a political statement. For instance making a "Space Shooter" in 1986 staring the female Samus Aran is a political statement.

Making Peach playable in various Mario sport titles dating back to the early 1990s (IE Super Mario Kart, Mario Tennis) is an inherently political statement when proffessional sports are largely gender segregated.

Having Twintelle in Arms as a modern update on the typical ideal beauty/attractive character archtype while being dark skinned and playable is a political statement.

What was the last game you played where a playable black woman was represented as the ideal standard for beauty?

Nintendo doesn't get it right all the time, and has a way to go in some area's. However to say Nintendo games are apolitical is factually incorrect.

You're either reading waaaaay too much into things, or ascribing too much importance to the term "political statement."

Sometimes, things can be simple.

 

[Oberon]

I don't get this stance some people have of "you're either with us or against us and there's no inbetween"

 

[theangrypirate]

I don't get this stance some people have of "you're either with us or against us and there's no inbetween"

I agree, it's a really off-putting stance that has real negative consequences. Why is it so bad if Nintendo just wants to stay out of the political shit show? Who really cares if Reggie doesn't have an opinion on the outrage of the week.

 

[jdstorm]

You're either reading waaaaay too much into things, or ascribing too much importance to the term "political statement."

Sometimes, things can be simple.

Sometimes simple goes a long way.

For instance the television show 24 having an African American President of the United States in 2001 in many ways normalised the idea of an African American as US President among the general population. Pre 24 most representations of the US President were your typical older white male.

You probably dont get President Barack Obama without 24's President David Palmer. This is why Art matters. Its fair to say America electing their first black President was a big deal.

Ps. You didn't answer my bolded question.

 

[Crayolan]

Why they'd ask Reggie? Is Far Cry 5 even coming out on Switch?

 

[ActWan]

We just had this thread

 

[Wamb0wneD]

But they do.

Put in a character that, if another dev had made the game, would have made a big deal out of how inclusive they were. Instead Nintendo treats him literally the same as any other character in the game

Include an all female society with a variety of skin tones, body types and personalities. Again, they make no "comment" on it or how progressive they are. They're simply treated like any other race in the game

I think them not boasting about it is part of the reason why people simply don't realize it. Everytime Bioware made a gay character they shouted it from the rooftops and got praised left and right for it. maybe it's because you can start relationships with them.