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[fart town usa]

Like the title asks.

I remember during the NES/SNES/N64 generations, companies would copy Nintendo's software ideas all the time.

We see it still in regards to motion controls and possibly with tablet controllers for upcoming systems.

With game development though, is it really necessary? I understand that the majority of studios are secretive to info being released but we all know Nintendo takes it to a whole new level.

Do you guys feel that studios still copy Nintendo that much to warrant such secrecy? I can't really think of any examples save for Kinect Sports and 'Playstation All-Stars' but Smash Bros is a cemented franchise so people pretty much know what to expect with those releases. It was different story with the SNES and N64. Many studios had trouble figuring out 3D platforming, controls, etc.

I realize that it's not going to change anytime soon. I'm just curious what you guys might think.

Is Nintendo merely stuck in their ways or is such secrecy necessary in this day and age?

On a side note, I always thought it was ironic that the studio who mimicked Nintendo software the most was a Nintendo owned studio, Rare.

Me personally, I feel like it's a bit unfair to fans. Especially with Nintendo Power closing up shop. That's why I stopped subscribing. When the Wii first came out, there was never any news or anything worth reading. Plus, having grown up with Nintendo I have a fairly good idea of what to expect with their top franchises. Also, most studios seem content in carving their own path in game design. At least the big ones are.

 

[JeffGrubb]

What's the big secret?

Reusing assets saves money?

 

[methodman]

It's stupid. Release some Damn trailers for games comin out for my Wii U next year.

 

[Sandfox]

I think they just don't want announce games too early. Brawl and Skyward Sword were announced early and we all saw what happened with them.

 

[meltingparappa]

Well, compare the carefully controlled release of Smash characterse versus the incredible leaks for PS All Stars Battle Royale.

(albeit the latter is unintentional, and a leak can happen to any game)

 

[Sagitario]

What's the big secret?

Reusing assets saves money?

Not what the thread is about. Re-read the OP.

 

[BlackJace]

I think it's absolutely stupid regarding their secrecy around game announcements.
Take the Wii U for example. Just promising that we'll see our favorite titles down the line, instead of outright confirming development isn't enough. Right now, the software horizon is barren, and it's not giving many people good reason to pick one up in anticipation. January's numbers are going to be brutal because of this.

When Sony and MS's successors are revealed, they will hook many people simply by the fact that they announce (or show footage of) exclusive IPs.

Again, it's absolutely stupid, and I wish Nintendo would drop this.

 

[RelentlessRolento]

Makes more sense that Rockstar does it than Nintendo.

I a rurally like knowing less though since there's more to be discovered or be genuine about.

 

[Kyzer]

This is like. a new thing. it started just a few years ago. they said they dont like to announce games that they won't be able to deliver to fans soon after.

 

[famousmortimer]

You can't win either way. You release info too early and people want specifics, you give them specifics like a release date and you can't meet it people go nuts, call you inept, lazy, etc.


You give them nothing and they bitch you gave them nothing.


Really, gamers just like complain so it doesn't matter what nintendo does.

 

[The Horror the horror]

On a hardware/accessory level, their secrecy is justified.

On a software level? Hell no. First, third party developers aren't interested in creating platformers and adventure games as they once were; second, with today's development cycle, any leaked information would take over a year to implement and by then Nintendo would have the game out.

 

[Aquamarine]

I'm guessing they want to stagger their announcements...they're probably saving a lot of stuff for E3 2013 because the last thing they need is the 720 and PS4 announcements to completely outstage them.

The Wii U has to have some bite for the upcoming E3...they have to get sales momentum going.

Also, now that Miyamoto has left EAD, Nintendo is busy conjuring up a bunch of new IPs for the Wii U and the 3DS. They're probably in the process of finalizing that kind of stuff.

But we know we're going to get Yoshi's Land and some new Donkey Kong game (maybe DKC:R 2? That would make sense...the original DKC:R sold QUITE well.

And I have a very strong feeling we're going to be seeing Zelda 3DS and Retro's new project at E3.

But is this secrecy WARRANTED? It's fine. Other studios stay just as tight-lipped (see Valve)...it's just a company-wide decision. Nothing wrong with that.

 

[muu]

What's in it for them to be not so secretive about their plans? The majority of purchases of their games (and likely most major franchises from any dev) comes from buyers who don't visit game sites every day anyway, winning some good karma for potentially huge losses in terms of IP doesn't sound like such a great deal.

 

[Father_Brain]

Fuck no.

As a general rule, I don't think games should be announced more than a year prior to their intended release dates, but new hardware needs to be an exception.

 

[Teletraan1]

I think they just don't want announce games too early. Brawl and Skyward Sword were announced early and we all saw what happened with them.

What happened?

 

[SaintMadeOfPlaster]

I personally like not having to wait for over a year or more to play an announced game, so it doesn't bother me. It's not like Nintendo doesn't have some killer games being developed at any given point.

 

[Smiles and Cries]

It harms more than it helps right now many are questioning the viability of the Wii U, since very few titles are known for 2013

 

[fart town usa]

You can't win either way. You release info too early and people want specifics, you give them specifics like a release date and you can't meet it people go nuts, call you inept, lazy, etc.


You give them nothing and they bitch you gave them nothing.


Really, gamers just like complain so it doesn't matter what nintendo does.

Eh, I dunno.

Rockstar is really secretive. They don't even go to most gaming conventions yet they still manage to keep their fanbase happy with small updates.

I think most gamers are pretty reasonable, those of us that buy systems and games want to know what we're going to be playing down the road. It's exciting to see screenshots and snippets of upcoming titles even if they are a year+ out from release.

 

[Ban Puncher]

The day Nintendo starts announcing previews of trailers of games coming in 2+ years via Twitter sponsored by Dorito Dew is the day I shoot myself in the foot.

 

[Sandfox]

What happened?

Brawl was announced in 2005(trailer in 2006) and we didn't get the game until 2008. We didn't get an actual about a launch date until 2007 IIRC and there were a lot of delays.

Nintendo started hyping Skyward Sword in 2008 and was hit by a ton of delays. We didn't get footage until 2010 along with an announcement that it was being delayed until 2011.

 

[Dusk Golem]

Yes, their IPs are still big name and excitable, and it is MUCH better than the announcement-of-an-announcement trend set right now.

Pre-release media important for hype, and sometimes less is more.

 

[fart town usa]

The day Nintendo starts announcing previews of trailers of games coming in 2+ years via Twitter sponsored by Dorito Dew is the day I shoot myself in the foot.

What about the smash bros. dojo a few years back?

That was a great source of info.

Releases don't have to be sponsored by outside companies. That's kind of a silly assumption.

 

[Aquamarine]

What happened?

Brawl:

Announced E3 2005

Trailer shown E3 2006

MASSIVE hype between May 2007 and April 2008 through the Dojo

E3 2007 - Nintendo confirmed a December 2007 release

October 2007 - Nintendo delayed the title to March 2008, RAGE.

March 2008 - SSBB FINALLY released, nearly THREE YEARS after it was announced.


Skyward Sword:

April 2008 - Miyamoto confirmed new Zelda title in development

January 2009 - Iwata says Skyward Sword was going to be shown at E3 2010 and released by end of 2010

E3 2009 - New Zelda teased to public, MASSIVE hype

E3 2010 - Zelda delayed to 2011, RAGE.

E3 2011 - Late 2011 release date announced, THREE AND A HALF YEARS after it was announced.

November 2011 - Skyward Sword FINALLY released.


Basically, delays + years of teasing for those two games caused a lot of stress for gamers.

 

[VariantX]

If an idea is good its going to get stolen or copied by someone else. Period.
Their secrecy keeps the public from getting excited about any of their products plus all that fills the void is negative press. Its like they still don't get that this is the information age.

 

[IrishNinja]

it's a fair question, but ive been wondering - is this kind've a trend with japanese devs in recent years? to not talk about or show things till much closer to release than some western ones do? i.e., a lot've us are feening to hear about Persona 5 and the like.

 

[Dusk Golem]

Brawl:

Announced E3 2005

Trailer shown E3 2006

MASSIVE hype between May 2007 and April 2008 through the Dojo

E3 2007 - Nintendo confirmed a December 2007 release

October 2007 - Nintendo delayed the title to March 2008, RAGE.

March 2008 - SSBB FINALLY released, nearly THREE YEARS after it was announced.


Skyward Sword:

April 2008 - Miyamoto confirmed new Zelda title in development

January 2009 - Iwata says Skyward Sword was going to be shown at E3 2010, released by end of 2010

E3 2009 - New Zelda teased to public, MASSIVE hype

E3 2010 - Zelda delayed to 2011, RAGE.

E3 2011 - Late 2011 release date announced, THREE AND A HALF YEARS after it was announced.


Basically, delays + years of teasing for those two games caused a lot of stress for gamers.

Forgot to mention Pikmin 3, even if it was to a lesser extent but longer span. Seriously, they've teased thst game for the last 5 years.

 

[Datschge]

What's the big secret?

No fixed deadline. Which causes the audience first to go furious and then to not caring anymore when development is marred by delays.

But yeah, if Nintendo could adopt the SBDojo for the last couple weeks before a release all would be fine.

 

[Sandfox]

Forgot to mention Pikmin 3, even if it was to a lesser extent but longer span. Seriously, they've teased thst game for the last 5 years.

I forgot that Pikmin was announced at E3 2008 lol.Twilight Princess also took a while as well(was announced in 2003) but meh.

 

[Htown]

I think Nintendo just feels a long announcement-to-release marketing window isn't productive for a lot of their titles.

Sometimes they're right, sometimes they're wrong.

For example, they should have announced more stuff for WiiU. When you're asking people to put down money for a new system, you're asking them to make an investment in the future of the platform.

 

[GDGF]

I very much dislike the whole "don't announce things too early" stance.

I actually liked waiting for games like Zelda OoT and seeing the progress the development team was making over the years.

Hell, I can honestly say Nintendo taught me the value of patience with the wait for the Nintendo 64.

Made everything seem far more special when it finally launched.

 

[Dynamite Ringo Matsuri]

I'd like it if they could at least announce the titles that are in the works with a short trailer. I think Sony's playing it pretty close to the vest in terms of what they are revealing, but we know the games are coming at least. A trickle every now and again helps to placate the masses. The way things are now, I would not buy a U until things looks more concrete from a release standpoint, cause as is, it just doesn't look like there's anything on the horizon

 

[Smiles and Cries]

If a 3rd Party has a multi platform game that is also coming to a Nintendo hardware they should be able to talk about it. But this has not been the case lately.

 

[Dion Blaster]

If I buy a Wii U I'd like to know hw some of the big name titles are coming along, even if they're inevitable. But most companies don't care about early adopters since they'll buy anyways. That's why I usually wait.

 

[axisofweevils]

Yep. I do find this incredibly frustrating. Hell, we didn't even get a Nintendo Direct showcasing Wii U's online functionality until about a week before release.

 

[Instro]

I understand their reasoning behind the secrecy, it doesn't seem like they enjoy stringing fans along announcing delays and such particularly when it ends up creating expectations that can't be matched. That said, it seems a bit counterproductive as those games that take so long to come out help get people interested and invested in the system sooner rather than later.

 

[Aquamarine]

Forgot to mention Pikmin 3, even if it was to a lesser extent but longer span. Seriously, they've teased thst game for the last 5 years.

Oh yeah, Pikmin 3 is the worst.


Pikmin 3:

July 2007 - Miyamoto teased Pikmin 3

April 2008 - Miyamoto says he's working on Pikmin 3

E3 2008 - Nintendo confirmed Pikmin 3 is in development

October 2008 - Pikmin 3 re-confirmed to be in development

E3 2009 - NOTHING

E3 2010 - NOTHING

June 2010 - Pikmin 3 re-re-confirmed to be in development

E3 2011 - NOTHING

June 2011 - Pikmin 3 re-re-re-confirmed to be development, now for Wii U

April 2012 - Miyamoto says Pikmin 3 will be at E3 2012

E3 2012 - Pikmin 3 confirmed for Wii U, FINALLY shown

September 2012 - Pikmin 3 confirmed for Spring 2013 release

Spring 2013 - Pikmin 3 hopefully releases and doesn't get delayed again


I mean seriously... JULY 2007 is when they started to lead fans on.

 

[Gentleman Jack]

Basically, delays + years of teasing for those two games caused a lot of stress for gamers.

Makes me wonder what would happen if companies like Square followed the example and didn't announce any of the FF13-branded games (or 2k with Bioshock Infinite, or Insomniac with what we now know as Fuse) until they were nearly complete and ready to ship.

 

[VariantX]

I understand their reasoning behind the secrecy, it doesn't seem like they enjoy stringing fans along announcing delays and such particularly when it ends up creating expectations that can't be matched. That said, it seems a bit counterproductive as those games that take so long to come out help get people interested and invested in the system sooner rather than later.

Well, delays are only a problem when release dates are given. Otherwise, its just a work in progress.

 

[Father_Brain]

Yep. I do find this incredibly frustrating. Hell, we didn't even get a Nintendo Direct showcasing Wii U's online functionality until about a week before release.

In that particular case, I suspect that the silence stemmed less from general secrecy and more from scrambling to get Miiverse et al. in a functional state in time for the US launch.

 

[Doctor Decimate]

i don't think it is.

people never shut up about the sequels they want, anyway.

 

[RPGCrazied]

I thought a Zelda for 3DS was being made. Not a peep has been said, except that one is in development. That was a long time ago.

 

[Conor 419]

Oh yeah, Pikmin 3 is the worst.


Pikmin 3:

July 2007 - Miyamoto teased Pikmin 3

April 2008 - Miyamoto says he's working on Pikmin 3

E3 2008 - Nintendo confirmed Pikmin 3 is in development

October 2008 - Pikmin 3 re-confirmed to be in development

E3 2009 - NOTHING

E3 2010 - NOTHING

June 2010 - Pikmin 3 re-re-confirmed to be in development

E3 2011 - NOTHING

June 2011 - Pikmin 3 re-re-re-confirmed to be development, now for Wii U

April 2012 - Miyamoto says Pikmin 3 will be at E3 2012

E3 2012 - Pikmin 3 confirmed for Wii U, FINALLY shown

September 2012 - Pikmin 3 confirmed for Spring 2013 release

Spring 2013 - Pikmin 3 hopefully releases and doesn't get delayed again


I mean seriously... JULY 2007 is when they started to lead fans on.

I'm actually fucking gobsmacked as to how it didn't make launch for the Wii U.

 

[King of the Potato People]

Perhaps they don't want to upset fans with an early announcement then delays.

 

[Sandfox]

I thought a Zelda for 3DS was being made. Not a peep has been said, except that one is in development. That was a long time ago.

IIRC all we know is that Miyamoto wants an original 3DS Zelda before we get a Majora's Mask remake.

 

[Madao]

Luigi's Mansion for 3DS was announced in what, e3 2011? and it hasn't been out yet and has seen several delays.
i think they hate when this situation happens.

announcing stuff 3 months before release is the opposite and still bad.

nintendo pretty much sucks at building hype. they sent several late Wii and DS games to die.

 

[evilromero]

On the software side of things they haven't released anything worth hiding since the early Wii days. I am still surprised by how relatively low their output has been in recent years despite their collaborating with several studios (Luigi's Mansion 2, etc).

 

[chris3116]

It's not the best way but I think it's better announcing a game when the game is at 90% of development than announcing a game too early that is not even in development.

Pikmin 3 is probably the worst from Nintendo and they still can't tell a release date on Wii U.

As for revealing games too early on a new hardware can be a problem. See the 3DS, they announced games like Saint Row and Mega Man Legends 3 at the beginning, the first was never in development and MML3 was canceled. You give false hopes at the consumers.

Also see Last Guardian and Final fantasy XIII Versus, they were announced too early and we didn't see anything for a long time now.

 

[IntelliHeath]

Do I have to remind everyone that SSB4 and SSB3DS got announced at E3 2011, and they haven't show anything ever since.

 

[axisofweevils]

When the 3DS launched, we saw trailers for good games, but all of them were at least 9 months away, if not longer. Then some of the titles like MML 3 and Saints Row became vapourware. I believe Nintendo think that this contributed to the underwhelming 3DS launch, and IMO, the silence surrounding the Wii U is an overreaction to that.

For better or worse, "Last minute" is now a Nintendo philosophy. On the plus side, it makes every Nintendo Direct exciting and it means less time waiting for future games, but it is frustrating for people like me wanting information on what's coming down the line.

Look at NSMB2, for example. There was no hint the game was coming until Nintendo Direct first announced the game. Then, just like that, it was released one month later.

 

[Aquamarine]

Do I have to remind everyone that SSB4 and SSB3DS got announced at E3 2011, and they haven't show anything ever since.

Unfortunately, those games are the next to be caught in the years-of-delays-and-secrecy trap.

There's a good chance we won't see either of them until late 2014 / 2015... pushing those releases up to Skyward Sword levels in terms of stringing fans along.