60 million dollars isn't enough to break even on a localization? What the hell.
Not perfectly accurate but...
60 million dollars isn't enough to break even on a localization? What the hell.
On a platform as starved for content as the Wii, not releasing the OpRainfall games in America showed that NoA was no longer interested in supporting their platform. Why be a customer if you have nothing to sell?
A game company that won't try to sell me games is useless to me and can die off for all I care. And I say that as someone who only skipped the Gamecube gen (and went back to it when I bought a Wii).
Reading this article, NoA is fundamentally broken and needs an enema. They have no chance with NX if the above is their current mindset.
Of course not, have you seen how much marketing Nintendo put behind Splatoon? How about the marketing they *didn't* put behind Xenoblade? How about the fact that Splatoon was given a wide retail release, while Xenoblade was limited to two or three copies per store in a Gamestop exclusive, and only otherwise sold directly from Nintendo? Sure, they reprinted it later (and of course now we have the 3DS game), but in any game with multiple releases it's the first release that matters most.Now, Xenoblade didn't happen to pan out like Splatoon in terms of blowing up out of the gate and redefining the audience to some degree.
I think Sticker Star was all-in-all a mismanagement of the PMario brand in general. But it was also at a time when the 3DS was on "fire all cylinders" mode, to salvage it.
I doubt #FE is going to continue past its first title... unless it becomes Nintendo's Persona or something. It looks fantastically silly and fun, but I don't know if it will actually turn into anything in the long run.
This person talks about the risk of localizing a game...how about the MUCH HUGER EXTREME risk of buying an entire company (Monolith) and not releasing its games in all regions where their games were hugely popular?
Of course not, have you seen how much marketing Nintendo put behind Splatoon? How about the marketing they *didn't* put behind Xenoblade? How about the fact that Splatoon was given a wide retail release, while Xenoblade was limited to two or three copies per store in a Gamestop exclusive, and only otherwise sold directly from Nintendo?
Yeah, I think FE SMT is a one-off too.
Hm, The Last Story exists so it at least has some fans.
Nintendo owns the IP depsite Mistwalker making the game right?
Dunno, why not just make Xenoblade (with a real protagonist) and a Last Story sequel for the Wii U instead. Honestly, it will probably sell as well as FE SMT and XenoX the way things are looking unless there is a surprise.
If Mistwalker couldn't do it...use Int Sys? Well it's a ARPG....
That's so hilarious. Hockey brain.As a Canadian, I read that as Chris Pronger and thought "Oh, so that's what he's been doing since his semi-retirement."
I think you guys are looking at a lot of ancillary things with regards to the Xeno project.
Essentially what he is saying is that it would cost $X to localize Xenoblade, and even if they got $X+1 back on that investment, NOA sees and believes that it is better to bring over and localize several games for that cost of $X.
It is a short sighted form of management. Especially in the entertainment industry where building your brand is just as important and project to project ROI.
Like others have said in the thread, NoA all but abandoned JRPGs and other games that have intensive localization in favor of text based localization, and smaller games. It's been like this for years. However if they had a long view in this situation they would see that each release builds the base out a little more, builds the idea that Nintendo has a range of titles, it builds the brand. It can't be measured in normal ROI.
If companies like Atlus and Xseed and NIS and several others can bring out smaller, heavily voiced titles to America and do well then so can Nintendo. Honestly Nintendo would be better served by spinning off a side company in the vein of Atlus or Xseed with a different goal and budget that takes these on. It would have to have a lot of autonomy and operate outside of Nintendo SOP but it could work.
No matter how hard Xenoblade was pushed it wouldn't have preformed like Splatoon.
If you don't release games in those genres you're not going to cultivate an audience at all. It's niche on Nintendo consoles by their own doing.
Essentially what he is saying is that it would cost $X to localize Xenoblade, and even if they got $X+1 back on that investment, NOA sees and believes that it is better to bring over and localize several games for that cost of $X.
Last Story got its sequel on mobile with Nintendo's permission/deal with Mistwalker. And Mistwalker is way to small for an actual development of that scale nowadays.
I think Sticker Star was all-in-all a mismanagement of the PMario brand in general. But it was also at a time when the 3DS was on "fire all cylinders" mode, to salvage it.
I doubt #FE is going to continue past its first title... unless it becomes Nintendo's Persona or something. It looks fantastically silly and fun, but I don't know if it will actually turn into anything in the long run.
Oh was Terra Battle a sequel? Didn't know that.
The keywords here are smaller but fully voiced games in your last paragraph and why Atlus and those other companies can do it and get a better return. Xenoblade X is a AAA console JRPG with 400 square kilometers of land to explore with 11,000 lines of spoken dialogue for just the battles alone with much more to be translated and voiced.
NoA/Nintendo has localized basically every major title thus far this generation.On a platform as starved for content as the Wii, not releasing the OpRainfall games in America showed that NoA was no longer interested in supporting their platform. Why be a customer if you have nothing to sell?
A game company that won't try to sell me games is useless to me and can die off for all I care. And I say that as someone who only skipped the Gamecube gen (and went back to it when I bought a Wii).
Reading this article, NoA is fundamentally broken and needs an enema. They have no chance with NX if the above is their current mindset.
So you are saying it's impossible to market an RPG? Has Square not ever marketed any games? I seem to remember Final Fantasy XV getting a demo, I've played RPG demos in the past as well - the demo convinced me to buy Eternal Sonata, one of the most beautiful games on Xbox 360. A big part of Xenoblade Chronicles was its graphics and art style, a demo would have shown that off great.yeah, "advertise it" isn't as easy as people make it seem at times.
How would you advertise Xeno in any way like Splatoon had.
After releasing Wii Motion Plus, Wii Balance Board, Wii Zapper, Wii Wheel, Wii Lan Adapter, and a host of other accessories and games for the Wii with the 'Wii' prefix, calling its successor 'Wii U' instead of Wii 2 or anything else was a bad, bad idea.
The fact that the Wii U's base unit itself was almost indistinguishable from the Wii's, and that Nintendo insisted on keeping it out of the spotlight in favour of the Gamepad certainly contributed to the confusion, but to suggest that the name is blameless is ignorant.
So you are saying it's impossible to market an RPG? Has Square not ever marketed any games? I seem to remember Final Fantasy XV getting a demo, I've played RPG demos in the past as well - the demo convinced me to buy Eternal Sonata.
Xenoblade Chronicles was a risky game that could only be distrusted by disc for Wii through retail or online. NOE took the cost of localizing it, and NOA was smart about its distrubution in the U.S. through GameStop and Nintendo's online store to minmize risk.
Bu bu but Baten Kaitos sold like shit
The problem with this though, is that at the time Xenoblade came out, they weren't localizing anything other than throw away first party titles that were only meant to last until WiiU came out. It would have been one thing if they had other titles that they were talking about bringing out, but even the biggest 2 titles at the time (Xenoblade/Last Story) they wouldn't budge on. Hell they wouldn't even bring over far more niche titles that had far less of a risk.
Fucking idiot.
This person talks about the risk of localizing a game...how about the MUCH HUGER EXTREME risk of buying an entire company (Monolith Soft) and not releasing its games in all regions where their games were hugely popular?
So you are saying it's impossible to market an RPG? Has Square not ever marketed any games? I seem to remember Final Fantasy XV getting a demo, I've played RPG demos in the past as well - the demo convinced me to buy Eternal Sonata, one of the most beautiful games on Xbox 360. A big part of Xenoblade Chronicles was its graphics and art style, a demo would have shown that off great.
He's right about the localisation. Forum posters believe they represent a large group of people. They don't. Nintendo isn't going to localise a game that may at best sell 50K copies or so. I'm not talking about Xenoblade specifically, but just those niche Japanese titles in general.
Pranger makes NoA sound like a bunch of shits.
God forbid NoA does something for its fans. Fuck them. Worst Nintendo branch by far.
Fucking idiot.
As for Wii U's name, it was only one of several factors for why it tanked. I'd lump it in with the general marketing failure surrounding the system.
Gamecube was more than a generation ago. That system was still able to get some of the kids who grew up on NES and SNES and were now adults with disposable income. Nintendo has lost a large part of an entire generation of kids with the advent of mobile games and the growth of MS and Sony in the market. Their fanbase in the console market is shrinking. You have entire generations of kids who no longer grow up with Nintendo as their first exposure to video games.
Did you even bother to listen to the podcast? At all? Or was the flip off Nintendo too great for you that you took a single sentence in an hour and a half podcast from a guy who probably wasn't even involved with NoA during the localization process of Xenoblade Chronicles.
NoA/Nintendo has localized basically every major title thus far this generation.
NoA was hesitant about Devil's third, but quickly changed their minds after fan outrage (even if they shouldn't have)
The article is one person's opinion about a much bigger than average JRPG on a dying system not known for JRPGs which was rife with piracy with over a million pirated copies of the game already downloaded
Not perfectly accurate but...