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Reggie:Making politicl statemnts are for other people todo, we want people tohave fun

Bronetta

Ask me about the moon landing or the temperature at which jet fuel burns. You may be surprised at what you learn.
I'm having a field day over some of you getting so worked up over this.
 

Rncewind

Member
People should not expect big companies in gaming to say anything of substance. The possiblity that they might upset stupid people and lose a sale as a result is too much for these companies.

good that small indie companys like sony and microsoft do then
 

XandBosch

Member
Jesus Christ some of you are reading WAY too far into this simple-ass statement. All he's saying is "We make games where Mario jumps and collects coins. Those other games are for other people to make."

Jeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeez
 
Again, ALL ART IS INHERENTLY POLITICAL. However, even though this is an obvious non-answer, companies aren't obligated to politicize their work.

Having Pauline be Mayor of New Donk City could itself be described as a political statement. A woman previously portrayed as a damsel in distress is now reimagined as a strong, successful leader. Something like that shouldn't be political per se but it can definitely be politicized. If questioned on it though, Nintendo's response would probably be something like "We love seeing strong female role models in our games" which, again, can be construed as a political statement on feminism but isn't necessarily a core focus of any of their games, no does it have to be.
 

Shinjiru

Member
I'm with him 100%. Why can't a company just focus on people having fun? There's so much bullshit in everyone's real life day-to-day, can't a company just focus on having fun and trying to bring a smile to people's faces?
My thoughts exactly.

Edit: This as well.

I play games to escape politics, not to have game creators throw their opinions in my face.

That doesn't means games can't have political subtext if that's where the artistic expression of the creators end up, but being angry because Nintendo games aren't more political like some people are in this thread is insane.
 

KingSnake

The Birthday Skeleton
Maybe he doesn't have the same ideas of what you view as a political statement. For example some people would claim inclusion of LGBT characters as making a political statement.

I could just as easily assume he doesn't think those types of issues should be considered political or as making a "statement", so much as just being included to expand the audience for enjoyment of said game

The context of the question and the answer is pretty obvious from the article, you don't need to invent a context.
 

Cindro

Member
They could have just stated this. "we try to be inclusive to all audiences with our games" and leave it at that instead of Reggie's dumb non answer.
Oh sure, it wasn't the best answer from Reggie, but it doesn't quite matter because the reality of Nintendo's stance is fairly self-evident.
 

Scoops

Banned
I play games to escape politics, not to have game creators throw their opinions in my face.

That doesn't means games can't have political subtext if that's where the artistic expression of the creators end up, but being angry because Nintendo games aren't more political like some people are in this thread is insane.
 

Gator86

Member
Again, ALL ART IS INHERENTLY POLITICAL. However, even though this is an obvious non-answer, companies aren't obligated to politicize their work.

Having Pauline be Mayor of New Donk City could itself be described as a political statement. A women previously portrayed as a damsel in distress is now reimagined as a strong, successful leader. Something like that shouldn't be political per se but it can definitely be politicized. If questioned on it though, Nintendo's response would probably be something like "We love seeing strong female role models in our games" which, again, can be construed as a political statement on feminism but isn't necessarily a core focus of any of their games, no does it have to be.

Great post. Prepare to be thoroughly ignored.
 
I understand your commitment to the series, but there are other JRPGs out there beyond Shin Megami Tensei, you know.

I mean, (Xenoblade 1 spoilers)

The ending of that game is you realizing that God was kind of fake/a loser and then you kill God and become the new God.

It's... extremely political.
 

MisterHero

Super Member
By successfully making games that inspire people to go into the arts or sciences, they are doing more than any platitude can achieve.

At least, that's my take on it
 

Socreges

Banned
He shouldn't have opposed making a political statement to smile and have fun. It sends the wrong message. I understand what he wants to say, but it's incredibly poorly worded.
Yup. He tried to spin it as way of promoting Nintendo. As if the two approaches are mutually exclusive. And with quite a dismissive implication that comes across as tone-deaf.
 
They could have just stated this. "we try to be inclusive to all audiences with our games" and leave it at that instead of Reggie's dumb non answer.

Again, inclusivity doesn't have to be political. Just because butthurt bigots always equate the two doesn't mean they're inherently political statements or actions.

People are getting bent out of shape because they're assuming that him saying "Nintendo doesn't make political statements" is the same as him saying "Nintendo doesn't care about having games address issues that are often, illogically, politicized", which I don't think is the case
 

joe_zazen

Member
Not all games have to have a political agenda. It's not a "keep politics out of my videogames" it's just simply the fact that politics doesn't apply to absolutely everything. You can have a narratively simple, well designed game that doesn't go anywhere near politics. If that's what a company likes to make, what's wrong with that?

I keep seeing "everything is political" in drive by posts, as if it were self evident. I kinda want to know what dictionary the are using.

How is throwing a hat in a video game, for example, and turning into a T. rex political? A little help would be appreciated.
 

inner-G

Banned
I miss the Nintendo that challenged social conventions by doing stuff like having Metroid be a female action hero way back in the 80s.
 

Nepenthe

Member
He's a PR person that doesn't want to get tangled up in another company's mess and potentially ruin any goodwill people have going right now towards Nintendo's upcoming slate. As such, it's a non-answer, but it's the best answer he could've provided in the situation, and I wouldn't be mad if any other company did the same.
 

kunonabi

Member
Again, ALL ART IS INHERENTLY POLITICAL. However, even though this is an obvious non-answer, companies aren't obligated to politicize their work.

Having Pauline be Mayor of New Donk City could itself be described as a political statement. A woman previously portrayed as a damsel in distress is now reimagined as a strong, successful leader. Something like that shouldn't be political per se but it can definitely be politicized. If questioned on it though, Nintendo's response would probably be something like "We love seeing strong female role models in our games" which, again, can be construed as a political statement on feminism but isn't necessarily a core focus of any of their games, no does it have to be.

just because you scream something doesnt make it true.
 

DarkKyo

Member
I'm having a field day over some of you getting so worked up over this.

This is GAF, politics have a huge role in discussion here regardless of how much politics are actually involved in the topic at hand.

I mean, on one hand it's good that we have a lot of politically-minded and progressive people on this board, but it can really be overkill sometimes. To the point where an alarming amount of people think Mario games need to be more progressive or some nonsense like that. In reality it's just not why people play Mario.
 
I think Nintendo should take a page from Ubisoft's book and make a game where you're an NPR subscriber who murders Middle Americans for being heteronormative. Call it 'The Carpetbagger' or something.
 

Aldric

Member
Good answer. l personally play games for escapism. lf l wanted to be reminded of the shit state of the world l'd watch tv, read a paper or browse the internet.
 
Xenoblade 2 will probably have like a shit ton of blasphemy in it and I will enjoy all of its blasphemy greatly.

One of Nintendo's biggest games this year is coming from the dev that crucified a teddy bear, come on, Reggie.
 

Rncewind

Member
This is GAF, politics have a huge role in discussion here regardless of how much politics are actually involved in the topic at hand.

I mean, on one hand it's good that we have a lot of politically-minded people, but it can really be overkill sometimes. To the point where an alarming amount of people think Mario games need to be more progressive or some nonsense like that. In reality it's just not why people play Mario.

so nintendo is a only mario maker company

you never stop to learn here

ironicly you get flak on in other thread when you say nintendo makes only jump and runs


indeed, this is neogaf
 

KingSnake

The Birthday Skeleton
Yup. He tried to spin it as way of promoting Nintendo. As if the two approaches are mutually exclusive. And with quite a dismissive implication that comes across as tone-deaf.

Exactly. That's the only issue with his answer, it implies that making political statements via games is bad because it doesn't make people smile and have fun. Or takes the fun away.

Now I believe that this is not what he wanted to say, but it's poorly worded.
 
Again, ALL ART IS INHERENTLY POLITICAL. However, even though this is an obvious non-answer, companies aren't obligated to politicize their work.

Having Pauline be Mayor of New Donk City could itself be described as a political statement. A woman previously portrayed as a damsel in distress is now reimagined as a strong, successful leader. Something like that shouldn't be political per se but it can definitely be politicized. If questioned on it though, Nintendo's response would probably be something like "We love seeing strong female role models in our games" which, again, can be construed as a political statement on feminism but isn't necessarily a core focus of any of their games, no does it have to be.

All art is inherently political in that all art can be interpreted by the viewer who will apply their cultural views to that art. Not all art has political intent though. I think this is something that most other mediums have accepted but somehow video games continue to lag behind.


I'll admit I only read the bold and underlined part before typing a response. :p The downside of the capitalization, bold, underline strategy but still my fault.
 
It takes place in rural america with a christian militant cult as the backdrop. This upset the alt-right leaning groups of people.

The Far Cry series has had some shit writing lately. That said, i dont mind this even though the story will almost certainly be bad.
 
I think it's a GREAT answer. Well done, Reggie.

I don't want Nintendo (or any company) telling me what they think about anything. Make good games, make good money, makes everyone happy. Pretty simple.
 
I miss the Nintendo that challenged social conventions by doing stuff like having Metroid be a female action hero way back in the 80s.

To be fair, they kinda did that for the hell of it iirc, not to make a statement. A good example of how it barely matters whether the artist intends their work to be political or not.

Edit: oops, I took your post too seriously. Well whatever, my point still stands :p
 

KingSnake

The Birthday Skeleton
I think it's a GREAT answer. Well done, Reggie.

I don't want Nintendo (or any company) telling me what they think about anything. Make good games, make good money, makes everyone happy. Pretty simple.

You obviously played a very limited number of Nintendo franchises.
 

DarkKyo

Member
so nintendo is a only mario maker company

you never stop to learn here

ironicly you get flak on in other thread when you say nintendo makes only jump and runs


indeed, this is neogaf

Wha? I don't think I've ever said anything of the sort, unless you're using the figurative 'you'. I also never said Nintendo only makes Mario. Can you point out where I did?
 

Bronetta

Ask me about the moon landing or the temperature at which jet fuel burns. You may be surprised at what you learn.
This is GAF, politics have a huge role in discussion here regardless of how much politics are actually involved in the topic at hand.

I mean, on one hand it's good that we have a lot of politically-minded people, but it can really be overkill sometimes. To the point where an alarming amount of people think Mario games need to be more progressive or some nonsense like that. In reality it's just not why people play Mario.

Theres a time and a place for everything. I saw Reggies comments and wasn't surprised one bit, scroll down a bit and people absolutely losing their shit that Reggie isnt as charged as they are.

ebc.jpg
 
Absolute dogshit. "We just want people to have fun! Keep politics out of video games!" is such a non-answer.
I mean, that's not what he's saying. He's saying 'It's fine, but not what we do.'.

Which is A-OK. While no art is truly non-political, Nintendo aims for accomplishments in gameplay and design over deep stories.
 

Rncewind

Member
Wha? I don't think I've ever said anything of the sort, unless you're using the figurative 'you'. I also never said Nintendo only makes Mario. Can you point out where I did?

i did

please make a thread with "nintendo just makes mario games about collecting coins" and tell me how it went.


Are things like Xenoblade, mother, zelda non nintendo franchises now?
 

NotLiquid

Member
They could have just stated this. "we try to be inclusive to all audiences with our games" and leave it at that instead of Reggie's dumb non answer.

One of Iwata's most popular quotes was "video games should be fun for everyone". You can take that for what you will, but I'd like to think that the broadness of it emphasizes the "everyone" part. Everyone should feel welcomed. While I can see that it may be frustrating for some that Nintendo doesn't explicitly "say" anything in their PR speak I think their work speaks for them. That's part of the reason why their games, franchises and characters have resonated for so long in the first place.

I'd like to think it's a question Reggie wasn't exactly expecting and I can kind of sympathize with the comment when compared to Far Cry 5. If their creators aren't confident, don't want to consciously infuse their politics into their games or even carry their game on a political theme, that's fine, and making sure that your game is good before you start thinking about it's thematic undercurrents is an understandable focus.
 
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