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[GC|Simon]

So half the team set up their own studio, interesting. Makes me wonder what Hollis is up to now.

+1

@ Shiggy: Nintendo owns Silicon Knights to some degree. However, I don't know how big their share is...

 

[Shiggy]

So half the team set up their own studio, interesting. Makes me wonder what Hollis is up to now.

From what I know, he is one of the only left at Zoonami since February, at least if the company still exists...
Something must have happened in February, most of the staff left and not even the Bonsai Barber competition has seen an update since then.
(If anyone has different information, please let me know)

 

[Matt]

+1

@ Shiggy: Nintendo owns Silicon Knights to some degree. However, I don't know how big their share is...

Yeah, Nintendo bought into SK when they made their original deal, and I would guess that, unlike with Rare, no one has been wiling to pay the $ for the shares that Nintendo thinks they deserve. I honestly can see a situation in the future where SK is about to go under and Nintendo buys out the rest of the company cheap (just like with Retro) in order to reshape it as they see fit.

 

[GCX]

Yeah, Nintendo bought into SK when they made their original deal, and I would guess that, unlike with Rare, no one has been wiling to pay the $ for the shares that Nintendo thinks they deserve. I honestly can see a situation in the future where SK is about to go under and Nintendo buys out the rest of the company cheap (just like with Retro) in order to reshape it as they see fit.

Depends on how big Nintendo's share is. I mean, they even own like 2% of Namco Bandai.

 

[Shiggy]

Depends on how big Nintendo's share is. I mean, they even own like 2% of Namco Bandai.

Didn't they exchange it for Monolith shares?

 

[Hero of Legend]

Didn't they exchange it for Monolith shares?

More specifically they had Bandai shares and the merger and the Monolith sale if I recall were mainly to keep from Nintendo from buying them, even Bandai went as far to say it was due to them being successful with Sony platforms.

 

[SYNTAX182]

I'm a fan of the games and how they play, I really, really, don't give a shit about the narrative or the plot points.
The fact that they treat the product like a pet project they always wanted to do lead me to think they'll probably won't cut all the stuffs that need to be cut to make the product something worth of interest.
As a fan of the games (certainly not the manga, it's not something that's worth the time IYAM), I have my ideas on what the games should be and what they shouldn't be.
If word of gods mean that the whole serie should lose everything I liked about the previous games, I 'll just stop playing the new games instead of retroactively enjoy the things I hated about the other games.

In short, I won't force myself to like something I hate even it's the name of my fav serie on the cover

So, skip the movie scenes? Other M is still going to be a game. Not an interactive movie. Calm down man.

 

[Boney]

This game in particular is a very "romantic" project for him, and something full of many ideas formed in the past years.

Certainly good news.

 

[Mudkips]

i find it sad that no one seems to remember NDCube made F-Zero Maximum Velocity. they look like a good candidate to revive the series on hardhelds now that the staff has gotten bigger.

My hardheld staff has certainly gotten bigger.

 

[Osuwari]

My hardheld staff has certainly gotten bigger.

damn. that's what happens when i see the possibility of a new F-Zero game. hand fail...

 

[[Nintex]]

From what I know, he is one of the only left at Zoonami since February, at least if the company still exists...
Something must have happened in February, most of the staff left and not even the Bonsai Barber competition has seen an update since then.
(If anyone has different information, please let me know)

Such a shame, I recall an interview or a roundtable or something with him about Wii third party development and he was pretty much the only guy who made sense. Perhaps he's aiding Nintendo with the development of their new system like he did with the Cube.

 

[GC|Simon]

Nintendo should expand in NA and Europe. They don't need new studios in Japan. There they should look after the ones they already own. A few of those studios are far away from making games in Nintendo-like quality.

However, there are talented game developers in NA and Europe. They should open up a EAD NA (= expand Retro?) and EAD Europe. Those studios could concentrate on more western genres (action, etc.).

 

[[Nintex]]

Nintendo should expand in NA and Europe. They don't need new studios in Japan. There they should look after the ones they already own. A few of those studios are far away from making games in Nintendo-like quality.

However, there are talented game developers in NA and Europe. They should open up a EAD NA (= expand Retro?) and EAD Europe. Those studios could concentrate on more western genres (action, etc.).

Nintendo likes developers they can keep around for a long time, they also want full control. In the US and Europe, most developers move from one company to the next. They're hired for a single project or they've been given a better deal at another company and leave. EA managed to get some very talented staff from Retro Studios. Nintendo wouldn't be able to keep the well trained staff from a potential large scale Nintendo EAD EU/US studio.

 

[Sagitario]

Affiliated R&D:
Intelligent Systems Co., Ltd
HAL Laboratory Inc.
Creatures Inc.
The Pokemon Company
Genius Sonority Inc.
GameFreak Inc.
Ambrella Inc.
Skip Ltd.

So, these are not really owned by Nintendo?

 

[Hero of Legend]

So, these are not really owned by Nintendo?

Intelligent Systems should be.

Still shocking HAL`s not considered wholly-owned, but I guess it doesn`t matter.

 

[Nuclear Muffin]

Ahh, so that explains where ND Cube went then. Glad to see Nintendo turn the team around

Nintendo have really ramped up their development resources recently!

 

[Shikamaru Ninja]

.

 

[Shikamaru Ninja]

Intelligent Systems should be.

Still shocking HAL`s not considered wholly-owned, but I guess it doesn`t matter.

The thing is Nintendo doesn't necessarily operate the way a SONY and MICROSOFT would. Where they see a developer and say, lets throw a heap of cash and expand our first-party studios. Intelligent Systems office is in the Nintendo Kyoto Research Institute. It is inside of Nintendo. This is how it has been for the last 20 years. Intelligent Systems since inception was a Nintendo tool developer. They spiritually are Nintendo. Often when you see their credits in a game, they are operating as an R&D extension.

HAL Laboratory is in a similar but slightly different situation.

In general. Creatures. HAL. Game Freak. are all Nintendo developers that don't operate on a typical "Nintendo owns our company", but instead Nintendo owns other things like our buildings, intellectual properties, and licensing ventures that keep them together.

So, these are not really owned by Nintendo?

Nintendo owns a significant share of the Pokemon Company. Nintendo also owns the building The Pokemon Company resides in. That's just an example. But all those affiliated companies have Nintendo money. It may just not be the stereotypical "Nintendo owns 100% of our shares".

 

[Cosmonaut X]

In general. Creatures. HAL. Game Freak. are all Nintendo developers that don't operate on a typical "Nintendo owns our company", but instead Nintendo owns other things like our buildings, intellectual properties, and licensing ventures that keep them together.

That's an interesting way of doing things. Is it tied in with accounting - that is, is it a way to keep what is essentially part of Nintendo "off the books" - or is there some other explanation?

 

[Prax]

In general. Creatures. HAL. Game Freak. are all Nintendo developers that don't operate on a typical "Nintendo owns our company", but instead Nintendo owns other things like our buildings, intellectual properties, and licensing ventures that keep them together.

You work for Intelligent Systems/HAL/Creatures/Gamefreaks? Nice!


I'd like to see Nintendo bring out more RPGs or SRPGs with all their studios... or even a new collab with Square-Enix to make a Nintendo Quest or Nintendo Tactics (do not touch Fire Emblem with FFT/TO-esque mechanics.. just make a new franchise, please) or something.

 

[DonMigs85]

So, skip the movie scenes? Other M is still going to be a game. Not an interactive movie. Calm down man.

He's entitled to his own opinion, but I do enjoy Metroid partially for the narrative (except MP Hunters, that sucked). I'm still hoping they eventually continue the story after the events of Fusion.
Also would be nice if Doshin the Giant and Chibi-Robo come back at some point.

 

[farnham]

Ahh, so that explains where ND Cube went then. Glad to see Nintendo turn the team around

Nintendo have really ramped up their development resources recently!

That is the only way to get out of the third party hell situation really (third parties wont come that way but at least they will be able to sustain their position without them)

 

[Teknoman]

I'm a fan of the games and how they play, I really, really, don't give a shit about the narrative or the plot points.
The fact that they treat the product like a pet project they always wanted to do lead me to think they'll probably won't cut all the stuffs that need to be cut to make the product something worth of interest.
As a fan of the games (certainly not the manga, it's not something that's worth the time IYAM), I have my ideas on what the games should be and what they shouldn't be.
If word of gods mean that the whole serie should lose everything I liked about the previous games, I 'll just stop playing the new games instead of retroactively enjoy the things I hated about the other games.

In short, I won't force myself to like something I hate even it's the name of my fav serie on the cover

Its Nintendo. Whenever a new system with better tech than the last releases, they are able to get closer and closer to whatever they envisioned early on.

No Nintendo franchise has been worse off for it either. Other M will be just fine.

 

[Boney]

You work for Intelligent Systems/HAL/Creatures/Gamefreaks? Nice!


I'd like to see Nintendo bring out more RPGs or SRPGs with all their studios... or even a new collab with Square-Enix to make a Nintendo Quest or Nintendo Tactics (do not touch Fire Emblem with FFT/TO-esque mechanics.. just make a new franchise, please) or something.

Noticed that too :O

We have a ninja in our turf.

 

[ILikeFeet]

In general. Creatures. HAL. Game Freak. are all Nintendo developers that don't operate on a typical "Nintendo owns our company", but instead Nintendo owns other things like our buildings, intellectual properties, and licensing ventures that keep them together.

I sees something. *worships*

 

[radcliff]

I wonder if NDCube has expanded enough to produce more epic games in the vein of Orge Battle.

 

[Josh7289]

As technology and development has sophisticated, Sakamoto has been able to express the story himself and some of the original design team have encapsulated.

I don't understand this sentence. Wouldn't it be easier for him to tell the story himself on simpler hardware? And what does it mean for some of the original (Metroid 1?) design team to have been "encapsulated"?

 

[Ignis Fatuus]

In general. Creatures. HAL. Game Freak. are all Nintendo developers that don't operate on a typical "Nintendo owns our company", but instead Nintendo owns other things like our buildings, intellectual properties, and licensing ventures that keep them together.

Nice tag.

So are you allowed to tell us which of those you work for?