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Thoughts about Angry Joe and the Nintendo’s Creators Program

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I have to admit that while I am a long time fan of Nintendo for the fact that I own a lot of their consoles and games and just brought a Japanese New 3DS, I have been very disappointed with what they were doing in the past few years with their region locking policies (all the consoles except Nintendo’s are region free now), backwards Youtube policy, inability to keep the Amibos in stock, etc. Aside from the 3DS, Nintendo is not doing that well and they know it.

While some can argue that Angry Joe knew full well that it’s going to get claimed so he can make an angry rant about is beside the point. Nintendo is clearly in the wrong (Totalbiscuit does a good job explaining how anti-consumer the Nintendo’s Creator’s program is.) While it’s their right to control how their intellectual property is used, it’s not a good business practice. Most gaming companies (e.g. Valve, Sony, Microsoft, etc) have changed their minds and allow people to make videos about their games without taking any cut. They understand the value of people creating videos promoting or reviewing their products through Let’s Plays and critical reviews. I think the creator’s program not only makes Nintendo look greedy since it only leaves the content creator a small cut after Youtube and the Managed Content Network takes the cut, but it also discourages people to make any videos about their games. Furthermore, the program only approves videos that only say positive things about Nintendo, which is obviously a conflict of interest.

I feel that Nintendo is behind the times mostly because of their conservative views on how they operate their business (and I understand since I’m studying the Japanese language). Since the cultures between the east and west are different, it’s understandable why they would take a draconian approach. However, I think this will hurt their goodwill in the long-term not just because of their Youtube policies, but also other problems as mentioned earlier with keeping the Amibos, new 3DS,and  Game Cube Controller Attachment in stock. They have to realize that negative publicity is going to hurt them in the end since ultimately, the consumer makes the choice whether or not he/she wants to buy the product. Nintendo is not exactly doing well. Fanboys have to realize that they are a business and if they don’t address the negative publicity from anti-consumer practices, they are going to end up like Sega. I’m sure that nobody wants them to see them go that way, but hopefully, they will wake up soon and change their ways before it’s too late.

With that, I will no longer cover any Nintendo games (aside from third party games) until they change their policy.

Update: Here is another take on the issue from JoshJepson, who is familiar with Nintendo Content IDing videos.

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Pokebank Rant or why I’m Disappointed with Nintendo

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I admit that I am a big fan of Nintendo since my childhood. I pretty much own every console they released. However, the actions they have taken last year have made me increasingly disappointed in them, especially with their recent handling with Pokebank. There is absolutely no excuse why this application is not out yet. The worse part of it is that they still continue to leave everyone in the dark considering that they already brought the Nintendo Network servers back up several days ago.  Furthermore, Japanese and Korean players were able to download the application before it was taken off, thus giving them an unfair advantage as they can still use the application. Considering that it’s a paid service that I was planning to pay for, I felt that they should have prepared for the increase traffic ahead of time.

Another thing that is also unacceptable is that the hacked Pokémon checker doesn’t even block obviously hacked Pokémon. They should have known about this from the beginning as these tools like Pokegen was already in the wild. To me, they should have at least check for illegal abilities/moves, impossible Effort Values and Individual values since those are the easiest to catch.

As a whole, I don’t think Pokebank will release anytime soon despite rumors saying it will be Tuesday. What I think will happen is that it will get rereleased in Japan and perhaps Korea this month while other areas are left in limbo until several months later (probably in June or even next year) when nobody cares anymore. To me, I feel that Nintendo are not listening to its fans outside of Japan. They outright refuse to get rid of region locks (while the Vita, PS4 and Xbox One doesn’t have any), consider taking monetization away from people who Let’s Play Nintendo Games or even review them (until they reverse that decision) and still refuses to release Flip Note Studio 3D outside of Japan. It’s clear that they don’t care about any of their fans with the Pokebank fiasco that is still going on with absolutely no transparency of what is going on. It’s such a shame because they make a lot of good games that I enjoy. Also, don’t forget that without the fan base Nintendo has now, they wouldn’t be successful as they are now.

As a whole, I think they need to get their act together by releasing Pokebank, issue a formal apology and possibly give some kind of compensation such as extending the trial for 60 days or something. I know that handling the traffic for a service, especially for a popular franchise can be difficult, but Nintendo need to be more transparent and insure the fans that they will release it so that they will continue to support the company. There are consequences for companies who do disservice to its fan base like Capcom, so I hope that they won’t go in that direction.

With that, what do you think about the Pokebank Delay?

 

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The idea of pushing Nintendo to make Smartphone Games is Stupid

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Back in June, I got a shiny Nintendo 3DS as a replacement for the broken DSi. I have played around with it for nearly two months and I think it’s a good handheld gaming console. However, it cost a bit more money and many of the first party and worthwhile titles weren’t out, except Ocarina of Time, which is why it was underperforming for a while until now.

Just recently, Nintendo has slashed $80 dollars from the price, bringing down the price of the 3DS to $169. In addition, they are giving incentives to early adopters with free downloadable games. Sadly for most investors, it wasn’t enough. They insist that the 3DS will still flop and Nintendo should give up on the console business to make games on smartphones. This idea made me angry since they don’t understand gaming more than just playing a mini game of “Angry Birds” or “Cut the Rope.”

The problem with mobile gaming is that while the games are considerably cheaper than the handheld consoles, they aren’t specifically designed for it. I know smartphones are becoming more capable. We can now play music, surf the Internet, read emails, view maps, take pictures and etc. I still feel that gaming is one of those areas that it does horribly in. While touch orientated games like “Angry Birds” works well with the smartphone, more complicated games that requires more controls makes the gaming experience subpar or downright horrible. This is because touchscreen controls don’t give any feedback compared to physical ones. In addition, most mobile games don’t have depth and typically shovelware because the makers are more concentrated on making a quick profit than on quality. While quality games exist on the app stores, most of these games still give a very forgettable experience.

For Nintendo, making games for smartphone devices are not in their DNA. They are the visionaries of the video game industry. If they give up on making hardware or start making games on other platforms such as the iPhone, they will completely lose their mojo and their ability to innovate. They have to devalue their games and probably end up in the same boat like SEGA is in.

In conclusion, I strongly disagree that Nintendo should just give up. I know smartphones are becoming more popular, but I think there is still a place for handheld gaming consoles. I believe the 3DS will eventually take off and become popular once good games are released for it. People just have to be patient.

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