Wak News Update: Nintendo talks to TIME magazine.
So the recent news is that Nintendo has dashed the chances of the Rumored, Zelda Netflix Series being true. Thing is that isn't what Iwata said, but more importantly that's not the biggest news he told TIME magazine.
I'm not sure you're aware but Nintendo recently announced that they will begin devolving games for smart devices, and though I'm personally against the move into a new mobile market; Iwata seems confident that the Nintendo way of thinking is perfect for the Android and Iphone Market. He states in his interview with Time Magazine that “What we have found with some of our most successful products, is that they tend to be ones where people are playing them together and the communication is spreading much more broadly and easily than standard word of mouth communication” meaning games like Super Smash Bros, Mario Party 10, Wii Sports, Super Mario 3D world, Kirby and the Rainbow Curse, and Mario Kart 8 all are successful because they allow gamers of all ages and all types to play together. And they plan to take that success to the Smart Phone Market.
Iwata is also asked about “Free-to-Play” titles stating “I do not like the term 'Free-to-Play. I have come to realize that there is a degree of insincerity to consumers with this terminology, since so called 'Free-to-Play' should be referred to more accurately as 'Free-to-Start. The Thing that concerns me most is that, in the digital age, if we fail to make efforts to maintain the value of our content, there is a high possibility for the value to be greatly reduced as the history of the music industry has shown. On the other hand, I have no intention to deny the “Free-to-Start” model. In fact, depending on how we approach this model, we may be able to overcome these problems.” Thought Iwata states that he see's “Free-to-Start” as a good business model for some products we goes on to say that he doesn't believe it's a model to use in every situation. Stating: “However, because there are games or types of games which are suited for the existing package model, and because there are consumers who appreciate and support them, I have to say that it is a one-sided claim to suggest that a complete transition to a Free-to-start model should be made because the existing retail model is outdated.”
Moving forward in the article Iwata is asked about his position of the “Amiibos” being a clone of Skylanders and Disney Infinity figures. He goes on record to deny that they are clones of any type commenting “At first glance it may look like we're a trend follower with Amiibo, but what we're doing is we have introduced Amiibo in a way that is new and where Amiibo do things in our games that they can't do anywhere else. From that perspective we feel that we are a trendsetter. He also states that “It's true that if you go into a retail store and you see the retail shelves, that from a retail perspective, we're leveraging the structure that's in place for how the 'toys to life' category is being sold. That's a hurdle that's hard to overcome in terms of differentiation. But in terms of how the Amiibos are used in games, we do feel that we are taking the lead in terms of broadening what toys to life can be.”
Smash brothers was brought up in the interview as Iwata explained that Smash isn't a game where Nintendo Characters beat the crap out of each other, but instead he tells TIME: “They actually represent toys of Nintendo Characters getting into an imaginary battle amongst themselves.” He goes on to explain his reasoning behind that as he continues. “That has to do with a very serious debate that we had within the company back then, which was 'is it really okay for Nintendo characters to be hitting other Nintendo characters? Is it okay for Mario to be hitting Pikachu?” It's an interesting perspective that I would have never come up with on my own. I love thinking of Amiibos as my personal smash brothers trophies and that's why I collect them. It brings back my childhood trying to unlock all the trophies in Melee.
Lastly TIME asked about the Rumored Netflix series that turned me onto this article to begin with. I have seen it all over Facebook that online gaming news sources are taking Iwata's statement in regards to these rumors to mean that the series isn't happening. That's not what he said at all. Here's the Quote. “As of now, I have nothing new to share with you in regard to the use of our IPs for any TV shows or films, but I can at least confirm that the article in question is not based on correct information,” That means that the article published by The Wall Street Journal was written on inaccurate information. That doesn't mean the dream is dead, that means there's no announcement of such a series to be released yet. There's still the possibility that Nintendo could release the rights to do such a series. I think a Zelda TV Series would be a great way to advertise the next installment of the Zelda Video Game Franchise, coming to WiiU later this year. But who knows what Nintendo truly has in store for us coming in the near future?
What do you guys think? Could a Zelda Tv Series be in the works? How about any of the other information from this article? Do you think Smash is a fantasy dreamland where toys of Nintendo characters fight each other? Or is that just what Nintendo wants to tell themselves to feel better about making such a fighting game? Are Amiibo's Clones of Skylanders and Disney Infinity? How do you feel about Nintendo venturing into the world of Smart Phones? Tell me what you think in the comments below. As always I'll see you next time.
