I've been trying to get a Switch for my partner for three weeks in France. It's damn near impossible.
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Nintendo Direct Speculation |OT7| March Madness
- Thread starter chase beck
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I've been trying to get a Switch for my partner for three weeks in France. It's damn near impossible.
That's what I was thinking back in February when Corona already had a huge impact on China and it was obvious that it's spreading to Europe etc.
Why marketing something which you can't sell (and Nintendo primary goal is to increasing the user base, not only sell (digital) copies).
That opinion was not received well by some.
Probably because it sounds ludicrous tbh. We've seen nintendo HW sell out before and they didn't suddenly just stop announcing new games or decrease their marketing. I just can't believe that would be the reason. I do think the corona virus may well have had a big impact and could be a big reason why nintendo changed plans. I don't believe for a second nintendo just decided to stop marketing/announcing stuff because they thought maybe the switch would start selling out.
The opinion was not well received because it doesn't make sense which the Indie showcase and the Mini Direct in the last weeks perfectly demonstrated. Nintendo's primary goal is to make money and they make the most money by selling software and not with hardware.
Everything related to Mario 35th and his remasters (64, Sunshine, Galaxy) was an April joke?
This therefore was not a joke, it makes me happy that it was not a joke.
I like hik and he is pretty much spot on with his Valve stuff, I just don't think his sources on Nintendo Stuff are good.
He also made a Video a few months ago about how Valve was working on a Half-Life strategy game for Switch.
I trust him with Valve stuff even if he sometimes has weird theories in his videos that aren't really based on much, but something is off about everything to do with Nintendo he is reporting on.
But this is becoming a huge problem with a lot of Nintendo studios or affiliates:
Camelot
Retro
1-UP
Nd Cube
NST
All fit the diminished capacity category you describe. I mean look at AlphaDream, they were churning out Mario & Luigi RPG after Mario & Luigi RPG until one day people got sick of them and they collapsed soon after. Variety is very important for a studio's survival.
Most people just remember Sabi getting "conveniently" C&D'd right before leaking the Nintendo E3 2019 Direct and coat tailing on the idea there wouldn't be a Smash reveal at TGA, even if their deconfirmations were right. They seem to forget Sabi leaking the entire Indie World Showcase in Aug 2019 and were too upset when Sabi made the tweet breaking down the difference between what Zippo had heard (2 Directs in Feb) versus what they had heard (Indie Showcase in March) vs what they had both heard (Paper Mario). Doesn't matter much now anyway since they stopped and most of their info wasn't related to Nintendo.
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Exactly, his Valve stuff is spot on, but Nintendo stuff sounds like not reliable.
Short of Nintendo outright purchasing Camelot (and AlphaDream before they went bankrupt), there isn't really much that can be done here. Camelot can't just grow to a size that they can't maintain longterm, otherwise AD would have done that.
The other studios aren't really at risk to be closed down due to a "lack of variety".
Calling it a 'huge problem' is a massive exaggeration. Even with their relatively low headcount (which is unconfirmed - the ~50 person headcount is from 2010, so is badly out of date), Camelot's most recent game was their most successful yet. That's hardly a harbinger of impending doom.
ND Cube will have produced two titles on Switch as well as the Animal Crossing mobile game and a 3DS title in the last 3 years, so there are hardly any signs of trouble there. Plus, if we take the out-of-date figure as indicative of Camelot's current headcount, ND Cube are twice the size of Camelot and a similar size to other Nintendo partners like Next Level.
Now Retro must obviously have had some problems, but we can't put that down to headcount - it could be bad management, or something on Nintendo's end that led to projects being cancelled. Stating their situation is somehow similar to Camelot not producing Golden Sun is nuts - Retro are lead developer on Metroid Prime 4, so whatever's happened over the last few years, Nintendo still trust them. We don't have any information there to say the future of the team is in doubt, because the future of the team involves finishing a high-profile project from a long-running Nintendo franchise. You don't get that investment if Nintendo think you're going to fail.
As for the other two, 1-Up have been an assistance studio for close to a decade now - since Super Mario 3D Land on 3DS. That's why they rebranded from Brownie Brown to 1-Up - they're an assistant developer, not a project lead studio. NST have also been on smaller projects for over a decade, since Nintendo gutted them following the whole Project HAMMER debacle. Neither company needs to be that big because their purpose isn't to lead development on individual projects so again, comparing either of them to Camelot doesn't hold up - Nintendo made the decision to downsize NST a decade ago.
You don't think Retro Studios, a studio that have been MIA for 7 years and weren't even first pick for Prime 4, aren't at risk of being closed?
If Prime 4 is a disaster, I genuinely think that's it for Retro, and I'm really not sure how anyone could believe otherwise.
They might get the NST treatment but it's been ages since a Nintendo-owned studio was outright shut down. And I'm not sure how much the liquidation of Marigul (and its affiliates/subsidiaries) was on Nintendo rather than Recruit. If Retro shits the bed with Prime 4, I wouldn't be surprised if they get either turned into a support studio or completely overhauled with Kelbaugh getting the boot.
If anybody in the UK is interested in 51 Worldwide Games to the point they're confident of pre-ordering it, you can pre-order a physical copy for £28.95 from The Game Collection.
I've used them several times, especially last year - they tend to be cheaper than other UK retailers and they're reliable. I bought most of my physical copies from them last year.
I've used them several times, especially last year - they tend to be cheaper than other UK retailers and they're reliable. I bought most of my physical copies from them last year.
Yeah, NST is clearly an instructive experience. I don't think Nintendo will allow Prime 4 to be a failure - and the fact they trusted Retro with it suggests Nintendo still have a good degree of confidence in them - but there's no point in shuttering a wholly owned studio. It's Nintendo's developer, so they can turn it into another studio to assist with developing games, or remasters, or eShop titles.
I can't help but wonder if ND Cube is working on something else asides from Clubhouse Games... or if their staff is split between maintaining Pocket Camp and working on Clubhouse.
No! They're getting shut down because of reasons. They weren't even the first pick for Nintendo's biggest franchise, Metroid!
No! They're getting shut down because of reasons. They weren't even the first pick for Nintendo's biggest franchise, Metroid!
It has just occurred to me that Nintendo still has its investor meeting coming at the end of the month and that it still hasn't announced its line up. The main thing that will guide announcement timing is marketing strategy as opposed to investor relations but I do wonder if it makes a general (not mini) direct more likely this month.
So they can go into that meeting saying 'we will sell loads of Switches this year because Mario'.
So they can go into that meeting saying 'we will sell loads of Switches this year because Mario'.
May 7th for that meeting, this year, which is a week later than usual. Plus, if those reports on Mario are true, the reveal wasn't happening until June. Nate expects more news before May, so maybe Nintendo planned to announce their non-Mario projects this month before going big on the plumber in June. Things may have changed due to E3's cancellation and the Super Mario plans being plastered across the internet, but Nintendo are fond of marching to the beat of their own drum.
I'm still not clear if they were planning to reveal Mario at E3 or if they were planning to do a massive Mario themed experience and promotion at E3.
Hard to to do both as would be bound to leak when you're building it at the convention centre.
Literally nobody argued that.
Dark Cloud said a Mario (American) Football game would be cool and would have a non-niche base in NA to sell it to, which I agree with. He also said it would sell better than Strikers which is possible if it was well designed and given a good marketing budget, but I doubt it. That doesn't mean he thinks the sport itself is more popular.
Doesn't mean it's ever gonna happen, but he never even remotely implied American football is more popular than soccer.
That's a fair point. The original report states "The Super Mario 35th Anniversary reveal was originally due to take place as a physical event at E3 in June, VGC was told, but Nintendo is now reviewing its plans in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic."
I guess whatever that means is open to interpretation, especially 'physical reveal' - because you could even infer 'press conference' from that, though why Nintendo would return to that approach I don't know - certainly, I expect an enormous showfloor Mario booth was planned. Maybe Nintendo's E3 Direct would have started on the showfloor?
Nah it wouldn't have been a press conference. At the very most it could've been something similar to what they did for BotW in 2016, a single trailer followed by a booth tour and a bunch of treehouse footage.
But I even doubt that. It was probably going to be a normal E3 Direct but with a huge physical Mario presence at the show.
God, I'd HOPE McVicker's info is bad - the narrative seems like one of the first things they thought of this time around, actually - but at the same time nothing will suprise me.
Is it possible to get a transcript of what exactly he said?
Is it possible to get a transcript of what exactly he said?
what exactly? zelda info from week or more ago? or like that new info from tomorrow?
Is this the guy who talked about BOTW2 being non-linear at the start and the regions of Hyrule being overtaken by Ganon's miasma or whatever?
The new info you mentioned, where he also talks about Oddysey 2 in development and such.
Too bad Mario 64 isn't likely to be remade like Throwback Galaxy. Still gonna buy though.
Edit: Wrong thread
Edit: Wrong thread
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You dont even have to be a UK resident to use the site, I think they offer shipping to most european countries for instance.
I'm swedish and i will vouche for TGC every single time.
Superb customer service, a neat cashback system, quite often pre-order bonuses and discounts and even the best standard prices around combined with super cheap shipping.
Used them for several years now and if I dont mind wait a couple of days (~5 days from UK-Sweden) I always use them.
It's like 5-7minutes long. As i said i would don't give much attention to that, he is pretty much Valve sources guy, one friend who is watching his streams told me that he said "his Nintendo sources are not that great like Valve sources." Or something along those lines.
It's a miracle that they still even exist tbh.
I have little faith that they will be able to complete MP4...
Tyler Mcviker is pretty far from being "close to always right". Even regarding Valve (VNN has had a pretty spotty reputation over the years due to the usual vague insider stuff that anybody could predict, outside of a few big ones).
He's been pretty bad regarding anything outside of Valve too...
edit: Liam is a good comparison point basically.
He's been pretty bad regarding anything outside of Valve too...
edit: Liam is a good comparison point basically.
Those are digital releases mainly.
Switch selling out isn't an issue, but selling out since there's an hold on production is a different animal.
Right, so if hardware revenue is reduced because hardware production is reduced, what sense does it make for Nintendo to hold off on launching games which will sell into its existing base? What sense does it make to further reduce their revenue and profit stream?
Having a mini Direct then a General direct on April to focus on Mario on June doesn't make much sense unless their second half is packed, most likely they will have a mario themed Direct on june with one or two non Mario announcements.this year is gonna be a Mario year and not much more
If Directs were only for first-party games sure, but Nintendo have plenty of third-party content, indie content and DLC stuff to talk about these days.
On top of that, Paper Mario, Super Mario All-Stars 2 and Super Mario 3D World would only account for 3 second-half retail releases from Nintendo. There'll be more than that.
EDIT: Should clarify - I'm not sure what to expect in terms of Direct scheduling, because the situation is obviously changing. But the pieces of information we have say Mario was planned for a June reveal, and Nate expects more news before May.
Regarding this gameindustry.biz article from Chris Dring:
A Super Mario Christmas is the ideal counter to PS5 and Xbox Series X | Opinion
People buy Nintendo consoles because of Nintendo games. It's an old adage that is broadly true. If you're not intereste…www.gamesindustry.biz
He states: " There are rumours of a 2D Metroid and a new racing title, but surely there has to be something else?"
I know there's been quite a bit of talk of a 2D metroid, but what rumored racing title could he be referring to? I know people have been speculating about the possibility of a new Mario Kart, but as far as I know that's pure speculation.
I'm gonna go ahead and be a masochist: new F-Zero baybee
I would be happy if im wrong but ust don't want to get my hopes up, another Direct this month would be awesome :P
Last mini Direct was so content starved that i wasn't expecting anything until june
I was ok with the Mini (I'm set for 2 games this month and Xenoblade next month), but I wasn't initially expecting news till June, like yourself. Nate saying he expects something caught my attention though, because he's often reliable in what he shares. We'll all have to wait and see, unfortunately!
Still miss them. Directs are good, but nothing tops a quality press conference. Glad the Switch reveal event was at least a traditional press conference.
Hardware reveals will probably always be with a real audience.
Given harker and then nate
I'm expecting a Mario video to shadow drop on a Thursday before may 7th.
Announcing all the Mario games and paper Mario too
A few online 2d marios will shadow drop eshop or for nso
3dw deluxe for July.
PM for octoberish
Collection for November.
The video will only do Mario. (Maybe raddibs 2 will be there)
I'm expecting a Mario video to shadow drop on a Thursday before may 7th.
Announcing all the Mario games and paper Mario too
A few online 2d marios will shadow drop eshop or for nso
3dw deluxe for July.
PM for octoberish
Collection for November.
The video will only do Mario. (Maybe raddibs 2 will be there)
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