@YearoftheSnake5 said:
Nintendo of America/Europe have no autonomy. If they want to bring games x, y, and z to their regions, they have to get on their knees and lube up their hands for the executives in Japan. It's not that NoA is lazy. The people that they have to take orders from are out of touch.
Precisely.
I don't fault NoA at all, in fact I feel sorry for them as they've become nothing but a puppet PR localization branch of NoJ. What Iwata did upon becoming president:
From 1990-2000. Nintendo of America had production and management autonomy from Japan. NOA basically culminated its own production team, along a few co-designers, and started funding and producing games with developers.
DMA Design: Uni Racers, Body Harvest (Nintendo dropped it in 1997, Midway took it),Angel Studios: Ken Griffey Baseball, Buggie Boogie (canceled), Bits Studios: Warlocked, Riqa (canceled), Rare: Donkey Kong Country, Killer Instinct, Goldeneye 007, Perfect Dark, Software Creations: Ken Griffey Baseball, Tin Star, Silicon Knights: Eternal Darkness (N64 version),Left Field Productions: Kobey Bryant in NBA Courtside, Excitebike 64,Looking Glass Studio: Mini Racers (canceled), Mass Media: Star Craft 64, H20: Tetrisphere, Saffire Corp: Nester's Funky Bowling, James Bond 007, Midway: Cruisn Series
Nintendo of America also procured the Ken Griffey and MLBPA license, NHL License, Kobe Bryant and NBA license, PGA license, Disney license, James Bond license, StarCraft license. Star Wars Episode I license. They were producing their own first-party games separate from Nintendo of Japan. That all changed when Iwata transitioned from Global Marketing Chief to President.NOA Production was killed, and Nintendo of Japan's SPD Department took over all Western development (Star Fox Adventures, Geist, Eternal Darkness GC).
Henry Sterchi, Brian Ullrich, Ken Lobb, Ed Ridgeway, Jeff Hutt, Faran Thomason, and the whole crew left NOA to Microsoft and other developers. Since then, we've seen the Western model we have today. Western developers reporting directly to Japanese management, and pretty much making B/C sequels to Nintendo IPs.
Under Iwata's wonderful "leadership", he's completely gutted and stripped NoA of all it's autonomy to make everything Japan-centric. Such a brilliant move when gaming was becoming more and more a Western dominated market. Iwata and Nintendo in general have adopted a very different philosophy and attitude towards us than the Nintendo of old. It seems to me that it's not a lack of understanding, from the above move it seems like they hold active contempt for the types of games the West produces, and want no part of it.
My God I can't wait for that fucking moron Iwata to leave, that is if he doesn't sink the company first.
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