Microsoft is REALLY helping out Nintendo with this DRM b***t. If Sony follows the same path then I see a real bright future in WiiU!
Spector: Underestimate Nintendo at your peril
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Deus Ex and Epic Mickey designer Warren Spector enthusiastic about Nintendo, says he is currently evaluating potential job opportunities.
The Wii U has struggled thus far, but Deus Ex and Epic Mickey designer Warren Spector remains hopeful that Nintendo can turn it around. Speaking with GameSpot, the industry veteran said betting against Nintendo is an ill-advised move.
"I've been pretty up front about my enthusiasm for Nintendo. I think we need a company that's dedicated to games. Every time I visit Nintendo, I'm relieved to have spent time in a place where you can just feel how much everyone loves games," Spector said. "And, really, how many times have people written Nintendo off? I think you underestimate them at your peril."
Nintendo's three-pronged strategy to revitalize the Wii U includes shipping key first-party titles on a regular basis, ameliorating its messaging tactics, and reducing manufacturing costs. The company will share some of its vision for the future through a Nintendo Direct video presentation next month.
Spector also elaborated on his post-Disney life, saying that "lots" of companies have reached out to talk since Junction Point closed in January, though he has not yet decided if he'll return to the industry or not.
"I was exhausted and pretty burned out when [Junction Point Studios] closed. You try working 30 years without a vacation! I kind of got it in my head that I'd stay home until I got bored, whenever that might be," Spector said. "I didn't want to go out and look for anything, but I spread the word that I'd talk to anybody who wanted to talk to me--from startup to multinational corporation. I'd listen, and if the perfect thing showed up, I'd do it."
"Honestly, I was kind of hoping nothing that good would show up! Lots of people wanted to talk--very flattering!--and, damn it, there were a handful I couldn't just reject out of hand," he added. "So I'm talking to some people and seeing how perfect the opportunities are. You may see me coming back soon. Or you may not. I’m playing it by ear."
Though Spector is not making games at the moment, he remains involved in the industry. As announced earlier this month, Spector will head up a new game development program at the University of Texas at Austin and will also give the keynote address at October's Captivate Conference.
GameSpot's full conversation with Spector will be published later today.
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Eddie Makuch (Mack-ooh) is a News Editor at GameSpot. He works out of the company's Boston office in Somerville, Mass., and loves extra chunky peanut butter.
492 comments
Warren you made some of my favorite games growing up. Wing Commander, Crusader: No Remorse (seriously EA remake this game), Thief, System Shock and Deus Ex. But its been 13 years since you have released any game i have cared about. Please start making good games again.
I don't underestimate nintendo. I base my expectations on what I've observed year after year.
The question is if they can get their key titles out :New 3D Mario, Smash Bros, Zelda before its too late. I think Nintendo is in a more difficult spot than they have ever been.
2 Like Nintendo is fine, but not great. The problem though, is that they SHOULD be great. Personally, thats why I'm so disappointed with them.
Sooo where are the games? they have had like atleast 5 years and they couldn't release Zelda day 1? Its not like they made the Wii U a week before release.
Also if they care so much about games why do they make a bloody tablet who no one wants nor needs!!! I lost my faith in Nintendo first after the crappy Wii and now they pull this stunt on Wii U, if i see atleast 10 awesome games from them i might just might consider Wii U and these games better all support the Pro Controller.
Up to Nintendo to prove itself. And one PS4 hit the market they loose my attention. Just as Wii got old news when PS3/X360 started getting great games.
1 Like Did you already forget that Skyward Sword came out in 2011 and that was in development since around 2007/08?
Look at every Nintendo home console leading up to the Wii U and tell me that you never noticed how with each new console, they've always tweaked the controller or added something new to it that eventually became an industry staple. The way you control your games is a vital part of gaming and we wouldn't have the standard controller we have now if it wasn't for Nintendo's forward thinking.
You make it seem like once the PS4 comes out, it's going to automatically have an amazing library of games and tons of features. Not saying it won't do good, but it's rather unrealistic to believe that the PS4 will have anything more than a decent launch line up.
@abHS4L88 I know some will be mad at me saying this but i dont care really. For me i could not stand watching Skyward Sword!!! It looks like crap! Sure i like a good story and game play like anyone but considering how many other GREAT games i had access to at the time which were in HD i did not notice Skyward Sword come and go. It was just not in my radar due to the lousy graphic. The presentation is really important nowdays. I remember seeing the game in store and i tried to play a few minute and just laughed how bad it looks and that i made the right choice selling my Wii early.
About controller, yes up to GameCube i agree, after that they went the other way with the casual focus. Wii U added what exactly? a giant resistive screen! Personally i see it as a step backward. The Pro controller has what exactly that is unique? if anything it lacks the analog side buttons that are needed for car games for instance.
you speak as if all other games lack the "art style" all together! Right now i have atleast 20 AAA games in my closet that i have not had the time to play. Great games come out weekly/monthly now days so the simple reason i choose to ignore this one is simple really. Yes i do play some old games like diablo II just a brief moment now and than and its fun but its wont replace my real gaming time. When Wii came out it lacked HDMI and HD support and that was when HD tv's were hot so the lack of it was a big issue for most core gamers i think. That and the lack of good games (mostly from thirdparty which abandoned Wii).
The problem with the Wii U tablet is that i see it as a gimmick, i dont want to play on it when i have a huge TV, i can see some good use of it like map and such but still considering the bad battery time, big size, resistive screen (not very useful when it can only detect one point and not sensitive enough) i think they overdid it. They were hoping to make a mix of console and tablet but failed miserably. No one will abandon their ipad to play on wii U tablet. If any thing i think PS4 will be much much more popular when you can play on Vita which can be truly portable.
MiiVerse, i couldn't care less, i'm maybe a minority on this but all the social networking stuff dont interest me one bit, i usually play single player games for the story and fun.
Sorry but i totally hate the direction Nintendo has taken and i do hope they can come back but for now they lost my support until i see much much more games and IP's that are appealing. I dont want more mario/wario games. I want new ideas and games that are mature and intriguing.
I actually enjoyed the visual presentation of Skyward Sword (as well as Xenoblade) more than I did many HD games that I've played because to me, art style is FAR more important than graphical quality. Of course that's me and I'm someone who really has no problems jumping between games of varying graphical qualities, hell I'm playing through the original Grandia right now and I'm hooked on it despite it being an early Playstation/Saturn game. It's up to you whether or not you want to let graphics affect you really and since I've chosen to make that one of the smallest deciding factors, I've enjoyed far more games (and still enjoy many of my older games) because of it.
The Wii was actually originally targeted at "the core gamer" but when Nintendo saw how much the general audience accepted it, obviously they made sure to give a good amount of focus to those people also. Just saying the Wii U only adds a touch screen is an extremely shallow way of looking at it. Really, if adding in one analog stick changed how we game tremendously, then the amount of possibilities adding in a 2nd screen (that's not attached) is huge also since true asymmetric gameplay is now possible without the huge inconvenience of needing 3 handheld systems, conventional RTS games are now possible and the touch screen alone streamlines a great deal of features and that's just the controller. The Wii U also added in MiiVerse, gaming's first fully fleshed out social network which does add a great deal to the gaming experience.
5 Like yay for supporting nintendo. its all about good games with good ideas, not superior technology :)
2 Like Yes, some old guy who designed a Disney game is going to convice me to not overlook Nintendo.
3 Like Well, I did exactly what people said "don't underestimate Nintendo" twice now. For 3DS and Wii U. By not underestimating Nintendo, I actually 'overestimated' Nintendo.
To be as charitible as Warren, I would say. instead of "don't underestimate Nintendo" change it to "don't overestimate Sony and MS".
Spector working for Nintendo would be pretty incredible... Just as long as his games are more like Deus Ex or Thief and less like Epic Mickey.
Spector is a loser, old and out of touch. He needs to leave the game business altogether, along with Peter Molyneux and all these other dinosaur developers who's best days are behind them. I really think Gamespot posts these articles so we can all rag on them.
LOL This very same words were said by EA, and look how that went down....
And this is coming from the same guy that made EPIC MICKEY 2, BWAHAHA
@Strider8009 @LordSadic Well you said it, he works for EA, but he has his own opinions , while the one I mentioned was actually an oficial statement by them.
2 Like @Strider8009 @LordSadic and the guy who said the Wii U is crap represents the immature stereotypes that the gaming industry has suffered for far too long.
Why is it that they do not support the Wii? I do not think I have ever fully understood that.
3 Like @cnx2022 some will tell you that the Nintendo systems aren't powerful enough for the games they make today. Others will tell you that because it takes effort to port things to Nintendo they won't do it. Others will tell you that its the DRM and publishers won't put games on them because Nintendo told the publishers to F themselves.
But really? They don't support it because they won't sell millions of games on the Nintendo systems. And unless a game sells 7m+ copies these days most pubs consider it a failure.
1 Like you know the funny thing is that the first party Nintendo things are as awesome as almost any other consoles first party exclusives. The only thing that is missing is the same shovelware that the other consoles have for multiplat and they would be just fine.
1 Like I just hope Nintendo embraces 3rd party titles this time around and expands its scope with 1st party titles.
@parrot_of_adun I think "embracing 3rd party titles" for Wii U is mostly going to entail an endless stream of 360/PS3 ports.
@parrot_of_adun Nintendo is very open to third parties. However, third parties don't embrace Nintendo. It's up to the 3rd party to decide if they want to produce for a Nintendo platform or not. The lack of 3rd party software really isn't Nintendo's fault.
@Tri-Enforcer @parrot_of_adun Regardless of fault, Nintendo hasn't recently made their systems *attractive* to third parties, is the problem. Fortunately the WiiU is in a better position to do that than the old Wii.
4 Like nintendo will always be my favorite platform. it focus on great games that make me enjoy being a gamer. recently i went to play legend of zelda twilight princess and reminds me that a game doesn't need state of art graphics or how many explosions it can fit in one scene to grab someone's attention.
Nintendo sucks I dont know any one who has it and when I go to buy games I only see lil kids with there parents buying Nintendo games
Not really but it is nice to have 3rd party games as well as games released by nintendo.
Nintendo's been around for decades and isn't going anywhere soon. Also, as things sit, I'm more interested in a Wii U than an xbox one.
1 Like Nintendo is not all right, and they haven't been all right since the Super Nintendo days; when they had all the third party support, great games (not made by them) and a powerful system. The Wii U is garbage and should be discontinued in a few years.
2 Like @ChiefFreeman Funny how that one post fell into every category of what I said about 'today's' market.
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