Nintendo veteran Takaya Imamura has recently written a blog post detailing why he eventually decided to part ways with Nintendo after a long and healthy career. In the informative post he says that it is important for the Kyoto-based company not to be overly reliant on its IPs and subsequently forget that it is the actual developers behind those games which help make them the critically acclaimed hits that they are.
“Nintendo is still in good hands, thanks to the many charismatic developers who have created major hits. But the idea that “as long as we have popular IPs, we’ll be fine!” is a big mistake. It’s crucial not to forget the talented individuals who uphold the value of those IPs.”
I don’t have the insider information here, but doesn’t Nintendo have a really good employee retention rate? It seems to me like they are good at maintaining talent too.
Hopefully he talks about a mistake Nintendo could make rather than one they are making! It is true that the value of Nintendo’s IPs is strong because of the quality of the games, and those games are only so good due to the talented development teams. I just figure that Nintendo knows that better than anyone, hence they have such a good record with their major IPs.
It’s both, really.
Nintendo can 100% rely on their IN-HOUSE titles to stay successful. Are you kidding? Donkey Kong, Super Mario titles, Luigi’s Haunted Mansion, Mario Kart, Mario Party, Zelda, Pokemon, Kirby, and so much more!! Nintendo has more exclussive franchises than Xbox and Playstation combined. And they sell like hotcakes.
Wow. You completely missed the point. If Zelda games start going bad, they won’t sell nearly as well, so they can’t just rely on the brand name, but must value the devs that gave the IPs their renown. Pokemon being an obvious exception.
We are talking about a company that’s been making hit games for decades. It’s Nintendo’s own philosophy’s and culture that’s been the real force behind their IPs. Yes they hire amazing talent and well they are one of the biggest gaming companies so why wouldn’t they get a lot talent..it has nothing to do with why their games are charismatic and do well in sales. It’s the brand Nintendo spent +100 years developing.
He’s saying it’s not the franchises themselves but rather the developers behind those franchises.
Didn’t actually read the article, did you champ?
Hmmm a couple months later…
“Besides Pokémon GO, Pikmin Bloom and Monster Hunter Now are also part of the deal and will now be owned by Scopely.”
Does anyone think this mobile games company (“known for titles like Marvel Strike Force and Star Trek Fleet Command”) will allow Pokémon on other consoles? Will it keep the quality up?, will it lead ALL Pokémon games down the microtransaction route? So curious how this new company will handle this IP.
What does this even mean? Such a nothing burger of a statement lol it’s just word salad
Games like Splatoon came to mind.
I definitely agree. Although, to me, it sounds like he’s speaking in the long-term. Which I agree with, as well, is likely a concern and possible fear. As older legendary staff get closer to retirement, it is extremely important to make sure they have equally talented/motivated and creative staff that understand the core values of Nintendo’s IPs. Otherwise, they risk potential creative burnout and stagnation of series in the long-term.
“as long as we have popular IPs, we’ll be fine!”
Seriously. Who at Nintendo would have ever said that?
Nintendo has relied on their more popular stuff forever at this point, and even got Metroid popular again, and other stuff…are we supposed to believe this guy?
Test
Feels like the site’s reply function is broken on phones
Yeah, seem like reply didn’t go through…
Hey, how about cut the shit with the misleading clickbait titles? It’s scummy.
As long as the stories are good, Ninty’s characters will stand the test of time. I mean, people still make stories involving the Greek & Roman gods & heroes who have existed for millenia. Hell! One of Marvel’s IPs is Thor who is based on the Norse god of the same name who has existed for just as long as the Greek/Roman myths (if not longer?). The Hercules show with Kevin Sorbo was a popular show in the 90s. (Some would argue Xena, a Herc spinoff, was even more popular than Herc was, but she technically doesn’t count since she was an original character but many of her antagonists were from Greek & Roman myths… and the Norse myths near the end of it’s run.)