Somehow I don't think Nintendo was going to bend over backwards for a publisher that dropped them at the drop of a hat.
Games industry is in desperate need of a union, but that's getting off topic.The last thing this industry needs is a union.
His statement is in context to their indie games doing poorly. If they make a game, publish it on their own, and it bombs, then they are fucked. They need to pick the platform carefully. Doesn't mean it will be a guaranteed success, but they are going to approach with caution because their livelihood depends on it.
Whether or not Nintendo should've marketed it for them can be discussed for a long time, but Criterion shouldn't expect them to do it. It isn't Nintendo's job. EA is the real culprit here. Putting developers at work for a game they don't even plan on marketing themselves is complete bullshit.Yep, I've had discussions about this in other threads before. I consider myself a Nintendo supporter but it's been clear for a long time that they don't believe that it's their job to market for 3rd parties unless they're publishing.
Sony and MS do this all the time (especially MS) and in the end it helps everyone make money off the platform.
It turned out to be the best console version but since it was late, un-marketed and full price it was just sent to die.To those who don't have this game and have a Wii U, you should totally get it. I haven't played a Need for Speed game in quite a while, but enjoyed the hell out of this version.
There's some truth to this but Nintendo has very rarely ever helped to market 3rd party games unless there's a publishing or some other deal in place. Under the circumstances and considering the quality of the effort they should have helped out, if not just as an olive branch to Criterion and EA.Whether or not Nintendo should've marketed it for them can be discussed for a long time, but Criterion shouldn't expect them to do it. It isn't Nintendo's job. EA is the real culprit here. Putting developers at work for a game they don't even plan on marketing themselves is complete bullshit.
Whether he's a jerk or not has nothing to do with Nintendo and EA dropping the ball here.
I love how the guy he's talking to starts out yelling at him for not making a Wii U game and by the end is yelling at Nintendo for making it so hard to make a Wii U game.
The most remarkable thing about the exchange is how a random Twitter guy just decided to abuse a developer for not releasing on his console of choice... and then upon being explained that he was yelling at the wrong guy, started yelling at someone else.
In life, if you aren't sure about who you need to yell at, it's probably time to stop yelling.
Edit: Damnit charlequin
Jesus, hearing shit like that makes me feel fucked up for being a little pissed towards the game, I get it, EA and Nintendo are at fault here and the devs did a brilliant job on the game.
We need unions in the industry or something...shit.
This is exactly how companies get into bad market situations: making judgments based on pride rather than concrete outcomes.
Yes, EA tossed Nintendo to the wind, for a mixture of good and bad reasons. Individual human beings at Nintendo were probably offended by that. But in business, that happened because EA had all the leverage in this relationship. Nintendo needed EA's support for their systems to perform well; EA didn't need Nintendo for anything. When someone has that much leverage over you, it doesn't matter if they were kind of a dick once; you're not gonna get what you want from them unless you make concessions.
Also, what I think is particularly relevant in this case is that by taking this kind of hardball approach with EA, Nintendo didn't just alienate people who were working at EA; they alienated people who left to form new developers (like Alex Ward) and all the people who talk to people at EA (and since EA's a huge company with tons of influential devs, that's almost everyone.)
Sucks the game didn't sell well. I bought it, granted half-off at launch. I enjoyed it.
Having just gone through the process myself, I found it rather painless. The only issue for me was how long it can take sometimes from submit to final approval... Which is, granted, a rather large issue, I know I found it annoying. Can be a bit of wasted time if you go through the process several times due to fail/resubmit process.
Out of curiosity, anyone know what the process is like for Sony|Microsoft? I'm curious how long those take.
Unprecedented partnership.
The publisher, but the console vendor can gives financial breaks or add incentives (like marketing money) to print discs if the publisher thinks they will lose money by making the minimum print requirement (which can be anywhere from 5000-50,000 depending on who the console vendor is, usually at $10-$12 per disc printed as the licensing fee is up front).
Since EA and Nintendo couldn't come to an agreement and EA thought they would lose money, EA didn't print discs for the European release up front.
You're gonna need to drop some hints to his 'jerkiness' tbf. But the fact that he just tweets 'yawn' irks me a little. At least he explains afterward.that assumes that you absolve him of any shared blame in the first place. I don't make assumptions like that, especially from what I have heard of this guy.
This is exactly how companies get into bad market situations: making judgments based on pride rather than concrete outcomes.
Yes, EA tossed Nintendo to the wind, for a mixture of good and bad reasons. Individual human beings at Nintendo were probably offended by that. But in business, that happened because EA had all the leverage in this relationship. Nintendo needed EA's support for their systems to perform well; EA didn't need Nintendo for anything. When someone has that much leverage over you, it doesn't matter if they were kind of a dick once; you're not gonna get what you want from them unless you make concessions.
Also, what I think is particularly relevant in this case is that by taking this kind of hardball approach with EA, Nintendo didn't just alienate people who were working at EA; they alienated people who left to form new developers (like Alex Ward) and all the people who talk to people at EA (and since EA's a huge company with tons of influential devs, that's almost everyone.)
Somehow I don't think Nintendo was going to bend over backwards for a publisher that dropped them at the drop of a hat.
Huge fucks by both parties but at the end of the day it's Nintendo's system, not EA's. They need to recognize that they need to bend over backwards and completely change their culture with how they treat what few 3rd parties they may have left.If any...
It's refreshing to see a developer being so honest and candid.
edit: I hope Alex Ward's new endeavor gets some measure of success, whatever it is. Burnout Paradise forever.
excuse my off topic, but I call bullshit on your tag. Now after I had the guts to say itThis is exactly how companies get into bad market situations: making judgments based on pride rather than concrete outcomes.
Yes, EA tossed Nintendo to the wind, for a mixture of good and bad reasons. Individual human beings at Nintendo were probably offended by that. But in business, that happened because EA had all the leverage in this relationship. Nintendo needed EA's support for their systems to perform well; EA didn't need Nintendo for anything. When someone has that much leverage over you, it doesn't matter if they were kind of a dick once; you're not gonna get what you want from them unless you make concessions.
Also, what I think is particularly relevant in this case is that by taking this kind of hardball approach with EA, Nintendo didn't just alienate people who were working at EA; they alienated people who left to form new developers (like Alex Ward) and all the people who talk to people at EA (and since EA's a huge company with tons of influential devs, that's almost everyone.)
“Well, we’ve already announced versions of Stranger and Munch for the Vita, but with regards to Nintendo, currently I’m not interested in working with them, or on their platform. Having developed a number of titles over the years for their various platforms, it’s become increasingly apparent that unless you are published by Nintendo you don’t tend to do very well.
“They also have this crazy regard to IP and refuse to sign NDAs with indie-developer/publishers, leaving us small guys open to having our ideas stolen with no recourse. We have already looked at doing some stuff on iOS and all I can say is watch this space.”
What? This has nothing to do with unions, he wasn't abused at work nor was he fired. He left of his own accord because he didn't like what was being done to his work, which is entirely understandable. Unions don't exist to make marketing decisions for companies.
Yeah, I agree with that notion. I can't imagine that Sony or Microsoft would be very eager to help marketing a late port, either. There's just nothing in it for them. Even if it was technically a little superior to the other versions, it was still a game everyone interested in likely has already played.In all honestly..what would be the point in Nintendo marketing a game that released months after the other versions ...which was also double or triple the price of the other versions when it launched ?
You're gonna need to drop some hints to his 'jerkiness' tbf. But the fact that he just tweets 'yawn' irks me a little. At least he explains afterward.
In all honestly..what would be the point in Nintendo marketing a game that released months after the other versions ...which was also double or triple the price of the other versions when it launched ?
Japanese mentality does not work like that.
Somehow I don't think Nintendo was going to bend over backwards for a publisher that dropped them at the drop of a hat.
SO EA refuses to do their duty as a publisher yet it is Nintendo who gets all the blame here, makes perfect sense.
Well, that's really fucked, specially from Nintendo, when trying to launch a platform.
Nintendo doesn't "bend over backwards" for anyone but Nintendo.
That's their biggest problem