The Changing Face of Nintendo

With the games industry still in a deep slumber (that, or hungover) after the Christmas and New Year period, Nintendo news is almost impossible to come by. However, that doesn't mean that there will be no weekly digest- you know me better than that. This week, let us reflect on a newer, more outward looking Nintendo, and comment on their treatement of America and Europe.

This year, Nintendo cancelled their annual Spaceworld trade show in Japan, deciding instead to concentrate instead on August's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) show in Los Angeles. Nothing too strange there, you might say, but does this represent a change in attitude from Nintendo towards the Western world?

Traditionally, Nintendo have saved their biggest announcements for their own Spaceworld show, held in August every year (bar 1998 and 2002). But in recent years it has become apparent that the E3 show is now Nintendo's main concern- it has become the biggest annual showcase for games in the world, and in such a competitive marketplace, E3 has become a vital event in the three big players calendars. In fact, the evidence is growing that while Nintendo regarded America and Europe as secondary territories to its main concern of Japan, since the death of the Nintendo 64 particularly, it is now seeing America and Europe as key to the company's future. One reason for this is that while the GameCube continues to do reasonably well in Japan, it is very much in the shadow of the PlayStation 2. Nintendo can no longer rely singularly on Japan to keep the company alive and well.

Nintendo are signing up the cream of American development studios to develop their biggest blockbusters- no longer relying on their in-house development studios. Retro Studios and Silicon Knights, developing Metroid Prime and Eternal Darkness respectively are 'prime' (pardon the pun) examples of this new policy. These two games are directly catering for Western tastes, not Japanese ones � further proving my point. Metroid Prime and Eternal Darkness will prove relatively popular in Japan, but they are not what the Japanese want.

Nintendo are not abandoning the Japanese market- success at home means a lot to the company- but they are simply realizing that Western markets could reap more benefits for them. Advertising budgets are constantly going up- the quality of advertising has soared on Nintendo's part- in America at least. High-profile advert campaigns for the likes of Metroid Prime have been successful, while teaser trailers for Zelda: The Wind Waker, running at the cinema have helped build up anticipation for the next chapter in Link's never-ending quest. Nintendo's popular Cube Club events, and the recent announcement of demo-disks is just another example of Nintendo's new commitments to the American market. In Europe, promotional activities and advertising is very low-key- putting it nicely.

Times are changing in the games industry, and Nintendo are being forced to change with them. Thankfully, they seem to be doing that. Acquiring the likes of Silicon Knights, as well as taking full control of NST and Retro are moves that Nintendo would not have seen as being necessary in the past. Nintendo's influence in the likes of ED and Metroid is clear for all to see. About 70 per cent of Nintendo's revenue is now being generated outside of Japan, prompting a shift on focus for the company. Foreign investors own more than 36% of its shares.

Nintendo are learning from Sony, who realized early on that good marketing worldwide would spell success for the company's PSone. Its just a shame that Nintendo haven't learnt sooner. Nintendo is just beginning to tap into Europe's potential to provide a market as big as America's. A good GameCube launch with over 20 games, coupled with a very competitive price tag had seemed to herald a new age of better treatment of European gamers by Nintendo. Unfortunately, while release dates betwee Japan and America get ever shorter (especially in the case of third-party developers e.g Activision). Europe is still getting very much the bum deal in terms of game prices and first party release dates. Resident Evil, for example, which debuted in the U.S back in April, has been out in Europe only since mid-September. Eternal Darkness had a similar 6-month delay in getting to European shores. But why the delay for Zelda and Metroid in Europe? Metroid should be a doddle to convert to PAL form, and Zelda, without a release month in Europe, should not have such a large delay. Animal Crossing is another case in point- granted, converting it to PAL form is quite a task, with several European languages and country-specific public holidays and events to incorporate- but in truth, work should have started on it earlier. It's a testament to great game design that Animal Crossing, despite featuring N64-era graphics, is regarded by Europeans as the most wanted game after Metroid and Zelda.

However, on the positive side- the 60hz facility for European GameCubes has been widely praised, and the European PAL versions of some games, including Luigi's Mansion, Sega Soccer Slam and Mystic Heroes have been tweaked and enhanced to some extent. Much remains to be done, but Nintendo's changing attitudes towards the west are undoubtedly a good thing- it proves that Nintendo now have a more worldwide outlook on games development and marketing than ever before.

-Mark Cullinane

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