375 million dollars. 239,677,873 pounds. 46,203,750,000 yen. No matter how you break it down, that is a lot of money. And that’s how much Rare went to Microsoft for. And it’s that money that Nintendo is going to use to…to…ok, I’m not about to pretend to know something you don’t. The truth is Nintendo could do anything with this money, from advertising to business acquisitions to new toilet seats. We don’t know. But if Nintendo is really the smart company we (usually) consider them to be, we can rest assured that this money will be used wisely. I’m here to not tell you how Nintendo is going to use it; I’m just going to lay down my own opinions on ways it should be used. Keep in mind that I am not an economist, I am not a business major, I am not an attorney, I am not an alcoholic, and I am not now nor ever have been a Communist…er, never mind. Anyway, I am simply a Nintendo fan(boy?) that has his own ideas of how this money could and should be used. Now, without further ado…
1. Advertise, advertise, advertise.
We already know that for the upcoming holiday season Nintendo is upping the advertising budget by 25% from last year. How much of that money is coming out of the Rare money? Got me, but I’m fairly sure that it’s a fair, though not overly extravagant portion. We know that Nintendo has basically been morons when it comes to North American advertisement, a prime example being the now (in?)famous “Clean is better than dirty” campaign. Now, personally, I loved that commercial, because I found it amusing. Most people don’t agree with me, though. And it’s most people that matter. The masses have to be satisfied with the commercials because for the “casual gamers” out there (read: the ones who don’t read sites like this one), commercials are the main source of information about games. No matter how great a game may be, as with Super Mario Sunshine, if the commercial doesn’t make the general public want it, it will not sell as well. So here’s what’s first and foremost for this money: Advertise more, advertise better.
2. Exclusives, and not the kind you see on FOX News
This is a perfect time for Nintendo to strike up a deal with some third parties for exclusive games and series. Sure, we have Capcom giving us Resident Evil/Biohazard and Sega giving us Sonic, but how long will those deals last? Rumor has it that Sonic Adventure 3 will be multi-platform and as far as I know the Capcom deal officially only lasts through Resident Evil 4. Sure, Capcom has been quoted as saying that “all future installments of the series will be exclusive to Nintendo GameCube” but seriously, if the deal ends and the profits aren’t up to Capcom’s expectations or standards, prepare to either have the next game to be multi-platform or even exclusive to another console. Nintendo needs to get off their butts and go out and actively seek third parties to deliver them the exclusives, not just hand off their own franchises to other companies. It’s not much of a mystery, exclusives sell systems – look at Xbox with HALO and PSone with Squaresoft. Hell, look at the N64 and GoldenEye. Snatch up some franchises, Nintendo, new ones and established ones.
3. Caveat emptor?
Let the buyer beware? Hardly. Iwata-san, you need to BUY SOMEBODY. A reputable third party with games that sell like air conditioners in Hell. Recent rumors have said that Capcom has been having financial problems. They supposedly turned down an offer from Microsoft, so now it’s Nintendo’s turn. Don’t let this one get away! Even if they can’t make a deal, they must at least TRY. Capcom games like Onimusha, Devil May Cry, Maximo, and others would certainly help sell GameCube systems. Likewise, many people have suggested Sega possibly being purchased by Nintendo. Let me say this, although I would absolutely love to see it happen, as Sega are among the most talented software developers out there, I do not think it will happen any time soon. Sega themselves are off buying companies; this isn’t a sign of a business that is looking to sell itself. And what about the ever-overlooked Factor 5? Technically a third party right now, they work very closely with Nintendo, even developing GameCube hardware for them. The only real problem with acquiring them as a second-party is that they lose LucasArts as their publisher, so we may never see a Rogue Squadron game from them again. Maybe it’s best to leave them alone for the time being; “exclusive third party” sounds good enough to me. But the question remains, what the bloody hell are they working on? It is reportedly a groundbreaking game that will take the GameCube to heights never before conceived or something like that. Ok, great. Wanna tell us what it is? Oh, it might be based off the Thornado engine, that’s nice. What’s the game? Not gonna say? Fine, we can deal with that. Jerks. Anyway, another possible acquisition target is Namco, but I don’t know enough about that company’s financial status or willingness to sell to speak intelligently on it, so I’ll be moving on now…
4. Oh yeah, them
Retro Studios and Silicon Knights. What? Nintendo companies? Focusing on mature games? This can’t be. But it is. That’s old news, though. We know that Retro and SK are the companies that will bring Nintendo into a new demographic; we’ve been fed that for over a year now. Welp, Eternal Darkness is out. You did your job, Mr. Dyack, congratulations. What are you going to do now? Oh, you’re going to sit there for a few months and not say a damn word about what your next project is? Great, thanks for your time. How ‘bout you, Retro? What’s up for you after Metroid Prime? No comment? Not going to say anything about it? Super. Ok, you get the idea. The truth is that we have no freakin’ clue what these two companies are up to. Rumor has it that SK is working on getting Too Human finished, but we really don’t know. At the same time, Metroid Prime comes out next month (wow, it gives me some kind of fuzzy feeling inside to say that) and we haven’t gotten a single word on what they’ll be doing next. Raven Blade? Car Combat? “Unnamed football title”? Metroid Secondary or whatever? An all-new project? Your guess is as good as mine. Nintendo needs to pump some cash dollars into these companies and get them to actually release a game every once in a while. It’d be nice to know what that game is going to be, in the meanwhile. And lets not forget companies like Brownie Brown, Camelot, Hudsonsoft, NDCube, and so on. Where have they been lately?
So there you have it, from my brain, to the Internet, to your eyes, to your subconscious where all my ideas, thoughts, and opinions have been emblazoned into your skull in an evil experiment to control the ways the gaming community thinks. Questions? Comments? Death threats? Send them to carl@wiicafe.com for the answers you seek (I prefer death threats to come with a name, address, and phone number so I can notify the authorities with relative ease, if you don’t mind).
Carl DeNovio
