N-Sider: Speaking of second and third parties, what is Retro up to?
Ryan: You'll have to check with Retro on that.
N-Sider: Well, we might just do that.
Ryan: You should (laughter).
N-Sider: Microsoft has struck a nice balance between offerings for core gamers and families. What makes you think that long time gamers are interested in Nintendo's announced offerings versus Microsoft's? What's to stop gamers from going to Microsoft, from the Wii, now that they've been introduced to gaming?
Ryan: (long pause) That's a good question. I would say that Nintendo... there's a lot of titles out there, over 250 of them, which is a very strong software lineup to have this far along in the typical product life-cycle of a hardware system. What Nintendo will do to keep casual gamers committed to our system, is we'll continue to launch software that will entice them, enrich them and provide them either the individual experiences that they're looking for or something that's more of a social nature.
We are targeting the family, we're targeting the casual gamers, because we know that we can make the experience easy enough for them to be a part of what the video game industry has to offer. A lot of titles out there are very pick-up-and-play but difficult to master and that accessibility factor of making games in a way that can be played by anyone—that will keep people on our side.
If our competitors decide to start offering titles that are in the same genre of casual gaming, it's great... we take that almost as a compliment that we've been able to do something that's been noticed and embraced by the industry. Imitation is a very high form of flattery.
N-Sider: We're going to go to a few of the game-related questions. Animal Crossing seems to look and play almost identically to every iteration of the series so far. It's got the identical art style. What does the Wii version offer us that the DS version doesn't? Is there anything more to it? And will there be a better online experience? On the DS version, when you were online with others, if one person got disconnected, everyone was forced to reset. So yeah, it is kind of looking and feeling like it's been the same thing for the past ten years.
Ryan: Well, I have a few different answers to that question. Feel free to step in.
N-Sider: Alright.
Ryan: Animal Crossing: City Folk does look and feel a lot like the other Animal Crossing titles out there, but Nintendo sees that as a positive. There's a huge Animal Crossing following out there, so keeping it similar, but putting it on the Wii platform is a way to bring back the familiar to that fan.
Your question was interesting, because you said that it looks and plays almost identical to the other games, but what you didn't say is that is that it doesn't sound the same, because the Wii Speak microphone is really a huge difference. So, putting the microphone on top of the sensor bar allows rooms to communicate with other rooms and that wasn't really offered before, this real-time spoken communication.
N-Sider: But is there only one person playing at a time? Can you put four people in the same room with four controllers and then go online? Because it seems kind of weird again with the microphone—what if some kid is playing the game and their angry mother storms in and says "you're not supposed to be playing the game!" and everyone hears it? What's the point of having a room experience if only one person is really playing the game?
Ryan: Well, if the angry mom comes in the room when the mic is on, then yes, there is nothing to filter out the angry mom. Maybe you'll have to hear about that from your friends later. It is one player alternating, so you can have multiple people in the town, which is really great for the essence of community.
So, even if I'm not playing, I feel engaged by playing and talking to people. And the extension to how that could be used with other games is pretty exciting.
N-Sider: For sure, but it just seemed a little offsetting that you were focusing on bringing multiple in, when there's still only one person playing. A lot of people had bigger hopes—you know, that there would be a much larger community within the local game that you could bring online at the same time. So far, it just seems like it's the same old thing.
Granted, there is a huge following, but our initial reaction was: "What's different about this from the DS version, aside from the microphone?"
Ryan: There are other things that are different, but not radically different. It's more the additions that have been made to what was already known to be qualities of the game that the audience really loved.
For instance, the customization within Animal Crossing: City Folk is very similar. You can choose your t-shirt, your furniture... but we've added different things that you can buy too. In this version, you can actually change your shoes. For someone who doesn't really enjoy customization in video games, that may not be a big deal, but someone who's always wanted to change their shoes, well now, in Animal Crossing: City Folk, you can do that. So that's not radically different, but it's an addition.
Now, when you go into the city—and there's tons of experiences you can do there, and we're not showing them all—you can go to Shampoodle's Hair Salon and change your hair style. That was offered before, but now you can get a makeover and get a mask of your Mii character and walk around as your Mii.
I also really like the DS transferability. You can bring your catalog from the DS. You still have to start with the mortgage and earn bells, but anything that you've unlocked, you can port over. Of course, the calendar has also always played a big role. Here in the United States, the 4th of July is a very special day. Vice-versa, if you visit someone in Japan, they have different holidays, so you can experience their holidays.
N-Sider: Animal Crossing aside, the Virtual Console service has been pretty terrible for the last several months—why aren't we seeing better games for it during Nintendo's completely barren release schedule? On the other side of that coin, WiiWare was championed as a refuge and home for new original content, but most of the games seem very throwaway compared to some of the excellent offerings on PSN (Sony's download service) and the XBox Live Arcade. Where's Earthbound? Iwata talked about this when they announced Virtual Console three years ago.
Ryan: VC and WiiWare aren't going anywhere. Nintendo as you've noticed, with how things are changing, we're enhancing the experience with our platform, especially with what we've talked about. Nintendo is continuously able to deliver VC and WiiWare games—we've been doing it on a weekly basis. Earthbound may not be there, but be patient, because as you'll see, something's coming. And every now and then, because everyone has a different interest, something pops up that people have been thirsty for.
The great thing about Virtual Console is that everything's a surprise. There's no three month or six month release list. You've got to check on Mondays to see what games come out. Patience is key and there are no signs of stopping.
N-Sider: Oh, sure. It's just that we've noticed that things have trickled down to one or two releases a week.
Ryan: One thing is that Nintendo doesn't want to put out everything that's great, or considered great, out there all at once. Wii isn't going anywhere anytime soon, so we're saving some good stuff for the right time period. So, just be patient. We're going to continue to put stuff out on Mondays. Whether we're going to move from one to two releases a week back to three is something that's undetermined right now. Those are decisions made really by Japan.
As for the WiiWare question, Nintendo really hasn't talked a lot to the industry about WiiWare. We made it very apparent that we were doing this, and it's a great way to bring developers and consumers closer together and really provide the opportunity for developers to try things out for almost next to nothing, so people can try their games and there can be an opportunity for immediate feedback on things before huge budgets are spent on launching a big title. Or maybe developers just want to provide something of an experience that someone's always wanted to do but felt that a fully developed game wasn't required, or the preferred way to launch the title.
Everybody's opinions on WiiWare are what they are, but you have to give it a chance to really be able to deliver experiences that are going to please everyone.
N-Sider: We've had a lot of comments on our forums about how there's no demo functionality on WiiWare. There's a lot of apprehensiveness about spending five to seven dollars on something you may never play again.
Ryan: Nintendo knows that WiiWare is something new for us and we are soliciting feedback and paying attention to what's being said about it. WiiWare allows for more creative risks, and you bring up an interesting point about there being no demos—but essentially those games could end up being fully published titles, as they act as demos. The user is free to choose whether they want to use Wii Points to give the game a try.
N-Sider: Places like CNN picked up on the Balance Board and Wii Fit last year almost immediately, yet the mainstream media has run virtually nothing about Wii Music. Do you think people will understand what this product is? As opposed to something accessible and established like Rock Band or Guitar Hero?
Ryan: Wii Music is something that needs to be played to be understood. It shouldn't really be compared to anything, but that's what E3 is for, and that's why with this format that we have at E3, it's a lot more personal and allows a lot more time for people to try and is really a big opportunity for us to get the message out about what Wii Music is all about.
It really needs to be played to understand how you can add your own creativity and interpretations to music, because what the industry and what gamers are used to is having to hit notes in an exact sequence in order to get points and get penalized if you don't. The difference with Wii Music is that you don't get penalized and you get to play it any way you want.
So, the best way to get that message across is to get people to see what was announced by watching the press briefing, because that really gets the message across. If you don't see it or play it, it may take a little time for the mainstream media to pick it up, but if anything, we can be patient, because this title is coming out for this holiday. The news will definitely filter out.
Thanks to Matt Ryan and our friends at Nintendo for the interview, and keep checking in for more E3 information throughout the week!
Ryan: You'll have to check with Retro on that.
N-Sider: Well, we might just do that.
Ryan: You should (laughter).
N-Sider: Microsoft has struck a nice balance between offerings for core gamers and families. What makes you think that long time gamers are interested in Nintendo's announced offerings versus Microsoft's? What's to stop gamers from going to Microsoft, from the Wii, now that they've been introduced to gaming?
Ryan: (long pause) That's a good question. I would say that Nintendo... there's a lot of titles out there, over 250 of them, which is a very strong software lineup to have this far along in the typical product life-cycle of a hardware system. What Nintendo will do to keep casual gamers committed to our system, is we'll continue to launch software that will entice them, enrich them and provide them either the individual experiences that they're looking for or something that's more of a social nature.
We are targeting the family, we're targeting the casual gamers, because we know that we can make the experience easy enough for them to be a part of what the video game industry has to offer. A lot of titles out there are very pick-up-and-play but difficult to master and that accessibility factor of making games in a way that can be played by anyone—that will keep people on our side.
If our competitors decide to start offering titles that are in the same genre of casual gaming, it's great... we take that almost as a compliment that we've been able to do something that's been noticed and embraced by the industry. Imitation is a very high form of flattery.
N-Sider: We're going to go to a few of the game-related questions. Animal Crossing seems to look and play almost identically to every iteration of the series so far. It's got the identical art style. What does the Wii version offer us that the DS version doesn't? Is there anything more to it? And will there be a better online experience? On the DS version, when you were online with others, if one person got disconnected, everyone was forced to reset. So yeah, it is kind of looking and feeling like it's been the same thing for the past ten years.
Ryan: Well, I have a few different answers to that question. Feel free to step in.
N-Sider: Alright.
Ryan: Animal Crossing: City Folk does look and feel a lot like the other Animal Crossing titles out there, but Nintendo sees that as a positive. There's a huge Animal Crossing following out there, so keeping it similar, but putting it on the Wii platform is a way to bring back the familiar to that fan.
Your question was interesting, because you said that it looks and plays almost identical to the other games, but what you didn't say is that is that it doesn't sound the same, because the Wii Speak microphone is really a huge difference. So, putting the microphone on top of the sensor bar allows rooms to communicate with other rooms and that wasn't really offered before, this real-time spoken communication.
N-Sider: But is there only one person playing at a time? Can you put four people in the same room with four controllers and then go online? Because it seems kind of weird again with the microphone—what if some kid is playing the game and their angry mother storms in and says "you're not supposed to be playing the game!" and everyone hears it? What's the point of having a room experience if only one person is really playing the game?
Ryan: Well, if the angry mom comes in the room when the mic is on, then yes, there is nothing to filter out the angry mom. Maybe you'll have to hear about that from your friends later. It is one player alternating, so you can have multiple people in the town, which is really great for the essence of community.
So, even if I'm not playing, I feel engaged by playing and talking to people. And the extension to how that could be used with other games is pretty exciting.
N-Sider: For sure, but it just seemed a little offsetting that you were focusing on bringing multiple in, when there's still only one person playing. A lot of people had bigger hopes—you know, that there would be a much larger community within the local game that you could bring online at the same time. So far, it just seems like it's the same old thing.
Granted, there is a huge following, but our initial reaction was: "What's different about this from the DS version, aside from the microphone?"
Ryan: There are other things that are different, but not radically different. It's more the additions that have been made to what was already known to be qualities of the game that the audience really loved.
For instance, the customization within Animal Crossing: City Folk is very similar. You can choose your t-shirt, your furniture... but we've added different things that you can buy too. In this version, you can actually change your shoes. For someone who doesn't really enjoy customization in video games, that may not be a big deal, but someone who's always wanted to change their shoes, well now, in Animal Crossing: City Folk, you can do that. So that's not radically different, but it's an addition.
Now, when you go into the city—and there's tons of experiences you can do there, and we're not showing them all—you can go to Shampoodle's Hair Salon and change your hair style. That was offered before, but now you can get a makeover and get a mask of your Mii character and walk around as your Mii.
I also really like the DS transferability. You can bring your catalog from the DS. You still have to start with the mortgage and earn bells, but anything that you've unlocked, you can port over. Of course, the calendar has also always played a big role. Here in the United States, the 4th of July is a very special day. Vice-versa, if you visit someone in Japan, they have different holidays, so you can experience their holidays.
N-Sider: Animal Crossing aside, the Virtual Console service has been pretty terrible for the last several months—why aren't we seeing better games for it during Nintendo's completely barren release schedule? On the other side of that coin, WiiWare was championed as a refuge and home for new original content, but most of the games seem very throwaway compared to some of the excellent offerings on PSN (Sony's download service) and the XBox Live Arcade. Where's Earthbound? Iwata talked about this when they announced Virtual Console three years ago.
Ryan: VC and WiiWare aren't going anywhere. Nintendo as you've noticed, with how things are changing, we're enhancing the experience with our platform, especially with what we've talked about. Nintendo is continuously able to deliver VC and WiiWare games—we've been doing it on a weekly basis. Earthbound may not be there, but be patient, because as you'll see, something's coming. And every now and then, because everyone has a different interest, something pops up that people have been thirsty for.
The great thing about Virtual Console is that everything's a surprise. There's no three month or six month release list. You've got to check on Mondays to see what games come out. Patience is key and there are no signs of stopping.
N-Sider: Oh, sure. It's just that we've noticed that things have trickled down to one or two releases a week.
Ryan: One thing is that Nintendo doesn't want to put out everything that's great, or considered great, out there all at once. Wii isn't going anywhere anytime soon, so we're saving some good stuff for the right time period. So, just be patient. We're going to continue to put stuff out on Mondays. Whether we're going to move from one to two releases a week back to three is something that's undetermined right now. Those are decisions made really by Japan.
As for the WiiWare question, Nintendo really hasn't talked a lot to the industry about WiiWare. We made it very apparent that we were doing this, and it's a great way to bring developers and consumers closer together and really provide the opportunity for developers to try things out for almost next to nothing, so people can try their games and there can be an opportunity for immediate feedback on things before huge budgets are spent on launching a big title. Or maybe developers just want to provide something of an experience that someone's always wanted to do but felt that a fully developed game wasn't required, or the preferred way to launch the title.
Everybody's opinions on WiiWare are what they are, but you have to give it a chance to really be able to deliver experiences that are going to please everyone.
N-Sider: We've had a lot of comments on our forums about how there's no demo functionality on WiiWare. There's a lot of apprehensiveness about spending five to seven dollars on something you may never play again.
Ryan: Nintendo knows that WiiWare is something new for us and we are soliciting feedback and paying attention to what's being said about it. WiiWare allows for more creative risks, and you bring up an interesting point about there being no demos—but essentially those games could end up being fully published titles, as they act as demos. The user is free to choose whether they want to use Wii Points to give the game a try.
N-Sider: Places like CNN picked up on the Balance Board and Wii Fit last year almost immediately, yet the mainstream media has run virtually nothing about Wii Music. Do you think people will understand what this product is? As opposed to something accessible and established like Rock Band or Guitar Hero?
Ryan: Wii Music is something that needs to be played to be understood. It shouldn't really be compared to anything, but that's what E3 is for, and that's why with this format that we have at E3, it's a lot more personal and allows a lot more time for people to try and is really a big opportunity for us to get the message out about what Wii Music is all about.
It really needs to be played to understand how you can add your own creativity and interpretations to music, because what the industry and what gamers are used to is having to hit notes in an exact sequence in order to get points and get penalized if you don't. The difference with Wii Music is that you don't get penalized and you get to play it any way you want.
So, the best way to get that message across is to get people to see what was announced by watching the press briefing, because that really gets the message across. If you don't see it or play it, it may take a little time for the mainstream media to pick it up, but if anything, we can be patient, because this title is coming out for this holiday. The news will definitely filter out.
Thanks to Matt Ryan and our friends at Nintendo for the interview, and keep checking in for more E3 information throughout the week!