n37Radio has conducted an interview with Jeffrey Kalles. Jeff was formerly an associate producer at Nintendo of America where he assisted with the release of titles including Mario vs. Donkey Kong and 1080 Avalanche. He speaks about his background at length and also touches on what life was like within the walls of Nintendo of America. Below is a small excerpt where Jeff explains how NoA's influence has diminished over the years. If you have time, be sure to read the full interview here.
Jonathan How influential do you think Nintendo of America is over Nintendo as a company?
Jeff Minimal.
Jonathan Minimal.
Jeff Minimal. Which is apart of the reason I left. They used to have a lot more,
Jonathan So it started off great
Jeff But to be honest, my understanding is that Donkey Kong Country was the first time that Nintendo of America, as a subsidiary, shown actual profitability, was no longer a real drain, and wasnt costing NCL any money. When I say NCL, thats what I mean, Nintendo Corporation Limited. I forget sometimes that people dont know the acronyms Im used to. Once that started happening, as each hardware launch progressed, 64 to Game Cube, NCL exerted more and more control and more and more authority over what we were allowed to do, what was approved, what wasnt approved. So as the North American market became more important, the bottom line of the company, NCL asserted more control. Whether that was the right course of action or the wrong course of action, it was stifling at times.
Jonathan Have you ever been frustrated by a decision handed down some the Japanese Headquarters?
Jeff Yeah, sometimes.
Jonathan Can you give any instances?
Jeff Yeah. I was working on a game that was pretty much centered on North American audiences; theres no secret that theres a big difference in the type of games the two audiences like, Western vs. Eastern, and this game was really aimed at a Western market, but NCL came in, changed the direction of the game pretty drastically so that it would appeal more to both markets so they could release it in both markets so it would have the broadest range of acceptability, but then they ended up not releasing it in Japan. So all that wasted effort so not only does it not do well in the US, because its too changed, its been changed too much, but they dont even bother to release it in the East, so it really didnt give that game the shot that it deserved if we had kept it centered on Western Development.