Nintendo's Reggielution Will Not Be Televised

Thanks to Gaming Age forum regulars for pointing to a Reveries.com profile of Nintendo's chief marketing officer Reggie Fils-Aime, subject of E3 adulation for his appearance at Nintendo's press conference. The article argues enthusiastically: "Reggie's high-voltage verbs sent shockwaves of anticipation -- and adulation -- through the Nintendo community", and Fils-Aime explains his own view of why people enjoyed his appearance: "They were proud -- they were happy for someone like myself to come in and articulate a very aggressive attitude, and frankly, have the games and the innovations to back it up. That's what motivated the response that we've seen on all these websites and that part has truly been fantastic."

Comments

Overly active marketing guy from Japanese Company.

[Alkaiser]

When was the last time we saw this?

Oh yeah, it was the Director of Sega right before the Dreamcast launched.

Yeah...he was great. Haven't seen him around so much since he, you know...get demoted into oblivion, his company became the 3rd wheel in a 2 console industry, and eventually got bought out by a competitor...

You know...maybe history doesn't always repeat itself and maybe people learn from other people's mistakes sometimes...

Only Nintendo...

[urbaer]

...could state "the consumer target for Nintendo DS to be slightly older, and by that I mean a core audience of 18-25".

I honestly see thier problems at the younger (12-18)level. It seems strange that Nintendo fanboys who are 25+ (of which I am one) enjoy the "kiddie" games, while the younger generation of gamers (12-18) go in for "adult" games (like GTA... which I enjoy as well).

Is this purely a case of children growing up faster now than in the 80s?

Re:Only Nintendo...

[DeepHurtn!]

Is this purely a case of children growing up faster now than in the 80s?

No, I think it is a case of many people misunderstanding the word "mature." Only dumb and immature 13 year old boys -- or people who think like them -- think that slapping some tits, guns, and strong language onto an otherwise mediocre and unimaginative game (or movie, book, comic, etc) makes it "mature." Likewise, the absence of those elements by no means makes it immature.

Re:Only Nintendo...

[Nossie]

I think you could almost argue that it's more the inability of children these days to understand what true gameplay really is.

The games we grew up with on the SNES and in the arcades are totally different from the ones the kids are growing up with now. Too much emphasis is on the graphics (DOOM3 perfect example) and the graphics are the only thing selling most of these games.

Most kids now, don't have the attention spam to complete the 96+ levels of Mario and have more money to spend on new games every fortnight than to actually complete the games they already have.

I remember the playground fights between the nintendo and megadrive/genesis fanboys... I always felt that although Nintendo paid more attention to the small details in games, SEGA sold most of theirs simply because they were adult orientated. It pissed me off that Mortal Kombat on the SNES had grey blood... because Nintendo refused to unleash the 'realism' to their followers.

Being a huge Zelda fam, I was very disappointed to see the kiddy style cell shading in The Wind Waker... but it didnt stop me appreciating the time spent creating what I began to realise was a masterpiece in itself. Nintendo started targetting the children... and not realising that times have changed since my schoolroom arguments. Nintendo used to own the kids market and they've just recently realised that is not the case anymore.

With Doom 3 I can understand that ID's game is more a technology preview than anything else (to sell the engine rather than the game itself) I respect that. I also respect the GTA series of games and remember that when they almost banned the original GTA -- I wanted it more !!

Too many games now are selling for their adult nature and realism alone with little attention paid to "will they go back once its completed?"

Nintendo were VERY lucky this time around that nobody figured out how to crack their piracy prevention mechanisms. Nintendo have been the only ones to truely profit from this generation of gaming and for that reason alone will live to fight another day.

I was relieved to watch the E3 video with reggie and the new Zelda.. Nintendo *NEEDED* the new 'adult' look to survive into the future and at E3 they proved (to me atleast) that they were steering the corporation into a new era. Reggie did an amazing job of shocking the gamers into how series Nintendo were about this; and to back it up he showed game after game that the audience had been waiting for. (Zelda! Zelda! Zelda!)

Remember his speech regarding how much Nintendo had innovated the console market? The Nintendo DS is that same innovation... It might not be the most advanced thing in the world but *ATLEAST* Nintendo is willing to take the risk of bringing out something new and not just churning out the same old blood fest, high polygon, particle systems that the gaming community is so used to. Donkey Konga I find a bit silly (like the PS dance mats) but again its innovating the market and I cant grudge them for that.

The next generation will be very interesting for me to see what happens.. Will Sony still rock the arena? Will Microsoft sell a system they can actually profit from? Will the younger audience appreciate Nintendo one more?

I feel the reason the GBA has sold so well is because it cant rely on graphics to push the games... which is ALSO why the older generation of gamers are the ones that play them the most...

Dont get me wrong, I loved the GTA series... I plan on playing Doom 3 one way or another (But it aint worth my money) I just value the gameplay and the 2D artists far more these days than the adult rating and the polygon count.

I personally wish Nintendo (like ALL current game publishers) would stop selling updated games from the past... Zelda on the GBA is an amazing game, but I completed it 7 times on the SNES, why do I want to do it again? The same with the Super Mario s

Re:Only Nintendo...

[PainKilleR-CE]

I think you could almost argue that it's more the inability of children these days to understand what true gameplay really is.

It's neither. It's simply a matter of kids trying to look cool to their friends. When a kid reaches a certain age, he's afraid that his friends will think he's a wuss because he's playing Animal Crossing or Mario Sunshine, and they won't think he's cool if he hasn't played 3000+ hours of GTA. There's nothing new about this, either, except perhaps if you were a teenager when Atari was your major source of video game entertainment at home. It's one of the reasons the Sega Genesis did so well, and is also one of the reasons the PlayStation took over the market.

The games we grew up with on the SNES and in the arcades are totally different from the ones the kids are growing up with now. Too much emphasis is on the graphics (DOOM3 perfect example) and the graphics are the only thing selling most of these games.

Umm... never mind that THE major selling point of consoles in the 16-bit era was the 16-bit graphics. The SNES and the arcade machines were part of the lock-step march of graphics technology that continues to this day. The difference today is that the marketing droids know that they won't be able to market the 256-bit console, because the next one just might still use 256-bit graphics chips, and someone will mention that their CPU is only a 32 or 64 bit chip.

Most kids now, don't have the attention spam to complete the 96+ levels of Mario and have more money to spend on new games every fortnight than to actually complete the games they already have.

We all likely completed more games as a kid than we possibly can now, yet I have far more games than I did as a kid, and more games than any kid I know, despite the fact that most of the kids I know get new games far more often than I did as a kid. As for completing Mario, we all learned the shortcuts on SMB1 and could run through that game faster than watching the average movie. From the SNES onward you didn't even have to do it in one sitting.

I remember the playground fights between the nintendo and megadrive/genesis fanboys... I always felt that although Nintendo paid more attention to the small details in games, SEGA sold most of theirs simply because they were adult orientated. It pissed me off that Mortal Kombat on the SNES had grey blood... because Nintendo refused to unleash the 'realism' to their followers.

Yet again, adult-oriented proved to mean "older kids will really want this because it's 'mature'".

Being a huge Zelda fam, I was very disappointed to see the kiddy style cell shading in The Wind Waker... but it didnt stop me appreciating the time spent creating what I began to realise was a masterpiece in itself. Nintendo started targetting the children... and not realising that times have changed since my schoolroom arguments. Nintendo used to own the kids market and they've just recently realised that is not the case anymore.

The only thing that's changed with time is that the companies making the "adult" consoles aren't firmly rooted in the arcades. Otherwise, the schoolroom arguments are still the same, and Nintendo's still targeting the same audience.

With Doom 3 I can understand that ID's game is more a technology preview than anything else (to sell the engine rather than the game itself) I respect that. I also respect the GTA series of games and remember that when they almost banned the original GTA -- I wanted it more !!

The further I go the more I realize that you simply are caught between nostalgia and the need for better graphics and more gore, despite trying to resist it in favour of the game-play of the older games. As for Doom 3, from what I've played (only a few hours), the game wouldn't have been possible on previous 3D technology, yet it still brings out at least some of the feel of the original game (which relied heavily on advanced 2D technology). Sometimes we have to p

Wow...

[damnal]

Nintendo could of used this guy's standards and tactics well before the launch of the poor ole GameCube. That kind of attitude, and confidence in a new system would probably be nearly enough to cause people to buy it.

Article Repost in case of slashdotting

[cgenman]

What's going to motivate my kids to play more games," says Reggie, "are things like [marketspeak] and [marketspeak] and [marketspeak]."

Actually, what Reggie said was this: [marketspeak]

Yes, Reggie really did say that, at the Electronic Entertainment Exposition (a.k.a. E3) in May, as he introduced Nintendo's new game platform -- an innovative dual-screen, wireless handheld, code-named Nintendo DS, and scheduled to hit stores in time for the holidays.

Reggie's high-voltage verbs sent shockwaves of anticipation -- and adulation -- through the Nintendo community. You know, all he really meant was [marketspeak]. But the way he said it -- man-oh-man-- internet bulletin boards and chat rooms just went bonkers. "Reggie is the [marketspeak]!" posted one true believer. Another wrote: [marketspeak].

Feeling the itch to get back to his roots in consumer marketing, Reggie became Nintendo's chief marketing officer last November. "For me," says Reggie, "the opportunity here at Nintendo really was to get back to my market speak, apply what I've done in the teen market speaking space for the last ten, twelve years and really speak the market."

Why did you threaten to kick asses and take names at the E3 conference? You were just joking, right?

No, I actually wasn't joking. [he was joking]

Is Nintendo going to fail?

Nintendo is the greatest company ever!

is the DS going to fail?

No Nintendo product has ever failed

What about the Virtual Boy?

Enough! This interview is over!

Women want Metroid?

[xenocide2]

Reggie claims Metroid is highly appealing to women gamers, but does anyone have any evidence to back that up? Its the first time I've heard any such claim, and the game doesn't sound nessecarily supportive of such a claim.

I mean, the traditional Metroid experience is a lonely and desolate affair. The only thing about it that caters to women is the fact that Samus is a woman, a plot element mostly obscured by the powersuit that enables her to complete missions. Its certainly a step up from the pink plastic approach that patronizes women, but its hardly any deep journey into the female psyche that makes a lasting connection.

Re:Overly active marketing guy from Japanese Compa

[Lord_Dweomer]

What exactly would you prefer he do? He's not going to just be ho-hum about his company or his products. And he had the tech and innovation to back it up. I fail to see what the problem with this is.

You can't hate someone just because he's in marketing, he's got a job to do, which is get people excited about the company and its products, and it seems like he did a good job without relying too much on plain hype. They actually have the crap they're pushing and it seems like it will be as good if not better than they say.