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Forums - Nintendo Discussion - Radical Idea: Nintendo EPD spining-off internal development teams

Sarkar on 19 September 2019
TheMisterManGuy said:
Sarkar said:

That is not true. Nintendo EPD output lately has been abysmal. What have they made for the Switch? BOTW which was just a Wii U game delayed for their next system. Mario Odyssey, Mario Maker 2 and Splatoon 2. Those are the only well received ones barring those they’ve made Arms, 1-2 Switch, Labo. That’s it. 

With 11 teams and given how small scale most of Nintendo’s games are we should expect a lot more. I mean these guys aren’t making huge games with cutting edge visuals and detail that they need 3-5 years to put out a game.

You're also forgetting Sushi Striker (Which is an EPD creation co-developed with indieszero), and Animal Crossing New Horizons, as well as Ring Fit Adventure. 

You have to remember that Nintendo typically focuses of the first 2-3 years of a console's life for the first wave of software for a new system, that plus the fact that most of their staff was consumed by BotW at that time, so it often takes a while for new projects to start up after such a big release. 

Also Nintendo's internal teams have never been the majority of the company's yearly output, even before the Switch, EAD and SPD together have only ever put out 4-5 games a year. Besides, EPD doesn't just do internal R&D, they also have oversight of all of Nintendo's externally developed games too, so they have more responsibilities beyond just making the next Mario and Zelda.

As far as I remember Nintendo used to make not only mainline Mario and Zelda games but also, Mario Kart, Smash Bros, Pikmin, etc. as well.

Now it's just the mainline Mario/Zelda and Splatoon. along with some low effort gimmick shit like Labo, 1-2 Switch and the Ring thing. These are more of toys rather than Videogames anyway though so not sure if it's worth bringing them up. 

So yeah, the assertion that Nintendo's internal output is the best it has been both quantity and quality wise is completely false. This decade has actually been Nintendo's weakest ever both in quantity and quality. 



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TheMisterManGuy on 20 September 2019
Sarkar said:

As far as I remember Nintendo used to make not only mainline Mario and Zelda games but also, Mario Kart, Smash Bros, Pikmin, etc. as well.

Now it's just the mainline Mario/Zelda and Splatoon. along with some low effort gimmick shit like Labo, 1-2 Switch and the Ring thing. These are more of toys rather than Videogames anyway though so not sure if it's worth bringing them up. 

So yeah, the assertion that Nintendo's internal output is the best it has been both quantity and quality wise is completely false. This decade has actually been Nintendo's weakest ever both in quantity and quality. 

"Low effort gimmick shit" is still way better than the rehashed Wii sequels and painful droughts you got on the Wii U. Besides, there's still ARMS, Splatoon, Animal Crossing, Sushi Striker, among others. I'll even count external games like Fire Emblem, And Smash Bros. Too since they still have to go through EPD anyway.

Basically, all of Nintendo's series haven't gone anywhere with the Switch. The console already has more and better first party games in 3 years than the Wii U had in it's entire lifetime. You're assessment that their output is weak with the Switch is blatantly false.



Sarkar on 20 September 2019
TheMisterManGuy said:
Sarkar said:

As far as I remember Nintendo used to make not only mainline Mario and Zelda games but also, Mario Kart, Smash Bros, Pikmin, etc. as well.

Now it's just the mainline Mario/Zelda and Splatoon. along with some low effort gimmick shit like Labo, 1-2 Switch and the Ring thing. These are more of toys rather than Videogames anyway though so not sure if it's worth bringing them up. 

So yeah, the assertion that Nintendo's internal output is the best it has been both quantity and quality wise is completely false. This decade has actually been Nintendo's weakest ever both in quantity and quality. 

"Low effort gimmick shit" is still way better than the rehashed Wii sequels and painful droughts you got on the Wii U. Besides, there's still ARMS, Splatoon, Animal Crossing, Sushi Striker, among others. I'll even count external games like Fire Emblem, And Smash Bros. Too since they still have to go through EPD anyway.

Basically, all of Nintendo's series haven't gone anywhere with the Switch. The console already has more and better first party games in 3 years than the Wii U had in it's entire lifetime. You're assessment that their output is weak with the Switch is blatantly false.

Maybe I need to do a bit more research. My initial impression is that Nintendo is the puts out the most critically successful games compared to other publishers, and I think that's the general consensus on things. 

Perhaps I'll do a topic at the end of the year see how they stack up against other big publishers for this decade of the 2010s. Although it's kinda tricky with a lot of publishers dipping their toes in funding a little indie game here and there which can't in good faith be placed along side AAA titles. Maybe I'll only account for games that were released physically to keep things fair.