IGN Nintendo minute, clears up Reggie's "third parties don't get it" quote

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Nintendo Minute: 12.05.08

Two Minutes for the price of one in this week's insightful update.

by Matt Casamassina

Longtime IGN readers may remember our Nintendo Minute series, in which we presented Nintendo of America's highest-ranking executives with one new question per week. After an extended hiatus, the feature returns complete with answers from the company's new guard. In the weeks and months to come, we will be posting new Minutes answered by Denise Kaigler, NOA's vice president of corporate affairs.

To learn more about Denise and her esteemed background, check out her IGN Stars profile.

If you have a question that you want Nintendo of America to address, please send it our way. Simply click right here.

 

IGN: Reggie recently said that he didn't think the majority of third-parties were bringing their best software to Wii. "I will be able to say our licensees 'get it' when their very best content is on our platform, and with very few exceptions, that's not the case." What's the hold-up, in your opinion?

Denise Kaigler: As with all good, juicy, seemingly provocative quotes, this one loses its bite courtesy of helpful Mr. Context. Reggie's entire quote did not run with the original story, so your question gives me a chance to clear a few things up. First, Reggie was asked how many quality third-party games were available for Wii. He cited a bunch of them like Shaun White's Snowboarding Road Trip, the Rayman Raving Rabbids series and the Tiger Woods games. The reporter then suggested that "core" games do not sell well on Wii, which Reggie flatly said was not true, pointing to Super Smash Bros. Brawl as a prime example.

What wasn't included in the quote was that Reggie thinks developers are starting to "get it" and that he thinks there are definitely some great third-party games available now, with others on the way. But he said he wishes licensees could have believed that their core games were right for Wii on launch day.

You ask: "What's the hold up?" Isn't that a better question for the third-party publishers? Do you think they have all maximized their potential on Wii? Why or why not?

We're all definitely looking forward to helping our partners find ways to make use of the motion-sensitive controls for Wii. With the Wii's install base of more than 13 million in the U.S. alone, developers are coming to the party. Wii MotionPlus is a great example. We have given out numerous developer kits and our licensing team tells me there is some terrific innovation being considered.

 

IGN: We've heard some rumors that Nintendo may be planning some major announcements for the hardcore beginning in January. Care to comment?

Denise Kaigler: Rumors, rumors. Always rumors. Who starts these anyway? And I love how it's phrased: "… rumors that Nintendo may be planning some major announcements." Not that we'll actually announce anything, just that there's a chance we might possibly be planning an announcement. Well, maybe I'll confirm that. We're always planning some announcement. Of course, there are also rumors that we may not be planning some announcements.

One thing I can tell you is that we'll soon release our big list of games planned for Q1. And maybe some more information about a certain club.

As far as major announcements for core gamers, our huge, amazing news for 2009 will of course be … oh, look at the time. These Nintendo Minutes really fly by, don't they?