Soundwave said:
No, Nintendo still had very strong Western relationships up until the early 2000s. NOA probably had its peak autonomy in 2001 or so when they were allowed to market and sell things like Perfect Dark, Starcraft 64, and Conker's Bad Fur Day. It takes a nose dive after Iwata takes over as president, and as president the buck stops with him. None of that would've happened if he didn't want it to happen. Also Iwata pushing for Silicon Knights to make a Metal Gear remake instead of bringing something new to the table just perfectly illustrates what Nintendo thinks of Western studio development -- they're basically just cattle to work on Japanese IP that the Japanese teams are too busy to do themselves. Eternal Darkness was greenlit under Lincoln/Arakawa, but it never would have been under Iwata. It's the same philosphy they basically employ today ... Retro, Next Level Games, Monster Games are basically the only three studios in the West they will work with, and they're only allowed to work on Nintendo IP that Nintendo themselves is too busy to work on over in Japan. And only one game at a time. Note too when I say Iwata, I am referring to the general "Iwata-era" which also includes people like Miyamoto and Takeda taking on higher roles on Nintendo's board of directors. |
I have to say, I had previously been impressed by the way the OP on this thread was set out; it made me wonder whether I should be looking at things in a new light. But on further investigation, I have so far have found absolutely nothing on the net that supports your claims. In fact the only evidence I've found actually supports those posts debunking your OP.
Regarding everything bolded in the quotes above - these are very broad, sweeping statements with no evidence to back them up. Can you link to the source info to back up these statements?
And regarding the underlined, do I take this as you moving the goalposts since it has now been proved that many of the moves you cited as being down to Iwata, in fact happened before he became president?