Over the last couple console cycles, Nintendo has made a concerted effort to improve their communication with their fans and the general public, at large. Sometimes those efforts fell short of the mark, however, more often than not the messaging was spot-on!
What is quite interesting is that despite the fact that the company has been so openly sharing pertinent information on a regular basis, there are those who are constantly unaware of a lot of what the company is doing and saying. Some of that comes down to willfully not hearing them, and other times it's just simply about not seeing/getting the information that is shared. At any rate, a lack of understanding is something that falls squarely on the shoulders of one of the two parties in this case.
There is a difference between the messaging being "wrong", and it not resonating with you. When that difference is misunderstood, we get situations where people claim the fault lies with the first party.
So, as Nintendo began their current transition into this new era for the company, they communicated a lot of what we are currently seeing come to fruition. Even as late-President Satoru Iwata issued statements in the year-year and a half prior to his passing, they couldn't have been more clear. Whether he was talking about the new corporate structure or the various experiences the company was creating. Maybe it's because I have been paying extra attention lately in order to share with you all, but even then, as I and others have been sharing this same info, there should not be as many people as far out of the loop as there are.
However, when Nintendo launched their previous home console, the Wii U, many people, inside and outside the core community of Nintendo gamers, felt the messaging was severely unclear as to what the console was. Even when the company made additional efforts to educate the masses, the old narrative stuck, that "no one knew what it was"--whether it was a new console or an add-on the the Wii.
Since then, the Wii U has virtually completed its life cycle at this point, and despite the obvious excitement generated by the initial reveal trailer and since, there are now those who are beginning their negative campaign (but that's for another post). In the meanwhile, the lack of understanding and clarity rears its head now and again. More than a year ago, Satoru Iwata shared some insights into the very plans the company has for their new Nintendo Account system, as well as My Nintendo. The company even expounded on it later, but somehow it is "news" to many that these programs are indeed not in their complete forms, currently.
Nintendo has now released their first three smartphone apps/games, with the intention of releasing more over coming months and even years (as we recently found out). The first three apps are each unique and are meant to serve a particular purpose, and are doing so in their own ways. Miitomo, Pokmon GO and Super Mario Run each function in different ways, and really have their very own aim. Of course, when we allow other people to define what success is to us, we will always find ourselves lacking. That's why it's important to know what it is that Nintendo was looking to do with their smartphone initiatives before declaring their "success" or "failure".
As the company is finally giving a few more details about their partnership with Universal Studios, we are again seeing that people are almost in shock as to what is in store. We are continually seeing the posts as if Nintendo never mentioned the partnership before. Even as this new information has been shared, the current details seem to be being neglected, now. Even though the accompanying press release laid out the fact that the first part of Nintendo's plans with Super Nintendo World will primarily focus on the Super Mario Bros. series initially, there are those who are looking at the artist rendering trying to find The Legend of Zelda and Metroid.
I think what I am ultimately getting at is, we all need to pay more attention to what is actually being shared. Nintendo is secretive about a lot of things, but when they do share information with us, it's usually enough to let us know a lot of what many think they must guess about.
I know not everyone seeks to know all aspects of even things that they show interest in, but for the information sharers, it seems a bit disingenuous to continually feign clueless with all things Nintendo. The company delivers Nintendo Direct presentations-people second-guess and claim the company doesn't listen to/care about their fans. They announce their new smartphone initiatives and DeNA partnership, along with confirmation of the Nintendo Switch, then-codenamed NX (with an explanation as to why it was being announced at the time), and people question why announce it at the time. Basically, no matter what Nintendo says, there seem to be people who simply did not hear it, and worse, choose not to do any type of due diligence before denouncing the company for what they themselves don't know.
I hope that you have enjoyed this read, and the rest from this year. Look forward to more in the New Year, and I look forward to your feedback. Until then, have a wonderful and safe New Year's Eve tomorrow, and see you in 2017!
As always, gaming is meant to be fun, so keep gaming!!