Nintendo\u2019s reliance on sequels and long-standing franchises has been questioned by fans in recent years, but a former developer suggests the approach is intentional.<\/p>\n
In an interview with Bloomberg, former Nintendo software developer Ken Watanabe explained that the company only creates new intellectual properties when required by gameplay innovation.<\/p>\n
\u201cNew franchises haven\u2019t come out simply because there\u2019s no real need to make them,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen Nintendo wants to do something new, it\u2019s basically about the gameplay mechanics first \u2014 about creating a new way to play. As for the skin or the wrapper, they don\u2019t really fuss over it. They just pick whatever fits that new gameplay best.\u201d<\/p>\n
This philosophy has been reflected in the company\u2019s recent output. While the Nintendo Switch era introduced Splatoon in 2015 and ARMS in 2017, both with different levels of success, most upcoming titles for the Switch 2 centre on established characters such as Mario, Donkey Kong, and Kirby.<\/p>\n
Splatoon itself was cited as an example of how gameplay can lead to the development of a new franchise. According to Watanabe, the game initially used familiar Nintendo characters, but the squid-like Inklings were later introduced as they better conveyed the mechanics without lengthy explanation.<\/p>\n
The perspective aligns with comments from Shinichiro Tamaki, a former Nintendo hardware planner, who said the company prioritises clarity in player experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cNintendo strongly believes communication with players should happen only through the product itself,\u201d Tamaki explained.<\/p>\n
The strategy suggests that Nintendo\u2019s creation of new franchises will remain rare, with new IPs appearing only when gameplay demands it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nintendo\u2019s reliance on sequels and long-standing franchises has been questioned by fans in recent years, but a former…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9653,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[12116,12121,12117,12122,12120,111,139,12113,12112,12119,69,12118,12115,12114,145],"class_list":["post-9652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-arms","tag-donkey-kong","tag-ken-watanabe","tag-kirby","tag-mario","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nintendo-franchises","tag-nintendo-new-ip","tag-nintendo-strategy","tag-nz","tag-shinichiro-tamaki","tag-splatoon","tag-switch-2","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9652"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9652\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}