Nintendo Europe in fresh ‘maybe we will, maybe we won’t’ shocker
Animal Crossing: do you need it? Do you really care?
According to a recent interview with Nintendo Europe’s Marko Hein, Animal Crossing, the life-sucking pseudo RPG, is “in discussion” and has not been blackballed outright.
Speaking to respected UK site C&VG, Hein, when asked about the possibility of bringing Animal Crossing to our shores, said, “I cannot confirm or deny anything at this point, but it's probably the most difficult title we've ever had to deal with internally in Nintendo's history. We have to ask ourselves is it a casual game, is it a niche game, is it a mass market game? Then on the other hand the localisation issues are enormous. In terms of screen text size, which is a huge issue for us in Europe - we have to think about multiple language conversions, huge costs and huge manpower to make it happen. Then there's having a closer look at Animal Crossing - you have to look at all the dates, Thanksgiving for instance: what does it mean for Germany? What does it mean for Italy? What does it mean for Spain? At the end of the day we have to calculate very carefully whether we can cover the costs in terms of investment. Another important point is that the game has to come with an e-Reader in order to enjoy the full gameplay. So it's still in discussion, we're still calculating, and we'll make an announcement at the right time.”
Undeniably intriguing. An announcement at the right time suggests to us, Animal Crossing 2, the game we revealed last year as being the key to Nintendo’s online strategy.
And in closing, Nintendo fanboys of Europe, if Animal Crossing does come out, you had better buy it after two years of moaning.
We’ll bring you any announcement as it breaks.
Speaking to respected UK site C&VG, Hein, when asked about the possibility of bringing Animal Crossing to our shores, said, “I cannot confirm or deny anything at this point, but it's probably the most difficult title we've ever had to deal with internally in Nintendo's history. We have to ask ourselves is it a casual game, is it a niche game, is it a mass market game? Then on the other hand the localisation issues are enormous. In terms of screen text size, which is a huge issue for us in Europe - we have to think about multiple language conversions, huge costs and huge manpower to make it happen. Then there's having a closer look at Animal Crossing - you have to look at all the dates, Thanksgiving for instance: what does it mean for Germany? What does it mean for Italy? What does it mean for Spain? At the end of the day we have to calculate very carefully whether we can cover the costs in terms of investment. Another important point is that the game has to come with an e-Reader in order to enjoy the full gameplay. So it's still in discussion, we're still calculating, and we'll make an announcement at the right time.”
Undeniably intriguing. An announcement at the right time suggests to us, Animal Crossing 2, the game we revealed last year as being the key to Nintendo’s online strategy.
And in closing, Nintendo fanboys of Europe, if Animal Crossing does come out, you had better buy it after two years of moaning.
We’ll bring you any announcement as it breaks.
Read More Like This