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Wednesday, January 8, 2020

The Gaming Industry is Already “Noticed”, Furukawa...

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - I have a thought about writing “notice me, Google senpai!” but I don't endorse it.

Recently, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa had an interview with prominent Japanese business media outlet Nikkei. Obviously, it occurred in Japanese, so I need to rely on other people's translations to know what it said. A lot of outlets are focusing on bland comments Furukawa made about cloud gaming (basically saying it might be viable in 10 years, but we don't know yet, so dedicated consoles will stick around until then), which you can use your imagination to think of ways that could be written as a clickbait headline. But I haven't seen any outlet—and I looked—comment about this quote (as translated by Japanese Nintendo), prompted by a statement (it doesn't appear to be an actual question ending in a question mark) about the Google Stadia beginning operation:
If large companies like Google join in, the gaming industry will get noticed, and there is also a possibility of bringing new technologies. The breadth of user experiences will also expand. Various companies are applying diligently to liven up the whole gaming industry, and I welcome that.” [Emphasis added]

Now, it's entirely possible that the exchange made sense in the Japanese language, and Japanese Nintendo (the outlet) is just doing them a disservice by providing a terrible translation. I have no way to verify it.

But assuming it's accurate, what the hell is Shuntaru Furukawa babbling about? It's clear he's welcoming more competition (and less market share) for whatever reason. But that's not the most odd thing, given Nintendo's historical (and nonsense) idea that they're above competition and they have no direct gaming competitors.

Why does Furukawa apparently think that it takes Google joining the gaming industry to have it be “noticed”? Noticed by whom? Consumers? It's been bigger than movies, music, TV, etc. for years. Governments? It's been blamed for decades in a bipartisan manner for causing all manner of societal ills, and games affect a lot of foreign relations, too. Companies? Every company is investing in “gamification” to attract Millennials to both join their company, and use their products. That includes KoopaTV itself!

What more does Furukawa want? Or does he believe that unless Google does something, it's not valid? Google fanboys as corporate presidents are dangerous.


KoopaTV is operated using Google blogging software, and gets most of its web traffic through Google search engines, from Google Internet browsers. KoopaTV also places a Google cookie on your computer. With that out of the way, what do you think Furukawa was trying to say? Is he just totally unaware of the size of his industry? Would he like aliens to notice it next?


It's important to also note that the gaming industry itself hasn't noticed the Stadia.

6 comments :

  1. If anything I'd want Google to stay OUT of the gaming industry. I was chagrined enough when Microsoft did!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, too late! They're in!

      Reminder that Facebook is also in it (in multiple ways, between the casual Facebook games and Oculus Rift), as well as Amazon via purchasing Twitch. Apple as well. Netflix is the last holdout of the FAANG tech stocks (an acronym for Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google; considered the big five performing USA tech company stocks), if you don't count Stranger Things: The Game.

      But, nope, not noticed enough.

      Delete
    2. Eh, casual games are well, casual, and most of them are shameless cash cow gatcha games or cookie-cutter puzzles games that beam ads to your phone every 2-3 puzzles. And the two I've found that aren't are massive grind-fests and I'm not sure how casual they can even be considered. Some of them can have some good gameplay anyway, but in my experience it's usually incidental.

      Delete
    3. You call it shameless and cookie-cutter, and Furukawa would call it...
      "The breadth of user experiences will also expand."

      Delete
    4. If he would seriously say it like that, he doesn't even know what breadth means. Making basically the same game over and over again expands neither breadth nor depth.

      Delete
    5. If it's slightly different, it's slightly-increased breadth!

      Delete

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