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References:

https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/in...ith-a-rougher-edge-for-new-console-1507908652

https://mantan-web.jp/amp/article/20171013dog00m200027000c.html

http://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Companies/Switch-flips-the-script-for-Nintendo?page=1

___

Pulled from the WSJ article:

I wanted to add a few things together to narrate how things are going with Nintendo regarding third parties.

First off, the WSJ article: In Switch, Nintendo Embraces Games With a Rougher Edge for New Console

Nintendo Co. is encouraging some producers of violent or risqué videogames to provide content for its Switch console in an attempt to shed its image as a maker of devices just for families, software developers say.

Some of the software titles referenced for this article:

The software lineup for the Switch includes “Nights of Azure 2: Bride of the New Moon,” an action role-playing game featuring lightly clothed female characters; “Shinobi Refle: Senran Kagura,” a game primarily for the Japanese market that allows players to massage young women; and “Doom,” a bloody shoot-’em-up game.

Nintendo has encouraged developers to bring their mature games to Switch.

Developers say more titles for mature audiences are coming after Nintendo encouraged them to publish a wide range of games for the Switch.

Takuya Aizu of Inti Creates is one such person, encouraged by Nintendo to release Gal*Gun 2 for Switch.

Inti Creates Co. said last month it would release “Gal*Gun 2” for the Switch early next year in the U.S., Japan and Europe. The company has released other titles in the series for PlayStation, Xbox and personal computers. In the game, players try to hit young women with pheromone shots.

Takuya Aizu, chief executive of Inti Creates, said he initially assumed Nintendo wouldn’t be interested in the game, but in discussions with the company, it welcomed the idea of bringing it to the Switch. “I thought it wouldn’t be possible to release such a game for the Switch, but surprisingly, Nintendo gave me positive feedback,” Mr. Aizu said.

Others mention Nintendo were passive about this in the past, but would be described differently today.

Other software makers described a similar message. One executive at an outside developer said that when it came to risqué or violent titles, Nintendo “was passive until now, but that is no longer the right word to describe its stance today.”

Nintendo wants to cover different audiences.

Nintendo said games for its machines covered a variety of playing styles, genres and ratings. “As with books, television and movies, different content is meant for different audiences,” the company said.

Remember that January presentation? Shinya Takahashi did it for you.

At a Switch presentation in January, the venue was enveloped in a nightclub-like atmosphere. Shinya Takahashi, a Nintendo executive, told The Wall Street Journal at the time that the aim was to attract grown-up game players in the West.

Don't forget about Gal Metal coming to Switch.

DMM.com Group, a Japanese company whose products include games for smartphones and personal computers, said it chose Switch to release its first console game, “Gal Metal.” The game, for all ages, is about an all-girl high-school band fighting against aliens with heavy-metal performances.

“Nintendo has opened its window to more developers, and it has gotten much kinder to companies new to Nintendo platforms,” said Takayuki Fujii, the producer of “Gal Metal.”

_______

Now onto the next article from mantan-web. There was an interview with the CEO of Gzbrain which is known for Famitsu. He had this to say regarding Japanese third parties supporting Switch.

Google Translate:

Regarding the weaknesses of "Nintendo switch", I cite a few of the game companies "third parties" who develop dedicated software other than Nintendo and its group. However, Mr. Hamamura said, "Initially, companies that had been witnessing the sale of the Nintendo switch started working on dedicated software at the same time in the past few months, and they will have software in about 2019."

So there are third parties that are late to the party but it's not as though Nintendo had ignored them, I reference an old article from Asia Nikkei of which a very likely major Japanese third party was asked by Nintendo to bring major releases to the Switch:

The company [Nintendo] has sought to make it easier to create games for the Switch by expanding the scope of development tools. It is also pushing developers to expand the Switch game lineup quickly. An executive at one software company said Nintendo asked it to introduce major releases "as early as possible."

____

We have seen examples of this already, Bandai Namco has newly announced titles not releasing on the Switch: Dragon Ball FighterZ, Code Vein. God Eater 3 is expected to be another considering the tags discovered for their YouTube trailer that mention PS4/XB1/PC.

With Capcom there are a few ports and small projects releasing this year that have missed Switch and do not have any new announcements for releasing on Switch: Mega Man Legacy Collection 2, Disney Afternoon Collection, Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen, Okami HD.

I omit MvCi as this is referring to projects that very likely didn't strain resources.

This shows that the bigger Japanese third parties were not intending to support Switch with third party titles like the other competing systems, their third party titles released so far on the Switch are ports but not of titles that have newly released on other consoles this year.

Of course the smaller publishers are probably more flexible with their development schedule with Koei Tecmo being an example of releasing a new title at the same time as other platforms, here's a quote from the WSJ article:

It is too soon to say whether the efforts are paying off. The Switch version of “Nights of Azure 2,” has sold 6,317 copies in Japan as of Oct. 8 since it was released in late August, according to videogame magazine Famitsu. The U.S. release is in late October.

An official at Koei Tecmo Holdings Co., the developer of the game, described sales for the Switch version as “not bad,” although sales are higher for the PlayStation 4 version because more people own that machine.

_____

Next year could see an improvement regarding Japanese third parties on Switch. It's going to be weird if the Switch becomes the market leader from outselling the PS4 in Japan while the major Japanese third parties still avoid announcing new titles for the platform.

 

[purseowner]

Bring it.

Switch is the new Vita, and Western third parties bringing M-rated fare is no bad thing either.

 

[Heavy's Sandvich]

Bring it.

Switch is the new Vita, and Western third parties bringing M-rated fare is no bad thing either.

Michael Jordan Stop it mate. jif

 

[Reset]

The Switch really is the new Vita.

 

[blue_phazon]

Nintendo trying to take some Vita and Western audiences. Sounds like a solid plan

 

[Barrylocke]

 

[Aureon]

I didn't think "Mature games" would've been Ecchi stuff.

 

[chronic_archaic]

It's not surprising, it's never been profitable even during the Wii era where games like Resident Evil The Darkside Chronicles, MadWorld, No More Heroes all kinda sold poorly in comparison to the install base and expectation of sales.

The Switch has a good start but I completely understand why there's a drought of new games - if I was a AAA company I'd more than likely have waited out the first year, but then again Nintendo still needs to push third party games more. It's undeniable that a lot of people only buy Nintendo games on their platforms and the Wii U made that super clear for everyone.

 

[Dark Cloud]

It's going to take some third party devs some time to get games to Switch. It's understandable to be sceptical at first and by 2019 we'll see a lot of it.

 

[Magwik]

Title got me for a second, thought they wanted the developers to act slowly

 

[jay]

In some universe, mature does not mean anime tits.

 

[Psycho_Mantis]

Bring it.

Switch is the new Vita, and Western third parties bringing M-rated fare is no bad thing either.

No its not.

 

[-shadow-]

Great, now give me a new Project Zero while you're bating for mature games!

 

[nampad]

They need to build up that fan base themselves instead of just relying on the 3rd parties.

 

[Delusibeta]

...Yeah, looks like Nintendo is actively courting the Vita's Japanese development base. Which is fair enough, since I'd imagine the 3DS's development base was on board day zero.

 

[……forgetit]

Kinda figured this was happening, Nintendo wants in on the traditional gamer again.

They need to build up that fan base themselves instead of just relying on the 3rd parties.

I agree, they should make an open world role playing game or a sci-fi shooter, or even a few fighting games.

 

[Jaded Alyx]

It's not surprising, it's never been profitable even during the Wii era where games like Resident Evil The Darkside Chronicles, MadWorld, No More Heroes all kinda sold poorly in comparison to the install base and expectation of sales.

The Switch has a good start but I completely understand why there's a drought of new games - if I was a AAA company I'd more than likuely have waited out the first year, but then again Nintendo still needs to push third party games more. It's undeniable that a lot of people only buy Nintendo games on their platforms and the Wii U made that super clear for everyone.

No More Heroes easily surpassed sales expectations. It was Suda's best selling game at that point.

 

[Kinsei]

You have your own m rated IP that you can use Nintendo *CoughEternalDarkness*Cough*

Oh, they meant that "mature"

 

[jdstorm]

Considering Nintendo have announced/teased 0 M rated first party concepts its not really that suprising.

Edit: Honestly Nintendo should just buy Capcom or Sega and use their standing/different branding as a way to push first party "mature" games.

 

[duckroll]

Really gunning for that Vita audience there. Lmao.

 

[Bastos]

I didn't think "Mature games" would've been Ecchi stuff.

Was about to post exactly this.

Disappointing to say the least.

 

[Heartskips]

It's not surprising, it's never been profitable even during the Wii era where games like Resident Evil The Darkside Chronicles, MadWorld, No More Heroes all kinda sold poorly in comparison to the install base and expectation of sales.

The Switch has a good start but I completely understand why there's a drought of new games - if I was a AAA company I'd more than likely have waited out the first year, but then again Nintendo still needs to push third party games more. It's undeniable that a lot of people only buy Nintendo games on their platforms and the Wii U made that super clear for everyone.

But Darkside Chronicles only flopped after RE4 and Umbrella Chronicles sold each more than 1M on the Wii, Capcom just didn't offer what people wanted (RE5) at the time. No More Heroes too only had a sequel because the first game sold well in NA and Europe. Hard to blame the Wii for Madworld failing when Platinum games aren't really super sellers in any platform.

 

[Zedark]

Am I missing something? The quote itself says mature games like Senran Kagura AND Doom. Why are people "disappointed" that they don't mean mature as in violent games? They do.

 

[OryoN]

While Nintendo may be pushing harder for a wide range of games from third party, it seems like the mature games conclusion is from the article itself, not necessarily something Nintendo specifically stated. Nintendo hasn't been shying away from allowing mature content as much people like to think. It's not common in their own games, but developers have long had free reign.

 

[foxuzamaki]

It's not surprising, it's never been profitable even during the Wii era where games like Resident Evil The Darkside Chronicles, MadWorld, No More Heroes all kinda sold poorly in comparison to the install base and expectation of sales.

The Switch has a good start but I completely understand why there's a drought of new games - if I was a AAA company I'd more than likely have waited out the first year, but then again Nintendo still needs to push third party games more. It's undeniable that a lot of people only buy Nintendo games on their platforms and the Wii U made that super clear for everyone.

N9 more heroes was a super success on Wii

 

[Busaiku]

No its not.

Yeah, Vita actually got Japanese 3rd party support.

 

[Kinsei]

Am I missing something? The quote itself says mature games like Senran Kagura AND Doom. Why are people "disappointed" that they don't mean mature as in violent games? They do.

When I saw mature in the title I assumed it meant games that were actually mature, not just ones that had the M rating. I love Doom but mature is one of the last words I'd use to describe it.

 

[……forgetit]

Yeah, Vita actually got Japanese 3rd party support.

Give it a year, the Vita can't hold on forever and those Japanese developers have to make games for something.

When I saw mature in the title I assumed it meant games that were actually mature, not just ones that had the M rating. I love Doom but mature is one of the last words I'd use to describe it.

Were you expecting stuff like life is strange?

 

[Beartruck]

Can't wait for Monster Monpiece 2 for Switch, with HD "rumble".

 

[Barrylocke]

Am I missing something? The quote itself says mature games like Senran Kagura AND Doom. Why are people "disappointed" that they don't mean mature as in violent games? They do.

Many including myself thought mature meant thought provoking themes, maybe in with the flexibility to raise the age bar up, not specifically wanting sexy tease games and such. I'm not surprised about the latter, but it's always welcome to see the former.

 

[Ekid]

I feel like I have been hearing this for every Nintendo console since the Gamecube.

 

[valkillmore]

They should lead by example and make Metroid 4 rated M

 

[Psycho_Mantis]

Give it a year, the Vita can't hold on forever and those Japanese developers have to make games for something.



Were you expecting stuff like life is strange?

Its called PS4.

 

[Ridley327]

That Japanese third parties have been slow to announce anything on a system that has demonstrated a good merging of the strengths of console gaming, which has long been struggling in Japan, with the strengths of portable gaming is something I don't think I'll ever understand. Did most of them just expect this to fail outright?

 

[RRockman]

No its not.

Actually, You're right. Its developers dont intend on leaving it to die after a year or two.

 

[BanjoLayleeYookaKazooie]

Its called PS4.

*Whynotboth?.gif*

 

[……forgetit]

Many including myself thought mature meant thought provoking themes, maybe in with the flexibility to raise the age bar up, not specifically wanting sexy tease games and such. I'm not surprised about the latter, but it's always welcome to see the former.

That comes with the territory though.... Games like fire watch and life is strange would come to the platform in the future if it becomes a safe place to release mature rated games.

Its called PS4.

Well the PS4 hasn’t taken off in Japan like many expected and it’s also not portable. I’m not well versed in sales over there but hoping to ape that part of the market is something Nintendo could do in the future sense it’ll eventually become a group underserved by the competition.

 

[Boss Doggie]

Many including myself thought mature meant thought provoking themes, maybe in with the flexibility to raise the age bar up, not specifically wanting sexy tease games and such. I'm not surprised about the latter, but it's always welcome to see the former.

When I saw mature in the title I assumed it meant games that were actually mature, not just ones that had the M rating. I love Doom but mature is one of the last words I'd use to describe it.

Is this a new gamer thing because when I saw the title I immediately thought those M or Cero C/D rated games, since that's a technical jargon used to them for a long time.

 

[Golnei]

You have your own m rated IP that you can use Nintendo *CoughEternalDarkness*Cough*

Oh, they meant that "mature"

Strangely, their attempts to bridge gravure idols and horror with Fatal Frame have resulted in nothing but failure. At least they keep trying.

 

[NeonZ]

They need to build up that fan base themselves instead of just relying on the 3rd parties.

Well, at least as far as anime-style games go, they have FE Musou right now and will have a new mainline Fire Emblem next year.

 

[cj_iwakura]

Give it a year, the Vita can't hold on forever and those Japanese developers have to make games for something.



Were you expecting stuff like life is strange?

I was thinking Killer7 or The Silver Case, but we see how well the latter game sold... The 'mature' we expect isn't that profitable without cheesecake, sadly.

 

[Coricus]

They need to build up that fan base themselves instead of just relying on the 3rd parties.

So bump Prime 4 up to an M-Rating, then?

It ticks all the right boxes, all it needs is some special effects to push it to a darker rating.

 

[Baraka Obama]

Bring it.

Switch is the new Vita, and Western third parties bringing M-rated fare is no bad thing either.

This comparison makes no sense.

 

[horkrux]

"You know Mario, we really are the new Vita"

 

[Bastos]

Am I missing something? The quote itself says mature games like Senran Kagura AND Doom. Why are people "disappointed" that they don't mean mature as in violent games? They do.

When I think of mature games, I think of stuff like Divinity, Shin Megami Tensei, Pillars of Eternity, Nier (even with the fanservice), Yakuza, etc.

Clothes that get torn apart when you lose health, screaming cute girls with huge tits or just violence and gore are not on my "mature" list, to be quite honest.

 

[Shiggy]

That comes with the territory though.... Games like fire watch and life is strange would come to the platform in the future if it becomes a safe place to release mature rated games.

I can't believe Life is Strange is rated M in the US. Over here it's 12+. Would love to see titles like that on Switch though.


Same for Nights of Azure 2: Bride of the New Moon by the way, that's also 12+ over here.

 

[PantsuJo]

NekoPara Switch Edition confirmed.

"Use the Joy-Cons for extreme pleasure"

Nice.

 

[foxuzamaki]

Many including myself thought mature meant thought provoking themes, maybe in with the flexibility to raise the age bar up, not specifically wanting sexy tease games and such. I'm not surprised about the latter, but it's always welcome to see the former.

That's either being naive or obtuse, of course they meant games with a M rating

 

[Ivellios]

You have your own m rated IP that you can use Nintendo *CoughEternalDarkness*Cough*

Oh, they meant that "mature"

Damn, a new Eternal Darkness game, or even a remaster would be truly amazing

 

[purseowner]

This comparison makes no sense.

How so? I'm not claiming it's reached Vita's lineup already, simply that series such as Atelier and upcoming NISA output is migrating there, setting a precedent for other publishers to follow (which granted they are being slow to do).