Nintendo Treehouse member on Nintendo being open, voice work, localization & more

[Rad Dudesman]

http://gonintendo.com/stories/239792-nintendo-treehouse-member-on-nintendo-being-open-voice-work-loc

 

Coming from Nintendo's Chris Pranger...


- Nintendo's media policy has recently changed regarding employees being more open about talking about their work 
- he is the voice of the first level boss in StarFox Zero 
- he is also working on the game 
- NOA uses employees as voice actors for fun and cheap work 
- Nintendo has a game library where employees can check out games for all systems in order to be well-versed in gaming 
- Sakurai kills himself for his games and is very sensitive to fan feedback 
- localization costs a ton of money and often the vocal minority of fans who want a game localized isn't a large enough consumer base to justify the localization costs 
- seems that Nintendo of Europe took on almost all costs of localization for Xenoblade

[Short-Sleeved Nook]

I love it when companies are willing to be open because there's literally nothing to hide about their operations from the general public: it shows that Nintendo continues to strive to do what's right, I guess, cuz doing what's right is more fun for everyone!

That was cheesy, but I had no other way of saying it...

[Chili Dawg]

http://gonintendo.com/stories/239792-nintendo-treehouse-member-on-nintendo-being-open-voice-work-loc

 

Coming from Nintendo's Chris Pranger...



- Nintendo has a game library where employees can check out games for all systems in order to be well-versed in gaming 
 

That is awesome.

[Graystripe2000]

"Chris Pranger Fired From Nintendo Treehouse For Unauthorized Podcast Appearance"

Title says it all. http://www.gameranx.com/updates/id/29818/article/nintendo-fires-employee-following-unauthorized-podcast-appearance/ Here's hoping he finds a new job soon. 

Edited August 14, 2015 by Kiah
Topic was merged with an existing and relevant topic; title of previous topic added to post.

[Sean]

Wow, shit.

It really fucking blows my mind that he lost that job over that podcast. I was very surprised at his blunt tone regarding Nintendo's localization decisions, but it never occurred to me that it was an unauthorized appearance and that said comments would put his job in jeopardy. He wasn't even attacking Nintendo over that stuff; moreso he was defending their decision to not release obscure titles like Captain Rainbow in the west, whereas other games like Xenoblade were a huge risk that ultimately had no hopes of recuperating costs. If anything, he was expressing frustration toward fans who don't seem to realize whatsoever the effort and cost that goes into bringing over titles that are not guaranteed to be a success in an entirely different market. It's difficult for me to say whether he should have said this in the first place, but I'm reluctant to stomach his termination when Reggie has expressed similar frustration toward fan reactions following their E3 showing.

Chris also made this Facebook post that subsequently got deleted. Man, I really hope for the best for him and his family; the Treehouse crew seemed like such dedicated individuals who were passionate about their jobs.

[PaddyFancy]

Between Iwata's passing and this, I find it really sad. There was like a crowning moment of heartwarming during the Super Mario Maker portion of the Treehouse when Tezuka and Miyamoto said that the levels the Treehouse guys made for the World Championships would appear in the final version of the game for all to play. Within two months it goes to shit for one of these guys. Seems rather harsh to say the least.

[Captain Fun]

While I like the Treehouse crew, he should have known better than to do an unauthorized podcast. He ruined his dream job for himself and it is both saddening and frustrating to know that he could have easily prevented it. 

[JaidynReiman]

Wow, shit.

It really fucking blows my mind that he lost that job over that podcast. I was very surprised at his blunt tone regarding Nintendo's localization decisions, but it never occurred to me that it was an unauthorized appearance and that said comments would put his job in jeopardy. He wasn't even attacking Nintendo over that stuff; moreso he was defending their decision to not release obscure titles like Captain Rainbow in the west, whereas other games like Xenoblade were a huge risk that ultimately had no hopes of recuperating costs. If anything, he was expressing frustration toward fans who don't seem to realize whatsoever the effort and cost that goes into bringing over titles that are not guaranteed to be a success in an entirely different market. It's difficult for me to say whether he should have said this in the first place, but I'm reluctant to stomach his termination when Reggie has expressed similar frustration toward fan reactions following their E3 showing.

Chris also made this Facebook post that subsequently got deleted. Man, I really hope for the best for him and his family; the Treehouse crew seemed like such dedicated individuals who were passionate about their jobs.

He defended Nintendo, but he openly mocked Nintendo's fanbase.

 

That's why companies have PR departments. A lot of people were pissed off by the statements he made. Maybe he was right in what he was saying, but Nintendo is hesitant to say it because they'll know a lot of fans will be pissed. Even if they are a vocal minority, pissing off anyone will result in loss of sales.

 

It definitely seems to be the case that he enjoyed his job and enjoyed working for Nintendo. He tried to defend Nintendo, but pissed off a lot of fans in the process for a few of his comments. Especially since all the fans can see is that Xenoblade Chronicles, Pandora's Tower, and The Last Story had more sales in the localization; that doesn't necessarily mean that they made a profit off of them, though.

Plus, Nintendo has been improving their stance on these things and are fully localizing Xenoblade Chronicles X now as well.

[Sean]

Yeah that's very true. I re-read some of his comments and they come off as a lot harsher than what I remembered at the time I initially saw them (I never even listened to the podcast), and I never read news comments and reactions so I didn't realize that there was such a huge backlash against what he said. I can't attack Nintendo for this decision, Chris is responsible for his actions but it's still a shame that things had to end up this way.

[JaidynReiman]

I do respect the guy and I feel bad for him, but he made several mistakes. First is agreeing to the interview (which probably wouldn't have been too bad if he was better at PR), second is failing to choose his words more carefully.

[Ellipsis-Ultima]

Sonic's twitter offered condolences-

That's quite sad he got fired, I wish him best for his future endeavors.

[Salamander]

In retrospect, kind of an inevitable result.  I hadn't quite heard about the tone of his comments before, which was definitely a very poor choice even if everything he said was true, but I wouldn't be surprised if some of his comments broke his non-disclosure agreement as well.  I think his colleagues in Nintendo will regret letting him go as well, but it was the only call they could make.  If you're a company employee and you go on a podcast and talk about their internal discussions and mock the fanbase, you'll almost certainly be out of a job, end of story.

Nonetheless, it's still useful, if regrettable, to have it emphasised that localisation costs a tragic amount of money.  I wouldn't have it any other way, because translators and localisers do sterling work, but it makes it quite hard to be a fan.

[Sean]

Yeah of all the things Pranger said (even if he should have worded it way differently), the thing about localization costs and risks is something I feel like needs to be expressed in some manner. I have a nagging feeling that Reggie has expressed something to this extent - minus the insulting tone of course. Some games just aren't as guaranteed to succeed in certain markets as they are in others, and that's a fact of life I think more companies should subtly remind their fans every once in a while. I was pretty pissed when Capcom didn't localize AAI2 but in retrospect I understand that it was probably a wise move due to the first one tanking pretty hard and the second being released toward the end of the DS's lifespan. Same can be said about Mother 3; EarthBound was a colossal failure and it was one of the very last GBA games, there was no scenario in which Nintendo would have localized it at the time even if fan outcry was heard.

Then again, investors wouldn't like hearing a company admit that so eh. I guess it's up to fans and consumers to draw that conclusion themselves at the end of the day.

[JaidynReiman]

Yeah of all the things Pranger said (even if he should have worded it way differently), the thing about localization costs and risks is something I feel like needs to be expressed in some manner. I have a nagging feeling that Reggie has expressed something to this extent - minus the insulting tone of course. Some games just aren't as guaranteed to succeed in certain markets as they are in others, and that's a fact of life I think more companies should subtly remind their fans every once in a while. I was pretty pissed when Capcom didn't localize AAI2 but in retrospect I understand that it was probably a wise move due to the first one tanking pretty hard and the second being released toward the end of the DS's lifespan. Same can be said about Mother 3; EarthBound was a colossal failure and it was one of the very last GBA games, there was no scenario in which Nintendo would have localized it at the time even if fan outcry was heard.

Then again, investors wouldn't like hearing a company admit that so eh. I guess it's up to fans and consumers to draw that conclusion themselves at the end of the day.

That's why Nintendo largely doesn't comment on these kinds of things.  I for one thing that Mother 3 will happen at some point, even if they just pull a "Earthbound Beginnings" thing and have it eShop only.

[Sean]

Unless they straight up port the game to new hardware I actually doubt it. EarthBound Beginnings required no additional work to be put up on the eShop, whereas Mother 3 would necessitate working with dated GBA technology to insert the new translation. Maybe if Japan first does a remastered collection on the 3DS or something then I can see it happening, but as a title that's part of the Virtual Console line-up, it's unlikely.

It would definitely be eShop-only, but Japan would have to first port it before it'll see the light of day in the west. I actually have a feeling that maybe this is the reason Japan has yet to receive Mother 3 on the Wii U VC, so I reeeaaaaaally hope it does not come there.

[Graystripe2000]

Apparently, this was the SECOND time Pranger appeared on a podcast without permission. https://mobile.twitter.com/RogersBase/status/632323540612583424

[JezMM]

Unless they straight up port the game to new hardware I actually doubt it. EarthBound Beginnings required no additional work to be put up on the eShop, whereas Mother 3 would necessitate working with dated GBA technology to insert the new translation. Maybe if Japan first does a remastered collection on the 3DS or something then I can see it happening, but as a title that's part of the Virtual Console line-up, it's unlikely.

It would definitely be eShop-only, but Japan would have to first port it before it'll see the light of day in the west. I actually have a feeling that maybe this is the reason Japan has yet to receive Mother 3 on the Wii U VC, so I reeeaaaaaally hope it does not come there.

Worth considering that Wave Race 64 on Wii's Virtual Console had it's code delved into in order to replace all the Kawasaki advertisements with generic Wii and Nintendo DS ones (which was fucking weird to see in an old game lol), so they aren't above doing so with systems even older than the GBA it seems.  Of course it depends whether they have the bother to DO said translation (I can't see Nintendo as the sort of company who would accept the fan translation team's wide-open offer to use their work if they so wish).