Kaplan did not give an explicit reason for her departure, saying only, "I finally will be leaving Nintendo at the end of the year. Until then, I am focused on getting a great transition team in place and handling all of my normal responsibilities as well." It had been speculated that the marketing exec trio -- now all officially on course to retire -- would leave Nintendo after plans to relocate the company's PR headquarters from Washington to San Francisco and New York were revealed in May. But this theory remains pure speculation. Think about it: there are plenty of other circumstances that could have prompted Kaplan's resignation ... well, actually, we can only think of one.
Nintendo's Perrin Kaplan reveals her exit strategy, finally
George did it. And so did Beth. Now, as forecast, it's Perrin's turn. Nintendo Vice President of Marketing Perrin Kaplan has announced her retirement from the company after 15 years of service.
Kaplan did not give an explicit reason for her departure, saying only, "I finally will be leaving Nintendo at the end of the year. Until then, I am focused on getting a great transition team in place and handling all of my normal responsibilities as well." It had been speculated that the marketing exec trio -- now all officially on course to retire -- would leave Nintendo after plans to relocate the company's PR headquarters from Washington to San Francisco and New York were revealed in May. But this theory remains pure speculation. Think about it: there are plenty of other circumstances that could have prompted Kaplan's resignation ... well, actually, we can only think of one.
Kaplan did not give an explicit reason for her departure, saying only, "I finally will be leaving Nintendo at the end of the year. Until then, I am focused on getting a great transition team in place and handling all of my normal responsibilities as well." It had been speculated that the marketing exec trio -- now all officially on course to retire -- would leave Nintendo after plans to relocate the company's PR headquarters from Washington to San Francisco and New York were revealed in May. But this theory remains pure speculation. Think about it: there are plenty of other circumstances that could have prompted Kaplan's resignation ... well, actually, we can only think of one.
Software developers worried about the Wii, hesitant to make games
With shortages possibly running into early 2008, it would appear that the Wii is a clear-cut success in the current generation of consoles. So why are software companies so nervous to develop games for Nintendo's white wonder?
IGN reports on a recent article from The Nikkei Business Daily. After speaking to a number of software houses on the future of the Wii, The Business Daily reveals that several developers, preferring to stay anonymous, expressed concerns over the longevity of the system, and were hesitant to develop games in the event of the Wii's popularity dropping suddenly.
Several houses perceive the motion-sensing Wii as a fad, and believe its success to be ending shortly. This could possibly be in response to the Wii's sales in Japan, which The Nikkei Business Daily reports are at their lowest point since late last year. Several developers also blamed Nintendo for their hesitancy, claiming that the company puts third-party developers at a disadvantage while ensuring the success of first-party titles. It remains to be seen if any of this Wii fear is justifiable, although a lack of third-party confidence is never a good sign for a console manufacturer.
IGN reports on a recent article from The Nikkei Business Daily. After speaking to a number of software houses on the future of the Wii, The Business Daily reveals that several developers, preferring to stay anonymous, expressed concerns over the longevity of the system, and were hesitant to develop games in the event of the Wii's popularity dropping suddenly.
Several houses perceive the motion-sensing Wii as a fad, and believe its success to be ending shortly. This could possibly be in response to the Wii's sales in Japan, which The Nikkei Business Daily reports are at their lowest point since late last year. Several developers also blamed Nintendo for their hesitancy, claiming that the company puts third-party developers at a disadvantage while ensuring the success of first-party titles. It remains to be seen if any of this Wii fear is justifiable, although a lack of third-party confidence is never a good sign for a console manufacturer.
Valve's Gabe Newell comes down hard on PS3
![](https://web.archive.org/web/20071011203230im_/http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2007/10/gaben.jpg)
Though Newell is one of the few developers in a position to speak out on the system (we would too if our game was rocking a 98 on Metacritic), a slew of PS3 game delays have us wondering: Is he speaking the minds of more than we know?
[Via CVG]
Retailers display Arcade 360 ads
![](https://web.archive.org/web/20071011203230im_/http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2007/10/arcade.jpg)
All the features are the same as the ones you've heard rumored: five free games, 256MB memory card, a wireless controller, etc. What there's no mention of is the system's price. But, since the other details have held up, we'd bet the $280 we've heard before is spot on. Now, Microsoft, would you kindly announce this thing instead of forcing us to learn about the Arcade on the street?
Rumor: Hitman movie watered down for PG-13
![](https://web.archive.org/web/20071011203230im_/http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2007/10/hitmanmovie.jpg)
According to website Twitch, Fox Studios pulled the director of the Hitman movie off the project in post-production and will re-edit the film to receive a PG-13 rating. There is no official word yet that this is true, but the story goes director Xavier Gens was yanked off the project because the film he submitted to executives would have guaranteed an R rating. Apparently post-production of the film has now been handed over to Nicolas DeToth, the man who edited the hell out of Live Free or Die Hard to receive a PG-13 rating. Essentially they are turning a hyper-violent (mature?) movie and watering it down for the kids -- if true, there's something wrong in that, on so many levels.
Our friends over at Cinematical put it this way: "See, here's how I know Hollywood is a lunatic bin: Whomever hired Mr. Gens for this job had to know two things: 1) The director's first film -- Frontiere(s) -- is so amazingly and powerfully violent that italmost becomes parody. 2) The video game? You know, the one that this new Hitman movie is BASED ON? It's a pretty damn violent game. Like, really violent." Not only is it violent our Cinematical friends, but the games are all rated Mature, the video game industry's version of an R rating. Oh well, guess we'll just skip the movie in the theater and wait for the unrated version on DVD.
[Via Cinematical]
Our friends over at Cinematical put it this way: "See, here's how I know Hollywood is a lunatic bin: Whomever hired Mr. Gens for this job had to know two things: 1) The director's first film -- Frontiere(s) -- is so amazingly and powerfully violent that it
[Via Cinematical]
SimCity Societies teaches players to think 'green'
With Maxis still hip-deep in Spore's primordial ooze, EA's decision to hand the next game in the storied SimCity franchise over to Caesar IV devs Tilted Mill was understandable, if not entirely welcome given the game's move away from being a 'realistic urban simulation,' a shift decried by fans to the tune of "you killed my baby!"
In keeping with the forthcoming SimCity Societies' touchy-feely approach, which looks to abandon simulation gameplay in favor of 'social energies,' EA has announced that the game will also include 'climate education' through "low-carbon electricity choices and carbon emission monitoring" thanks to a partnership with 'green minded' alternative energy organization BP. The goal, says EA, is to give players an "accurate" look at some of the causes and available solutions to the inconvenient truth of global warming, no doubt giving Al Gore reason to smile as he continues to tango with Mizuguchi.
Thankfully, according to EA, the game will not shove any eco-friendly environmentalist perspectives down players' collective throat. Instead, Societies will offer choices on how players wish to power their cities, leaving those of us who feel less at home hugging trees than we do while shoveling coal into the furnace free to do as we please when the game ships for the PC this November.
In keeping with the forthcoming SimCity Societies' touchy-feely approach, which looks to abandon simulation gameplay in favor of 'social energies,' EA has announced that the game will also include 'climate education' through "low-carbon electricity choices and carbon emission monitoring" thanks to a partnership with 'green minded' alternative energy organization BP. The goal, says EA, is to give players an "accurate" look at some of the causes and available solutions to the inconvenient truth of global warming, no doubt giving Al Gore reason to smile as he continues to tango with Mizuguchi.
Thankfully, according to EA, the game will not shove any eco-friendly environmentalist perspectives down players' collective throat. Instead, Societies will offer choices on how players wish to power their cities, leaving those of us who feel less at home hugging trees than we do while shoveling coal into the furnace free to do as we please when the game ships for the PC this November.
Foundation 9 to merge Collective and Shiny
Pour one out today for Shiny, which will soon be merged with another dev team, The Collective. Gamasutra's reporting that the developer collective that controls the two teams, Foundation 9, will be fusing them into one as-of-now-unnamed entity. ... May we suggest Shillective?
Spearheaded by Dave Perry, Shiny was once a bastion of creativity in the industry, with titles like MDK, Earthworm Jim and Wild 9. The Collective is no slouch themselves, currently helming Silent Hill V, making them the first American company to develop a game in that series. While Shiny has lost some of its luster in recent years, and this new developer's going to be packing a lot of talent, it's hard for us not to be a little sad at the prospect of the house that Jim built finally being dismantled.
Spearheaded by Dave Perry, Shiny was once a bastion of creativity in the industry, with titles like MDK, Earthworm Jim and Wild 9. The Collective is no slouch themselves, currently helming Silent Hill V, making them the first American company to develop a game in that series. While Shiny has lost some of its luster in recent years, and this new developer's going to be packing a lot of talent, it's hard for us not to be a little sad at the prospect of the house that Jim built finally being dismantled.
BrandWeek crowns Nintendo's Fils-Aime marketer of the year
![](https://web.archive.org/web/20071011203230im_/http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2007/10/reggie-lution-490.jpg)
Other honorees include executives from NBC, Geico and Crocs. The BrandWeek article can be viewed online (.pdf file); Reggie's article starts on page four.
[Via Gamasutra]
Gods and Heroes MMO on 'indefinite hold' as developer restructures
Following last month's news of delays and downsizing at Perpetual Entertainment, Warcry Network reports that the company has put development of their mythologically-themed MMO Gods and Heroes: Rome Rising on "indefinite hold," as the team reorganizes and seeks out new investors.
Perpetual co-founder Chris McKibbin has posted an open letter on the Gods and Heroes community page, stating that the team was overly ambitious in terms of the game's development, and that shelving the title gives the team opportunity to focus attention elsewhere. Despite the significant amount of time invested in Rome Rising, placing the game on "indefinite hold" means it will likely never see the light of day in any finished form.
McKibbin states in his letter that the team has shifted all of their focus to their IP-driven MMO Star Trek Online, and their Perpetual Platform Services division, which develops middleware for MMO development.
Perpetual co-founder Chris McKibbin has posted an open letter on the Gods and Heroes community page, stating that the team was overly ambitious in terms of the game's development, and that shelving the title gives the team opportunity to focus attention elsewhere. Despite the significant amount of time invested in Rome Rising, placing the game on "indefinite hold" means it will likely never see the light of day in any finished form.
McKibbin states in his letter that the team has shifted all of their focus to their IP-driven MMO Star Trek Online, and their Perpetual Platform Services division, which develops middleware for MMO development.
Mario Kart motorcycles and other quick newsbits from the Nintendo press conference
Nintendo's press conference came as somewhat of a surprise. Even for IGN, who did not know of it and instead translated the live blog of Japanese site Ge-maga. The big news of the event, of course, was Sonic's unveiling as a Smash Bros. Brawl character. Here's what else came out of the event:
- Mario Kart coming Spring 2008, with motorcycles!
- Super Mario Stadium Baseball was unceremoniously revealed in a collection of clips for previously-announced games.
- Nintendo will soon "begin a service similar to the DS Station retail service. You'll be able to download demos from your home."
- Virtual Console has reached 7.8 million downloads. Even if all those sales were NES titles (and we know they're not), that's at least US $39 million in almost pure profit.
- "Nintendo will put more emphasis on the Wii Vote channel in the future. You'll be able to put rankings for games that you've played and search for games that fit your liking."
Today's ads-used-to-be-this-good video: Iron Sword
![](https://web.archive.org/web/20071011203230im_/http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2007/10/millhousebonestorm225.jpg)
The video is watermarked with "Gaming-Age.com," but we could only find an article there that references an equally great print ad for the game. So we send Gaming Age a nod, too.
See the ad after the break.
Continue reading Today's ads-used-to-be-this-good video: Iron Sword
Konami ad plays Ellis Island; changes Belmonts to Beaumonts
An official Konami advertisement for Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles in magazines talks about "the Beaumont family's quest to destroy Dracula," the only problem being that anybody who has played a Castlevania game in the last 20 years would know it should be the Belmont family. Oops! The error is kind of funny considering the amount of eyes that probably saw the ad before it was sent out, and it's not like we're talking about a new franchise here.
We could go into a spiel right now about the incredible amount of people in the industry who know next to nothing about the products they're hawking -- but why bother getting serious. This reminds us of another hilarious ad from earlier this year for Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam on the Sony Wii. Good times in advertising.
[Via Wired]
We could go into a spiel right now about the incredible amount of people in the industry who know next to nothing about the products they're hawking -- but why bother getting serious. This reminds us of another hilarious ad from earlier this year for Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam on the Sony Wii. Good times in advertising.
[Via Wired]
Analyst: Cheaper PS3 won't impact Xbox 360 sales
![](https://web.archive.org/web/20071011203230im_/http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2007/10/ps3leftbehind.jpg)
Divnich believes the buzz around the Xbox 360 is high enough now to deflect any effects if a cheaper PS3 is introduced to the market. Divnich says, "The cheaper price point will only be drawing customers who already planned on purchasing the PS3 but were deterred by the price." We'll get a better feel for the real impact of a 40GB model once Sony officially announces it for the North American market and see how it does at retail.
Today's future-of-advertising-video: Yaris game
![](https://web.archive.org/web/20071011203230im_/http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2007/10/yaris_screen225.jpg)
Things we learned:
- The 4-Door Sedan Yaris comes in such focus-group-approved colors as "Jade Sea Metallic," and "Flint Mica."
- Northbound on 101 goes straight up (and straight down) as often as it goes north.
- The Yaris is powered by the constant desire to catch a cat toy mounted on its roof. Sadly, the toy is always just out of reach.
Continue reading Today's future-of-advertising-video: Yaris game
Get a job! Blogger catalogues over 4,500 open game industry positions
Laziness is both the bane and best friend of anyone in the job hunt. As many of our readers seems to be interested in the game industry, many of our readers must also know that it's a difficult industry to break into. Job hunting is a difficult process, often resulting in dead ends, and sometimes it's just easier to kick back than search through one more listing.
Luckily for the lazy, game designer and blogger Yehuda has done all of the hard work. Over two blog posts, he's compiled a frighteningly exhaustive list of worldwide game industry positions open right now. The list runs the gamut from media positions to lead programming jobs -- internships, full-time, part-time and everything in between. Since these positions were listed when he first did the research, potential applicants should be warned that not all the jobs might still be available. Still, the quicker you act, the quicker you might nab that dream job. Special thanks go out to Yehuda for doing all the dirty work.
[Photo via MMBOB on Flickr]
Read - 3,500+ Computer Game industry Jobs
Read - Another 1,000+ Game Industry Jobs
Luckily for the lazy, game designer and blogger Yehuda has done all of the hard work. Over two blog posts, he's compiled a frighteningly exhaustive list of worldwide game industry positions open right now. The list runs the gamut from media positions to lead programming jobs -- internships, full-time, part-time and everything in between. Since these positions were listed when he first did the research, potential applicants should be warned that not all the jobs might still be available. Still, the quicker you act, the quicker you might nab that dream job. Special thanks go out to Yehuda for doing all the dirty work.
[Photo via MMBOB on Flickr]
Read - 3,500+ Computer Game industry Jobs
Read - Another 1,000+ Game Industry Jobs