Qikz wrote:Robbo-92 wrote:I’ve already seen on Twitter that Skyward Sword releasing in July means we’re set for other games over the rest of the year but why wouldn’t they just announce them and then say they’re releasing later in the year if this was the case?
Nintendo got really strawberry floated by Covid in terms of working. Japanese companies were not ready for remote working at all - heard this from many different Japanese people all working at different companies. Essentially technology wise Japan is quite forward thinking but their businesses are still stuck thinking it's the bubble.
I'm not sure I buy the first part of this comment.
Compared to the West (and obviously compared to the UK) Japan hasn't been hit by Covid that hard. The panicked in early March last year and there was a period where home working was (reluctantly) implemented in places, but a lot of people were still going in to work every day.
Indeed, their "lockdown" measures were taken a lot more seriously during these first few months, and even with the big spike in early January, I think people have been taking it less seriously than last March. The government has also been unwilling/unable to enforce a stricter lockdown, so a lot of it has just been "please stay home, please, go on, you'll like it" and targeting bars and restaurants for early closure.
I don't work in the gaming industry here, but a lot of workplaces seem to be operating on the idea of masks, liberal use of santisers and plastic screens. Then you tie it in to Japanese working culture where it's almost shameful to be absent and you feel compelled to work.
Of course, Nintendo and game companies may be different and more forward thinking/approachable to working from home. And of course, they'll have been impacted by Covid. But I'm not sure if that's just a convenient excuse for Nintendo. I'd argue that they'll have had a few months of upheaval between March and June, and then they'll have been going in to the office as usual (if they weren't going in already anyway). Japan's got a bit lucky with the virus, or the fact that 99% of the population will readily wear masks all the time helps, and to be honest, the working (and living) practices they maintained throughout 2020 didn't change all that much.
It also does excuse things like the Skyward Sword price tag, how bland Mario Golf looks, how fonts and HUDs in Nintendo games have started to look a little cheap and FTP-esque. A lot of the practices we see in this direct were around in 2019 and before too.
Though I do agree with you about Japanese workplaces being old fashioned. A typical Japanese office will look like something out of the 1980s. They still use fax machines. They have stacks of inefficient meetings and rely on mountains of paperwork. They either don't have the ability to implement working from home, or have a social distrust of anyone who's not in an office working. If you aren't *at* work (or seen to be working hard) you're not pulling your weight etc.
So I agree that Japan has not been equipped at all for home working. Go look at Nintendo's online offerings and you'll see proof of that. They probably have to fax in design documents.
But I'm not sure if Covid will have impacted their day to day office life. It may obviously have impacted supply chains, manufacturing etc.