State of the N: May Edition
Sayonara
Nintendo decided to move several departments to new offices in New York and San Francisco and as a result some employees have decided to leave the company instead of making a big move. George Harrison, Perrin Kaplan, and Beth Llewelyn will be departing from Nintendo in the near future. Their positions were as follows:
George Harrison – Senior Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Communications
Perrin Kaplan – Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Affairs
Beth Llewelyn – Senior Director of Public Relations
Remaining are Tatsumi Kimishima (Chairman and CEO) and Reggie “not my problem” Fils-Aime (President and COO).
Brawl
Smash Bros. DOJO! - The official website for the upcoming Super Smash Bros. Brawl launched in mid-May. Get the latest dig on the stages, characters, and more with weekly updates. Are you down?!
http://www.smashbros.com
Announcements
Final Fantasy
Press Release: http://www.square-enix.com/na/company/press/2006/0508_3/
Square-Enix announced two more titles for the Crystal Chronicles series, Crystal Bearers for the Wii and Rings of Fate for the DS, both set for release later this year.
Nintendo revealed that Metroid Prime 3 is to be released on August 20th, 2007. Also announced was Soul Calibur Legends, but no release date given.
May Releases
Nintendo Wii
Nintendo DS
My 2 cents
Save for half the marketing team leaving, it was a rather uneventful month. I guess we'll miss them...we'll, save for Perrin Kaplan. I'm not sure anybody will miss her.
The official announcement of the new Crystal Chronicle games was nice, but expected. I'm hoping that Square gives this spin-off series a proper treatment unlike the first on the Gamecube.
Given the looming release date of Metroid Prime 3, we should start seeing more of it very soon. It's about damn time, too. I can't help but wonder if the game has been done and Nintendo is playing stratergery by releasing only a month before Halo 3? Can you say marketing blitz? Oh yes. I'm curious to see how well the game works with the Wii controller. If the impressions I've read thus far are true then it could prove to be a redefining game for the FPS genre, and yet another reason to jump on the Wiiwagon.