Nintendo's Talent is Changing

It's a new age, baby
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[@ericpina9129]

It’s a testament to how Nintendo treats it’s creatives that they’ve stayed for so long and that the shift in leadership has happened so seamlessly. The quality hasn’t dipped. We’ve definitely seen shifts like this at other companies and with other series, where a significant change in leadership negatively affects the quality

[@ThomastheDankEngine8900]

Japanese companies care about the people behind the product, Western ones the profit behind the product.

[@EmoryIllustrated]

There's definitely a different work culture in Japan, where moving between jobs is rare. Loyalty is a highly desired virtue from employers. Though in Nintendo's case, another reason people stick around is that Nintendo has an overwhelmingly strong vision, lead by their CEOs and project leaders. This creates a really tight knit working environment, where everyone is entirely in-sync on their goals for every project. Such a working environment gives everyone a ton of confidence in the things they produce, even though it does mean less exploration of new ideas.

[@Medachod]

@@EmoryIllustrated Plus, for a lot of these games, they don't have insanely complex frameworks. So long as they remember to follow how their original vision goes with their own creative changes, a lot of the Nintendo franchises will do just fine. Wish I could say the same for HAL.

[@keeganmcfarland7507]

​@collinsmith2696 God, I hope the developers of Nintendo decides to start making new and original IP games and continue to develop games without any deadlines.

[@Medachod]

@@keeganmcfarland7507 Or better yet, turn to their dead franchises first. I know lotsa folks want a proper new Star Fox that is not a reboot of the first again. And F-Zero, _eVeN iF tHeY cAn'T fInD nEw GaMePlAy IdEaS,_ should still have a new sequel since it's on a dead platform with no emulation effort made to be brought over to their newer systems. I would also very much like to see Pilotwings return, but Takeda left Nintendo a while ago. Sugiyama could have helped too since he helmed a lot of them, but unfortunately he too left Nintendo. So I think all these franchises will remain dead.

[@RyanStorey1231]

This thought occurred to me when Charles Martinet announced his retirement a few months ago. The fact that the voice of Mario that we've known all our lives is stepping back and letting a new guy carry on that legacy, it finally dawned on me that most of the veteran creatives at Nintendo are also approaching retirement age.

[@tgirltouhou]

ironically in this video you incorrectly say yoshiaki koizumi directed super mario odyssey, he was actually producer, the director was kenta motokura, who has been directing 3d mario games since 3d world (he was also "design director" on super mario galaxy 2 and super mario 3d land) yoshiaki koizumi hasnt been a director since 2007 on super mario galaxy. not to say he didnt have influence on these projects but still he hasnt directed in 16 years

[@gabeskai]

That's really interesting! I hope GVG sees and pins this!

[@JeskidoYT]

Ah no wonder Mario wonder feels unique and fresh

[@ausgod538]

@@JeskidoYT Mario wonder has nothing to do with 3d Mario.

[@tgirltouhou]

@@JeskidoYT 2d mario is done by an entirely different production group in nintendo epd

[@TheSlickWalrus]

You’re also seeing this with Nintendo’s composers. Koji Kondo is presumably still there as an advisor, and he does show up in credits occasionally, but increasingly you’re seeing Mahito Yokota, Ryo Nagamatsu, Shiho Fujii and Hajime Wakai leading the sound teams for the big releases. Also for the producer side, don’t forget Aya Kyogoku, who produces Animal Crossing starting with Pocket Camp and New Horizons.

[@anthonygerardotorresgonzal6269]

Mahito Yokota, Ryo Nagamatsu, and Hajime Wakai have done Smash Remixes Before!

[@legoboy7107]

Ryo Nagamatsu recently left though, apparently. His last game seems to be Splatoon 3.

[@brianlefko4404]

Aya Kyogoku directed New Leaf and New Horizons, actually.

[@Lordcamilli]

Don’t forget Manaka Kataoka! And also Yoko Shimomura (even tho she’s not a full time Nintendo employee, she has worked on many great Nintendo games)

[@christonadams9046]

Don't forget Yasuaki Iwata. That man's also been very involved in Nintendo's music this past decade

[@alliesangalli1757]

2:57 I think this is very endemic of how society talks about art in general. With movies, shows, and games, often they are talked about as the product of one very well-known person in a high-up role, rather than acknowledging how it's more so the result of so many other people working together with an aligned vision.

[@Toonrick12]

I personally think the root issue is that copyright is rooted in the days where a piece of work is owned by a single person (or two, maybe three). This was/is fine for things like books and music, but for things like movies, video games, programs, etc; it becomes more abstract and broken. Disney and others are basically like The Spiffing Brit of copyright.

[@The_Shadow_Emperor]

Yeah this is a problem across the entertainment industry. As another example, it drives me nuts how often you'll see people crediting Vince Gilligan as a genius for something in a Better Call Saul episode he wasn't even in the writer's room for.

[@matthewlasalvia7026]

You’re referring to auteur theory.

[@ausgod538]

I mean that has been the case for a decade. Problem is that most of the Nintendo fans out there don't care to learn about even the development companies imagine the developers who unfortunately are unknown outside of Miyamoto, aonuma and sakurai who isn't even Nintendo employee Koizumi also didn't work as director on odyssey and while he's producer of switch hardware, it's Takahashi who is general manager of EPD and all switch software. There's a reason koizumi barely have been credited in switch era while Takahashi have been in every one That said great video wish to see more about dev company and staff like this

[@GRAnimated]

Koizumi owns his own company, 1-up Studio, which almost entirely comprises of any 3D Mario developers from EPD Tokyo. His role is to manage his employees and hardly the game the team is working on. Almost all of Odyssey's development team outside of its producers, directors, etc.. started on 3D Land and they're only now reaching 10+ years of being at the company. Those people will have more important positions within 3D Mario in the next few years.

[@anthonygerardotorresgonzal6269]

Shynia Takahashi, right? Sorry if I wrote it wrong...Also nice Alvis / A profile pic.

[@ausgod538]

@@GRAnimated koizumi don't own anything. He was outside director of the board of 1up studio for years as the Nintendo representative. He's an executive in Nintendo and deputy general manager in epd but as far as game credits he barely have been involved in games in this gen. Takahashi is the general manager of EPD and is general producer on every single Nintendo game like Miyamoto was when he was general manager of ead

[@lucashen9686]

Yeah the problem is also just how the interent works. If you have Aonuma in your title, it will automatically be clicked on more, than if it was Fujibayashi. So for media, it's convenient to pretend like Aonume is still the "genius behind Zelda".

[@CanaldoZenny]

It is Nintendo's fault for being so secretive about the people behind their games. If their faces and personas aren't marketable, we don't hear about them. I'm not saying Nintendo is robbing their fame, but it is a different strategy from other game studios that usually talk directly with their customers and supporters.

[@cyberrb25]

It's pretty telling people don't really see the actual leadership. Kit and Krista have talked a couple times already about how the Master Cycle Zero comes from Fujibayashi's extreme love for cars and other vehicles (even about how they brought him to a car fair in the US). Yet, if you asked most people, they would believe such ideas came from Aonuma himself.

[@SuperFlashDriver]

"Kit and Krista have talked a couple times already about how the Master Cycle Zero comes from Fujibayashi's extreme love for cars and other vehicles (even about how they brought him to a car fair in the US)." (Flashbacks from Yugi Naka also having a huge passion and love for vehicles/cars.)

[@RaeSig]

the lack of celebration for Fujibayashi is a little strange to me. He directed two of the most impactful games of the last decade, which could also be considered among the best games ever made.. I half-hoped for Nintendo to promote the Oracle games re-releases with his name, cus whenever I tell people it's the same director it blows their minds.

[@inamorta47-playertwist]

It might be his will. Maybe he dont want the spotlight.

[@RaeSig]

that's very possible!

[@RaeSig]

what do you mean?

[@megaman37456]

@@Goosewitdajuice317 The fuck are you on about? How has he "disrespected the franchise"?!

[@grantnesselroad7569]

@@Goosewitdajuice317Explain what you mean by this, god damn you

[@alexng8788]

One correction: the few interviews Nintendo allowed with media to promote TOTK featured Aunoma and Fujibayashi together. I think it is inaccurate to say he was pushed to the background. Fujibayashi was also a part of every Nintendo Asks in-house interview for TOTK along with the other lead developers.

[@dis_inferno9173]

It's so funny how little there's talk about Yoshio Sakamoto. He's legend of videogames and he created all 2D Metroids, except Return of Samus. While now he's a producer, he's still the main driving force in 2D Metroid development and one of the reasons why Metroid is still so great in this day and age.

[@Ray_2112]

Metroid fans know who he is...but unfortunately there aren't as many as there are for Mario or Zelda, so that's also the reason he isn't talked about a lot. Also, there isn't a new Metroid game that often.

[@zwillscoopchannel9689]

@@Ray_2112it’s most likely that because metroid is still One of Nintendo’s less important ip. Most likely it’s because shooters are not that great in Japan kinda like rpg’s in America

[@bobalinx8762]

I know because he also directed WarioWare.

[@haruhirogrimgar6047]

What do you mean "great in this day and age"? mercury steam basically stabbed the original Metroid gameplay style and Samus as a character and put her corpse in a brand new series. She went from a cool action hero walking around in a tank with her sex not being a focus of her character design. To a busty frail action babe.

[@dis_inferno9173]

@@haruhirogrimgar6047 Sakamoto chosed them to work on Metroid in the first place. I think I don't need to explain what Sakamoto as "Producer" actually means for the whole development. He's defenitely not the one who brought new gameplay ideas like "Melee Counter", but he checks quality of the game every damn week and adding some notes to how certain characters animations should be like in his vision, designs, musical direction is all from his work. His word matters, because he deciding what should be in the game and what is not. And it's not to notice his hard work on storytelling in these games that uses gamedesign as a storytelling tool.

[@bwminich]

Don't forget Aya Kyogoku, who has been directing Animal Crossing mianline titles since New Leaf. She's 41-42, and presumably will direct that franchise for the next installment as well. I would love to learn more about her. Nogami is in his 50s, and is producing Splatoon and Animal Crossing, I don't know what else he's up to in the company, but he's clearly doing consulting and setting tones for two large important franchises. He seems to be in a similar role as Koizumi, though for different parts of the company.

[@cleverman383]

Maybe that's why most Animal Crossing fans say that the games have got worse after Wild World. Less focus on making friends and living together as equals with the animals and more focus on being their mayor and controlling the entire town. Worse dialogue in general, being given quests by the town/city/island itself (or Tom Nook) instead of your neighbors asking you favors to do stuff like before. Instead of forming bonds with the neighbors you meet, theres a bigger focus on using Amiibo or traveling to other players islands to get your favorite looking animals to live in your island and kicking out the ugly ones. The heart and soul of the original Animal Crossing has been fading with each new release.

[@mariotheundying]

@@cleverman383 nah that isn't a problem that has to do with being the mayor or being a god, they can always improve interactions when they feel like it, even with an update

[@giulytsme]

When I think of "contemporary" Nintendo, I always think about Splatoon. It's the only major "non historic" Nintendo franchise. It has a fresh and modern artstyle and it was developed by so many new young artists and programmers! And despite beeing so new, it still follows the classic Nintendo difference and originality

[@Existential_Tempest]

I think that Xenoblade should also be considered here; obviously, it has a longer lineage through the Xeno series but it's only flourished and come to prominence under Nintendo. Both it and Splatoon, I feel, do similar things in being iterative standouts in their respective genres - adding in new mechanics and ideas that don't reinvent the wheel but do function as intriguing, well-thought out twists on the genre's typical formulas, all executed with a high level of refinement and polish. As others have said, this speaks well to Nintendo's stewardship of their developers (both in-house and second party, as with Monolith Soft), giving them the time, budget, creative freedom and clear support to make the games that they want to make.

[@cleverman383]

It's rare for Nintendo to make a new IP. So it's always surprising to see something like Splatoon or even Pikmin.

[@kevinfromsales9445]

@@cleverman383 Nintendo makes new IPs with each new console generation either first or second party, the problem is that their older IPs usually take the spotlight and the newer ones just can't compete. It's a great thing Splatoon and Xenoblade have become successful series.

[@BronzeAgePepper]

​@@kevinfromsales9445makes me sad how hard Nintendo dropped ARMS, it was incredibly fun, deep, and unlike anything else. what other Switch-era IPs does Nintendo even have?

[@kevinfromsales9445]

@@BronzeAgePepper Mario + Rabbits Astral Chain Ring Fit Adventure have been pretty well received and might probably get sequels for Switch 2.

[@Thatdutchfellow]

A video with the OST Fonsett Village - Xenoblade 2 in the background. Is never a bad video.. Thank you for this very informative video Jon.

[@Winner164]

I was wondering what the beautiful song in the background was, thank you!

[@twosoup3252]

I’m excited for the future of Nintendo’s games because of the level of quality they have been able to achieve and maintain throughout the generation. New ideas will continue to be brought forth as new talent comes in. Many of their biggest franchises have had incredible outings on the Switch, with some of the best games under Nintendo’s belt having been released in the past 7 years or so.

[@zelda8u]

I would like to nominate a special mention to Aya Kyogoku. She is the director for Animal crossing new horizons and is pretty much the head of the ship for that whole franchise. I believe she also made the call to make sure the animal crossing development team is split 50/50 with men and woman. Which is a rare achievement in and of itself in the industry as a whole and should be more comended

[@chaoslordmissingno]

That's a very slippery slope to go down unfortunately with the ESG stuff companies have been trying to integrate.

[@patriknordin2274]

why should 50/50 with men and woman be comended?

[@connordarvall8482]

@@patriknordin2274 Because Japan has never been kind to the idea of women being game developers before. For the first couple of decades, the sentiment against women was so strong a woman would either have to use a male/neutral pseudonym or have a man in the company listed in the credits instead of her. Getting a 50/50 split of men and women and openly admitting it means it's now at least possible for women to have any sort of power in Japanese gamedev.

[@patriknordin2274]

@@connordarvall8482 okay i think the best person always should get the job, not be based on gender, also Japan has a different culture than us let them have that

[@connordarvall8482]

@@patriknordin2274 That's the problem, their innate fear of women was getting in their way of judging competence. Women can't show that they aren't incompetent if they never get the chance.

[@lasercraft32]

7:26 "Miyamoto... we thought you were involved!" "My involvement was... _greatly_ exaggerated."

[@Wiizpig]

About Fujibayashi: i feel for TOTK he had a little bit more of spotlight, but for BOTW... that was approaching zero time under the spotlight!

[@Ray_2112]

Maybe he doesn't want the spotlight...not everyone needs or wants that, so it might be a personal decision.

[@weepingdalek2568]

​@Ray_2112 True, perhaps he still want Aonuma to be the public facing leader of the Zelda team

[@fernando98322]

They're prepared for the next decade minimum, both Zelda games and both Mario Odyssey and Mario Wonder showed this

[@danaugust993]

I hope this means we also end up seeing some new IP's down the line. The 3DS era saw a bunch of new things on the e-shop, like Dillon's rolling Western and Splatoon was also released in those years.

[@esmooth919]

That title is correct. I do feel like there is a changing of the guard, and Mario wonder is evidence of that

[@OhMyPoBoy]

I have great memories of the end of the old guard in the Wii U era. I loved my Wii U, but it has been interesting to see the shift at Nintendo. Some titles disappointed me with the way they rolled out content over time, but in general I think Nintendo still has the magic :)

[@thefastesthedgehog6795]

The thing about the new guard is they are ALL trained by old guard

[@aliciafraser1835]

And as such Nintendo will remain in the realm of the dinosaur in all the worst ways

[@thefastesthedgehog6795]

@@aliciafraser1835 No it is a good thing. Sure, they need more new IP. By closing out the outside world, they can focus on creativity over modernism

[@mrshmuga9]

@@thefastesthedgehog6795Eh, there’s some level to that which is fine. The aspect of doing what you want _despite_ what the norm “dictates”. But they also will claim they’re doing something new when it isn’t, it’s just new for them. Like they treat Mario Wonder as this crazy game, when a lot of the “new” stuff is just straight ripped out of Galaxy (1+2), Odyssey, Land 2, and DKC:TF and wonder effects are 30s diversions that half the time, without the visual effect, wouldn’t even appear as unorthodox for the level. Also, Skyrim was listed as an influence for BotW, which shows, and copied those open-world Ubisoft towers. So it’s not like they don’t copy modern trends, it’s just rarer.

[@jeffrey5976]

Aya Kyogoku of Animal Crossing fame. She's pretty young relative to her peers, I believe.

[@PianistTanooki]

It’s been that way for a long time… I mean, it wasn’t until the Switch era that most people became familiar with Yoshiaki Koizumi, for example. Yet, this guy directed Super Mario Sunshine, Super Mario Galaxy, and then became producer of the 3D Mario series. Those who continue to think that Miyamoto is directly in charge of Mario and Zelda are unfortunately just ignorant and don’t bother looking into things. While Miyamoto DID serve as Director for Super Mario Run, he otherwise hasn’t been directly involved with Mario since Super Mario 64. It’s kind of like how people erroneously credit Koji Kondo with all Mario an Zelda compositions in games like Zelda Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword, Super Mario Galaxy, Super Mario Galaxy 2, and so on… meanwhile he only composed a handful of compositions in each game and has mostly taken a backseat in general. He DID serve as the Sound Director for Super Mario Bros. Wonder and even composed some of the game’s music, but it seems the music was mostly composed by Shiho Fujii and a couple other staff members. Because with mainline Zelda games, he's completely uninvolved, composition-wise, and with Super Mario Odyssey, he, again, only composed a handful of compositions.

[@MarcLovallo]

Kenta Motokura directed "Mario Odyssey". Yoshiaki Koizumi only produced it.

[@pinto5012]

Looking forward to the days where people will stop associating all Nintendo released products with just Miyamoto 😂

[@G_come_Gelo]

At least Miyamoto created the very series. If anything the overrated one is koizumi, bro is only responsible for rosalina’s creation (and shoehorning into the wii u era games)

[@INFERNO95]

​@@G_come_Gelo Some fools still think miyamoto is making mario games and characters. He has not made a mario character in two decades. Rosalina was only popular during mario galaxy Era. Once nintendo move on her hype dry up due to people seeing her as a peach wanna be. Sure there some minor differences but it not the much differences between the two characters.

[@brianlefko4404]

@@G_come_GeloAh yes, Koizumi who wrote Link’s Awakening, assistant directed Super Mario 64, co-directed Ocarina of Time, co-directed and co-wrote Majora’s Mask, directed Super Mario Sunshine, and directed Super Mario Galaxy. Clearly his only contribution is Rosalina. Clearly.

[@G_come_Gelo]

@@brianlefko4404 didn't know that, sorry. Apparently his name only got famous in the Wii U era, probably

[@justadragonnamemarcus1751]

People should stop blaming him 😢

[@matthewleonmartin]

It's curious to see Nintendo shifting to this new generation, especially in contrast to how the Nine Old Men at Disney held onto power even when they weren't physically doing the art anymore. They resisted modern trends every step of the way.

[@Toonrick12]

Very much agreed. If you know your Disney history, this is one of the reasons why the company had such a low point in the 70's and 80's. The stagnation also caused Don Bluth and others to leave to go their own routes.

[@markellhawthorne2921]

@@Toonrick12 Eventually, the younger artists that stayed were finally given a chance and the Disney Renaissance of the 90s happened.

[@ma.2089]

@@markellhawthorne2921 this has to be what’s happening to current Disney. Cuz a lot of the workers worked on older successful projects & are clearly enthusiastic and care about their work. But along with what happened with Dana Terrace, and Disney’s and Marvel’s current failures, we can see that there’s a problem with management. Ppl aren’t allowed to create the projects they want to do, so they default to old stuff, and it ends up failing them.

[@markellhawthorne2921]

@@ma.2089 Then there's films like Elemental that clearly was a passion project that Disney barely advertised. It was only because of good word of mouth that that movie found some success.

[@sillycookie]

It's fascinating to see in real time. Disney is stubborn with passing the baton and it ALWAYS mucks things up every 20 years. This stretch has been particularly bad because of how bloated Disney got as a corpo. Nintendo, with all its issues, all in all run a very tight ship and ensure everything goes through with little fuss or mess. They're pretty private behind the scenes, but seem to have everything so planned that they can afford to branch into pretty ambitious projects again (getting theme parks, getting movie deals, making a whole animation studio).

[@UndeadEggmiester]

I love how we are calling guys in there late 40s to early 50s as the new young generation.

[@hichaelhighers]

What an incredibly informative and entertaining video! This really does its part in rekindling my love for gaming, thank you, Jon!

[@Rubberman202]

Edit: 9:50 - I sat up straight in my seat when I heard "Goro Abe", that guy programmed Wario Land 4, the legend! Original comment: Eiji Aonuma being in the spotlight for Tears of the Kingdom might be intentional, I remember him saying something along the lines of not wanting to let go of his reins on Zelda when Yoshiaki Koizumi mentioned he'd like to be in charge of the series, though that might have just been playful banter between the two and not something to look that deeply into. Still, you saying Takashi Tezuka sharing the spotlight with first-time director Shiro Mouri when it came to Super Mario Bros. Wonder did make me think of this.

[@TurnaboutAdam]

Kit and Krysta on their podcast often talk about how Nintendo doesn’t want devs to become bigger than the company, so new devs don’t get the same spotlight. It’s disappointing, they deserve to be celebrated.

[@ausgod538]

Kristen and kit are delusional ex employees who think they know things while just being part of an overseas subsidiary that historically has no insight in how jp things work. It's a ridiculous argument when producers and directors are in interviews all the time and 4 developer's are executives at Nintendo

[@stripedrajang3571]

Is there a reason why Nintendo doesn't want developers to become famous or bigger than the company? Is it because of Hideo Kojima?

[@SeanSMST]

​@stripedrajang3571 probably yeah

[@MegaNerdX]

It’s because they want people to think of the game itself & not the soul(s) behind it.

[@mrshmuga9]

Outside what Kit & Krysta said about focusing on the games, I imagine it’s a corporate decision. If you’re aware of the names, when those creatives inevitably leave, you might leave with them. Whereas if you just see a faceless brand, and don’t really associate the company with any specific people, then you won’t think too much about it won’t be able to affect your purchasing decisions in any way.

[@akaimizu1]

I would say that Fujibayashi really came into the spotlight, for me, at the Game Awards. Aonuma went right up to the stage with him, and made sure Fujibayashi spoke there. This was when they took the Game of the Year for Breath of the Wild.

[@megaman37456]

@@Goosewitdajuice317 Facts. At least ToTK added a good bit more of that traditional Zelda feel, but I mean I really don't think they can top TP or OoT or MM in terms of just straight up perfection. Those games FEEL like Zelda more than any other 3D Zelda, wind waker was really good so I'll give it an honorable mention, but man skyward sword was where you could see the trend chasing start to set in.

[@realw1ll]

WW clears TP@@megaman37456

[@akaimizu1]

@@Goosewitdajuice317 Only if you completely dismiss the idea behind the original Zelda game. To a degree, the move to such a structured method of less-open-exploration and ordered dungeons, was started by hardware limitations and they stuck with it, for years. Yes, that does mean a number of fans will think that is what makes a Zelda game, but BOTW was indeed the very spirit of what they wanted The Legend of Zelda to be, in the first place. And what those of us, starting on the original Zelda, felt at the time.

[@luigiymario2xd]

I'm all up for new faces working on our beloved franchises, new people always mean new ideas and it helps for innovation! :3

[@lukebrady65]

Not surprisingly, Nintendo talked about this transition years ago when they announced Splatoon for Wii U. Letting the younger guys take the ropes and push new ideas.

[@Koops2245]

"This person *_did_* that game" is a problematic way many g4m3rs have always communicated, and I don't think we've made much progress in solving it. As someone who dipped their toes into the industry of game development I could never get a straight answer from my colleagues, and even superiors, about the definition of job positions like "director" and "producer". I was very excited the day I stumbled upon the interview between Katsuhiro Harada and Masahiro Sakurai where they tackle this very question... and they still couldn't come to an agreement on conclusive definitions. (c" ತ,_ತ)

[@ICharlyl]

Im so glad for it, it shows with the new games that new blood is pouring in, the wiiu era was pretty rough

[@Ray_2112]

But the problem of the Wii U was bad marketing, the games were amazing, there is a reason they ported pretty much all big ones to the Switch and they've been very successful there and contributing to the Switch's legacy.

[@internetguy7319]

​​@@Ray_2112this is such bullshit first of all, what was there to market? What audience was it for? Well, Nintendo fans. That's who it sold to. Hardcore games? Arguably not as powerful as an Xbox 360. Two screens? Handheld? Not only were basically all Wii U exclusives given a 3DS counterpart by franchise, or directly (New Soup 2/U, 3D Land/World, Smash 3DS/U, etc.), the hardware in general just wasn't very good The games were good but few of them were mindblowing, or made a big deal beyond the core Nintendo demographic. It didn't get its big Zelda until, you know, 2017; there wasn't some big 64/Sunshine/Galaxy style game. Didn't even get a lot of softball things, like a more traditional 2D Kirby. I'd argue the 3DS was a competitor to the Wii U to the general audience, and the 3DS waa a significantly better package. Much cheaper, fully handheld for the kids, tbh better library that was half Wii U analogues anyways. It even got big games that the Wii U never really did, like an original Zelda game. Wanna play New Super Mario Bros? The family probably has a Wii.

[@emersonssbb]

@@Ray_2112 How did the wii u suffer from bad marketing. It had like million Nintendo Directs to advertise it.What amazing game.All the amazing games were ported to switch so it basically has nothing.

[@lukebrady65]

​@@emersonssbb Most people thought the Wii U was an US$299.99 add on to the Wii. In the first reveal trailer Nintendo didn't even show the console just the controller. The marketing was absolutely terrible and even to this day people still believe this.

[@emersonssbb]

@@lukebrady65 So it needs to be called a Wii 2 in order for people know its a new system. How retarded are people now.Also, how retarded are people if it was a add on it wouldnt get its own games.Wii U had it own games. HOW the heck does a add on get its own game 64dd was a add on it didnth have its own games.

[@dingoskidneys]

I think a lot of this comes down to how Nintendo handles their PR - like Sakurai with Smash, Aonuma is still very much the marketing “frontman” for Zelda by revealing all the major trailers, narrating the demo footage, etc. It makes total sense that people would assume he’s the game director with that kind of near-exclusive presence.

[@ausgod538]

You don't need a company for that when google exists and you can look up info easily

[@legoboy7107]

With Smash though it's a bit different, Sakurai is not just a mainly PR overseer brand representative frontman or whatever, he has still been the main leader and extremely involved with the development of the games, he was even I think the one manually specifying all the parameters for characters himself until I think Smash 4 (maybe Ultimate) where he finally relaxed some on that front. It's not like, say, Miyamoto with Mario where he has a very backseated role in the later titles.

[@mrshmuga9]

@@ausgod538The average customer isn’t going to go on Wikipedia to look up directors. Assuming they even follow gaming news at all.

[@ausgod538]

@@mrshmuga9 good thing we arent talking about average customer as those wouldnt even be in this channel or talking about games on twitter and yt all days. point is, hardcore fans in the most part dont really are interested in looking up info about development companies involved i na game or even core staff.

[@mrshmuga9]

@@ausgod538 And yet, the reason they have figures present these videos isn't because people are "too lazy to Google the people in charge". It's just another form of PR to sell the game, "Here's the person involved talking about how they built/designed the game".

[@jaschan2006]

Thanks, Jon, for doing this. I really loved it. I grew up with the originally NES coming out, but I think new blood is very important plus the newer leaders aren’t new to Nintendo just a younger generation from the founders. I have total respect for the founder though the newer ones are breathing new life to the franchises. I have shared this video in several of my Facebook groups.

[@GAGtheReflex]

When the video started, the audio worked well, and I heard the intro, but I only saw Jon's still unflinching smile.

[@By-the_Way]

I think Fujibayashi is pretty famous among game fans, but I really do think he deserves more recognition for everything he's done for Zelda and Nintendo. He really is something.

[@ADreamingTraveler]

He started off directing The Minish Cap and then went on to direct Skyward Sword and both BOTW and TOTK. He's had such a massive impact on the series

[@roskiart8750]

@@ADreamingTraveler He started directing the Oracle games.

[@corey2232]

I actually wish Anouma or Fujibayashi were the ones headlining the involvement with the Zelda movie, not Miyamoto. Over the years, Anouma has all but said him & others have tried to add more creative stories, narrative complexity & lore to the Zelda series, but have to basically fight for it/sneak it in under Miyamoto's nose. Miyamoto is legendary, but his "I'm not a fan of stories" and not letting that aspect evolve much over time doesn't really mesh well with MOVIES. It's fine for an animated Mario, but a live action Zelda? That scares me.

[@giggymuun]

Nintendo still has Nintendo!

[@matthewlasalvia7026]

This is the problem with auteur theory. The idea that one guy is solely responsible for the success of a project or a franchise. Shigeru Miyamoto came up for the idea for Super Mario Bros. and worked on the game, but he had other people to work with, to give him direction, and to spitball ideas with. The same thing could be said about Star Wars and George Lucas or Marvel Comics and Stan Lee.

[@JoyContent2]

I think my uncle who works at nintendo would be a good pick for a leadership role well as long as he stops leaking stuff to me of course

[@goranisacson2502]

Hey KiddyKongFacts has your uncle leaked any news of a new Donkey Kong game? It's okay I am good at keeping secrets told to me on public forums you can tell me if he's told you anything. Really.

[@MartKart8]

Around 15 - 20 people made Super Mario 64 back then, these days it feels like it's gone over the top with some companies need 1000s of people to make one game.

[@yn8789]

that's a drastic comparison, it's not that easy to make games anymore. a LOT of time has passed since mario 64 to say the least

[@NitwitsWorld]

@@yn8789plus, Mario was the first 3D platformer of its time so of course many people would copy it 😅

[@MartKart8]

@@yn8789 It can be easier now, for some, with software like Unreal Engine, people that make games, only pay Epic games 5% if the product made makes 1 million dollars, the rules seem to differ if sold in Epic games, BluePrints has also made the same software popular. Every month like some gaming companies they give out free assets every month. I make models of things in Blender, been using the software for about 2 years.

[@MachiriReviews]

SMB Wonder is definitely a cornerstone for Nintendo. It feels so damn fresh and you can tell it was made with the help of fresh perspective.

[@goranisacson2502]

This episode was a WHOLE lotta names I cannot remember ever hearing before, but even if I can't say I'll remember them from now on unless I really try... it is nice to hear that they don't rely entirely on a few super-star directors but have a lot of people in the wings, waiting to give us even more great new experiences :)

[@nythepremier]

Dude, I live in Japan. The Japanese don’t retire and they live pretty long.

[@uneducatedgamer8881]

Chris Pratt will become the director of Super Mario Skippity Doo Dah in 2029

[@Jamsch101]

Very excited for the future.

[@andreweilermusic]

Great think-piece. 👍🏼

[@AlexTheHorrid]

Fantastic video Jon

[@SIXminWHISTLE]

Man, this is stark contrast to a lot of the Western devs coming to mind. Somewhere that bleeds talent like Bioware, or how Halo has had pretty high turnover during the three main 343 developed games.

[@mrshmuga9]

A big difference there though, is that Nintendo manufactures hardware. By creating their own software they’re able to give their hardware an initial push, which gets people to buy and attracts third party developers. So they need to keep/have top talent to keep their hardware afloat. You don’t have that kind of pressure with a third party studio.

[@mustbemcally2536]

Jon...I'm I right in saying I heard your wonderful voice in a Philips advertisement.

[@MrStarkisser]

What i find amazing how good they are finding ppl that are just so good at their job. They're like falcom without the great exodus of talent.

[@sscu26]

What's the background song? I wish they would put that in the description

[@KatanaRikku]

I can’t exactly remember where it plays at, but it’s from Xenoblade Chronicles 2

[@jacobmonks3722]

Fonsett Village from Xenoblade Chronicles 2.

[@sscu26]

Thanks! Need to play those games, the music sounds incredible

[@rickster008]

I know the time is coming closer and closer but I'm not ready for them to change there roles. I wasn't even ready for Charles martinet to change roles. but I welcome them. Also koizumi is my favorite ( just because he's a magician)

[@Deadponygaming]

When it comes to Nintendo's turnover rate. We do need to consider that in Japan changing jobs isn't as common as the west. Though I'm sure they still take better care of their employees than the majority of the industry

[@INFERNO95]

Sega didn't.

[@ausgod538]

Turn over in Japan is 70% while Nintendo in Japan has 98% turn over. It's bigger than the average

[@diadsalies]

​@ausgod538 what you mean is employee retention rate, not turnover. Turnover means the amount of people that leave/are replaced.

[@BBWahoo]

John has such beautiful eyes!!!

[@logandunlap9156]

i’ve thought about how this would happen eventually. more specifically, what it could mean if the old blood completely disappears. on one hand, quality could drastically change. on the other, i feel like with the old blood entirely out of the picture we could one day see nintendo games on other platforms. god forbid any of that happens any time soon though

[@cleverman383]

I've been thinking about this too. So many people act like Ocarina of Time and Tears of the Kingdom were made by the same guy, but no... The leadership has changed, the directors have changed, the producers have changed, the teams have changed... Maybe people are just afraid of the idea that "these aren't the same people who made my favorite childhood game" rather than seeing that these franchises are being carefully passed down to "younger" (as in 60yr old instead of 70yr old) trusted employees, like a craft being passed down from master to apprentice when the master retires.

[@mageius]

If you want to talk about how much the programming side matters to some degree I can sum it up with just 1 legendary name Iwata.

[@PIKMINROCK1]

Iwata is relatively minor. Still important but his more important role was management. We can't forget Toru Osawa who converted Metroid and Kid Icarus to NES and implemented the password system. Or Toshihiko Nakago, who programmed the original Super Mario Bros

[@mrshmuga9]

If this is in reference to “Iwata saved space for Kanto in Pokémon Gold/Silver”, DYKG corrected that claim. He didn’t save space (his effort took up more actually), but he did make it run better (shorter loading times and whatnot).

[@mageius]

@mrshmuga9 It was actually more about how he was known to help out here and there with programming

[@mageius]

@mrshmuga9 As a quick follow-up when did DYKG do a video on that they had talked about that type stuff from a little while back it was still that he had helped.

[@lambiepie6436]

Thank you for the XC2 background music

[@Nu_Merick]

man time sucks... these are such amazing people.. you can see miyamoto STILL seems like a kid at heart like satoru iwata said about himself with that famous quote. one thing to note: these older devs and producers 100% pass their knowledge over to the new/younger generation of devs

[@elektrikid8463]

Nogami is also somewhat younger and joined the company relatively late compared to Tezuka, Sakaguchi or Miyamoto, but even though he's only 53 he has already steped into the role of Producer for series like Splatoon and Animal Crossing. He used to direct Animal Crossing games but that's been Aya Kyogoku's - which is the main person you forgot to mention in this video imo - job at least since Animal Crossing New Leaf. Kyogoku is apparently general manager of EPD No. 5 now as well, which also used to be Nogami's role. In a sense, EPD No. 5 gives me the impression of being more youthful compared to the other divisions in nintendo R&D.

[@jedisquidward]

As great as these videos are, they always fill me with a sense of absolute dread that the train is leaving without me. I'm not even a game developer, but these properties have been so impactful to me that I've always hoped I could contribute back in some way. The most interesting example that you bring up is the director of F-Zero 99 being American; on one hand, it makes me feel like it's a real possibility despite not being Japanese. On the other, the fact that it is possible makes me feel all the more anxious that I'm not doing something, whatever it is, to be wildly successful enough.

[@Regulus_Tera]

Miyamoto was a co-director in StarFox Zero, so that’s his fault too.

[@maman_3000]

It's nice to hear some talk about Fujibayashi's role for the last Zelda games since he seems like a big driving force for them I feel like one other person who's also not getting the attention they deserve is Takehiko Hosokawa for the Metroid franchise, who basically took over the director role after Sakamoto since Metroid Other M, kind of like Fujibayashi for Zelda And he also directed the first 3 Wario Land games so he's definitely a great person

[@liraco_mx]

This video had made me feel older and realizing the mortality of the greats at Nintendo.

[@gluttonousmaximus9048]

HAL's got a great young team starting with the early 2000s with Tatsuya Kamiyama as lead world and level design on BoxBoy and Kirby, Yuuta Ogasawara as lead sound designer and composer, Yasuhiro Mukae as the masterbind behind BoxBoy, and HAL's lore man himself, Shinya Kumazaki.

[@kurokamina8429]

7:00 if he does then other nintendo IPs could actually be saved. He values stories and gameplay equally and doesn't shove gimmicks down players throats. Which could mean no more "gimmick first" for Star Fox or F Zero and actually develop them the same way the do mario and zelda. 🤞🤞🤞

[@BenjaminDirgo]

I think this is super interesting topic, Thanks 😊

[@azurecorviknight4189]

If nintendo's changing, lemme take the helm of warioland!

[@uneducatedgamer8881]

Yes let's do a new Wario game

[@FruityKoala]

I’ve always thought the Mario Kart Booster course is them training the new staff

[@tatu9805]

Oh god I gotta take a dump.

[@jumpyman9754]

Me too man 🥵

[@smcclure3545]

here's the thing though: it's smart to move from older to younger, so long as it's not TOO YOUNG. the "up and coming" have a TON of experience, and that's just so mature of a company, unlike with silicon valley tech companies and the like. Nintendo FTW. Invest now, it's volatile yeah, but nothing in this company's trajectory suggest it's going to screw up in any major way.

[@Zacian2.0]

Imagine if this new talent brings back the old Zelda formula but in a fresh way that incorporates newer concepts (other than durability shit)

[@goodToons007]

What song was playing at the end of the video?

[@msd5808]

Go get ‘em, Tiger!

[@hoggo3789]

Please let this be a change for the better

[@TomMannCenturia]

Very interesting for the casual Nintendo fan like myself, cheers.

[@jamesmcgeachie]

The one that's always frustrated me is people crediting Kondo for most Nintendo music, despite him not being the main composer for a Nintendo game since basically Majora's Mask.

[@GamerFunOriginallyAarush]

Hooray!

[@Lordcamilli]

Also, you missed a HUGE name in Nintendo who is now out of the picture, and that is the wonderful Mr. Koji Kondo

[@christonadams9046]

Thinking about it, it's kinda crazy how we've barely seen Yoshiaki Koizumi's name this generation. Him and EPD Tokyo (the 3D Mario Team) are obviously very busy with their next production but it's still crazy to think about

[@NightFoxZero]

One thing to note is that director and producer roles are kind of almost the opposite to how we know them in the west. Like for games and films we know the producer as the person that secures funding, manages the project’s timeline and works with the director to make sure the team has the resources they need to accomplish their goals on time. But if you look at Harada from Tekken for example, he’s a Producer but is very much more hands on with the game systems and direction of the game’s development which is typically what a creative director is supposed to be in charge of.

[@Catzzye]

Great video

[@connordarvall8482]

I think this is a good way to point out that games aren't made by an individual person. Apart from the occasional freak incident on Steam, they're a collective effort.

[@thierrymercure]

I'd probably see Aonuma in the role of Miyamoto

[@PIKMINROCK1]

Aonuma more likely just going to stay as Zelda supervisor like Tezuka is Mario supervisor. Miyamoto is currently replaced by Shinya Takahashi and Yoshiaki Koizumi and Katsuya Eguchi with them having Kouichi Kawamoto and Hisashi Nogami as their proteges

[@JustJulyo]

Good choice in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 as background music

[@lagoongames]

you forgot to mention joe he is pretty important

[@jacobmonks3722]

It makes me wonder where some other franchises/companies will be in the future. Tetsuya Nomura and Tetsuya Takahashi for example are in their mid-50s. I don't see them still directing 10-15 years from now, especially Takahashi since he has always been open to giving opportunities to younger creators. Xenosaga 2 is proof of that.

[@Fraxzor]

So promoting from within of someone who has firsthand practical knowledge to a leadership role after proving their success and dedication shows a positive and seamless transition for future success? Who would have thought, what a novel idea.

[@RyanParreno]

Animal Crossing may not be as old as Mario or Zelda, but as a 20 year old franchise and now one of the companies' pillars, it's worth name checking too. And for years those games were directed by Eguchi, with Nogami joining him in the first game, and Tezuka in the producer role, as it was his baby. Today Aya Kyogoku is director of the games, and she seems to be the most senior female game development staff in the company.

[@Fascistbeast]

Fun fact:Fujibayashi is the reason why Link is different looking now in BOTW and TOTK vs older versions. His wife said you should make Link more handsome looking. Definitely the creative type changing things up

[@Lordcamilli]

Don’t forget Koizumi wrote the ALttP booklet and story, so actually he created Ganondorf (although human form appeared until OoT)

[@Wiizpig]

At least we're not in the "Miyamoto makes everything" era anymore but yeah, this is still a problem; i'm really interested in some lesser know names: after Splatoon 1 and LABO what is the director of both projects doing, for example? :')

[@tattertot8259]

I hope the Nintendo talent changes into a team that let's us save Marin from being trapped as a seagull forever !

[@BakedApple989]

I LOVE NINTENDO! That is all.

[@kohakkanuva3224]

Nintendo needs to change it's formula. It needs to give it's talent the respect they deserve, then restructure to focus on making games with a clear focus. Lately Nintendo's formula has been narrowed to "making games fun". Breath of the wild was an outlier. Something new that they did because they wanted something revolutionary and innovative. What it laked was a well rounded story and things that made each quest and shrine seem unique. They blew that chance with totk my injecting their "fun serum" into it with no real focus on story which is the core of the Zelda series. It's why we love Metroid prime remaster so much. It's from a time when Nintendo was so desperate they needed to do something different.