11 ms·

Nintendo parodies Kickstarter

104 points by erikj 13y ago

huhwhat 13y ago
> Nintendo parodies the Kickstarter (nintendo.com) Do you have a link to the specific Kickstarter they're mocking? Or is that an errant 'the' in the title? Also, does anyone know the backstory?
- Samuel_Michon 13y ago
  It makes sense if you read it with an Italian accent (Wario is supposed to be Italian). As for background: Nintendo is crapping on crowdfunded games in general. Apparently, they feel threatened.
  - mehwoot 13y ago
    Why does everyone assume they feel threatened? Crowd funded indie games are hardly destroying their business, or look like doing so anytime soon... Just because someone makes fun of something, doesn't mean they are threatened by it.
    - Samuel_Michon 13y ago
      ‘Just because someone makes fun of something, doesn't mean they are threatened by it.’ Usually, that’s exactly what it means.
      - darkarmani 13y ago
        People must be terrified by blondes.
- archgoon 13y ago
  This is just marketing for this game http://mynintendonews.com/2013/05/03/game-wario-hitting-australia-on-june-29th/ http://mynintendonews.com/2013/05/03/game-wario-hitting-aust... Starting a bad Kickstarter campaign completely fits with the Wario character, whose basic modus operandi is running get-rich-quick-schemes. This is, of course, not saying that is what Kickstarter is good for (or that it's what Nintendo thinks its good for), but it _is_ what _Wario_ would think it would be good for.
- shulk 13y ago
  I'd guess this is parodying Kickstarters where rich people ask for money to support them like the person who wanted 800 dollars to send her daughter to the RPG maker camp or the PennyArcade podcast kickstarter that only required $10 to fund completely. Wario is extremely rich and is asking for support in a similar manner in a way that suits his personality.
- flowsnake 13y ago
  http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/the#Article http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/the#Article 4. Introducing a term to be taken generically; preceding a name of something standing for a whole class.
bx_ 13y ago
Wario really is the godfather of trolls.
seivan 13y ago
This is Nintendo... getting personality. At least in the Western world.
hkmurakami 13y ago
Nintendo has a thing for these sorts of cute mini sites and widgets. I was referred to a random Pokemon flash game (I know right??) once and found that it was really good!! (tetris-like puzzle game). I wish they would make a smartphone app out of it; it is perfect for the touch interface. edit: found it! http://www.pokemon.jp/#/contents/enjoy/play_pass/2.html http://www.pokemon.jp/#/contents/enjoy/play_pass/2.html (it has great music too)
- tagabek 13y ago
  Wow! I agree with you. This would be a perfect mobile game. Stuff like this could really help to save their business.
  - Drakim 13y ago
    Save their business? I thought that Nintendo was doing quite well with the Wii, while also dominating the handheld market?
    - rje 13y ago
      Nintendo revenue over the past year has been pretty abysmal, and they've effectively admitted that the Wii U launch was an unmitigated disaster.
- replax 13y ago
  Thanks for sharing, would be a neat Smartphone game indeed!
- TazeTSchnitzel 13y ago
  Nintendo has a history of making small casual games. Indeed, "Game and Wario" is named after one of their first systems, the Game and Watch, a series of small time-telling devices with a simple LCD game.
- Zecc 13y ago
  Wow, really nice game - and yes, wonderful music. I wish there was a version in a language I could understand though.
bjourne 13y ago
Funny thing is they are using their two decade old character Wario. About time they come up with something new after milking the overused Mario and Zelda franchises for so long.
- thezoid 13y ago
  Yes because the rest of the competition is completely coming up with new games and characters all the time. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_Gear http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_Gear http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_of_Duty http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_of_Duty http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo_(series) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo_(series) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gran_Turismo_(series) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gran_Turismo_(series) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Fantasy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Fantasy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_Fighter http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_Fighter There's nothing wrong with using a franchise. The characters are memorable, and perhaps even people really like them. As long as they are putting the characters into new worlds/levels it's all that matters. Yes, Nintendo is notorious for re-releasing their older games, but it's not like the other companies don't do the same thing either. Just look at the re-release of Combat Evolved, or SquareEnixs constant re-release of their older Final Fantasy games (with cheesy 3D added to them) Edit: Don't know how to use HN markdown or something.
  - TazeTSchnitzel 13y ago
    HN doesn't use markdown, it just has a very primitive system where italics can be created with asterisks.
  - Jach 13y ago
    Well they are. If you count non-first-party titles from independent studios, yeah, the competition is making a lot of new games and characters all the time. If you just want to limit it to new first-party IPs, just compare the number of new IPs that Sony has put onto the market over the last generation vs. Nintendo. I agree there's nothing wrong with using a franchise, but there's definitely something wrong with not putting out a decent amount of new IP (or at least significantly different versions of a franchise, e.g. comparing Paper Mario with Super Mario 64). Can you think of any new first-party Wii IP besides the various Mii-based games like Wii Sports, Endless Ocean, and Xenoblade?
k__ 13y ago
Seems like someone is butthurt...
qompiler 13y ago
Back in 2008 Nintendo also had an amusing Wario Youtube channel. I can't find the live version anymore but here is a video of how it went down: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSU-z-t9Ku4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSU-z-t9Ku4
- orta 13y ago
  Ugly flash URL: http://1q1gafmnta4fm0riakrenq213o0sa9p9.ig.gmodules.com/ig/ifr?url=http://facebook.gspsf.com/~wii/wariolandshakeit2008/gadget_files_040209/google_gadget.xml&lang=en&hl=en_US http://1q1gafmnta4fm0riakrenq213o0sa9p9.ig.gmodules.com/ig/i...
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
Stranger2013 13y ago
Pointless and unfunny. Nintendo doesn't even produce the kind of hardcore games, that are most popular on KS. And not a one mention of Ouya - too scared to draw in that comparison?
- LucasKA 13y ago
  Lol, yeah that tablet in a box with the crappy controller is a huge threat. Maybe it's paving the way for the threat but that thing is craptacular.
arb99 13y ago
Thats a really well made ad. I'd never have normally sat through a game trailer and watched it all, but for that I did.
egypturnash 13y ago
Wow. This is really juvenile and unfunny.
- recycledair 13y ago
  You've just precisely described Wario's character. Looks like they hit the nail on the head!
- jasonlotito 13y ago
  You are ignoring the big context clue: Wario. In relation to that, the page is what it should be.
sgwil 13y ago
This shouldn't be taken too far out of context. It's clear Nintendo doesn't mean this as a cutting critique of crowdfuding, just more riffing on Wario's characterisation as an idiotic selfish asshole.
- James_Duval 13y ago
  Yeah, this is very much of the "Epic Movie" shallow parody school, i.e. it's not actually referencing anything or related to anything or meaningful, it's just saying "This exists! Eh? Eh? How about that? It exists!" I'm glad the site exists, because I suspect kids will find it funny, I'm just a bit baffled as to why it's front page here.
  - skrebbel 13y ago
    Wait, you didn't like "Epic Movie"?
nhangen 13y ago
I think this is a great and honest parody, regardless of whether or not Wario has anything to do with it.
jlas 13y ago
This is a very clever use of gamification, turning the kickstarter 'donation' into a seemingly harmless tweet or a like on FB. It would be an interesting if they followed through with this model and started prioritizing game development based on this feedback.
minimaxir 13y ago
For those curious, yes, Nintendo did purchase http://crowdfarter.com http://crowdfarter.com
claudius 13y ago
Surprisingly accurate, unfortunately.
MichaelApproved 13y ago
Using Firefox on Windows. Hit the back button to try to get back to HN... No luck. Try again... still no luck. Try hitting it twice really fast... No luck. Try hitting it twice really fast again... Frustrated. Right click the back button. Click Hacker News. I hate webpages that get you stuck on their site like that.
- hkmurakami 13y ago
  Same behavior with Firefox on Ubuntu. The only other places I get this are nsfw sites and broken-as-hell asian pages.
  - Samuel_Michon 13y ago
    ‘broken-as-hell asian pages’ It’s Nintendo, so that sounds about right.
- shulk 13y ago
  Works with chrome on android for me.
- Zarel 13y ago
  This is because the website uses a badly-written redirect. Chrome, Opera, and Safari have no problem with these redirects, though: their Back button doesn't become broken when they hit a redirect. I think if every other modern browser has no problem with redirects, it's as much the fault of Firefox as the website...
  - MichaelApproved 13y ago
    "This is because the website uses a badly-written redirect." Maybe I'm cynical but I don't think it's badly-written, I think it's deliberate. I agree that FF is at fault but I'm suspicious of these websites and believe they likely do it on purpose to improve their analytics for page retention. That probably also improves their SEO ranking since (as I understand it) Google will see the person is on their page for longer and will credit the page as having good content.

104 points by erikj 13y ago

> Nintendo parodies the Kickstarter (nintendo.com) Do you have a link to the specific Kickstarter they're mocking? Or is that an errant 'the' in the title? Also, does anyone know the backstory?

Samuel_Michon 13y ago
It makes sense if you read it with an Italian accent (Wario is supposed to be Italian). As for background: Nintendo is crapping on crowdfunded games in general. Apparently, they feel threatened.
- mehwoot 13y ago
  Why does everyone assume they feel threatened? Crowd funded indie games are hardly destroying their business, or look like doing so anytime soon... Just because someone makes fun of something, doesn't mean they are threatened by it.
  - Samuel_Michon 13y ago
    ‘Just because someone makes fun of something, doesn't mean they are threatened by it.’ Usually, that’s exactly what it means.
    - darkarmani 13y ago
      People must be terrified by blondes.
archgoon 13y ago
This is just marketing for this game http://mynintendonews.com/2013/05/03/game-wario-hitting-australia-on-june-29th/ http://mynintendonews.com/2013/05/03/game-wario-hitting-aust... Starting a bad Kickstarter campaign completely fits with the Wario character, whose basic modus operandi is running get-rich-quick-schemes. This is, of course, not saying that is what Kickstarter is good for (or that it's what Nintendo thinks its good for), but it _is_ what _Wario_ would think it would be good for.
shulk 13y ago
I'd guess this is parodying Kickstarters where rich people ask for money to support them like the person who wanted 800 dollars to send her daughter to the RPG maker camp or the PennyArcade podcast kickstarter that only required $10 to fund completely. Wario is extremely rich and is asking for support in a similar manner in a way that suits his personality.
flowsnake 13y ago
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/the#Article http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/the#Article 4. Introducing a term to be taken generically; preceding a name of something standing for a whole class.

bx_ 13y ago

Wario really is the godfather of trolls.

seivan 13y ago

This is Nintendo... getting personality. At least in the Western world.

hkmurakami 13y ago

Nintendo has a thing for these sorts of cute mini sites and widgets. I was referred to a random Pokemon flash game (I know right??) once and found that it was really good!! (tetris-like puzzle game). I wish they would make a smartphone app out of it; it is perfect for the touch interface. edit: found it! http://www.pokemon.jp/#/contents/enjoy/play_pass/2.html http://www.pokemon.jp/#/contents/enjoy/play_pass/2.html (it has great music too)

tagabek 13y ago
Wow! I agree with you. This would be a perfect mobile game. Stuff like this could really help to save their business.
- Drakim 13y ago
  Save their business? I thought that Nintendo was doing quite well with the Wii, while also dominating the handheld market?
  - rje 13y ago
    Nintendo revenue over the past year has been pretty abysmal, and they've effectively admitted that the Wii U launch was an unmitigated disaster.
replax 13y ago
Thanks for sharing, would be a neat Smartphone game indeed!
TazeTSchnitzel 13y ago
Nintendo has a history of making small casual games. Indeed, "Game and Wario" is named after one of their first systems, the Game and Watch, a series of small time-telling devices with a simple LCD game.
Zecc 13y ago
Wow, really nice game - and yes, wonderful music. I wish there was a version in a language I could understand though.

bjourne 13y ago

Funny thing is they are using their two decade old character Wario. About time they come up with something new after milking the overused Mario and Zelda franchises for so long.

thezoid 13y ago
Yes because the rest of the competition is completely coming up with new games and characters all the time. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_Gear http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_Gear http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_of_Duty http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_of_Duty http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo_(series) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo_(series) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gran_Turismo_(series) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gran_Turismo_(series) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Fantasy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Fantasy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_Fighter http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_Fighter There's nothing wrong with using a franchise. The characters are memorable, and perhaps even people really like them. As long as they are putting the characters into new worlds/levels it's all that matters. Yes, Nintendo is notorious for re-releasing their older games, but it's not like the other companies don't do the same thing either. Just look at the re-release of Combat Evolved, or SquareEnixs constant re-release of their older Final Fantasy games (with cheesy 3D added to them) Edit: Don't know how to use HN markdown or something.
- TazeTSchnitzel 13y ago
  HN doesn't use markdown, it just has a very primitive system where italics can be created with asterisks.
- Jach 13y ago
  Well they are. If you count non-first-party titles from independent studios, yeah, the competition is making a lot of new games and characters all the time. If you just want to limit it to new first-party IPs, just compare the number of new IPs that Sony has put onto the market over the last generation vs. Nintendo. I agree there's nothing wrong with using a franchise, but there's definitely something wrong with not putting out a decent amount of new IP (or at least significantly different versions of a franchise, e.g. comparing Paper Mario with Super Mario 64). Can you think of any new first-party Wii IP besides the various Mii-based games like Wii Sports, Endless Ocean, and Xenoblade?

k__ 13y ago

Seems like someone is butthurt...

qompiler 13y ago

Back in 2008 Nintendo also had an amusing Wario Youtube channel. I can't find the live version anymore but here is a video of how it went down: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSU-z-t9Ku4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSU-z-t9Ku4

orta 13y ago
Ugly flash URL: http://1q1gafmnta4fm0riakrenq213o0sa9p9.ig.gmodules.com/ig/ifr?url=http://facebook.gspsf.com/~wii/wariolandshakeit2008/gadget_files_040209/google_gadget.xml&lang=en&hl=en_US http://1q1gafmnta4fm0riakrenq213o0sa9p9.ig.gmodules.com/ig/i...

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

Stranger2013 13y ago

Pointless and unfunny. Nintendo doesn't even produce the kind of hardcore games, that are most popular on KS. And not a one mention of Ouya - too scared to draw in that comparison?

LucasKA 13y ago
Lol, yeah that tablet in a box with the crappy controller is a huge threat. Maybe it's paving the way for the threat but that thing is craptacular.

arb99 13y ago

Thats a really well made ad. I'd never have normally sat through a game trailer and watched it all, but for that I did.

egypturnash 13y ago

Wow. This is really juvenile and unfunny.

recycledair 13y ago
You've just precisely described Wario's character. Looks like they hit the nail on the head!
jasonlotito 13y ago
You are ignoring the big context clue: Wario. In relation to that, the page is what it should be.

sgwil 13y ago

This shouldn't be taken too far out of context. It's clear Nintendo doesn't mean this as a cutting critique of crowdfuding, just more riffing on Wario's characterisation as an idiotic selfish asshole.

James_Duval 13y ago
Yeah, this is very much of the "Epic Movie" shallow parody school, i.e. it's not actually referencing anything or related to anything or meaningful, it's just saying "This exists! Eh? Eh? How about that? It exists!" I'm glad the site exists, because I suspect kids will find it funny, I'm just a bit baffled as to why it's front page here.
- skrebbel 13y ago
  Wait, you didn't like "Epic Movie"?

nhangen 13y ago

I think this is a great and honest parody, regardless of whether or not Wario has anything to do with it.

jlas 13y ago

This is a very clever use of gamification, turning the kickstarter 'donation' into a seemingly harmless tweet or a like on FB. It would be an interesting if they followed through with this model and started prioritizing game development based on this feedback.

minimaxir 13y ago

For those curious, yes, Nintendo did purchase http://crowdfarter.com http://crowdfarter.com

claudius 13y ago

Surprisingly accurate, unfortunately.

MichaelApproved 13y ago

Using Firefox on Windows. Hit the back button to try to get back to HN... No luck. Try again... still no luck. Try hitting it twice really fast... No luck. Try hitting it twice really fast again... Frustrated. Right click the back button. Click Hacker News. I hate webpages that get you stuck on their site like that.

hkmurakami 13y ago
Same behavior with Firefox on Ubuntu. The only other places I get this are nsfw sites and broken-as-hell asian pages.
- Samuel_Michon 13y ago
  ‘broken-as-hell asian pages’ It’s Nintendo, so that sounds about right.
shulk 13y ago
Works with chrome on android for me.
Zarel 13y ago
This is because the website uses a badly-written redirect. Chrome, Opera, and Safari have no problem with these redirects, though: their Back button doesn't become broken when they hit a redirect. I think if every other modern browser has no problem with redirects, it's as much the fault of Firefox as the website...
- MichaelApproved 13y ago
  "This is because the website uses a badly-written redirect." Maybe I'm cynical but I don't think it's badly-written, I think it's deliberate. I agree that FF is at fault but I'm suspicious of these websites and believe they likely do it on purpose to improve their analytics for page retention. That probably also improves their SEO ranking since (as I understand it) Google will see the person is on their page for longer and will credit the page as having good content.