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Nintendo's president says it's important to respect fan memories when creating more content for Nintendo's characters

Characters and memories to last a lifetime
by rawmeatcowboy
28 February 2021
GN Version 5.0

Nintendo has a lot of characters under their umbrella, but sometimes it can be a long wait to get the next mainline installment for each franchise. You might get a Mario sports or party title here and there, but when it comes to Mario's next big adventure, you usually have to wait years.

Some think Nintendo should work quicker to get these games out, and use their IP more overall. In an interview with Nikkei, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa says that it's not just a matter of cranking more games out. Nintendo works hard to make sure they not only respect the brands, but also the memories fans have of those characters. You can see the translation of Furukawa's statements below, courtesy of NintendoEverything.

We must keep in mind that the origins of the characters are in the games. These are characters that fans have grown attached to through countless hours of playtime. We must develop those characters in a way that won’t destroy fans’ memories of the characters in their worlds. We always proceed with caution as to not damage the value of the brand.

If we want to increase sales in the short term, there are other ways to do so. It’s more a question of what we can do to keep Nintendo a beloved brand in the long run. That’s the debate we often have internally, and something I think carefully about as I make decisions. There’s always a risk of destroying the Nintendo brand, which we spent over 30 years building.

[Link]