Nintendo Refuses to do Controversial Interview with EGM

FriskyTanuki

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Any day now, some of you will start getting the May issue in the mail. In that one, I explain that our interview with Nintendo prez Reggie Fils-Aime got canceled. :( It took me five months of multiple phone calls and emails to land that interview finally, but then Nintendo pulled it from us because they're not happy with our group right now. I can't get into any details about why (because it's sensitive stuff we're working out with Nintendo at the moment), but I just wanted to let you all know that the Reggie interview isn't happening like we promised, not through lack of trying on our part!
They've been doing these same type of interviews for the past two issues with Sony and Microsoft, but apparently Nintendo refused to take their turn because of some beef they have with EGM. The previous idea for these interviews was to have all three being interviewed at once, but Nintendo screwed up those plans, as well. This just seems to be another example of Nintendo being a hassle for the media to work with. I have to wonder what the problem is and why it's keeping this interview from happening.
 
I love Nintendo, but they sure can be pricks sometimes. EGM probably jokingly used the Wii as a phallic reference, and thus...EMBARGO'D!
 
But do any of these interviews ultimately mean anything? Honestly, sometimes it's like doing the post game interview with an athlete--completely generic and unecessary.

Unless Dan Hsu is just trying to grab quotables a la the Jack Tretton/Sony interview. "Reggie will pay $1200 to anyone who can find a Wii sitting on the shelf for more than 24 hours"...etc etc...
 
I don't really know why they pulled out but good for them. EGM sucks. The interviews are pointless anyway.

Sony should learn to say no like Nintendo so they don't say stupid shit like they always do.
 
Not news. Especially when you consider the massive amount of interviews that pop up every freaking week.

EGM is probably making up all this controversy crap just to get attention, sales, etc.
 
It seems like they are just out to make Nintendo look bad. If the interview isn't happening, just say it. Don't push all the blame onto Nintendo by saying "I can't tell you what happened but Nintendo is doing it out of spite". Yet he goes on to say it is sensitive and they're working on it with Nintendo. If it's really so sensitive then you shouldn't have put all the blame on them and just not said anything. Or maybe there is probably a reason for them to be pissed at you in the first place.
 
I think it's because Shane Battenhausen disclosed info on Super Paper Mario after Nintendo repeatedly asked them to wait a little longer. Additionally, there's the issue of this guy named Luke who did 1UP podcasts and accussed Perrin Kaplan of sleeping ith Matt Cass. from IGN.

As for that comment, Hsu really rubs me the wrong way. He either needs to specify, or just not mention it. He did the EXACT same thing with his editorial on how gaming journalism is losing its integrity. I'm wondering if EGM is starting to realize its insignificance in the new "gaming community?" At anyrate, Reggie already did a pretty rough interview with some other website. Ngai? N-something. I'll try to find it.
 
[quote name='zewone']Wack. Reggie isn't kicking ass or taking names. Dude is scared of an interview.[/QUOTE]


sounds more like taking control. EGM is their bitch. If nintendo dosn't like something, they'll shut their bitch out. ;)
 
Given the abysmally poor 'journalism' in EGM I wouldn't blame them for not giving an interview. If they want to be taken seriously, they have a lot of work to do.
 
Remember that Wii/PS3 comparison last year where EGM said PS3 was better in head to head? Or even the gamecube/xbox/PS2 compassion? Read the interview with Sony and Nintendo did the right thing to turn it down.
 
[quote name='porieux']Given the abysmally poor 'journalism' in EGM I wouldn't blame them for not giving an interview. If they want to be taken seriously, they have a lot of work to do.[/QUOTE]
Who do you take seriously in videogame journalism?
 
Reality's Fringe;2810757]I think it's because Shane Battenhausen disclosed info on Super Paper Mario after Nintendo repeatedly asked them to wait a little longer. Additionally said:
http://ncroal.talk.newsweek.com/default.asp?item=552102[/URL]
 
You mean the same thing that Kotaku did to Sony, but then everyone bashed Sony when they canceled some stuff with Kotaku? But its a good thing for Nintendo to do it? Thats a double standard if I have ever seen one.

I am not a fan of EGM, but these last few interviews EGM did really ask some good questions about the downsides and problems the consoles were having. It really looks like Nintendo didnt want to answer the hard questions that they knew were coming their way.
 
I don't think so, N-Gai didn't go soft on Reggie. EGM didn't follow the rules.

Reality's Fringe;2810757 said:
I think it's because Shane Battenhausen disclosed info on Super Paper Mario after Nintendo repeatedly asked them to wait a little longer. Additionally, there's the issue of this guy named Luke who did 1UP podcasts and accussed Perrin Kaplan of sleeping ith Matt Cass. from IGN.

As for that comment, Hsu really rubs me the wrong way. He either needs to specify, or just not mention it. He did the EXACT same thing with his editorial on how gaming journalism is losing its integrity. I'm wondering if EGM is starting to realize its insignificance in the new "gaming community?" At anyrate, Reggie already did a pretty rough interview with some other website. Ngai? N-something. I'll try to find it.

Yep on both accounts. The N-gai interview was great. Could have been longer though.

As for EGM, I enjoyed the previous interviews with Sony and MS and was looking forward to this one. But if they want to play hardball they need to reign in their talent whom all think they are gaming gods all of a sudden from the popularity of their podcasts. Nintendo has an embargo on a review, play by the rules. Claiming a top Nintendo exec is sleeping with the competition? Mudslinging at its best. Shue needs to get a grip on his employees and stop blaming Nintendo for their own employee's idiocy.

Shane is just a fratboy dick totally blinded by Sony bias, almost to the point of making you wonder how big a check Sony sends him weekly for the only positive press they get these days.

Luke started out entertaining but now just says shit just to rile things up, but at least he can still have some good days unlike Shane. John and Garnett are the only level headed people on the show these days.

Take the last podcast where they were ripping on a game they haven't even seen, Mario & Sonic at the Olympics. Not a single shot has been shown, details about which sports are in it, how the Wiimote will work, nada. Yet they rip into it like crazy. It was very forced and sounded ridiculous not to mention unprofessional for a "journalist."

The podcast is still one of my favorites, but it is sinking due to the ginormous egos of the personalities.
 
[quote name='rodeojones903']You mean the same thing that Kotaku did to Sony, but then everyone bashed Sony when they canceled some stuff with Kotaku. But its a good thing for Nintendo to do it?

I am not a fan of EGM, but these last few interviews EGM did really did ask some good questions about the downsides and problems the consoles were having. It really looks like Nintendo didnt want to answer the hard questions that they knew were coming their way.[/QUOTE]


I didn't say I agreed with it, I was making a statement. And those problems are addressed in pretty much every interview given to internet gaming sites. How many times do we have to hear the same responses about Red Rings, the high price of the Ps3, or the future of the Wii 3rd party support before people realize that corporate mouthpieces WON'T give any real insight? Obfuscation is their job.
 
Reality's Fringe;2810757 said:
I think it's because Shane Battenhausen disclosed info on Super Paper Mario after Nintendo repeatedly asked them to wait a little longer. Additionally, there's the issue of this guy named Luke who did 1UP podcasts and accussed Perrin Kaplan of sleeping ith Matt Cass. from IGN.

As for that comment, Hsu really rubs me the wrong way. He either needs to specify, or just not mention it. He did the EXACT same thing with his editorial on how gaming journalism is losing its integrity. I'm wondering if EGM is starting to realize its insignificance in the new "gaming community?" At anyrate, Reggie already did a pretty rough interview with some other website. Ngai? N-something. I'll try to find it.
Repeatedly? He asked people what they wanted to know about the game in his blog when he thought it was allowable under the NDA. God forbid he wanted to let people know about a game that they might want to play. He removed it as soon as he found out about the problem. How's that enough to pull interviews? As for the Perrin Kaplan thing, they don't like each other as she called him an asshole when he suggested that the Wii could've been done as a peripheral for the GameCube at E3. Luke has nothing to do with EGM, so I doubt that that's the cause for it.

I don't get why explaining to the readers why the feature they were expecting isn't in the issue is a bad thing. If they just wrote "There will be no interview with Reggie." in place of the interview, what are people supposed to think? What does N'Gai Croal's interview with Reggie have to do with Nintendo cancelling this one? Five months spent to get the interview scheduled and it's cancelled for some beef, which they're working to resolve. Why ruin that by spilling the exact reason for Nintendo cancelling on them?
 
Reality's Fringe;2810817]I didn't say I agreed with it said:
I realize that and I worded my statement wrong a little bit so it seemed like it was towards you. It was referring more toward the other people that are praising Nintendo for doing this in the thread so far.
 
[quote name='rodeojones903']You mean the same thing that Kotaku did to Sony, but then everyone bashed Sony when they canceled some stuff with Kotaku? But its a good thing for Nintendo to do it? Thats a double standard if I have ever seen one.

I am not a fan of EGM, but these last few interviews EGM did really did ask some good questions about the downsides and problems the consoles were having. It really looks like Nintendo didnt want to answer the hard questions that they knew were coming their way.[/QUOTE]

I agree with both comments here.
 
[quote name='FriskyTanuki']Repeatedly? He asked people what they wanted to know about the game in his blog when he thought it was allowable under the NDA. God forbid he wanted to let people know about a game that they might want to play. He removed it as soon as he found out about the problem. How's that enough to pull interviews? As for the Perrin Kaplan thing, they don't like each other as she called him an asshole when he suggested that the Wii could've been done as a peripheral for the GameCube at E3. Luke has nothing to do with EGM, so I doubt that that's the cause for it.

I don't get why explaining to the readers why the feature they were expecting isn't in the issue is a bad thing. If they just wrote "There will be no interview with Reggie." in place of the interview, what are people supposed to think? What does N'Gai Croal's interview with Reggie have to do with Nintendo cancelling this one? Five months spent to get the interview scheduled and it's cancelled for some beef, which they're working to resolve. Why ruin that by spilling the exact reason for Nintendo cancelling on them?[/QUOTE]

It's enough to pull an interview if the company who made the game wants to. Luke has a connection with EGM through 1up as EGM is an extension of 1up(or vice versa). Guilt by association I guess.

The Ngai review isn't related to this specific incident, but it should be known that Dan Hsu isn't the only person on this planet to ask these "hard-hitting questions".

Additionally, if Hsu wasn't ready to spill the reason, he should have just said that Nintendo had to temporarily decline the interview and leave it at that; not put out some nebulous insinuation that it's all because of Nintendo, and there's no fault of EGM. They're both involved in this little high-school dispute.
 
[quote name='FriskyTanuki']http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=8020638&publicUserId=5379799

They've been doing these same type of interviews for the past two issues with Sony and Microsoft, but apparently Nintendo refused to take their turn because of some beef they have with EGM. The previous idea for these interviews was to have all three being interviewed at once, but Nintendo screwed up those plans, as well. This just seems to be another example of Nintendo being a hassle for the media to work with. I have to wonder what the problem is and why it's keeping this interview from happening.[/quote]

Who gives a shit. One less interview to read and EGM has already shown in the past that they're a pain in the ass to deal with. There are plenty of interviews from the gaming community and industry out there and that continue to be published every week, so no loss.
 
Reality's Fringe;2810845 said:
It's enough to pull an interview if the company who made the game wants to. Luke has a connection with EGM through 1up as EGM is an extension of 1up. Guilt by association I guess.

The Ngai review isn't related to this specific incident, but it should be known that Dan Hsu isn't the only person on this planet to ask these "hard-hitting questions".

And if Hsu isn't ready to spill the reason, he should have just said that Nintendo had to temporarily decline the interview and leave it at that. Not put out some nebulous insinuation that it's all because of Nintendo, and no fault of EGM. They're both involved in this little high-school dispute.

Agreed fully. I hope that Nintendo doesn't give any interview to EGM just to spite them.
 
[quote name='hiccupleftovers']Agreed fully. I hope that Nintendo doesn't give any interview to EGM just to spite them.[/QUOTE]


So you agree that Sony was 100% correct in the way they handled the Kotaku fiasco before they "unblackballed" them?
 
[quote name='rodeojones903']So you agree that Sony was 100% correct in the way they handled the Kotaku fiasco before they "unblackballed" them?[/QUOTE]

Sony was well within their right to do whatever, regardless of whether or not it was a dick-maneuver. Nintendo has this same right, regardless of whether we think it's right or wrong.

Personally, it's asinine for the interview to be pulled simply because someone spilled some info on SPM, but without knowing if there's more to it, who knows?
Maybe EGM offended Reggie somehow? All I know is that I get EGM for free, and that's just because it takes me a few minutes to defecate.
 
Reality's Fringe;2810845]It's enough to pull an interview if the company who made the game wants to. Luke has a connection with EGM through 1up as EGM is an extension of 1up. Guilt by association I guess. The Ngai review isn't related to this specific incident said:
Who gives a shit. One less interview to read and EGM has already shown in the past that they're a pain in the ass to deal with. There are plenty of interviews from the gaming community and industry out there and that continue to be published every week, so no loss.
:lol: "There are other interviews out there. No loss." The point is that people want to hear more than just the company line on what's been happening with Nintendo lately and this cancellation seems like they wussed out while Sony and Microsoft were happy to do these interviews.
 
Nintendo has no reason to shy away from "hard hitting questions" from EGM. The interview had to of been pulled for a more sinister reason on EGM/1UP's part.

Or Reggie just doesn't like them...
 
No offense to this thread, but who gives a shit? I'm willing to wager 80% of Wii owners have never read an EGM anyway.
 
[quote name='FriskyTanuki']Pulling an interview because of a temporary mistake would be one of the stupidest things I've ever heard of if that's somehow true. That would incredibly childish of Nintendo to do that because it's not like Shane refused to pull it when corrected. Which episode of 1up Yours did Luke make the claim that Kaplan slept with the IGN dude because I don't believe that it was a serious claim in any regard. [/quote]

Yeah, it would be lame. As for the episode, I don't know. It's been a while, and joke or not, he still said it. People take jokes the wrong way all the time.

It just sounds like your point is that Nintendo is incredibly thin-skinned and looks at every single word said about them to find any reason at all to not work with anybody. That's not a good reason.

No, my point is that they're within their rights to pull the interview if they don't like something(and pretty much every comapny is "thin-skinned" in relation to its PR). I never said it was a good reason.

The N'Gai interview wasn't as "hard-hitting" as you're claiming it to be. He picked out some issues that Nintendo was having and let them respond to it and then moved on without a second thought. It mostly seemed like the interview was rushed compared to his interview with Phil Harrison.

Same can be said for all of Dan Hsu's interviews. His interviews always end up with some variation of issues tossed around on message boards which never get any real responses outside of marketing and doublespeak. The Ngai interview asked general questions about the Wii's potential 3rd party issues, which is what I'm assuming Hsu would ask, in addition to something about the power of the hardware to which Reggie would reply that power isn't in their strategy ,, then he'd ask about some people claiming the motion control doesn't work that well to which Reggie would cite user-end problems or dev issues, and so on and so forth until the interview ends, nothing new comes out, and Hsu can pat himself on the back.

The readers have a right to know why promised features aren't hitting, especially when they've been talking about it for four months now. They did the same thing with the huge world-exclusive Spider-Man 3 cover was supposed to hit last fall, but Sam Raimi didn't want to show off anything about the movie that early and pulled the plug on the cover, so they went to Red Octane and got the GHII cover.

Yeah, they should know why they're not hitting, which is why I don't like it when Hsu makes those thinly veiled statements. My original solution was more in line with what he could have said to avoid the appearance of finger-pointing, but if he's going to mention something specific and then quickly dismiss it; what's the fucking point?

If Reggie got all offended about something, he should grab his balls and just get over it, but it's his perogative.
 
[quote name='TimPV3']No offense to this thread, but who gives a shit? I'm willing to wager 80% of Wii owners have never read an EGM anyway.[/QUOTE]

Nintendo Power 4 life!


It's because there are questions that people want to know about the wii that might have been asked in the interview, and because gaming sites blew up with the anti Sony rhetoric when Sony did the same thing.
 
[quote name='RollingSkull']I thought it was perfectly within both Sony's and Nintendo's rights to blackball. Journalists aren't the boss of you.[/QUOTE]

One can argue it's those same journalists that can influence game sales, however.

Look at all the people out there who say "Oh, such and such game scored a 5, I think I'm going to pass now"... those people are definitely in the majority. It's a fine line they both walk. It'll hurt a magazine when they are denied an exclusive, but it'll hurt sales if EGM decided to just blast the next Nintendo game with 4's.

Sure, the educated people will see through it, but 90% of people will go "Mario Party 8 got a 3? This game must blow".
 
Reality's Fringe;2810904]Yeah said:
No, my point is that they're within their rights to pull the interview if they don't like something(and pretty much every comapny is "thin-skinned" in relation to its PR). I never said it was a good reason.
Not really. Sony and Jack Tretton were definitely willing to do these interviews and not take much offense to what EGM's said about them in the past. If you click the link, they've put the Sony interview on 1up now with some new stuff in it. Even Peter Moore came back to go at it with Shoe after the big deal that was made of his first interview about the 360 launch. Peter Moore even supposedly hates Shane because of the Kameo review, but that didn't stop him from doing the review.

Reality's Fringe;2810904]Same can be said for all of Dan Hsu's interviews. His interviews always end up with some variation of issues tossed around on message boards which never get any real responses outside of marketing and doublespeak. The Ngai interview asked general questions about the Wii's potential 3rd party issues said:
He let the readers in on what's up with the interview not being done instead of either being really vague or calling Nintendo a bunch of bitches that can't handle being interviewed like Jack or Peter had gotten months before. Why should he spill the beans on the reason, potentially causing backlash on Nintendo or shooting themselves in the foot and leading to the interview not happening at all?
 
Reality's Fringe;2810757 said:
gaming journalism is losing its integrity.

BWAhahaha! Thanks for the big laugh! Since when did gaming "journalism" (in the loosest possible sense of the word) have any integrity? EGM totally blows, especially compared to their semi-decent days of the early '90s...not that their competition isn't just as bad or even worse, mind you.
 
[quote name='Dr Mario Kart']It was my understanding that there is no significant correlation between review scores and sales[/quote]

Millions of copies of 50 Cent: Bulletproof agree with you.
 
[quote name='RollingSkull']I thought it was perfectly within both Sony's and Nintendo's rights to blackball. Journalists aren't the boss of you.[/quote]
Of course they aren't, but the big three need to work with them for the long run. They can't expect the press to just roll over and let them dictate everything, like they don't want to talk about Nintendo's games and let the fans know more about the games they're interested in. There's a symbiotic relationship between the two and neither one can afford to pull any stunts on the other one. It only hurts the readers/fans in the long run.
 
[quote name='Roufuss']Sure, the educated people will see through it, but 90% of people will go "Mario Party 8 got a 3? This game must blow".[/QUOTE]

So you believe that 90% of all gamers take the word of game mags as gospel and only make purchases based on their opinion?

I know a lot of gamers are young and impressionable (like all you guys who happen to know all the names of the writers for some mag. WTF?), but the truth is that mags hardly influence anybody anymore. And even if they do most gamers are smart enough to go on the web and get another opinion in your typical "should I get X game" thread, etc. Mags are dying and will soon be extinct. Their influence diminishes every day.

And speaking of EGM, I don't believe anything that mag says after an episode of a videogame show on Spike where the editor in chief admitted to giving good scores in exchange for all the swag they get. This pretty much applies to all "major" videogame media, but his admission was so blatant and who cares that I couldn't believe it.

For those of you who don't know almost all of the "major" game media is biased and in the pocket of some game company at some point in time. Who do you think pays the advertisements that makes these mags and websites possible? How do you think these idiots who dress up in torn up jeans and nasty ass T-shirts get awesome exclusives and interviews? It certainly isn't their journalistic integrity.
 
I was looking forward to this... while I don't have much respect for EGm anymore, I did enjoy these new interviews in which the interviewer actually asks some questions that people don't like to answer.

Of course, somehow, I knew Nintendo would bitch out.
 
First of all, Nintendo of America is a figurehead. Nintendo of Japan runs the show, and this is completely unsurprising of them to deny an interview, especially after how harsh the results of the Sony interview were. Japanese magazines don't ask these kinds of questions, and japanese companies don't expect to have to answer them. Nobody should be surprised here, it's not up to Reggie or anyone at NoA what NoA does 90% of the time.

The Sony/Kotaku issue was completely different. Kotaku published a rumor from a 3rd party, and Sony attempted to control the flow of information from an outside source.

Bettenhausen published information disclosed under NDA from Nintendo, and they attempted to control the spread of that information. Would have been no different from Microsoft had EGM started blabbing about the shadowrun beta before the NDA was over.
 
Lots of EGM hate in here.

I read the magazine when I get it. (From 6669's free thread.) Most of the stuff is dated, since I see everything on the Internet before the issue can get out.

But, I really enjoyed the Microsoft and Sony interviews. That kind of stuff isn't seen everyday online, so I felt they were a good read. And being a huge fan of Nintendo's, I really wanted to see their interview. (I was looking forward to it more than the other two.)

Disappointing to hear it got cancelled. I hope they settle the matter and get the interview in the near future.
 
My thoughts...

1. What the fuck Nintendo?
2. Who cares?
3. What's up Nintendo's ass?
4. Who really cares about these pointless things.
5. Way to make yourself more like an ass Nintendo.
 
[quote name='David85']My thoughts...

1. What the fuck Nintendo?
2. Who cares?
3. What's up Nintendo's ass?
4. Who really cares about these pointless things.
5. Way to make yourself more like an ass Nintendo.[/quote]

You guys do realize that you are attempting to make a big deal out of something that probably 99% of people who play video games won't even have any clue about? (refering to #1 and #5 mainly)
 
EGM sucks now. As it has for the last 5 or so years. Gone are the days of 200+ page issues, replaced with 100 pagers (which half are ads anyways) and a trendy look/attitude.
 
[quote name='crazytalkx']EGM sucks now. As it has for the last 5 or so years. Gone are the days of 200+ page issues, replaced with 100 pagers (which half are ads anyways) and a trendy look/attitude.[/quote]

Could be worse. It could have ended up akin to PSM's somewhat gradual incorporation of a sizable portion of Ultra Game Player's (or whatever that magazine was called years ago) staff and, thus, their sense of humor and whatnot. Granted, it wasn't too bad if you enjoyed that sort of thing, but all of the pre-teen "humor" and whatnot was pretty dated back in '94 so touching upon all of that again in around '98 and '99 was a bit silly.

But I do miss those huge issues, though. Same reason I miss GMR, strangely enough. GMR didn't necessarily have a lot of content page-wise but they made up for it in exclusives and unique articles. I'm sorry but a 6+ page spread on SHMUP history and which titles everyone should give a shot? Same with other game genres and worthwhile titles to either import or pray make it to the US? That was always good.
 
Guys, Dan Hsu responded on GAF...he doesn't go into details but at least you know a little more:

[quote name='shoe of egm']Hey guys... (I'm probably gonna regret coming on here
smile.gif
)

I tweaked the wording in my blog to be a little more clear.

It's not the line of questioning that turned Nintendo off. We never even got to the interview, so they didn't know what we were going to ask (but they could probably figure out the interview style if they read our previous ones with Sony and Microsoft).

When I said it was "no fault of our own" I meant EGM specifically didn't do anything to get that interview pulled. There was a Paper Mario embargo incident, yes, but that wasn't why the interview was pulled. Sorry I didn't make that clear.

It wasn't just one phone call or email over five months. It was many, many calls and emails. And I'm not whining about that.
smile.gif
But why I had to mention this all... it started with a blog about the old Peter Moore interview (the one the "glowing balls" Penny Arcade is based on). On it, people accused me of being anti-Xbox with that interview, and I had to tell them that we would interview Sony and Nintendo as well (in the same way), after their respective consoles had launched. I didn't know at the time that I wouldn't end up doing the Nintendo interview a year later.... Also, in our last issue of EGM, we promised readers the Nintendo interview was happening next month, because at the time of print, Nintendo had finally said yes. But then after that issue shipped, things hit the fan and the interview was no longer granted, so I had to say something to our readers to explain why it's missing (before people started accusing us of being soft on Nintendo and anti-360 and anti-PS3).

But I absolutely agree that the first way that I wrote this on my blog, it sounded chicken-shittish. So I added a part about why I couldn't explain the details (because we're currently in sensitive talks with Nintendo). But I hope you understand *why* I had to announce this no-interview in the first place. I don't know if I needed to bring it up if so many people weren't expecting it.

I think that covers most of it...except the part about being a talentless hack. I'm working on that!

-shoe[/quote]
 
Who knows what made Nintendo cancel their interview with EGM? We can all speculate why they did, but does anyone really no the true reason(s)? Let's hear the whole story before we start flipping shit over either of these companies.
 
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