Skinship is out, says kotaku (new info on page 71)

[Tryhard]

Completely agree with REL. If they actually gave a shit, they would have literally said anything to clarify instead of winding people up. You know, like PR should be doing. People deserve to be annoyed about how they handled the situation.

Edited February 11, 2016 by Tryhard

[Baldrick]

I can't understand why people are annoyed at how Nintendo handled this. If you were looking forward to skinship, it doesn't matter how quickly Nintendo confirmed the rumour, skinship is still out (or only in for S supports or whatever) and you'd still complain anyway, as is your right. If you weren't, why the hell do you care?

[Dualazi]

9:16-End

You guys are in for some wonderful news. The skinship isn't completely gone. It is marriage only. You can still use the stylus to wake your wife up! GOOD! THANK YOU, NINTENDO. Not that I care but Japan should have done it this way.

As others have pointed out, the tapping to wake/blowing into the mic isn't the skinship minigame, it's a separate event. Would love to be proven wrong, since I'd think even NoA would have a hard time objecting to touching from spouses, but I think we've all had enough of misinformation.

[angienessyo]

I can't understand why people are annoyed at how Nintendo handled this. If you were looking forward to skinship, it doesn't matter how quickly Nintendo confirmed the rumour, skinship is still out (or only in for S supports or whatever) and you'd still complain anyway, as is your right. If you weren't, why the hell do you care?

This. If you ever expect Nintendo to address things like this, you're going to be very disappointed. It took them like, 6 months of amiibo shortages to publicly say something about the shortages, and this was probably because they got tired of getting angry letters/phonecalls. Addressing changes in localization is something I don't believe Nintendo has ever done.

[900cam]

This. If you ever expect Nintendo to address things like this, you're going to be very disappointed. It took them like, 6 months of amiibo shortages to publicly say something about the shortages, and this was probably because they got tired of getting angry letters/phonecalls. Addressing changes in localization is something I don't believe Nintendo has ever done.

tell me which scenario is worst

#1 Nintendo clarifies and details the things that will be missing. yes there will be backlash but that is an obvious consequence for such an action. the backlash last for a week or 2 and nintendo will at least consider to be light on taking things out

#2 Nintendo says nothing leaving the concerned fans out to scavenger hunt for information on what is out and what is in. every week something is either confirmed, in/out/might be out/might be in, people get pissed off and start jumping to conclusions and this whole thing last way longer than it should.

i like nintendo but this whole thing has been quite a mess like skinship week one was out then people started emailing saying that it might still be in, then after more emails it was out again then after a live stream it was just 2d scenes then after a demonstration video it was "its in only for spouses" and now we are right back to its out. like this all could have been avoided

[Elieson]

tell me which scenario is worst

#1 Nintendo clarifies and details the things that will be missing. yes there will be backlash but that is an obvious consequence for such an action. the backlash last for a week or 2 and nintendo will at least consider to be light on taking things out

#2 Nintendo says nothing leaving the concerned fans out to scavenger hunt for information on what is out and what is in. every week something is either confirmed, in/out/might be out/might be in, people get pissed off and start jumping to conclusions and this whole thing last way longer than it should.

i like nintendo but this whole thing has been quite a mess like skinship week one was out then people started emailing saying that it might still be in, then after more emails it was out again then after a live stream it was just 2d scenes then after a demonstration video it was "its in only for spouses" and now we are right back to its out. like this all could have been avoided

Why couldn't they just leave it alone?

Why couldn't they have just shared "X Y and Z features have been removed" in a simple news update?

That's getting under the skin of a lot of fans.

[Tolvir]

Its the fact that Nintendo has been silent over the past month and a half. Since the last Direct they haven't said anything in regards to any of the releases. Its like they completely forgot they have releases scheduled for the first Quarter. To make it even worst we are 8 days from the Western release of Fire Emblem Fates and they haven't even thrown a bone to Europe. No Demo, no word on a release, its like they completely forgot, yet again, that they have a release that needs addressing.

[Tryhard]

I can't understand why people are annoyed at how Nintendo handled this. If you were looking forward to skinship, it doesn't matter how quickly Nintendo confirmed the rumour, skinship is still out (or only in for S supports or whatever) and you'd still complain anyway, as is your right. If you weren't, why the hell do you care?

Here's why: because my feelings on the feature itself have no impact on how Nintendo completely fucked up on just telling the people what's in the game instead of just giving non-answers and taking down videos. Sure, someone who was actually looking forward to the feature may be more upset at that, but how does that mean I can't care about how they handled it? I can't understand that premise.

They can't come out and give a clear and defining answer, instead they opt for the damage control route, taking down the original direct showcasing the feature to pretend it never existed because they were scared of the possible reaction. How is that okay, regardless of your view on the feature itself? If they just came out and you know, communicated with people, I'd be absolutely fine with that. But they didn't.

It's the same shit I give EA, Ubisoft, Capcom or any other company that engages in anti-consumer behaviour.

This. If you ever expect Nintendo to address things like this, you're going to be very disappointed. It took them like, 6 months of amiibo shortages to publicly say something about the shortages, and this was probably because they got tired of getting angry letters/phonecalls. Addressing changes in localization is something I don't believe Nintendo has ever done.

Just because it isn't surprising doesn't mean it is acceptable. Nintendo having shit consumer relations and sleazy-ass behaviour should not be defended as if they can do no wrong. They are terrible at this sort of thing and it's been that way for some time. Edited February 11, 2016 by Tryhard

[Baldrick]

Here's why: because my feelings on the feature itself have no impact on how Nintendo completely fucked up on just telling the people what's in the game instead of just giving non-answers and taking down videos.

But, what impact will Nintendo's lack of response on the status of skinshipping in the English release have on your enjoyment of Fire Emblem games?

They can't come out and give a clear and defining answer, instead they opt for the damage control route, taking down the original direct showcasing the feature to pretend it never existed because they were scared of the possible reaction. How is that okay, regardless of your view on the feature itself?

Because

1) A response will only give the issue more oxygen. Once the game is out, those who don't care about skinship will be too busy playing the game to give a hoot about it. This fanbase gets so hysterical over the most trivial BS, I don't blame them for wanting to interact with it as little as possible.

2) We will have the answers on the 19th, so nothing is lost by waiting until then.

If there hadn't been a leak, people wouldn't be demanding to know if skinship was in or not.

Just because it isn't surprising doesn't mean it is acceptable.

But isn't that your stance on Kotaku? If anything, they should be held more accountable because their sleazy behaviour directly impacts the quality of their product.

EDIT: It's a stretch to call Nintendo's behaviour sleazy as well, it's essentially self-defence.

Edited February 11, 2016 by Baldrick

[Tryhard]

But, what impact will Nintendo's lack of response on the status of skinshipping in the English release have on your enjoyment of Fire Emblem games?

None. I'm just saying it's shitty and they should be called out over it. If you don't give a shit about what they did, then I'm sure it won't impact your view of the game. The most I can say is that it erodes my faith in the company, but I wasn't getting Fates anyway so I suppose they don't care.

Because

1) A response will only give the issue more oxygen. Once the game is out, those who don't care about skinship will be too busy playing the game to give a hoot about it. This fanbase gets so hysterical over the most trivial BS, I don't blame them for wanting to interact with it as little as possible.

2) We will have the answers on the 19th, so nothing is lost by waiting until then.

If there hadn't been a leak, people wouldn't be demanding to know if skinship was in or not.

It's not like they have to go and argue with the fanbase over it. A standard "skinship will not be in the localized version of Fates" would have sufficed. Backlash would have occurred, yes, but it was going to occur anyway. May as well be upfront about it. I don't claim that anyone who doesn't care about skinship should care about the way they've conducted themselves, just that I do. And I would also like for people not to try to defend it, because no.

True for the second, it doesn't really matter when you hear about it without a leak, but in that case it would be nice to get a overview of what was cut officially before release (though people would likely be aware of it before then because of 3rd party videos.) And failing that, when the inevitable backlash came at release the result would be the same: they would avoid addressing the matter. Not an appropriate reaction for public relations, in my opinion.

But isn't that your stance on Kotaku? If anything, they should be held more accountable because their sleazy behaviour directly impacts the quality of their product.

EDIT: It's a stretch to call Nintendo's behaviour sleazy as well, it's essentially self-defence.

What are you saying this in reference to? I hate Kotaku and think they have done many things they should be held accountable for.

How is it self-defence? What kind of professional company takes down the evidence of something ever existing when they go through with the decision of cutting it? No-one forced Nintendo's hand into doing that, and for the amount of a shit they seem to give about communicating with consumers then it makes no sense why they would feel threatened by foreign fans.

Edited February 12, 2016 by Tryhard

[Baldrick]

True for the second, it doesn't really matter when you hear about it without a leak, but in that case it would be nice to get a overview of what was cut officially before release (though people would likely be aware of it before then because of 3rd party videos.)

It would also be nice if they offered some compensation to fans who wanted skinship, but they're not obliged to do so, and shouldn't be castigated if they don't do it.

Just because some confidential information was released, we're not entitled to more.

And failing that, when the inevitable backlash came at release the result would be the same: they would avoid addressing the matter. Not an appropriate reaction for public relations, in my opinion.

The backlash would be a lot smaller if the game was already out. I don't think many people had heard of skinshipping before the Kotaku article, so it's not being there would have caused less drama.

What are you saying this in reference to?

You said you completely agree with REL, who said the blame for the leak lies solely with Nintendo because Kotaku's behaviour wasn't surprising.

You also said you can't fault Kotaku even if their information was outright inaccurate and skinship still exists in some form.

How is it self-defence? What kind of professional company takes down the evidence of something ever existing when they go through with the decision of cutting it? No-one forced Nintendo's hand into doing that, and for the amount of a shit they seem to give about communicating with consumers then it makes no sense why they would feel threatened by foreign fans.

I call it self-defence because Nintendo are just acting to minimise the damage to themselves. There's nothing immoral or unethical about their actions. (Making people wait until the 19th to find out about skinshipping is not immoral).

[Jariu]

Honestly the thing is... Nintendo really has no reason to have mentioned anything.

You can say that they should/could out of respects for the fans, but they really don't have a reson for that.
Localization is a very delicate process in which a lot is changed and taken in and out to adjust to the audiences and honestly the only company that talks about the process is XSeed... solely because they want to.

You are also talking about an audience that has shown how ridiculous they can be upon the smallest of things before hand with the Soleil incident, which was feeded solely in lack of understanding of the context and intention in which it originated and people just going by their own interpretation completely ignoring the original japanese context for japanese people and morals to the point that Nintendo did in fact have to adress a change that would probably have happened anyways not to mention that there is people that insult native japanese speakers that explain the situation because they are ''wrong''.
In short, we have shown that we aren't deserving of this informatioN to begin with because of how inadecuate our reactions can be on the matters.

Most of the Skinship uproar isn't even about Skinship, which a lot of people didn't even know was a thing, but about ''censorship''.
The cause becomes a lot less grand when it goes from ''I defend the orignal material'' to ''I defend my option to rub the faces of the characters in the game'' because of the diferent morals we have in the west compared to japan, and the game was edited to adjust itself better to said characteristics and was going to do so regardless of out opinions.

[eclipse]

I suspect there were some behind-the-scenes things going on. . .like figuring out who the hell leaked it to Kotaku in the first place. I think it's a little silly to assume malice over something like this, since there's a lot of things that the general public doesn't see.

[Tryhard]

It would also be nice if they offered some compensation to fans who wanted skinship, but they're not obliged to do so, and shouldn't be castigated if they don't do it.

Just because some confidential information was released, we're not entitled to more.

They should care about their image, no? There's a reason PR divisions exist, and one of the things they have to do is address situations. So they should address it, not that they obliged to do so. I can absolutely castigate them based on their decision not to do so, however. If you disagree, well, that's you.

The backlash would be a lot smaller if the game was already out. I don't think many people had heard of skinshipping before the Kotaku article, so it's not being there would have caused less drama.

I can't say for sure if that is true, but whether or not the game was already out attempts to hide videos would have generated the same response from me, and not because they removed skinship.

You said you completely agree with REL, who said the blame for the leak lies solely with Nintendo because Kotaku's behaviour wasn't surprising.

You also said you can't fault Kotaku even if their information was outright inaccurate and skinship still exists in some form.

Right, but Kotaku were seemingly by all accounts fed wrong information (or at least misled by a Nintendo representative) and didn't get a straight answer to begin with. As much as I would be the first to jump down Kotaku's throat, I can't in this case. If Kotaku were lying outright, Nintendo absolutely had the resources and knowledge to completely dispel any rumours. Once again, they did not. Nintendo should want to be better than fucking Kotaku anyway, but even so, I can't say without proper investigation whether Kotaku was purposely misleading with their sourcing. And we won't know, because Nintendo won't say anything regarding it.

So perhaps I shouldn't have said I completely agreed with them, because it does imply that Kotaku had wrongdoing and it was acceptable because it's expected of them. Fair enough to that.

I call it self-defence because Nintendo are just acting to minimise the damage to themselves. There's nothing immoral or unethical about their actions. (Making people wait until the 19th to find out about skinshipping is not immoral).

It's not even the most effective way to minimise damage. Here's it: tell them up front what the situation is, let people who want to get angry about it fight amongst themselves. Boom, done, closed. They shouldn't have to take the "damage control" route to begin with. Making people wait until the 19th is annoying because they are being silent, I think they should actually come out and say it over just giving fans the runaround over the situation, but regardless. Taking down videos in an attempt to lie to anyone who might see it (which is a laughably poor way anyway considering the Streisand effect) is absolutely ridiculous.

Honestly the thing is... Nintendo really has no reason to have mentioned anything.

You can say that they should/could out of respects for the fans, but they really don't have a reson for that.

Localization is a very delicate process in which a lot is changed and taken in and out to adjust to the audiences and honestly the only company that talks about the process is XSeed... solely because they want to.

You are also talking about an audience that has shown how ridiculous they can be upon the smallest of things before hand with the Soleil incident, which was feeded solely in lack of understanding of the context and intention in which it originated and people just going by their own interpretation completely ignoring the original japanese context for japanese people and morals to the point that Nintendo did in fact have to adress a change that would probably have happened anyways not to mention that there is people that insult native japanese speakers that explain the situation because they are ''wrong''.

In short, we have shown that we aren't deserving of this informatioN to begin with because of how inadecuate our reactions can be on the matters.

Just because some people have shown that they are hysterical over the smallest of things means the rest of us should be incapable of being respected? I thoroughly disagree.

I'm not even saying they need to talk about the localization process (though I'm fairly sure more than XSeed do grant insight about the process) just that a situation has arisen where fans of the game just want a straight answer and it seems to be publicised enough for an appropriate response.

Why does the Soleil statement issued by Nintendo not count as a change that they just went up and talked before? Why are they only capable in being straight with some things and not with others? Is it because that statement (and the one about the inclusion of gay marriage) generally gave them a positive view?

Most of the Skinship uproar isn't even about Skinship, which a lot of people didn't even know was a thing, but about ''censorship''.

The cause becomes a lot less grand when it goes from ''I defend the orignal material'' to ''I defend my option to rub the faces of the characters in the game'' because of the diferent morals we have in the west compared to japan, and the game was edited to adjust itself better to said characteristics and was going to do so regardless of out opinions.

I don't really think anyone's opinion on whether it was the censorship in principle that was wrong or that the feature shouldn't be removed is that relevant in regards to this.

I suspect there were some behind-the-scenes things going on. . .like figuring out who the hell leaked it to Kotaku in the first place. I think it's a little silly to assume malice over something like this, since there's a lot of things that the general public doesn't see.

You could say that about anything, though. I didn't see everything that happened so I can't say they were in the wrong. The things I did see were shitty enough for me to assume that they didn't give a toss about their consumers in this case. (and others, because Nintendo has a tendency to do this and perhaps I wouldn't look so harshly at it if it was just a one-time thing)

that's my half-page reply for the day I'm gonna go enjoy my birthday or smth

Edited February 12, 2016 by Tryhard