perrin-kaplan posts (Subscribe to this feed)
Nintendo's Perrin Kaplan talks Smash Bros. Brawl delay
by Ludwig Kietzmann 
{ Oct 23rd 2007 at 1:56PM }
"And I think we're actually starting to look at the annual calendar differently," said Kaplan, justifying the February release of Super Smash Bros. Brawl. "The first two quarters of the year tend to be more quiet. But now we've seen some evidence of sales in that period." Avoiding the jostling of the year-end crowd is but one benefit, with the added development time yielding a game that's "absolutely as perfect as Japan knows it can be." Kaplan, who views the Wii and DS as being a little more integrated into people's (boring) lives, concludes via basketball metaphor that timing isn't necessarily everything. "I think a really good product can be a slam dunk any time of the year."
A note of caution to other publishers considering delays: Let's not get carried away now. We don't want February becoming the new November.
Kaplan says gamers were bored before Wii
by David Hinkle { Oct 16th 2007 at 4:00PM }
Now, we've been saying for awhile now that the Wii would revolutionize the industry and it has. But, we wouldn't go so far as to say we were bored by it all pre-Wii. We loved the GameCube, we loved the GBA and we still love our DS. We loved the N64. We hardly found ourselves without games to play, that's for sure."A major insight that Nintendo had early on was that they saw that gamers were getting bored, even though they didn't know it yet," Kaplan remarked. Robert Matthews, senior director of consumer marketing for Nintendo of America backed her up, stating "Just look at the way people consume entertainment today. The idea that you would spend hours playing videogames is just not real anymore."
While we'd argue that, blogging doesn't leave us with as much time for gaming as we'd like, but we think overall that there will always be a place for lengthy games, jam-packed with feature-rich content and that Nintendo's new proven focus shouldn't try to do away with those.
Do you guys care to toss in your two cents?
Nintendo's Kaplan says 'Gamers were bored before Wii'
by Ross Miller { Oct 15th 2007 at 3:28PM }
Remember those hours you stayed up playing Halo 2 merely thinking you were having a good time? Shadow of the Colossus? Smash Bros? Tetris? We hate to tell you, but you weren't enjoying yourself. That's right, you were getting bored. We're sorry to be the ones to break it to you.It was Nintendo of America's soon-to-be-former Marketing VP Perrin Kaplan who infomed us of our jaded dispositions. Speaking to Ad Age, which named Nintendo the Marketer of the Year, Kaplan said, "A major insight that Nintendo had early on was that they saw that gamers were getting bored, even though they didn't know it yet."
We know the role of a marketer is to sell their product with as much hyperbole as possible, but doesn't this seem a bit short-sighted (not to mention somewhat self-deprecating, given Nintendo's prominence in gaming history)? If only Kaplan wasn't leaving, she might have filled Ken Kutaragi's shoes well.
[Via Next-Gen; image from Halo Nights]
Nintendo's Perrin Kaplan reveals her exit strategy, finally
by James Ransom-Wiley { Oct 11th 2007 at 3:34PM }
Kaplan did not give an explicit reason for her departure, saying only, "I finally will be leaving Nintendo at the end of the year. Until then, I am focused on getting a great transition team in place and handling all of my normal responsibilities as well." It had been speculated that the marketing exec trio -- now all officially on course to retire -- would leave Nintendo after plans to relocate the company's PR headquarters from Washington to San Francisco and New York were revealed in May. But this theory remains pure speculation. Think about it: there are plenty of other circumstances that could have prompted Kaplan's resignation ... well, actually, we can only think of one.
Perrin Kaplan joins the NoA exodus
by Alisha Karabinus { Oct 11th 2007 at 3:32PM }
The move has claimed another victim: after fifteen years with Nintendo, Marketing VP Perrin Kaplan is calling it quits. At least, we assume Kaplan's decision is related to the move, considering there has been a great deal of speculation that she would follow in George Harrison's footsteps, but no official reason was stated.Kaplan will stay on with NoA until the end of the year.
