Would you have picked a different hemisphere?

[mayortiffany]

Nintendo is a business. Its primary goal, as a business, is to generate profits. Making enjoyable games is secondary to that. As a poster mentioned earlier, the majority of its customers live in the Northern Hemisphere. With only so much money to spend on marketing and development, and so many human resources, it makes sense that that Nintendo is devoting its resources towards the majority of players.

While I can understand why Southern Hemisphere players may be frustrated at this disparity, I'm not quite sure what Nintendo can realistically do to make the hemispheres more equal in updates, besides getting rid of the hemisphere option in future games so that equality is no longer a problem, given the logistics involved with managing the hemispheres.

Besides the player base issue, if the appropriate season's 'events' were given in each update, Nintendo would essentially be going through whatever they've planned two times as fast as they're doing it now. For example, if Brewster's Cafe was planned in the winter and diving for the summer and both were released now, that'd give excitement to both hemispheres, but also reveal aspects of the

What I do think Nintendo could have done would have been to present the updates in a way that highlights both hemispheres. For example, with diving, they could have shown the winter fish available.

 

[daringred_]

this whole thread is god damn wild im-

 

[Eureka]

I would of picked whatever Hemisphere I actually live in, that just makes sense to me and is more immersive.

No, the updates are not unfair. The Southern Hemisphere players don't even have to wait to enjoy this Summer Update. They included cold water diving suits to fix the issue of swimming in an ocean during winter. So clearly they did put some thought into making it more inclusive for SH players.

I suppose they could of shown swimming with snow in the background or something, but that is pretty nitpicky especially during a pandemic where they are likely struggling to keep up as it is. NH and SH will get to play the new content at the same time. If that isn't fair then I don't know what is!

 

[Fey]

I think whether we think the content itself is unfairly biased or not, most of us can see that naming it a “Summer” update wasn’t the best choice.

Lots of people make the very valid point that diving itself doesn’t need to be a summer activity, and I do agree with that. What it comes down to mostly is the way the update content is presented. I think if they’d called it the “July Update” instead and shown a scene set in winter, it would’ve made people feel more included.

As it stands, I feel like Nintendo’s decision to add an option to play in the Southern Hemisphere didn’t go much past the initial decision. They didn’t need to put in much extra work for it and got to sell it as a cool new feature in their game. I realize that they are based in Japan, but still think it would be nice if their acknowledgement and consideration for that group of the player base went a little bit further than that. Just showing scenes from both hemispheres in their new trailers would go a long way.

That said, I don’t think this’ll break the community. The phrasing “unfair” is throwing some off into reading this like a huge issue, and that’s not what this is. If I came off a bit strong on the subject, it’s because it really irks me when it seems like people’s feelings aren’t being taken seriously.

 

[daringred_]

I think whether we think the content itself is unfairly biased or not, most of us can see that naming it a “Summer” update wasn’t the best choice.

i hate to break it to you but japan is literally in summer right now, ergo "summer update".

 

[Bethboj]

I swear half the people I’ve seen complaining about diving in winter are the same people I’ve seen complaining that diving wasn’t in the game, and how there was nothing to do anymore.

I don’t get it.
All I’m saying is that if Nintendo had brought out an update titled “winter update” and had winter clothing and winter furniture, I wouldn’t give a flying gyroid that it’s summer.
And if I really cared that much, I’d TT to winter. You can literally open the game up to any day or time of the year. It’s a game.

 

[daringred_]

if Nintendo had brought out an update titled “winter update” and had winter clothing and winter furniture, I wouldn’t give a flying gyroid that it’s summer.

same because i have the brain power to know that there are two different hemispheres and summer for me isn't summer for everyone else but i guess everyone else just missed the boat on that one.

 

[Millysaurusrexjr]

I mean we can still dive if we're in southern hemisphere, right? Then what is the problem

 

[tajikey]

I swear half the people I’ve seen complaining about diving in winter are the same people I’ve seen complaining that diving wasn’t in the game, and how there was nothing to do anymore.

I don’t get it.
All I’m saying is that if Nintendo had brought out an update titled “winter update” and had winter clothing and winter furniture, I wouldn’t give a flying gyroid that it’s summer.
And if I really cared that much, I’d TT to winter. You can literally open the game up to any day or time of the year. It’s a game.

If only gyroids did fly. That'll be the day!

 

[Clock]

Not really since the other island of my family member is Southern Hemisphere, while mine is Northern, so it’s not a big deal to me right now, since I can visit the other island.

 

[minimoon]

You can obviously still participate in this discussion even if you didn’t choose to play in the Southern Hemisphere—just imagine how you would feel if you had!

~​

Would knowing that updates will thematically follow the Northern Hemisphere’s seasons have changed your decision of which region to pick?

It seems pretty clear now that many of the updates are tailored to fit the schedule of the Northern Hemisphere.

Does it bother you to get new content that is basically “out of season”? Do you see a better way for Nintendo to have handled this?

Personally, I would feel left out. I think Nintendo should’ve either made this bias toward the NH clear at the start of the game, or at least found a way to address it now within its announcements. Maybe a cute little extra for the SH with this update—like a hot beverage to warm you up after swimming, or a slightly different outfit suitable for winter/ice diving? Just some nod of acknowledgement toward those getting the feature in the middle of winter. In my opinion it doesn’t matter which hemisphere hosts the majority of players: if they can’t follow through on creating an equal experience for everyone, they should have just kept people on the same schedule as before.

I agree with everything in your post and love your ideas - especially a hot drink - for showing some thought to the SH players.

 

[Lavamaize]

Edit: NVM

 

[John Wick]

I picked northern even though I'm in Australia, because I wanted to avoid the fake snow winter, as we don't get snow here.

As for the update, it doesn't matter because I doubt I'll be updating further..

 

[tajikey]

I picked northern even though I'm in Australia, because I wanted to avoid the fake snow winter, as we don't get snow here.

As for the update, it doesn't matter because I won't be updating.

Is it possible to not update the game and keep playing? Not saying I will, just hadn't realized that's an option.

 

[seularin]

while i currently live in the u.s i ultimately love to confuse myself with sh seasons

 

[Red Cat]

What we really need to be included in the update is an option to fly to a mystery island on the opposite hemisphere.

 

[loveclove]

I'm just curious, would you prefer it if Nintendo just waited until summer for SH to add summer features in?

If it's curiosity, I can tell you I guess the majority of people would just prefer the update wall not called the summer update but the july update, or have seen some snow clips to be included, or a little wintery something on the update. But as you might have seen here we're a minority that apparently can't have an opinion or vent about this... lol when all we do here in this forum is vent and chat about little things in this game but oh well
Honestly I'm tired, it was not that big of a deal and the subject got out of hand

 

[JKDOS]

Is it possible to not update the game and keep playing? Not saying I will, just hadn't realized that's an option.

You can choose not update, but if you decide to do so, you lose the ability to:

* Send/Receive Mail from other players or Nintendo.
* Play local/online multiplayer
* Download/Upload Patterns

Post automatically merged: Jun 26, 2020

Personally, I would feel left out. I think Nintendo should’ve either made this bias toward the NH clear at the start of the game, or at least found a way to address it now within its announcements. Maybe a cute little extra for the SH with this update—like a hot beverage to warm you up after swimming,

The main problem with this is.

1. Both NH and SH get diving.
2. SH gets a hot drink, NH gets nothing.

With the current status quo, there is nothing NH gets that SH doesn't get.

 

[loveclove]

You can choose not update, but if you decide to do so, you lose the ability to:

* Send/Receive Mail from other players or Nintendo.
* Play local/online multiplayer
* Download/Upload Patterns

Post automatically merged: Jun 26, 2020

The main problem with this is.

1. Both NH and SH get diving.
2. SH gets a hot drink, NH gets nothing.

With the current status quo, there is nothing NH gets that SH doesn't get.

It's been confirmed SH gets a hot drink? Where?

 

[JKDOS]

It's been confirmed SH gets a hot drink? Where?

Nowhere, it was a suggestion by the user I replied to