I gotta agree with Sakurai, if you don't like a certain feature in a game, DON'T USE IT, the game is in no way forcing you to use it and there are people that like it so complaining for it to be removed will get nowhere
I've been thinking about Sakurai's thoughts for the last 24 hours (the benefits of being able to read Japanese
) and here's what I think:
Sakurai is basically lampooning fans who complain that not all the content is directed towards them. His analogy to the boxed lunch is interesting, but I don't really think it gets his point across all too well. He should have developed the beverage analogy a bit more, as that's more relevant and easier to understand IMO.
1. If the store sold one kind of beverage, then it would cater to a specific group of people and there is a lot more risk. Sakurai wants to be the convenience store that houses the grape soda, pepsi, water and beer so that everyone can be happy.
2. Sakurai is essentially telling customers who complain (mostly the beer drinkers) about the store is selling grade soda that those customers are missing a vital point --
some people like grape soda. And those customers wouldn't be in the store if it wasn't for Sakurai buying and stocking some grape soda. Since the beer drinkers don't care about grape soda, Sakurai is basically saying, 'just do us all a favor and ignore it'. If Sakurai isn't requiring the customer to purchase the beverage, then grape soda does the customer no harm.
3. However, there is a legitimate debate that by housing grape soda,
the store is unable to stock up on wine or extra beer. Space and man hours are finite. The development team needs to decide in a lot of ways who their targeted customers are, and try to appease them. By stretching themselves thin, then a good service isn't really being offered...is it?
This is the real debate, and something that Sakurai does not address in his column.
4. I've been thinking a lot about what Chris Panger said in the Part-Time Gamer podcast. Nintendo is trying to be a convenience store that will draw in a lot of people. The beer drinkers aren't the main targeted market, and the share of beer drinkers is actually lower than the grape soda drinkers. However, the beer drinkers are loud because they are drunk, have access to the Internet and are extremely passionate about their beverage of choice. Gape soda drinkers are fickle, and will try other beverages (if they have a cool promotion) and won't stay around. But there's a lot of them and real money is be had by capturing their interests -- even temporarily.
If it wasn't clear:
the beer drinkers = us; the hardcore crowd
grape soda/ other beverages = less hardcore crowd