Switch port of Soulstorm extremely unlikely
 

It looks like Mr Lanning had some strong words of advice for Nintendo recently. His stance seems to spell almost certain doom for a Switch port of Soulstorm:

https://mynintendonews.com/2017/07/0...-killed-iwata/

It's classic Lorne to be outspoken on such matters, but it's safe to say the Nintendo community haven't taken very kindly to that interview, (See the comment section of that link) given that Iwata died from complications of a bile duct tumour in 2015, I can see why some are finding his stance distasteful.

Forgetting that part of the interview, it seems to confirm that OWI's venture of putting N'n'T on Wii U didn't pay off. I remember Lorne seeming optimistic about Nintendo's future in previous interviews, stating he'd had "conversations" about the possibility of an Abe Amiibo, as well as stating one of the primary reasons in porting N'n'T to Wii U was essentially to get on Nintendo's good side, to see what their plans were in the future. Safe to say he's changed his mind now.

I personally own a Switch, so this news is disappointing to me, but I do agree somewhat with his comments about the power of the Switch effecting 3rd party support. You can't really blame 'em for not wanting to waste more time porting their game to a platform that is likely to generate minimal sales, especially given their apparent experience with Wii U. But he probably didn't need to make reference to Iwata's passing.

Does his claim of Nintendo's thinking killing Iewata make any more sense in the full interview? Because it sure as hell doesn't in the excerpt.

I saw some of the blowback for this on Twitter and I find it really hard to believe so many people are taking what Lorne said so literally?

It’s unfortunate phrasing considering Iwata actually died, but it’s a pretty normal phrase to use when saying something upset or irritated someone. I really doubt Lorne thinks Nintendo’s business practices caused Iwata’s medical issues.

https://twitter.com/lorne_lanning/st...79816390090752

We have not announced any platforms for Soulstorm and remain (as we always are) platform agnostic.

I completely agree: I don't think he meant anything malicious by it, but I think it's an area that was probably best avoided in the first place. My main intention on sharing this article was to highlight the fact it's unlikely we'll see a Switch port of Soulstorm, but I thought it was necessary to make reference to the controversial aspects of the article also.

A majority of people do tend to take things literally and very personally at that, unfortunatly. I admit it was poorly phrased. LL explained in a few tweets that it was not what he had ment and iwata was someone he greatly respected.
I hope the backlash fades and doesnt..hinder anything

I think it's very frustrating to see people accusing Lorne of being a "Nintendo hater" when he's actually sung Nintendo's praises quite a few times in the past:

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...e-in-100-years

When I listened to Lorne talk about this stuff on Kinda Funny all I saw was him just sharing his experience and highlighting something that I'm sure a lot of indie-devs have gone through when working with Nintendo. When he says this sort of thing you can tell it comes from a place of respect for the company and genuinely just wanting to see it improve.

I'm as big a Nintendo fan as the next person, but even I'll admit that they seem to have a lot of problems that really should be addressed.

Indeed:

http://oddworldlibrary.net/wiki/1999..._Lorne_Lanning

Quite.

He's also a huge fan of Iwata.

https://venturebeat.com/2013/07/26/w...-it-interview/

"When he said that, in my opinion, he was immortalized in the creative community. I would work with him in a second. When a man in that type of position, in a world where the golden rule is the rule and that’s what’s expected at public companies, he stood up and said, 'That’s not what we’re about. We’re about building great stuff. We have great people to build great stuff. We’re gonna do that.'"

We're good.

The most vexing part of this incident is that Lorne explicitely says in the last 30 seconds of the full show (1:45:20) that he really wants Nintendo to succeed:

"I want to see them succeed man! Nintendo must succeed, that's why I'm pissed."

http://oddworldlibrary.net/archives/...0/category/104


That's very good to hear.

I've been a total nintendo fanboy for most of my life. But in recent years, I've been red-pilled I guess on what a terrible business it is. Good games and ideas buried in gimmicks and toymaker tactics. It's terribly sad.
So I do see where Lanning is coming from. And if he has no interest in porting the game to that console because he doesn't want to, then that's fair. He shouldn't even need to have another reason. It's like giving a sculptor a hard time because he doesn't want to make his sculptures into paintings.

Well when we think of Lornes background and his way of thinking, he has never really liked the gaming industry, well atleast not the big players. Nintendo has always ridden high thanks to their legacy and their mascots. They are now finally giving some chances to smaller developers and game makers. They have to, since those mascots aren't drawing in people anymore.

Well, what if Soulstorm was actually on the Switch?

The Switch would fight with the PS Vita then if they're gonna release SS on it just like they did with NnT, which is probably going to happen imo.
But the console porting perhaps is still something that OWI didn't talk about yet and not going to for now.