Some details from quite some time ago related to Nintendo. In this case we are talking about news focused not on Nintendo Switch but on the era of the legendary Wii, with former programmer Giles Goddard as the protagonist of the revelation.
Specifically, the details have been offered by Goddard, an important figure in Nintendo’s history and one of the first Western employees to join the company. As recalled in the report published on the website of Nintendothe former Big N employee played a key role in the launch of Star Fox on the SNES console and worked on several projects during the N64 era.
In a recent interview with EurogamerGiles Goddard has shared information about how Nintendo created games in the SNES and N64 era and admitted that there was a crunch in the company.
For those unfamiliar with the term, crunch is the period in which the staff of a video game development studio begins to work well beyond the contractually stipulated weekly hours.
Goddard’s Revelations
The former programmer indicated that Nintendo put a lot of pressure on its employees, making them work long hours and regardless of how long it took to finish a project. Employees were forced to stay at work until a task was completed or a problem was resolved, even if that meant working over the weekend.
Goddard mentioned that this sometimes led to discontent among employees, especially when they missed social events or downtime.
Eventually, Goddard left Nintendo and founded his own studio, Vitei, which became a second studio for Nintendo. His studio worked on several Wii titles, including a game related to puppets that was never published because Nintendo felt there wasn’t enough interest in that type of game.