Nintendo isn’t scared of GTA VI

任天堂并不畏惧《GTA VI》

There’s never really been a game like Grand Theft Auto VI before, one that has completely altered the lineup of games around it. Everyone, it seems, is scared of going up against Grand Theft Auto VI. Everyone, that is, except for Nintendo.

在此之前，从未有过像《侠盗猎车手 VI》（GTA VI）这样彻底改变周边游戏排期的作品。似乎每个人都对与《GTA VI》正面交锋感到恐惧。当然，除了任天堂。

The company held a 30-minute showcase this morning focused entirely on its Legend of Zelda franchise, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary. We got a title for the live-action movie, a series of orchestral concerts, and a very glittery special edition of the Switch 2. But most of the runtime was dedicated to the upcoming Switch 2 remake of Ocarina of Time. There was a new trailer and a lengthy gameplay video that showed how Nintendo is approaching this remake, which includes more realistic graphics and new features like a free camera. But perhaps the most notable detail is when the game launches: November 5th.

今天上午，任天堂举办了一场 30 分钟的发布会，全程聚焦于庆祝 40 周年的《塞尔达传说》系列。我们看到了真人电影的标题、一系列管弦乐音乐会，以及一款闪闪发光的 Switch 2 特别版主机。但发布会的大部分时间都留给了即将登陆 Switch 2 的《时之笛》重制版。会上展示了新的预告片和一段详尽的游戏演示，展现了任天堂对此次重制采取的策略，包括更逼真的画面以及自由视角等新功能。但最引人注目的细节或许是它的发售日期：11 月 5 日。

Grand Theft Auto VI, if you’re unaware, launches on November 19th. It’s a date that has caused a seismic shift in the video game release calendar as virtually every major publisher has either delayed games or moved their release dates up in order to avoid GTA and the all-encompassing vacuum it creates. September just began, and already we’ve had launches like Star Wars Zero Company, The Blood of Dawnwalker, and Onimusha: Way of the Sword, with heavy hitters like Marvel’s Wolverine, Control Resonant, and a remastered Witcher 3 coming later in the month.

如果你还不知道，《GTA VI》将于 11 月 19 日发售。这个日期在游戏界引发了地震般的排期变动，几乎所有大型发行商要么推迟游戏，要么提前发售日期，以避开《GTA》及其所产生的“黑洞效应”。9 月才刚刚开始，我们就已经迎来了《星球大战：零号公司》、《黎明行者之血》和《鬼武者：剑道》等作品的发布，而《漫威金刚狼》、《控制：共鸣》以及《巫师 3》重制版等重磅大作也将在本月晚些时候陆续登场。

It’s a similar situation to the surprise launch of Hollow Knight: Silksong last year, where indie games jumped out of the way of its release. But GTA VI exists on a much larger scale. With few exceptions — including a pair of brave indies — publishers have decided that it’s better to be caught in a glut of releases in September than go up against GTA VI later in the year. In fact, Ocarina of Time is the only other major release that isn’t a port and is currently slated for November.

这与去年《空洞骑士：丝之歌》的突然发布情况类似，当时独立游戏纷纷避让。但《GTA VI》的影响力规模要大得多。除了极少数例外（包括两款勇敢的独立游戏），发行商们都认为，与其在年底与《GTA VI》硬碰硬，不如挤在 9 月份扎堆发售。事实上，《时之笛》是目前 11 月份唯一一款非移植类的重磅大作。

Of course, it’s not really all that surprising that Nintendo isn’t afraid of competing with GTA VI. In some ways, the games aren’t competing directly at all; Ocarina of Time will be a Switch 2 exclusive, while GTA is coming to the Xbox and PS5. But there’s more to it than that. Zelda and GTA will still be fighting over cultural mindshare, which is something that both Nintendo and Rockstar have become adept at cultivating. And they’ve both done it largely the same way: by ignoring what everyone else is doing.

当然，任天堂不惧怕与《GTA VI》竞争并不令人意外。从某种程度上说，这两款游戏根本没有直接竞争；《时之笛》将是 Switch 2 的独占游戏，而《GTA》则登陆 Xbox 和 PS5。但事情远不止于此。《塞尔达》和《GTA》仍将在文化影响力上展开争夺，而这正是任天堂和 Rockstar 都非常擅长经营的领域。他们采取的方式大同小异：无视其他人的做法，走自己的路。

For Rockstar, the massive success of GTA V allowed the studio the space and freedom to do essentially whatever it wanted, and the decade-plus in between Grand Theft Auto releases has generated a level of hype that has perhaps never been seen before in any entertainment industry. That has allowed the next game to largely exist in its own universe, where Rockstar can do unprecedented things like put out a lengthy gameplay video on Netflix.

对于 Rockstar 而言，《GTA V》的巨大成功赋予了工作室随心所欲的空间和自由。两部《GTA》作品之间长达十余年的间隔，产生了一种在娱乐史上前所未有的期待感。这使得下一部作品几乎存在于自己的宇宙中，Rockstar 甚至可以做出前所未有的举动，比如在 Netflix 上发布超长的游戏演示视频。

Nintendo operates in a similar way, largely following its own whims rather than industry trends. This has led to some high-profile failures — RIP to the Wii U — but over the last decade or so, Nintendo has further distanced itself from competitors Sony and Microsoft, going in a completely new direction with its hybrid Switch line of hardware. Instead of following trends, Nintendo now starts them: Just look at all of the devices that followed the Switch, from the Steam Deck to the PlayStation Portal. The PS6 might even be a portable.

任天堂的运作方式与之类似，更多是追随自己的意愿而非行业趋势。这导致了一些备受瞩目的失败（为 Wii U 默哀），但在过去十年左右的时间里，任天堂通过混合型 Switch 硬件系列走出了完全不同的道路，进一步拉开了与索尼和微软的距离。任天堂不再追随潮流，而是引领潮流：看看 Switch 之后出现的各种设备就知道了，从 Steam Deck 到 PlayStation Portal。甚至 PS6 都有可能是一款掌机。

If you want a clear example of just how separate Nintendo is from the rest of the industry, look no further than 2020. In the same week that the PS5 and Xbox Series X were ushering in the next generation of game consoles, Nintendo also launched its own hardware: an updated version of the Game & Watch that could play Super Mario Bros. and tell you the time. It’s hard to get much further away from next-gen than that.

如果你想找一个任天堂与行业其他部分脱节的典型例子，看看 2020 年就够了。就在 PS5 和 Xbox Series X 开启次世代游戏主机大门的同一周，任天堂也发布了自己的硬件：一款可以玩《超级马力欧兄弟》并能显示时间的 Game & Watch 复刻版。很难想象还有什么比这更“反次世代”的了。

The current iteration of Nintendo is one that largely avoids risks and often plays things safe. But it’s also one that operates with an incredible amount of confidence, which is something that much of the rest of the industry lacks, at least when it comes to GTA. The next Grand Theft Auto may have the ability to warp the video game release calendar, but Nintendo and Zelda have enough pull to be able to ignore it.

当前的任天堂在很大程度上倾向于规避风险，行事稳健。但它同时也展现出一种令人难以置信的自信，而这正是行业内其他公司所缺乏的——至少在面对《GTA》时是这样。下一部《GTA》或许有能力扭曲游戏界的发布日历，但任天堂和《塞尔达》拥有足够的号召力，足以对它视而不见。