Farewell Nintendo

Wii opinion by Josh Kramer, published on Tuesday 26th January 2010

Nintendo is gone. Well, not gone as in vanished or destroyed entirely, but gone as in changed – transformed. Gone is the company that shaped the industry as we currently know it. Gone is the company that pioneered ideas that have become integral to the way we play games. And gone is the company that catered to gamers, first and foremost. At a glance, the company looks the same. They sport the same inviting, yet simplistic logo, and they have the same recognizable and lovable mascots. But make no mistake, the company that you grew to love and support during the 80s and 90s is no more, replaced by an impostor that doesn’t have your best interest as a gamer in mind.

So when did this change take place? Well, it certainly can’t be traced back to one specific, clearly defined moment in the company’s history, though the release of the Wii might certainly by argued to be this turning-point by some. No, the metamorphosis was a slow one, barely perceptible over the course of many, many years.

To understand the nature of the change, we have to look at the nature of Nintendo back in the 1980s. Back then, the Big N was a pioneering company – a company looking to take risks and resuscitate a failing game industry that many thought was beyond recovery. Nintendo stepped up to the plate and delivered a console, the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), and games that blew everything that had come before out of the water. Hardware scrolling, brilliant music compositions, colorful visuals – all these things and more captivated a generation of budding gamers and shaped them, and the industry, into what we see today.

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Nintendo brought to the table many exciting ideas, such as a lightweight controller with a directional pad and face buttons – innovations that have become the backbone for the way people interact with their games for over two decades. Later on Nintendo would even build on these innovations by introducing shoulder buttons (on their Super Nintendo controller), and an analog stick and rumble feature (on their Nintendo 64 controller). Combine all of these controller innovations with brilliantly fine-tuned gameplay and unprecedented quality in games like The Legend of Zelda (NES), Super Metroid (SNES), and Super Mario 64 (N64), and you have a company that stands alone as the most influential game corporation from the mid 80s to the mid 90s.

All of this innovation on the part of Nintendo means that nearly everyone who embraced video gaming as a hobby during the blossoming years of the industry have been irrevocably influenced, and even bound, to the company’s many ground breaking ideas. Even beyond that, the younger generation of gamers, yes even those weaned on PlayStation or Xbox, have come to rely on industry-standard concepts that can have their roots traced back to Nintendo.

But even as Nintendo was shaping the modern game industry as we know it, they were also slowly backing out. During the late 90s and into the 2000s, several of their major game series (most notably – Super Mario) were given less and less priority. Titles like Animal Crossing (GameCube), while fresh and interesting during the time of release, were followed up by disappointing rehashes – sequels that did almost nothing to expand on the original games’ ideas. The company also began pulling the plug on many of the very concepts that gamers have come to expect and rely on. Basic features like a well-crafted and functional d-pad were shunned, with the GameCube’s controller being marred by an abomination – a cheaply made d-pad that forced developers of popular 2D fighting games to pass up possible ports to the system.

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Nintendo was losing touch with what gamers wanted, and losing sales to both Sony and Microsoft – two companies that were taking ideas created by the Big N and refining them. So when Nintendo released the Wii, it wasn’t entirely surprising that they announced that they were pulling out of the so-called “arms race.” The irony of this is, of course, that Nintendo was the company that started the arms race in the first place. They were the ones that designed the SNES to display 32,768 colors, compared to the Genesis’s 512. And they were the ones that created the Super FX co-processor – a graphics chip (released during the 16-bit era) that allowed for never-before-seen 3D visuals on a home console.

“Prettier graphics and faster processing aren’t the future,” they said. “Gamers are craving a revolution in the way they control their games.” These sound-bites looked good on paper, but they were nothing more than a smoke screen to mask the company’s true intention – to bail out on the people they were so instrumental in shaping and focus on selling products for the mass market. The impostor Nintendo of today is hardly concerned with providing the next epic Mario or Zelda masterpiece for gamers across the globe, regardless of what company President Reggie Fils-Aimé would like to tell you. The tragic part of all this is many gamers cling blindly to the illusion that Nintendo still cares about what they want, despite the fact that the company is clearly focusing their resources into developing the next big “casual gaming” experience.

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Was Nintendo’s metamorphosis a bad thing? From a business standpoint, absolutely not. Their decision to turn away from gamers and sell to the masses is one of the most brilliant strategies concocted by a game company in recent memory. Mothers, grandmothers, and millions of other non-gamers across the planet have purchased Wiis, making Nintendo one of the most profitable game corporations in the world. For gamers, however, the transformation is disheartening. Sure, there are other development teams creating games with the gamer in mind – folks like BioWare, Bungie, Platinum Games and Naughty Dog, to name a few. But Nintendo is Nintendo – home to some of the most sacred franchises of all-time. How could the company that has served gamers so well and for so long be more concerned with concocting a more appealing Frisbee-tossing, wrist-flicking collection of mini games than the next epic Hyrulian masterpiece? It’s a disturbing question that haunts the minds of even the most disillusioned Nintendo supporters, with no positive resolution coming anytime soon.

And so, yes, Nintendo is gone. Gone, but not forgotten. The company’s innovations and brilliance during the 80s and 90s will continue to live on through powerful industry players like Sega, Sony and Microsoft. And who knows? Perhaps the day will come when the Big N turns its bulbous-nosed, mustachioed countenance back to their most loyal and adoring fans – the gamers.

Comments

JDoughty2
wrote on Tuesday 26th January 2010

I completely agree with the point your making. Although I grew up with the Genesis I fondly remember the quality of the games produced by Nintendo. Nintendo just don’t have the muscle to trade punches with the likes of Sony and Microsoft. I feel that if they didn’t try something new they would have crumbled. I consider myself a serious gamer and whenever I look at the games Nintendo offer for the casual gamer I’m just not interested. Perhaps Nintendo just had to evolve to trade in a market they knew would guarantee their survival at the expense of their core beliefs.
Michelle
wrote on Tuesday 26th January 2010

As someone who also grew up with Sega games I am somewhat resolved to the changes that Nintendo are making, I came to them relatively late, and after the heartbreak of watching Sega stumble and change it makes Nintendo’s metamorphosis that much easier to bare.
l3lessed
wrote on Tuesday 26th January 2010

Nintendo, as much as I hate it, did what they had to do because the hardcore gamers abandon them first. Nintendo right now would probably be floundering and on the verge of going under if they had tried to compete for the hardcore audience this generation.
The gamecube was a superior machine and had far more power than the playstation, yet the gamecube sales were lack luster atleast. This proved to Nintendo competing based on power alone wouldn’t work the next generation. They needed something else.
Nintendo realized that they couldn’t compete with Microsoft and Sony for such a small market and stay floating. It was a basic decision of survival for the company because if they produced another console that did as poorly as the gamecube they would be out of the console race for good.
So, as much as I hate it, I’m happy Nintendo found a new direction or there probably wouldn’t be any more nintendo consoles in the next generation.
sparesoul
wrote on Tuesday 26th January 2010

I started playing video games in the 70’s, I watched the rise and fall of ATARI and SEGA. I still have my old systems, and plenty of new ones as well. I went into reading this article ready to dismiss your attempt to trash Nintendo and by the time I read the last paragraph, I agree that you are more right than wrong. So long nintendo ( the DS is fantastic though ).
Brian
wrote on Wednesday 27th January 2010

This is an extremely narrow and limited view on the company. As I will explain, only gamers who came of age during the SNES, N64, and GC can come to this conclusion. Yes, Nintendo has changed, but not in the way you think.

There are only two Nintendo’s. There is the Nintendo of the NES era. And there is the Nintendo of the SNES/N64/GC eras. The Nintendo of today is very much the Nintendo of the NES era. The old Nintendo is back.

NES was the Wii of the ’80s. It was inferior technology to its competition, and, accordingly, it was seen by traditional gamers as “just a fad” and “shallow” and, yes, even “casual.” These gamers scoffed at Super Mario Brothers and the Legend of Zelda, which were seen as compromised experiences compared to the much more expansive offerings on the PC and other gaming systems. We see them as the glorious beginnings of modern gaming, but then, they were heavily scorned by traditional, elite gamers. This is a history that a lot of young people aren’t familiar with.

Yes, if you’re looking for high-production values and “epic adventures,” you’ll have to look elsewhere, but perhaps it would be prudent to compare yourself with the ’80s PC gamers who scoffed at the “inferior” NES. Personally, I don’t consider you a gamer if you’re after those things. I think Mario and Zelda will be much better than they ever were.
wiiboycubed101
wrote on Wednesday 27th January 2010

ANYONE THINKING LIKE THIS HAS MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES!!!

NINTENDO clearly stated the GAMING SLATE WAS BEING WIPED CLEAN AND A NEW GEN A NEW WAY WAS REQUIRED …
they clearly stated BLUE OCEAN,DISRUPTION AND NEW GANING IDEA’S they also stated this would take time

theres loads of award winning core games

mario galaxy,metroid prime 3,all other marios and many other games there was core galore in 2006 and again in 2010 metroid zelda mario etc

disruption and blue ocean bussiness doesnt happen over night

WAKE THE HELL UP NINTENDO IS DESTROYING HER ENEMYS THEN THOSE HUGE GAMES WILL ARRIVE

TRY READING SEAN MALSTROMS BLOG OR CUBEBOYS POSTS OR WiiBOYS POSTS YOU MIGHT THEN LEARN SOMETHING

THIS IS A WAR AND NINTENDO IS WINNING
Alfredo
wrote on Wednesday 27th January 2010

Every time somebody starts an article like this I remember this old box:
http://www.vintagecomputing.com/wp-content/images/retroscan/nesfamily_large.jpg
My, my…..
Kevin
wrote on Wednesday 27th January 2010

A gamer is someone who plays games. The Wii and DS are in the hands of more gamers than any other systems. So Nintendo hasn’t abandoned gamers. It’s simply appealed to a far broader community of gamers than the PS3, PSP, and XBox360 have been able to.
Jerome
wrote on Wednesday 27th January 2010

You know, it’s really a shame there are so many non-drivers in the world. I mean, sure, they have cars, they even drive them, but they’re not ‘real’ drivers. You’re only a ‘real’ driver if you subscribe to muscle-car magazines, drive a hot rod, and get into long discussions about Shelby Cobras vs. vintage Mustangs. It’s like all the non-eaters there are these days. Sure, they eat food (if you want to call it that), but not ‘real’ food, not expensive gourmet food. Sheesh, they don’t even know the difference between Beluga caviar and the cheap stuff.

Those lines aren’t any more silly than what’s in the article here, and it gets a little annoying after a while. I understand it’s been something of a shock for core gamers that they’re not Nintendo’s sole focus any more, but they could at least be mature about it. I understand that you’re upset because Nintendo’s made some dumb moves, and I even agree with some of that. Per-game Friend Codes are stupid and a pain, some of their games like Animal Crossing: City Folk have been lame, the Gamecube’s D-pad is too small, etc., etc. Some other things you mentioned, though, aren’t even accurate. The NES, even when it was released, was outclassed by game-playing computers; Sega started the console war with the 16-bit Genesis and aggressive marketing towards young men, Nintendo just stupidly decided to take them up on it; and not only is Nintendo still focused on ” the next epic Mario or Zelda masterpiece”, they’ve got both of those coming this year.

Really, though, the whole perspective of the article is skewed. The Wii is not some horrible transgression and departure from what Nintendo started with the NES, it’s a return to what made the NES successful to begin with. It’s not coincidence that Wii Sports closely resembles the NES sports series, NSMBWii is very similar to the original 2d Mario games, the Balance board is so much like the old Power Pad, the Wii and Wiimote actually look like the NES and its controller, etc. Nintendo made a mistake by getting into the console war to begin with and focusing almost exclusively on teenage boys, and now those boys (who are now men) are acting as though Nintendo were doing something horrible and unprecedented by abandoning this sole focus and introduce gaming to as many people as possible. I understand being a long-time Nintendo fan, I grew up with the NES, SNES, N64, etc., but I disagree with the self-centered and snobbish attitude that a lot of ‘real’ gamers seem to have. If Nintendo comes out with something that gets my Mom to pick up a controller, that’s great, and I’m not going to whine because not everything is made only for me.
Burgers
wrote on Wednesday 27th January 2010

Like Brian had stated, The old Nintendo is back. It’s funny how you claim Nintendo has forgotten about their ‘fans’ when they already done so during the SNES era. The expanded audience WAS their loyal fans, and Nintendo have neglected them for so long.

Reading your article, it sounds like you were never a fan to begin with. You have 2 ‘hardcore’ consoles to go to, so please do so and leave us true fans in peace.
Super Smash Bros. Fan
wrote on Wednesday 27th January 2010

I’m not going to attempt to bash the article, just because it is aiming at Nintendo.

Here are the Pros: They were better back in the 80’s and 90’s, but not sustanically, which means they were always an amazing company, I believe Nintendo was losing touch with it’s gamers during the Gamecube era, and Pokemon and Animal Crossing series have gotten lazy recently. They were considered one of the most innovative companies back in the day.

The cons: For every postive, there were multiple cons. First off, Nintendo is the same company we all know and love, they are just appealing to the more causal gamers. Secondly, Nintendo would never back out of the modern gaming industry. What did the writer expect, to be like Microsoft? Third, they still make Mario and Zelda game obviously. Fourth, the writer probably outright hates casual games and the Wii. There are many more cons, but I’m actually glad it wasn’t from IGN, because otherwise, we would have seen hundreads of hate comments towards Nintendo.

Overall, it wasn’t terrible, but Nintendo fans that actually enjoys the Wii should avoid this article, no offense.
yACK
wrote on Wednesday 27th January 2010

i DISAGREE WITH YOU NINTENDO IS BETTER THAN ITS EVER BEEN AND THEY GOT SOME BIG SURPRISES its FINALLY GREAT TO BE ABLE TO PLAY GAMES WITH MY GIRLFRIEND AND SISTERS!! AND ALSO THE THIRD PARTY SUPPORT IS A LOT BETTER ON WII THEN CUBE BENEATH ALL THE JUNK THERE ARE LOTS OF GREAT TREASURES ON WII.PLUS ON CUBE U PLAYED FIGHTERS ON ARCADE STICK. RETARDED ARTICLE NINTENDO IS GONNA BE FIRST NEXT GEN TOO.
HPsez
wrote on Wednesday 27th January 2010

As much as I tried to give this article a fair shot, it really was complete nonsense.

There are just too many holes in your logic - committed as early as the 4th sentence:

“Gone is the company that pioneered ideas that have become integral to the way we play games.”

I believe E3 2009 already made that statement null and void? Sony, Microsoft - did they not just play a blatant game of ‘follow the market leader’?

Moving on, how can one trace Nintendo’s decline to the placement of an increasingly outdated d-pad (their own invention) on the GameCube controller? The idea would (possibly) make more sense if it were just an aside, not one of the pillars of your argument.

The tone of the article just sounded bitter - and I guess my question back to you is; why? You seem to have all you want in the other HD / gore-geared consoles, why do you care what Nintendo is doing for those who want a different gaming experience?

And finally, enough with taking the title “gamer” for only yourself and those of your mindset. I been gaming for 25 years, am an owner of over a dozen consoles (Sega, Sony and Microsoft included) and actually DO like where Nintendo is headed. “Casual” my ass.
j
wrote on Wednesday 27th January 2010

-Super Mario Galaxy is easily one of nintendo’s best ‘hardcore’ titles…ever. (New Super Mario Bros. Wii outsell’s it almost instantly unfortunately.)
-Nintendo makes more Zelda’s now that they ever did 15 years ago.
-Mario and Luigi RPG 3 (Bower’s) is a GREAT game. (Better than the ds Final Fantasy’s in innovation, and just plain fun factor etc)
-The original NES sold megatons to the masses because they had somewhat simple, appealing titles like the orignal super mario bros. and duck hunt. History has repeated itself.

Nintendo hasn’t forget the core titles, it just isn’t their only focus anymore. (Was it ever???)
Shnazzyone
wrote on Wednesday 27th January 2010

I personally see the wii and nintendo’s current route showing more that they haven’t changed a bit. They are still about games that are primarily fun. They are still very secret and protective of their brand. I think it’s the gamers who think they have grown out of nintendo that make nintendo seem different. While they still produce an amazing amount of the best games of every generation.

Your argument is unfounded by nothing more then assumptions and a negative perception that is shared by many who simply spite nintendo for keeping the graphics of last generation yet still makeing all the powerhorses of this gen in the dust.

“Gamers” need to change their angle once in a while. Not all games need to be adult in nature. They just need to be fun and feel new. I am playing NMH2 right now and you just don’t that kind of fun from hd games.
Matt Wadleigh
wrote on Wednesday 27th January 2010

The only war Nintendo is winning is the battle of shovelware. There are only 20 games on the Wii worth playing.
Bagels
wrote on Wednesday 27th January 2010

Nintendo is the same company it always was - only its competitors propaganda has changed.

By that token, the “Nintendo abandoned the hardcore” rhetoric is 2007’s leftovers, considering we’ve since established that (a) Nintendo was never “hardcore,” nor were consoles ever meant to aim at anything of the sort (thus the PC); (b) it’s created more traditional games in this console generation than its previous three had to the same point in their respective histories; and (c) “Wii Fit” and the like are no different than the Power Pad and Superscope games/peripherals of the past.

Please stop helping the industry and its cabal of brainwashed journalists peddle a fraudulent version of video-game’s history.
Calvin Kemph
wrote on Wednesday 27th January 2010

Only winning the war of shovelware? What about having the best selling portable and console platforms at the moment, and sustaining their lead? They’re definitely not losing to Microsoft or Sony at the moment… Otherwise, the PS3 and 360 wouldn’t consider adapting Nintendo’s motion technology for their consoles. If anyone’s still innovating and having ideas burrowed, it’s Nintendo. You don’t see them hard at work making a Wii Remote Six-Axis edition, that’s for sure.
surprised
wrote on Wednesday 27th January 2010

well not really surprised about this. The false dichotomy perpetrated by the author of the article is really quite something.

Rather than say, talk about the industry growing and moving on, the talk is blinded by nostalgia of an era that has passed. By the author’s own standards, no company in operation during the fabled golden age of Nintendo is around either and all are impostors.

This is a terrible article written by a feeble mind, grappling with dissonance, because Nintendo, rightly, refuses to join the Microsoft standard of shooters, games built around on-line competitive play with a flimsy single player mode.

FYI, the most ‘hardcore’ game platform out on the planet today is the Nintendo DS. While home consoles struggle with sparse releases, and mee-tooitist, the renaissance of retro games styles from 8, 16, to 32-bit generation styled games dominates on the DS.
Matt Wadleigh
wrote on Wednesday 27th January 2010

Calvin, your argument implies that because Nintendo has sold a bunch of systems, they’re the best. I’ll give you your point on the DS, but as this article has mostly focused on the Wii, I was never trying to make a point against it in the first place. Yes, the Wii is the most popular system on the market, but software sales excluding a few big first-party games are almost all low. I’m sorry, but I judge my systems not on their potential to deliver good games, but on available good games. The Saturn had many advantages over the PlayStation One, but the PSOne brought with it awesome games and won. The GameCube and the Xbox both had technical advantages over the PlayStation 2, but Grand Theft Auto 3, Final Fantasy X and dozens of other must-haves were exclusive to Sony so Sony won. The Wii has the best hardware sales, but the majority of the games on the system are awful. Just take a look at the average MetaCritic or GameRanking scores for the three systems. The Wii ranks last. Nintendo can sell as many systems as they want, but until they get serious with their hardware and demand that developers improve the quality of their games, they’re never going to win back the hardcore gamers that they lost. And without hardcore gamers who buy lots and lots of games, third-party developers will continue to push out under-developed shit because they can’t risk putting out well-developed games because they can’t recoup their costs (MadWorld? No More Heroes?).
RuneKey
wrote on Wednesday 27th January 2010

I think you must be blind if you honestly thing Nintendo isnt still shaping the industry of video games.
Anthony
wrote on Wednesday 27th January 2010

I have to say that the viewpoint in this article has been seen hundreds of times before, but never has it been presented so intelligently. It’s not a whiny nerd complaint. It’s a thought-provoking eulogy.
Stephen
wrote on Wednesday 27th January 2010

I actually agree with this article. Its great that they found a business stand point that put them back up on top, but it is still depressing that they behind a lot of what had them on top to begin with. Ive tried to go back to nintendo and like the wii, i really wanted to. Aside from a few new series like No More Heroes, and obviously the classics like Metroid and Mario, I cant get into the wii.

Nintendo has made their decision on the way they are taking the company and gaming for them, and I dont feel it includes the gamers of the old days, but thats just me.
drew
wrote on Wednesday 27th January 2010

Is it just me, or do the terms “hardcore” and “gamer” seem incongruent? Work is hard, life is hard, games should be… fun! FYI, yes Nintendo does not care about you. Neither does Sony, Microsoft, Coke, Pepsi, etc. What the hell is wrong with you that you feel it essential that an international corporation gives a rats ass about how you feel? Everybody today is such a loyalist/crybaby it makes me sick. Another thing, this FPS thing? Wait five years. It’s a trend, and it will die out. People will only shoot so many zombies/Nazis for so long. Think I’m wrong? Look back at the 90’s with shooters/fighting games. They were a big thing, for awhile. I liked them. Then I grew up.
Same thing with the “music” games. Sure, they’ll survive as a genre, and that is neat, but it too is a fad. I think it is nice that I can play games by myself, my nephews, my wife, or my mother and they pick up the Wii remote and get into my world for awhile. By the way, I picked up Tatsunoko v. Capcom, Sky Crawlers, and No More Heros 2 today, and I’d recommend every one, based on your tastes.
Jerome
wrote on Wednesday 27th January 2010

@Anthony,

Dude, you have to be kidding. Please say you’re kidding. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry at that response.
Jerome
wrote on Wednesday 27th January 2010

Actually, my computer’s kind of garbling the text here, the comment I was referring to may not have been from Anthony. It was the one calling the article a “thought-provoking eulogy”.

(shudders)
MommyWannaDoWiiWiis
wrote on Wednesday 27th January 2010

Would like to play Mario & co on XBOX360/PS3, much better graphics, abundant on-line gameplay modes, same kind of controls (except shaking), no Nintendos needed for that.

And in the mean time let me continue with “wrist flicking” wii games, exercising the body, simulating aspects of reality, having fun with the kind of stuff the wii is potentially really good at.

Yes Nintendo has changed. The wii has changed. Tiger Woods is not Mario. Mario doesn’t know how to play a decent game of ice hockey. Mario will never have the finesse of a Grand Slam wrist flicking ace.

And oh boy how I wish one day Mario would leave the house and go live with uncle Bill! C’mon Bill Big wallet, buy yourself some Mario exclusivity!
Crinder
wrote on Wednesday 27th January 2010

How can you say that “Gone is the company that shaped the industry as we currently know it. Gone is the company that pioneered ideas that have become integral to the way we play games. ” when that is exactly what Nintendo is doing, once again as they did many years ago. I also consider myself a gamer and i have been since the NES era, so many of this new ideas aren´t for me either and so I understand how so many people feel abandoned, but in my view Nintendo isn´t morphing, it isn´t changing into some unrecognizable beast, it´s reshaping the industry instead of competing in making better graphics as everybody else, and it´s pioneering ideas that will (If they haven´t already) become integral to the way we not only play.. but also how we understand gaming.
Again, this changes aren´t for all of us, and I deeply hope that the big N starts delivering once more the great games we´ve come to love and in a level of difficulty we can all enjoy, us veteran gamers and also this new breed that they´ve created, I seriously do. But at least in my view, and I expect many to disagree (Particularly those who agreed with you in the first place) Nintendo is just being Nintendo, turning away from the old race everyone else was having to do something no one else had thought of, and as you pointed out in your article had happened with many other Nintendo born innovations, the other competitors, from that other race, are now following.
Anthony
wrote on Wednesday 27th January 2010

Rarely in video game “journalism” are articles so well-written and reasoned.
Spook
wrote on Wednesday 27th January 2010

Wow, you don’t have a very good grasp on what Nintendo is or was.
Sophie Cheshire
wrote on Wednesday 27th January 2010

I read today that EA were rethinking their Wii strategy because the attach rate for third party releases on the Wii is so pathetic. I think maybe the faddishness of the Wii will pass soon as the PS3 and 360 continue to offer more amazing games that appeal to a lifelong gamer such as myself.

This article did strike a chord with me as I have always been a multiformat console owner and Nintendo usually made my second console of choice. The SNES, the N64 and the Cube all had games that were a true pleasure and challenge to play and I am saddened that nothing on the Wii appeals to me. All the games I might have bought I alreay own on the Cube (Metroid, Animal Crossinf, Pikimin and Twilight Princess).
A real shame. Good article.
Tim
wrote on Thursday 28th January 2010

Wow. This article is terrible. I still don’t understand why people hate Nintendo for being Nintendo. What is Sony and Microsoft doing that has their fanboys(and girls, I can’t be sexist) are giddy with excitement? Motion control. Yes, no matter how you spin it, Sony and Microsoft are both trailing in sales and are trying to copy the “fad”. They want a slice from Nintendo’s pie of expanded audience. And the games? I know that Nintendo’s first-party games are always good (and btw, WiiSports Resort is fun. And for “hardcore” applications, just look at the Swordplay and Archery games. Zelda anyone?), but can you ignore games like No More Heroes (1 & 2), Okami (much better on the Wii), Madworld, Red Steel 2, Tatsonoku(or however you spell it) vs. Capcom, Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition (the best version of an incredible game), Little King’s Story, Monster Hunter Tri, The Conduit (great game, and don’t let biased reviewers tell you otherwise), Muramasa: The Demon Blade, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, Klonoa, The Grinder, Lost in Shadow, daring games like Epic Mickey (helmed by Warren Spector-the guy who made Deus Ex-no less), and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Reflex, just to name a few? And Nintendo certainly isn’t slacking. They’re releasing a Metroid game (co-made by Team Ninja), a Mario game, and a Zelda game (if all goes well) in the same calender year. That has never been done before. And what about them giving us Metroid Prime Trilogy (with the best game case I’ve ever seen) and New Super Mario Bros. Wii last year? You may not think that Nintendo is catering to you anymore, but they are. And they are catering to the new expanded audience. Nintendo is a business, and they try to make games for everyone. There are good games for the Wii, you’re just too blind to see it.
Bacon
wrote on Thursday 28th January 2010

This article is nothing but pure fanboy flamebait, plain and simple.
Philip Morton
wrote on Thursday 28th January 2010

Surely if we just wanted to do that, we would have produced something more obvious like a list?

This is a little more subtle than “Top Ten Reasons Why Nintendo Fans Are Wrong And Should Respond In ALL CAPS”.
DustinM
wrote on Wednesday 17th March 2010

This article is right on the money. Nintendo has fallen extremely short when it comes to satisfying the wants and needs of their followers. I’m 28 and I started playing video games when I got my first NES for Christmas in 1987 (which I still have, and it still works), and I still own every Nintendo console from then to now. The Wii has less than a handful of games that were developed by Nintendo that were truly developed with followers like myself in mind. I’m far more likely to turn on my 360 or PS3 to sit down and play a game. It used to be a tough choice to either play Playstation or N64. Now my Wii is collecting more dust than anything else. It’s not that it’s a bad system, it’s just that I own and have beaten the very few games that make the Wii worth owning.

It really seems like Nintendo is being run by some huge American corporation focusing on the bottom dollar rather than being faithful to those who made them who they are today. It’s a sad and bleak future for Nintendo in my opinion. Sure, they will continue to sell units and they will continue to pump out truck-loads of family style waggle games, but unless things change drastically, there will be nothing but disappointment and thoughts of what could have been, for me and the many gamers like me.