Nintendo: A Good Problem To Have

129 thoughts on “Nintendo: A Good Problem To Have”

1. This was a good read.

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2. This article is so spot on it’s not even funny. I think the majority of gamers don’t even know how to have fun anymore. They spend most of their time complaining on the internet instead of playing their games. Me? I got my Wii U and I’m loving the hell out of it.

   I love Darksiders 2, Ninja Gaiden 3, Tekken Tag Tournament, Wind Waker HD, Nintendo Land and NSMBU. I’m neck deep in Xenoblade Chronicles and I’m absolutely amazed at how deep this game is.

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3. And this is the reason why I only buy Nintendo systems anymore. Back in the day I got a PSX because I HAD to play future Squaresoft games when they ditched Nintendo. After I watched them burn themselves to the ground chasing Sony’s money, or film deal as it were, I decided to never buy another non-Nintendo anything. And I haven’t. With the direction the industry has been moving in since, I probably never will.

   As for 3rd parties, at this point they’re a lost cause. Not because they’re afraid to compete with Nintendo or think their games won’t sell, but because they CAN’T make games outside of the Sony/MS ecosystem anymore. They’ve focused themselves so much toward the Sony/MS market and the way they do business that I doubt they could actually exist outside of it even if they tried. They need the moneyhats and free advertising simply to break even let alone actually turn a profit. And the situation gets worse every day.

   I think this famous film quote explains things pretty well:

   “If we all reacted the same way, we’d be predictable, and there’s always more than one way to view a situation. What’s true for the group is also true for the individual. It’s simple: overspecialize, and you breed in weakness. It’s slow death.” – Major Motoko Kusanagi (Ghost In The Shell)

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4. Every gamer should read this, but that would assume they would stop writing up their 50,000 word manifesto of how THEY would run Nintendo. First change: more buttered tits…

   At some point in the last couple of decades, video gaming went from being a fun way to spend a rainy afternoon to Serious Business, and sales figures and stock prices became more important than the games we play.
   If a recent tragic event has taught me anything, it’s that life is just too damn short to worry about things that don’t impact you in the slightest, or get into long arguments with some trolls on Reddit. Enjoy your games, enjoy your friends, and enjoy LIFE.

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   1. So true. So true.

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   2. Interesting you should bring that up Josh, I had a difficult week myself before writing this with some near-tragic events. It really does put things into perspective.

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5. A truly epic article indeed. I only own Nintendo consoles and I don’t whine about the lack of third party support. Why? Because it SUCKS. I am not gonna miss what I don’t like. Oh how I detest 7th generation. 7th generation was where Nintendo sold the most units, but I like 6th gen with the Gamecube way more because back in the day, developers still cared about making fun games. But that all changed when Sony and MS went all dudebro and brainwashed all the gamers. And let’s not forget mobile games that are driving standards down the crapper and aren’t even that profitable for most devs. I gotta say, Super Mario 3D World is not only the best Mario game but best overall game I played in AGES. The way it was made brings me back to the fun level design and style devs used during the GCN days and how I missed them. Nintendo certainly ain’t perfect. They occasionally mishandle software like rushing the latest 2 Mario games and other noteworthy business blunders such as lousy marketing, calling the system Wii U, and other things.. But that doesn’t make me love them any less nor do I want them to join Sony and MS. If anything, doing as they do will KILL NIntendo because Sony and MS bleed money to stay in the business. I am gonna be straight. I really can’t say for certain if MS and Sony will still be in this business in the future. Sony as whole is in grave danger of doing bankrupt, thanks to their movie flops and Xbox might get spun off if it doesn’t start pulling its own weight and stops leeching off the company. As for third parties, well I agree with the dude above me. I lost faith in them and don’t miss them one bit. Third parties have put themselves on a one track road to disaster. They’ve specialized themselves into dudebro so much that I don’t think the can develop other types of games anymore and when dudebro finally loses its profitable age, well you get the picture.

   Back to Nintendo, I still feel they could do better with advertising. They need a way to make their products look cool and not kiddy. They also could do better in presenting games in a more epic fashion so that their comments aren’t filled with people calling them rehashes. And they also need to find a way to fully support a system themselves as it looks like third parties won’t help them. I am sure Nintendo will get through it all though.

   One more thing. There’s one statement in this article that I don’t agree with:

   ” the franchises are at their very peak.”

   As long as Nintendo takes their time developing games, strives to make new installments truly fresh, and passes their great teachings to new devs, I don’t think there’s really any peak for their IPs.

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   1. Well I just meant they are currently thriving, both in popularity and quality. I would say Animal Crossing hit a rough patch with City Folk on Wii, Mario lost a bit of momentum with New Super Mario Bros. U and Pokemon had a small identity crisis with Black and White 2 (which I still loved). All three franchises are back in form.

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      1. Agreed. I actually believe Mario’s rough patch started with NSMB2. As for Pokémon…yeah, I don’t know what Gamefreak was thinking. Why didn’t they just make the Pokémon Gray everyone was anticipating? And while I give them props for trying to make it unique, I think they tried to make B2W2 a little TOO different from the first two games.

         Well in any case, all these IPs seem to be back on track and lets hope Nintendo strives to keep it that way.

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   2. Advertising wise they could go back to the nes era with the motto now youre playing with power =)

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6. Very well done article man. I agree 100%! Every gamer does need to read this!

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7. Very true, PS4 gamers already regret there purchase and want a Wii U, Like this guy here, he’s PS4 is Collecting Dust: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfHaYdgRkPE

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   1. Same here ffs. I went out and bought a PS4 on day one, played with it a tad then went out and bought a WiiU a week later. The WiiU has barely been turned off and I have bought more games for it already than I have for all of 2013 [bar Steam games due to sales and Humble Bundles]

      Anyone who talks wet about the WiiU has clearly not even given it a chance. Great console, and I love the controller.

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   2. Same here ffs, went out and bought the PS4 at launch and it has barely been touched. Flew down the next week and bought a WiiU and loved it. Has barely been turned off. I have bought more games for it [bar Steam due to sales and Humble Bundles] than I have in 2013, and that is saying something.

      Just because it isn’t as powerful as the PS4 / Xbox One people turn their noses up at it, but it is like this, if graphics and power were all that mattered, retro games wouldn’t be worth shit these days. Thankfully it’s not the case, we can go back and enjoy those games even today and say, ‘that game was a corker’.

      The WiiU is a great console and I feckin love the controller. Anyone who bashes the thing clearly hasn’t tried it for more than 5 minutes.

      Best console I have played in a while.

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8. Ugh. I think the boom of mobile is one of the worst things to happen to the gaming industry. The number of horrible titles on mobile is so hight it’s ridiculous. And I’m not saying that every game on mobile is garbage, I’ve played some good ones. The problem is the business model actively encourages bad game design. A game I really liked, Hero Academy, was gimped by the fact that I had to pay to gain access to other teams. My brother and sister play this smurf game on their phones. It’s like Animal Crossing except that the production value is way lower and the game is constantly asking them to buy things with real money. But the convenience of having it on their phones helps them accept playing a worse game. And that’s the problem. People are being conditioned to accept worse games. Publishers are seeing these worse games make money. And Gamers are seeing companies and franchises they love die left and right while they try to make money off these horrible business models that encourage them to make bad games.

   One thing we need to come to realize is that, despite the sales numbers for call of duty or other games like that, the majority of people out there DO NOT CARE about video games to the same extent that we do. The original DS and Wii boomed because they were unique at the time, not because of the games. The mobile game market is big not because of the games. But because everyone has to have a phone. It’s a necessity. Then once they have their phone, they’ll throw around 99 cents for a game. Why not? It’s just 99 cents. They damn sure wouldn’t buy that same game at $40. People are not actively buying phones because they want to play the games on them.

   The last generation deluded the industry into thinking it had gained mass appeal like movies. But outside of a few runaway hits, the industry is just as niche as it ever was. I will be amazed if ANY new console sells as much as its predecessor this generation. This, of course, will encourage publishers to make even more microtransaction heavy games of garbage quality.

   Despite the problems Nintendo does have, I do not think they are nearly as bad as the other companies. They are still making complete games of quality and quantity. It’s all I can really ask of a company in the current gaming landscape.

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   1. I think the biggest issue with thinking that the industry has grown from the previous generation is looking at the number of systems sold, comparing it to the last, and saying “LOOK! BIGGER!” while conveniently forgetting to take into consideration that the number of multi-console owners seems to be growing each generation. As gamers get older and have more disposable income, they can afford to purchase more than one system and that artificially inflates the numbers. I know everyone I’ve run into online who games regularly seems to have at least 2 consoles.

      The second problem is if you remove the Wii from the numbers of last generation, the industry has actually contracted significantly from the generation before. The PS2, XBox and GC were all so-called “core” focused systems and together they sold ~200 million in 5-6 years time. Contrast that with the last generation where the so-called “core” systems, the PS3 and 360, have taken nearly twice as long to sell ~160 million. No, people don’t want to look at the numbers in that light even though the Wii was a “casual” system and doesn’t count… unless they want to crow about industry growth.

      I also find it very odd that all 3 systems have sold so close to each other. Two at ~80 million and another at ~100 million? Those numbers just seem strange to me. Considering that the PS2 alone sold ~150 million the generation before it makes me think that the industry is actually way smaller than anyone is willing to admit.

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9. This was such a good read I came a little.

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10. The slowness of Virtual Console releases is a bit of a double edged sword. While Nintendo should hire more staff for that sort of thing (it took two years for the Oracle games to get out for christ sakes!), like say M2 after their amazing 3D Sega Classics line, having to also reprogram the games to not have seizure inducing effects and having to get the licenses from third parties doesn’t help matters.

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11. Extremely good read. I agree with almost everything in this article. I’m definitely sharing this to all my gaming friends!

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    1. I think you’d be doing them a disservice if you did that.

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       1. Let them decide that.

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12. “I have a Wii U and 3DS and I don’t give a shit who doesn’t. It’s not my problem.”

    That statement would seem far more sincere if the author hadn’t bitch-slapped every form of competition and told journalists to stop “tugging their dicks” prior to it. Super Mario 3D World is a great game. I don’t know of anyone calling it a problem. Nintendo in general is a great company, but that doesn’t mean Nintendo shouldn’t change some things (as was pointed out above). Nobody wants to have micorotransactions or similar crap, yet there are plenty of other ways to improve.
    Please, don’t try to highlight Nintendo’s strengths by pointing out other company’s flaws. THAT is bad journalism. That’s just a 5-year old pointing his finger at others. It doesn’t matter that MS and EA are “shitting” on game design. It doesn’t matter that smartphones are letting brains rot. It doesn’t matter, because Nintendo is still offering an alternative. Focus on the good things and prove that you really don’t give a shit about what others play or don’t play.

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    1. I own other consoles too so EA and Microsoft’s approach does matter to me, I like videogames. You’re missing the point that this is what people are asking Nintendo to be, including their own investors.

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13. Overall I agree with your premise, that Nintendo makes wonderful games, and that’s enough. I strongly disagree with one point however.

    You stated: “It would take some kind of dedicated custom hardware to pull off something like this.” Sorry but that’s completely false today. Super Mario 3D World could play just as well on my PS4 (or an XBOX One if that’s your preference) as it could on the less powerful Wii U. It’s harder to make that argument for mobile games like A Link Between Worlds, but it’s very quickly trending in the same direction.

    If all I had to do was go out and buy the latest Nintendo games for $60 bucks a pop, I would be happy to do so. But as it is now, I have to pay a $300 tax to play any new Nintendo games, on hardware that doesn’t significantly vary from the other systems I already own. Really it’s worse than $300 because that doesn’t include needed accessories, like extra controllers.

    I know Nintendo wants to innovate, but frankly it doesn’t need to make it’s own hardware platform to do that. If it MUST do something wild and different, do what it’s already done for it’s own systems: Make peripherals – but make them work with the existing systems.

    You said it yourself: “That’s all Nintendo will ever be, a videogame company. Absolute pure, unfiltered joy. Year after year after year. Games. Games. Games. And you know what? That’s enough.” I completely agree. Stop making systems Nintendo, we already have enough of those. Focus on what you do best – games, games, games, and more games for EVERYONE regardless of what system they want to play them on.

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    1. Actually, you’re wrong. SM3DW could have only been made on the Wii U, or I should say it required Nintendo to have some form of dedicated hardware. Not because of the game play mechanics but because with their own dedicated hardware Nintendo can ignore all of the politics of the industry and just make games.

       I know it sounds contradictory but without their own hardware Nintendo would be at the mercy of the industry far more than they already are. They would be pressured into conforming by other developers as well as the platform holders. Look at what’s going on with 3rd parties right now. The number of genres and types of game play have shrunk considerably over the last generation. And with Nintendo also having to PAY someone else to release their games, they would make even less profit leading to less ability to take risks. So no, SM3DW could only exist because of the Wii U, hardware that Nintendo knows all the ins and outs of and controls themselves.

       And if you need proof, look no further than Shadow the Hedgehog or even Sonic 2006. Or how about Bomberman: Act Zero? The disaster that Resident Evil has become? How many games have been shoehorned into the “mature” and/or “shooter” mold as of late? The pressure is real. If Sega couldn’t survive it, a company who once stood shoulder to shoulder with them, what makes you think Nintendo could?

       Also, if you’re unwilling to spend the money on a Wii U, that’s fine, but don’t act like it’s some sort of new and strange concept to you. Every video game you’ve every played has required you to make some sort of hardware investment. The way that people contort logic into making is sound like Nintendo is trying to rip them off just because they don’t want to purchase their hardware to play their games is astonishing.

       Why doesn’t Sony make the next Grand Turismo for the Wii U? I want to play it (not really) but I’ m not going to blow $400 on what is essentially a PS3.5. Its not even backwards compatible! They should make it for a system I already own. Same argument, and yet I’m certain that very few people would be willing to put the same amount of water behind it as the entire industry seems to do with Nintendo. Actually, it makes even more sense since Nintendo is the only one of the current platform holders who has made any money on gaming at all! Sony and MS should be BEGGING them to release their games on their platforms. I wonder why they’re not…

       At least Nintendo is honestly trying something different. For that alone I will always support them.

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       1. Well said.

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       2. The idea that they would be dependent on the industry even more, seems laughable to me. If Sony and/or Microsoft fail to sell systems someday, then by god, Nintendo can start to make hardware again because such a move would be necessary for them to make the games they want to make.

          As it is currently, their hardware is getting in their own way, because they have to sell it in large numbers to make any real money with their truly valuable products – their games. Let Sony and Microsoft (and/or Apple/Google/Amazon for that matter) battle to make the next game system/set-top box. The competition is only going to get more heated and Nintendo isn’t going to stand a chance. I don’t say that because I want Nintendo to fail – I say that because sales numbers already back it up.

          It’s easy to say, ‘But Sega did the same thing, and looked how that turned out!’ But that’s an apples to oranges comparison. Truth is getting out of the hardware business DID save Sega. They are still around and making games today, instead of bankrupt and sold off. Nevertheless, by the time Sega made this choice their software expertize had already become sub-par. Sega’s IP’s can’t hold a candle to Nintendo’s. Nintendo is the best game design studio/publisher on the planet. They should be making their products available to as many people as possible, instead of using their own hardware as the gate-keeper.

          As you said Sony and MS should be begging Nintendo to release games on their platforms, and you can bet that if Nintendo got out of the hardware business, they would! Yes they would have to pay fees like any third party publisher, but can you honestly say they wouldn’t make money under that arrangement? Of course they would – in fact a lot more than they are now, which would allow them to keep doing what they do best: make great games.

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    2. I don’t know. You make a lot of good arguments, but there’s no telling if leaving the hardware business will have any repercussions. Also, while Sony and MS’s business does get a lot of sales, it has proven to be quite an unhealthy ecosystem for third parties, something that I feel will continue to show itself as this gen progresses. Heck, it’s not even that healthy for them. Sony’s back to junk status, and if XB1 doesn’t erase all of Xbox’s losses, than investors may very well force them to drop it. I don’t believe Nintendo should depend on others that way. Yes leaving the hardware business did save Sega, but they were at a critical point of desperation. Nintendo may not be getting as much sales as they hoped but the reality is that they have made a profit so it’s not like they’re bleeding money. It’s also evident that Nintendo has new plans.

       In the end, it’s obvious Nintendo doesn’t plan on dropping hardware anytime soon so rather than argue about whether they should or not, we should see what changes they have planned.

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    3. Ehm what? No. Look, nintendo-games are programmed around its hardware. Meaning- mario 3D World would not work without a wiiU (or Wii)-like hardware. Its just that simple! No, it would not run on a playstation 4. Why not? Cause the games makes a) no use of x86-architecture (and runs much slower on it, too, of course), b) makes use of the special-shaders which nintendo made in its wiiU console and c) mario 3d World would not even be playable without a touchscreen! And no – a touchpanel is not the same- most things cannot even be theoretically possible.

       So forget about that BS, you are thinking. Nintendo-games are ALLWAYS made for the hardware, not vice versa. Its just the other way round- killzone is not really optimized for the playstation 4 and thus can easily run on a wiiU. But who would want that? Nearly no one. But Mario 3D World cant run on a playstation. Get your facts right!

       That is like saying “Iron Fall 3D” can run on playsation vita. Its the same there, too. No it would`t even start. Why? Cause the engine requires the 6 MB eDRAM (and theres no way around that) the 3DS has, it requires special shaders, which are in WiiUs graphic-processor AND in 3DS too! So what? I would say you are dreaming. Well, you have to educate yourself why games of nintendo-platforms cannot be easily ported today. THATS why Nintendo ist using things like eDRAM, or 3 power PC cores (that are much better and more complicated then PS3/Xbox 360 CPU) and so on. As i said: Nintendo software is designed around nintendo-hardware.

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       1. Oh, i have to add something:

          i quote you now: “Truth is getting out of the hardware business DID save Sega. ”

          Are you KIDDING me? Seriously- whatever it is, you are taking- get rid of it! What is your problem? Sega doesn`t exist any more in that kind of SEGA we as consumers knew long time ago! Get it: Sega EAST is DEAD! They were going bankrupt (last year). So there is only Sega America and Sega Australia left now, that is why nintendo can´t bring any more f-zero-game, cause the sega is gone which did that many years ago. And look at Sonic, it is not good today, far away from its once-ago-mascot! sonic is a mediocre 70-80% title today. NOT a 90% or more title with absolute fun which you don`t have to miss.

          So what are YOU tryring to say here huH? Get your facts right, i say it once more.

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       2. BTW if you don´t get what i am talking about:

          MS/Sony-Games today concentrate on heavy use of SIMD/multi-processing (90-95%), with garbage cache-system and big latency, thus the stuttering, tearing etc. with PS3/Xbox 360. Nintendos system is the exact opposite of that! (We never saw things like stuttering, or tearing on wii, cause it had special filters which caugt that.)

          Meaning: Nintendos games makes nearly NO use (around 5%) of SIMD/Multi-processing, but makes HEAVY use of so called integer-calculations. And now comes the point: Nintendo hardware thus concentrates on this integer-calculations, meaning it is much more powerful in this special calculations then every other hardware on planet, but it is weaker on simd-calculations, meaning their cpu/GPU is MUCH ahead in integer of the concurrent consoles of ps4/Xbox One, which have nearly no performance in such everyday-performance things (in which WiiU is excellent, cause it has a perfect cache-system => 32 MB eDRAM which is big cause 4:1 compression makes 128 MB of graphical data fit in there, or 120 MB of grahical data and say 8 MB of cpu-data which is needed exactly at that moment) with around ~5ns of latency vs. 200-500 (PS4/Xbox One).

          And thus- no mario game could ever run on a playstation 2/3/4. Just that simple it is. And i have to tell you- it all started with N64. N64 didn`t have a power PC 😉 And after that, the power PC came and changed the whole point of Nintendos gaming. N64 = buggy and cheap. Gamecube = high-end system, which was never used to its fullest extent.

          And then came the wii which more and more concentrated its games on integer-calculations.

          And now comes the big point: If you want all those wii/WiiU-games running on a playstation, you would have to make all games just from the start, meaning from code line numer 0! Meaning- you have to do all games again, which means massive amount of work. So much, that no one ever would do that. And yes, thats the simple truth. If you are a programmer, you would understand that.

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14. I hope more people would use their brain and actually enjoy games without giving a flying fuck about anything else.

    I know nintendo’s marketing derped VERY hard with the Wii U but i also know that i’ve managed to dig through crappy reviews and biased articles and own a 3ds xl and wii u after all. And i’m enjoying their games WAY too much. I sold my ps4 and plan on buying it again in a year or something when there’ll be games to play.

    People will eventually realise what they are missing… I can’t wait for donkey kong…

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15. This article has the vibe of a overreacting Nintendo fanboy’s rant. I can understand you not liking all the bashing they get, but you could at least not act as if EVERYONE is out to get them. EA, Square Enix, Sony, Capcom, and MS all get bashed just as much, if not more in some instances. Nintendo just happens to be in the spotlight at the moment. So instead of making an article pretending that they’re doing everything right, making all the best games blah blah blah, you could actually contribute something useful and suggest ways they could correct the mistakes they’ve made with the Wii U thus far.

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    1. I think someone needs some Preparation H.

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       1. So anyone who doesn’t partake in this Nintendo circlejerk has hemorrhoids?

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    2. oh boy, butthurt, eh?

       Look, boy – get your facts right “making all the best games ” this is the fact! Sony doesn`t even come close with their nearly 99% shootergames or should i say games in which you no longer really have to play? Sonys games today consists of 95% film-elements, many many bad shooters (gameplay-wise) and a lot of other crapgames. And by the way. Nintendo made the best games of the year 2013 – a link between worlds (which is a handheld title if you don´t get that – and yes this game is better then most console-experiments on playstation 3/4/Xbox One etc). And of course Mario 3D World. Look at Knack- what is this? Is this a game? Oh my god, even my biggest enemy i wouldn`t give him this game…

       “Nintendo just happens to be in the spotlight”

       What? Happens to be? Oh boy, keep dreaming your dream! Or should i say: Keep believing this PR-bullshit? What do you call someone, who says the console Xy is shit? What do you call that? I would say- i should clear your brain and then you can make a right argumentation.

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       1. If I’m butthurt, I really don’t want to know what you are. Why do you find it necessary to defend Nintendo so aggressively, Mr. Fanboy?

          I didn’t say anything about Sony making better games. Also, a subjective statement can’t be a fact, because it’s an opinion. Just because you have a boner for Nintendo doesn’t mean they factually make the best games. I have no interest in playing Zelda or Mario, just like I have no interest in playing Knack and most shooters. I don’t know why those came up since I didn’t say anything about them, but then again you ARE a fanboy, so you like to see things that aren’t there.

          Yes, they’re in the spotlight at the moment. Just like Sony was when the PS3 came out, just like MS was when they announced the X1’s DRM stuff, and just like EA is right now with BF4’s server problems. Shit happens, get over it. You precious Nintendo is getting treated just like everyone else, so quit acting like a child and go play the games you claim to love so much.

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16. As you said Sony and MS should be begging Nintendo to release games on their platforms, and you can bet that if Nintendo got out of the hardware business, they would! Yes they would have to pay fees like any third party publisher, but can you honestly say they wouldn’t make money under that arrangement? Of course they would – in fact a lot more than they are now, which would allow them to keep doing what they do best: make great games

    Oh god lord.

    https://pietriots.com/2011/10/06/be-careful-what-you-wish-for/

    Do us a favor and read this before you drop paragraphs of text saying “Boo Nintendo should be third party instead because I have entitled opinions hurp durp!”

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    1. I phrased that wrong anyway. I didn’t mean to say that Sony and MS should be courting Nintendo, we all know that they are and that they’re pulling strings in the background to drive them out of the market. (Squaresoft anyone?)

       What I meant is that Sony and MS should be trying to get their games on Nintendo platforms, not the other way around. Why people continue to encourage Sony and MS to make hardware when all they do is lose a fortune on it is beyond me. Apparently the mainstream gaming press (HAH!) wants all three hardware manufacturers to go under: Sony and MS through their inability to make price conscious hardware and Nintendo because… I don’t know actually. I’m not sure why people want Nintendo out so badly. Because they actually know how to make money? Or is it because they won’t listen to self-important gamers and are more than willing to tell them to go take a flying leap?

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       1. Sony and MS need to develop for Nintendo? Why should they when no one else is? It’s laughable that you honestly believe that they should drop out of the home console race. Both the PS4 and the X1 are selling phenomenally, where as the Wii U is nothing short of a flop. Nintendo SHOULD drop out of the home console race, regardless of how much money Sony and MS have lost. The Wii U isn’t doing well enough to justify Nintendo continuing this endeavor. However, Nintendo absolutely should not go third party. They make fantastic handhelds, so they should focus on those rather than wasting money and resources on another console. They practically have a monopoly over the handheld scene with how the Vita is selling (and this is coming from a Vita owner who actually likes it). Nintendo has no trouble making good handhelds with good games, both from themselves and from third parties.

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       2. Why in the world would Sony or MS want to make games for a Nintendo system that isn’t selling in sufficient number for them to make money? That’s the whole problem. You can complain all you want about why the Wii U isn’t selling well – you can blame gamers as being stupid, you can blame mobile, etc. Burying your head in the sand won’t change the reality of things.

          I myself will be buying a Wii U because I’m a fan of their software (not, obviously, of their hardware), but I’m an old Nintendo fan. This is about the future. Many consumers when reviewing their options seem to be willing to leave Nintendo behind, and that’s a serious problem. If Nintendo doesn’t adapt, they will eventually die. I don’t want that which is why I make my argument in the first place.

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       3. “Both the PS4 and the X1 are selling phenomenally, where as the Wii U is nothing short of a flop. Nintendo SHOULD drop out of the home console race, regardless of how much money Sony and MS have lost. The Wii U isn’t doing well enough to justify Nintendo continuing this endeavor.”

          Hardware sales are the only measure of success? So, if the Wii U was sold at $10.00 a console and thus Nintendo sold 200,000,000 million of them, then it would be the greatest system ever regardless of making no money or what games appear on it? This blind mentality of only looking at hardware sales as the be all and end all of a console’s true value is so bloody stupid. Catching Fire and Iron Man made the most money at the box office this year thereby selling the most tickets. Well, guess they were the best films of the year and everything else released was a flop because it didn’t have such phenomenal numbers. All other movie companies should make movies based around those concepts because their own ideas just aren’t as successful. The PSVita isn’t selling as well as the 3DS. The PSP was also outsold by the DS. Where are the calls for Sony to leave the handheld market? What is the magic sales number that makes something a flop or a success? It’s a rubber argument that anyone can bend to whatever different criteria they want to use.

          Nintendo made just under a $100,000,000 profit last year. How many of the other game companies and hardware manufactures made that or topped it last year? I’m not talking about Microsoft’s gains as a whole. I mean, their gaming divisions specifically. On that matter, how many of the people posting all over the internet about how Nintendo needs to fix their business run a company worth billions and can make a yearly profit of 100 million? Yet, somehow, they think they are experts on how to save the company. News flash: It actually doesn’t need saving. Nintendo is still doing quite well.

          While I don’t know where IGN got the numbers and I don’t care to check out their source material, they have an article up taking about Nintendo systems and their lifetime sales. Interestingly, the Wii U has a higher software attach rate than the 3DS does despite being on the market less and selling fewer hardware units. Clearly, the software is appealing. If they can boost hardware sales, then software sales could be very strong for the system and there are some high profile pieces of software on their way which should make the system more appealing for people to buy it.

          As for the notion that Nintendo going 3rd party would be platform agnostic, people forget the handheld situation. They should give up consoles but keep doing handheld systems. Well, what happens with Sony? Nintendo’s going to release games for Sony’s consoles and pay them licencing fees while fighting them on the handheld front to sell more systems and have exclusive games for that system compared to the Vita? Would Sony want Nintendo handheld games and systems interacting with their console competing against their handheld games and systems also designed to interact with their own console? Or does Sony stop making the Vita and the handheld market is conceded to Nintendo by Sony and Microsoft? Is Sony going to now pay Nintendo licencing fees to release their games on a Nintendo handheld system while Nintendo pays fees to release games on a Sony console? Or are they going to reach an agreement to wave each others fees to release games on each other systems? If so, where does that leave Microsoft? Are they going to charge fees? Are they going to be happy with Nintendo having the handheld space to itself even if Nintendo releases all its console games on both systems? Are they going to work with Nintendo on allowing their handheld system interactive capabilites with their console also or does Nintendo have to figure it out on their own and adapt their handheld to work with the console?

          There’s a reason Nintendo is making their console and handheld divisions work closer together. They clearly have some future plans there. Nintendo is not going to concede the handheld market since they are the champion of that market so you’ve got a situation between them and Sony. How do you get 3rd party agnosticism from the current situation? It would seem that the most likely solution is one or the other. Either Sony and Nintendo make concessions to each other to solve their market differences which would probably result in exclusivity agreements or Nintendo supports Microsoft’s console while Microsoft leaves the handheld space to them.

          But in the end, I think the best thing that can sum up the whole console “wars” and this never ending inane discussion of hardware/software sales pissing match of which I’ve now hypocritacally involved myself in along with the moaning and calls for action for what Nintendo should be doing is a comic strip.

          

          Charlie Brown recognizes the faults of his father. He knows that other dads may be able to do things better and greater in other areas than his own. Yet, he doesn’t moan and lament at his dad or demand that he be more like the other dads. Knowing that his father loves him is the most important thing and that’s what he talks about.

          While you can take the kneejerk reaction that I’m comparing a videogame company and a consumer with the loving bond of a father and son, then you are missing the point of what I’m saying and what I feel this article is saying. Yes, other consoles may do things better. They may sell more and they may have third party games that Nintendo doesn’t get. At the end of the day, so what? That’s just like kids trying to brag about how their dad is better than your dad. Either buy that console and enjoy it or buy the Nintendo console and enjoy it or buy both and enjoy them. All that really should matter about a console are the games for it. I don’t know of anyone who buys a videogame console with no intention of ever buying a game or playing a game on it. That’s their main purpose no matter how many do-dads or extra functionality is thrown on to it. Why has it become so hard to talk about games and appreciate those experiences? Why must other unimportant factors that have no bearing on a game always be dragged into the discussion of said game? So, there are games you would like to play that aren’t on the console you bought? Deal with it. This has been happening since the NES. Thinking that completely changing the way Nintendo does business is going to change that is the most misguided attempt to fix a problem which will still not fix that problem.

          Anyways, I’ve just about typed the length of the article so I will end the rant here.

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    2. I don’t agree with the ridiculous assumptions in this article. Nintendo would be an idiot to only support one hardware platform if they did indeed become third party – the only way being a third party for them works is to become platform agnostic. That’s how they can, as quixoticsomnia said, “ignore all of the politics of the industry and just make games.”

       That way the whole platform wars are irrelevant from Nintendo’s point of view. No matter who wins, no matter who makes money, Nintendo makes money and makes games. And if the industry implodes like it did in the early 80’s, Nintendo can just go back to making hardware again like it did with the NES to resurrect the industry.

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       1. How’s that 3rd party agnosticism working out for the rest of the industry? Developers closing left and right. Games selling millions of copies and yet still managing to fail to turn a profit. Sony and MS each selling 80+ million systems without making a penny back on their investment. Sorry, but that doesn’t sound all that attractive to me.

          The console wars are irrelevant and always have been. They’re an artifact created for the sole purpose of manipulating people. Nintendo is kiddy and out of touch while Sony and MS are hip, cool, mature and have their pulse on what gamers of today really want. Strange how the one that actually makes money is bad while the ones who can’t turn a profit and have pushed the industry closer and closer to the edge of collapse are considered good.

          As for Sony and MS not being able to make money off of the Wii U, they haven’t managed to make money off of their own systems for almost a decade (MS even longer). Don’t you think it’s about time they admit defeat and start making games for Nintendo? Even with the Wii U selling as poorly as it is Nintendo will eventually turn a profit from it. Can the same be said for the PS4 or the XBone?

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17. Excellent article with very excellent points. I own a PS3 and a PS4, but I’m also thrilled to own a Wii-U and a 3DS. Like you, I feel that Nintendo pretty much have the best games around. Their first party efforts are near flawless, although let’s be honest – some of their titles do have a tendency to hold our hands nowadays. Anyway, the games yet to come are going to provide tons of entertainment. I can’t wait for Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze either… and the inevitable Zelda-U is going to be pure bliss.

    All that said, it isn’t Nintendo’s GAMES that are the problem. Even Nintendo’s detractors admittedly WANT the games they have to offer… they just want them on their preferred platform of choice. And that’s what Nintendo is lacking… choice.

    To be perfectly honest, Nintendo got super lucky with the Wii. They took a stab in the dark and they ended up on top. It’s basically this simple – Gamecube was more or less a typical console, but it didn’t sell well. So, next they decided to offer old hardware but at a reasonable price, and with gimmicky motion controls to boot. Next came the advertising… and it showed people playing in their living rooms while OFF of the couch. Boom. SOLD.

    So, Nintendo decided to replicate this formula – Hardware that wouldn’t be as expensive as the other next-gen consoles, and with another gimmick that capitalized on a fad as well – Introducing, the Gamepad, otherwise known as ‘the tablet controller’.

    Before anyone decides to get all huffy and puffy by me calling it ‘a tablet controller’, keep in mind that I LOVE that controller and think it makes gaming so much more intuitive. Wind Waker HD for example? Inventory management IS A DREAM! People overlook just how much easier having the second screen is… which is a shame.

    Anyway, Nintendo tried to replicate their experience with the Wii and even slapped the ‘Wii’ name on the new console… and it didn’t work. People weren’t interested in the tablet controller – at least, not as much as they were with the motion controls of the Wii – and they were lacking a lot of third party support. That’s a huge problem.

    The consumers have spoken with their wallets apparently. Yes, partially because Nintendo haven’t advertised their Wii-U worth a damn… but also because they don’t want to drop $300 bones on a console that doesn’t let them enjoy the most popular third party franchises (and with a large multiplayer base at that). That’s not exactly unreasonable, I suppose.

    So then we have to ask why Nintendo doesn’t have third party support. It’s because devs would have to optimize their titles a bit more since the Wii-U’s hardware is nestled smack dab in the middle of both game generations. Then, there’s the Gamepad, which a lot of devs don’t want to re-tweak a game for.

    Nintendo will have to provide great games for the fans in the coming years, but as of RIGHT NOW, they should go ahead and start calling on the devs of every major third party and ask THEM what THEY want the next Nintendo console to have. If Nintendo can release a product that the devs are willing to code for, then Nintendo can become a viable option again for consumers.

    A lot of people have complained, saying, “What, you want to make Nintendo’s next system just like a Sony or Microsoft machine, then?” Well, yes, sort of. But there’s still something that would differentiate Nintendo from the rest: THEIR FIRST PARTY GAMES. Imagine the next Nintendo console playing all the popular cross-platform games without any loss in graphical equity and with PROPER multiplayer at the read… PLUS all of Nintendo’s first party efforts added on top of that… At that point the ‘console wars’ become about first party exclusives, and Nintendo has everyone licked in that respect.

    I appreciate the ‘I own a Wii-U and 3DS and don’t give a shit if anyone else does’, because your heart is in the right place… but we DO need to worry about these things. It wont’ affect us in the short term, but Nintendo is already beginning to maneuver in ‘trial and error’ mode. They’ll do what they can to drum up interest in this generation, but they’re more or less stuck with waiting until it’s time to release their next console. When the next console is released, they’ll hope THAT sells. If that fails as well, then we may see some serious changes from Nintendo that us fans might not like.

    Let’s hope Nintendo knows what they’re doing and actually listen to a lot of the common complaints that are levied against them on a daily basis by their fans. I love Nintendo, and want them to remain a powerful force in the gaming industry for as long as its around.

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    1. If you want third party games on WiiU, talk with the publishers, not Nintendo. They are the ones withholding them. While you are at it, get those western publishers to make 3DS games, k?

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       1. Pretty sure it’s Nintendo’s job to secure those games sooooooooooooooooo

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       2. Just because third party games aren’t there doesn’t mean the only story to tell is that publishers are withholding their titles. Video gaming is a business, and when you’re talking about business, there’s angles, and plenty of them.

          Okay, so publishers are withholding titles or refusing to get games made for the Wii-U. The next logical question is, ‘why’? When your response – such as in this article – is ‘I don’t care’, then you’re setting yourself up for failure. If you don’t think so, then you can just use Nintendo’s current situation as an example. They refused to progress with industry trends, and now they’re suffering because of it.

          For starters, a lot of what devs are working on nowadays doesn’t include just the single player experience, but a multiplayer one as well. Nintendo lacks this aspect, and they still haven’t invested in a great multiplayer platform. The Mii-verse is neat, but there’s honestly no reason why we shouldn’t be able to log on to our Nintendo accounts and join up with other people to play Super Mario 3D World or Super Mario Bros U. Yes, it’s more fun to play in the living room with friends, but many of our family and friends live different lives and have different schedules than we do, so it’s not always easy to have a Nintendo party. This lack of online multiplayer support also means that when given a choice, people aren’t going to pick up games like Call of Duty on a Nintendo console… they’ll get it for Playstation or Xbox instead.

          And just as a side note, sales actually back this up – The Wii-U version of Call of Duty Black Ops II accounted for only one percent of overall sales. One percent. One. At this point, what are devs and publishers supposed to do? Provide more content as charity?

          So why didn’t the title sell on the Wii-U? Is that the fault of the devs and publishers, or is it Nintendo’s fault? I’m sorry, but the answer is clearly the latter. Nintendo didn’t advertise the Wii-U… like, at all. Nintendo’s latest console is lacking features which are pretty much considered a given in any other platform, and that turns people off as well. The CPU/GPU architecture that Nintendo opted to go with is pretty different from the competition, and not quite as powerful, so the Wii-U version would require even more time and money to work on, and retooling key game features for the sake of the Gamepad costs even more time and money.

          “I didn’t buy the Wii-U to play Call of Duty or the like.” Well, neither did I, nor did many of other fans… but as Nintendo have just discovered and revealed in their meeting this morning, targeting a single audience just isn’t a viable way to do business.

          The ‘average’ gamer doesn’t run out and buy the new consoles on day 1. Many don’t even buy 2 out of 3 consoles in a given generation. Many will pick one, and stick with it… many even wait until half of the generation is over, if not more, since that’s when they can buy a console for less and a bunch of games for drastically reduced prices. As sad as this reality is, a lot of gamers DO want their Call of Duty and whatnot, so if they want these popular third party games and see they’re not going to be on Nintendo, or that they’ll be severely gimped on a Nintendo system… then Nintendo’s platform is automatically dropped from their mind.

          The only thing that stopped third party support on Nintendo was Nintendo. I’m a Nintendo fan and love their stuff… but reality is reality and it can’t be ignored.

          Based on this article – which was an enjoyable read, I’ll add again – you seem to lack the ‘big picture’ aspect of things. There’s a nice ideology at play here – Nintendo rules and devours the competition with the quality of its games!!!!! (which I don’t disagree with – but you need more than first party. If the PS4 or Xbox One could no longer gain support from the various third parties that provide games for them, they wouldn’t be able to survive either. It’s just how the industry works today, and Nintendo have been too stubborn to realize it… Until now.

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18. I’m glad I read this. It’s nice to finally read something that’s positive about Nintendo for a change and celebrates that, while they’re not perfect, they make incredible videogames. I completely agree that I don’t want them to hop on the mobile train and go where the rest of the industry is slowly heading.

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19. Nintendo should stop making those shitty commercials that show how much fun it is to play the game, instead show us THE GAME. It’s very essence, the storyline, the in-game characters are completely forgotten about, instead you see a happy family smiling when playing a that game. This does not attract me into playing it…

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    1. So happiness is unattractive to you?

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       1. You’d rather hear about people liking a game instead of actually seeing it?

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20. @quixoticsomnia
    The PS3 became profitable about three years ago, so you’re full of it on that count. Why must Nintendo fanboys deflect instead of just accepting the fact that Nintendo isn’t doing so well at the moment? Going through circles trying to make a bad situation look good isn’t worth it, so just get over it and play the games you claim to love so much.

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    1. This seems to be an issue that a lot of people are unable to grasp. No, the PS3 is not and never will be profitable. Sony’s games division may be turning a profit now, or at least were before the PS4 launched, but the billions that they lost on the PS3 previously will never be made up.

       Here’s a simple example:

       If you put $1000 on a credit card one month because you had some unexpected expense but manage to have $200 extra the next, are you profitable? No, you’re not. You still need to pay back that $1000. Even if you put that $200 toward your credit card debt you still have $800 to go in order to simply break even.

       That’s why when people complain about Nintendo all I can do is roll my eyes. They’re not billions of dollars in the hole like Sony and MS are. And pretending that because Sony or MS happened to post a profit one year somehow wipes out all of the debt that they accrued previously is intellectually dishonest.

       That is the very definition of “trying to make a bad situation look good”.

       And I never said Nintendo wasn’t having issues. I’m not happy with their performance at all. But I know that in the end they’ll make the Wii U profitable. That’s what they do. Yes, they will come out at the end of the generation in the black, unlike Sony or MS. What I have a problem with is people talking about Nintendo’s current situation, and everything they think they “should” do, while completely ignoring that Sony and MS are in far, far worse shape than Nintendo every will be.

       That’s not deflecting or being a fanboy. That’s called honestly looking at the situation as it really exists.

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       1. So making excuses for Nintendo by pointing fingers at Sony and MS ISN’T deflecting and being a fanboy? You don’t seem to get that Nintendo doing badly has nothing to do with the other two.

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       2. I understand your logic, but that’s not how it works with these businesses. For example with Microsoft they went into it KNOWING that they would loose money initially. They considered that an investment in developing the brand and carving out a place for themselves in the business. They made money in other areas to cover those losses already, so to use there example they already paid back the credit card using income from another job. They aren’t carrying around those losses anymore, that’s already history. As a company what they care about now is if the Xbox unit is bringing in the same amount of money it’s expending or more TODAY.

          Also at least I the case of MS they have such an enormous war chest that they could loose millions every year and never feel it. They are I this for the long play. As for investors they are always some whiny penny punchers without any vision, so they aren’t important.

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       3. @QuadraQ says:

          “I understand your logic, but that’s not how it works with these businesses. For example with Microsoft they went into it KNOWING that they would loose money initially. They considered that an investment in developing the brand and carving out a place for themselves in the business. They made money in other areas to cover those losses already, so to use there example they already paid back the credit card using income from another job. They aren’t carrying around those losses anymore, that’s already history. As a company what they care about now is if the Xbox unit is bringing in the same amount of money it’s expending or more TODAY.

          Also at least I the case of MS they have such an enormous war chest that they could loose millions every year and never feel it. They are I this for the long play. As for investors they are always some whiny penny punchers without any vision, so they aren’t important.”

          Actually, that is how businesses work or else companies like Sony and MS would never drop unprofitable sectors unless they were cutting into overall profits to a dangerous level. But both do and both have. I know all about Microsoft and their idea about how they were going to conquer gaming. Problem is, they were supposed to already be at the conquered part and raking in the cash by now.

          First gen: lose a fortune to get their foot in the door. Second gen: blow everyone else away and own the market. Cash galore! XBox is on its 3rd generation without breaking even let alone actually turning a profit. Sure, MS can continue to dump billions into it year after year for essentially forever and never feel it but share holders will NOT stand for that. You ever hear the saying “throwing good money after bad”? That is what XBox has been for over a decade.

          The first XBox was released on November 15, 2001 and since then all MS has achieved is a 3rd place showing, down from 2nd the generation before, and more than 6 billion dollars of waste. I’m sorry but that’s absurd for any company, even MS.

          As for it being whiny penny pinching investors calling for the end of XBox, one of the people being groomed to take over as CEO for the company wants to spin it off as its own company. Meaning it won’t have the deep pockets of MS to dig into anymore. That’s going to pretty much ensure near instant death.

          This is the man they’re thinking about putting in charge of the ENTIRE company and even HE thinks XBox needs to go. And he’s not making that decision based off of how the XBone is doing right now. He’s making it based off of the entire history and performance of all the XBox systems. He counts all those years of losses as well as the possible future trajectory of the brand. You may not, but he does.

          For MS the XBox has been a failed experiment. Video games are simply too volatile to corner and control the way they’ve been able to do with other products like operating systems. It’s the same reason why they cancelled the Zune and all of their other failed consumer electronics products. It won’t be long before they cancel this one too. If a 4th XBox is released I will be very, very surprised. Unless, of course, something magical happens like the XBone taking off like the Wii did.

          Yeah… that’s going to happen.

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21. This is in reply to quixoticsomnia (there wasn’t a reply button for some reason).
    Actually there are plenty of third party studios that are making tons of money. In fact most of the money being made in the games industry (which is bigger than the movie industry) is going to the ones making the games.

    And again, comparing Nintendo with other third party developers is an apples and oranges comparison. The best developers make a ton of money. A lot of the contraction right now has to do with studios making bad games, and not keeping costs under control. Not unlike any business really – bad products, expensively made will sink any business. This is exactly where Nintendo excels actually. They make incredible games without requiring the budgets of most AAA titles.

    While I agree that until just recently, MS hasn’t made a profit on it’s XBOX division, the same can’t be said for Sony. If you take all of the Playstation generations, Sony made lots of money. Nevertheless it doesn’t matter if Sony, or MS, or anyone else makes money on their game console/set-top box. If enough of them are sold, it’s an opportunity for Nintendo to make lots of money and get it’s products in front of everyone. Trying to sell consoles is getting a lot harder, and this may indeed be the last generation of hardware as we’ve known it. But games aren’t going anywhere. There will always be some sort of platform for games, and Nintendo can profit from it, plain and simple.

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    1. Comparing Nintendo right now to 3rd party developers is apples to oranges but if they were to drop their hardware, it would be apples to apples. They would be beholden to the same issues that all other 3rd party developers deal with. Add in the fact that Sony and MS have been brainwashing their markets into believing that anything not dark, gritty and full of guns isn’t worth playing and you can quickly see that they’d actually be worse off than the average 3rd party.

       The issue is the Sony/MS market isn’t stable. Both of them are so far in the red that it’s going to take a lot of years just to break even. Sony lost everything they made on the PS1 and PS2 on the PS3 (and then some) and MS never recouped the billions they lost on the XBox before losing billions more on the 360. Now both are geared up to lose billions again. Investors are calling for Sony and MS to get rid of their gaming divisions for a reason: Because they’re not making any money. At any time the plug can be pulled on either or even both of them. After all, what’s the point of business if not to make money?

       So Nintendo drops out of hardware and goes 3rd party as you suggest. To begin with there’s no guarantee that their games would sell on a Sony or MS system. Remember, it’s not just been the constant drum beat of how they should go 3rd party but also how they need to grow up and start putting out “mature” games. So we don’t even know if their games will sell and with the instability of Sony and MS they could both end up pulling out of the market in the not too distant future. Nintendo decides to put out a new system afterward, which they might not even be able to afford to do if they can’t turn a good profit on their now 3rd party software, and then… Who’s going to buy it? With the Wii U not selling too hot as it is, who’s to say that if they were to put out a new system anyone would even buy it, let alone care?

       So they have given up their one advantage for what? Historically, companies that drop out of the hardware market fair far worse as 3rd parties. Not only Sega either. There’s NEC as well, SNK, even 3D0. It would be far more likely that they would end up fizzling out before they could become a powerful force in the 3rd party market. And not a single company has managed to leave the hardware market and then return.

       Nintendo needs their own hardware. Sony, MS, and 3rd parties do not. In fact, Sony and MS might actually be able to make money on gaming if they dropped their hardware divisions and just made software for Nintendo instead. But neither of them are in hardware in order to sell games and that’s why that even with billions of dollars in losses piled up they continue down this destructive path. They’d sooner burn the entire industry to the ground than give up on the chance to control your living room.

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       1. You have to be THE most absolutely DILUTED fanboy on the internet. Can Nintendo do no wrong to you? Sorry to say, they CAN do wrong to everyone else, including their investors. Now I’m personally not saying Nintendo should go software only, but you have to be really fucked up in the head to honestly think that it would be a good thing for the industry to have Sony and MS drop out while Nintendo continues to create lackluster hardware. For one, that would make them the only console maker, giving them absolutely NO reason to give us good hardware at a reasonable price. Any fanboy willing to accept a monopoly just so their favorite company can prosper is an ACTUAL threat to the industry. Sony and MS make great hardware with worthwhile exclusives and loads of third party support. If Nintendo were doing what they should be, they would too. However, you can’t carry a system on just a few first party games, no matter how much fanboys like to hype them up, It would be better for Nintendo to just leave consoles alone and continue dominating the handheld market like they always have. It would be better for them financially, and fanboys like you would stop pulling your hair out and making such completely ridiculous statements.

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       2. You seem to have a fundamental belief that Sony and MS are pushing for Mature and gritty games. I believe that reasoning is flawed. Sony and MS don’t care what you make. As long as you pay the same fees all third parties do you can do whatever the hell you want, and they don’t care. Of course it’s up to you to market the game and make it successful.

          If there is any such pressure it comes from game publishers who are usually worried about the bottom line and fear that if a game isn’t Mature it won’t sell. It is true that the median age of gamers has risen as gamers continue to grow up, so that’s part of the reason these sorts of games sell at all. Regardless Nintendo doesn’t have to worry about such nonsense, because they are both a developer and a publisher and that wouldn’t change as a third party. (A good example of this is Valve who both developed and published Portal 2 for PS3 and Xbox 360.)

          You also seem to believe that Sony and Microsoft will get out of the market because they don’t make money or enough money. Again it doesn’t matter. Someone will always provide us a means to play games on our TVs at home, and on our mobile devices (increasingly our phones). And they will always need third party software because no one can do it alone (which ironically seems to be what Nintendo is up against with the Wii U). As long as Nintendo makes great games they will be able to profit from those spaces.

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       3. @QuadraQ:

          “Of course it’s up to you to market the game and make it successful.”

          You’re naivety is either refreshing or terrifying. I’m not sure which.

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22. This is a very convincing article for those who need to be convinced (poor souls). I wrote one like it a few days ago (http://theblunderbusters.com/2014/01/23/are-we-killing-nintendo/) and the subject just keeps getting truer and truer: Nintendo in the business of making games in a way no other company is, and all we can think about is how they need to give up. I say, you say, we all say, “Fuck that.”

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    1. *Nintendo is in the business of…

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23. Rant of the Year. 10/10

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24. Wii U in Amazon shopping cart now. This article has made me decide to finally buy one. Enough with the comparison. I want to support what defined my entire childhood.

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25. Nintendo’s innovations about the time of Wii and DS were pretty bang on. But presently, if you look at a core gamer segment – their hardware is not as beefy to accomodate a good amount of assets as their competitors are. Also, their product is targeted at someone between a hardcore gamer and a mobile game player. Also, Nintendo doesn’t try to build new franchises and/or encourage their partners to come up with new content the way Sony / Microsoft does. If they addressed these two issues, they’d definitely rejuvenate their user base and consoles.

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    1. Sony / Microsoft also encourages the use of online passes, DRM and doesn’t give two shits if your publisher closes you down.

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       1. Nintendo Fanboy Motto: Point as many fingers as you can.

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26. I agree with everything, but you miss the part about the user experience and the Wii U as a product.

    Yes, they have great games. Yes, their marketing is spotty. But just looking at the console name any marketeer realizes that this product is a hard sell. It’s confusing. Is it an expansion of the Wii? Is it a portable tablet? (I thought it was during E3) Does it need a box? Does it connect to the Wii? I can control it with the old controllers? I can play on two screens?

    The answer to all these questions — which pop up in people’s heads when buying something at GameStop is “nah, I’ll get this tablet with Angry Birds”.

    This is amplified when those of us — loyal Nintendo fans — have a really crappy experience with the actual box. Remember the first-day update? If you’re in Europe, try buying anything on the store. I dare you. Try to add friends. Try to play online.

    The experience is just poorly designed. This is why I don’t even want to suggest the Wii U to anyone, because I just don’t use it anymore, except for the obligatory first-party hit game.

    They got the content. It’s their strongest asset. They messed up the product and communication around it (marketing).

    I believe the only way they can succeed now is to just rebrand the Wii U — with a hardware/visual design upgrade — and build proper marketing around it. And please redesign all of the software, especially online functionality.

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27. I think this is by far our most commented article on this site, which is an accomplishment since we have also brought out NeoGAFfer armchair analysts who think they know how Nintendo should run their business and “get with the times” or redesign the WiiU. Or my favorite commenting dismissing this as Nintendo fanboy trash! Or how the WiiU’s power screwed itself over getting multiplatform ‘hits’.

    To these people, I know your jimmies are being rustled right now because this is a positive article in the midst of Nintendoom and gloom. How about I bring in some… realities: how about that Sony killing off many of its own studios and laying off ten thousand employees? How about that Microsoft trying the bride YouTube users to advertise the Xbox One? How about all those development closures or the fact any success the PS4 has right now is negated due to the fact Sony’s debt is so high no amount of good profit can save it?

    OH wait, these things aren’t related to Nintendo being bad people. My bad. Whelp, better sell my WiiU and get myself a PS4 which has no games and an actual DRM system in place because Sony doesn’t want you to sell or buy used games.

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    1. It’s embarrassing how people keep talking about what Nintendo should do (emulate Sony and/or MS or go mobile) while completely ignoring the problems with doing that.

       To emulate Sony or MS means to blow billions of dollars a year and never turn a profit. That’s not sustainable. Not even by Sony or MS standards, which is why their investors are trying to kill their gaming divisions. They’ve finally gotten sick of all the losses with nothing to show for it. How can you sell 80+ millions systems and STILL come out in the red? How can TWO SEPARATE COMPANIES (2/3 of the hardware platform holders) do that in the SAME generation?

       And as for going mobile, there’s absolutely 0 evidence that the market would be able to support a company like Nintendo without them having to fall back on ripoff tactics in order to actually make money. You know, like everyone else on mobile. Even then it’s more of a stop gap as when mobile gamers move on to the next big thing, the company that made the last big thing ends up in the trash can and is pretty much never heard of again.

       Yet I never hear anyone posit a solution that isn’t one of those two. Nintendo is a different company from Sony and MS. They can’t be run like they are. If Nintendo had put out either of Sony or MS’ previous consoles, they’d be bankrupt by now. And yet people keep chiming in about how they need to be more like Sony and MS. SquareEnix has stated that the mobile market isn’t selling anywhere near what they were expecting it to and they release more remakes and ports of older games on mobile than anyone. Somehow that’s supposed to work out better for Nintendo if they’d just port their older games. Right…

       I get that people don’t want to buy their hardware. There are honest reasons for that. But most seem to be more interested in destroying Nintendo in hopes of getting their games on the hardware that they approve of rather than simply accepting the idea that if you’re not willing to buy their hardware then you’re not going to get to play them.

       I stopped buying PlayStation after the original PS1. I used to be a HUGE fan of SquareSoft. In fact, I purchased a PS1 specifically for Final Fantasy. I bought and played VII, VIII, and IX but when it came to X I decided that it wasn’t worth my money, or my ethics, to purchase a PS2. I didn’t spent days, weeks, months on the internet complaining about the fact that I couldn’t play FFX on my GC. Nope. I moved on. I simply let them go.

       Apparently modern gamers aren’t willing to let Nintendo go. It’s either their way of the highway. Either Nintendo makes games for them on their terms and on their systems of choice or they’re going to drive them into bankruptcy so that no one can enjoy them. I know the rest of the industry is stagnant, bankrupt (morally, ethically, as well as financially), and pretty much anti-consumer but why should Nintendo have to suffer for all of that?

       If you want to play Nintendo games then buy Nintendo hardware. It’s as simple as that. Otherwise… SHUT UP ABOUT IT ALREADY! Or at the very least try and come up with an idea that isn’t so transparently idiotic as “COPY OR MAKE GAMES FOR SONY AND MS!” or “GO MOBILE!”

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       1. Or, they could do the smart thing and drop their miserable home consoles while continuing to create amazing handhelds.

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28. Fully agree. I would say that Nintendo needs a presence in the smartphone/tablet market sooner rather than later.

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29. A well-read article here.

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30. I bought every Nintendo console day 1 from the SNES through the Gamecube. Eventually I got a Wii in 2010 and after playing Mario Kart, Galaxies, Skyward Sword and New Super Bros Wii, the system basically became a VC machine only, as new 1st party games stopped coming out and any 3rd party game was better on PS3/360. I did like having the VC on the Wii though, as it was nice to go back and play some of those original Nintendo games I hadn’t played in over 2 decades, but it was a novelty that wore off.

    As of now, I have no plans to get a Wii U. Sure SM3DW looks great, but so did Galaxies, and after I beat that in 3 days, I went back to playing games on other systems, and the Wii started collecting dust.

    At this point I see no reason to get a Wii U, until its end of life, and you can pick up the 6-7 Nintendo AAA games that are released during the life of the system for cheap. As great as Nintendo was, and they’ll always be a special place for Mario and Zelda in the gaming world, as I entertainment company, Nintendo no longer offers me what I want, and I’ve moved on. And though I do enjoy the occasional Mario romp, that’s no longer enough for me to buy a dedicated console for Nintendo software, which is basically what the Wii U is becoming.

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    1. This comment is so GAFfy.

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31. @Khushrenada
    Nice job not reading my entire post and writing an obscenely long rant based on the portion that you read. You can sit there making excuses for Nintendo and the Wii U all you want, that doesn’t change the fact that it is failing, where as the PS4 and X1 are succeeding. Nintendo has no reason to continue making home console, just as Sony has no reason to continue making handhelds. Just because no one has said it, doesn’t mean it isn’t true. It also doesn’t justify how horribly the Wii U is doing, so going off on that biased rant has served no purpose whatsoever.

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    1. Your definitions of failure and success are extremely skewed.

       Nintendo sold around 25 million GCs.
       Sony sold around 150 million PS2s (to a market even MORE casual than the Wii’s)
       Nintendo still made more money off the GC than Sony did off the PS2.
       Who succeeded and who failed?

       Nintendo sold around 100 million Wiis
       Sony and MS both sold around 80 million of their respective systems.
       Nintendo made billions off the Wii while Sony and MS will never recoup their losses.
       Who succeeded and who failed?

       (Hint: The answer isn’t “Sony sold more PS2s so they won” followed by “But Sony and MS got more 3rd party support so they won”. You know, moving the goal post to try and make Nintendo look bad because you can’t accept the fact that Sony and MS failed at console gaming before they even released their first systems.)

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       1. Like all Nintendo fanboys, you’re stuck in the past, clinging to their long lost glory. I’m looking at the present, and PRESENTLY, Nintendo isn’t doing well (and that’s putting it nicely). Stop denying it you worthless drone.

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          1. Nintendo is actually doing well, Sony drone. The Switch has surpassed the PS4’s lifetime sales and is on track to outsell the PS2.

             Like all Sony fanboys, you guys are arrogant schmuks who think that they’re better than everyone else.

             Sony has lost billions on the PS3. You can’t deny that.

             Have you bothered to refute him on the fact that Nintendo actually makes money on their hardware? Or has that not yet been added to the script at the Sony drone troll farm?

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    2. I read your post. In fact, I’ve read every post you’ve made because I keep hoping that you might actually finally respond to one instead of posting the same thing over and over and doing nothing to justify your posts or back-up your assertitions except to dismiss what people say and name call.

       My post provided a justification as to why Nintendo is fine to carry on in the console market which you said you could see no reason for. I’m not sure what excuses you think I made for them as once again, you prefer to speak in generalities instead of specifics no doubt in the hope that will give you leeway to claim you meant something else when people call you on your posts. As well, you keep saying that PS4 and XB1 are succeeding without elaborating and that the Wii U is doing horrible. From what I can tell, this criteria only refers to consoles sold and who has more third party games.Again, it’s hard to know for sure if that’s what you mean since you won’t go into details about what counts as success and failure. Not surprisingly, when I questioned you what you meant and how going by sales doesn’t make something a horrible flop and something a grand success, you have made no effort to try and elaborate what criteria you are using but just keep repeating your generalities.

       As well, my post wasn’t just about you which I am sure will come as a great shock since you seem to think everything people are talking about here now involves you. You did not say anything about 3rd party agnosticism. That was another poster and while I was posting about your point, it dovetailed nicely into that and I mentioned it as well.

       Still, since you seem to be advocating the idea that was floated with a hybrid type console, in that Nintendo just makes a really strong handheld console and only makes games for that from now on, let’s use that to justify why Nintendo is still best to stick with a home console. Loss of market share.

       How many people own a 3DS and a Wii U? How many own a 3DS and not a Wii U? How many own a Wii U and not a 3DS? Let’s be crazy and say the numbers are 10%, 85% and 5%. If Nintendo goes to a hybrid console, then does that mean the 5% of Wii U owners joins the 85% of 3DS owners when Nintendo only makes a handheld console from here on out? What happens to the 10% extra sales they had in making two seperate pieces of hardware? Both had potential for more growth and to increase in sales. Now that is gone because they will only buy 1 piece of hardware.

       If Nintendo had went handheld only after the Gamecube, would they have made the money they made with 1 piece of hardware like they did with 2, DS and Wii? Absolutely not. The DS wouldn’t have had an additional 100,000,000 units sold because there was no Wii. Sure, the Wii U isn’t booming in sales but this kneejerk reaction of Nintendo must end home console sales because of this is completely shortsighted. It’s like if a championship team drafted a number 1 pick also that year. When the new season came around and that pick struggled, would you be happy if the team decided to just trade him away and cut him lose because he wasn’t performing to the standard of their other skilled players? Of course not. You realize it takes time for a player to adjust and reach their prime. Trading him away will give another team a greater advantage in future when your current players start to fade. Maybe the next few years will be a bit slow as Nintendo works things out for their next console. But to just give up the home console market is an even worse decison than some of the mistakes that have been made with the Wii U.

       If you ever go into a business of some sort on your own, let me know so I can set up a business doing the same thing. Then, when your business has a slow period, you can give up doing it like you think Nintendo should and then I’ll take over a larger share to myself while you pat yourself on the back for being so “smart”.

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       1. You want me to elaborate? Okay. The Wii U has been out for over a year, and it is already about to be outsold by systems that have been out for two months. Nintendo obviously isn’t getting their big games out fast enough, and it certainly isn’t helping that aren’t accommodating developers as well as Sony and MS are. Pretending that they are fine right now helps no one, especially not Nintendo. With the 3DS selling as well as it is, they shouldn’t be LOSING money. Wasting time and money on the Wii U is flat out stupid at this point, and they would be much better off with just their handheld hardware.

          You type out these long rants thinking you look smart and informed, when you’re really pull pro-Nintendo BS out of your ass. Like it or not, they’re struggling, and I’m just speaking my mind. If you don’t like it, that’s fine, but don’t act as if I’m unjustified in my criticism.

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       2. “You type out these long rants thinking you look smart and informed, when you’re really pull pro-Nintendo BS out of your ass. Like it or not, they’re struggling, and I’m just speaking my mind. If you don’t like it, that’s fine, but don’t act as if I’m unjustified in my criticism.”

          If that is what you want to call articulate and logical, that’s your prerogative. All I’m trying to do is post what I think, give reasons why and try to explain them as best I can. I think that is a better approach than trying to attack and criticize every other person who makes a comment on the matter.

          “You want me to elaborate? Okay.”

          Thank you.

          “The Wii U has been out for over a year, and it is already about to be outsold by systems that have been out for two months.”

          True. But isn’t this a knee-jerk reaction? I guess my next question would be about how you view Xbox. The Xbox 360 had a year lead on the Wii and yet the Wii overtook it for total sales and then dominated the market. So, once Wii surpassed the X360, shouldn’t Microsoft have viewed their console as a failure and quit making home consoles? After all, the original Xbox barely sold above the Gamecube and lost handily to the PS2. And now, they had just lost the market lead to the Wii which was a system with less graphical capabilities than the 360 and PS3. Would you have been on internet boards advocating that Microsoft give up the home console market back then?

          “Nintendo obviously isn’t getting their big games out fast enough, and it certainly isn’t helping that aren’t accommodating developers as well as Sony and MS are.”

          Again, Nintendo will accommodate developers in different ways. If you want them to spend money to a developer to bring over a game like GTA5 or Tomb Raider or whatever, they are never going to do that. At least, I don’t see that happening with the way the company is run now. They will help offer suggestions to companies and fund games like Wonderful 101 and Bayonetta 2 as well as licence their franchises or characters to companies to use in games. As this very article we should be talking about and the reason for all this discussion even taking place mentions, “they have to localise Square-Enix’s games for them because Square-Enix forgot how to do anything.” Yes, the statement is a bit hyperbolic but the point still stands that Nintendo has been willing to take on costs for other developers when they don’t want to take that risk.

          And frankly, there’s a whole other huge problem and discussion when it comes to third parties that I could go into but is irrelevant to what we are talking about. One point I will bring up is that it is easy to say Nintendo is the one at fault since that is what third parties will claim for not bringing their games over or why the sales were low. But there are 2 sides to every argument and 3rd parties also have a lot of blame they need to accept. Moreover, it is interesting how a company that will release games on a Nintendo system but then jumps ship or starts making games for the other two consoles will often end up in a worse position or belly up. This has happened over and over again. That right there is an indication that Nintendo’s hardware and the way they handle third parties isn’t all wrong.

          “Pretending that they are fine right now helps no one, especially not Nintendo. With the 3DS selling as well as it is, they shouldn’t be LOSING money.”

          They are also not in as dire a situation as you or most internet sites want to make it seem like. Could the situation be better? Of course. But the situation could also be better whether they were in first place and Sony and Microsoft were bombing. It could be better for the 3DS yet as well. Nintendo also didn’t meet their projected sales for the 3DS this holiday season either but no one focuses on that because people want to kill the Wii U. But clearly Nintendo expects more from it. I mentioned before that according to the IGN statistics, the Wii U has a higher software attachment rate than the 3DS. With the 3DS selling as well as it is, why aren’t there more game sales for it? How is the Wii U to blame for that? Let’s not forget, Nintendo cut the cost quite a bit on the 3DS to help it sell more and so they are making less on it than originally planned and there have been other sales on it over time so the money made on the hardware is not as significant as it could have been.

          Finally, I’ll be honest, I don’t bother with a lot of this sales talk stuff since most of it really is irrelevant to playing games but I’m pretty sure that recent news articles about Nintendo say they posted a 99.7 million dollar profit for the year. Profit. How are they losing money? Shouldn’t they have had a deficit?

          “Wasting time and money on the Wii U is flat out stupid at this point, and they would be much better off with just their handheld hardware.”

          I explained a bit of my reasoning on this in my last post to you. Saying that continuing Wii U production is stupid isn’t a valid point or counter-argument to anything I said. This is the repetitive generality I spoke about you posting everywhere on this article of which counterpoints have been raised. If you can’t reason against them or “could but don’t want to”, then we’ll consider it as proof you are unable to but are too proud to admit it.

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32. CrowScythe, kill yourself! 😀

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    1. Oh, so he can tell me to kill myself, but I can’t say anything negative about your precious Nintendo? Lol

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33. @CrowScythe:

    “Like all Nintendo fanboys, you’re stuck in the past, clinging to their long lost glory. I’m looking at the present, and PRESENTLY, Nintendo isn’t doing well (and that’s putting it nicely). Stop denying it you worthless drone.”

    Wow… And you have cemented the fact that you’re unwilling to accept anything other than your own misguided world view. Nintendo’s long lost glory? You mean the year before last? And as for the present, both Sony and MS are going to post losses FAR greater than Nintendo is.

    You see, time is fluid. Events that took place in the past effect events that take place in the present which in turn effect events that will take place in the future. Even if you were to completely remove the present from the past and the future, Nintendo is still doing better than both Sony and MS. Yeah, the Wii U isn’t selling as well but Nintendo also isn’t loosing anywhere near the amount of money that Sony and MS are.

    So is Nintendo’s glory gone? Or did Sony and MS simply never have any to begin with?

    Let’s take another slice of time since you seem to like to do that. How about November-December of 2011. The Wii U just came out and it’s selling millions of systems. The PS4 and the XBone by comparison have sold 0 respectively. UH OH! SONY AND MS AM THE SCREWED!

    You need to look at the past to give context to the present in order to make predictions about the future. You cannot remove a single event and point to it as proof of something without the context that surrounds it. Saying the Wii U is failing because of current sales numbers means you need to completely ignore the fact that both the PS3 and the 360 also sold TERRIBLY when they first were released. Then there is also the fact that both the GC and the XBox sold terribly as well but MS still released the 360 and Nintendo still made more money than anyone else that generation.

    Context is everything.

    You have none.

    Get some.

    —

    @CrowScythe:

    “You Nintendo fanboys also have this misconception that Nintendo doing badly is invalid because other companies have lost money as well, which simply isn’t true no matter how you want to spin it.”

    No, it has to do with the fact that Sony and MS have lost SO MUCH money and show no signs of every recouping it. Sega lost less money than either Sony or MS have and what happened to them? Historically, companies that don’t turn a profit tend to go out of business. You know how it works, I’m sure.

    But somehow Nintendo needs to emulate them or start making games for them, even though their gaming divisions are HIGHLY unstable and can be shut down at a moments notice. You know, because they’re not making money and businesses don’t like it when they’re not making money.

    I’m not saying Nintendo doesn’t need to make some changes, because they do, just that the changes that people are saying they should go through with would make the situation far WORSE than it already is.

    If Sega were still around, had a well selling system and were posting regular profits with no debt then yeah, saying Nintendo should stop making systems and instead make games for Sega would actually be a viable course of action. But with Sony and MS the way they are today, no way. Their gaming divisions could LITERALLY be shut down TOMORROW if the share holders revolted and forced the companies to end them. Why in the world would anyone want Nintendo to work with such unstable companies?

    Oh that’s right. You want to play Nintendo games but don’t want to buy their hardware because you’re “friends” might make fun of you.

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       1. @CrowScythe

          “I don’t think they should change the way some people suggested either, so stop putting words in my mouth.”

          Ahem…

          “Or, they could do the smart thing and drop their miserable home consoles while continuing to create amazing handhelds.”

          When you can answer why this is a good idea for Nintendo to do when they actually make money but not a good idea for Sony and MS who can’t turn a profit to save their lives, literally, you’ll know why you’re so angry.

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34. We’re now up to 74 comments for this page and most of them are now coming from people thinking Grub’s article is un-researched bullshit that doesn’t fit in with their views. It was funny for a while, but now I’m just annoyed by it.

    CrowScythe, just how old are you? The way you are putting yourself in this comment threads makes you seem like a socially awkward teenager who discovered NeoGAF on a whim. Your constant whining and bickering with quixoticsomnia who is presenting actual arguments even I have pointed out in the two previous articles I made and your replies calling us blind Nintendo fanboys presents you as an actual factual NeoGAF user. Even if we call you out on your bullshit on a constant basis you are well beyond understanding, and I can tell this just by how you are acting superior and talking down to us, calling us blind Nintendo fanboys.

    Fuck that shit up the ass. Unlike NeoGAF mods and admins, I am less forgiving to this type of shit. You may be entitled to an opinion, but when you start talking down to us like a child who needs a slap on the wrist, well then that wrist will be slapped. But I’m a man who likes to have fun, so instead of banning you I will just replace all your comments and replies with links to funny YouTube videos.

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    1. Good move. He took it too far. Congrats on all the comments you guys got on this article, guys. This site deserves more exposure.

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    2. I apologize if I was overstepping my bounds by continuing to interact with him. Sometimes it actually helps to focus my own ideas by talking with someone who is unable to grasp certain concepts. Basically, I learn how to look at something from a different angle and I think I realized what his issue is: He loves Nintendo handhelds but hates Nintendo consoles and I was actually looking forward to trying to glean exactly why that is. Why Nintendo remaining in the console business is somehow threatening their handheld market for him. I’ve never run into someone like that before. Though, as he’s stated before, he owns a 3DS but no 1st party games for it. It’s an interesting dichotomy.

       Anyway, apologies all around if you feel that I have behaved inappropriately.

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       1. Whelp, CrowScythe accuses me of censoring his opinion but there is a difference between opinion and spouting childish bullshit and acting like a giant manchild, then furthermore accuses us of ass-kissing Iwata. Its so cute when a giant man child rittled with possible forms of autism thinks he’s so self-important.

          Yet my patience wore thin with him. His IP address has been mark for spam and any post he makes will not be displayed. Sorry CrowScythe, I know I must be a giant meanie head to you, but you can go and have fun elsewhere.

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35. Well I can see this place is full of objectivity and discussions. I post a legitimate statement about my feelings on the Wii U based on my experience with the Wii in response to this clearly biased piece of trash journalism, and its ‘GAFfy’ (whatever the hell that means).

    If people are happy with what Nintendo is doing, good for them. I refuse to purchase another Nintendo console unless dramatic changes in terms of UI, price, and available software come about. And going by their current sales and drastic financial forecasts, more people are thinking along these lines then those buying the consoles.

    Maybe the new “QOL’ device that Nintendo comes out with will be profitable for them? Because clearly the Wii U and 3DS aren’t, and all the money in the bank doesn’t change the fact that their business plan for the past 3 years hasn’t worked as well as they thought.

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       1. I see now that NewGAF is a video game forum. No Jimmies were rustled, I just don’t agree with the obviously biased pro-Nintendo article. I don’t think their games cut it anymore, at least not in terms of getting people to by a new console for them. Showing a picture of the new super mario bros game that looks no different then the previous versions I have on the Wii isn’t going to cut it. New IPs, more 3rd party support and exclusives, at least a passable online and VC service, and at least a $50 price drop, then I’ll take a look at the Wii U again.

          Until then, for those that already have one, I hope you enjoy it.

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36. You seriously banned me? Absolutely pathetic, but I guess that says more about you than it does about me.
    Anyway, quixoticsomnia, I say Nintendo should stop making home consoles because it obviously isn’t helping them. They’ve always thrived on the success of their handhelds, so focusing on those rather than trying to salvage what has already been lost would be better for them. And you ask why I own no 1st party games on my 3DS? Simple, it has amazing 3rd party support that provides me with many excellent games to play, unlike their home consoles which are simply Smash Bros. boxes in my opinion.

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37. Mr. Matto, you are truly a coward. I get all these comments for you little website and this is how you thank me? Shame, shame shame shame.

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38. Oh isn’t that cute, someone is calling me a coward. I’m sorry you didn’t understand the fact of why I banned you, but this isn’t NeoGAF and you didn’t bring comments onto this site. You instead created whiny shitstorms and talked down to people who were telling you why you were shit. Almost 50% of these comments are of you either insulting us as Nintendrones or getting pissy when someone calls you on your shit.

    Huh, but looks like you have a work around to being banned. I’ll have to look into that.

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    1. Oh, so you haven’t been bombarding me with insults? You are so full of shit it’s almost sickening. If you weren’t a coward, you wouldn’t have banned me. But no, you got worked up over someone disagreeing with you and your kind, and decided to lash out like a child. I call it how I see it, and it’s is blatantly obvious that you are indeed a Nintendrone who is easily upset.

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39. People telling each other to kill themselves in the comments… Pietriots has hit the big time! =’)

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    1. @Ryan

       “I see now that NewGAF is a video game forum. No Jimmies were rustled, I just don’t agree with the obviously biased pro-Nintendo article. I don’t think their games cut it anymore, at least not in terms of getting people to by a new console for them. Showing a picture of the new super mario bros game that looks no different then the previous versions I have on the Wii isn’t going to cut it. New IPs, more 3rd party support and exclusives, at least a passable online and VC service, and at least a $50 price drop, then I’ll take a look at the Wii U again.

       Until then, for those that already have one, I hope you enjoy it.”

       I’m trying to figure out what’s so “obviously biased” about this article. It talks about Nintendo, that their games are still amazing, that the rest of the industry is tanking, hard, and trying to rip off consumers left and right and that that’s not a good direction for Nintendo to move in. What’s so biased about that?

       You know what is biased? The way almost EVERYONE treated the Wii. For YEARS you couldn’t go on a single large or even medium sized gaming site without it being flooded with anti Wii articles. Either about how such and such developer hated the system or how such and such publisher called it “kiddy” and not worth their time or how it was a fad and was going to collapse any time now… any time… just hold on for a few minutes here… wait… wait… no… wait… come on… aaaaand… See? Fad! It only lasted longer than the GC or the XBox but I called it. FAD!

       The only positive article that wasn’t begrudgingly written about the Wii was written as a joke. It talked about how the Wii was going to own the market and that Sony and MS were in serious trouble. And it came out before the Wii was even released because that’s how BIASED the ENTIRE games news environment is. No one was even willing to give it a fair chance because it had the word “Nintendo” on it instead of “Sony” or “Microsoft”.

       You want to talk biased? You have an entire internet to deal with first before you can call a pro-Nintendo article on some random website biased. (No offense guys, but it’s not like your IGN or GameSpot afterall.) And in fact, why aren’t you there? Why aren’t you on IGN or GameSpot or any other of the dozens of highly biased news sites fighting the good fight and calling them out? No. Instead you’re here. What possible reason would you have for being here instead of there. Here, attacking a personal opinion piece rather than there, where rumors and statements by “anonymous sources” are run as if they’re the absolute truth.

       Kind of makes you think huh?

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       1. Why are you so desperate to defend Nintendo? Quit crying, sheesh.

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    2. Sorry, that wasn’t meant as a response to you but, yeah… My laptop keyboard is acting up real bad too…

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40. Khushrenada
    Why call me out for “attacking” people when even one of the editors on this site is attacking me for saying what I think? I didn’t ask you to explain what you think on the matter, because I don’t care, nor do I have a reason to. You, and many others on this site, seem to have a problem with what I think though, just because I’m not blindly praising Nintendo for not performing as well as they should be. If you don’t agree with what I have to say, whatever, no big deal. But I’m not going to sit here being lectured by some random guy on the internet. Also, where have you seen reports of Nintendo posting a profit for the year? It sounds like you literally pulled that out of your ass, since it hasn’t been said anywhere else. Right now, you seem to be arguing things that either aren’t true, or have nothing to do with what I think.

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    1. To be honest, I’ve only gone after you because I knew you’d be unable to respond back in any logical manner. Unsurprisingly, you’ve tried to dismiss everything I say as either commenting out of context and not reading your full post, as serving no point, as Pro-Nintendo BS, as me trying to sound smart, as not caring about what I have to say and that what I’m posting has nothing to do with what you think.

       Other than that, you refuse to offer any explaination or reasoning as to what I’ve said is wrong nor have you tried to answer many of the questions I’ve asked of you to know what you think on the matter. You keep trying to post very little in that regard so it is easier to claim that anything people post has nothing to do with what you think since you never state much about what it is. But seem more willing to post about how wrongly you are being treated or that everyone here is a Nintendo fan unwilling to see the truth that only you have been blessed to understand so you’d better tell them so. Even this post is you trying to play the victim. Why attack me? I’m just trying to humble offer my opinion. Why is the world against me?

       And if you didn’t care about what people said, you’d have never come back after getting banned. I know when I don’t care about something, I’ll try to keep on doing it despite any obstacles. But guess what? It’s a two-way street. If you don’t care about what I have to say, then I have no reason to care what you have to say. You say that if I don’t agree with what you have to say, no big deal. Yet, it is a big enough deal that if I or others don’t care with what you have to say, then you have to keep on posting more and more replies to everything. But I guess everything would be great if everyone didn’t bother to make a reply to what you say because it is “no big deal” while you replied to everything else everyone else said. Sounds like a good deal.

       For that matter, why should anyone care if you were banned? After all, if you don’t care with what I think, I highly doubt you care what anyone else thinks. Therefore, you clearly aren’t coming here to post and have a rational or reasonable discussion since you have no interest in what others might have to say especially if they disagree with you. In that case, it is pointless to even listen to what you are saying or take any of it seriously. Frankly, a ban just makes sense then. You can call it cowardice but it’s actually logic. Cowardice is refusing to back up your own words and trying to find reasons out of doing so.

       As for having a problem with what you think, some of it is fine but some is just weird. You like their handhelds but own no first party games on it and the only game you play on their consoles is Smash Bros. How is going handheld only going to make you suddenly buy their first party software? Why do you advocate Nintendo leaving the console market when you wouldn’t play anything they offer for a console except Smash Bros.? Sounds like you are going to buy another console anyways. You say they make great games but then you seem to dismiss them all. Do you even own a Wii U? The fact that you seem to be so dismissive of everything Nintendo does (except that they make great handhelds) makes it hard to take your opinions and suggestions seriously as to how they would improve following them.

       Anyways, since you have 3 times decided to avoid getting into a discussion of what is a flop and success or why Nintendo is justified to stay in the market, there’s really no point in trying to go further. You clearly have no intention to do so and I feel that silence proves the points I’ve been making so I’m not going to beat a dead horse. It’s just further evidence of how engaging in all this business talk with other people is so useless and doesn’t accomplish squat. I’m better off just playing games on the Wii U.

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       1. I’m gonna break this down nice and simple for you, since you don’t seem to get it.
          1. I didn’t ask you what you think, you asked ME what I think. I told you, and you didn’t find it acceptable so you continued to drown me in those walls of texts of yours trying to make a point I have no interest in. You have a problem with what I said, not the other way around.

          2. Any reference to me being banned was either directly to the person who banned me, or to the person who told me to kill myself. Neither of which have anything to do with you or anyone else here, so I don’t expect you to care.

          3. Really don’t know what was going through your head when you asked why them going handheld only would “suddenly make me want their first party games”. I neither said nor implied such a thing, because it isn’t true. I also didn’t say they make great games. I said third party developers make great games on their handhelds, which is why I own a 3DS. No I do not own a Wii U, because there are no games on it that justify a purchase in my opinion. Again, you asked me what I think, and I told you. Nothing more, nothing less.

          4. How have I avoided the discussion? I have stated several times what I think, because I was asked more than once. Just because you don’t like my answer and want me to explain it in a different way doesn’t mean I have to, nor should I. If you can’t grasp a simple concept, that’s your problem.

          I don’t know why you’re so obsessed with me, but I think you should really get over it.

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41. Article telling readers they should spend less time bitching about sales figures and more time playing the games is filled with reader comments bitching about sales figures. Interesting.

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    1. Come one now, that’s cheating and you know it.

       Telling people not to complain is like telling Miley Cyrus to put some clothes on and stick her tongue back in her mouth.

       In other words: It ain’t going to happen.

       Besides, I don’t get to complain online much anymore. In fact, it’s been weeks if not months since I last got to complain about something online. I usually avoid it because, as you can see, there’s too many people out there who think they know everything and absolutely refuse to listen to anyone else because, well, they think they know everything.

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       1. Admitting you have a problem is just the first step.

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42. Please stop fighting. The article is fun, games are fun. I’m grateful for all the comments, good or bad. Let’s put our opinions down and play some Mario.

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    1. C’mon now, I’m sure it’s obvious by now that I have no interest in playing Mario.

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43. I MUST WIN THIS ARGUMENT ON A WEBSITE I’VE NEVER HEARD OF BEFORE!!!!

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44. I’ve thought along that the real problem is not Nintendo, but gamers having shit taste in games nowdays. The charts are full of drivel like Fifa, COD, Just Dance, this is their bread and butter, This generation of gamer is reared on mediocrity, and paying for things like online play, micro transactions, and games that require patches, or movies pretending to be games, they think they’ve got it good. But Nintendo and Nintendo gamers who are used to quality know the truth, the majority out there like shit games.

    If Nintendo wanted to do well in the console industry in this day and age, it would have to be like the other game developers out there, this means dropping there standards to a insanely low level and making their games brown and shooty bang bang, or release them with dodgy frame rates and bugs and girls with hardly any clothes, or dance games for the people who can’t sit still for two minutes. Or sports games for the guys who think playing them and shooters make them more attractive to the opposite sex. At this point the talented people at Nintendo would probably want to kill themselves, or move into another line of work like Furniture making as gaming will have become too depressing for them..

    Nintendo are so far ahead of other game developers in terms of genius and talent, that it’s gone right over all these new generation of gamers heads who only know a diet of feces and urine. Nintendo either lower their standards and become shit like everyone else, or they have to somehow brainwash gamers into liking good high quality games again , like we did in the old days.

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    1. Thank you for proving that NIntendo fanboys are truly delusional

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45. Just to add a further comment to prove my point that gamers are infact insane which is dangerous for highly talented people like Nintendo. Someone on NeoGaf said Nintendo have no business making console games anymore as they lack new ideas and don’t know what gamers want,, and a lot of people actually agreed with him. The fact that Nintendo released arguably the best game last year in Mario 3D Worlds, or the sublime Pikmin 3, and got games like Wonderful 101 on the system means nothing to these people, they turn their nose up at these high quality great games.

    Yet this same crowd will lose their shit over new screen shots of something like Killzone or Drive Club or more INfamous. Two sequels and a car game, Killzone is a generic shooter that gets average scores, and everyone leaves on droves online after a few weeks, has terrible characters, plot, the majority of the game is shit, yet these people buy it in their millions. Drive Club is another fucking racing game that looks like every other racing game out there, yet these people lose their shit over a new screen shot of a tire or a headlight. And INfamous is the most repetitive garbage series I’ve ever played on Playstation, it’s so shit they have to change the main character every game, and in every INfamous game, all you see is the main character jumping around like he has mad cow disease shooting fireballs out of his ass.

    This is all this new gen of gamers want, brain dead shitty games with more guns and killin and racing. Games that Nintendo make are lost on these tards as they can’t appreciate fine art, it’s like bringing a drugged up chav to a art gallery, This is why Nintendo are in trouble, the drugged up chavs are taking over in massive numbers, in the gaming world, and they want Nintendo out as they don’t like nice things, they like shitty things. It’s as simple as that.

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    1. ITP: If it isn’t Nintendo, it sucks and everyone who likes it sucks even more.

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    2. I don’t think it’s that the modern gamer has bad taste. I think it’s that they simply don’t have any taste to begin with. It’s been trained out of them to actually think for themselves and to expect to be treated with the respect that a paying customer deserves.

       I’ve read far too many times and on far too many forums that if Nintendo gamers don’t purchase 3rd party games then 3rd parties won’t support them. Why should I have to buy crappy games just to get the support that Nintendo should already be receiving from them in the first place? Why should I bend over backwards for them to purchase their half finished, late released, or broken games, with little or even ZERO follow up support that every other platform receives, just to show that I support THEM? When are they going to prove to ME (you know, the paying customer) that they’ve earned MY support? I don’t remember Sony or MS gamers ever having to jump through any hoops like that.

       The whole idea of how a market works has been flipped on its head, that somehow I’M the bad guy in all of this, and that if I would JUST give my money to those poor starving 3rd parties they’d actually be able to afford to support my platform of choice the way they should already be doing. *sniff* *sniff* How heartless of me to expect them to actually do their jobs…

       It’s like the modern “core” gamer is a drug addict and Sony, MS and 3rd parties are their dealers. They seem to be willing to put up with whatever abusive relationship that they have to in order to get their next fix. If a near 33% failure rate of the 360 wasn’t enough to bring gamers to their senses and drive MS out of the console business then nothing will. It’s simply not something that you can fight. I mean, that’s cult levels of stupid.

       If I found out that the Wii U had an issue like that and my system up and died on me, especially right after its warranty ran out, I’d simply sell my games and never look back. Are we really living in a world where a huge swath of gamers would rather be abused and treated like garbage just so they can play the next great and original FPS #4459 than to stand up for their rights as customers let alone as human beings?

       Apparently we do…

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       1. “Nintendo good. Everything else evil. Me play Mario #9000 cuz me like original game.”

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       2. If you had a Wii U you might spend less time refreshing this page.

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       3. “I don’t think it’s that the modern gamer has bad taste. I think it’s that they simply don’t have any taste to begin with.” -Quixoticsomnia (nice screenname by the way 😉 )

          I agree. The gamers that supported gaming (in the truest sense of the subject) have all but stuck with their roots, meaning they have had to at least tip a hat to Nintendo. I’m sure there are still SEGA fans out there, too. But as far as Sony, and Microsoft, even moreso, go, THAT’S what is a fad. It’s a shallowly popularized industry now, with all the contrived contention and consumerism… which actually is quickly becoming The Industry vs. Nintendo (the Father of true gaming). I think it’s silly as fuck. Why don’t Sony and Microsoft just make a third system, make it small, and call it “Our Little Son.” Give me a break.

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46. It is clear that the current generation of 3rd party devs do not care for Nintendo anymore, at least on the home console front. Nintendo needs to tell them to shove it seeing as they have already did so themseleves to Nintendo. They should create their own 3rd party devs by courting indie devs. I plan on myself to start making video games myself by the end of year and seeing the dire state of the WiiU, may try a hand at making games for it. Its time for supporters of Nintendo to stand and do something.

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47. I should go backpacking more often if it means we hit the front page of reddit/gaming. Holy shit.

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48. This was a very interesting read, thanks to Fila i found this link. Great job!

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49. “CrowScythe thinks that every Mario game plays and looks exactly the same way.”

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50. Fuck yeah… I’m humbled…

    I don’t think I have anything to add, really…

    Thanks for this article. I thought I was one who didn’t need woken up, but you seem to be on the cutting-edge of the industry’s goings-on and I see what you’re writing about as like a sea change all around Nintendo. I’m not really all that worried about Nintendo’s situation now.
    I makes me want to go buy a fucking Wii-U is what it does…

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