289: My Nintendo Shame

[Briana Lawrence]

My Nintendo Shame

Once upon a time, Briana Lawrence was proud to say she was a Nintendo fan, but her devotion has become a habit she wishes she could break.

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[JoJo]

There are still some good Nintendo games, you just have to wade past the crap. I think currently a lot of the games are held back by the limitations of the console itself, which while may have been an advantage a few years ago to keep the price down but now it's main competitors are also cheap begins to look a bit 2nd rate. Also I agree Nintendo probably does need a couple of new franchises to keep things fresh.

 

[PlasticTree]

Meh. This isn't a bad article, but it would have been far more relevant two years ago. Now it doesn't say anything new, plus Nintendo had some truly great 'hardcore' games this year, even though they weren't too innovative.

Personally I'm quite satisfied with what they are doing. I don't care how good their casual games (or their competitor's casual games) are, as long as they release some truly great games once in a while. And no, 2010 wasn't Nintendo's most innovative year. But in the past few years they have come up with the ds, the Wii, some absolutely great and revolutionary games for both systems, and within a few months they'll come up with the 3ds and Kid Icarus, which is basically a new franchise.

I'm not saying that Nintendo is flawless or anything, but I don't think there's a reason to be ashamed when you're still cheering for a new Nintendogame.

 

[Aura Guardian]

That article was annoying to read because you reminded me of those "fans"

Spoiler: you know, the picky ones.

Nintendo isn't to blame.

 

[coldfrog]

The killing blow is dropping names of what was once another huge nintendo exclusive: Castlevania. Sure, some of the arguably best titles were on other systems, but I will always think of Castlevania as a Nintendo series.

 

[Susan Arendt]

That article was annoying to read because you reminded me of those "fans"

Spoiler: you know, the picky ones.

Nintendo isn't to blame.

That's exactly the point.

 

[Scarim Coral]

You're not the only one. I kind of regret getting the Wii then the Xbox 360 (I can't afford to buy another console). I do find it annoying I have wait ages for a good non casual game to come out while the others console get it more frequent. I pretty much these days I buy and play more games on the DS then on the Wii.

 

[Vault101]

ah yes I had a wii and I loved metroid prime 3, that was untill I played bioshock, my first "hardcore" game, it was like the greatest thing I had experienced ever and I wanted more

I havent looked back since

 

[Tim Latshaw]

The Wii has become like a wine cabinet: It uncommonly has great contributions with delightful vintage flavor, but you have to sift through a lot of boxed Walmart varieties to find them. And, for well-read gamers, it's hard to live off a diet of just good booze.

 

[SaintWaldo]

The timeless paean of an aging interest for youthful pursuits. I emit the same tones when I try to explain or transmit my love for Thom Baker's Dr. Who, or why Wesley Crusher _never_ bothered me on TNG, or why Infocom style text adventuring should have become a Pulitzer category. The intangibles and specifics just overwhelm the brain's ability to translate experience into signal.

I want more games like Bruce Lee and M.U.L.E.. They don't even make Commodore64s anymore, either. Think about where that puts me, young miss.

 

[Spy_Guy]

I realized the same thing when I had my Wii. The clinging to a memory thing.
I had all the Game Boys, I have the DS, I have the Gamecube, and I've stayed behind Nintendo for most of my life.
Then I walked into the local Gamestop, and looked at the Wii shelf. I don't remember exactly what was there, but it can be summed up with this: Shovelware shit. All the worthwhile titles, I had already purchased. Nothing new on the horizon.
That depressed me.

So I sold the Wii, and all my games, missing only SMG and Brawl. Then I bought a PS3.
I have never regretted that decision.

 

[edthehyena]

It seems that the real problem with the Wii is that it was the first platform with motion controls. It seems that developers didn't know how to use them, or didn't want to take full advantage of the technology. As a result, the platform drowned in shovelware. Only Nintendo themselves have made most of the good games, and publishers are afraid of the Wii (Super Meat Boy).

There's no reason why the Wii can't have perfectly good games, or even more of the types of games we're starting to see for move/kinect.

 

[Mamzelle_Kat]

Man, I read this article and I couldn't stop thinking "that's exactly what's going on with me." I own a Wii. I've owned it since week 2. What Wii games do I have? Trauma Center, Twilight Princess, Super Smash Brawl. I think that's it. One of my friends offered to buy it from me since I haven't played it in years. I really want to, but then something inside me yells NO!!! What if something incredible comes out next month?? Also, you won't be able to play those Gamecube games you love so much!!

Truth is, there are some good titles on the Wii. I've meant to buy Metroid Prime 3 since i loved the first two, Donkey Kong Country Returns had some great reviews, and both Super Mario Galaxy's are some of the most creative platformers that came out in recent years. Problem is, for every one of these releases, something awesome came out on the Xbox 360. Something new.

Given the choice between two equally good games, one that is a great reiteration of a franchise and one that is an awesome piece of something never before seen... I'm going to pick novelty.

Needless to say that wasn't the Wii title.

 

[vxicepickxv]

This is a rather interesting read. The Wii isn't a horrible system, but it almost seems like it's going the way of Sega. Sega released some good hardware, but nobody paid attention to it. I'm not sure what Nintendo can do to fix it, but I'm sure they'll either think of something, or end up like Sega.

 

[Okysho]

The truth of this article makes me sad...

I still own my Wii though, I'm not about to trade it in since I love the actual good titles for this system, but there are many times I do wish I could play God of War and Halo. I feel almost ashamed to call myself a player of video games...

For the record, I had no problems with twilight princess or even Other M like most people. We just... don't get enough good games...

 

[Scout Tactical]

The truth is this article is wayyyy too late. Seriously? The big boom where it was cool to say Nintendo has abandoned its core is coming up on two years old now. Reading this article is a blast from the past. I feel like I'm reading The Escapist Archive.

But I guess The Escapist has some pretty cutting-edge writing staff.

 

[random980]

as a former nintendo fan i can relate to this article alot, nintendo decided they could make more money by making crappy games that 8 year olds and parents and most crazy japanese people who love anything cute, would eat up, in truth they have made more money but have also lost a major fanbase as they have forgot how to make a 'gamers' game, the wii turned nintendo from a company with great ideas to a company that just wants more money that they dont need, and they only cling to whats left of a fanbase purely by nostalgia. they've had some good games, zelda, mario galaxy, metroid prime, kirby, DK country. yet the good games only prove my point about nostalgia. nintendo's creativity and originality is gone.

(also the wii made me turn to pc gaming, im now a valve fan)

 

[rembrandtqeinstein]

When I see things like

As if the goofy games weren't shameful enough, now I had to be lumped into the casual "girl gamer" category because of Nintendo's sudden campaign to skip Mario and Zelda in favor of some balance boards and yoga mats.

the only thing I have to say is "get over yourself". Who are these mythical people sorting you into the "girl gamer" category and why do you give two squirts about their opinion?

The balance board is being used in physical therapy and has helped a woman make an early diagnosis of Parkinson's. It is a REAL TOOL that just happens to be wrapped in cutsy graphics. Unfortunately game designers haven't put out any really "hardcore" balance board games. But if you look at Raving Rabids TV Party you will see the potential of the balance board for all kinds of control schemes.

And so what if Nintendo doesn't have tons of games? The couple of dozen "core" games it does have are of the highest quality. Metroid Corruption (or trilogy), Mario Kart, Smash Bros, RE4, Twilight Princess, Demon Blade, Punch Out, Raving Rabids, de Blob, World of Goo, Dead Space Extraction, etc etc etc. And though you complain about gamecube ports the motion controls totally change the nature of the games. I hated the Resident Evil series until 4 for Wii let me aim with the Wiimote. If you are a kid I can see a legitimate complaint that the Wii doesn't have enough games to be your only console while you occupy the time until adulthood. If you are an adult and have enough to go through more than a new game every 2 months or so then maybe you should look at your life and re-consider your priorities.

As long as Mario is around I always flock back to the company which almost seems to give Nintendo a free pass to produce lame games.

Other than Wii Music which Nintendo first party game is lame? Nintendo first party produces the highest quality product even if it sometimes isn't that well received (Mario Sunshine). And even Wii Music was a good concept just didn't have enough content to carry it as a full title.

Lack of online multiplayer also isn't a legitimate complaint. Nintentendo focused their strategy on people who like to get together in meatspace, playing in the same room. Whining that Wii lacks online multiplayer is like complaining it is hard to move lumber in a Prius, it isn't designed with that use in mind.

And as for DLC Virtual Console was available nearly from the start and WiiWare appeared about 3 years ago. Yes admittedly XBLA is the most developed download game offering and honestly that and Kinect are seriously tempting me to buy an Xbox.

In summary I'm not exactly sure what you are complaining about. Nintendo now is no different than they were years ago when they singlehandedly SAVED the industry from Atari's downfall.

 

[comadorcrack]

This article does not make me a happy bunny. Its nothing but pathetic band-wagoning. I'm not gonna defend the wii, cos It does have shit 3rd party suport and terrible hardware. But I'll suport my little wii, because it doesn't suport all the gray and brown Gears of Whatever and injects a little bit of fun back into mainstream gaming.

 

[sodaTAB]

This article reminds me of an epiphany I had come to about a year ago. I realized that the only good games that were coming out were from Nintendo's main franchises, and I resolved to stop buying into the madness. I have Almost every Nintendo system since SNES, and I don't need to play the same adventure with updated graphics every few years. That is the one point of the article that I disagree on. There is nothing wrong with being a fan of a game, but one has to consider if its worth buying a game that is an almost carbon copy to its predecesor for the 3rd or 4th time. (an exception is when the game takes a VERY radical step in a different dirrection, such as LoZ: MM) Younger kids will be able to enjoy these newer games, having not experienced the older versions, but those of us who have, we need to ask ourselves if we honestly need to buy the game again.

To bring a quick other point, the Wii's problem is the lack of good 3rd party support and original stories... but they should probably work out those kinks in the motion controls first.