289: My Nintendo Shame

[Nerdfury]

I know how you feel, Briana. I bought the Wii because I like Nintendo, but the only Wii games I have for me and me alone are Twilight Princess and Mario Galaxy. All my other games are divided into two kinds: Games I bought on the cheap (like, ten bucks or so or free via a gift card) without knowing if they were good (and usually aren't), and games that I bought for multiplayer. And even those I don't touch outside of when friends or family come around.

Honestly, it's sad. I skipped the GameCube generation in favour of PS2, and returned to Nintendo to have, since launch date, a total of two games I play for myself.

If you truly skipped the Gamecube, then you should have an ass-ton of good games to play on your Wii. (for cheap too if you can find them)

And there are also PLENTY of great Wii games if you do your research and have an open mind.

I did get Wind Waker, because I'm an incredible Zelda fan, but I'm not specifically aware of what games are good or not for GameCube. Considering my main Nintendo loves are Zelda and Mario, I think I'm a little limited. Would definitely appreciate suggestions based on my interests, though!

As for good Wii games, there's undoubtedly good ones.. but of the 15 or so I've got, I only really got into, enjoyed, and kept Mario Galaxy (getting 2 soon), Twilight Princess, SSB:B, Mario Kart. The rest I sold without bothering to complete.

There's others I've played with my brother-in-law, too, but those are all multi-player and I don't tend to want multiplayer games for myself. Hence why I said that the only games I kept that aren't those few, I only got for multiplayer.

Again, I'd love some suggestions for other great Wii games!

 

[CronoDAS]

It's almost as if the system itself doesn't have to be good

Pretty sure that's been the case with nintendo since... forever. People would buy a tin can with some lint inside it if it had Nintendo written on the side.

I can disprove that with two words: Virtual Boy.

 

[Death God]

I bought my Wii the minute I heard Super Smash Bros Brawl came out on it and after that... the games have went down. I will always be a Nintendo fan no matter what but it doesn't mean I don't have certain exceptions where their games have left me wondering, "Why?" I am sadly unable to get a 360 or a PS3 because my grandmother believes that the Wii is enough of a system but sadly, I haven't seen any "hardcore" games for it in a LONG time.

 

[The Harkinator]

Great article. I never bought a Wii because I could buy Twilight Princess for the Game Cube. I wanted a Wii for the first couple of years of the current generation. My friends had Wiis and there was a run up to Brawl where we were all excited (I had Melee for the GC, still do). Then it came out, all the Nintendo hype vanished and one of my friends bought an Xbox 360. Then another and another until they all had them. When I decided to switch to this generation I bought a 360 so I could talk to my friends online.

Later I would ask, why did you all stop playing the Wii? Their answer was that Brawl was Melee dressed up with better graphics and even more stupid moves that ruin the game. They saw the coming games for the Wii and didn't bother with them.

The Wii is a good console, I enjoy playing it when I'm at a friends house but I wouldn't want to own one because when I leave the friends house I feel like I stopped playing just before it was getting boring.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

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

Spoiler: you know, the picky ones.

Nintendo isn't to blame.

Oh god. Engrish is so funny...


OT:

Nintendo didn't abandon the Wii, so much as the quality third party publishers did. They finally learned that they aren't getting any sales in the sea of shovelware.

Yeah, Nintendo wheels out the same old franchises, which sucks. But the games are always good. From Epic Yarn to Galaxy 2, this was actually a good year for the Wii.

And most of Miyamoto's new IP work sucks, like Nintendogs and Wii Music.

Pikmin was the last new IP the man created that was really worthwhile.

 

[D Moness]

and Wii Music.

I deny that game ever being released. For me it went into development hell.

Not like sony is milking it's popular franchises(6 god of war games in the last 6 years, 7 jack and dexter games in 10 years, 14 Gran Turismo in 14 years and shall we take a look at singstar or shall we forget about that). It is not that i do not agree with the fact that nintendo's first party games are from old and very milked franchises but they are NOT the only one doing that.

 

[NaramSuen]

This is pretty much why my Wii is collecting dust.

 

[BehattedWanderer]

While I'm out of practice of defending Nintendo anymore on their business side, the thing that keeps me coming back is that when they do focus themselves to a game for the more serious gamers, the games are good. They're exactly as good as the games we remember, and occasionally better. For a company whose top tier list focuses mostly on platformers, Nintendo has those down to a shine. The IP's that aren't in that category have not shown much return, and are hard to get enough interest garnered for the characters and stories. There is a solution, though.

We have to wait until the next Super Smash Bros comes out, and as a hidden character, easily unlocked, a new character is introduced. Follow up the release of Smash Bros with the release of that characters game, very shortly after (but give it enough dev time). If a good looking Fire Emblem game was properly marketed, we'd be interested. A new Mother title? We'd be all over that. Kid Icarus is finally coming back, and the recent Kirby and Donkey Kong titles mean they do remember how to cater to our tastes (even if they forgot we like intelligent voice actors with Other M). There is still hope, but it will take effort on both sides.

 

[Senaro]

The wii goes next to unplayed in my house. I don't regret buying one, though. I'm still left with plenty of gems like Punch Out, Mario Galaxy, Monster Hunter Tri, and so on. It's a shame it gets so much crap and shovelware, but the 360/PS3 have their own walls of crap.

 

[littlewisp]

...

You said everything I wanted to say, only with more depth and insight. Thank you.

edit - additionally, I want to add that my wii and ps3 both receive the same amount of loving care when it comes to keeping them shiny and free of dust. I may not play the wii as often as the ps3, but it's still there for me when I'm feeling in the type of mood that requires cutesy.

 

[DTWolfwood]

Man companies would pay up the butt for indoctrination such as this. Its what they all strive for, so happens Nintendo has achieved said goal in this case XD

 

[RandV80]

...

The Xbox and Playstation platforms have the elite hardcore market wrapped up, and they always would have; had Nintendo released a "hardcore" platform like the Gamecube this generation, they would have just about failed.

In a sense, the real mistake with the Wii was perhaps an unavoidable one; even Nintendo didn't project this kind of runaway success, and so were very conservative about what they invested into the development and manufacturing of the base design, and into their online infrastructure. If they could have been more certain it'd go over so well, I'm willing to bet we would have seen a Wii with a bigger jump in hardware power, and more money put into a comprehensive online support network.

But Nintendo is purely a game company; they have nothing to fall back on if they bleed money. A single mistake - such as a Wii that they couldn't break even on - could have ruined them.

This is why I have a hard time taking people like the article writer seriously. Nintendo made a console with the same power as the competition and with the benefit of having Zelda's and Mario's with the Gamecube, and they still lost badly to Sony and Microsoft. Do people honestly believe that if they'd made their system to the same specs as the 360, forcing them to sell at a loss and likely scaring off the casual market with it's much higher price tag, that they'd be anything but bankrupt by now?

Nintendo did what they had to do to survive, and they did it with a great deal of success. Which using foresight will hopefully mean the can compete more toe to toe the next time around with megacorp giants Sony and Microsoft. But of course the fickle gaming crowd will complain regardless of what you do so there's no helping that.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

and Wii Music.

I deny that game ever being released. For me it went into development hell.

Not like sony is milking it's popular franchises(6 god of war games in the last 6 years, 7 jack and dexter games in 10 years, 14 Gran Turismo in 14 years and shall we take a look at singstar or shall we forget about that). It is not that i do not agree with the fact that nintendo's first party games are from old and very milked franchises but they are NOT the only one doing that.

Making a series with sequals hardly counts as milking. It's not like we have a :Kratos Party, Kratos Kart, Kratos Soccer, Kratos Baseball, Kratos Sports, Kratos Tennis, and Kratos DDR. Now that is milking. Telling a story isn't milking. Continuing a series isn't milking. Endless Mini Game compilations and sports games featuring characters from games is milking.

And there are not 14 Gran Turismos. You're thinking of the modified Japanese only versions of GT3. GT HD for the PS3 was cancelled. There aren't even 14 games with the GT name on them...

Singstar is a franchise so calling thaqt milking is stretching it.

I could easily call Half-Life 1, 2, 2 Episode 1, 2 Episode 2,and 2 Episode 3 milking by your logic.

And what you call milking isn't Sony making these games. Those games are all made by different 2nd party companies.

I'm sorry but the fact that there are More Mario party games than Ys games really has me shaking my head. (10 Mario Party Games in 12 Years vs. 8 Ys games in 25 years.)

 

[D Moness]

And what you call milking isn't Sony making these games. Those games are all made by different 2nd party companies.

All titles are first party companies (i rechecked that).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Computer_Entertainment#Software_development_studios
The games i named are from internally owned studios (first party companies)

as for GT
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gran_Turismo_%28series%29

Oh and jak and daxter has racing games (and together with 2 other games will be re-released to use with move) so yeah looks like milking in my eyes as well

edit: and except for melee and brawl if you look like that only Mario is the milked franchise since all the other games have (except for brawl /melee) been what they have been from day 1.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

And what you call milking isn't Sony making these games. Those games are all made by different 2nd party companies.

All titles are first party companies (i rechecked that).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Computer_Entertainment#Software_development_studios
The games i named are from internally owned studios (first party companies)

as for GT
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gran_Turismo_%28series%29

Oh and jak and daxter has racing games (and together with 2 other games will be re-released to use with move) so yeah looks like milking in my eyes as well

You literally must not have read what I said about GT being a series and thus isn't milking. And literally half of the secondary GT titles are Japan only releases. One of them was even cancelled. There's not even 14 GT games listed. You should read your wikipedia links before you post them.

You also must not know anything about what the term, "2nd Party company" means either. Yes that wonderful wikipedia list of yours does post companies owned by Sony. But that's pretty much the only involvment that Sony has with those companies. There is also a list of companies on your link that aren't even owned by Sony, but are called "Second Party Studio Partners". These companies are nothing but frequent Sony collaboraters. Level-5 being on that link has made games for other platforms. Can you say, Proffessor Layton? How about Dragon Quest 9?

And this line,

Oh and jak and daxter has racing games (and together with 2 other games will be re-released to use with move) so yeah looks like milking in my eyes as well

. is incorrect when your talking about re-releasing with the PS Move. That's a collaboration title with Sly Cooper, and Rachet & Clack called PS Move Heroes. It's a brand new game featuring all characters from those games.

Further evidence that you did not read into your own info. Just posting up wikipeda pages doesn't make you look like you kow what you're talking about.

 

[XT inc]

I used to be a hardcore nintendo fan back in the day and the more and more I think about it, damn It's not me it's them. My whole love of what nintendo is, is my childhood. Unfortunately I just don't care about the babied down directing my titles are going. I'm not entirely saying I want a mario Noir, no actually do that it might get you out of the deepest chasm like rut you've been in since forever my dear nintendo. The controls just suck outright, hardcore, and maybe a few titles do it right, but I could entirely care less because everything on the wii has fuzzy rosey nintendo goggles on where everything gets +2-3 points for being nintendo.

There are some good wii games, nmh, monsterhunter tri, but don't tell me they wouldn't have been laughed off the stage on another console.

 

[elbowlick]

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.

This, more or less. I disagree that the hardware is a problem. One problem is that the Wii tries to do the same stuff as the Xbox and PS3. The Wii needs to be the most individual console while the other two just release the same games with a few extra features or exclusives to mix it up a bit. It needs to go at it's own pace (I never saw a problem 2D graphics, anyway) and do it's own thing.
The other main problem was already covered by you: Sturgeon's Law. Nintendo produces a lot of shitty licensed games. The only system that does it more is probably the DS (but I still will never trade it in for PSP).

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

Spoiler: you know, the picky ones.

Nintendo isn't to blame.

I haven't lol'd for so long in a while. Thanks for that.

 

[RowdyRodimus]

I know how you feel, Briana. I bought the Wii because I like Nintendo, but the only Wii games I have for me and me alone are Twilight Princess and Mario Galaxy. All my other games are divided into two kinds: Games I bought on the cheap (like, ten bucks or so or free via a gift card) without knowing if they were good (and usually aren't), and games that I bought for multiplayer. And even those I don't touch outside of when friends or family come around.

Honestly, it's sad. I skipped the GameCube generation in favour of PS2, and returned to Nintendo to have, since launch date, a total of two games I play for myself.

If you truly skipped the Gamecube, then you should have an ass-ton of good games to play on your Wii. (for cheap too if you can find them)

And there are also PLENTY of great Wii games if you do your research and have an open mind.

I did get Wind Waker, because I'm an incredible Zelda fan, but I'm not specifically aware of what games are good or not for GameCube. Considering my main Nintendo loves are Zelda and Mario, I think I'm a little limited. Would definitely appreciate suggestions based on my interests, though!

As for good Wii games, there's undoubtedly good ones.. but of the 15 or so I've got, I only really got into, enjoyed, and kept Mario Galaxy (getting 2 soon), Twilight Princess, SSB:B, Mario Kart. The rest I sold without bothering to complete.

There's others I've played with my brother-in-law, too, but those are all multi-player and I don't tend to want multiplayer games for myself. Hence why I said that the only games I kept that aren't those few, I only got for multiplayer.

Again, I'd love some suggestions for other great Wii games!

It might not be popular to say since it's a "cute" RPG, but I loved a game called Opoona. The entire thing is played with just the nunchuck and retails new for something like 4 bucks. Castle of Shikigami III is another cheap game but is a fun bullet hell title. I have 14 Wii titles but of those the two mentioned along with Metal Slug Anthology are the only ones I really play (I don't sell or trade in games and all of mine were gifts from people).

 

[RowdyRodimus]

The thing is that while the Wii has sold great, how many people who have bought it are going to be turned off from Nintendo's next system because they aren't getting the games they want this time around? While it may be a misnomer or not, a lot of the current Wii owners are first time gamers, once they have played Mario and Zelda is there any proof they will come back and spend another $200-$300 on a new system to play what they may perceive as the same games? Or, will they take that same amount of money and buy the new Xbox or Playstation that offers games they haven't played yet? I can't tell you the number of times my friends at Gamestop have to explain to Wii owners that they can't get Grand Theft Auto or Halo for the Wii.

Will those same customers buy the next Nintendo and hope that they can play the games they want to? Buy the systems they know have them? Buy all of them? Or in the worst case scenario for the industry, buy none of them. That's not just Nintendo's fault since exclusives are as old as the medium, but it is their fault for not having the foresight to make a system with the abilities to at least be on par with the others for 3rd party games.

This really is a problem that Nintendo has made for itself. Honestly, I wouldn't care if Nintendo never made a home console again as long as they keep up what they do with their handhelds. Still, it seems that going after the casual market has turned many of them into the core demographic that they seemingly ignore, which will bite them in the ass down the line.