What Has Nintendo Done Right Lately?

[itsmeyouidiot]

Nintendo has not really made anything worth playing honestly for me in a very long time.

People say they make the best party games but think about it. If you don't actually own the system, don't actually get to play the 'big multiplayer games' to the point where you have become 'that guy' who is too good at it, when it comes time for the big party that everyone is playing that nintendo game on, suddenly you are not really having that much fun.

That is what has turned me off of Nintendo ever since the N64. Every time I get a chance to try playing the system... I am not given much time to actually familiarize myself with the mutant controllers that Nintendo tries to innovate and shove down our throats. I was not allowed to familiarize myself with the game, they wanted to jump straight into the game with only the most rudimentary of instructions on how to play and then they proceed to trash you three ways to tuesday and you get a foul taste in your mouth.

Competition does that.

The fans don't see it that way. They don't see the frustration that someone new coming into it might be feeling when they get trounced over and over again at a big party, embaressed on the couch before others. And this happened during the N64, GC, and Wii generations from many different fan boys trying to get me to take a break from my PS, X-Box, or PC to come play a bit of 'nostalgic fun'.

This is the ravenous fan base at work. They are so enthralled with showing off how much fun something is that they take over the conversation and don't leave you to make your own choice, they taint it with their own.

So of course turned off by a wonky controller (Every one of them is) because obviously the SNES controller was an abomination and fans who were idiots... I missed the nostalgic joy that must have somehow been hidden in those generations... so even wanting to come back and look at what Nintendo is doing these days... and I do keep track because well, I did like the NES and SNES back when I was very young... I can't help but feel that they are idiots.

I don't have any of the rose tinted nostalgia goggles for the games that came out post SNES... so seeing them continue to just rehash the same games over and over and over again seems... well... bad. I remember they used to do interesting games once but not anymore.

And I know... there was the zelda games that were different but when you have five different fan boys show up at your house with their systems on different occassions to show you the opening and then to play it while you watch while they go and do the high end content to show how awesome the game is... well... it doesn't seem that appealing.

This rehash of a rehash of a rehash is just that... overcooked. I am no longer the 13 year old I was when Link to the Past first came out. The things I liked then, I do not like as much now so playing a reiteration doesn't appeal.

What are they doing right? Very little. They keep hammering out Pokemon with some improvement in quality with each iteration but even then the mouth breather fans kill it when they start talking about such and such being the best and if you make the choice that you did, you are a complete fool or that wasn't an optimal choice and that X would have been so much better and that they will beat you senseless if you ever get into a match. Oh, by the way, you want a match? Yeah... My 3DS sits on my desk, barely touched because the fans of the game make it not worth playing and there is very little else on it that appeals to my need for a high quality single player experience.

And yes... I do have the new Fire Emblem and even it got stale rather quickly because I have done other turn based grid based tactics games before over the years and thus the game play was not that amazing.

So in essence, their own fans and inability to do anything of quality that is new is what is killing them.

That sounds kind of like you're using your own negative experiences to justify a dislike of Nintendo rather than the actual quality of their games, which are still consistently very high when measured on their own merits. If your friends act like assholes to you, that's their problem, not Nintendo's. Most of the people I play games with are pretty casual about it, so you can't really say that fans are a problem.

As for making games that are similar to their past games, I still fail to understand how that's bad. If I like a game, then I'm going to want to play a game that's recognizably similar, but still different enough to be new. Fallout 3, for example, was really just Oblivion with guns, and Fallout: New Vegas was really just another Fallout 3. Skyrim is really nothing more than Oblivion with a few mechanical differences and a different world, and GTA 5 was just another GTA 4.

None of those games are in any way bad, however, they're all top-notch AAA games from famous developers that have received immense critical acclaim. So what's different? If I had to guess, it's that they don't carry the "kiddy" stigma that Nintendo still hasn't quite gotten rid of since the Playstation era. People forgive other games for being derivative because they try to present themselves as "mature", when in most cases they're really just glorified playthings dressed as an action movie blockbuster.

 

[Foolery]

I'll admit the Wii U has been not that great, but the 3DS is doing well, with a solid library of games, even after a shaky start.

I see people who whine on about not being able to play Nintendo IPs, having no problem plunking down cash on a Playstation or Xbox system for exclusives. Every platform has exclusives, even PC. If you want to play the games then buy the system or otherwise move on. I really don't know why this keeps being brought up. It's not going to happen. Get over it.

Also, "Going the way of Sega" would mean for Nintendo to drop the Wii U, dump money into a new system, then drop it again, pump more money into yet another system, until they lose consumer confidence and go near bankrupt. That's what fucked Sega over. Putting hardware out, not giving it time or support and letting their product sink. Dropping the Wii U isn't an option.

Honestly, this whole thing is overblown.

 

[Dark Knifer]

It would be kind of nice to not have to buy a special box just for nintendo games as their quality does seem to have dropped. Particularly mario, as yatzee said, galaxy was the last great mario that really wanted to be different. The marios and zeldas of now haven't got me excited at all, which is sad since I grew up on their consoles.

Everywhere else just seems to have more potential in gaming these days, particularly story. A company that's been around as long as nintendo hasn't even attempted a story really.

Its sad but I don't think they are out or they need to stop making hardware yet, I just want them to make some cool mind blowing stuff.

Like mario soccer with jetpacks and a gigantic map, or use the touchpad and make a D&D game with the GM using the tablet.

 

[Something Amyss]

IS taking the non-linear approach to dungeons what passes for innovation these days?

 

[144_v1legacy]

I think Yahtzee (and a bunch of forum posters who know who they are) need to revisit Yahtzee's own Gears of War 2 review, and ask if a game needs to blow the world away with innovation to be good.

Zelda was my favorite game this (insert extended period of time here, somewhere between 1 and 3 years).

Regarding what Nintendo is doing right, I feel that Yahtzee isn't as much of a business expert as he makes himself out to be, as needs to stay on the opinion side of things in these columns and less on the "here's the solution" side. I've already heard from lots of forum posters what Nintendo needs to do to and such, and I don't think any of us actually know. Also, I've seen the Sega comparison shot down in more professional-seeming articles than this too many times to give it validity anymore...

 

[144_v1legacy]

I refuse to accept any notion that Link Between Worlds represents any kind of forward movement from something like, say, Wind Waker. Or even Ocarina of Time, to be more 3DS-relevant.

Did you really play the game? LBW is the first Zelda in years to actually attempt to move the series forward. The wall walking mechanic is a game changer in the realm of top down 2D Zelda action adventure because it opens up so much in the level design. The equipment renting almost turns the game into open world exploration which is revolutionary for a Zelda game. And yet you bash on it because it ruined your gradual equipment collection that you EXPECTED out of the game. So it defies your expectations but then you criticize it for not changing the experience enough. What in the....

They did EVERYTHING right, and you're acting like they did the complete opposite.

Going back to squeaky top-down grid gameplay is the exact opposite of an elevation.

Oh...I think I get it now. You just don't like 2D games. You seriously think that 3D is inherently better. Well. Talk about bias.

Yeah... it felt to me like he didn't play it either. Or hear about it. I forgave it in the last video because of its joke, but this time, the fact that he didn't even elude to the wall mechanic (a major part of the game), even negatively, is bizarre.

 

[Foolery]

Everywhere else just seems to have more potential in gaming these days, particularly story. A company that's been around as long as nintendo hasn't even attempted a story really.

Depends what you're into. If you want a story, the 3DS has plenty in the form of JRPGs.

Crimson Shroud
Bravely Default
Fire Emblem Awakening
Shin Megami Tensei IV
Shin Megami Tensei Devil Survivor Overclocked
Shin Megami Tensei Devil Summoner Soul Hackers

And so on.

Those are all incredibly story heavy games. Might not be your cup of tea, but it's silly to claim Nintendo systems lack titles that have story.

 

[Dark Knifer]

Everywhere else just seems to have more potential in gaming these days, particularly story. A company that's been around as long as nintendo hasn't even attempted a story really.

Depends what you're into. If you want a story, the 3DS has plenty in the form of JRPGs.

Crimson Shroud
Bravely Default
Fire Emblem Awakening
Shin Megami Tensei IV
Shin Megami Tensei Devil Survivor Overclocked
Shin Megami Tensei Devil Summoner Soul Hackers

And so on.

Those are all incredibly story heavy games. Might not be your cup of tea, but it's silly to claim Nintendo systems lack titles that have story.

Forgive me on that. I didn't know about them because I'm not big on jrpgs and I also meant as in first party nintendo games have yet to try story, not the systems themselves. I'm sure the consoles have stuff.

I think fire emblem is the only one made by nintendo though I could be wrong.

 

[gizmo2300]

If I had to play armchair CEO for Nintendo I'd say the problem lies in the marketing department. In Scandinavia at least, I can't speak for the rest of the world of course, Nintendo is neigh invisible to the casual eye. No newspaper ads, nearly no TV ads, no ads at all really. You want people to talk about your product you have to remind people that you exist.

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

If I had to play armchair CEO for Nintendo I'd say the problem lies in the marketing department. In Scandinavia at least, I can't speak for the rest of the world of course, Nintendo is neigh invincible to the casual eye. No newspaper ads, nearly no TV ads, no ads at all really. You want people to talk about your product you have to remind people that you exist.

I think you mean invisible.

I think Yahtzee (and a bunch of forum posters who know who they are) need to revisit Yahtzee's own Gears of War 2 review, and ask if a game needs to blow the world away with innovation to be good.

Didn't he later say in the Gears of War 3 video that he didn't remember a thing from the second apart from the Freudian worm segment?

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

The Nintendo Fanboys are out in force today!

It's good to see more people coming around to the idea of Nintendo going third-party. Hope they come to their senses soon. I'm imagining Majora's Mask on Steam, maybe even with mod support, and I'm drooling a little bit...

Coming around?, with all that you wrote you kinda remind me of Senator Armstrong from MGR, what he thought was ideal,just and right but really he had an opinion and well it was wrong and Raiden proved that with action.

Even then they'd lose a massive amount of consumers (quite a few million people that do matter) and trade from one platform exclusivity right into another (with just Steam and just PC), which in the end isn't really fair but from what I'm guessing that's your opinion on not caring what happens to anyone else in the process.

 

[Foolery]

Everywhere else just seems to have more potential in gaming these days, particularly story. A company that's been around as long as nintendo hasn't even attempted a story really.

Depends what you're into. If you want a story, the 3DS has plenty in the form of JRPGs.

Crimson Shroud
Bravely Default
Fire Emblem Awakening
Shin Megami Tensei IV
Shin Megami Tensei Devil Survivor Overclocked
Shin Megami Tensei Devil Summoner Soul Hackers

And so on.

Those are all incredibly story heavy games. Might not be your cup of tea, but it's silly to claim Nintendo systems lack titles that have story.

Forgive me on that. I didn't know about them because I'm not big on jrpgs and I also meant as in first party nintendo games have yet to try story, not the systems themselves. I'm sure the consoles have stuff.

I think fire emblem is the only one made by nintendo though I could be wrong.

No worries. Fire Emblem is the only first party title in that list. So yeah, I guess they could improve in that area with other Nintendo IPs. Zelda is very formulaic in its story. The Oracle games do stand out for mixing it up along Majora's Mask. Mario did a bit better in that regard with the RPG titles. Nothing mind-blowing, but Paper Mario always had enjoyable characters.

 

[MrHide-Patten]

Hell a big idea that has gone completely over Nintendo's head is Mario with a jet-pack. They had the super-soaker do-dah in Mario Sunshine, combine that with flying around on planetoids and they'd have a license to print money... but nope. Sort of "over" my Nintendo phase, maybe one day I will blossom from my cocoon of a Sony console into a full blown PC Elitist.

If they make that shit (a hell) of a lot cheaper, then I'll throw money at it. For the amount of games it's going to get (for the decent exclusives, like Platinum's fare, it's more of a Platinum console at this stage than a Nintendo console) it's just not worth it in the long run. I spent a proverbial fuck tonne for Australian hardware and the Wii and no less than 5 years later, the thing goes for at least %85 less the original price tag.
I'm not buying a Wii-U for the simple fact that I stopped playing on my Wii for years, I saw no software that intrigued my personal tastes and thus was unstimulated to plug it back in. The last good game was a port of the superior Prime series on the Gamecube.

But they ain't going third party, no much reason they should if only the be the first to do away with console exclusivity bullshit. I'm a console gamer and upon reflection exclusives are all a load of wank, if film studios only let you watch DVD's on certain brands of DVD player we'd say the CEO's have all been replaced by brainless gibbons.

 

[Atmos Duality]

Nintendo would never go third party and I wish people will stop saying they will.Nintendo has always done their own thing and that is unlikely to change

That may very well be true, and unless Nintendo pulls their head out of their ass and changes how they do business, it will be their undoing.

 

[Dark Knifer]

snip

Its a minor gripe considering nintendo is gameplay first and foremost and that's fine.

I really want them to bounce back with some great games of their own soon, rather then become the terribleness of sega, especially one the wiiu because I don't want the first hd nintendo console to go to waste, especially with that controller could have many nifty things to do. Like a dungeons and dragons role playing game where the tablet is used by the dungeon master and they can craft the story, dungeons etc and being able to withhold information from players by using the tablet has many possibilities.

I do hope nintendo come back swinging sometime soon, maybe after smash bros starts selling consoles.

 

[Saltyk]

The N64 was immensely successful.

Well, let's look at the sales data.
N64: 32.93 M
Playstation: 104.25 M

The Playstation sold more consoles in North America (38.94M), than the N64 sold worldwide. Yeah, I wouldn't call that "immensely successful". Now, they may have had some great games on the system, I doubt anyone would deny that. But, if we're looking at sales, I don't think anyone can deny which system sold better.

The GameCube is probably my favorite console of all time.

That's nice. I actually kind of enjoyed the Sega Game Gear. Remember that thing with it's six AA batteries that lasted about 3 hours?

The Wii won last generation in sales.

Well, current sales data doesn't deny that, but it's not like the Wii outsold the competition 2-1. They were very successful in hardware sales last generation, however. That is true. So were Sony and Microsoft. That is also true.

Wii: 100.95M
PS3: 82.48M
360: 81.11M

When one looks at the games sales data, it becomes clear that people only bought Nintendo games on the Wii. With five of the top ten being Wii Sports or Wii Fit related games. Wii Sports itself sold 81.84 million units. The sales figures are pretty impressive mind you.

For comparisons sake, Sony and Microsoft's consoles both had a variety of developers that sold well on their systems. Though, even their top selling games didn't really break 20 million units sold.

But they also show that no new Mario title will be enough to move Wii U systems. Super Mario Bros Wii sold 27.75 Million units and Smash Bros sold 12.05 million units. Since there seems to be no killer app, like Wii Sports, they do need third party support to move their systems.

Say what you will, but these are facts.

The WiiU had its problems because Nintendo told third party developers that they were gonna wait a year to release their flagship franchise games, so no real competition from Nintendo for a year on their own console. Few took them up on that. How is that Nintendo's fault, really?

Because they didn't even try to make their system appealing to developers? I'd say entirely their fault. By all accounts, Sony and Microsoft asked developers what they wanted and worked with them when designing their new consoles. It seems Nintendo designed their own console for Nintendo. I'd compare this to Sega releasing the Dreamcast early, so that the system had no games and generally confusing consumers and developers.

And looking at recent history, I doubt any developer would be smart to develop for the system. The ones that did have done very poorly. Assassin's Creed Black Flag sold .14 million units on Wii U versus 1.31 million on PS4 and .65 million on Xbox One. This is despite the systems currently having similar numbers of units out. No, developers are right to avoid the Wii U. You don't want to hear it, but third party games really don't sell on Nintendo products. That may not have been true in the 90's, but today it is true.

You can check all my data at VGChartz.com, if you wish.
Platform totals are here [http://www.vgchartz.com/analysis/platform_totals/].
Game sales total can be found here [http://www.vgchartz.com/gamedb/]. You can select from the list to filter out the systems.

SNIP

Nintendo would never go third party and I wish people will stop saying they will.Nintendo has always done their own thing and that is unlikely to change

And I disagreed with you? I said I don't see it happening at this time. But, when I was a kid playing on my Genesis, I don't think anyone would have suggested that Sega would go third party. That was insane! But they did that a long time ago. After a string of failures.

With the exception of the Wii, each and every Nintendo console has sold less than the one before it. By a good 10 million units or more in each case. Their handhelds have generally done well, with the DS being the second highest selling system of all time, but that should not, and can not, be their entire market.

If Nintendo does not turn around the Wii U, does not create a console that sells next generation (assuming they survive that long), and does not go third party, there will simply no longer be a Nintendo. Isn't that a far worse fate?

 

[Riverwolf]

If I had to play armchair CEO for Nintendo I'd say the problem lies in the marketing department. In Scandinavia at least, I can't speak for the rest of the world of course, Nintendo is neigh invisible to the casual eye. No newspaper ads, nearly no TV ads, no ads at all really. You want people to talk about your product you have to remind people that you exist.

That's the case here in the States, as well. I think they did get too cocky and put too much faith in word-of-mouth.

Lack of marketing can make giants invisible.