What Has Nintendo Done Right Lately?

[Darth_Payn]

So, this column went from ripping on the 3DS (which I hear is working like gangbusters) to ripping on the Wii-U? I think Nintendo should rethink the phrase "Stick to what works" and find what worked with previous installments and work up from there. It also needs to focus on how to make games that work organically with their hardware gimmicks.

 

[Jorpho]

How I tire of everyone stating that they know exactly what Nintendo should be doing.

I'm sure Nintendo has the capacity to hire people with some degree of competency and that they have their own perfectly good reasons for the decisions they have made, however murky they may appear to an outsider. It's not like the higher-ups have been spotted drunkenly stumbling down the streets or something; they do not need a stern talking-to from anybody.

They already announced their plans for a "new direction" with a "non-wearable" "health platform" two weeks ago.

But then, playing armchair CEO never gets old, does it?

 

[mjc0961]

"You don't need items A, B and C or to explore such and such a place to get the next tool, all you need is money. And since you lose them when you die, and have to rent them again, the loss of money is one of the few things the game has to threaten you with. But you can avoid this particular trauma by making an even larger money investment."

Or by just not dying, which is very easy to do since the game has pretty much no challenge. Another casualty of the lack of proper progression: they can't put in any hard bits anywhere because what if the player goes there first after renting all of the items? They don't want hard areas and easy areas creating a different kind of progress when they're trying to get rid of progression, so they just made the entire game easy.

ALBW was a decent game, but it could have been a much better game had it been 100% traditional instead of disrupting game flow with that rental stuff.

 

[ReverendBob]

What Has Nintendo Done Right Lately?

Someone needs to tell Nintendo that they're too insular for their own good. That may as well be Yahtzee.

Read Full Article

Dear Editor/Ben,

Nintendo is a singular noun (much like Microsoft, Sega, and Sony), unless you are using it in some odd sense throughout the article to refer to joint actions of NOA and NCL. This apparent misunderstanding led to subject-verb disagreement (e.g., "Nintendo were" as opposed to "Nintendo was")and improper use of pronouns (e.g, "Nintendo ... they're ... their" as opposed to "Nintendo ... it's ... its").

I'm not usually one to pick nits on typos; such errors have a knack for slipping through. In this case, however, the misunderstanding or editorial choice was extremely distracting in what was otherwise a fine opinion piece.

Thanks,
Bob

 

[Vausch]

Way I figure it, if Nintendo is going to run purely on nostalgia they should just release the most beloved SNES games on the 3DS. Don't even need to update them, odds are most people would be happy to play Super Metroid, Super Mario World, Final Fantasy VI, Earthbound, or Mother 3 as they were. Download service would make it inexpensive, and selling them for 5 bucks a pop would probably get them millions of downloads a day.

That, or stop with the hardware exclusivity. I'm with Yahtzee on this, I don't want to buy a WiiU but I'll gladly buy an old school game on PC.

 

[MoltenSilver]

One thing that stood out to me in the article is the statement that dedicated games machines don't sell, yet at the same time sales figures just came out showing the PS4 beating the XB1 2-to-1 in sales in North America. While the Playstation 4 has some multi-functionality of course it was entirely advertised on the premise of being a games machine while the xb1 was entirely advertised on the premise of being a multi-functional TV box, and I can't help but feel that says something positive about the viability of 'dedicated game machines'.

 

[Xman490]

I guess Nintendo has been swimming in "bad nostalgia" over the past few years. The only new gameplay style in a Nintendo-published game since 2009 was in Super Mario 3D World, and even that was 2D Mario in 3D with the need to speed up. Now their only innovations besides that one thing are graphics enhancements, overpowered power-ups, and the poorly-thought-out variations Skyward Sword and A Link Between Worlds had.

Now, that isn't to say that "bad nostalgia" without great innovation is "bad", necessarily. I have been enjoying the New Super Mario Bros series (discounting the 3DS one) as it incorporates tougher and wilder levels, Jim Sterling still loves Kirby (which has had a few separate innovations), and people get excited for new Donkey Kong Country games.

 

[Britishfan]

I'm not sure of the exact figures, but if you look at the IPs & devs that SEGA own, I'd imagine that SEGA the games publisher made a lot more money than Nintendo the hardware manufacturer.

But then the last thing Nintendo had anything to do with that I bought was a Gameboy colour, where as I buy SEGA's games all the time... not sonic though.

 

[Lagslayer]

First, let me say that all the game developers will get out of hardware at some point. Eventually, the market will be so saturated with multi-purpose devices that all do the same things, and begin to wonder why they buy so many of them. At least, I hope that's how it will go down, because the most likely alternative is running in the complete opposite direction.

Anyways, the issue at hand. Should Nintendo go all software now? I'm thinking no. And the reason why is because the console people will insist upon certain changes to the games before they put them on the consoles.

"Why would we ever add that to our games library? Mario is too bright and colorful! Brown and gritty is where it's at! And what's with that low resolution? If we can't count at least 100k individual hairs, nobody will buy it! You better have plans for overpriced DLC and microtransactions, too."

Having their own console means Nintendo can make and approve the games they really want to, instead of the games the other companies' execs want them to make. I don't want to see all the Nintendo franchises reduced to that, and I believe the industry as a whole would suffer deeply from it as well.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

The last thing I'd ever want to see is Nintendo's IPs in the same space as Sony or Microsoft. Esp. Microsoft.

 

[Thanatos2k]

How I tire of everyone stating that they know exactly what Nintendo should be doing.

I'm sure Nintendo has the capacity to hire people with some degree of competency and that they have their own perfectly good reasons for the decisions they have made, however murky they may appear to an outsider. It's not like the higher-ups have been spotted drunkenly stumbling down the streets or something; they do not need a stern talking-to from anybody.

Considering Iwata is still the CEO we know that's not true.

 

[Misterian]

I'm personally not worried about what's going on with Nintendo lately, they've had their slip-ups in the past, sure, but they always eventually bounced back on their feet.

Besides, has Nintendo ever tried to shove DRM down our throats?

Has Nintendo taken up using anti-consumer methods?

Has Nintendo ever tried to make us buy season passes or online passes?

Did Nintendo ever try to kill the used game market?

Did Nintendo ever try to shun backwards compatibility?

Taking all these into account, where do you do think Nintendo's choosing not to be any of the above will bring them in the long run?

 

[MrBaskerville]

I guess Nintendo has been swimming in "bad nostalgia" over the past few years. The only new gameplay style in a Nintendo-published game since 2009 was in Super Mario 3D World, and even that was 2D Mario in 3D with the need to speed up. Now their only innovations besides that one thing are graphics enhancements, overpowered power-ups, and the poorly-thought-out variations Skyward Sword and A Link Between Worlds had.

Now, that isn't to say that "bad nostalgia" without great innovation is "bad", necessarily. I have been enjoying the New Super Mario Bros series (discounting the 3DS one) as it incorporates tougher and wilder levels, Jim Sterling still loves Kirby (which has had a few separate innovations), and people get excited for new Donkey Kong Country games.

How about WarioWare D.I.Y. Where you can create and share your own microgames or Metroid, a game that was very different from it's predeccesors. Going just a year or two further back we also have games like Rhytmn Heaven and Super Paper Mario. One could also point at Pikmin 3, Game and Wario or Nintendoland to find a couple of other examples where Nintendo tries new things. While they seemed more eager to innovate back on Wii and Ds i don't think it's entirely fair to say that they aren't trying. They do make throwback games, but these games are made alongside new stuff.

I'm not too worried about the WiiU, even though it isn't doing too well. It might never be able to compete with Playstation or Xbox, but it doesn't really need to. It needs more sales though and it needs more games. The games are coming and i'm sure we'll see even more game announcements during the year, by then it might be able to pick up some steam that atleast makes it profitable and a viable platform for third party exclusives. They just need to make it appealing enough so that it makes sense to buy it as your sevondary console. To me, the virtual cosole with DS and GBA titles + the upcoming releases and last years releases are enough to make me a potential costumer in a near future.

 

[Lazule]

I think that a console war without Nintendo would be a very boring console war, maybe its for the best but I still feel like it would be a huge loss.

Yep. Because the PC would win easily since the Xbox One and the PS4 are basically watered down PCs.

Nintendo needs to become innovative once again for local multiplayer to prevail, otherwise its a farewell to local multiplayer... They got a ton of work to do if you ask me but they keep beating the dead horses instead of coming up with new ideas.

 

[Riverwolf]

I, personally, don't agree that top-down 2D is inherently worse than 3D. It really depends on the need of the game. Now, admittedly, I haven't played A Link Between Worlds (I don't have a 3DS), but consider this: Don't Starve has movement and camera mechanics almost identical to A Link to the Past: it's top-down, with full 360 degrees of movement. While I, myself, couldn't really get into it, its popularity and the fact that my girlfriend plays it constantly tells me that it's possible to have just as much immersion with top-down 2D graphics as with first-person 3D graphics.

Of course, I could just be a fanboy for the 16-bit era of games... except for the fact that (flame-shield up) I kinda have trouble getting into A Link to the Past, as well. Honestly, I enjoy the first Zelda more than ALttP, since it's pretty much a Zelda sandbox. (Yahtzee once joked that Zelda is just one game that Nintendo has been constantly remaking since 1986, and honestly, I WISH that were the case; the Elder Scrolls games are far more faithful to the NES Zelda than the subsequent Zelda games, especially Arena which pretty much has the exact same goal.)

Top-down 2D allows for a wider view of your surroundings, unlike first-person 3D which limits you to seeing what's directly ahead. Both are good depending on the needs of the game.

Progress is all well and good, but if it ain't broke, don't fix it. (The lives system IS broke, Nintendo; unless you actually are making an arcade-style competitive game, FIX IT!)

Now, all of that said... the item renting system just sounds horrible. I think I see where Nintendo is going with this, as item buying is what you do in RPGs, but I'd rather you just start out with all the items you'll ever get and just craft the dungeons with puzzles requiring good combinations of item-usage.

 

[renegade7]

What are they doing right?

The 3DS continues to blow away the PSVita in sales, and Nintendo portable hardware remains the platform of choice for non-Triple-AAA RPGs. Niche market, certainly, but there are some fantastic third party Nintendo-DS exclusive jRPGs.

 

[IrisNetwork]

Majora's Mask on Steam? MAKE IT HAPPEN!!
But seriously, it was the black sheep of the franchise. The only time when a Zelda game's plot didn't involve rescuing Zelda or fighting Ganon. I actually felt like I was part of the world as no one pushed "destiny" into my face like I'm the TV repairman being called in to sort shit out.

It does seem like Nintendo's commitment to making games is also their folly as they have nothing to back up on. Either they have to do something else or come up with really innovative ideas. Something way out of their comfort zone.

Sonic redesigned? A scarf? WOW! Why don't we paint a white circle on his belly and call him Rayman?

 

[Atmos Duality]

And if Nintendo and Sega were back on even turf again, existing only as competing developer/publishers, then it'd be like Holmes and Moriarty matching wits once more.

Hah! No.
Not even remotely.
Unless Moriarty spent the last decade locked in his manse playing with his own feces, while Holmes sulks around hitting the bottle, re-visiting his old case files compulsively, and doing opium just to escape the pain of longing for the past.

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.

This assertion might mean something if you actually reviewed A Link Between Worlds to prove you have a fair basis of comparison. But you didn't, so all I can do is sit here and guess if you did, or if you're just pulling yet more conclusions out of a hat just so you can keep your "Being jaded all the time = I R Smart" schtick.

Those were good nostalgia games that took the Zelda model and elevated it into a stirring adventure across the lands, with pleasing graphics, spectacular views and sweeping, epic music. Going back to squeaky top-down grid gameplay is the exact opposite of an elevation.

This sounds suspiciously similar to that nonsensical argument about how there's no point to turn-based gameplay when real-time exists, or how 2D graphics have no place in gaming since 3D arrived.
Either of which is akin to saying that there's no reason to play cards when football exists.

Innovative, sure, but two things: firstly, this doesn't in itself turn the bad nostalgia into good nostalgia, it's just bad nostalgia with one new idea in it.

Funny, I could say the same exact thing about your precious Wind Waker.
What is sailing but filler between the usual glut of towns and dungeons?

And secondly, I wonder if it's entirely coincidental that as well as being innovative, this gameplay model is also a hell of a lot easier to implement than something like the aforesaid properly paced experience.

Pray tell what "Properly paced" is beyond some vague arbitrary definition?
Properly paced compared to its predecessors?
Aren't you the guy who constantly COMPLAINS about Nintendo doing nothing but recycling its old shit?

Taking on a variety of obstacles with a varied set of tools sounds like a proper experience to me.

 

[Enlong]

I'd like to expand on ALBW's item rental thing. I'd like to have [n] items in some sort of central temple, which allow you to reach the [n] dungeons in the game. Each dungeon also has an item used to solve the latter half of its puzzles, and, along with the other item, beat the boss.

But you'd only have one of the temple items, at first. Let's say they're all sealed, but you can remove the seal with a shard of the macguffin, one of which you start with. Each dungeon has another shard, which lets you get another item, and getting them all lets you move to the endgame.

 

[Evonisia]

I'm personally not worried about what's going on with Nintendo lately, they've had their slip-ups in the past, sure, but they always eventually bounced back on their feet.

Besides, has Nintendo ever tried to shove DRM down our throats?

Has Nintendo taken up using anti-consumer methods?

Has Nintendo ever tried to make us buy season passes or online passes?

Did Nintendo ever try to kill the used game market?

Did Nintendo ever try to shun backwards compatibility?

Taking all these into account, where do you do think Nintendo's choosing not to be any of the above will bring them in the long run?

I don't know all the details (don't do enough research into these things), but one anti-consumer method Nintendo adopted is region locking. Sony does it to some extent still, but not so much that you can't have a PS4 in a country which does not sell it. As far as I can tell the Xbox One has no region locking.