What Has Nintendo Done Right Lately?

[Weaver]

I thought this was going to be on what Nintendo has done right recently.
Yahtzee, I get it: you hate Nintendo. I'm hardly a Nintendo fan myself but you've been beating this drum for a long]/i] time now.

 

[Something Amyss]

Just because you have money does'nt mean a company has to bend over for you.

And their console isn't selling because of that attitude. And their stock is i ntrouble, and their profits faltering for the first time ever, and their investors angry.

Do you really support cutting off your nose to spite your face?

Since Nintendo is one of the big 3 Sony and Microsoft would make damn sure they take the lion's share of profits so it would hurt the company's bottom line in the long run.

Both of those companies have benefited from backing off bad ideas and listening to consumer response.

I care about companies that make quality products and I will support them in anyway I can.

I thought we were talking about Nintendo.

 

[Thanatos2k]

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?

Oh, you mean like region locking?

Has Nintendo taken up using anti-consumer methods?

Oh, you mean like region locking?

Did Nintendo ever try to kill the used game market?

They try to kill youtube videos about their games instead.

Did Nintendo ever try to shun backwards compatibility?

Region locking hurts it.

 

[Riverwolf]

Snip

And while you have edited your post,

Curses. Wasn't fast enough.

I don't mind clarifying that I was not referring to dissenting opinions, but more the people who seem to be acting like Nintendo is a close personal friend of theirs that Yahtzee is mugging. There's just no need for hurling insults at a guy who is simply expressing a disagreeing opinion, right?

Of course not, and that's why I edited my post. I realized that you weren't talking about myself or others who respectfully disagreed.

The one Zero Punctuation episode that I don't rewatch is the one where he refers to both Super Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time as pieces of ****, at least compared to Super Mario Sunshine and Twilight Princess, respectively. Now, while I'm sure he was at least partially joking, those games are kind of sacred cows for me (and I thought SMS was awful), so the joke unfortunately hurts. But I don't get mad at Yahtzee for it; rather I don't watch that episode.

 

[itsmeyouidiot]

What the hell is the big deal about region locking, anyway? I can't even think of any games in Japan that I'd want that aren't being localized.

 

[Riverwolf]

The one Zero Punctuation episode that I don't rewatch is the one where he refers to both Super Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time as pieces of ****, at least compared to Super Mario Sunshine and Twilight Princess, respectively. Now, while I'm sure he was at least partially joking, those games are kind of sacred cows for me (and I thought SMS was awful), so the joke unfortunately hurts. But I don't get mad at Yahtzee for it; rather I don't watch that episode.

To be perfectly honest, I liked Twilight Princess (my favorite game of all time actually) and Super Mario Sunshine more than Ocarina of Time (second favorite game of all time, so not my much) and Super Mario 64 (never had a N64, so I never played it.)

My first real console was the GameCube (my family got a PS1 a few years before it, but I never played it that much or really beat any game for it myself.) It is still my favorite console. Twilight Princess, Ocarina of Time, Resident Evil 4, Majora's Mask, and The Wind Waker were all games I first played on the console. Those games, along with Skyward Sword, are my top six games of all time. Soul Calibur II is my favorite fighting game of all time. And everybody knows it was best on GameCube. Super Mario Sunshine was the first Mario game to be in 3-D without that awkward polygonal look to it. Beyond Good & Evil (which I have yet to beat) was on it. As was Spider-Man 2 and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. And Hulk: Ultimate Destruction.

Don't get me wrong: I love the GameCube. And yes, though I didn't like Mario Sunshine, it did look beautiful. I just didn't like the whole "clean up the town" mechanic, and also thought the game was too hard. But to each their own; if you find the polygon look awkward, then you probably won't enjoy Mario 64 much (and don't play the DS version; it's really not that great.) In any case, Super Mario Galaxy is easily superior. Those other games you mentioned are also fantastic (...though I haven't played Ultimate Destruction, but I remember hearing at the time that it was good... and... I... don't particularly... enjoy... ... Sands of Time ... *wince*).



Oh, and speaking of specific consoles, I want to point out another thing regarding Nintendo: they're not anywhere near in the same boat as Sega was in 2001. Nintendo overall is doing fine. The WiiU is just not doing fine. Sega was nailing itself into a coffin right from the beginning with the Sega CD and 32X. They furthered their own downfall by designing the Saturn with arcane hardware making it difficult to program for, and THEN releasing it early before said programmers could really experiment what could be done with the thing, and so launch games tended to be shadows of what they could have been. Perhaps at least one of the final nails in the coffin for Sega was their expectation that the absurdly expensive Shenmue might save the failing Dreamcast... which it didn't, being a very, very slow game with virtually no mainstream appeal.

If Nintendo's to be placed anywhere on that, I'd put them kind of on the beginning-leaning side of the middle, with the WiiU kind of being a cross between 32X (lack of software) and Saturn (arcane hardware). IOW, they can afford to lose with the WiiU, but I doubt they can afford to lose with another console.

 

[Something Amyss]

[You would have to be a blind fool to argue that Nintendo does'nt make high quality games.

Can't you provide a cogent argument rather that personal insults?

They don't put any bullshit like piece meal DLC,tacked on multiplayer,and a bunch of other things that most of the AAA just loves to put in.

So the absence of stupid (and sometimes desired) makes a game high quality?

That's a bad argument. That's like calling someone a genius because they didn't aim a loaded gun at their head to see why it's not firing. And differentiating Mario multiplayer from "tacked on" is a rather difficult task.

 

[Something Amyss]

What the hell is the big deal about region locking, anyway? I can't even think of any games in Japan that I'd want that aren't being localized.

I can't, either, but I can't think of the last time the two of us were the only consumers in the world.

 

[Thanatos2k]

What the hell is the big deal about region locking, anyway? I can't even think of any games in Japan that I'd want that aren't being localized.

The United States isn't the only one hurt by it. Try thinking about other places.

 

[Something Amyss]

How was what I said a personaly insult?

I disagreed. You said you'd have to be a blind fool to disagree. That was oddly specific.

If you're seriously trying to argue that Nintendo does'nt make games then this is a pointless conversation since no matter what I say your bias will make you ignore it anyway.

I'm inclined to agree that I won't agree with you on this, but it has more to do with the strength of your argument. For example:

But I will say this:You'll be hard pressed to find a Nintendo game that's actually bad.

See, "not bad" doesn't equal high quality, which was your claim. Nor does "not broken" or "not buggy."

No one can say with a straight face that Nintendo makes games that are buggy or downright broken which is something that can't be said for major publishers like EA.

I can't thnk of a broken Nintendo game, but that doesn't make them high quality. However, I can remember more than a few "nuggy" games. I can't name the last Pokémon game I played that didn't have bugs and glitches. and they actually patch out some of the bugs found in the Japanese games before US releases (as was the case with D/P and I think also B/W).

If you mean "broken and buggy" in a meaningful sense, though, why bring up EA? Most of their games aren't broken or buggy. And honestly, it seems like your argument is less "Nintendo is making good games and quality products" than it is "Nintendo isn't EA, unlike some companies who shall remain nameless."

And still, the point of apologetics that Nintendo shouldn't care what other people have to say is fine if they're not concerned with making money. With the exception of the Wii, their userbase has seen steady decline now for years and years and years....

Nobody should ever listen to the consumer completely, but when your company can't move a product in sufficient numbers it's time to stp thinking you have your finger on the pulse. Nintendo can keep on with the attitude you're espousing, but it'll likely take them to the grave. A slow trip no doubt, but even a company with large assets can't keep posting losses forever.

 

[Riverwolf]

How was what I said a personaly insult?

I disagreed. You said you'd have to be a blind fool to disagree. That was oddly specific.

If you're seriously trying to argue that Nintendo does'nt make games then this is a pointless conversation since no matter what I say your bias will make you ignore it anyway.

I'm inclined to agree that I won't agree with you on this, but it has more to do with the strength of your argument. For example:

But I will say this:You'll be hard pressed to find a Nintendo game that's actually bad.

See, "not bad" doesn't equal high quality, which was your claim. Nor does "not broken" or "not buggy."

No one can say with a straight face that Nintendo makes games that are buggy or downright broken which is something that can't be said for major publishers like EA.

I can't thnk of a broken Nintendo game, but that doesn't make them high quality. However, I can remember more than a few "nuggy" games. I can't name the last Pokémon game I played that didn't have bugs and glitches. and they actually patch out some of the bugs found in the Japanese games before US releases (as was the case with D/P and I think also B/W).

If you mean "broken and buggy" in a meaningful sense, though, why bring up EA? Most of their games aren't broken or buggy. And honestly, it seems like your argument is less "Nintendo is making good games and quality products" than it is "Nintendo isn't EA, unlike some companies who shall remain nameless."

And still, the point of apologetics that Nintendo shouldn't care what other people have to say is fine if they're not concerned with making money. With the exception of the Wii, their userbase has seen steady decline now for years and years and years....

Nobody should ever listen to the consumer completely, but when your company can't move a product in sufficient numbers it's time to stp thinking you have your finger on the pulse. Nintendo can keep on with the attitude you're espousing, but it'll likely take them to the grave. A slow trip no doubt, but even a company with large assets can't keep posting losses forever.

I said you would have to be blind to argue that Nintendo does'nt make good games in a general way of speaking,I was'n targetting you specifically and if my post came across like that then I apologize for not wording it better.Anyway the reason I bring up EA is because the last couple of games they released were broken on release.Sim City and BF4 were beyond playable online and people were rightfully upset.

When Nintendo makes games that are in that state then you can say their games aren't quality made.Now that's not to say some games can't be average but to my knowledge Nintendo hasn't made a game where it can't be played on release because of bugs.

Both Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword shipped with game-breaking bugs that prevent you from finishing them, both late in their respective games (Skyward Sword does have a patch.)