Reggie gets really defensive in this interview where Kotaku basically says the Wii’s later years were pretty empty. This ofcourse, being common on Nintendo consoles nowadays, they have a good first 3 years, then they ditch the console for 3 more years. Reggie just flat out denies the Wii had anything worth buying in it’s later span. My favorite quote:
“Kotaku:“Even some of Nintendo’s biggest fans would have to admit that the Wii’s latter years were a little barren for software, and Nintendo’s energy since 2010 has seemed focused on 3DS and then Wii U, while the Xbox and PlayStation were getting—”
Fils-Aime: “So you’re not counting Skyward Sword?” (laughter)”
Skyward Chore is more like it. I don’t know how he could mention a game with no hype and a declining fanbase
Nintendo doesn’t care. How they operate is that they only give first party support and emphasis to a game console for a few years then abandon it for the new handheld. After a few years for the handheld, they abandon it for the home console. Nintendo believes this staggered way is ‘amazing’.
The games we get at the tail end of a console cycle are the second party games (HAL’s Kirby games, Retro’s games) and Aonuma’s Zelda because Aonuma takes way too long.
The antidote is to make smaller games that have more mileage on them. It takes less people to make a 2d Mari than a 3d Mario, and it can be made faster. Imagine if a top down Zelda game was made. The original Legend of Zelda and Zelda 2 took only eight people to develop. And Zelda 1′s development was done simultaneously with Super Mario Brothers! These are games everyone loves except Nintendo because Miyamoto cannot do his ’3d obsession’. And we all know Aonuma hates Classic Zelda.
It is possible to have every five years of a console packed with stuff instead of having shitty Kirby games at the end. But Nintendo just doesn’t care. I had to laugh when Reggie’s staffers brought up games to back him up and only came up with Kirby games and Fortune Street. Hahahaha.
Reggie cites precedent, but this is only a precedent with MODERN NINTENDO. Classic Nintendo had much longer console cycles and more support. The SNES was released in 1991 in North America. In 1991, 122 games was released for the NES. NES’s support tapered only because the SNES was out and even then Nintendo was still publishing games for the NES. Remember Dragon Quest IV or Mega Man 6?
To give younger people the idea of how much more software there was, here is the year by year release date for NES games from Japan. The SNES was released in 1991 and NES was still supported until 1994. You support the old game console going into the new cycle because not everyone buys the brand new console.
It makes even more sense to continue support of an old console into the new cycle because the new console has backwards compatibility. I wish my SNES could play NES games. I would have bought Mega Man 6 and Dragon Quest IV.
This ‘drive-by hardware’ syndrome of a few years of games then abandonment for the new handheld/home console is the behavior of MODERN NINTENDO. Classic Nintendo never did that shit. How long was stuff coming out for the Gameboy? For the SNES?
Why would anyone buy a console if it is only supported for a three years at most? At the moment, you’re going to see support really decline for the 3DS as Nintendo focuses entirely on the Wii U. 3DS will only have second party games (like HAL’s Kirby games), an Aonuma Zelda, and whatever third parties bring (which is likely nothing). The best a 3DS owner can hope for now is for third party games from Japan.
Why can’t we have Classic Nintendo back again? No one likes Modern Nintendo’s ways. No one.
