I recently hooked my Nintendo 64 up and started playing it again (Wave Race 64 is excellent). As I was taking a trip down memory lane, I remembered an old news report I had seen before on TV. Well, I don’t know if you’ve seen this before, but I found it. It’s a news report on the Nintendo 64 that Fox News aired back in 1996.
What’s funny is that I remember seeing this when it was originally broadcast! It’s from the Los Angeles Fox News station (Fox 11). Anyway, check out some the quotes from the news report:
“…featuring 64-bit technology that produces amazing 3D animation, including zoom-in technology that might make you dizzy.”
“So how different is it from the old Mario games? Well, take a look. There’s really no comparison.”
“But just how easy it to play Nintendo 64? After all, the controller looks like it could be used on some kind of military jet.”
The reporter then goes to an expert – her very young son – to see what he thinks about it. It’s funny because when the Wii was released, the reporters themselves were telling you what they thought about it. Hell, they couldn’t get enough of it!
What’s telling is that all of the people playing Super Mario 64 in this video are kids, and very young kids at that. I was only 12 when this news report came out, so it really feels different seeing it today! Back then, I was just enamored with seeing Nintendo on TV. Now, I see much deeper aspects to that news report, such as the beginning of Nintendo’s decline due to their 3D obsession.
When you have a news reporter calling your controller something that belongs on “some kind of military jet,” you’ve got a problem. It makes me wonder what the hell Nintendo is doing going back to a military jet controller with the Wii U and putting a big damn screen right in the middle of it.
Right. Only kids or kids who grew up on Nintendo systems played the N64 and Gamecube.
The Atari Era consoles had enthusiasm across a broad range of ages involving the entire family. The NES had gamers across a broad range as well. The older adults played the simple sports games, some of the RPGs and computer game ports and girls dominated the system in its later years. The 16-bit Era broke away from the simpler games which meant those older adults had nothing to enjoy. Then, as the 16-bit generation went on, gaming got increasingly violent and hyperbolic (e.g. Mortal Kombat). This made console gaming “not for me” to women. And we know the Xbox and PlayStation franchises were not getting women or older adults. Console gaming was relying on the growing spending power of experienced gamers and the pipeline of kids becoming experienced gamers. This was accelerated by population growth and a good economy. But as population growth turns negative in many markets and the good economy turns into a bad economy, the reliable pipeline is no longer reliable. The reason why Nintendo turned to the DS and Wii direction in the first place was because the old path for growth was no longer there.
The Wii was a return to the ‘NES Coalition’ or ‘Atari Coalition’ of gamers… although that didn’t last too long as Nintendo decided to return to its Gamecube ways. Nintendo is in a state of denial where they cannot believe the Gamecube failed because it was a Gamecube. No. It had to fail because of the marketing or the timing of the console’s release. The people who bought the Wii for Wii Sports or Wii Fit did not graduate to Twilight Princess or Mario Galaxy. They did, however, graduate to Mario Kart Wii and Super Mario Brothers 5 which both are descendants of arcade gameplay. Nintendo does not like this as it gives a new explanation as to why the N64 and Gamecube failed (because it broke the arcade lineage that began the home video game console).
I keep seeing on the ‘Gaming Forums’ someone saying, “Nintendo has horrible marketing! The 3DS and Wii U make it sound like it is just a revision of the DS and Wii as if they are not new consoles.” What’s actually going on is that Nintendo is trying to sell a portable N64 under the DS branding and marketing, and Nintendo will attempt to sell a Gamecube-On-Steroids under the Wii branding and marketing. Do not doubt me.
The mission for Nintendo is to create an environment where the software developers can do whatever they want. The mission for Nintendo is not sales. It is not ‘make gaming for the masses’. It is not even to satisfy their loyal customers. The mission of Nintendo is entirely selfish.
The Nintendo crusade for third parties also is aimed to allow the first party software developers to do whatever they want. If Nintendo has third parties do the work of creating the installation base, then Nintendo software developers will be free to take in themselves. All their goofy projects, which they have been working on for years if not a decade, can suddenly come to light. (Remember that Metroid: Other M was being ‘thought up’ for at least eight years.) This is what Nintendo is all about in 2011.
What is the purpose of innovation? It is to sell more product. While Nintendo was ashamed of its Gamecube sales, what really animated Nintendo was people declaring Sony to be ‘innovative’ with things like Eyetoy. These clowns care more about their personal reputations (i.e. being ‘game gods’ known for ‘gaming innovations’) than actually putting out commercial products. It’s all selfishness. Perhaps we should coin it as ‘High Tech Childishness’.