Take a look at Chris Kohler’s piece on the Wii U. In this, he is upset with how Nintendo is doing things especially that a game like Super Mario World is still more fun to play than Nintendo’s current games. He says SNES game collecting is surging because the SNES games are so good. He hates what Nintendo has done to the Virtual Console. He thinks Nintendo should make their consoles a ‘Nintendo paradise’ (where you can get titles of Nintendo’s long history).
I agree with all that. But I’m scratching my head.
Back in 2005, I was considered a FREAK by the gamers online. I was someone who didn’t buy a game console since the 16-bit generation. I missed out on the PS1 and PS2 generations. When I bought the DS, my previous handheld was the original brick Gameboy. (Imagine my reaction with playing with the DS. “Wow, these things sure have improved!” hahahahaha)
I remember one day playing Super Mario Brothers 3 on my NES and someone coming in and saying, “You should play a REAL GAME.” The ‘real game’ was Call of Duty I believe (or was it Halo?). I retorted, “I AM playing a REAL GAME.” I was still playing 8-bit and 16-bit games because modern games just sucked.
And boy, did the Wii attract me (as did the DS). The DS had the SNES controller configuration with a new 2d Mario. Wii looked like a modern NES. There was also the Virtual Console.
Nintendo DS and Wii was like that JC Penny ad: “Some of you liked the changes Nintendo did with the N64 and Gamecube. Some of you did not. But we are here to say that we listen to the consumers. We are returning back to who we are. Please come back original customers.” It was never a particular game or a hardware feature that enticed me. Nintendo’s movement was as if they were apologizing for the entire 3d/Virtual Reality direction. Sure Nintendo had to make sequels to the Gamecube’s best selling games, it makes sense to satisfy the prior console’s consumers. But I knew we would see what a game console truly should be. And I was not disappointed. The Wii did its thing.
But it is the interpretation of the DS and Wii success where Nintendo and I part ways. I see the success as, like I said, returning to what video games are about and abandoning the 3d/Virtual Reality direction. Why Nintendo changed gears midway through the Wii’s lifecycle, we may never know. But I suspect arrogance. Nintendo wanted to believe they could have their cake and eat it too. If they marketed a new Gamecube with the Wii brand, put in some of the ‘casual games’, they could make the games they TRULY want to make. The DS becoming the ‘3DS’ is so obvious what is going on.
I’ve been laughing my ass off this generation as the 3DS and Wii U aren’t the successes that Nintendo thought… not by a long shot. If the 3DS is so ‘successful’, why is Nintendo selling it at a loss? It is because they are desperate. They know it is game over if they lose their handheld market. They don’t care as much about the home console side.
Consider the Wii U games. NSMB U was the launch game only because Nintendo developers wanted to ‘get it out of the way’. Launch games are always rushed. They hate 2d Mario so they were happy to get rid of it (as the Nintendo council now insists on a 2d Mario game for every Nintendo hardware platform). And what is Nintendo Land but the opposite of Wii Sports? The success of Wii Sports tells us that no one gives a damn about the Nintendo IPs. An arrogant Nintendo would be hurt by this. Nintendo Land, therefore, is slathered with Nintendo IP and for the purpose of transforming these ‘casual gamers’ into Gamecube gamers.
Why on earth is Nintendo making Pikmin 3? The game has been delayed yet it was announced six years ago. And even then, no one is going to buy Pikmin 3 because no one bought Pikmin 1 or 2. We hear news about new 3d Mario, Aonuma Zelda, Mario Kart, and Smash Brothers. But those were on the Gamecube too, and it didn’t do anything.
To add insult to injury, Nintendo is making Wind Waker HD so it can ‘find a larger install base than what the Gamecube had’. In other words, gamers need to ‘discover’ the ‘genius’ of Wind Waker. Who the hell are these people inside Nintendo? Wind Waker is the most hated Zelda game of all time (that is until the DS titles). There is no audience for that game.
How about a HD version of Metroid Prime? (Sakamoto won’t allow that.) How about HD versions of the classic NES and SNES games? How about an HD version of F-Zero GX? (this would be sweet) Nintendo is specifically choosing Gamecube-ideology games. The only reason we probably don’t see Super Mario Sunshine return is because of the required analog triggers.
More and more gamers sound like I do. They prefer playing a 16-bit game and really dislike the direction the Game Industry and Nintendo are going. It could be an age thing. I don’t know. This is unfortunate for my blog because I have to try harder in order to remain different from the pack. If everyone sounds like me, why bother coming to this site?
I’m not sure what the story is behind Kohler. He used to be one of Nintendo’s favorite game journalists. Maybe there was falling out after he put out the story on Miyamoto’s retirement. I don’t know.
He is right. We don’t want to spend $400 to buy 16-bit games. We didn’t even have to do that in 1992. The thought processes, the editors or directors who decide what should be given priority, is seriously wrong at Nintendo. They keep focusing on games no one cares about.
Nintendo has several 1-ups through the use of the Nostalgia Card. But the Nostalgia Card is running low. Someone like me won’t buy a game console just because it has 2d Mario on it anymore. Why? It is because I see how they are treating the series. I can tell they don’t want to make it. And I can tell of the games they do want to make (such as Galaxy having an orchestra plus instructional DVDs).
My business side says Nintendo shouldn’t care about what games people wish to buy so long as they are on the Nintendo platform. Yet, Nintendo does care. I am convinced there are people inside Nintendo pissed off that people flock to 2d Mario and Wii Sports yet ignore 3d Mario and Aonuma Zelda. They love Mario Kart, but they hate Pikmin. They love the pre-3d Nintendo games but do not really like the 3d Nintendo games.
It’s like I’m watching a corporate meltdown. Can Nintendo shift gears to ‘save’ the Wii U? I don’t know. I don’t care.
Using the Nostalgia Card only works for so long. It’s like crying wolf. Eventually, the nostalgia no longer works because we know it is a lie.
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