Not sure I get all the Nintendo Bashing that goes on around here.

[RatheMcGrath]

Hey there, everyone. I'm new. I came for Yahtzee, met the LRR folks, and am now going to tentatively stick my toe into the forums an express an opinion. Yay me! Flame on.

Ever since I started paying attention to what the Internet thought about video games I could afford to purchase, I have been more than a little confused at the reactions I have seen concerning the Nintendo brand.

Now in a moment of transparency, I am fully willing to admit that so long as Zelda and Metroid are on the table, I will always be paying at least some attention to Nintendo hardware. Dunno if that makes me a fanboy or not, I leave it to you.

Anyway, the vitriol towards Nintendo takes me by surprise primarily because from any objective point of view, Nintendo has been running laps around its competition this generation. No! Stop! Spare me the Casual/Hardcore gamer argument a moment and give me a sec! Look at it from a business angle and you'll see my point.

Had Nintendo attempted to release an equivalent system to the 360 or the PS3 they likely would be exclusively software producers by now. For years, the PS3 and the 360 lost money on every system sold. Now, backed my Microsoft and Sony, this was a (somewhat) viable option... they could afford to throw away money on consoles because their real business was Windows and DVD players respectively. Had the 360 and PS3 been products of companies that were restricted to their Video Game products, (and if Nintendo had attempted to follow suit) we likely would have ended up with another Video Game crash like the one that ended the age of Atari.

Instead, Nintendo produced the Wii primarily through the use of Gamecube technology. The very first Wii that sold produced a profit and the system sold like hotcakes. Yeah, the graphics did not match what was being produced on the PS3 and 360, but seriously, graphifile. How many of you who didn't enjoy motion control games would have liked them if the graphics had been better? The games either worked or they didn't, and I'll be the first to say that 3rd party games for the Wii have been a disappointment. Of course Nintendo has done them well (what else would you expect from Nintendo?) and so it makes you wonder what kind of future of the Kinect and the Move will be, given that the most accomplished publisher of Motion Control games won't be making games for them.

I think the reason I keep being intrigued by Nintendo is that they have consistently taken risks with their technology. They are console innovators, experimenting with the way we play games, beyond endless one-upmanship with CPU's and graphics chips. Occasionally that has bitten them (Virtual Boy, anyone?) but mostly they have made very good on their innovations.

Now I agree that motion-control has about petered out for precision gaming. We want more precise controls for most of our games. That said, I think the Wii or an equivalent will be in production for basically forever, because as a "pick-up and play" style of toy, it has been an overwhelming success.

What's next? Dunno. Maybe the combined success of the Wii and various incarnations of the DS will give Nintendo the base it needs to push the technology envelope again, and a new super-console is on the horizon. Whatever happens they're sure to do it with the professionalism and acumen that has defined the company since their early days. They are very, very good at what they do.

Which, all in all, makes it very hard to say that they suck with any kind of integrity.

 

[Mr. In-between]

People hate on Nintendo because it's trendy to hate on Nintendo.

In another fifty years, they'll all be singing a different song when titles like Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Metroid are looked upon the way that Moby Dick and Tom Sawyer currently are in the literary sphere.

 

[ShadowKatt]

My big problem with nintendo isn't so much the console, although I will admit it is just fun as hell to rip on the whole arm flailing gameplay aspect. My big problem comes from the complete lack of any and all innovation of their gaming library. Every single generation they do nothing both rehash all the same games all over again. And I will acknowledge that Sony does the same thing with Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, but nintendo does it with every single game, and not just those that are theirs, but with all those that they aquire like Sonic.

 

[Hurr Durr Derp]

There's a lot of Nintendo bashing around here? Since when?

Eh, I don't care. There's no doubt that Nintendo produces a lot of good games, even if the Wii has a large amount of shoddy shovelware. My only real problem with the big N is that they're relying too much on rehashing decades-old franchises again and again, but as long as those rehashes remain the fairly consistently good quality that they have been so far I will never say that Nintendo sucks.

 

[Souplex]

The people here hate on Nintendo because many of them lack the ability to form opinions that weren't handed to them by Yahtzee.

 

[Theo Rob]

The reason is is that they abandoned hardcore gamers. At least Sega went down respectably, they went solely for the money.

they didnt abandon hardcore games
action games are in my eyes slowly but surey coming back to the wii what with no more heros 2 and the sin and punishment remake

its the fact that the wii is a casual juggernaught but that applys to nintendo in genaeral theres so much that what is considered hardcore is usually dissmissed as "crap as its on the wii"

althouh i plan to get a ps3 i will still hold on to my wii beacuse is still has fun single player games and potencial for more

 

[omega 616]

Serious question, how many Mario, pokemon, metroid and Zelda games have there been? It seems every week theres a new one of those games out.

That and there games don't interest me are the two reasons I don't like Nintendo.

Edit. I will go out on a limb and say the next ... ummm ... 3 games Nintendo release will be one of those 4 games. Who will keep track?

 

[More Fun To Compute]

There are only a handful of persistent offenders who hate everything Nintendo. It was pretty bad for a while last year though. No idea what was going on, some sort of hate campaign or something.

 

[Yer man o'er yonder]

Let me get one thing straight, we do not HATE the nintendo Wii, hating a console is pointless anyway. One thing that irritates me is that they are just re-releasing the same games over and over. They havn't thought of anything new since red steel. Which was an okay game but it's sequel was a very large improvement.

I would consider Red Steel a good proof of concept and Red Steel 2 to be an actual game.
Both fun though.

O.T. Personally I couldn't care less but I believe some people take exception to what they percieve as Nintendo's reckless profiteering with casual games and sequels galore.

 

[Aesir23]

First, Welcome to the Escapist. We own your soul.

Now, I won't speak for everyone because I'm not a mind reader. However, the reason I disliked Nintendo for awhile is because after the release of the Wii, they seemed to be catering almost solely to kids under the age of 10 years old. I'm not talking about graphics, I'm talking about games like Cooking Mama, and all of the f***ing mini games! It seemed like whenever I went to look for a game for the Wii, I had to severely lower my standards and when it comes to video games, I hate having to lower my standards just to find something to play. As it is, I've owned a Wii for three years and I only have six games for it. As opposed to my PS3, which I've owned for six months and I currently own ten games for that system.

However, with the games shown at Nintendo's conference this past E3, I'm glad to finally say that at least some of my money will be going to Nintendo and that I'm anxiously awaiting the release of Skyward Sword and the new Donkey Kong Country. Especially since Sony and Microsoft are busy creating shovelware for their motion controls now.

 

[Radeonx]

Because everyone loves to ***** about how Nintendo abandoned them.
Boo hoo, there are a lot of third party titles, and you use motion controls.
You knew what you were getting into when you bought the console, so stop bitching and whining about the third party games that you weren't ever going to buy, when you have a library of good, fun, brand name games from both Nintendo and other big name groups. Furthermore, the motion controls aren't even that bad. Once you get the hang of the difference from the normal controller style, it is pretty easy to play a Wii game with a Wiimote and nunchuck.

And if you don't have a Wii, then you have no right to complain about it whatsoever, because you don't own one, and shouldn't give a fuck about how much your friends dislike it.

 

[Mr. In-between]

The people here hate on Nintendo because many of them lack the ability to form opinions that weren't handed to them by Yahtzee.

Congraturation! You win one free internet!





OP: "new and impressive games" usually translates as "M rated FPS with online multiplayer" on this forum.

 

[Radeonx]

First, Welcome to the Escapist. We own your soul.

Now, I won't speak for everyone because I'm not a mind reader. However, the reason I disliked Nintendo for awhile is because after the release of the Wii, they seemed to be catering almost solely to kids under the age of 10 years old. I'm not talking about graphics, I'm talking about games like Cooking Mama, and all of the f***ing mini games! It seemed like whenever I went to look for a game for the Wii, I had to severely lower my standards and when it comes to video games, I hate having to lower my standards just to find something to play. As it is, I've owned a Wii for three years and I only have six games for it. As opposed to my PS3, which I've owned for six months and I currently own ten games for that system.

A lot of the games that you are complaining about are third party games that have nothing in common with Nintendo other then being on the Wii, so I can't see how you dislike them specifically for that.
And while I understand that some games aren't your cup of tea, there are still many games out there that can be very fun, if you are into the genre. Just because it has motion controls and a lot of shit third party games does not mean that there aren't any good games at all.

 

[RatheMcGrath]

Really? We're hating on the big 3?

You know who else rehashes a lot? Car companies. You get a new Corolla every year like clockwork.

I mean, step back from ZP for a second. Each individual entry of the flagship franchises has been a work of art on its own merits. I'm not sure that I buy that there is anything inherently wrong with respinning an old yarn, particularly when they do it so well each time. Now obviously if you don't like one Zelda game you are unlikely to like any of them, but very few people complain about getting more of a good thing. Particularly when you reflect on how each has defined its genre in almost every iteration, it's hard to imagine the games industry (at least in the action/adventure genre) without these series contributing.

Even Yahtzee had to admit after his rants that despite disliking the idea of the rehashing, that the games involved are fun. Nintendo isn't trying to create a story, they are creating a gaming experience, and they are very, very good at it.

If refining an experience with improving technology is a bad thing, that might explain a lot about the current state of games.

 

[Radeonx]

Really? We're hating on the big 3?

You know who else rehashes a lot? Car companies. You get a new Corolla every year like clockwork.

I mean, step back from ZP for a second. Each individual entry of the flagship franchises has been a work of art on its own merits. I'm not sure that I buy that there is anything inherently wrong with respinning an old yarn, particularly when they do it so well each time. Now obviously if you don't like one Zelda game you are unlikely to like any of them, but very few people complain about getting more of a good thing. Particularly when you reflect on how each has defined its genre in almost every iteration, it's hard to imagine the games industry (at least in the action/adventure genre) without these series contributing.

Even Yahtzee had to admit after his rants that despite disliking the idea of the rehashing, that the games involved are fun. Nintendo isn't trying to create a story, they are creating a gaming experience, and they are very, very good at it.

If refining an experience with improving technology is a bad thing, that might explain a lot about the current state of games.

...I think I love you.
Every point I could make about Nintendo's games being released, you made for me, so bravo!

 

[Pimppeter2]

Apparently giving your fans more of what they ask for is "milking a series".

I guess Gamers just haven't payed attention in their economics classes.