Support NeoGAF

[SantaC]

Nintendo has indeed done some bonehead moves this generation, but let's not forget the good decisions, and that's what I want to focus on.

Here is my top 5:

1. Locking up Retro Studios as a first party, and at a cheap price too. If they will be able to keep the core of this company in Texas, Austin they will for sure make some great games on revolution as well. Great move by Nintendo.

2. The wavebird. This is imo the first succesfull wireless controller with an awesome reach. I own 4 wavebirds, and never had a hazzle with any of them. Plus that they have a good price tag and long battery time.

3. Making the exclusive deal with Capcom which locked up Resident Evil 4. Even though rumors around RE4 has been circling in the past, I see no intensions of RE4 going multiplatform. If RE4 is as good as it first looks, early next year will be fantastic.

4. Nintendo creating a more mature Zelda. After a great game in Wind Waker, some fans still wasn't satiesfied with the latest adventure and look of Link. Nintendo appearently listend to the fans and went back to the drawing board.

5. Creating the DS. It's a bold move by Nintendo, but if it turns into a success like the GBA this one will look good.

 

[BeOnEdge]

their commercials. THATS IT. thats the one and only thing nintendo has done better than anyone else this gen. gonna have some dinnah with mah bay~beh....gonna have some...GONNA HAVE SOME!!! :lol

 

[FeedMeAStrayCat]

Hmm.. certainly the WaveBird and "mature" Zelda, you are right..
Oh yeah, and the very large memory cards that came out with the system at launch.. ~note sarcasm~

 

[Baron Aloha]

their commercials. THATS IT. thats the one and only thing nintendo has done better than anyone else this gen. gonna have some dinnah with mah bay~beh....gonna have some...GONNA HAVE SOME!!! :lol

Wow, really? That's actually one of the things I think are much worse this gen, especially in the early days of the Gamecube. They were too artsy-fartsy or kiddie. Nintendo used to put out great commercials (Mario 3, Killer Instinct, SNES/N64 launches, Z:OOT, etc, etc, etc).

 

[Semjaza Azazel]

Making Paper Mario 2.

I've not like Nintendo's commercials this gen until fairly recently.

 

[impirius]

1. Getting the DS to market so soon
2. More support for and collaboration with third parties (including co-developing franchise games)
3. Locking up Retro and re-establishing Metroid as a high-profile franchise
4. $99 price point for Gamecube
5. Selling Rare at a premium

They should push Donkey Konga with all their might. I played a demo at Circuit City yesterday, and everyone who saw the game was immediately taken by it. I swear, this game will absolutely move systems around the holidays if Nintendo pushes it right.

 

[BeOnEdge]

Wow, really? That's actually one of the things I think are much worse this gen, especially in the early days of the Gamecube. They were too artsy-fartsy or kiddie. Nintendo used to put out great commercials (Mario 3, Killer Instinct, SNES/N64 launches, Z:OOT, etc, etc, etc).

nah. their commercials own. not the who are you ones though. the holiday commercials have been great and the newest GBA commercials kick ass.

 

[T-1000_Model3]

I was going to list some positives but figured why,their bad moves easily outnumber their good ones. I guess I don't like to sugarcoat the situation.

 

[FeedMeAStrayCat]

I was thinking about it.. and yeah.. Nintendo has made some terrible mistakes in the past few years. But it doesn't matter. They still make my favorite consoles and my favorite games.
~can't wait for DS~

 

[Gattsu25]

My favorite Console: The Console of Life

service starts at 11am

 

[shuri]

Nintendo has indeed done some bonehead moves this generation, but let's not forget the good decisions, and that's what I want to focus on.

Here is my top 5:

2. The wavebird. This is imo the first succesfull wireless controller with an awesome reach. I own 4 wavebirds, and never had a hazzle with any of them. Plus that they have a good price tag and long battery time.

We had wireless controllers back in the Nes days

4. Nintendo creating a more mature Zelda. After a great game in Wind Waker, some fans still wasn't satiesfied with the latest adventure and look of Link. Nintendo appearently listend to the fans and went back to the drawing board.

More Mature? It's only a graphical style. I doubt that Link will engage in decapitations and innoncent villagers skilling. I dont think the end fmv will show Zelda deep throating Link. It will still be the usual zelda gameplay

 

[GDGF]

We had wireless controllers back in the Nes days

Yeah, but they all really sucked (even until recently)

The Wavebird was the first good one

 

[keeblerdrow]

Just from my standpoint, I think A really good move on their part was to release the GBA Player. It was something that was long overdue.

 

[Late Stage Marxist]

Reggie

 

[TheQueen'sOwn]

- Starting to put out preorder bonuses.
- Club Nintendo.
- Who are You? Ad campaign (although I also loved the SMS commercial.. CLEAN IS BETTER THAN DIRTY!)
- Wavebird.
- Making load times really short .
- SP/DS

 

[GDGF]

1. The Who Are You (specificly the GBA side) campaign

2. The NES GBA SP

3. The NDS

4. Codeveloping titles with other developers.

5. Wavebird

 

[Gattsu25]

More Mature? It's only a graphical style. I doubt that Link will engage in decapitations and innoncent villagers skilling. I dont think the end fmv will show Zelda deep throating Link. It will still be the usual zelda gameplay

Those things would actually make the series LESS mature, IMO

maturity can be found even in a children's tale....a strong underlying message or a story that deals with real-life curcumstances in a realistic way are what I consider mature...none of this nudity, extra gore, gothic architecture, angry teens, and language bullshit

 

[MaddenNFL64]

In no particular order:

Getting 3 exclusive RE games.

Buying up Retro cheap.

Zelda with "normal" shading, so people would shut up.

Making commercials that are good.

Redesigning the GBA to the SP model, and making a truckload of money.

 

[FeedMeAStrayCat]

Also, especially from a business standpoint, we cannot leave out the NES Classic series thingy for GBA. Nintendo must be making a shitload of money off of these 15-20 year old games. Good for them..

 

[cvxfreak]

1. GameBoy Advance SP and DS
A lot of GBASP's sales come from previous GBA owners, so this was a great decision. GBASP continues to outsell any other competitor with its stylish and small look. The DS should also be a big hit, and a way to keep Nintendo and the Japanese third parties together.

2. Re-establishing ties with Squaresoft
Although Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles hasn't been too important on the GameCube's success in Japan and the U.S., knowing that these two companies are no longer distanced makes things like the future of the DS bright. The GameBoy Advance SP was also helped with the presence of Dragon Quest Monsters: Caravan Heart and Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, ultimately good choices for Nintendo in the long run.

3. Establishing Resident Evil as an exclusive
Although the GameCube Resident Evil games aren't the best selling ones ever, it gave the GameCube some hope in being seen as a mature contender. Resident Evil 4 also looks good enough to move GameCube systems in 2005. biohazard in Japan has been crucial to the success of the system there - biohazard and biohazard 0, individually, sold more GameCubes when they were released than Super Mario Sunshine, Mario Kart: Double Dash, Mario Party 4, Pokemon Colosseum, Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles and Tales of Symphonia had been able to do. To date, biohazard 0 is the best selling third party game for GC in Japan.

4. Getting Japanese third party support from Sega, Capcom, Namco in good showing
Capcom, Sega and Namco's efforts on GameCube have sold very well, such as Sonic Heroes, Viewtiful Joe and Soul Calibur II. Their GameBoy Advance efforts have also veen very successful, with Sega's Sonic Advance series doing very well, Rockman EXE 4 possibly being the first and only third party million seller in Japan, and Namco Museum in the States. This proves relationships with Nintendo will not end anytime soon as Namco develops Donkey Konga and Star Fox 2, Capcom with biohazard/Resident Evil 4 and Sega with future entries in the Sonic series.

5. The GameCube/GameBoy Accessories
I'm talking about the WaveBird, GBA Wireless Adapters, Konga drums, and GameBoy Player. The WaveBird opens up possibilities for future wireless items, as does the GBA Wireless Adapters. Nintendo is genius for placing them in the mega popular Pokemon games for free, making them an already widespread accessory in Japan. There are already 400,000 Konga drums in Japan and the number grows each week. Third parties, not just Nintendo and Namco, can begin to take advantage of the drums as accessories. The GameBoy Player removes a lot of problems with GameBoy game screen problems.

Other very commendable decisions:

- The Famicom Mini line-up
- To a lesser extent, the Classic NES line-up
- Club Nintendo in Japan
- Mature Zelda
- Acquiring Retro Studios
- Establishing Tokyo studios
- Collaborating on MGS:TTS, F-Zero GX, Zelda: The Minish Cap
- Wario Ware, Animal Crossing, Pikmin franchises

Less commendable decisions:

- Letting go of Rareware on GameCube development
- Not entering the online game market
- The Indigo system color
- Focusing too much on connectivity

 

[Gattsu25]

making a shitload of money off of old games being released on the GBA is Nintendo's new trademark :\

that's the one thing they did this gen that I can't stand...the GBA has been a huge source of income for them, at the expense of their 'dear' fans...hopefully the PSP vs DS battle should let them know that competition drives markets

 

[Solid]

Releasin' Eternal Darkness. That game alone was worth my GC purchase.

 

[Late Stage Marxist]

Also, especially from a business standpoint, we cannot leave out the NES Classic series thingy for GBA. Nintendo must be making a shitload of money off of these 15-20 year old games. Good for them..

Yeah, NES classic SP sealed the deal for me.

Also:

Metroid revival
Selling Rare
Zelda Collector's Edition
Master Quest pre-order bonus
Having the ambition to get an MGS game on GC, regardless of how poor it ended up selling
Letting Namco use Link in Soul Calibur II

And some already stated:

WaveBird
RE exclusives
Showing Square love
GBA SP
Eternal Darkness

 

[SantaC]

We had wireless controllers back in the Nes days



More Mature? It's only a graphical style. I doubt that Link will engage in decapitations and innoncent villagers skilling. I dont think the end fmv will show Zelda deep throating Link. It will still be the usual zelda gameplay

Yes we had wireless controllers back in the days, but it's not even close the success wavebird has.

Miyamoto himself said indirect at E3 that the new Zelda is more "mature". He said that he has taken Link to a world where he has grown up.

 

[carbonbased]

Wavebird
Strategic price drops/bundles
Securing exclusive Capcom titles, especially RE series
Coming to terms with Square
Realistic Zelda (not that there was anything wrong with TWW)
Metroid Prime

 

[Gorgie]

Making the Gamecube easy to carry. It's easy to take to a friends house and play smash bros or something. I love Xbox LAN parties, I just don't know how I'm going to take it, and all my gear over when Halo 2 ships. Seriously, I don't think my backpack is big enough.

 

[Traumahound]

Woking closely with Sega and Namco.

Oh, and making the GC so small.

 

[AniHawk]

Lowering liscensing fees
Mending relationships with many Japanese developers
Creating sleek looking handhelds (DS, GBA SP)
(Potentially big) Zelda XII
And, not a best move, but my favorite: Making Intelligent Systems make GC games.

 

[evil ways]

Free Zelda OoT/MQ and Zelda Collection discs for Gamecube, that's about it.

 

[Ranger X]

1- 99$ price point for GC
2- flush Rare
3- flush Sillicon Knights
4- get Resident Evil
5- getting closer with third parties

 

[jarrod]

3. GameCube's incomparably clean, efficent, cost effective architecture. From a pure hardware/cost perspective, it's the smartest console design ever.

2. Letting Nagoshi's Daytona team develop F-Zero (rather than NST/NdCube, thank heaven).

1. Advance Wars. Best game this generation, easily.

 

[Solid]

I don't understand you people that say the best thing Nintendo has done this gen was to flush Rare and SK. That were their biggest mistake this gen IMO. Easily.

I don't even know if I'm gonna get Nintendo's next machine thanks to that.

 

[doncale]

Nintendo moving away from SGI/MIPS for the CPU. moving *to* IBM's PowerPC family. while keeping the SGI graphics heritige with ArtX (now part of ATI)

having Retro Studios do Metroid.


going with a realistic Zelda late in Gamecube's life cycle.


working with Sega on projects like F-ZERO.


Exclusive Link playable in GCN SCII.

 

[eso76]

Nintendo has indeed done some bonehead moves this generation, but let's not forget the good decisions, and that's what I want to focus on.

Here is my top 5:

1. Locking up Retro Studios

2. The wavebird.

3. Making the exclusive deal with Capcom

4. Nintendo creating a more mature Zelda.

5. Creating the DS.

.

1. Agree

2. The Wavebird is the first good wireless controller, and that was a good move.
Making the standard cables longer than 30 cm's would have been a better move, though

3. Indeed, i think capcom has done its best on GC this gen.

4. A Good move would be creating a nintendo-good Zelda. And i mean, one they would not hesitate postponing month after month until they are fully satisfied with it. Possibly, something more ambitious than WW, which was heavily based on Ocarina of Time's game engine.

5. Actually, right now i'd gladly pay 150$ for a GBA (XP?) with a decent display.
Going from my mobile's 262k colors Tft back to my Gba Sp makes me want to cry...

 

[Auron]

Good Moves:

1. Having a disc format.

2. Bringing back RPG's.

3. Pricing and bundles: first the Zelda one, now the Metroid.

4. Strong exclusives like Resident Evil, Tales of Symphonia and Metroid Prime.

5. Having good ads lately: "You are what you play. Who are you?"

6. Staying profitable, and in business.

7. Upcoming Zelda will rock.

Boneheaded moves:

1. Launching late.

2. No DVD player.

3. Purple launch system.

4. No Grand Theft Auto, Dragon Quest or real Final Fantasy.

5. Small Memory Card at launch(effectively killing sports games sales on the cube).

6. Not selling component cables at retail, and then getting rid of the output because "no one's buying them."

7. Cel Shading Zelda after showing the Spaceworld demo.

8. Ignoring online(killing sports games even more, and keeping FFXI off the Cube).

9. Selling Rare. Even though they take a while to develop titles, they are usually of good quality.

10. Connectivity.

I love Nintendo, but they have still been making more bad decisions than good ones(especially at launch).

 

[Gattsu25]

Auron:

strike off numbers 1 and 2 off the good list as those should have always been there

strike off numbers 1, 2, 3, and 9 off the bad list as those either are REALLY minor (1-3) or are huge positives (huge profits from selling Rare)

:b


I'm bored

 

[element]

Buying up Retro cheap.

Nintendo really didn't get Retro cheap after all investments. The original Nintendo investment is speculated to be over $20m or more, while the 'buyout' clause was only for the outstanding shares from Jeff Spangenberg, which was around $1m.

 

[Drinky Crow]

The Wavebird, the GBA SP, and TEH MAT00R ZELDA.

 

[AniHawk]

The Wavebird, the GBA SP, and TEH MAT00R ZELDA.

And Fire Emblem.

 

[ge-man]

Mending relationships with 3rd parties is their biggest move IMO. Third parties played a huge role in Sony taking charge of the maket and Nintendo losing ground last generation. I think Nintendo finally realizes that they can't make a console that completely favors their own software.

After that I would say the GC's design was pretty smart. If one looks past dvd playback and online Nintendo did really good for themselves by coming in with a cheaper console with comparable capabilities.

Lastly, the Famicom Mini/NES mini lines. Regardless of our own opinions, from a business perspective this was brilliant move. These damn things are the ultimate gravy train.

 

[MightyHedgehog]

Acquiring Retro Studios.
Collaborating with a few third-parties for joint projects.
Securing RE4.

That's it.

 

[element]

Mending relationships with 3rd parties is their biggest move IMO. Third parties played a huge role in Sony taking charge of the maket and Nintendo losing ground last generation. I think Nintendo finally realizes that they can't make a console that completely favors their own software.

I dont see how Nintendo has really improved their 3rd party relationships, outside of paying for exclusives, just like everyone else. Look at the 3rd party games for Gamecube at E3 the last two years, there just isn't many to speak of.
Now they are probably being more friendly and open with 3rd parties in say the days of SNES or NES, because they aren't first anymore. But most 3rd parties aren't falling for it.

 

[ge-man]

I didn't say that the change was big or anything. I'm more or less congratulating them for changing their mind set. Even if they are doing the same thing as other competitiors, I think it's still worth noting that they got one of Capcom's biggest franchises and they have begun to sort out the messy breakup with Square. This is something I wouldn't have predicted in 1999.

 

[drohne]

1. unceremoniously dumping silicon knights, just when denis "pompous gasbag" dyack was getting cozy. eternal darkness was a work of profound anti-talent. i'm sure dyack will persist in mangling references to greek philosophers. but very soon no one will be listening.

2. pawning rare off on a hapless microsoft for...how much? $500 million? jesus. rare hardly make games anymore. and when they do get around to making a game, they'll no longer have "the nintendo difference" to obscure its essential mediocrity.

now nintendo needs to dump retro and complete the trifecta. i don't often want games to fail, but metroid prime 2 is a notable exception. fail metroid prime 2, fail.

 

[jarrod]

But most 3rd parties aren't falling for it.

Well EA, Capcom, Namco, Sega, Activision, UbiSoft, THQ, Bandai, Konami and Square Enix seemed to. You'd have to be blind not to see the improved 3rd party relationships this generation... though I guess Nintendo doesn't seem as close with Acclaim or Midway anymore.

 

[SantaC]

1. unceremoniously dumping silicon knights, just when denis "pompous gasbag" dyack was getting cozy. eternal darkness was a work of profound anti-talent. i'm sure dyack will persist in mangling references to greek philosophers. but very soon no one will be listening.

2. pawning rare off on a hapless microsoft for...how much? $500 million? jesus. rare hardly make games anymore. and when they do get around to making a game, they'll no longer have "the nintendo difference" to obscure its essential mediocrity.

now nintendo needs to dump retro and complete the trifecta. i don't often want games to fail, but metroid prime 2 is a notable exception. fail metroid prime 2, fail.

if Metroid Prime 2 fails, so does the GC xmas lineup. It's no secret that MP2:E is the major game in their weakened (but still good)lineup.

I don't think MP2 will fail though.

 

[jiggle]

SantaCruZer: Avatar image size should not be greater than 150k in size.

 

[MightyHedgehog]

pawning rare off on a hapless microsoft for...how much? $500 million? jesus. rare hardly make games anymore. and when they do get around to making a game, they'll no longer have "the nintendo difference" to obscure its essential mediocrity.

Heh. I still think this is the biggest mistake Nintendo has made this gen...time will tell.

 

[Deg]

now nintendo needs to dump retro and complete the trifecta. i don't often want games to fail, but metroid prime 2 is a notable exception. fail metroid prime 2, fail.

You'll have to pray alot Retro studios are first party not second party so your trifecta will never be complete.

Heh. I still think this is the biggest mistake Nintendo has made this gen...time will tell.

I'm pretty sure it was MS who got duped somehow. I remember MS saying Nintendo made the process easy and could have made it difficult if they wanted to but didnt.

 

[AniHawk]

now nintendo needs to dump retro and complete the trifecta. i don't often want games to fail, but metroid prime 2 is a notable exception. fail metroid prime 2, fail.

The trifecta was already complete: Left Field Studios, Rareware, and Silicon Knights.