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[Natureboy99]

Most Nintendo fans have no idea that Nintendo has completely lost their creative edge. They lost it in the GameCube era. Consider Mario, the only franchise guaranteed to be on every Nintendo platform.

Mario 1- the first in the series. Running jumping fireballs

Mario 2 - Crazy new art style, throwing vegetable gameplay and 4 characters with vastly different mechanics.

Mario 3 - world map with themed worlds, tons of suits, enhanced graphics

Mario 4 - big graphics upgrade, Yoshi the mount, new suits and moves

Mario 5 - baby Mario gameplay with egg shooting and again a totally new art style

Mario 64 - 3d platformer practically perfected on the first try

Sunshine - graphics upgrade to Mario 64, gameplay very similar

Galaxy - no graphics upgrade. Condescending difficulty and hand holding. Same art style as previous entries.

Im not even going to mention the new series.

I could do a similar list for all their other franchises. And they are all much worse than Mario. Zelda they do work hard on, but they are rare and also suffer from old mechanics (Simon says combat, lock and key item system ( crack is lock, bomb is key)).

Their games are just so stale compared to the genius of the nes-gc days. GC was the start of the end. Wiiu owner here btw

 

[LakeEarth]

I go through Nintendo waves. My gaming in 2008-2012 was pretty much 360 exclusive, but 2013 has had a resurgence thanks to the 3DS.

 

[Skellig Gra]

Galaxy - no graphics upgrade. Condescending difficulty and hand holding. Same art style as previous entries.

You serious bro? This is wrong on every account.

 

[MYE]

Their games are the same every time just sequels upon sequels. Where are Nintendo's versions of the last of us, beyond: two souls or BioShock: infinite where they push the industry in different and mature directions? There is no excitement at Nintendo anymore and the sooner they realise that the crowd they got for the Wii how now gone to candy crush on their phone the better.

They are a company that are selling nostalgia every time

So you post a random list of games you find interesting, label them as pushing the industry forward "in mature directions" and conclude that they need follow this footprint in order to be relevant?
Why?

Also, I'm sure nintendo has a handful of recentish titles that have sold better than all of those combined. I'd say thats "excitment" for their products, regardless of these recent Wii U sales.

 

[redcrayon]

There were a bunch of DS Zelda games. There's such a thing as franchise fatigue. This is something the more hardcore Nintendo fans don't seem to realise though

There was also a healthy amount of DS/PSP GTA and CoD games if we are bringing handheld versions in, but they do seem to get forgotten in the rush to use handheld games as a stick to beat Mario and Zelda with.

 

[MYE]

Galaxy - no graphics upgrade. Condescending difficulty and hand holding. Same art style as previous entries.

Dear lord...

 

[cafemomo]

GC was the start of the end.

I disagree. I felt like Nintendo was on top of the world during the GC and GBA days.

It went downhill when they went with the Wii

 

[Warm Machine]

There was a period in the N64 era when there really was a significant existence of Nintendo quality. Every game they produced was best of breed and expansive. Games like Mario 64 and Zelda Ocarina of Time blazed new trails in game design and technology. Following those, Rare was making similar products like Banjo, Jet Force, and Goldeneye. If you wanted the most expansive high quality experiences in near every facet Nintendo and Nintendo platforms were where you were going to find them. The sorts of games where printed guides were valuable and expanded the experience. This continued into a good deal of the Gamecube era but started falling apart within it.

A interesting thing started happening. North American and European developers began to make expansive games with a reliance on high technology and complex systems. Halo and GTA 3 both spring to mind immediately. This only accelerated as more games started embracing open world, physics, multiplayer design, and direct x lending itself to better and better visuals.

A singular motivated team could crank out a game of quality and breadth of a Nintendo title. Maybe not in every facet but products like Morrowind were far greater in scope and complexity than anything else going on.

It seems like instead of competing title for title, Nintendo looked at their newer successes like Nintendogs and Brain Training and figured that would be their more cost effective competition route for a vast majority of their titles for the Wii. While the strategy worked well for them there it put them in the technological and development deficit they are currently enjoying. They are not equipped to build games with the breadth and visual bar of a Skyrim, or GTA.

The question is, is that where they should be? Maybe they should forgo that and instead of play multi million dollar catchup maybe they should take lessons from Minecraft and deliver youth entertainment with clever mechanics and customization? Maybe something like Project Spark with a Nintendo skin would be a good route?

I've maintained that in terms of raw design Mod Nation Racers is a far more complicated and ambitious product than Mario Kart, but Mod Nation with a Mario Kart skin would be an incredible product. I look at Trials and Evolution and those are the best Excitebike games ever made. Would it be the worst thing if the next Mario or Zelda game wasn't so obvious before it was even revealed?

I also think that Nintendo is in a hard place in terms of appeal. They are usually the front line for kids introduction into gaming so they have to build products to suit that market but also appeal to the people who are now hitting 40 - 50 who grew up with them.

 

[TheMagician]

Most Nintendo fans have no idea that Nintendo has completely lost their creative edge. They lost it in the GameCube era. Consider Mario, the only franchise guaranteed to be on every Nintendo platform.

Mario 1- the first in the series. Running jumping fireballs

Mario 2 - Crazy new art style, throwing vegetable gameplay and 4 characters with vastly different mechanics.

Mario 3 - world map with themed worlds, tons of suits, enhanced graphics

Mario 4 - big graphics upgrade, Yoshi the mount, new suits and moves

Mario 5 - baby Mario gameplay with egg shooting and again a totally new art style

Mario 64 - 3d platformer practically perfected on the first try

Sunshine - graphics upgrade to Mario 64, gameplay very similar

Galaxy - no graphics upgrade. Condescending difficulty and hand holding. Same art style as previous entries.

Im not even going to mention the new series.

I could do a similar list for all their other franchises. And they are all much worse than Mario. Zelda they do work hard on, but they are rare and also suffer from old mechanics (Simon says combat, lock and key item system ( crack is lock, bomb is key)).

Their games are just so stale compared to the genius of the nes-gc days. GC was the start of the end. Wiiu owner here btw

I feel that my world is a dumber place after reading your post, especially the Galaxy part and as if you would even own a Wii U with that attitude towards Nintendo.

 

[redcrayon]

While I understand entirely where posters have specific complaints about Nintendo franchises (who doesn't ), what I don't understand how it's possible to dislike the entire range of Xenoblade, Mario, Fire Emblem, DKC, Zelda, Mario Kart, Pikmin, Smash, Metroid, Pokemon, Pilotwings, Luigi's Mansion, Kid Icarus, Starfox, Animal Crossing and a dozen other IPs covering a dozen genres all made by a dozen or more different studios all at the same time. It's a wide range of games with something for everyone where it's main offence as a whole seems to be that they aren't gritty western games.

In terms of creativity, there is plenty of it, but just not in the direction some posters want of the current trend for violent first/third person action games with plenty of guns, cinematic, innovative story-telling and AAA production values. That's not the only viable route for gaming.

Pokemon directly informs Puzzle&Dragons, Disney Infinity, Skylanders and every other collect-em-up aimed at kids. Kids (and adults) wouldn't still be into it if they didn't gradually change it up a bit. Just because most forumites probably don't play those games or aren't interested in them doesn't mean it isnt a hard-fought sector with a clear market leader.
Mario Galaxy informs Sonic Lost World.
Mario Kart continues to be the originator and benchmark for the kart racer.
DKC, Yoshi, Kirby and NSMB are doing a fair bit to keep the HD 2D game alive.
Smash Bros informs Playstation All Stars.
Xenoblade was one of the best RPGs of the generation and it came out of nowhere.
Kid Icarus was one of the most inventive reboots of recent years. The controls are a bit controversial but really it's a template for how to refresh an IP.

I love TLOU or GTA or Bioshock as much as the next guy, but what I don't want is Nintendo making violent games about shooting zombies and aliens and soldiers and criminals. When their stuff already covers a dozen different genres, why on earth would we want them moving into the genres already entirely saturated and done so well by western developers? Next gen consoles have already promoted at least a dozen variants on those themes already, I like a bit of variety, and my personal two or three favourites from Nintendo's IP range are a great counterbalance for me to the western AAA diet of sci-fi and fantasy and guns that takes itself oh-so-seriously. There's a place for both whimsical Nintendo playgrounds and grimdark shooterfests, the industry would be a much poorer place without either of them.

/whycantwehaveboth.gif

 

[Alison]

And yet you're the poster in this thread who is blatantly ignoring people proving points wrong and waving them away when presented with actual release dates, changing your own argument to dodge and suit your needs, while waving away other people's opinions in response to your own.

If we're looking for the worst poster in the thread, which you seem quick to accuse people of when they present valid opposition, perhaps a mirror will suffice.

Because people keep arguing something different to me. They're saying things like "Hey, look, a Sony Racing game is ripping off Mario Kart, Sony Smash Bros is ripping off SSB" which is totally ignoring my point that the type of games which are leading the industry currently, both critically and commercially, are not taking influence from Nintendo. That isn't an opinion. It's a statement of fact. Whether or not that affects somebody, or whether or not they think thats a good or bad thing, doesn't matter. The top selling games that aren't by Nintendo and the most critically acclaimed games not by Nintendo are not taking any influence from Nintendo. That's the point.

There was also a healthy amount of DS/PSP GTA and CoD games if we are bringing handheld versions in, but they do seem to get forgotten in the rush to use handheld games as a stick to beat Mario and Zelda with.

Because CoD and GTA haven't been around for 25 years, and I wasn't playing those games as a child. I'm sick of seeing Mario and Link. I'm sick of hearing the same music, the sound sound effects, the same enemies.

I'm a fan of GTA, and one of the best things about it is how you get new characters every time. If GTA was a Nintendo game, you'd have the same main character every single game.

The whole "gameplay is all that matters" argument is bullshit; you need both. Mario games are fun, but the fact I'm so sick of the character means it's hard to motivate myself to play it. There's no excitement.

CoD, I don't play, mainly because it's bad but also because every game is the same and it's boring.

 

[redcrayon]

Because people keep arguing something different to me. They're saying things like "Hey, look, a Sony Racing game is ripping off Mario Kart, Sony Smash Bros is ripping off SSB" which is totally ignoring my point that the type of games which are leading the industry currently, both critically and commercially, are not taking influence from Nintendo. That isn't an opinion. It's a statement of fact. Whether or not that affects somebody, or whether or not they think thats a good or bad thing, doesn't matter. The top selling games that aren't by Nintendo and the most critically acclaimed games not by Nintendo are not taking any influence from Nintendo. That's the point.

Isn't that circular reasoning though? What about the top selling games that are by Nintendo and the critically acclaimed games that are by Nintendo, they don't seem to be taking much influence from anyone else either, as Nintendo's first-party stuff and AAA gaming are now on two different tracks. They are still all games but they just have different influences. Michael Bay doesn't take much from Pixar either.

And it's not a statement of fact- you have picked Bioshock, CoD, TLOU and GTA as your barometer of success. Great games and all AAA western titles. So what? Why is one company expected to be able to compete with and influence games in genres they don't make games in? So I don't see TLOU taking influence from the wildly more successful Pokemon, I don't see why that's a problem when the most vibrant area of gaming right now, indies, are pretty much in love with Nintendo's templates laid down in the 80s.

 

[redcrayon]

Because CoD and GTA haven't been around for 25 years, and I wasn't playing those games as a child. I'm sick of seeing Mario and Link. I'm sick of hearing the same music, the sound sound effects, the same enemies.

I'm a fan of GTA, and one of the best things about it is how you get new characters every time. If GTA was a Nintendo game, you'd have the same main character every single game.

The whole "gameplay is all that matters" argument is bullshit; you need both. Mario games are fun, but the fact I'm so sick of the character means it's hard to motivate myself to play it. There's no excitement.

CoD, I don't play, mainly because it's bad but also because every game is the same and it's boring.

Er, GTA has been around for 16 years, is there an arbitrary cut off point after that or something? I was playing it as a teenager and am in my thirties now, if your argument is that somehow 'only' being 16 years old is somehow better than 25, I disagree, it's a silly metric and seems personal to your particular circumstances. CoD I agree is also a poor example- with handhelds and spin offs it clocks up a number of being even more frequent than an annual release!

So you are sick of Mario and Link. That's only two of their franchises and not their entire output. My personal favourite is Fire Emblem, where the cast changes almost every time. I doubt we'll also see another Xenoblade game with the same cast either, as both of those are story-driven and a bit more applicable to your need for fresh characters. You seem to be taking the constants of Mario games and comparing them to something that changes in GTA, a game in a completely different genre, when it's hard to see how the two can possibly be compared. I might as well just as easily say that I grew bored of hijackings and guns and running over pedestrians and driving around years ago, so it's hard for me to motivate myself to play it. There is no excitement.

All of that is utterly subjective- I've even playing GTA, Mario, Zelda, Resident Evil, Megaman and dozens of other franchises for a long time, and they all have things that are constants, and things that change between installments. The difference between Mario 64 and Mario Galaxy is just as amazing as the difference between GTA and GTAIV for me.

You seem to hold your short list of story-driven western games as the way forward for games development, but it really isn't the only path, there are plenty of other genres and ideas games can explore without being violent first-and-third person action games. I'd love to see more action games that don't involve huge amounts of shooting people, something that all of your listed titles have in common and is my personal bugbear at the moment, but somehow I don't think creativity in AAA western gaming is entirely dead just because the main customer base loves shooting things so that's what they get. It looks like next gen is mainly going to be about shooting things too, but hey, maybe the good developers will surprise me. It doesn't mean I'm going to moan that future CoD, GTA, TLOU and Bioshock games will stick to that damn shooting-people-in-the-face method of problem solving when it's a huge part of their appeal.

If you want a Mario-style game without Mario in it, check out Rayman, Donkey Kong, Sonic or a gajillion other games. There's plenty for everyone. I'm not sure that a Mario game without a podgy plumber in it would still be a Mario game, and certainly wouldn't be chasing the sales figures you seem to hold in high importance for those other games you like.

 

[Kid Ska]

Galaxy - no graphics upgrade. Condescending difficulty and hand holding. Same art style as previous entries.

You can't be serious.

 

[PhantomR]

You can't be serious.

Someone already has @NeoGafshitposts on the line, right?

 

[Heimbeck]

Because CoD and GTA haven't been around for 25 years, and I wasn't playing those games as a child. I'm sick of seeing Mario and Link. I'm sick of hearing the same music, the sound sound effects, the same enemies.

I'm a fan of GTA, and one of the best things about it is how you get new characters every time. If GTA was a Nintendo game, you'd have the same main character every single game.

The whole "gameplay is all that matters" argument is bullshit; you need both. Mario games are fun, but the fact I'm so sick of the character means it's hard to motivate myself to play it. There's no excitement.

CoD, I don't play, mainly because it's bad but also because every game is the same and it's boring.

Sounds like you like story stuff in your game, which is fun but there's no reason to put down Mario or Zelda because they aren't as story focused.

 

[Mondy]

Nintendo will always have a special place in the industry, and for good reason, but these series of monumentally dumb decisions they've been making recently is making it harder and harder to respect them.

 

[Alison]

Sounds like you like story stuff in your game, which is fun but there's no reason to put down Mario or Zelda because they aren't as story focused.

Zelda is incredibly story focused. You're constantly watching boring cutscenes and being told what to do by annoying sidekicks.

I don't want story, what I want is interesting worlds that I enjoy being in. I don't watch the cutscenes in GTA, but the world feels alive and filled with interesting character. It feels like an entirely different city to GTA4 (obviously). On the other hand Mario games, with the exception of Galaxy (which is why it was so good) usually always feel like they're taking place in the same world, I'm constantly hearing the same music and sound effects, etc. This isn't a thing where you get to downplay the importance of these aspects by saying "gameplay is all that matters!". Mario games are always fun to play, but I'm increasingly sick of feeling like I'm playing the same game with a new power up.

Isn't that circular reasoning though? What about the top selling games that are by Nintendo and the critically acclaimed games that are by Nintendo, they don't seem to be taking much influence from anyone else either, as Nintendo's first-party stuff and AAA gaming are now on two different tracks. They are still all games but they just have different influences. Michael Bay doesn't take much from Pixar either.

And it's not a statement of fact- you have picked Bioshock, CoD, TLOU and GTA as your barometer of success. Great games and all AAA western titles. So what? Why is one company expected to be able to compete with and influence games in genres they don't make games in? So I don't see TLOU taking influence from the wildly more successful Pokemon, I don't see why that's a problem when the most vibrant area of gaming right now, indies, are pretty much in love with Nintendo's templates laid down in the 80s.

The point is Nintendo are in a bubble. They make their stuff, the people who like Nintendo or are fans of the franchises will buy them, but their overall influence is declining. Which means that for people like me, it's difficult to not be bored of them, because all they're doing is making the same games over and over. They're a stagnant developer; bringing very little new to the table and being surpassed by others.

 

[Lordwindowlicker]

I'm at the complete opposite end.

Nintendo is kicking ass, as far as I'm concerned.

 

[cafemomo]

I'm at the complete opposite end.

Nintendo is kicking ass, as far as I'm concerned.

kicking ass in the handheld front I will agree.

 

[ZaCH3000]

I can agree that my interest in Nintendo games has fallen. I blame the Wii and Nintendo's love for pushing gimmicks.

Return to traditional game controllers and I will always purchase a Nintendo system. I'm still skeptical about Wii-U and the Wii-Pad.

 

[Mondy]

I can agree that my interest in Nintendo games has fallen. I blame the Wii and Nintendo's love for pushing gimmicks.

Return to traditional game controllers and I will always purchase a Nintendo system. I'm still skeptical about Wii-U and the Wii-Pad.

I think that is a big part of their problems. They pissed on the core crowd with the Wii and had to reclaim their trust and support with the Wii U. To do that, they really needed to sell the concept of the Gamepad well and they never did. Nintendoland was an admirable attempt but that wasn't what the core was looking for.

In my opinion, they really should have held off launching until at least Wind Waker HD was ready to launch with it. I know that's a pretty long delay, but in hindsight, it's not like they would have lost much by waiting.

 

[DukeTogo1300]

I feel like a lot of their IP's have been ignored too long, and I've never cared for Pokemon or Smash Bros, and their Mii games did nothing for me, and too much Mario/MarioKart/Zelda, etc.

It can be fixed.

 

[Mauricio_Magus]

Nintendo makes amazing games, why would my love go away?

Most Nintendo fans have no idea that Nintendo has completely lost their creative edge. They lost it in the GameCube era. Consider Mario, the only franchise guaranteed to be on every Nintendo platform.

Mario 1- the first in the series. Running jumping fireballs

Mario 2 - Crazy new art style, throwing vegetable gameplay and 4 characters with vastly different mechanics.

Mario 3 - world map with themed worlds, tons of suits, enhanced graphics

Mario 4 - big graphics upgrade, Yoshi the mount, new suits and moves

Mario 5 - baby Mario gameplay with egg shooting and again a totally new art style

Mario 64 - 3d platformer practically perfected on the first try

Sunshine - graphics upgrade to Mario 64, gameplay very similar

Galaxy - no graphics upgrade. Condescending difficulty and hand holding. Same art style as previous entries.

Im not even going to mention the new series.

I could do a similar list for all their other franchises. And they are all much worse than Mario. Zelda they do work hard on, but they are rare and also suffer from old mechanics (Simon says combat, lock and key item system ( crack is lock, bomb is key)).

Their games are just so stale compared to the genius of the nes-gc days. GC was the start of the end. Wiiu owner here btw

You're so wrong, it's not even funny.

 

[redcrayon]

The point is Nintendo are in a bubble. They make their stuff, the people who like Nintendo or are fans of the franchises will buy them, but their overall influence is declining. Which means that for people like me, it's difficult to not be bored of them, because all they're doing is making the same games over and over. They're a stagnant developer; bringing very little new to the table and being surpassed by others.

Okay.

Yes, I agree that Nintendo are in a bubble and aren't making violent western action games. I'm ok with that, I like variety.

Their influence is declining because, compared to the 90s, lots of the big PC developers have now moved into the console space. This isn't a bad thing, having Japan dominate the console gaming market wasn't healthy. Expecting Nintendo to retain their influence level when their are now dozens of major western developers in dozens of countries investing millions in gaming would be insanity. Console game development is global now, not led by one small country, that's cool and there was very little any Japanese developer could have done to stop it happening.

The criticism of 'only Nintendo fans buy their games' is a poor one as it's the 'only true Scotsmen' fallacy. You could equally argue that only fans of Rockstar buy GTA games. Furthermore, you seem to keep putting all Nintendo games in one box. There are dozens of IP, am I a Nintendo fan if I buy Fire Emblem and Smash but not Mario, Zelda, Mario Kart or Pokemon? An awful lot of people like a few of their IP, I doubt there are many that like all of it. I also put more weight behind some of their developers than others, I'll buy Intelligent Systems games at launch but not Gamefreak ones. Putting all of their games together as 'Nintendo games' is silly when it covers so many developers, genres and IP, and saying 'people that like some franchises will buy them' is also effectively meaningless as that's what happens across the entire industry.

I can't agree that they are making the same games over and over. What does happen over and over is that people rag on Zelda while ignoring the shitload of other stuff Nintendo make like Xenoblade or FE or Kid Icarus and managing to ignore that very few other major franchises would be happy to completely change to motion controls while changing the art style and the dungeon/overworld/transport/items etc. When Halo is entirely controlled by Kinect, reboots the story and the world and changes all vehicles and guns and maps and supporting characters, rather than just going for graphical updates, then I'll admit Zelda is a remake of the same game over and over again.

Are they being surpassed by others? Sure, that's business, everyone rises and falls, it's happened to Nintendo before and it'll happen again. Are they stagnant? No, they are one of the most prolific major developers of software on the planet that, even with a console that's dead in the water, have almost single-handedly put out a fair amount of decent software for it. They are screwed in terms of the WiiU, but they aren't stagnant just because they aren't making gritty games about shooting people in the head. Wow, it really is easy to write off entire swathes of games with a single sentence.

 

[Mauricio_Magus]

The point is Nintendo are in a bubble. They make their stuff, the people who like Nintendo or are fans of the franchises will buy them, but their overall influence is declining. Which means that for people like me, it's difficult to not be bored of them, because all they're doing is making the same games over and over. They're a stagnant developer; bringing very little new to the table and being surpassed by others.

I don't see how Nintendo is stagnant, I see AAA game developers as way more stagnant and boring than what Nintendo delivers.

My only problem with Nintendo is their tutorials in Skyward Sword and Dream Team, just... stop that.

 

[Mondy]

I don't see how Nintendo is stagnant, I see AAA game developers as way more stagnant and boring than what Nintendo delivers.

My only problem with Nintendo is their tutorials in Skyward Sword and Dream Team, just... stop that.

How do you separate Nintendo games and AAA games as if they can't be the same thing? Galaxy, Twilight Princess, Wind Waker HD....These are all AAA games.

 

[skypunch]

I will do that "Nintendo is all about gameplay" thing all I want. Because Bioshock's gameplay sucks. People have "fun" playing Bioshock because people don't care about gameplay as much as they care about everything else. It's a shame really, but check out some threads about Bioshock. Very few people are talking about anything other than the presentation and the story. The reason Nintendo doesn't "influence" the industry, as you say, is because as far as the industry is concerned, "gameplay" is archaic. The gameplay has to be as non-intrusive as possible so that the masses can blow through the game and see the ending of the B level story being told. Nintendo doesn't influence the industry because the industry is after the "casual" gamer's dollar more than Nintendo was when they made the Wii. The casual "get the latest AAA game, beat it and move on to the next" gamer doesn't have time for good, involving gameplay.

My thoughts exactly. Well said.

 

[Mauricio_Magus]

How do you separate Nintendo games and AAA games as if they can't be the same thing? Galaxy, Twilight Princess, Wind Waker HD....These are all AAA games.

exactly, they are the same.

 

[Hcoregamer00]

The Nintendo home consoles don't seem to excite me anymore, maybe it is the lack of power, or it is that they have yet to make Wii U versions of my favorite franchises (Fire Emblem, Star Fox, etc.) On the other hand, the 3DS still gets me giddy as a kid when there is a new game announcement or I get to play a game on there.

So while I love Nintendo games, it is definitely a conditional love. The games on the portable consoles have my heart, but the games on home consoles can't excite me now.

It is quite strange, really.

 

[ItIsOkBro]

My love for Nintendo was more of an extension of my love for Rare. When Rare left I left Nintendo.

 

[sfried]

My love for Nintendo was more of an extension of my love for Rare. When Rare left I left Nintendo.

A sad thing though is that I think most, if not all Rare staff has left Rare...

It sorta saddens me though, why is there always this complete disregard for Nintendo franchises other than the often cited Marios and Zeldas? What about the Rhythm Heaven series? Elite Beat Agents? Another Code and Hotel Dusk? Whatever happened to the Operation Rainfall games? The games that never hit our shored like Zangeki no Regenliev? And more recently The Wonderful 101? If you want originality from Nintendo you need not look far to see where they're experimenting.

It saddens me how the common gamer continues to spread this misnomer.

 

[Lordwindowlicker]

kicking ass in the handheld front I will agree.

The Wii U may not be selling as well as it could, but it's getting a lot of great software. Super Mario 3D World look mindblowing.

 

[Laughing Banana]

Most Nintendo fans have no idea that Nintendo has completely lost their creative edge. They lost it in the GameCube era. Consider Mario, the only franchise guaranteed to be on every Nintendo platform.

Mario 1- the first in the series. Running jumping fireballs

Mario 2 - Crazy new art style, throwing vegetable gameplay and 4 characters with vastly different mechanics.

Mario 3 - world map with themed worlds, tons of suits, enhanced graphics

Mario 4 - big graphics upgrade, Yoshi the mount, new suits and moves

Mario 5 - baby Mario gameplay with egg shooting and again a totally new art style

Mario 64 - 3d platformer practically perfected on the first try

Sunshine - graphics upgrade to Mario 64, gameplay very similar

Galaxy - no graphics upgrade. Condescending difficulty and hand holding. Same art style as previous entries.

Im not even going to mention the new series.

I could do a similar list for all their other franchises. And they are all much worse than Mario. Zelda they do work hard on, but they are rare and also suffer from old mechanics (Simon says combat, lock and key item system ( crack is lock, bomb is key)).

Their games are just so stale compared to the genius of the nes-gc days. GC was the start of the end. Wiiu owner here btw

If someone has a transferring hand through the monitor technology, can I borrow one so I can slap Natureboy?

 

[Alison]

The Wii U may not be selling as well as it could, but it's getting a lot of great software. Super Mario 3D World look mindblowing.

Standards are falling if that game on a next gen home console is considered mind blowing.

 

[Robot Pants]

Good, now come join the dark side.

Spoiler

I want Mario 3d World

 

[TDLink]

Standards are falling if that game on a next gen home console is considered mind blowing.

I'll give you a hint: Graphical fidelity and capability is not the only thing that can cause one's mind to be blown in regards to video games.

 

[Astral/H3X]

Standards are falling if that game on a next gen home console is considered mind blowing.

Bahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.
Awakening blew my mind. They don't even have ankles! How can this possibly be?
Ooh! I know! Gameplay! Fun! Challenges! Good stuff! Not shitty stories.

 

[JoV]

Haven't been digging Nintendo games this much since the SNES era personally. Off-TV play with the Wii U mixed with the 3DS is just gaming nirvana for me.

I hope they keep going in the direction they are.

 

[frizby]

Nintendo GAMES are as amazing as ever.

Their consoles on the other hand...

 

[Owwari]

As long as Nintendo has Pokemon I'm afraid I can't get tired of them.
Also, 3D World looks astonishing!

 

[Kadey]

Each new generation since the N64 I've felt this way. Nintendo can easily be on top and be absolutely dominate with first and third parties but it seems they only have a one track mind these days.

 

[Laughing Banana]

Nintendo is perhaps the *only* game developer where people really ask for in their earnest: "Where's a TLOU from Nintendo? Where's a Halo from Nintendo? Where's *insert your favorite "mature" game here* from Nintendo?"

I mean, have you folks ever seen people actually say, "Where's a cheery/colorful/this-or-that game from Insomniac/Naughty Dog/Capcom/Konami/whatever"?

It seems like people are demanding Nintendo to become something they don't, or demanding Nintendo to actually cover everything and anything. Failing that even a little, people would then just casually resort to words like "Kiddie" or "For children" or "not innovative" or whatever other buzzwords anyone can come up with. I have never actually seen another game developer getting treated with such a burden in GAF or anywhere else.

And this is considering that, pound per pound, I honestly think Nintendo offers the *most* diverse gaming experience out of every game developer out there.

 

[AniHawk]

I mean, have you folks ever seen people actually say, "Where's a cheery/colorful/this-or-that game from Insomniac/Naughty Dog/Capcom/Konami/whatever"?

i'd want naughty dog to do a platformer. i've asked it before (several times), and was shouted down by one guy in particular. everything points to them being pretty much unable to make anything of the sort though. they just don't have that skill.

It seems like people are demanding Nintendo to become something they don't, or demanding Nintendo to actually cover everything and anything. Failing that even a little, people would then just casually resort to words like "Kiddie" or "For children" or "not innovative" or whatever other buzzwords anyone can come up with. I have never actually seen another game developer getting treated with such a burden in GAF or anywhere else.

yeah, this happens a lot. point out examples of the contrary like xenoblade, the last story, sin & punishment 2, or fire emblem and they don't count because of reasons.

 

[frizby]

Nintendo is perhaps the *only* game developer where people really ask for in their earnest: "Where's a TLOU from Nintendo? Where's a Halo from Nintendo? Where's *insert your favorite "mature" game here* from Nintendo?"

I would buy the shit out of a Super Smash Bros Shooter with mushroom grenades and banana claymores. Edit: With SMB1 death music when you die.

From Retro.

 

[DragonSworne]

yeah, this happens a lot. point out examples of the contrary like xenoblade, the last story, sin & punishment 2, or fire emblem and they don't count because of reasons.

The problem is when Nintendo tries to do something like Halo, they mess it up big time. Geist.

Makes me really wonder what is wrong with Nintendo if they don't understand the reasons that make games like CoD, TLOU, and Halo popular.

 

[AniHawk]

The problem is when Nintendo tries to do something like Halo, they mess it up big time. Geist.

Makes me really wonder what is wrong with Nintendo if they don't understand the reasons that make games like CoD, TLOU, and Halo popular.

halo and tlou are reeeeeeeaallly different beasts (i'm sure shooter fans can point out differences between cod and halo as well). i can say this after playing both of them. well, i only played halo 1, but at least tlou has like, effort in its single-player level design and stuff.

i played geist for a little while, and from what i remember it was more like riddick or metroid prime in that it was focused more on action-adventure than it was on just shooting. just because nintendo made a first-person shooter doesn't mean they were trying to make halo. they probably were trying to replicate goldeneye more than anything.

 

[TIGER-COOL]

Return to traditional game controllers and I will always purchase a Nintendo system. I'm still skeptical about Wii-U and the Wii-Pad.

Everyone is skeptical about the Wii U gamepad until they get their hands on one for a little while.

Personally, I never got why it was such a turn-off for everyone. Didn't we learn from the DS that two screens are better than one? So many innovative gameplay opportunities, off-screen play, great for watching videos/surfing the internet (that browser is so god damn good, it's better than my computer browser), sits in your hands and plays comfortably... So what's the issue? At it's worst it provides a convenient way to manage inventories and maps in game, at it's best it redefines videogames as we know them and opens up creative new avenues for the medium. Most of the Wii U hate I've seen reeks of the classic videogamer cognitive dissonance. It's an expensive hobby, so it's much easier to convince yourself that something sucks than it is to fork out 350 dollars, or lament the fact that you don't have 350 dollars with which to fork outwardly.

 

[StevieP]

I can agree that my interest in Nintendo games has fallen. I blame the Wii and Nintendo's love for pushing gimmicks.

Return to traditional game controllers and I will always purchase a Nintendo system. I'm still skeptical about Wii-U and the Wii-Pad.

Fuck that. For the most popular genres, a dual analog pad is a decade out of date. The Wii u gamepad is a regression from their previous controller for those popular genres

 

[Freezie KO]

Nintendo is perhaps the *only* game developer where people really ask for in their earnest: "Where's a TLOU from Nintendo? Where's a Halo from Nintendo? Where's *insert your favorite "mature" game here* from Nintendo?"

I mean, have you folks ever seen people actually say, "Where's a cheery/colorful/this-or-that game from Insomniac/Naughty Dog/Capcom/Konami/whatever"?

It seems like people are demanding Nintendo to become something they don't, or demanding Nintendo to actually cover everything and anything. Failing that even a little, people would then just casually resort to words like "Kiddie" or "For children" or "not innovative" or whatever other buzzwords anyone can come up with. I have never actually seen another game developer getting treated with such a burden in GAF or anywhere else.

And this is considering that, pound per pound, I honestly think Nintendo offers the *most* diverse gaming experience out of every game developer out there.

1. Insomniac, Naughty Dog, Capcom, and Konami aren't platform holders. And for a variety of reasons, Nintendo cannot rely on Insomniac, Naughty Dog, Capcom, Konami, or really any other third parties to fill out the offerings on their systems. Comparing Nintendo's need for diversity to Insomniac is missing the point entirely.

2. It's not like Nintendo would be suddenly becoming "something else". This is the company that got the James Bond license and launched a console FPS craze. They gave a huge advertising push to Killer Instinct. They even got pro sports league licenses. Nintendo could make a bigger push for the Western audience. They just don't.

--

Fuck that. For the most popular genres, a dual analog pad is a decade out of date. The Wii u gamepad is a regression from their previous controller for those popular genres

Agreed. The GamePad is fine for a dual analog pad, but the screen isn't being used in any great way. It's just a $100 UI navigator like Kinect. The Wii remote was a real game changer with IR controls.