Our relationship with Nintendo....

[D000M]

I wrote the following in December of '06 on another forum. I figured I'd share it with you...


Ahhhhh, Nintendo. Being a Nintendophile (or fanboy, or Nintendork, or whatever derogatory term you want to call it) almost all my life, I look at the big N like that girl you've been dating forever and a day now; you know the one. When you first got together, it was like some crazy dream; every time she came around your pulse quickened, your knees got weak, your stomach knotted up. You found you just couldn't get enough of her.

Now, well, now things are different. The flames that roared and sparked your desire are now just smoldering hot embers. You look at her and there's nothing new, nothing exciting to be seen: but it just feels so.... comfortable, so right to have her around.

That's what it's like being a Nintendo freak. Y'see, those of us who've been there since the beginning (I'm talking pre NES days here) know that feeling. We remember (at least I do) playing Donkey Kong and Mario Brothers on those old stone age consoles like the ColecoVision and the Atari 5200. They just seemed so much different than anything else at the time. Then came NES, when everything changed. Captivating, mysterious, and oh so unlike anything that had come before; we knew we just had to have her.

Yeah, that was the start of the glory days. Remember? When the big N ruled the roost, gaming was different. NES titles were being pumped out one after another after another. Some were pretty bad, some were just abysmal, and some were simply magical. Back then, did you know anybody who didn't know the location of that hidden 1-up on world 1-1 in Super Mario Brothers? I'm not talking just your fellow kids here, most of my friends' parents knew it too. Or what about the sequence for the hidden forest in Legend of Zelda? The Konami Code? And who could ever forget Golgo 13, the first time we'd ever seen intercourse used as a health powerup in video games? Sometimes it wasn't about the games, it's those little tidbits of gaming knowledge we recall so fondly.

That was only the beginning. The SNES then exploded it's way into our hearts and minds. Sure, nothing on that system was as universally accepted as Mario or Zelda was, but the SNES was just so shiny and new. Nothing compared to it at the time (this was back when a systems hardware superiority was determined by how many colors it could display onscreen at once). Yeah, maybe videogames were seen as being a little nerdier then, but who cared? Square and Enix (this was before they made sweet sweet love and became one) were kicking a** in the 16-bit era; and so were Capcom, Konami, EA and Mr. Miyamoto himself. They were all using the SNES to do it. The grey-and-purple wonder held it's own and took down console after console after console: The Sega Genesis, Turbografix 16, all their respective CD add-ons and expansions, the Sega Saturn, The Atari Jaguar, 3D0, CD-I, Neo-Geo and anything else I forgot to mention. Did the system do it all on it's own? No, most of those died because of their obscene costs. But those costs would've come down if enough people bought them, and people didn't buy them because they didn't provide the SNES's special brand of gaming bliss.

Then things changed. We drooled over screens and in store displays for this weird-looking Mario game. I say weird looking because he wasn't flat, the world wasn't flat, and it wasn't some pixelated, messy looking FPS type stuff we'd seen up until that point. That game was Super Mario 64, and the system was the N64, but there was a little grey box called the Playstation that was primed and ready to take the gaming world by storm. And that's when the desire that once so consumed us faded, slowly, into a memory of days gone by. We were making love two or three times a day; now we're on a once or twice a week basis, and she just won't do some of the things she used to anymore. C'mon Nintendians, you all know what I'm talking about. At least, the real ones do; and we know that bittersweet feeling of remembering a time long past when everything was so good, and coming to grips with the fact that things will never be that way again.

Mario is no longer the man. He used to be the video game Frank Sinatra. Every Hedgehog, Bandicoot, cheesy mascot and platforming character wanted to be him, and the ladies (even the real life ones) couldn't get enough of him. Now he's the red-headed, b*****d stepchild that carries a bad rep for his parents wherever he goes. It doesn't matter how many Perfect Darks, RE4s, Metal Gear Solids, Geists, Winbacks, Metroids, or slew of violent Tom Clancy games we get to play (I could go on all day with mature titles for Nintendo systems). The mere prescence of that italtian plumber garners derision and ridicule for Nintendo from Grand Theft Auto-worshipping neanderthalls the world over. Now, Nintendo's rather stingy about first party titles, and they've whored most of their big licences out to third-party developers who more often than not just screw them up. Third-party guys shy away from the Nintendo, or when they do make a landmark, fantastic title like RE4, nobody seems to notice it was on the Gamecube first.

Now we've got the Wii. I don't know, it just seems that they've done it again. For the third time in a row, they're coming into the fray with a lot of ground to make up. Now it's not just the kiddie stigma we've got to deal with. The graphics are last-gen, the online content is skimpy, the controllers are expensive and gimmicky, and the freakin' thing launched without component video cables and the ones they DO make are in CRIMINALLY short supply! And they launched without a full-fledged Mario title, AGAIN!!!! *long, protracted, agonizing sigh* Nintendo, I love you, why do seem to want me not to?

But it's not over yet. Sure, I go out and buy an Xbox 360, but I got my Wii first. Hey, I'm still faithful, but I want a hi-, hi-powered, hardcore multimedia gaming machine, and the old girl's just not gonna' do it for me this round. Okay, now what about these butt-quality graphics? Well, I cobble together a set of component cables out of paper clips and the existing Wii A/V cables... Hey, this doesn't look so bad now. Okay, it's still Gamecube quality visually, but I've never complained about those graphics before. So maybe it's not so bad, now to play the games. Wow, Zelda does look freakin' nice. Nice enough where the reviews that use qualifires like "it's got good graphics from an artistic standpoint" seem unfair. If a game looks good, it looks good. I'm not going to lie, it doesn't compare with my 360 (which is now collecting dust as I can't just stop playing the Wii long enough to give it some time), but it's still good. The controller does make gunning down wave after glitchy wave of imbecillic thugs in Red Steel seem pretty darn fun. I know it's not a good game, but I keep coming back to it. Monky Ball is awesome. Marvel sucks, no, wait, I think I've got the hang of these controls now, okay, cool, this makes the game seem less mundane and repettitive. The sword fighting controls in Zelda are so half-assed it's not even funny, but there's something very satisfying about being surrounded by a horde of skeletons only to cut them all down at once with a quick flick of the nunchuck, maybe even more satisfying than pressing a button to do so. Hmm, what're these VC games all about? Sweet, I can play Bonk's Adventure and F-Zero!

I know that rant seems a little disjointed, but that's been my experience with the Wii, and with Nintendo; my longtime steady relationship which has lost it's feeling of excitement. It's not all good, sometimes I sit there and wonder why we don't just call it quits. Then, out of nowhere, she throws on some sexy lingerie gussies herself up, and tells me she wants to try that thing she read about in cosmo magazine. It's a night we won't forget. It reminds me why we got together to begin with, and we fall in love all over again. That, my friends is Zelda: TP. It's an awesome game, every inch of the world seems fresh and exciting. It's action packed, beautiful, and it's 4:00 AM and I haven't eaten or showered because all I've done is played this damn game.

This is why we'll defend Nintendo 'til the end of time. It's why we try to inflate the graphical prowess of the Wii by posting unreliable Madden screenshots and saying "SEE! IT LOOKS JUST AS GOOD!", but we know it doesn't (BTW, please stop doing this fellow Nintendorks, don't make the Wii out to be something it's not. What it is is just fine, it needn't be ashamed of itself). Secretely, we wish it did, but we'll publicly say "It's all about the games, not the graphics or multimedia functionality!". Yeah, this is what Nintendo been saying since the N64, but they haven't delivered on that promise yet, and we're pretty sure they won't this time (expect to still wait FOREVER for first party titles). This is why we'll argue for hours that the GC and Wii are not kiddie systems, that they have something for everybody and if the only joy you can derive from videogames is putting a virtual bullet into some guys crotch, then you're an idiot (this is true by the way, but it's a debate we'll always loose). We'll suggest that a guy who uses the term Gaycube is himself probably gay because the can't stop salivating over the thick, chiseled, sweaty men in Gears of War. We'll cringe every time a new handheld system is released which threatens to usurp Nintendo's Vader-like force grip over the industry, but we know it won't. We love Nintendo, in spite of all it's many mistakes and flaws, we still love them. We love them for those times they deliver us an experience like tearing through a new Zelda, y'know, that feeling you just can't get anywhere else. We'll buy every freakin' game they've ever made hundreds of times, loving the crap out of them every time they get repackaged. We do it for that magic. Sure, maybe there's nothing new to discover about this old girl, and we know just where we're going with her, but it's how we get there that counts.  

[Edymion]

xd Here's something I wrote up myself not to long ago.

Edymion

The Nintendo Wii has already surpassed 3 million sales in Japan. It's likely that it has already surpassed 3 million sales in the US; though, that figure hasn't been specifically reported yet. In Japan, there is already consideration to dub the Wii the #1 console, ahead of the PS2. This would mean the Wii would be recognized as selling more units than any other console to date (in Japan at least) in a years time. As a matter of fact, the Wii has almost caught up with, if not surpassed by now, the total worldwide sales of the X-Box 360. This all in less than a year! This monumental feat even I doubted would ever occur. Okay. I shouldn't say 'even' as, well, I thought that many units, with the X-Box 360 still selling strong, would be a two-year, even three-year, goal.

With that, I'll move onto what some anti-Nintendo fanboys (or plain silly people) have been stating consequences coming from Wii being the top seller. The argument is that, as a consequence of the Wii being the top seller, companies will focus less and less on hardcore games and start ignoring them. I have one thing to say to this. "Oh grow up!" The hardcore gamer makes up a rather minority part of the market, as the Wii and DS are proving. They have proven that there is untapped market out there, and companies are going to take advantage of this. Nintendo themselves aren't ignoring the hardcore gamer, so neither is any other developer.

Let's look at the futility and stupidity of the argument that 'hardcore' is going away or being ignored on the Wii. Every month traditional and hardcore games are being made on the Wii. Companies are testing and perfecting the method to make games for the Wii. At the same time, these same companies are making a quick buck on easy-to-cash-in casual titles. These titles cost less to develop and thus bank easier. With that out of the way, I'll move on to some basic economics.

As these companies make more bank off casual titles, they will keep developing them and make more and more bank. They set development studios aside for these games while keeping other studios for more traditional games. They make these huge big-budget games that, though take more sales to profit from, they still bank on these titles. In effect, the more diverse your portfolio of games...the more the company has to bank on.

What does this mean for games? You'll continue to see EA making playground games in different development studios while devoting larger budgets to Madden and FIFA. These companies are learning to diversify their portfolio, and they are also learning that the higher the quality the more there is to bank. There is a push towards making quality casual games (like Rayman Raving Rabids) and proving quality of hardcore games (like Red Steel). Speaking of Ubisoft, they've already apologized for the lackluster performance of Red Steel and have promised a much improved sequel (Wii exclusive of course).

What we see are companies improving on the formula and trying to make the most profit. If the casual market can be tapped, the traditional gamer should only feel rest-assured that these companies will have more money to spend on making big-budget games.

Yours was much funnier. It also had some rather strange comparisons. By strange, I mean I have no experience to compare to. That's just me, though.

:p

I also liked this one comparison for Mario I read somewhere. It goes, essentially, like this...

Paraphrase: While Halo 3, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, and Bioshock may be among the most anticipated games of 2008, it may actually be the Italian Plumber's upcoming Super Mario Galaxy, the first full-fledged Mario title for Nintendo's little system that can, which will be crowned the most anticipated game of 2008. While the previously mentioned titles are the ones everyone is clamoring out loud for and talking about because they are the 'hip and in' games to talk about, everybody is secretly wishing for a true successor to Super Mario 64 behind closed doors. If there were ever a make-or-break title on the market, it is Super Mario Galaxy.  

[D000M]

Your post about the Wii definitely brings up some very good points. 3nodding

I also had no idea that the Wii was selling that well. eek  

[CirePrahs]

Edymion

xd Here's something I wrote up myself not to long ago.

Edymion

The Nintendo Wii has already surpassed 3 million sales in Japan. It's likely that it has already surpassed 3 million sales in the US; though, that figure hasn't been specifically reported yet. In Japan, there is already consideration to dub the Wii the #1 console, ahead of the PS2. This would mean the Wii would be recognized as selling more units than any other console to date (in Japan at least) in a years time. As a matter of fact, the Wii has almost caught up with, if not surpassed by now, the total worldwide sales of the X-Box 360. This all in less than a year! This monumental feat even I doubted would ever occur. Okay. I shouldn't say 'even' as, well, I thought that many units, with the X-Box 360 still selling strong, would be a two-year, even three-year, goal.

With that, I'll move onto what some anti-Nintendo fanboys (or plain silly people) have been stating consequences coming from Wii being the top seller. The argument is that, as a consequence of the Wii being the top seller, companies will focus less and less on hardcore games and start ignoring them. I have one thing to say to this. "Oh grow up!" The hardcore gamer makes up a rather minority part of the market, as the Wii and DS are proving. They have proven that there is untapped market out there, and companies are going to take advantage of this. Nintendo themselves aren't ignoring the hardcore gamer, so neither is any other developer.

Let's look at the futility and stupidity of the argument that 'hardcore' is going away or being ignored on the Wii. Every month traditional and hardcore games are being made on the Wii. Companies are testing and perfecting the method to make games for the Wii. At the same time, these same companies are making a quick buck on easy-to-cash-in casual titles. These titles cost less to develop and thus bank easier. With that out of the way, I'll move on to some basic economics.

As these companies make more bank off casual titles, they will keep developing them and make more and more bank. They set development studios aside for these games while keeping other studios for more traditional games. They make these huge big-budget games that, though take more sales to profit from, they still bank on these titles. In effect, the more diverse your portfolio of games...the more the company has to bank on.

What does this mean for games? You'll continue to see EA making playground games in different development studios while devoting larger budgets to Madden and FIFA. These companies are learning to diversify their portfolio, and they are also learning that the higher the quality the more there is to bank. There is a push towards making quality casual games (like Rayman Raving Rabids) and proving quality of hardcore games (like Red Steel). Speaking of Ubisoft, they've already apologized for the lackluster performance of Red Steel and have promised a much improved sequel (Wii exclusive of course).

What we see are companies improving on the formula and trying to make the most profit. If the casual market can be tapped, the traditional gamer should only feel rest-assured that these companies will have more money to spend on making big-budget games.

Yours was much funnier. It also had some rather strange comparisons. By strange, I mean I have no experience to compare to. That's just me, though.

:p

I also liked this one comparison for Mario I read somewhere. It goes, essentially, like this...

Paraphrase: While Halo 3, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, and Bioshock may be among the most anticipated games of 2008, it may actually be the Italian Plumber's upcoming Super Mario Galaxy, the first full-fledged Mario title for Nintendo's little system that can, which will be crowned the most anticipated game of 2008. While the previously mentioned titles are the ones everyone is clamoring out loud for and talking about because they are the 'hip and in' games to talk about, everybody is secretly wishing for a true successor to Super Mario 64 behind closed doors. If there were ever a make-or-break title on the market, it is Super Mario Galaxy.

That may be so, but that bee costume ... that better bee fun (pun time!).

But yes, Galaxy seems like it may recapture that "I dunno what the **** these guys were thinking, but this sure is fun!" attitude the general populace has toward the original Super Mario Bros.