Let me just start off by saying, I fucking love the 3DS. It's probably my favorite handheld I have ever had, if not it's a close second behind the Gameboy Color.
I've been seeing a lot of comments lately on the forums, and around the web, about how Nintendo is done. They've tapped the well dry. I've also seen a lot of comments saying that the 3DS sucks. But I'm willing to bet that 80% of people who complain about the 3DS, never actually tried it, or are just jumping on the bandwagon to hate Nintendo.
I think Nintendo started changing when they released the Wii. They didn't advertise the console as "IN YOUR FACE!" like they did with the GameCube and N64. They started going for a whole "lets be simple and elegant" type feel. And to me, they've changed from the Nintendo that we all loved, to a Nintendo, that just some of us loved.
Here's a list of ways that I think Nintendo should do to bounce back to become the gaming juggernaut.
Games
"omgwtfbbqlolzumad?" You read that right, games. Their games are no longer ones that top lists. Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 are phenomenal games, but comparing it to say Super Mario World, they fall short for some reason. Super Mario World had that touch where, after you beat it, you wanna go through it again. Even when your old as hell, you still want to go through it. It's the best Mario game ever for some, while for others, it's Super Mario Bros. 3. Nintendo has stopped putting that final touch on their games, and it's a shame really. Years down the road, is there going to be a big list saying Mario Galaxy is the best Mario game ever? Is it considered the best game this generation?
They've also, for some unknown reason, started letting EVERY. SINGLE. GAME to be released on their Wii. What do I mean?
Petz, mini games, fire fighter games, and flash games. Yes we all know that every console gets some bad games, but Nintendo didn't even attempt to keep their console clean of the bad games. They need to step it up, stop the shitty games, bring us epic games that can contend with what Sony and Microsoft offers.
Online
Well... lack of one I should say. Let's face it, the online for Nintendo's consoles, isn't exactly top notch. They don't have the services or functionality that PSN and Xbox Live has. It's broken in a lot of games, and the games that could benefit from online, don't have it.
And I know we all agree with this one, but scrap the friendcodes. Nobody likes it, and as long as they continue to use it, I think Nintendo's online will suffer. Nobody wants to put in a 12-16 digit number. Make it a simple name like PSN and Live gives you. It's so much easier. And you can still have the parental controls all there. Also, allow us to use Mic's for EVERY game that goes online. I mean, the whole point of online is to compete against actual humans right, and have fun? It's kind of hard to do that when it feels like we're fighting against a CPU.
Console Name
Does this one need an explanation? Whoever decided to call the Wii the...Wii, deserves to take a paycut. And now WiiU? It's as if they're just running with the jokes instead of fixing their image. It's worse than bringing out the Color Gameboys (note, I said Color Gameboys, not Gameboy Color). Make it a name that doesn't make us embarrassed to say or own.
They've been naming their handhelds just fine, but they goofed up by calling the successor to the DS, the 3DS. And it doesn't take a genius to know that a lot of people will think 3DS is just an upgraded DS. Considering the 3DS looks eerily familiar to the DS in pretty much every way aside from a few things, it's easily mistakable as just being an upgraded DS.
Stop alienating players
What do I mean by this? Easy, think of games like the Last Story. So many people in North America want that game along with others. Nintendo is aware as they have responded to the petition set up by people. But they still don't release it here for us North Americans? It's a great way to single out people, and force them to go to other consoles.
Nintendo has said that they want to bring us gamers all together and whatever. But it's kind of hard when we aren't getting the same games.
Controller
Don't get me wrong, the Wii Remote is a great controller, but the novelty of the motion control disappears. I mean, what was wrong with having just a regular d-pad, analog sticks, and buttons? It's worked in the past and it's still working now. A lot of gamers don't want to get up off the couch, because that's not what gamers do. We want to play games that suck us into another world and makes us live a story. We don't want to be standing up flailing our arms getting exercise. If we did, we'd go outside and ride a bike.
Advertising
What the hell happened?! Advertising was one of Nintendo's biggest points back in the NES/SNES days. It was as if you couldn't turn the TV on without seeing something with Nintendo's logo on it. But now, there's hardly any commercials for their new consoles, there's hardly any advertising on TV or in Magazines (Nintendo Power doesn't count), or even ad's while walking down the street. It's no wonder why a lot of people aren't buying their stuff, not everybody knows about it.
The young has become the new standard
Remember when Nintendo made games that appealed to older gamers? I mean gamers 15 and up? They advertised to that crowd, and that crowd bought the products. And guess what, the younger crowd bought it too. Why? The younger audience is impressionable. If they see something that their older brother thinks is cool, they're going to think it's cool and want it. Nintendo should be making games appealing not to kids, but to the older crowd. Every other company does it, because it works.
There's probably more things that have changed, no doubt. But these are the things that stand out the most for me. And remember this is opinion. Obviously your opinion is going to differ from mind, and our lists won't even be the same. So instead of posting going "YOU IDIOT LOLZOLZ!11!", post what you disagree with, why, and what you would change.
I've been seeing a lot of comments lately on the forums, and around the web, about how Nintendo is done. They've tapped the well dry. I've also seen a lot of comments saying that the 3DS sucks. But I'm willing to bet that 80% of people who complain about the 3DS, never actually tried it, or are just jumping on the bandwagon to hate Nintendo.
I think Nintendo started changing when they released the Wii. They didn't advertise the console as "IN YOUR FACE!" like they did with the GameCube and N64. They started going for a whole "lets be simple and elegant" type feel. And to me, they've changed from the Nintendo that we all loved, to a Nintendo, that just some of us loved.
Here's a list of ways that I think Nintendo should do to bounce back to become the gaming juggernaut.
Games
"omgwtfbbqlolzumad?" You read that right, games. Their games are no longer ones that top lists. Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 are phenomenal games, but comparing it to say Super Mario World, they fall short for some reason. Super Mario World had that touch where, after you beat it, you wanna go through it again. Even when your old as hell, you still want to go through it. It's the best Mario game ever for some, while for others, it's Super Mario Bros. 3. Nintendo has stopped putting that final touch on their games, and it's a shame really. Years down the road, is there going to be a big list saying Mario Galaxy is the best Mario game ever? Is it considered the best game this generation?
They've also, for some unknown reason, started letting EVERY. SINGLE. GAME to be released on their Wii. What do I mean?
Petz, mini games, fire fighter games, and flash games. Yes we all know that every console gets some bad games, but Nintendo didn't even attempt to keep their console clean of the bad games. They need to step it up, stop the shitty games, bring us epic games that can contend with what Sony and Microsoft offers.
Online
Well... lack of one I should say. Let's face it, the online for Nintendo's consoles, isn't exactly top notch. They don't have the services or functionality that PSN and Xbox Live has. It's broken in a lot of games, and the games that could benefit from online, don't have it.
And I know we all agree with this one, but scrap the friendcodes. Nobody likes it, and as long as they continue to use it, I think Nintendo's online will suffer. Nobody wants to put in a 12-16 digit number. Make it a simple name like PSN and Live gives you. It's so much easier. And you can still have the parental controls all there. Also, allow us to use Mic's for EVERY game that goes online. I mean, the whole point of online is to compete against actual humans right, and have fun? It's kind of hard to do that when it feels like we're fighting against a CPU.
Console Name
Does this one need an explanation? Whoever decided to call the Wii the...Wii, deserves to take a paycut. And now WiiU? It's as if they're just running with the jokes instead of fixing their image. It's worse than bringing out the Color Gameboys (note, I said Color Gameboys, not Gameboy Color). Make it a name that doesn't make us embarrassed to say or own.
They've been naming their handhelds just fine, but they goofed up by calling the successor to the DS, the 3DS. And it doesn't take a genius to know that a lot of people will think 3DS is just an upgraded DS. Considering the 3DS looks eerily familiar to the DS in pretty much every way aside from a few things, it's easily mistakable as just being an upgraded DS.
Stop alienating players
What do I mean by this? Easy, think of games like the Last Story. So many people in North America want that game along with others. Nintendo is aware as they have responded to the petition set up by people. But they still don't release it here for us North Americans? It's a great way to single out people, and force them to go to other consoles.
Nintendo has said that they want to bring us gamers all together and whatever. But it's kind of hard when we aren't getting the same games.
Controller
Don't get me wrong, the Wii Remote is a great controller, but the novelty of the motion control disappears. I mean, what was wrong with having just a regular d-pad, analog sticks, and buttons? It's worked in the past and it's still working now. A lot of gamers don't want to get up off the couch, because that's not what gamers do. We want to play games that suck us into another world and makes us live a story. We don't want to be standing up flailing our arms getting exercise. If we did, we'd go outside and ride a bike.
Advertising
What the hell happened?! Advertising was one of Nintendo's biggest points back in the NES/SNES days. It was as if you couldn't turn the TV on without seeing something with Nintendo's logo on it. But now, there's hardly any commercials for their new consoles, there's hardly any advertising on TV or in Magazines (Nintendo Power doesn't count), or even ad's while walking down the street. It's no wonder why a lot of people aren't buying their stuff, not everybody knows about it.
The young has become the new standard
Remember when Nintendo made games that appealed to older gamers? I mean gamers 15 and up? They advertised to that crowd, and that crowd bought the products. And guess what, the younger crowd bought it too. Why? The younger audience is impressionable. If they see something that their older brother thinks is cool, they're going to think it's cool and want it. Nintendo should be making games appealing not to kids, but to the older crowd. Every other company does it, because it works.
There's probably more things that have changed, no doubt. But these are the things that stand out the most for me. And remember this is opinion. Obviously your opinion is going to differ from mind, and our lists won't even be the same. So instead of posting going "YOU IDIOT LOLZOLZ!11!", post what you disagree with, why, and what you would change.
