I apologize in advance as this will be a very long rant and topic opener. Please set aside some time to read it. Or feel free to ignore. Thank you!
There are very few times these days where I feel moved enough to post a thread and share my thoughts. I know it may seem like I've been gone from these boards for quite some time, but these days, I just lurk here and more often than not, most others have said what already needed to be said. Which would just make my post redundant.
That being said, I feel moved to throw in my 2 schillings(-? Why schillings? It just sounds better that my $0.02) on a topic that has been irking me for quite some time. I'm referring to Nintendo's seemingly lack of pleasing it's fans as of late. Now, bear with me, I'm not gonna go on and whine like most others about how Nintendo has left the core gamer behind and stuff. No, I'm coming at this from a different angle.
Firstly, let me start off my saying I am a Nintendo fan. I have always been a Nintendo fan ever since I received my first NES as a early Birthday present from my Mother circa Feb 1988. I've owned every iteration of home console made by them ever since. A really good description of my fandom, if you will, can be summed up in the following youtube video posted by Movie Bob. I implore you to watch it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73toAMJ7rqY
I gotta admit, the first time I saw that video I cried. It's true, Nintendo is still alive and well. And I'm very glad I handed over the $200+ every 6-7 years up to this point to the funny little Japanese man. And then E3 2k8 came...
Again, I'm not gonna whine about E3. I will admit I was a bit let down by Nintendo's press conference and said let down was my own doing. What made it better for me was Nintendo of America's apology from Denise Kaigler, Vice President of Corporate Affairs for Nintendo. It was posted in a end-of-day thought article at GoNintendo.com about a week ago. Again, I implore you to go over and read it:
http://gonintendo.com/?p=49834
Yes, although I'm a tad skeptical, I believe she was sincere. Nintendo still loves us and will continue give us the games we like to play. Making those games takes time and we may see gaps between core game title releases. Apologies from other Nintendo bigwigs followed suit and various threads were posted about it in this very same forum. And after all that, I'm still a Nintendo fan.
Historically speaking, this is where the 3rd party support is supposed to come in to fill those gaps. However, I've got to be honest, the games I want to play from the 3rd parties won't always come to Nintendo's consoles. Somewhere along the way, Nintendo lost it's 3rd party love sometime around the N64 era and never really got it back. This 3rd party love is what helped fuel the NES and SNES eras with lots of quality games to play in between Nintendo's releases. And now, even with Nintendo being back in charge of the gaming industry again, 3rd parties are still very, very reluctant to make a game for a Nintendo home console.
This is the harsh reality of it all and I think that many a Nintendo fan realizes it too. I feel that with Nintendo not showing much of anything for the core gamer this time around, many a Nintendo fan got upset. They know that the 3rd party support that existed to fill in those gaps during the NES and SNES eras, won't be there for a long, long, long while. And much like during the N64 and Gamecube eras, we'll have to buy a competitor's console to play the games to fill in those gaps until Nintendo's next masterpiece.
Except this time around, I feel that many long time fans are starting to get fed up with all this. Hence, the malice aimed at Nintendo. I know they can't control what the 3rd parties make or do. But at least during the N64 and GCN eras, they always had something, some drop, morsel or screenshot to keep our hopes up. We've been catered to all this time and we wound up as spoiled children because of it. To use Moviebob's analogy, "yes Mommy and Daddy are getting back together again, however, Daddy now has some other children has has to entertain(the casual crowd) for now, in order make the whole family happy. You'll get your time when it's due, so please be patient. You're older now and I'm sure you'll understand. Certainly you can entertain yourself for a while until then."
I will be patient Nintendo, but just like during the N64 and GCN eras, I'm gonna keep myself enteratined by buying a competitor's console. It pains me to do so, but it's the only way I can.
In conclusion, where we should be throwing our ire, our petitions, our passions to is the 3rd parties. In the recent weeks, there have been hints from 3rd party developers that have said they are intersted in making some Wii games, ...for the core gamer. However, they all seem uncertain if the core gamer is there to buy the product. For instance:
Capcom wants to know if we would like a Street Fighter 4 on the Wii:
http://gonintendo.com/?p=50779
Konami might make a retro Castlevania, if enough people buy Mega Man 9:
http://gonintendo.com/?p=50655
What are your guys thoughts on the matter?
Are you still mad at Nintendo?
Are you gonna buy a competitors console in the meantime?
Can we be successful in convincing the 3rd parties to show us some love?
Personally, I've already bought a PS3. I've been dying to play MGS 4 anyways. Besides, the new games coming out for the system this year look very promising. I'll download Mega Man 9 on the Wii for sure and I'll be submitting my thoughts to Capcom about SF 4 on the Wii very soon.
Again, my apologies for this long rant. Mods, if this is in the wrong forum please be so kind as to move to the right place. Thank in advance!
I still stay true to Nintendo.
I'm sure they'll come up with some goodies soon.
I'm looking forward to seeing the next Zelda game.
My guess is that it's going to look quite awesome.
And with the WMP it'd probably be awesome using the WiiMote in battles.
Ninty has a heart! :(
That video did a great job of reminding me why I used to love Nintendo, but the well-intended (albeit gullible) GoNintendo article shows why a lot of people don't really know why they love Nintendo so much in the first place. Many of the points given by the writer are things many other companies do, such as pushing back games to improve on it, begin work on the sequel immediately after finishing the game, and obviously, take several years to develop a product. The writer came off as an abused puppy desperately looking for a shining ray of hope that their owner still cared, and he found it in an American Nintendo representative. Nothing was divulged in that interview that people didn't already know. We've always known Nintendo will still work on Mario, Zelda, Super Smash Bros X. They're just not going to let themselves be defined by them, which brings me to my next point.
Fans are upset because they no longer identify with Nintendo, the "rogue company" that would please the (what was consider then) hardcore games people loved no matter what was selling. I've argued with many a Nintendo fan in these forums, and that was one of the main points people kept bringing up when dissing Sony as they were dominating the console market during its PS1 and PS2 years. They were dissing Sony, among other things, for helping clutter the market with bad games as a result of their expanded audience. Many developers did on the PS1 and PS2 what they're doing now with the Wii, releasing shovelware in hopes the many people new to consoles would throw their money on them. Difference being, the PS1 and PS2 had a wealth of quality titles to choose from, whereas the Wii sees a lot more shovelware than the PS2 did while keeping the quality games low. Now that Nintendo is doing something similar, fans are upset, but many of them don't quite know how to react. After all, they would've EASILY trashed Microsoft or Sony had they gone the Wii route instead of Nintendo.
I don't think fans will ever be as pleased with Nintendo as they've been in the past. The company is doing a lot to change its image. It's no longer the company that limits software on its system, chooses an expensive media for their consoles, or relies solely on its established characters to sell its hardware. Fanboys will no longer feel as proud to be Nintendo fans, because the kid across the street that doesn't know what a Zelda is will also be calling himself a "Nintendo fan."
My advice? Do what I've been doing with the N64. Play the great Nintendo games every 6 months, and rare, exclusive, great third-party titles on the Wii, and in the meantime treat yourself with the plethora of excellent games from other consoles. If you haven't been doing this by now, and the majority of games you've played in the last ten years have been on a Nintendo console... then you've been missing out. Badly.
They're not abandoning anyone, they just don't have the manpower to keep up with 50 companies making games for PS3 and Xbox 360. The fact that they've managed to even remotely keep up is a goddamn miracle. Just get another platform and quit crying or find something better to do with your time.
I guess this pic tears at your heart?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Mr_XYZ/wiigiveaway.gif
So that's why no one can find a Wii. Oprah bought 'em all.
My loyalty to Nintendo started to end with the GameCube, but the Wii absolutely crushed it months ago before E3 even hit. I grew tired of a bleak and short future of enjoyable games for the console, so I just gave away my Wii to my oldest sister and her family.
I just stick to my PC and PS3 now, and will probably end up getting a 360-- something I once said I'd never do.
I'm not mad at Nintendo, I understand that they are trying to make money, and because they didnt do so well with the gamecube they need this, and I'll be patient with them on the "hardcore games".
I'm buying Mega Man 9 because its gonna be super fun, and now another reason is to help in this "petition" thing so that Konami can make Castlevania for the Wii, and hell yeah I want street fighter for the Wii!
Convincing 3rd party companys to make games for the Wii, I dont know how to go about doing that, but let me know and I'm down to help.
