“The Nintendo Difference”

Just to let you guys know. I started the early drafts of this article with pure “gloves off” hate & flame towards Senator Joe Lieberman. Well I was beat to it by an awesome & intelligent article by GamersMark Administrator Davion Vanste. Since I pretty much agree with it all I’ll have to tell you go to the link below.

Thesis X, Session 1: Hate and Appeal

As for hate I have more of that to go around but most goes towards Nintendo. Yeah Nintendo is the biggest videogame company on my shit list. Sure there’s many more including runner-up Sega, Konami, & Square-Enix. This mostly happens around this time of the year ya’know what I’m talking about. That pre-E3 feeling that makes you bitter toward your favorite Vgame publishers & developers. Since they all choose to zip their lips on any big news. Adding to the fact that this time of the year never gets any major releases (besides GBA). It just a bad time for gamers in general. But it’s more to it than that for me.

I was going to go through a few things on what Sony, Nintendo, & Microsoft need to do to make a major impact on gamers come May 14-16. But it’s no use since I’m pretty sure Microsoft with their Halo 2 playable, other Live content (True Fantasy comes to mind), and the chunk of Nintendo they own called Rare. Has their shit together. Sony with the most games and the possibility of having all major Vgame sequels to show (most being exclusive). Including a sequel most played online action console game to date SOCOM: US Navy Seals. I’m more than sure Sony has their shit right. But as for Nintendo with Mario, Zelda, & Metroid in the ranks of GCN titles already I can’t help but fear what Nintendo will have to offer come this years E3. Don’t get me wrong I’m sure Nintendo will make the biggest impact on attendees at E3. But what about the people who don’t work for some kind of gaming media. Or those people who skim through Vgame websites or magazines just for those few games that catch their eye. How about those people out there who only buy games through popularity (GTA ring a bell). And maybe those who just pick up games and consoles recommended by friends, or some EB Clerk who only recommends his favorite console. Sadly these are the people who make up 80% of the gaming community. And these are the guys who Nintendo needs to focus on.

As a Nintendo fan I find it difficult to believe that so many gamers out there fail to recognize the talent that Nintendo still possesses. Maybe I am disillusioned or stuck in the past; but I still can’t get past the glory days of the Big N. If you go back to the mid 80’s when videogames really started taking off a big part thanks to Nintendo, you will find quite a few games that helped to define the market as it is today. Games such as The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Duck Hunt, Kid Icarus, Punch Out and Super Mario Bros. All that helped shape the industry for a bigger future. Why do I still hold on to the glory days of Nintendo? Is it worth it at all? Questions I ask myself every time Nintendo makes a confusing business decision that sends the middle finger towards me & gamers worldwide.

I admit it is difficult being a Nintendo fan these days as I am sure many of you could understand. It is difficult to hear that a company once almost always praised for its genius is now starting to be ruled out; even by those that once praised it. It is hard to hear that their hardware sales are not very high relative to their competitors - to grudgingly acknowledge that there may be a problem when the once powerful and universally recognized name “Nintendo”, once synonymous with the word videogames may not ever hold the power it once did. Does the “Nintendo seal of quality” mean anything to anyone anymore? I didn’t think so. And there’s only one direction to point the finger of blame on and that’s Nintendo themselves. So many mistakes made over the past few years terrify me. And it seems they don’t learn. It pretty simple to figure out quantity beats quality these days. It easy to see following company example marketing & features is not a bad thing. And I’m tired of making suggestions & possibilities defending the honor of the Nintendo name across forums and in videogame stores. Suggestions & possibilities that will never come true since Nintendo fails to consider the opinion of their customers. Only thing I can say now is I hope Nintendo gets their act together before it’s too late.

Is this really “hate” on the company known as Nintendo? No not really more like a concerned & devoted fan. Ya’see I can never turn my back on Nintendo. It’s in my blood to walk with them to the end. It might be a bitter one at that. But it’s not the destination… it’s the journey that counts. If someone was to ask me to define “The Nintendo Difference”? It would be an easy answer “mind control”.

~ditto~