So I checked on Nintendo and they’re fine

I’ll admit I was scared for a moment, but the tests came back negative, or, er, positive – they’re fine!

I’m not a Nintendo fan. I’m not even a console user. But after reading Clare McDonald’s piece last week about the future of Mario and his ilk, I got weirdly nostalgic and uncharacteristically worried.

[Ask]

Something that worries me about Nintendo is that they've not been seen as a strong games company for awhile now despite when you look behind the scenes and see the DSI and DS dominating the portable market. DS/I games are a huge market and it's easy to overlook that when consoles take the spotlight most of the time.

Really hoping that this view will drop because eventually this perception will help it come a reality. People need to be confident in Nintendo as they make amazing games and deserve the support.

[PopRocks359]

Contrary to what some believe, I don't always agree with everything Nintendo does. As a fan though, I try to maintain a level of optimism. For example, the Wii didn't have a good online infrastructure. The Wii U's is not really on par with the likes of PSN or Xbox Live, but it's at least better than before and hopefully will be improved upon.

Nintendo's been in tight spots before, with their only real financial failure (as far as I know) being the Virtual Boy. While systems like the 64 and the GCN didn't sell as well as their competition, they at least wound up being profitable. This scrape with the Wii U's sales is no different; I think they can find a way to turn it around. I just think they better get on it and get on it yesterday.

[_QQ_]

You must not remember the gameboy micro :P

[PopRocks359]

Oh I remember that. I just didn't think it counted since it wasn't really a new product, so much as a redesign. That and I heard it actually did alright in Japan.

[Pushagree]

No, nintendo is not fine. The fanbase they gathered with the Wii has largely proven to be fickle and not loyal to the nintendo brand. In the process of stepping on the real nintendo fans who loved franchises like mario and zelda, but at the same time, wanted new and innovative GAMES and not just gimmicked controls, they lost a good percentage of the people that got them to where they are in the first place. Casuals will never be reliable in the gaming market. The hardcore are the only true source of income and thus longevity.

[millzy102]

talk when you know about the industry, alot of sales across all console platforms are casuals, hardcore console gamers ( as in the people who buy consoles on release, buy games on a monthly bases and play more than cod) are the minority, casuals make the console market, thats why sony had a cd player in there playstation, dvd player in the ps2 and thats the main reason it kicked gamecube and xbox's butt (more gaming oriented machines as higher specs would suggest but the dvd player had some serious selling power so alot of devs went to sony. they had an aweful lot of 3rd party exclusives during the ps2 rein, they tried the same with ps3 by adding the blu ray and then pricing there own blu ray players at £1000 so people thought ps3 was better option (same tactics as ps2) . nintendo used the wii remote and to get the casuals and dominated. microsoft tried with kinect now kinect 2. what a game company needs to do is address both markets equally and thats something all 3 will be fighting for.

[EmptySkyForm]

One simple thing to get Nintendo back on track. GAMES. That should be their #1 priority. Games > Features and online capabilities > Hardware power. I say Nintendo should put out 3 good games to stop this "NINTENDO IS DOOMED" BS.

I'm a Playstation guy but I believe they could do better because of Nintendo's potential.

[Kingthrash360]

they need new 1st party ips imo. they really do...I love my mario,zelda,starfox but they are getting stale...I dont mean spin offs like Luigi this or mario kart that ....I nees fresh new stuff...they are milking the current ips dry

[YoloSwag]

You'd know that they have a bunch of newer IPs (if you had bothered to research).

[Kingthrash360]

1st party, hell even 3rd party (non-spin off) ips? every competing system has done it for each generation, exciting ones like tomb raider ps1, gow ps2, then uncharted ps3 or halo xbox, gears xbox 360. every new system had a exciting NEW non spin off ip. last nintendo new exciting ip ....mario nes, zelda nes, starfox snes, metriod nes, killer instinct n64 , golden eye n64? .... wiiu needs a fresh new exciting ip thats.not some spin off of other gems... if there is some. please let me know id like to hear them. im not bashing im a gamer and this is my frustration with nintendo and also imo why its lost the throne. look at nes ips....3 legendary games thay carried snes into the most dynamic and successful system but thos gems are getting as stale as cod now and nintendo needs to realise this asap or the wiiu will be the first system by nintendo I pass on. research was done mostly found people.dont have wiiu plans...

[PopRocks359]

"if there is some. please let me know id like to hear them. im not bashing im a gamer and this is my frustration with nintendo and also imo why its lost the throne."

Well, there's Pushmo and Dillon's Rolling Western on the 3DS, for starters. Both of which are completely new IPs and pretty fun.

Nintendo's not the only ones that are stubborn, you know. Several other big publishers seem to just use the same franchises over and over. Not that that excuses Nintendo, but why your frustration is directed specifically at them doesn't make much sense when they are hardly the only ones guilty of it.

[from the beach]

Yeah there's Pushmo, Dillon's, Steel Diver, Disaster etc. but why do people, when responding to these 'no new IPs' comments, never just point out the glaringly obvious stuff?

Last gen Nintendo put out Wii Sports, the single most significant game on any console. They also did Wii Fit, Brain Training, Nintendogs and Professor Layton.

These were all huge.. never mind just being new IPs, they were gamechangers. I'm not sure how people can accuse Nintendo of being stagnant with a straight face.

[Kingthrash360]

my focus is the wiiu ....I own a 3ds (and pushmo) im just wishing for a new fresh ip...ive looked looong and hard for new ips ive seen wonderful 101 but that wont be enough to sell me. im just tired of the same old shit. all these disagreeson my post but noone can tell me im wrong about new wiiu ip's. then not having a e3 conference futher worries me about the no ip situation. I genuinely want someone to show me or name or even hint at a new wiiu ip......dam no fanboy bs please I dont care about how many wiius sell or if its a failure or not I truly dont give a dam. I just want to know if yall know something I dont. otherwise like many other real hardcore gamers if they dont bring something new to the table then I wont buy. even fanboys should demand new ips along with new releases of the old ones. dam this rubs me the wrong way when people blindly dont expect more but want to find excuses to prove a good point bad.
@from the beach....EXCITING new ips while wii sports was great it was also free wii fit and brain games are nowhere close to exiting to the level of the new ips for other systems.

[from the beach]

Well those games may not have excited you but they obviously did excite the millions of people who decided to go out and buy them!

[tweet75]

one thing you have to remember with the games industry it is so huge financially that even a "big" drop still leaves companies with huge profits. As in the past great 1st party titles for wii u will bring good profits for nintendo.

[LoveOfTheGame]

Companies in this industry come and go, one of the main constants has been Nintendo. Anyone who immediately counts them out need a history lesson, for those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.(I think that's the correct quote)

[gedden7]

Of course Nintendo is fine.. I never believe in those doom and gloom articles lol... Anyways The big N makes $$$$

Handheld alone is good enough but the Wii U sale will pick up I'm SOO Sure of it. In-fact I believe that the Wii U will dominate this holiday season! I got 3 reasons!

1. Mario 3d U, Smash Bros U, Mario Kart U, Wind Waker HD, Zelda U (rumored) Wonderful 101, Pikmin, All those eShop games, Splinter Cell Black List, Watch Dogs, Assassin's Creed 4, GTA 4 (rumored), CoD Ghosts (Rumored) and games will be available by this holiday season... $$$ Bank for Nintendo.

2. NeXtBox and PS4 will $399 and up! Some will buy but not the majority.

3. Nintendo still has the most popular first party franchises and they have more to share and make $$$ by their die hard fans. Nintendo will be fine.