The Whole Gaming Industry Releases Sequels, why does Nintendo get Singled out?

Some interesting quotes came from Size Five Games founder Dan Marshal on Nintendo and the Wii U. He clams that Nintendo's problem is their established franchises like Mario, Metroid, and Zelda. He goes on to say Mario Galaxy was great but Mario Galaxy 2 was boring and Nintendo releases the same games over and over again to self-destruction. Not only did he forget Nintendo released Three new IPs in The Last Story, Xenoblade, and Pandora's Tower for core gamer's, he doesn't understand Sony and Microsoft both release vast amounts of sequels. Uncharted 1-3, Killzone 1-3, Resistance 1-3, Halo 3, Halo 3 ODST, Halo Reach, Halo 4, Halo Wars, Uncharted Fight for Fortune, Uncharted Golden Abyss and then some. Many of the industries biggest games are sequels or based off established IPs. Why is Nintendo the only company getting called out for it? Even when they reinvent the franchise from Super Metroid to Metroid Prime to Metroid Other M somehow people still claim it's a rehash. Playeressence's Furious Francis takes a look at the blasting of Nintendo's establish franchises and tries to sort out the vast amounts of hypocrisy being thrown around the internet.

[exfatal]

agree completely with this article, with all the rehashes Sony and Microsoft pull outta there asses kinda dumb to call out Nintendo for doing the same (and not even on the same scale Sony, Microsoft shove out sequels)

[shutUpAndTakeMyMoney]

Only one company has made sequel since the 80's.. They deserve it. It's 2013 you know. Nothing wrong with sequel but I rather play The Last Of Us and Beyond instead of another zelda or mario. But at least they have bayonetta 2.

They have always done this..
http://www.mariowiki.com/Li...

They make interesting hardware but the games are stale to me and I have grown up since SNES.

[mcstorm]

Hang on How long has the Playstation Brand been around? How many games did sony have on the PSX and PS2 that were created by Sony's own studies?

Nintendo have been around a lot longer than sony in the games business and this is why they have brought more sequels out than anyone else but if you look t the list you just put up there it shows that what Nintendo do is show use there main characters Like Mario Donkey Kong ect as the name and face of there game but the games are different. Look at New Supper Mario and Mario Galaxy they are two different games. Also If you look at each gen MS have only ever given us 1 Mario Kart in each of there gens.

Nintendo have not had big 3rd party support since the SNES so they have had to make there own games to stay alive in the industry where Sony and Now MS have lived off 3rd party games.

At the end of the day everyone makes new versions of there games and if you look at LBP this is becoming Sonys Mario and we have LBP 1 2, Vita and now Karting as well as being in All stars.

But look back at this gen and you will see sony have had Resistance 1 2 3, Killzone 2, 3, LBP 1, 2, Motor Storm 1, 2, 3 Numerous Sing stars. Uncharted 1, 2 ,3 and other games I cant think of off the top of my head.

Its the same for MS we have had Halo 3, 4, ODST, Remake of 1, Wars, Gears 1, 2, 3 and soon to be Judgment, Forza 2, 4, 5, Horizon and more.

But if you look at every gen there are games that are done every year. Fifa, NFS, Sensible soccer, NHL, Sonic, COD just to name a few.

People need to get over the so call milking of names and games. At the end of the day if there is a market and the game is selling then the developers will carry on making them its the same no matter what industry you are in.

Look at Coca-Cola for example how many verities of Coca-Cola are there? Diet Coke, Caffeine-Free Coca-Cola, Diet Coke Caffeine-Free, Coca-Cola Cherry, Coca-Cola Zero, Coca-Cola Vanilla, lemon, lime or coffee.

People just like to moan and complain when they can about anything they don't like. At the end of the day if someone dose not like the way a company releases something then that is fine but don't sit there moaning about it just don't buy the product and buy the one you like and enjoy it for what you get out of it.

I here it all the time. I own a Surface and all I keep getting from the Ipad owners is why you buy one of them an Ipad is far better and rather than getting into a debate with them all why one is better than the other my reply is because the Surface fits my needs more than an Ipad dose.

[Dracoon85]

The problem with Nintendo is that they keep using the same franchises every generation with out anything new to bring to the table. Sony brings us sequels and new ip. Crash and Spyro were great for the PS1. They had their sequels. But when PS2 came out we got new franchises like Jak & Daxter and Rachtet & Clank. PS3 has Uncharted and Resistance. The real issue isn't sequels. The issue is lack of innovation.

[cee773]

@mcstorm

you know why nintendo get it the worst? because they are the greatest milkers of all time with over 60 pokemon games and over 200 mario games so you tell me who got milk

microsoft is second but even they cant compete with nintendo in the milking department with a halo every year,

sony well they release sequels at minimum every 2 years so no problem here imo

the moral of this comment is microsoft and sony dont have $%*T on nintendo when it comes to milking nintendo is on another level PERIOD.

[guitarded77]

I like Nintendo sequels BUT, Nintendo does not concentrate on NEW IP's the way Sony in particular does. All 3 should keep making sequels to their great franchises, but all 3 should also make new IP's each generation, and everyone falls behind Sony in making quality NEW IP's... Nintendo in particular. I will give credit to Nintendo though... they are picking up a bit on Wii U, and have 3rd parties committed to making some quality exclusives like Zombie U, Rayman Legends, LEGO City Undercover, Bayonetta 2 and Wonderful 101. I would also like to see Nintendo bring back some of their older franchises like Kid Ic and F-Zero to the Wii U, and come up with a couple of new great exclusive 1st party titles. It's not picking on Nintendo, it's being a consumer and wanting more. Some people are so in love with a company, they forget it's a buyer/seller relationship, and WE, the buyers should have a say if the company wants to continue to have our money.

[Eyeco]

The reason why Ninetndo get's singled out is because they've been doing it for over 25 years, now it's not a problem because Nintendo's 1st party games are among the greatest in history, there almost always superb.

BUT in the case of games like Zelda and Metroid, you could argue that they've failed to attracted new fans.
I mean look at Zelda games for example, they always sell around 5-6 million copies regardless if the console has an install base as low as 20 million (gc) or as high as 100 million (wii) they always sell around that number, why is that ? what does that tell you ?

Nintendo realised this, that's why they went for the casual non gamer route with the Wii, I mean look at the Wii's best selling games for christ sake 90% casual crap, Nintendo's core fanbase isn't large enough to sustain the company, the Gamecube pretty much summed it up.

So in a nutshell Nintendo core games are incredible, so I don't see anything wrong with the constant sequels because the fans aren't complaining, but in the case of other "core" gamers, it hasn't attracted their attention, hence why the PS3 and 360 each hold very large install base.

[Shnazzyone]

Mario kart, LOZ, & mario bros games are fun no matter how "mature" you are. I presonally am not so insecure with my maturity that i need to play gritty games with blood and guns to feel mature.

It always perpetually perplexed by why other game publishers get pats on the backs for 3 sequels in single console gens with only the most minor tweaks possible to the gameplay and graphics. While nintendo gets dissed for making games with massive gameplay innovations (NSMB excluded) sparsely spaced over over 20 years.

Double standard seems perpetuated by kids age 16-25 who don't know any better though. I guess that's the internet for you.

[Kevin ButIer]

Nintendo will face a big trouble when new generations (and their parents) doesn't feel identified with its current franchises anymore.

[MaxXAttaxX]

I'ts about making new IPs (third-party deals aside).

Even Shigeru Miyamoto has expressed his desire for new franchises. But the president believes that they have a tradition they won't change.

This is why we won't see many new Nintendo-developed franchises, because all of their development time and resources are spent on sequels from the 80s.

[STICKzophrenic]

@mcstorm

"Nintendo have not had big 3rd party support since the SNES so they have had to make there own games to stay alive in the industry where Sony and Now MS have lived off 3rd party games."

Do you think their lack of 3rd party support is mostly their own doing (at least this gen) by making an underpowered console?

[NYC_Gamer]

Nintendo problem is they don't create brand new franchises/characters...Sony goes outside of their comfy zone and experiment with new franchises very often while Ninty has been stuck with the same franchises since the 80's

[OC_MurphysLaw]

^^^^ this is spot on. They have a staple of set characters that they use over and over. I am tired of Mario and the 50,000 versions of his character...not so much the game mechanics...just that character. No more Donkey Kong either... Something new.

[dark-hollow]

"Sony goes outside of their comfy zone and experiment with new franchises"

Sony lost most of their "comfy" zone because most of them were third party exclusives like final fantasy, resident evil, silent hill and so on.

If these franchises were owned by Sony I guarantee that they wont stop making them suddenly because they want to make more new IPs.

You would think if Microsoft or Sony have a franchise as successful and versatile as Mario they won't milk it to death?

[MikeMyers]

From the article:
"Not only did he forget Nintendo released Three new IPs in The Last Story, Xenoblade, and Pandora’s Tower for core gamer’s, he doesn’t understand Sony and Microsoft both release vast amounts of sequels as well."

Ok lets discuss those 3 games.

1. The Last Story was made by Mistwalker and was published by Nintendo. Kind of the same scenario as Blue Dragon for the Xbox 360.

2. Xenoblade: Chronicles was made by Monolith Soft and published by Nintendo.

3. Pandor'as Tower was made by Ganbarion and published by Nintendo.

So as we can see those games were just published by Nintendo, not their own studios. So what new ip's has Ninetndo actually created over the years, Wii Music? This is why they are questioned. They are the ones with the longest history but where are all the new and creative games? Where is their investment in studios over the last couple of generations? Instead we have partnerships with developers like Platinum Games (the upcoming Bayonetta 2 for the Wii U).

Of course people want a new Mario game and a new Zelda game but I myself also want to see Nintendo do some new stuff too. What's the last RPG they created? How about an action/adventure game? What about a driving game that isn't Mario Kart? I just see Nintendo riding the wave of just repeating itself generation after generation. Living within their own bubble afraid of new intellectual properties and afraid of going in new directions. Instead they create hardware that is unique so that they can put a different type of spin on exiting franchises and sell them once again. I guess if it works why change? That's been their philosophy for decades.

[kevnb]

Monolith soft is Nintendo, following this logic Microsoft and Sony don't have much of anything at all.

[MikeMyers]

You're right, thanks for the correction.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

As of 2007 Nintendo owns controlling interest. Before that they released games on other platforms including the PS2.

Still, not a lot of new ip's coming from Nintendo.

[ShaunCameron]

<Sony goes outside of their comfy zone and experiment with new franchises very often>

Too bad most of them turn out to be woefully generic and get overshadowed by the popular 3rd-party games on their own platform, not to mention have marginal-at-best longevity.

And for the record, Sony was never that creative to begin with. They only started getting creative when they lost exclusive rights to the 3rd-party IP's that MADE the PlayStation brand what it was. Grand Theft Auto, Final Fantasy, Devil May Cry, Silent Hill and Resident Evil. When they all went multiplatform, the PS brand effectively lost its value. And the LittleBIGPlanet's, God Of War's, Uncharted's of the world weren't enough to keep the facade going.

<while Ninty has been stuck with the same franchises since the 80's>

Pikmin?
Star Fox?
Pokemon?
Super Smash Bros.?
Mario Kart?
Kirby?

I don't recall those IP's being out in the 1980's.

[pikey]

i dont understand, are people not understanding, or just not reading the entire article? they mentoned quite a few new IP's that came out on the wii along side the requisite marios, zeldas, and metroids. Xeno blade, no more heroes, mad world, etc.

however theres a lot of comments repeating the same tired shit the article railed against as if they are barely self aware enough to realize what theyre saying let alone recognise the irony.

[Hicken]

"Too bad most of them turn out to be woefully generic and get overshadowed by the popular 3rd-party games on their own platform, not to mention have marginal-at-best longevity."

Such as?

I love it when people toss out "most of" type comments and then don't even list ONE game that fits the description.

[Shnazzyone]

pushmo, professor layton, kid icarus, bit trip beat, artstyle series,fluidity, banzai barber, last story, fling smash, denpamen all nintendo franchises created in the last 5 years.

metal gear was a franchise made in the 80's. Guess that's tired too.

[NukaCola]

Well there is like 50 Mario games and only 6 Halos and 6 God of Wars. Other than Ratchet and Clank which their two trilogies are phenomenal, I can't think of something I would consider milked by Sony. Calling out Sony or MS on milking is low, I would point a finger at Activision with Tony Hawk, Guitar Hero, or COD...the franchises they like to kill off through milking. And to be honest. I have never played a bad Mario game.

[doogiebear]

Every company might oversaturate their franchises, but at least these same companies also make new IP's on occassion. Nintendo does not make enough new IP's anymore. THAT's what they really are complaining about.

[Jadedz]

The longevity of each of their (Nintendo) franchises. It's a argument that'll plague Nintendo for the duration of the company's existence.

[f789790]

Doesn't really matter as a major portion of their consoles are sold to kids. The kids have never played the franchises so Nintendo can keep selling franchises confirmed to sell well.

You can't do that with gamers into adulthood. It gets stale.

[Jadedz]

If consumers like your product; they'll buy it. The fact that Nintendo is still able sell those same franchises up to this date, is a major achievement ''any'' developer would consider gracious.

[from the beach]

They should be praised if anything for sustaining those games over three decades.

[Dno]

i do agree with this i love nintendo games but people want something new... I want something new.

[from the beach]

Naturally we all want something new, but there's no way you can accuse Nintendo of being stale, having released the Wii last gen and Wii U this.

I'm happy to keep playing Mario so long as the games are good (which sounds duff, but it's the truth), and I'd argue that each entry in the series has not only its own features, but also its own identity (Mario 3 - Yoshi's Island - Mario 64 - Sunshine - Galaxy - NSMBU). Unless you don't want them to be platform games any more I don't see how they fail to satisfy.

[LOL_WUT]

True but then again some those sequels are quick money grabs and nothing to be praising about. Nintendo has the milk.

[Dno]

How many new franchises did sony make this gen alone? how many did nintendo make in the last ten years?

please this article is off base and a little silly. uncahrted first game was in 2007, resistance 2006, in fact the only 2 games that i know of from sony that has been on each system they have made is wipeout and twisted metal (and TW does not have a game on vita yet).

Every gen you can expect a mario, zelda, metriod, mario kart and 15 mario sports titles. nintendo has made 1 good new franchise in 10 years and that is pikmin.

Sony is releasing 2 new franchises NEXT YEAR ALONE with the last of us and beyond 2 souls. i dont even know what nintendo is releasing next year on wii u.... sorry guys its not even close.

in short its not about how many Sequels nintendo makes or sony makes its about how many new franchises nintendo DOES NOT make compared to the others.

[G-cis]

4 Uncharted in 5 years is pretty much rehashing it over and over

[Dno]

and 2 new super mario bros in 6 months is not?

at least uncharted is a new franchise this gen mario is 20 years old.

[G-cis]

still one super mario per console,and lets not forget the rumored new uncharted thats coming to vita

and mario is 30 years old

[wishingW3L]

PS3:

Uncharted
Resistance
Heavy Rain
The Last of Us
Beyond 2 Souls
Demon's Souls
PS All-Star
Journey
Heavenly Sword
inFamous
Little Big Planet
ModNation
MAG
MotorStorm

But what Nintendo got? Wii-Sports, Wii Play, Wii-Music and more Wii-ShovelWare? Yeah, and Xenoblade since Nintendo owns Monolith... Lucky them.

PS2:

God of War
Ico
Shadow of the Colossus
Jak & Daxter
Ratchet and Clank
Killzone
Siren
Sly Cooper
Socom

But what Nintendo got? Pikmin and nothing more.

PS1 had:

Legend of Dragoon
Omega Boost
Gran Turismo
Spyro
Crash Bandicoot
Ape Escape
Syphon Filter
MediEvil

But what Nintedo got? The same old franchises but now in 3D and Jet Force Gemini.

[G-cis]

i dont see spyro and crash at PSABR

[AdvanceWarsSgt]

What a dumb post. You'd been better off just typing "LOL SONYZ IS BETTERZ THAN NINTENDOEZ", both would have been equally devoid of any merit and would have achieved the same thing.

[kirbyu]

Who cares if Nintendo didn't start many new franchises? Who wants new franchises? No one. There's a whole lot of hype going around for the new Zelda, new Mario, new SSB, new Metroid/DK, and absolutely none for the new frachise Miyamoto is rumored to have planned. What does that tell you?

[sdozzo]

I don't think they are singled out.

[Dno]

they are not being singled out for what this post is saying its being singled out for. its being singled out for hardly ever making new titles which is true.

[Trunkz]

When people like something it will always be made over and over. So many people still love Mario games, so why is it wrong for them to keep producing the same type of gameplay while adding a little new here and there? Who are you to judge on what people still enjoy anyway, I bet so many here would defend Call of Duty till death even tho they do the same thing Mario is doing (even if they haven't been around as long).

People need to lay off Nintendo, if you don't like it, there's 2 other systems to enjoy. As for myself I'll be enjoying my PS4 and Wii U combo.

[CanadianTurtle]

Is anyone forgetting the unlimited supply of "New Super Mario Bros" sequels?

[Theyellowflash30]

Since 2006 there has been 4 games in the new super mario bros series. With a 3 year gap between the ds game and wii game.

[StarCSR]

I don't think Nintendo is singled out. For everyone complaining about Nintendo rehashing their franchises, there is also someone complaining about CoD or FIFA. When people like something they want it again and again and again... When people don't like something they complain about it.

I myself would "die" if Nintendo would ever stop with Zelda, Mario or Metroid. These games just keep on being awesome. But it's a fact that Nintendo should work on making more new stuff NEXt to those games.

[TooTall19]

Nintendo has been around longer, but it seems like Sony has more original first-party ip's.

[3-4-5]

Because they have the Talent, Time, Money, Creativity to come up with something else and they don't.

[MasterCratosKong66]

the author should stop whining. nintendo doesnt care about the complainers so why should you? they have good games and will release new ones as they see fit. also the other people should stop complaining because for most of you even if nintendo released 20 new ips this gen you wouldnt even play them. new doesnt mean better. to me it sucks that spyro and crash no longer have any good games out

[OmniSlashPT]

Nintendo series live upon their hype. Skyward Sword hasn't near the 'masterpiece' everyone claimed it to be. SMG wasnt either the best game ever as the journalists claimed. And series like Metroid, Kid Icarus, F-Zero, StarFox and such have suffered a drastic downfall in the last couple of years.

What was the last big new series Nintendo created? I'm not talking about The Last Story or Xenoblade, that's 3rd party, single games. I'm talking about established series like Uncharted, inFAMOUS, LBP and such. The last one I remember was Pikmin, two generations ago.

People don't want to admit, but Nintendo hasnt take any risks with their games in the past decade. No new risky IP. No new genres, nothing.

When you think of the best games this gen, you think about Sony's and MS's sequels, not Wii's shovelware.

[GenHero]

Xenoblade is 1st party

[AdvanceWarsSgt]

The fact that you think Kid Icarus, F-Zero, and StarFox are franchises that Nintendo regularly release tells me all I need to know about your stance on Nintendo.

Never mind, this entire post is just filled with inaccuracy and ignorance. Do some research or just don't speak on things you know absolutely nothing about.

[kirbyu]

Not everyone thinks SMG and Skyward Sword were bad.

[Thepcz]

haters will be haters

[zgoldenlionz]

I've probably got little Mario's running around my blood stream bouncing on the cells as we speak, but to compare a sony or Microsoft 3rd or 4th entry in a franchise to a Nintendo game that's had 30+ different titles is just silly.

[kirbyu]

Not only does this happen, but Nintendo gets hated on for not making their new consoles anything special, yet Sony and M-soft never even try to make something special and the same people love them. What's that about? Sony never even makes a new controller.

[danitanzo]

Nintendo has been around longer... so that's why they release sequels. They've done so much innovating they are running out of ideas... Sony and Microsoft have no excuses... Microsoft would be worse though... maybe...

[LOL_WUT]

So, you're saying that because Nintendo has been around longer that means it's ok for them to not make newer IP's and to all of the sudden stop "innovating"?

What a narrow minded view, and lmao at the guy below me getting all worked up. ;) #19

[ElectricKaibutsu]

I just don't get why people care that Mario Tennis, Mario Galaxy, and Mario Kart all feature Mario when the games are completely different. You say they're not innovating but are you talking purely about new characters? If all those Mario games -Dr. Mario, Paper Mario, Mario RPG, etc, etc- simply featured a different character but were still the same games, that would be OK?

[AngelicIceDiamond]

Considering MS brought us Crackdown, Kameo, ME, Gears, Alan Wake also L4D and Ninety Nine Knights. Sony bought us Uncharted, Mag, LBP, Last Of Us, StarHawk, Infamous, Resistance among many more.

Nintendo relies on Mario its the companies mascot. Its interesting with Nintendo they some how innovate with the same mascot characters each and every generation and people still buy it so your semi right about that.

But

If you've owned a wii this passed 6 years you'll realize you can't do nothing except play Nintendo exclusives. Which were from Nintendo and smaller party companies. And most turned out to be shovel ware in the long run. Sorry but shovel ware doesn't count in terms of popularity and sales.

Both MS and Sony are working on brand new AAA titles come next gen. While Nintendo continues to innovate with Mario and Zelda. FOR, the Mario and Zelda fans because their brand names are that powerful.

[wiiulee]

lol...its becaue no other companies have franchises like nintendo, no games that sells like nintendo's so haters know that once a nintendo game comes out, its going to sell and sell alot of hardwares along with it....sony and microsoft try to create icons but there is none like nintendo icons...so it has to do with being afraid....take a look at wii and 3ds....once mario kart came out for 3ds it sold millions more then psvita after that....so its fear and hatred from fanboys and stockholders that pick the other guys to win..

[MegaLagann]

These comments are giving me a headache. Yes Nintendo milks Mario and Pokemon, but here's a list of Nintendo IPs made within the past few generations:

Pikmin
Animal Crossing
Eternal Darkness (funded the game, co-own the IP)
Geist (funded the game, co-own the IP)
Chibi-Robo
Custom-Robo
Odama
Golden Sun
Elite Beat Agents
Drill Dozer
Captain Rainbow
Disaster Day of Crisis
Another Code R
Xenoblade (Monolith Soft is a first party studio)
The Last Story (funded the game, co-own the IP)
Pandora's Tower (funded the game, co-own the IP)
Dynamic Slash
Rhythm Heaven
Nintendo Land
The Wonderful 101 (funded the game, co-own the IP)
Wii Series
Pushmo
Harmon Knight
Magical Starsign
Hotel Dusk
The Legendary Starfy
Fossil Fighters
Steel Diver
Dillon's Rolling Western

And there's more where that came from. If you say Nintendo's only made one worthwhile IP in the past ten years was Pikmin then you're just ignorant. Here's the truth starring at you and I know for a fact most people will disagree with this post just because I don't join the Nintendo hate bandwagon. Not to mention they're constantly bringing back old IPs like Kid Icarus, Punch-Out and Sin & Punishment. And guess what? Those games don't sell well either. People beg for Nintendo to make new IPs but when they do those very same people don't even pay attention to those games. So it's no wonder they milk the shit out of Mario and Pokemon because that's all people buy.

[AdvanceWarsSgt]

The comments are par the course for anything Nintendo related.

[MultiConsoleGamer]

Because Nintendo haters are an agressive bunch of wanna be internet tough guys.

Nintendo's fanbase skews young, so Nintendo haters get a kick out of picking fights with children. Just look at NeoGAF or 4chan.

Of course, all fanboys are hypocrites. And a wise man once said "You strain at a fly in your soup only to swallow a camel." There's also something about glass houses.

[Sidewinder-]

Generic "Make discussion" article.

How about being creative?

[SIANSLOW]

at the end of the day there would be a mighty backlash if nintendo announced that they wouldn't be making mario or zelda games anymore, as long as the games are good i dont see how anybody can complain. story, graphics, franchise, ip, genre and charecters are all secondary to gameplay (anyone that disagrees isn't a gamer) and nintendo 1st party games have the best gameplay around, so if im playing super mario galaxy 2 and it just happens to be the best game ive ever played then so be it

[actionpacked]

Do we really have to post it? I guess I do. Donkey Kong games and Mario's appearances. Show me how these characters arn't milked to death.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...