120°

The Rise and Fall of the Nintendo Empire

Jeremy Pool writes - "I’ll admit it, the title is slightly over-dramatic, and the ‘Big N’ hasn’t really fallen. Yet, with the recent announcement that the long-running Nintendo Power magazine is closing its doors, and as a loyal consumer and fan-boy of Nintendo’s for over two decades, I cannot ignore the perceived decline of a gaming juggernaut."

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Silver-Hawk4268d ago (Edited 4268d ago )

Microsoft and Sony has the core gamers in their corner. The Wii u is a confused console that has the fanboys only in their corner. Nintendo is losing fanboys from their corner daily and when the next gen systems are released Nintendo will be losing them at a faster rate. Nintendo was trying to fool people into thinking they will cater more to the core gamers but all their previews of the Wii u shows that they are not. Most Nintendo fanboys will start waking up to see Nintendos ploy when they see the Xbox720 and ps4 especially when they realize that Nintendo is trying to fool them with another Wii

victoryscreeeeeech4268d ago (Edited 4268d ago )

And this is all factual, right? None of this is opinion in any way.

tehpees34268d ago (Edited 4268d ago )

Your having a laugh right? I can't believe people are STILL ignoring Microsoft's new direction with Kinect like they are dedicated to core gamers.

Seriously, if Mass Effect, Assassin's Creed, Darksiders II, HD CoD, EA sports and Batman aren't enough to persuade you that Nintendo is trying then what is?

I bet even if Nintendo had GTA V you'd all still carry on this nonsense. I wouldn't care but pretending like 720 is going to be the console the hardcore has been waiting for when they are taking EXACTLY THE SAME DIRECTION as Nintendo just shows an incredible amount of bias and its time people stopped ignoring it.

To act like Wii U is being treated the same as Wii when we haven't seen the full lineup is foolish. And besides that, the launch games in there are actually much better than those 360 and PS3 had. All three have shoddy versions of sports games but Wii U has some of the most critically acclaimed franchises of this generation right from day 1.

I can't wait to see all your disappointment E3 next year when you all see Microsoft forcing Kinect 2.0 complete with smart glass down your throats. The way I see it Nintendo baited Microsoft into the casual market and they fell for it.

morganfell4267d ago

The titles you named that says they are trying are 3rd part titles. Everything you named is multiplatform. That isn't Nintendo trying, that is those respective companies believing they can sell games who are trying.

When you see Nintendo with Nintendo developers dedicating large budgets to core games then you will see it is Nintendo trying.

AWBrawler4267d ago

What the hell is up with this double standard? MS or Sony get 3rd party hardcore games and it's all good, but if Nintendo gets a 3rd party hardcore game, it doesn't count because Nintendo didn't make it??

Heck Nintendo themselves admit they aren't as good at making M rated games as others, so why hold that against them, especially of awesome hardcore games like No more Heroes, Monster Hunter, DragonQuest, and MadWorld are on their console?

Zhipp4267d ago

@morganfell
Nintendo's biggest/highest budget games have always been core titles...

Also, those thrid party titles show that Nintendo is at least trying to garner some third party support.

Freakazoid20124267d ago

That is just pathetic. All you do is troll anything not Sony but you get bubbled up while people that are positive about all companies are bubbled down for saying anything positive about MS or Nintendo on this site.

Gr814267d ago (Edited 4267d ago )

Are just as biased and ridiculous as that dude that always says "Rated E for Everyone." But not as charming.

And what exactly was wrong with the Wii? The Wii was awesome. That system alone made Nintendo more dough than either HD console combined. They were rolling in billions in profits. The 'core' gamer isn't the only gamer out there. M$ knows this which is why they have changed their direction, and Sony's clueless ass is still chasing a gaming minority..such as yourself, that will spell the doom of Playstation. You guys are like Sega Saturn supporters.

What do you think of the Wii U gamepad? now answer what you think of that Vita/PS3 combo that tries to emulate a Wii U gamepad? What do you think of mario Kart? and now what do you think of LBP Kart? lol. Or Smash Bros and PS All Stars. I already know what you think lol!

You are straight ridiculous. But I give you an E for effort. How much is Sony paying you?

"Rated E for Everyone"

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 4267d ago
nintendojunkie284268d ago

You should replace Nintendo with Sony,in that headline.It makes more sense in that context.

Treian4268d ago

says someone with the name "nintendojunkie28" LOL

nintendojunkie284268d ago (Edited 4268d ago )

Names aside,you know I'm right,whether you admit it or not.If anyone has fallen flat on their face in recent years,it would be Sony.

yourmom29214268d ago

Well, nintendojunkie28 is objectively correct. Statistically, Sony would be a more plausible replacement. Given their past and on-going losses, it is quite the problem for them. Despite that, I don't think they will be in trouble as long as they play their cards right and make careful business decisions. That is also why I really think the power of the PS4 will not be such a massive leap as everyone thinks it will be... they simply cannot afford to do something like that--unless they sell it for a ridiculous price that may turn off some consumers.

Treian4268d ago

Sony has not fell. The pump out a great amount of quality exclusives, and have a good online service.

yourmom29214268d ago

"Sony has not fell. The pump out a great amount of quality exclusives, and have a good online service."

Unfortunately, in the world of business, despite excellent services that a company may provide, if the company is taking large losses and making poor business decisions, it is possible for that company to go bankrupt.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 4268d ago
ALLWRONG4267d ago

Nintendo is making money, Sony is losing money. Sony is last in "all" it's gaming markets, Nintendo is first.

nintendojunkie284267d ago (Edited 4267d ago )

That pretty much sums it up right there.

On a side note...lol at my disagrees,I thought this was a "Nintendo" article.Did I hit a nerve Sony fans?

Oh....and why are you here again?..Hmmm

Xperia_ion4268d ago

Another flambait article and more childish behavior go figure.

kesvalk4268d ago

welcome to the gaming community!

but really, none of the big 3 are falling... it's just the fanboys feverish misconceptions of the industry...

if the fanboys were right, nintendo would be making a Super Mario for Xbox360 and a Metroid for the PS3...

DivineAssault 4268d ago (Edited 4268d ago )

if 3rd party doesnt make money off their software on nintendo platforms, they wont make games for it anymore.. Without 3rd party, ps3/360 players wont jump ship.. without ps3/360 players OR casuals to buy wii u, only fans will.. They can become a software only company if they dont want take heavy losses from investors & tech research..

Sony has taken heavy losses from multiple divisions but PS isnt one of em.. PS makes sony money so if anything goes from sony, itl be tv, cameras, & PCs...

AO1JMM4268d ago

They are not falling any more than MS or Sony are falling. What a lame article.

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80°

How Many More Victims, Like Garry's Mod, Will Nintendo's Hurtful Crusade Create?

Hanzala from eXputer: "As Nintendo takes out 20 years' worth of stuff from Garry's Mod, I watch in shock, thinking why it continues to hurt and discourage its fans."

RiseNShine1d 18h ago (Edited 1d 18h ago )

The irony that some of the most disgusting business practices come from companies like Disney or Nintendo, i can't even begin to understand what terrible damage was Garrys Mod making to Nintendo bottom line, imho they're getting pretty nervous about where they're heading in the future, handhelds are no longer something exclusive to Nintendo, from Steam Deck to many others, now you can play the latest games and pay a fraction of the price on Steam sales, so it's up to their exclusives, which just on their own would make hard to justify purchasing a closed overpriced hardware with outrageous price policies (Super Mario Odyssey is still 60 euro 6 years later!), and as a home console they're always underperforming compared to Sony or Xbox.

gold_drake1d 11h ago (Edited 1d 11h ago )

i cam guarantee you, that their exclusives alone is what drives switch sales. they sell in the 10s of millions of copies.

nintendo created their franchises to be sort of nostalgia driven, exclusive only on nintendo.

people will always buy the pkmn games as they always bring in new younger fans amd is family friendly

mario kart, the same thing, mario games in general.

zelda games are system sellers. animal crossing for the casual gamers.

nintendo doesnt need third vame devs essentially. they made sure with the switch and the limitations that they looked more to pc ps and xbox.

its sad, but nintendo is more than fine with what they're doing. they positioned themselves to appeal to the more casual gamers.

but to your point, im not sure why they're doing this rly.

Inverno1d 9h ago

Look at how they handled Nintendo games being streamed or uploaded on YouTube in the past. They killed Yuzu and Citra even when they had nothing to do with ToTK being leaked, not to mention it was basically unplayable on emulation the week it was leaked. Smash Bros tournament, that was fairly recent. They shut down their online services without any care for purchases made. I bought a switch after skipping their last 2 consoles and handhelds but I don't plan on buying anything Nintendo in the future. They take things to the extremes, they legitimately hate their fans. They're honestly right up there with the likes of Acti, EA, and Ubi, only difference is that they disguise themselves as being family friendly all the while being shady.

80°

Nintendo's Massacre Of The 3DS And Wii U Is Finally Complete, Regrettably

Hanzala from eXputer: "The cruel hammer of Nintendo has fallen. Farewell, 3DS and Wii U, you surely brightened my life and many others; you won't be forgotten."

280°

Xbox's Preservation Step Sets A Much-Needed Example, Especially For Nintendo

Hanzla from eXputer inquires: "If Xbox can care about preserving its games and legacy, what exactly is wrong with Nintendo, trying to kill game preservation single-handedly?"

purple10122d ago

Ahh yes the good old game preservation of saving all your games to a removable hhd on the Xbox 360, taking it round your mates house, setting up multiple tvs to
Be met with “save data corrupted, please re download”

Or how about removing 360 games
From the store
, download them now or else, and, better hope to god that save data doesn’t corrupt, or it’s lost for ever

Nice one ☝️

Zeref21d ago

It's better than what Nintendo and Playstation is doing. It might not be perfect but at least they are TRYING. Unlike the others.

DarXyde21d ago

Trying? Take off the blinders for a moment, mate.

1. A failure to preserve games is just that: a failure to preserve games. Don't try to sugarcoat it: NO ONE is doing it properly. Better than awful is nothing to write home about.

2. At the time of this comment, isn't it the case that you need an internet connection to play Xbox games even if you buy physical discs that are hardly in circulation anymore? I don't have a Series X and I can't verify, but I think that is correct. I'm fairly certain you can at least play PS5 games at version 1.0 (not much of a win really when many games require day one patches). I think Microsoft's all digital, licensing approach is by far more aggressive than anyone else's. They really try to push you to game pass where you lose your entire library by umm.... Skipping a month of payments.

I don't think anyone is doing it right whatsoever. Don't get me started on Nintendo, who goes after anyone looking to preserve their games better than they ever would with extreme litigation.

Don't be a simp for any of these companies. Get it together.

PhillyDonJawn21d ago (Edited 21d ago )

@DarX never speak on Xbox again. You lost all credibility with your internet connection comment. Smh you have 0 clue and misinformed yet speaking on something you don't no squat about.

Einhander197221d ago

What has Sony done exactly? You guys keep deflecting to Sony but I am not actually seeing any results, and ai am certain nothing that you can come up with even comes close to what Microsoft has done and what they have tried and failed to do, like tie all your disks to your account on xbone.

Microsoft removed their whole indie section when they moved to the xbone because they were going to only allow games on the service that came from a publisher, id@xbox started after xbone launched and it only exists because Sony embraced indie and Microsoft was forced to cancel their plans and reverse course.

And every single game that was part of games for windows live including disk games (I have gta 4 on disk that won't work) so hundreds of games that use that DRM no longer work unless the company themselves patched it out which of course very few did.

MrBaskerville21d ago

Not trying. Tried. they killed of the backcomp program years ago. They set something up again, but sounds like it's more of an attempt to save the current library on whatever they are planning next. With luck they save everything and more, but let's see. I could see them killing off parts of the OG xbox and 360 libraries. Can't imagine that they would allow us to play Forza 5-7 in the future.

With that said, I do like what they've done and really wish they could have done more.

shinoff218321d ago

Zeref

So killing off physical media is trying what exactly. Ms don't really give a fk if you think they do your kidding yourself.

Profchaos21d ago

They are not trying this team is established for forward compatability the team is. It interested in preserving Xbox or 360 games.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 21d ago
isarai22d ago

Is that why Hellblade 2 is digital only?

Zeref21d ago

Just because it's digital only doesn't mean you can't preserve it. Just put it on an external and you have the exact same functionality of what a disc does.

MrNinosan21d ago

Guess you're trolling, but if you actually think that's how it works, I'd recommend buying some braincells.

mkis00720d ago (Edited 20d ago )

Volitile vs nonvolitile data. A disc will not corrupt either. A drive can be corrupted.

Einhander197222d ago

This is just a scammy PR move to distract from the fact they are going digital only and trying to push streaming and subscriptions only.

No gaming company has pushed harder to remove ownership than Microsoft.

Without discs there is no preservation, preservation can't be done by the rights holders it can only be done by the consumers, anything else is a lie.

22d ago Replies(3)
Einhander197222d ago

Anyone remember xblig which Microsoft removed their whole 360 indie section removing hundreds of games from people?

22d ago
21d ago
Zeref21d ago

Do you know you can put your games on an external and preserve them that way? There are no benefits to discs. ZERO. Idk why some of you are still obsessed with them.

DarXyde21d ago

Because games like Persona 5 exist. It's STILL V1.00. On Playstation, that's a win because 1.00 is installed on the disc—no need to download anything.

If a game does not require any updates, it's all on the disc.

Extremely low bar in the modern era, of course. It's not much of a win by any stretch.

But for now, physical media does have a purpose, at least on Playstation.

Einhander197221d ago

That is factually not how game licensing works, try plugging your hard drive into someone else xbox, It's not going to work, and it won't work if the licensing servers ever go down.

Einhander197221d ago

Anyone remember games for windows live.

I have around a dozen games, some on Steam itself that will not work because Microsoft shut off the licensing servers.

BehindTheRows21d ago (Edited 21d ago )

I do. I STILL have games (Gears of War being the big one) I cannot access because Games for Windows LIVE is total garbage and no one has held Microsoft accountable.

Zeref21d ago (Edited 21d ago )

You don't have an Xbox apparently. Because you can 100 percent plug in your external and play games from it on any Xbox console lol. You just have to be logged in to prove ownership.

Chevalier21d ago

"You don't have an Xbox apparently. Because you can 100 percent plug in your external and play games from it on any Xbox console lol. You just have to be logged in to prove ownership."

Damn how many times do people got to explain your idiocy to you? You can take a copy of Persona 5 like someone used as an example and play that game on ANY console WITHOUT logging in which means I can lend the game to a friend without internet and they can play my game. Can you lend your hard drive to anyone without logging in for them to play? NOPE. That is a huge difference and if you think otherwise then sorry you're an idiot.

Tacoboto21d ago

"No gaming company has pushed harder to remove ownership than Microsoft."

Ubisoft is literally erasing games people bought from their libraries... My PS1-3 discs are useless on modern hardware. Nintendo's re-published and resold almost their entire Wii U library, and the eShop is completely dead with no BC mechanism in the Switch software. Microsoft publishes everything they make today day one on Steam and Xbox/Windows. Sony only brings to PC the titles they think you might want some years later and Nintendo won't even design a functional long-lasting joystick.

You're absolutely trolling and not serious if you think Microsoft today is the worst offender.

shinoff218321d ago

Yay steam

Not everyone fks with computers though. The disc is still the best way as a console player. Period.

Tacoboto21d ago

How do Sony and Nintendo feel about these discs from 2001-2013?

Don't be stupid, you know Xbox is the best at this today.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 21d ago
Hofstaderman21d ago

Nobody wants this. Sales or the lack of it in the case of XBOX is very telling. I wonder how the adorably all digital series X will fare. Adorably dismal perhaps?

crazyCoconuts21d ago

Only time will tell, but for from someone like me suspecting that Xbox is trying to gracefully exit the console market, that "forward compatibility" team is trying to get Xbox games playing on Windows PCs. I mean, it's nice that they're not planning on exiting with a "enjoy your games while the hardware still works" message, so that's nice. They still have a brand to protect via Microsoft so probably feel obligated to have a better exit strategy.

Xeofate21d ago (Edited 21d ago )

That is not their plan, their plan is to transfer users accounts to the cloud.

Phil Spencer himself said as much a few months back, plans could have changed but I think people are reading way too much into one statement where Phil said he would allow Epic on xbox because he wants to be able to sell xbox games directly on other platforms. Aka, instead of selling Sea of Thives through PSN he wants to have an xbox store to sell his games on PlayStation without giving PlayStation any money.

Again, it's extremely unlikely that Phil plans to put PC on xbox and licensing would prevent them from just giving out other publishers games purchased on xbox copies of thier games on PC, Microsoft does not own their games.

crazyCoconuts20d ago

The thing that doesn't align with the cloud strategy is the giving up on exclusives. You'd still need strong exclusives for cloud streaming - it's still a "platform" , just with a lower upfront hardware investment. I feel like they've learned what PS learned with PSNow long ago. We're not ready to stream games and it's only gonna lose them money to try at this point

FinalFantasyFanatic20d ago

I would love that, I'd buy up some of the Xbox games if they could run on PC, like the Rare Replay, Lost Odyssey and Dead or Alive Ultimate, probably a pipe dream though.

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