Now that we got that intro out of the way (so much for not getting overgrown huh?), let's deal with these commentaries from Sean Malstrom that you put down here. I may reference that intro I just posted in this reply so don't be surprised.
| JGarret said: John, what do you make of Malstrom´s latest post?..he talks about what he think is wrong with Nintendo.Let me put it here. One of the big things that helped people get behind Nintendo with the DS and Wii was that people believed in the company. They believed Nintendo cared about putting out quality game experiences. People were even defending the Virtual Boy. “At least it was DIFFERENT and INNOVATIVE.” Nintendo’s interests coincided with the customers’ interests. No longer is this the case. There are too many examples of Nintendo not caring about putting out quality game experiences. If it were due to business concerns, this might be excusable. However, it isn’t. It is over ideological concerns among the developers at Nintendo. Here are a taste of few of them: |
I say this to Malstrom. When you look in the dictionary under the entry "quality", you will find a picture of the Nintendo logo right beside it.
Malstrom's prejudice against anything that doesn't remind him of the Famicom/NES blinds him to the enduring quality of games Nintendo produces on all of their systems.
There's a reason why Nintendo at best breaks their own world records for best-selling games of all time & at worst merely sells millions.
When they created that Nintendo Seal of Quality in the 1980s it was part a symbol to revive customers' & retailers' confidence in videogames/videogame consoles & specifically Nintendo's videogames/videogame consoles...
...and a commitment Nintendo placed on themselves to be the very best in this business—hardware-wise & software-wise.
That's why the word Nintendium exists (Know Your Meme, Urban Dictionary, TVTropes).
Owners of retro game shops sure thank them for it, I betcha. 30 year old games & game systems still working after all these years.
Their games only GROW in quality. Nintendo gets BETTER with time. That's why I see so many people dissecting & analyzing The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 14 years later. People will reflect back on Nintendo's current games in a similar glowing fashion another 14 years from now.
As long as I have been playing Nintendo games & Nintendo consoles, EVEN I am taken aback at how good Nintendo is at their craft.
They surprise even me & I have been down with Nintendo since 1981 with Donkey Kong. Even I'm blown away by these guys.
Malstrom is FLAT wrong on this. Nintendo HAS NEVER STOPPED putting out quality game experiences & games like Pikmin 3, Picross 3D, Super Mario 3D World, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, WarioWare D.I.Y., Art Style: BASE 10, Brain Age: Concentration Training, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, & Game & Wario prove this FACT to me time & time again.
I remember something Malstrom wrote some years back in critique of Nintendo saying a company should give customers what they want.
WRONG. That's exactly what a company should NOT do. That's focus group talk. You can't go by what customers say they want.
A company should give customers what they NEED.
Customers usually can't see past the present in creative things. I'm gonna use Michael Jackson as an example of this.
Quincy Jones, the producer of Michael's Thriller album, wanted to cut Billie Jean out of the album's track list.
It caused some tension between himself & Michael quite naturally. Quincy thought the song wasn't good enough for the album.
Somehow Quincy hated the bassline on the song & said that the intro took too long (it was the longest song intro ever at that time).
He thought people wouldn't like these things. Quincy DID have lots of experience in the music world so his opinion wasn't bunk.
Michael protested him at every turn. He said about the intro "But that's the jelly! That makes me wanna dance!"
Dancing was the field Michael had the experience in so Quincy relented. Still, Quincy had a problem with the song title.
He thought the title "Billie Jean" might make people think Michael's talking about tennis star Billie Jean King & get the wrong idea.
Quincy wanted to call the song "Not My Lover" which is the 2nd half of the chorus "Billie Jean is not my lover"
Michael said hell no & then these two fought over producer credits & royalty agreements falling out once again.
In most of 1982 before this album came out at the end of the year, you can bet that most people were expecting Michael's followup to Off The Wall to be similar to that 1979 smash.
Off The Wall was a breakthrough no doubt & you could call it generically a disco album but it was so much more than that.
The mindframe of the audience couldn't see past the image of Michael as the now-grown up member of the Jackson 5 with the boyish but sexy image.
They probably expected a romance album full of love songs with a few mid-tempo dancey disco-ish numbers.
If you asked them in 1982 what they wanted from Michael Jackson's new album they would probably say "something like Off The Wall".
If you asked them in 1982 "Do you want a Billie Jean? Do you want a Thriller?" They would probably say "I don't want that. I want some love songs from Michael with a feel like Off The Wall."
The thing is these people didn't even know they wanted Off The Wall until Off The Wall was out.
Off The Wall updated people's image of Michael & not too long later Thriller would do the same.
They didn't know they wanted Thriller until Thriller came out. They didn't know they wanted Billie Jean until Billie Jean came out.
They didn't know they wanted to see a Billie Jean music video of Michael lighting up the sidewalk with every step until that came out.
They didn't know they wanted a red jacket & a dancing gang fight from Beat It until that came out.
They didn't know they wanted a mini horror movie & that intricate Thriller dance until that came out.
They didn't even know they wanted to see the making of that Thriller video until THAT came out.
Michael couldn't expect any of Thriller's successful outcome if he asked people what they wanted in 1982.
The album's original name was going to be Starlight & "'Cause this is Thrilleeeerrr! Thriller Night!" would have been "We need some Starliiiiight! Starlight Sun!"
It would have fit into the loverboy image everybody was expecting. One of the songs planned for the "Starlight" album was called Carousel.
It was a good song, don't get me wrong, but it was cotton candy compared to Human Nature which took its spot.
Quincy made that call for Human Nature, thank goodness, but ALSO thank God that he lost his call for Billie Jean which became Michael's signature song.
And fans LOOOOVED that extra long intro when he performed it on stage. They loved it even MORE when he redid the intro for a badass dance breakdown at the end of the song.
You don't get these results from just "giving customers what they want". Michael felt something personally with Billie Jean.
He created that song out of what brought the passion to HIM. That's where he started. When he releases the song, he hopes the customers feel the same way about the song as he does. That's how you work in a creative field.
Do something you love & share it with the world in hopes that they share this love you have.
Staff at Nintendo of America didn't see ANYTHING in Donkey Kong & thought it would be a failure.
Thought customers would laugh at it.
Company President Hiroshi Yamauchi dismissed their gripes saying it was a good game. Shigeru Miyamoto under Gunpei Yokoi's guidance took what was a licensed representation of Popeye & created something HE felt was good, something HE felt was fun.
Nintendo put it out & customers SHARED Miyamoto's feeling. All those quarters that jammed up that first cabinet proved it.
If he asked customers in 1981 what they wanted, they would probably say "something like Pac-Man".
If Nintendo asked customers in 1984 what they wanted, they would probably say "something like an Atari".
The customers DON'T KNOW what they want until you deliver it. Create what they NEED.
| JGarret said: -2d Mario gets a C string team and a low budget. 3d Mario gets the A team and a massive budget. -The most hated Zelda game, Wind Waker, gets to be the first ‘HD Zelda’. Iwata’s announcement said, “We want Wind Waker to be seen by more people than it had on the Gamecube install base.” Translated, that means Nintendo likes Wind Waker and wants more people to play it. They assumed Wii U console would be far more popular than the Gamecube console. |
I have gone over the Malstrom's gripe about 2D Mario vs. 3D Mario in SUPER-extensive detail so no need to rehash it here.
There's still places they want to explore in 3D. That's why 3D gets the bigger budget. They are just refining their skills in 2D.
That's well-tread ground. They don't NEED massive budgets to put out those games.
As for the Zelda thing. Malstrom has a problem with "Gamecube games". There was nothing wrong with Gamecube games.
Nintendo was still suffering the effects of the 3rd party exodus & press was giving them the image of the kiddie console in the presence of the PS2.
It doesn't mean Gamecube games were bad games. One of those Gamecube games, Animal Crossing (technically a N64 game too), became one of the ever-growing franchises Nintendo has in its portfolio.
Animal Crossing: New Leaf has already sold past 6 million in a year's time (and has only been sold in America for half a year).
This game will surpass the mega-successful Animal Crossing: Wild World for the DS when it's all said & done.
The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker is an EXCELLENT groundbreaking game.
After the gloomy apocalyptic darkness of Majora's Mask comes the bright seafaring adventures of Wind Waker.
Link has always traveled mostly on land & now that has been inverted with Link now traveling mostly on sea.
The craze for photorealism caused those ignorant comments of "Celda" & it turns out that Link's eye awareness brings more realism to this living cartoon of a game than naturalistic art styles could.
Wind Waker HD's inclusion in the Wii U woke people up about the console. It put a very necessary spark in the Wii U.
And 10 years after the original came out, you hear more people giving it the praise that it didn't get as much of when it was first released.
Just to show how influential Wind Waker was, the Nintendo-beggars on the smartphones get to play a Nintendo-like game called Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas. They get to play a game so much like Wind Waker that you don't know whether to call it a ripoff or a tribute.
Yes, Sean Malstrom. Nintendo likes Wind Waker & want more people to play it.
I'm glad they did so they can show a new generation how great a game Wind Waker is.
There's plenty of examples in entertainment fields where a work wasn't properly appreciated in its time then comes out later & is seen as ahead of its time gaining all the backlog of appreciation it was due.
Has he HEARD of Earthbound AKA Mother 2? Does he remember Killer7?
Think he would have X-Men right now if he judged it by the audience's reception in the 1960s.
Does he know why Family Guy, a series once cancelled, exists on TV today? Does he know how Star Trek: The Next Generation was able to be made when the original series only ran 3 seasons in the 1960s?
The Honeymooners only got to run 1 season on TV yet is now one of the defining shows of the 1950s & even influenced The Flintstones.
Only 4 episodes of Poilce Squad! got to air on TV in 1982 yet it spawned the massively successful Naked Gun movies.
Disney's Pinocchio, Fantasia, & Bambi all flopped at the box office. What do people think of those movies now?
The Wizard of Oz was overshadowed by a bunch of big movies in 1939 & barely covered its production costs in box office returns.
Now what do people think when you show them The Wizard of Oz?
Sometimes people need a second chance, a third chance, a fifth chance, a ninth chance to recognize the quality of something they once overlooked.
One game I know needs another chance is Retro Game Challenge AKA Game Center CX: Arino's Challenge & its sequel Game Center CX: Arino's Challenge 2.
Wind Waker is EXCELLENT & was a great choice for Nintendo to do a remake of to sell the Wii U.
And while the Gamecube itself didn't sell all that well, it has more than redeemed itself in the build of the Wii.
Malstrom needs to let go of that Gamecube-bashing. It's ridiculous.
| JGarret said: -3DS is designed around ’3d’ because old fart Nintendo developers have invested their lives in 3d gaming technology and still refuse to admit the Virtual Boy was a failure. (This is not hyperbole.) |
I'm beginning to think Malstrom only seems to understand the NES. He might not understand Nintendo all that well.
Nintendo is ALWAYS reaching back into their past & reintroducing in a new way what most people have forgotten.
He badmouths the 3DS because of its ties to the Virtual Boy (it actually goes back further than that to tell the truth).
Yet he somehow forgets that Nintendo went all the way back to the Multi Screen edition of the Game & Watch Donkey Kong to give us the design of the Nintendo DS. They reached back 22 years from 2004 to 1982 & broke their own record for best-selling handheld of all-time (at times even beat the record for best-selling console of all time).
Don't I remember all those Sean Malstrom articles praising Wii Sports with its allusions to the NES with Tennis, Baseball, & Golf?
Another example Nintendo reaching back into their past & reintroducing it in a new way.
I recently found a Kotaku article showing just how far back Nintendo's focus on 3D goes.
Nintendo's First 3D Technology Shot A Spaceship At Mario's Face
It was called the Famicom 3D System (3D System? 3DS?? Hmm...) & it used liquid crystal shutter glasses to convey a stereoscopic 3D effect.
This 3D System released about the same time as Sega Master System's/Mark III's Sega-Scope 3D in late 1987.
Both which follow in the footsteps of the 1982's Vectrex with its 3D Imager & the 1982 SubRoc-3D arcade game for stereoscopic 3D effects in videogames.
Nintendo tried to improve on this flawed technology with the Virtual Boy in 1995 but Virtual Boy failed because the headset would be better suited for a special arcade experience & it was rushed out to market unfinished based on Hiroshi Yamauchi being shook by Sony emerging on the gameworld (the truest clearcut mistake you could ever call Nintendo on).
But bad implementations don't mean bad ideas.
Just because an idea was once done badly doesn't mean the idea is bad. Keep trying until you do it right.
And they finally did it right with the 3DS. Stereoscopic 3D WITHOUT glasses or headsets.
They had practiced further with stereoscopic 3D on the Gamecube & now they could deliver.
The 3D effect while subtle really adds to the visuals & makes them more immersive. You really notice it on those Nintendo Video clips.
Super Mario 3D Land is legitimately easier to play with the 3D effect on.
And now it is the best-selling handheld console & console period of the past 2 years in the FACE of the smartphone revolution.
Malstrom is calling Nintendo developers 'old farts' but I hope with this kind of talk that he's not turning into a cranky old man.
| JGarret said: -Sakamoto destroys the Metroid franchise with Metroid Other M. Instead of giving people a game they want to play, Sakamoto puts forth a game where he gets to be ‘narrative director’ and ‘creative god’. -Pikmin 3 is a sequel to the failed Pikmin series of games on the Gamecube. Pikmin 3 wasn’t made because people wanted it. It was made because Nintendo developers wanted to make it. In 2008, Miyamoto said that Pikmin 3 would be a good fit for Wii because of the pointer. That was horseshit as Pikmin 3 was delayed so it could be made ‘right’. Meanwhile, the 2d Mario of NSMB U doesn’t get delayed but thrown out there at launch because Nintendo developers don’t give a shit about 2d Mario. |
Hmm. I wonder if Malstrom believes Super Metroid destroyed the Metroid franchise.
i mean according to VGChartz the original Metroid sold 2.73 million worldwide while Super Metroid sold 1.42 million worldwide.
Super Metroid was the 3rd worst selling Metroid original release in the Americas at 570 thousand (Metroid Prime Hunters for the DS sold 550 thousand & Metroid Prime Pinball sold 210 thousand in the Americas)
It is also THE WORST selling orginal Metroid platformer in the Americas. Yes, you heard that right. THE WORST.
What's the best-selling Metroid platformer or game period in America AND the world?
One of those Gamecube games Malstrom hates: Metroid Prime at 1.96 million for America & 2.82 million worldwide.
Did Metroid: Other M live up to Nintendo's expectations? No. But neither did Super Metroid.
Somehow the Metroid franchise kept going after Super Metroid. Super Metroid didn't destroy it.
And Super Metroid's sales were not necessarily a reflection of the quality of the game. The same applies to Other M.
Other M wasn't a bad game at all really but now you know why Nintendo is reluctant to put too much voice acting in their games.
It can detract from the game's atmosphere if not done right. Especially if it's the main character.
The only thing that annoyed me about Other M really is the forced Where's Waldo? sequences where you gotta point out a certain area with the remote.
That can take you right out of the game if you don't know where to look. VERY frustrating.
Other than that I felt the 2D/3D insta-switch was impressive & I marvelled at how all of it could be done with just a single Wiimote.
After playing the Metroid Primes for so long I had to get out the mode of looking for hidden story secrets in the background scenery.
This game was fast & action paced & I especially enjoyed Samus' finishing moves.
Malstrom mocks Yoshio Sakamoto for being the 'narrative director' & 'creative god' for Other M.
Sakamoto was the guy who directed AND wrote the narrative for Super Metroid. Yes, that badass narrative with the baby Metroid killed after protecting Samus who just got beat down by Mother Brain. Then Samus takes avenges the baby Metroid's death with that killer Hyper Beam upside Mother Brain's dome.
That narrative director & creative god was with Metroid from the very beginning. He was the co-director for the original Metroid!
He was the narrative writer & director of the beloved Metroid Fusion. Write on, you creative god you, write on!
The Metroid series' Japanese sales had been dropping ever since the very first one. Super Metroid is actually the 2nd BEST selling Metroid original release & platformer there with 710 thousand (original Metroid sold 1.04 million).
The Metroid Primes sold terribly there getting only 100 thousand with Metroid Prime & 70 thousand with both Metroid Prime 2 & 3.
Metroid Fusion got 170 thousand & Metroid: Other M got 130 thousand in Japan.
Not much better really but the game that "destroyed the Metroid franchise" actually grew the series' presence in Japan.
By the way, this destroyer of the Metroid franchise sold 1.25 million worldwide. Game STILL went platinum.
Now for this Pikmin 3 business. "Failed Pikmin series". 'People didn't want Pikmin 3'. Malstrom, you're stuck, brother.
How many people have been begging Nintendo for the 3rd entry to the Pikmin series? How long have they been begging? Almost 10 years!
Pikmin 1 & 2 have both sold over 1 million worldwide. In only 4 to 5 months of being on the market Pikmin 3 has already sold almost 700 thousand.
As Wii U picks up, Pikmin 3 will pick up. Is Pikmin a Wii Fit-level seller? No. But will it be successful? Yes.
SHOULD it be successful? YES. It's one of the best games on the market right now.
I'm GLAD Miyamoto decided to hold off on putting it on the Wii. It's MUCH better on the Wii U. I can use that Gamepad (the Upad) as a menu & map screen while I play the action with my Wiimote & Nunchuk.
People get more varied control options with Pikmin 3 on Wii U.
Malstrom is SO STUCK, SO stuck on 2D Mario that he misses the forest for the trees.
in fact Pikmin 3 was one of the major catalysts for me buying the Wii U in August. It was the one that made me buy in.
Not New Super Mario Bros. U & I'm a card-carrying Mario fan. I still hated Wii U's $350 price but I had to have that Pikmin!
I'm not too cool with consoles going over $200 so you KNOW this was a big deal.
And I don't see what he's griping about on the 2D Mario front anyhow. Nintendo just gave him TWO 2D Marios in the same year!
New Super Mario Bros. 2 & its fun coin-collecting insanity & New Super Mario Bros. U which is pretty much NSMBWii with a 5th player in assist mode.
They even gave him a hard mode in New Super Luigi U! What the hell is he complaining about?!
These games had such well done challenging levels that it should have been 2D Mario heaven for him. But instead he gripes.
Seeing this behavior he would probably gripe about that 'Super Mario Bros. 5' he talked about buying if it came out on the Nintendo 64.
So much for "give the customer what they want". They did & he's STILL griping.
| JGarret said: -No account system. -Internet gaming sucks on the Nintendo consoles. No one asked for this Miiverse crap. Nintendo thinks it is ‘special’ because it is ‘different’. But it doesn’t do the job we want it to do. |
They DO have an account system. It's called a Nintendo Network account. It has a username & a password & any digital purchases made on that account can be linked to a Club Nintendo account to get 'coins' for those little loyalty reward trinkets or to purchase other games.
They have even given you the option to link your 3DS to this account. What is he talking about?
Nintendo created the Friend Code system to protect users' privacy, protect children's ears from internet negativity & protect themselves from lawsuits & a bad image that could come any mishaps on the first two items. People insisted on a different system & Nintendo listened.
The company that has been providing online services since the 1980s (Famicom Modem with stock trading no less!, Satellaview) removed some of the purposely-placed seams without compromising on creating a service parents can trust their children with & created the Nintendo Network.
They loosened the restrictions a lot...so much so that the creepers took advantage of the kids anyway through 3DS's Swapnote.
Nintendo stressed Parental Controls yet the worst still happened. As the steward of the industry Nintendo can't be irresponsible like the others so they took away the SpotPass functions of Swapnote until further notice.
I know it's the fashion to share everything on the internet these days but maybe just maybe you don't want things becoming too seamless.
You lock your doors for a reason. You don't want your household to be so seamless that people can just walk in whenever they get ready.
You shouldn't want your email contact list to be public information just because you use Google Plus.
You shouldn't want your purchase history to be readily available to any random person looking on your profile.
You don't want your medical history open for the whole world to see. You don't want your voting record public knowledge either.
Everything shouldn't be so convenient. Sometimes there SHOULD be some hoops to jump through.
Sony & Microsoft are losing billions selling videogame machines. Of COURSE they don't care about the intricacies of keeping their businesses healthy.
Nintendo doesn't have that option. They live & die on the sales of their games & game machines & they're gonna put up roadblocks to slow the exploitation & corruption of their business model. The people who make these games have families they're trying to feed.
I'll take those roadblocks in exchange for a FREE online service that works well & is a positive experience when I use it.
For as protectionist Nintendo is about everything, I don't see them trying to shut down used game sales, I don't see them pull any of those shady industry practices like on-disc DLC.
They even give you free games from time to time like with the digital version of Wii Fit U.
Malstrom complains about the Miiverse but it's that very Miiverse that will be one of the greatest selling points of the Wii U.
That "Miiverse crap" is one of the most pleasant online experiences I have had. A moderated environment to keep everyone civil.
A supportive gaming community that can be accessed through Wii U, 3DS, or any computer or smartphone.
So many great artists drawing pictures on this "Miiverse crap". You get so caught up in giving props to the random drawings & comments.
There's no game that can be ignored with the promotional potential this "Miiverse crap" provides.
Every game & service on the Wii U & NOW the 3DS ultimately pass through this Grand Central Station where people can communicate across genres & demographics. That totally matches the mission of the Wii.
No one asked for that "Miiverse crap" but thank goodness Nintendo's in the business of giving the people what they NEED instead of giving them what they want. It does a job we didn't know we needed & but a job that we're glad it performs.
We didn't ask for that StreetPass/SpotPass "crap" either but now we can't live without it.
Nintendo Zones could actually provide small boosts to the businesses that host it.
How many times did I buy a burger from McDonald's while I was trying to get more StreetPass/SpotPass activity?
Doing online in DIFFERENT ways than people expect. That's my Nintendo. So special. 
| JGarret said: -Wii U is a Gamecube HD with Wii branding. This was intentional. Nintendo is trying to direct the market to want games their developers wish to make. It is the market that tells you what games to make. The developers don’t get to tell the market what games it will have. It seems like Nintendo developers have been too distant from the Real World. Can you imagine a normal person with the gall of telling the labor market of what job it will be in demand? Of course not. The labor market tells you what jobs are in demand, not the other way around. And if people could tell the labor market what jobs would be in demand, it would all be the same type of job: a job that is a leisurely office job where they get to be ‘creative’. Nintendo developers being leisurely (recycling Gamecube games) and being ‘creative’ is a function of the workers trying to tell the market what job skills it demands. They are entirely upside down. |
Wii itself was "2 Gamecubes duct taped together" as the old insult goes. Didn't stop him from singing its praises.
Yeah Nintendo is trying to direct the market to want games their developers wish to make. That's what they have always done.
I already went over this earlier. Miyamoto wanted to make a game with a gorilla causing havoc in a construction site when the market probably wanted space shooters & Pac-Man maze games.
Miyamoto & Tezuka wanted to make a console game with an Alice In Wonderland-like fantasy feel.
That console game was Super Mario Bros. for the NES. The market probably wanted an computer game with a medieval feel.
WRONG Sean Malstrom. WRONG. I'll say it again. WRRRRRRONG.
The market doesn't tell you what games to make. The developers create a game they enjoy & put it out for the market to accept.
Looks like YOU have been too distant from the Real World, Malstrom. Nintendo didn't get to be this titan by following market trends.
There have been COUNTLESS times when they defied convention & benefitted greatly from it.
Sometimes you gotta MAKE demand. A normal person CAN influence the market. Because what is the market but a bunch of people?
'The market' isn't some ominous untouchable unguidable force. It's people & people are influenced by other people.
There was a normal guy in the 1970s who influenced millions of people to buy a rock in a box.
How did something as absurd as the Pet Rock sell 1.5 million units? 'The market' didn't ask for the Pet Rock.
'The market' didn't give this normal guy the job to produce Pet Rocks for sale. The normal guy CREATED his job & became a millionaire selling a common rock in an uncommon box to lots & lots of people.
Let's ask Malstrom if 'the market' asked for videogames in 1970. The answer was no.
Guys like Nolan Bushnell & Ralph Baer didn't wait for 'the market' to tell them that it was their job to create videogame machines.
They CREATED their job. They CREATED that demand. They LED the market into believing it was their job to create those videogame machines.
That's what entrepreneurship is all about. You should know all about that, Malstrom.
'The market' didn't ask for Sean Malstrom commentaries in 2005. They didn't tell you it was your job to be an industry observer.
You CREATED your job. You CREATED that demand. Now people believe it is your job to offer commentaries in your observations of the videogame industry.
You talk about Nintendo being leisurely "recycling" Gamecube games.
I wonder what you thought about Nintendo when they leisurely "recycled" NES/SNES games in the Game Boy Advance era.
That Super Mario Advance series bringing you Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario World, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, & Super Mario Bros. 3 all over again in new ways. All that 2D Mario you love so much.
Sean Malstrom, I think it's time you turn right side up. Your perspective is showing itself to be upside down.
| JGarret said: I can go on and on with the litany of complaints, but it boils down to Nintendo losing its company reputation with the crap it has been putting out (and it has been putting out crap). When people say, “No account system!”, they aren’t just talking about the account system. They’re saying they don’t trust the company itself. The issue isn’t about ‘finding the right game’, the issue is a reputation problem. |
No, what is going on is that Nintendo is facing an unprecedented amount of competition inside & outside of the videogame console business.
They are fighting 4 giants at the same time: Sony, Microsoft, Apple, & Google.
This explains Nintendo's push to get ahead of the competition when usually they are deliberate with rolling out new hardware.
They preserved the viability of the handheld console as they pulled 3DS out of the muck.
They're currently trying to pull Wii U out of the muck to solidify their mission to unify the industry & remove the volatility in the business.
They got in the muck because comparatively they are a much smaller company who is loathe to waste unnecessary money.
They won't unnecessarily expand to the point of dilution but as a result the smaller staff slows the game production.
Getting ahead of the competition was a necessary move but it forced them to build their machines at costs they would rather have lower.
And stopping hot consoles in the heat of their lives in order not to cannibalize their new systems also cost them in the short term.
Nintendo's quality is as good as it always was. But they're paying a price short term because of the rockiness of their transition.
Nintendo always has a reputation problem whether they're successful or struggling. Nothing's gonna change that especially with the Motley Fools of the world constanttly playing the drumbeat of doom. For some people Nintendo can NEVER do anything right.
But you're wrong, Sean Malstrom. It IS all about finding the right game. It always was.
All the complaints & all the worries & all the mistrust fades away when people see that game that they want to buy.
This is the videogame business & any company who participates is in the business of selling videogames.
Super Mario 3D World is one game. More will follow & sooner or later, customers will find one that they can't resist.
All Nintendo has to do is keep working on finding the right game for Wii U. That's the very thing that pulled the 3DS out of that muck.
| JGarret said: I hear that the Wii U might get a version of Minecraft. This is laughable. Who is running this company? Minecraft is the most influential video game since Tetris. And yet, Nintendo ignored Minecraft forever. Why? I know exactly why. It is because Nintendo developers, such as Miyamoto, thumb their nose at PC games especially indie games that are made by one person. These stupid, childish developer ideologies are hurting everything. Nintendo should be reminded that GTA 1 and 2 were PC games before the franchise exploded. Call of Duty was a PC game too before the franchise exploded. Nintendo may not be able to get big industry third party games with their bizarro Japanese hardware mentality, but they can still get third party indie games where the system requirements are much, much less. Unfortunately for Nintendo gamers, Nintendo assumes they are trash and don’t even bother trying to get them onboard. Sony, however, is. |
EXCUSE ME?! Does Sean Malstrom remember the story of a certain game called Tetris? That was a computer game Nintendo fought to get on their systems most particularly the Game Boy.
That's a load, Sean. Does he not remember another computer game hit called Sim City? Nintendo went so far as to contribute their own ideas to make the game hotter. They even created an adviser to the player called Dr. Wright based on the game's creator Will Wright.
Even gave it that smooth jazzy music from Soyo Oka. It became one of the SNES's biggest hits.
How many hours did I waste playing that game? 
Computer hit Wolfenstein 3D first made its console appearance on a Super Nintendo. Did he forget about that?
I also remember a pretty big PC game called Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six for the Nintendo 64.
Did Malstrom forget about that PC hit called Cave Story? The one that got even more fame on WiiWare & DSiWare?
It went over so well that there's a 3DS retail version called Cave Story 3D.
A game from the new PC world of web/app gaming called Cake Mania found its way to the DS & Wii.
Enough of this! Bizarro is Malstrom's ire towards Nintendo.
I said it before & I'll say it again. You're STUCK, Sean! You're STUCK!
Come out of your narrative trance, man.
| JGarret said: I am not a mind reader. I do not know what goes on in Iwata or Miyamoto or anyone else at Nintendo’s minds. All I can see are actions. The thoughts going on that made Nintendo think that the 3DS and Wii U would be ‘break out hits’ are some of the craziest science fiction and fantasy I can ever imagine. All I am doing is wondering, “How did they think this was a good idea???” |
3DS has proven itself. It's a hit. Might not have been breakout but it's a hit. Wii U will prove itself just the same.
3DS has buried Vita & is holding its own against the VERY challenging smartphones & tablets.
They're working on having Wii U match the same turnaround 3DS had. Don't forget Malstrom, DS wasn't a breakout hit when it first came out either. They had to work on DS to turn it into a phenomenon too.
Everybody thought they were crazy then too for putting out something like that against the powerful Walkman of the 21st Century which vowed to take handhelds out of the gaming ghetto.
I wonder if you thought the DS was a good idea in 2004. You weren't delivering your commentaries on the internet then so i'm curious.
I'll admit my stance back then. I was skeptical. But that's because I wasn't even plugged into gaming news back then!
I didn't even know Sony was making a handheld! I was more concerned about them cutting short the life of the GBA!
My skepticism on Nintendo was proven wrong & I have had other skepticisms about Nintendo proven wrong as well.
I have learned not to be so quick to call them crazy or foolish. Nintendo isn't a perfect company but they're a damn smart one.
They make mistakes but they always have a plan. And usually their plans work out sooner or later.
In the end, if you ever get unstuck, you'll probably be singing praises of their business sense on your blog.
| JGarret said: Nintendo developers and certain hardcore gamers might be on the same page. However, the mass market and Nintendo developers are not on the same page. There is a gulf between them. And it is not the mass market’s job to do what the Nintendo developers wish to do. It is the other way around. This is the issue I see that is wreaking havoc throughout Nintendo output for the latter part of Generation 7 and, so far, all of Generation 8. I know I sound like a grouch for articulating it, but look at the sales. Something is very, very wrong. Maybe everything said here is completely wrong. Maybe the issue is something else. But one this is for sure, Nintendo needs to stop doing what it has been doing for 3DS and Wii U and needs to change its thinking, whatever thinking that may be. |
Nintendo is the master of closing gulfs. The master of bridging divides. That's how they have the audience & fanbase that they do.
Let me ask my 40/50/60 year old Animal Crossing playing buddies what they think about Nintendo's ability to do this.
I have well established that 'the mass market' isn't some untouchable unguidable ominous entity. The mass market is PEOPLE.
And Nintendo will lead the people into the path of 3DS & Wii U bit by bit. They will create the demand. The demand will not create them.
You have it backwards, Sean Malstrom. You have it upside down. It's NOT the other way around.
The game is the thing, brother. It always was. It always will be. Build it & they will come.
It looks like a nightmare right now but trust that Nintendo will have their Field of Dreams.
John Lucas
Words from the Official VGChartz Idiot
WE ARE THE NATION...OF DOMINATION!
