Now I know a lot of people are sick of the negative threads. And I know I might get banned or flamed for this "blasphemy". But I think that this is important and people, including Nintendo, need to know this. This is not a baseless rant. This argument is based on my own research and conclusions, and you are welcome to add input if you wish. This is not a flame thread or a fanboy thread, I still respect Nintendo as a company, I just want some answers.

As you all know, Nintendo is the video gaming giant. Their name is synonymous with video games. In the past they have produced the greatest video games of all time, games that I still treasure and hold in high regard to this day. However, ever since the Wii first came out, Nintendo's games have gradually become worse and worse as well as fewer in number. I know a lot of Nintendo fans still think that Nintendo had a great year. However, in terms of game quality it was their worst in recent times, and if they don't shape up, their worst years may still be ahead of them which may forever tarnish the Nintendo image.

I will first discuss Nintendo's quality compared to its two competitors.

The above graph indicates the number of games released in 2008 above a 90% on GameRankings. As you can see, the Wii's 2 lags behind the 5 and 6 for the PS3 and 360 respectively. Now I know one qualm you might have with this chart. A game doesn't have to be over 90% to be considered a good game right? Well let me adjust the graph criteria so that it measures all 2008 games on each system above 80%, a number that can be commonly accepted as the borderline between a "good" game and an "average" game. We now have the following:

This is the number of games for each system released in 2008 over an 80%, according to GameRankings. As you can see, the Wii lags behind its competitors even further in this category. In fact, the Wii's number is only roughly a quarter of the number of its closest rival, the PS3. This shows that there are a multitude of better games on both opposing systems.

Now, this did not happen overnight. Let's take a look at Nintendo's gradual decline by the use of another graph.

The above graph shows the number of games published by Nintendo over an 80% on GameRankings. This includes portable games. As you can see, the number of games is in a downward trend, with 2008 being the worst year.

No matter what way you spin it, the number of quality Nintendo games is going down, and is paltry compared to its competitors. I don't know if this is because Nintendo is focusing more on casual games, if they feel they don't need to make good games anymore because of all their success or what. I like Nintendo but I really feel like they need to step up their efforts and announce more for next year than Wii Sports Resort and New Play Control! Personally, do you think Nintendo is doing an adequate job in their games department? Why do you think that their games have gotten worse/fewer?Do you think the situation is going to get better? And how soon? Discussion welcome.

Thanks for reading.

Why did you have to bring graphs for those dumbass sites......
I was gonna read your post but not anymore......

Whatever.

Well mario kart wii is mario kart 64, double dash and some new levels rolled into one, so if anything, the quality has stayed the same

I give you credit for approaching this situation as you did, but I feel compelled to point out a few errors you made. First, you're using Metacritic. I understand why: it's convenient, and easy to use to judge the quality of most games. But it doesn't work for Nintendo games at all.

Look at it this way: Wii Sports, the most influential game and biggest system-seller since Super Mario Bros., got a 76. Games approaching 20 million+ in sales, like Brain Age and Nintendogs, scored even lower. Wii Fit, which got more love and sales than GTA IV from the masses (and is still selling like hotcakes) is somewhere in the 80's.

Long story short, you're applying a model that doesn't fit Wii games. And I take issue with your overall thesis as well. Since 2004, Nintendo's been giving us some damned awesome games, surpassing even much of what they did on the N64. I don't care to get into a list war, but suffice it to say that I (and many, many others) have been quite happy with their performance in the past four years. You may not be, and that's sad, but please recognize that your opinion is not shared by many, many of us.

I blame it on reviewers, mostly the "paid" ones and the one's who can can't judge games fairly beacuse they are not in "HD" graphics.

2008 was a below the average year for nintendo, before 2008 nintendo had already realeased zelda, mario and metroid, leaving brawl, mkwii, animal crossing for 08 and some new guns like wii fit

Agree with noname2200's post

I've consistently argued that Game Critics aren't a particularly valid metric for game quality, based both on their statements, reviews, and their general critical philosophy which seems to be neither socratic nor post modern.

My question isn't: "What's wrong with Nintendo?" but rather, "What is wrong with Game Criticism?" Because Nintendo is thriving, and Game Criticism seems to be marginalized.

Very good point Bodhesatva.

There does seem to be this disconnect with the mainstream gaming sites, magazines and even gaming shows, and the actual consumers. Many gaming mags (GI) rarely acknowledge the Wii at all. The abundance of 10's for GTAIV bought many suspicious ideas and theories to form in my head. Then when you hear stories about reviewers not able to give lower scores until ater a game is released. There just seems to be funny business going on. During the SNES era I don't think I ever read a review for the games I played. Now it seems they are the end all be all of the game.

Ah come on, they're making nineteen gazillion times more money than during the Gamecube era, and seeing as how their "casual" games can't have more than a fraction of the budget and production values of games like Mario Galaxy and Twilight Princess, I'm guessing they've got a whole sheckload of quality AAA "core" games coming up. I mean, they have to, right? :p All that money and talent's gotta go somewhere... I just wish they'd officially announce some stuff already.
No matter what everyone says and no matter how great and engaging games like WiiFit, Animal Crossing and Brain Training may be, I for one prefer, and would be absolutely ecstatic to see games like F-Zero, Zelda, a new Mario, a proper Starfox, a Donkey Kong Platformer or Wave Race being announced. And while they're at it, a Paper Mario RPG, yes please. :)