http://www.kombo.com/article.php?artid=12685

Discrimination: Is Nintendo Still a Game Company?

April 23, 2009 | 11:51 AM PST

by: Eric Frederiksen

Here I was, all ready to write you this nice post about how few top-selling games are Japanese anymore. I was going to mention how well the third Yakuza (Ryu ga Gotoku) is selling in Japan, despite being little more than a blip on the radar over here. Not to mention how the prime franchises over here are Madden, Grand Theft Auto, Guitar Hero, Call of Duty, while Japanese charts are populated with Monster Hunter, Pokemon, and Dragon Quest.

Then Nintendo had to go and take up half the top 10 with all their first-party titles in both markets.

The question everyone seems to be asking is: should we even include Nintendo in these conversations anymore? They seem to put out just enough gamers' games to keep the game company title -- most of which are rehashes of already established franchises -- while the games that obtain the real cultural icon status are no longer mascot games like Mario and Zelda, but rather Wii Play, Wii Sports, and Wii Fit.

Now, I'll make this clear: I may not be a big fan of the Wii, but I'm certainly not bashing Nintendo or their console. I think they make a lot of neat products and I'm glad Miyamoto-san is happy again.

I just don't think they can be included in a conversation about games the way they once were. They're a separate entity. They of course venture into the games space occasionally and don't stop others from doing so, sometimes to great effect (To wit: Boom Blox, Mad World). Most of what Nintendo creates though would fall more under the "Toys" category; simple gadgets that have a sort of set of activities with them, but no sort of narrative or specific end goal.

So with that in mind, why talk about the Wii in the same breath as the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3? I think it muddles things and forces a sort of "But then Nintendo..." after each sentence. So, how to handle it? Do we refer to the 360 and PS3 as "hardcore platforms," or the Wii as a "casual" or "mainstream" platform? Or do we just keep calling them all video games?

What do you think?

So...what do you think? Do you think that Nintendo has surpassed the need of being called a video game company, or should they still retain the lowly title with the other consoles? Discuss.

uh, they make video games

i really dont know how u can go against that argument,

what else would you call them?

Another desperate x360/ps3 fan who is trying to find a way to make their console look better and the Nintendo console look worse. If you can't beat them, rationalize them away

But, according to this guy, Nintendo has elevated beyond this...they have become "mainstream" and therefore, god-like.

Sure, he disguises his tone by calling their games as "non-games" and "casual," but he meant god-like.

The question is, what does Vgchartz users feel?

So let me get this straight: Nintendo is not only not competing with the 360 and the PS3, but now they're not even competing with the video game industry? So that means... since Sony says that the PS2 is competing with Wii, the PS2 is also not to be mentioned as a legitimate gaming console.

...

It makes perfect sense!™ (Dies a little inside)

*sigh*....

What the hell? So let me get this straight he wants Nintendo which makes toys that are video games to be just in the category as toys and not video games so other companies can seem like they have better sales or something?

uh, they make video GAMES duh.

Wii troll number 8475654621654865131 this month.