I agree with the sentiment in the article, if not all the arguments he puts forward.
I definitely agree with his earlier sections, about Nintendo being written off in 2005, about the DS/Wii being trashed by the analysts and industry writers. Did anyone take a look at the article he links to? The writer there said that Nintendo would be left behind by mainstream gaming, and that games like Nintendogs would fail, and that the DS/Revolution would be irrelevant in the face of PSP/PS3/360. Nintendogs has now sold more than 20million copies, and the DS and Wii are the leading (sales-wise, which is the only indisputable element to this discussion) machines of this generation. Like the Malstrom said, Nintendo appealed to customers and non-customers, and not "The Industry". It's why they attract so much hate, and why people inside that small sphere of the 'knowledgeable industry analyst' are constantly predicting their doom. Part of me thinks they (industry writers/analysts) want Nintendo to fail because Nintendo proved them all wrong. It's also worth mentioning that thanks to Nintendo, thanks to titles like Brain Training, Nintendogs, Wii Sports and Wii Fit, gaming is becoming more mainstream than ever.
Likewise, my dismay and frustration at the "Nintendo is doomed" predictions of 2005 is mirrored now by people predicting and even hoping for the demise of Sony in this generation. What's good about a major console manufacturer being dumped out of the industry? What's good about skilled developers, manufacturers and artists losing their jobs? What's good about loyal consumers seeing their favourite console/franchises etc disappear, or be hammered into multi-format titles that never approach the glory of their early, first party days? (I'm looking at you, SEGA/Sonic). We should celebrate the fact that Nintendo came back from "the brink", that more people than ever are enjoying games, that we have a highly competitive and diverse industry. We should hope that the three console manufacturers prosper in the market, but never that one monopolises the market.
We should hope that Microsoft and Sony come back from the upset Nintendo have caused so far, stronger than ever. In the face of competition, each manufacturer will only try harder. That's something that will benefit all of us. I think the best is yet to come from this generation, because the competition will only get tougher.
