Innovation in software is the source of Nintendo's decline

[LordTheNightKnight]

RolStoppable said:

LordTheNightKnight said:

RolStoppable said:

@Lord: If many people liked that it was basically Metroid from a new perspective, then why didn't the sequel sell better? A console on the decline doesn't prevent an individual big game to put up respectable numbers. Especially in this case where really no alternative to Metroid Prime was ever available, meaning if you wanted another game like it, there was nothing else other than Echoes.

Did you miss that I wrote the exploration was gimped in the second game, due to how the two worlds were implemented?

Plus that "people will buy this game because it's their only alternative" is bullshit. I've seen it used to justify throwing weaker games to Wii owners and then complain that they don't sell.

Games are not a necessity. This isn't food where you have to have something. When Nintendo meant they were competing with all forms of entertainment, that means there are other ways to entertain people if they don't like a game. That means that people will not settle for what's available. If that was the case, Double Dash wouldn't have declined, as it was clearly the only Mario Kart game GC owners could buy. It did decline, and you pointed out why. Same with Mario  Sunshine.

I wouldn't call that gimped exploration, if anything, the exploration was made too complex and complicated in Echoes.

In this case we aren't talking about a weak game though, but the direct sequel to a game that people already liked. A sequel on which the developer didn't cut any corners on production values.

You still keep missing that the sales of the first Metroid Prime were indeed inflated by hype and wrong expectations. Metroid also hadn't been around for eight years at that point, so some gamers hadn't even played a Metroid game before, like all those kids that grew up with a Nintendo 64. Echoes wasn't a game that changed up the formula drastically or made any other big mistakes, so the only explanation for massively decreasing sales within the same generation is that many people didn't like the first game enough to want more of it.

1. Okay the fun in the exploration was gimped due to the problems in navagating the dark world. And since exploration is a major component of the game, that is a problem.

2. I think it's a good game. And it still sold over a million copies due to that. But other problems did get in the way. Production values can't make up if people find an area boring or frustrating (like the complaints of the wolf areas in Twilight Princess, which also clearly didn't skimp on the production values).

3. I'm denying, not missing. You have to prove it was, not merely assert it. I offered my evidence of legs, showing that word of mouth was postive for the game, which would not be the case if it didn't meet expectations (see the loss of legs for Other M). And just because there was a time gap doesn't mean most buyers were expecting an FPS like Halo. I remember much of the ads making it clear it was a different type of game than the typical FPS.