Malstrom: 'The Big Picture' problem underlying Nintendo's decline

[superchunk]

This is where I a conflict of interest.

I am the NES generation and still loved what was offered on N64/GC and of course Wii. I also look forward to WiiU.

My reasoning is I hope to see Nintendo bringing the same "Nintendo" games that we've loved on Wii to the WiiU, but I also hope that with the push to bring the system to contain the same 'core' elements as its competitors along with Nintendo's uniqueness, we'll see no reason to own two systems.

I have a wide variation of games I enjoy and Wii this gen simply didn't have it all covered due to its limited power. WiiU shows the promise of offering both.

I think 3DS is finally doing this as well. Its offering "Nintendo" with its latest Mario game, upcoming mario Kart, eventual pokemon/zelda/etc/etc. Along with the hopefully AAA content from 3rd parties. It has the same core capabilities plus the unique 3D option. It has the online (its growing all the time) as well as the traditional solid local connections.

3DS was a weak start simply because there were no 1st party titles. But they are here by this holiday.

WiiU won't have that fate. It will have the solid 1st party out the door and hopefully it will be joined by the AAA 3rd party titles vs the one-off and generally weak titles Wii received.

Hopefully it will also come with a 2D Mario and my favorite would be a 2D Metroid as well.