| Mensrea said: I like the OP's thinking. I agree that games will mirror those of the first party studios. Now I'm not saying Nintendo should ditch their more light hearted IP's, because those are still great, but I do have a few idea's. They should promote their 2nd tier IP's more. Fire Emblem is a very "core" franchise. It's difficult, rewarding, deep, and had incredible production values and usually very good stories. With Awakening, Nintendo really did hype it up, and to top it off, the game is arguably the best in the series. So now FE:A is selling much better than expected, and people are generally excited about it. Nintendo did a similar approach with Metroid Prime. Amazing game, with tons of marketing, and hype. I feel like they brush their second tier franchises to the side, but it has been shown that people want these more core IP's, and will pay for them. Nintendo should: Revive F-Zero and give it a heavy marketing push. This isn't just some fan's pipe dream, as I have not played the series. Rather, the time is right, people want it, and Wipeout is now dead so it would launch as the only futuristic racer on the market. If they gave it a good marketing push, it could do well. New Zelda should have TP-ish graphics. I love Celda more than anything, but the time is right. HD console with the Zelda that many fans have been waiting for since OOT? It would really set a tone for a system. Zelda is a big player in all Nintendo consoles. Metroid- Prime 4 is the game I want more than anything else. If retro returned to the exploration aspects of the first two, and expanded on the series, it could be amazing. Metroid Prime was a system seller for the Gamecube, and a title that did just what the OP said: Set a tone. Nintendo has IP's that have a core appeal, they just tend to brush them to the side. That can't be the way it is. I love Mario, and Pikmin, and all their lighthearted affairs, but don't bring that vibe into your core titles. |
Good post. I agree with pretty much all of it. It's not like Nintendo doesn't already have some IPs that appeal to fans of genres besides platformers. Zelda and Metroid are the most obvious, and a lot of people have touched on them, but Fire Emblem is a perfect example of being able to move into another genre with excellent results. It's the kind of game that breaks away from the Mario world and makes other types of gamers take notice. Along with Project X, it's the Nintendo property that most interests me.
F-Zero, as well. I used to run a video store where we carried a lot of games for older consoles titles because, quit honestly, people were still using them to keep their kids entertained. Yeah, they were cheap rentals, but the F-Zero copies we had were always checked out. People played the heck out of those games.
It almost seems like Nintendo kind of down-plays certain properties out of fear they might impact other properties. Is it possible that they pushed F-Zero away because it might take away Mario Kart sales? I hope not. I don't see why other core games can't co-exist with Mario. It just comes down to better marketing and advertising.
