| Pristine20 said: Are they important., yes. Why? They have the most fanatics for a reason. Are they indispensable? No. Why? Many of us do just fine without them These are different questions. |
Yeah, sorry, that's not really a valid thing to say. The gaming industry adapts from what Nintendo does (in the same way that it adapts from what Sony and Microsoft does). If Nintendo would just suddenly disappear one day for some reason everyone gets affected, whether you're a supporter of Nintendo or not. You can't "do just fine without them", as if they're a separate entity that you can just dispatch of and trod along as if nothing will happen. The PS4 and the Xbox One everyone are enjoying today are the results of what their competitors, including Nintendo, are doing and have been doing for the last 35 years, adapted to suit their philosophies and tweaked to fit their audience.
Truth be told, they're still the most ballsy gaming hardware manufacturer in the business. Motion controls inspired Kinect which in turn inspired the design for Xbox One. The Virtual Console inspired the digital distribution of old Xbox- and Playstation-titles on Xbox Live and PSN, which now is a huge selling point for Sony when it comes to what Playstation Now can offer. Their hardware design and game design has always influenced the industry, and guess what? Nintendo will continue to.
Indispensable? Well, Sony and Microsoft also have a history of innovation (although not nearly as extensive or ballsy) so it would probably not destroy the industry. But it would be a very boring industry with little variety and fewer innovations. If they're not indispensable then at least very important to its well-being, arguably more important than Microsoft and Sony are on their own (although both disappearing would obviously be the biggest possible disaster).
Essay Pro