The truth about Nintendo

[DevilRising]

@OP

Well, now that you've explained to me why Nintendo is the Big Bad Wolf, well now I guess I know.



On a serious note, I'd have to say that the point you're trying to make that Nintendo "always tries to make the most with the least" is highly contentious, at least so far as in talking about hardware. Yes, they have made the "weaker", cheaper hardware the last two gens, but in all blunt honesty, that hasn't reflected in the games they make at all. I've said it before, but Wii had more games I actually wanted to play on it (both first and third party), than the PS3 by a longshot (which I also own).

I would say Nintendo existing is already providing "balance" to the industry, because on the one hand you have the model that Sony and MS emulate (or should say, emulating each other), and then you have the way Nintendo does things. So people have a choice of approach. Does Nintendo need to provide better online? Sure. But the online experience for 3DS and Wii U is certainly a huge step-up from the last gen, and it's honestly pretty good. Just needs more online games.

The industry would be rather drab and boring without the different kinds of experiences that Nintendo offers, to be honest. They provide an "old school" variety that I find appealing, and in general, I tend to gravitate towards their games because they still embody a lot of what I loved about gaming growing up. The games industry has changed a lot over the last 15 or so years, and I can't say it's been for the better. A focus on making "playable movies" as opposed to video games being okay just being what they are: video games. A focus on graphics that has gotten progressively more and more ridiculous. A trend towards a "AAA Blockbuster" game development model in which a combination of super-shiny graphics, "cinematic presentation", big-name Hollywood voice actors (at times), fully orchastrated music scores, etc., have bloated game budgets through the roof, so much so that many game companies within the last 15 years have dropped like flies.

The whole thing is non-sustainable, and often pretty damn miserable to tell the truth. To someone who started gaming in the early arcade days and 2600 era, and then fell in love with gaming because of the NES, and grew into my teens with the SNES and Genesis, I've got to say, that Nintendo needs to exist, not just as a games maker but as a hardware maker, because their games and systems, as I said, offer an alternative. A different style, a different approach, a different feel even. Without that, console gamers choices would honestly be "Column A and Column B". That is not a disparagement of people who like the other consoles. It is merely a statement of fact, that without the "differentness" that Nintendo provides, the console industry would be a whole lot of the same.