Are Nintendo games held to an unrealistic standard?

[The_Liquid_Laser]

TheMisterManGuy said:

Louie said:

The problem with games like Pikmin is that they are high budget titles but don't sell well and don't sell hardware. That's why Nintendo shouldn't focus too much on them. A Pikmin 1-3 collection for Switch, made by a third party developer? Sure, I'll take it. But putting years of effort and millions of dollars into Pikmin 4 just for it to sell 1.5 million units? They could spend their money and time more wisely.

Not every in-house game needs to sell hardware. It just needs to be profitable. Nintendo games, even the highest budget ones, are actually nothing compared to what Western developers spend on their AAA games generally. There's a reason why Nintendo's made 3 in-house entries despite only ever breaking 1m sales. Also Pikmin 4 on Switch would probably do better than the previous 3 due to the Switch's better software sales. 

What does a console look like when it has a bunch of profitable games that don't sell hardware?  It looks like the Gamecube.  In fact, I am sure Wind Waker was a profitable game (and so was Skyward Sword).  But Wind Waker and Skyward Sword didn't move much hardware.  Nintendo realized that it needed to do something different with Zelda, and that is why they made Breath of the Wild.  That is a Zelda game that moves hardware.

And because BotW moves hardware, I don't need Nintendo to make fun 1-2 million selling games.  That is what third party developers are for.  When Nintendo sells a lot of hardware there are always a lot of third party games.  That is why I want Nintendo to make system sellers.  I want the console to have plenty of fun games of all kinds, but I only get that kind of console when Nintendo makes system selling games.  I don't need Nintendo to go third party.  I need the third parties to go Nintendo.  When they do that I get a console with tons of fun games (including all of the Nintendo games) and that is what I really want in a console.

Last edited by The_Liquid_Laser - on 22 July 2019