Which of these decades of Nintendo do you think was better?

The 2000s saw the closure of N64 and Gameboy, the lives of the Gamecube and GBA, and the rise of Wii and DS. They brought us the likes of Mario Galaxy, the Metroid Prime trilogy, Twilight Princess, Majora's Mask, Wind Waker, Wii Sports, Mario Kart Wii/Double Dash, Smash Melee and Brawl, and many more.

The 2010s saw Wii and DS close out their lives and make way for 3DS and Wii U, but then also saw the Switch's explosive arrival on the scene and first few years. It brought us Breath of the Wild, Mario Galaxy 2, Xenoblade Chronicles, Mario Odyssey,  Splatoon, A Link Between Worlds, DKC Tropical Freeze, Mario Kart 8, Smash 4 and Ultimate, and countless others.

Which is your choice, and why?

This is tricky for me because of the Switch coming in 2017. Otherwise, 2000s Nintendo would absolutely clobber the 2010s.

The WiiU and 3DS represent the low point of Nintendo's gaming legacy, not to mention that the DS and Wii's final couple of years before being succeeded didn't exactly age like fine wine except for the outstanding Galaxy 2. But the 2000s era of the Wii and DS was really good as were the Gameboy Advance and Gamecube, not to mention that we still got a couple of great N64 games with Majora's Mask and Conker. That's not to say that WiiU and 3DS were void of any good games; A Link Between Worlds was a wonderful atonement for those two Zelda abominations on the DS, but the hardware concepts of both of these systems was just so underwhelming and the truly great games were few and far between by comparison.

However, the Switch's debut and first year were excellent which makes this a difficult vote - I mean, both Breath of the Wild and Odyssey in the same year on a shiny new system is almost a once in a lifetime kind of deal.

In the end though I still have to vote for the 2000s simply because there was no notable low point like there was during the 2010s.

2000s, Nintendo was more creative.

Luigi Mansion, Pikmin and Majora were very creative (e.g. different).  I think Nintendo, while still amazing, has gotten a bit too conservative.  I would say Prime was quite creative as well via fps adventure game.  Wind Waker graphics were outside the box.  

As a home console gamer: 2000s without question. 2010s only really had a few really strong years (2014, 2017, 2019) meanwhile the 2000s oversaw the GCN and prime Wii years.

….Not to mention: One of these periods had Majora’s Mask and TTYD whereas the other didn’t. I rest my case.

Really tough pool. I still have to think a little before deciding it

2010s had some incredible games, no doubt. And some of Nintendo’s best ever years. I mean, look at 2013: Super Mario 3D World, Pikmin 3, A Link Between Worlds, Fire Emblem Awakening, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, etc. And we all know how special 2017 was. That sort of explosion of must-have software will probably never happen again.

But there were also a bunch of lean years. The Wii software pipeline sort of collapsed after 2010. In 2012, in the Americas, we got Xenoblade Chronicles — the best game of the seventh gen, in my mind — but not a whole lot else. The WiiU years gave us a handful of amazing games, but the releases were so infrequent. And then that pipeline collapsed in 2016.

The 3DS was much more consistent, with a deeper, richer library, but it wasn’t enough to offset the WiiU.

As for the 2000s, they benefit from a few things. First, the tail end of N64, which was actually pretty darn good. I think 2000 was one of the system’s best years, in fact. Take a look: Perfect Dark, Majora’s Mask, Banjo-Tooie, Paper Mario, Mario Tennis, Excitebike 64, etc. Then you get the entire lifespan of the GCN and GBA, which covers 3D masterpieces like Metroid Prime and Wind Waker and 2D masterpieces like Aria of Sorrow and Zero Mission. And the best, most active years of Wii and DS.

I think the 2000s win this one. The WiiU, and its small, relatively meek library, really pull the 2010s down.

I would add to the list the best Mario Party game: Mario Party 3

Oh good choice! And if we’re counting Japanese launch years, we could also include Sin and Punishment. Truly a fantastic year for N64.

Hard to choose... 2000s (GBA with GameCube).

This is tough because the 2010s had Switch at the end. And I think Wii U is pretty appropriately rated as a disappointment despite some strong games but 3DS is somewhat underrated as I prefer it over DS for instance.
Third-party support on Nintendo hardware (not the focus of this thread but mentioning it) was probably better in the 2000s compared to the 2010s.
The 2010s still had some really strong titles like Breath of the Wild, multiple 3D Marios, multiple Smash games, Mario Kart 8, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Fire Emblem games and so on.
All of this to say, I think the 2000s narrowly gets it for still having strong titles, and iconic hardware. And the vibes of the 2000s while having some low points with the disappointing sales figures of GameCube compared to the mega PS2 were still cool. Prior to Switch, a lot of Nintendo just felt more miserable than normal. Namely for a good streak of almost the Wii U's whole life.