4). They are seemingly incompetent at working cooperatively with western studios. People say they shouldn't do it but the real issue is that they CAN'T do it. If they COULD, the same people blaming third-parties now would be all for it. It's not about sucking up, it's about forging business partnerships that create a mutually beneficial environment. You know, like almost every other company in every other industry does? Yeah, like that.

Seriously, how many people are angry about third party Japanese games? How many people are yelling that Nintendo should stop "sucking up" and kick Youkai Watch or Bravely Default to the curb? Hmm, no? Those seem to be okay? My hypocrisy sense is tingling.

This whole batch of third party hate reminds me of when my cousin was a kid. He was really self-centered, even for a child. All his toys were awesome but if you had something he didn't have, he'd pout and call it "stupid". When he'd come over, that's all I heard. I remember getting in trouble for hitting him with a cardboard box because he was so annoying.

The whole crux of the matter is that NoA fails at establishing competent developer relationships. Stop rationalizing that.

Nah Rockstar's games would take up no 1, unless you count Wii Sports. That changes everything.

And Sony would come in the top 10 if you ignore their niche releases.

Whoa, I'm guessing you're a HUGE fan of Activision and Rockstar, then.

People really, really need to stop with the sales equals "best" line of thought, especially on a forum where CoD and GTA get so much hate.

We count every game in these kind of objective analysis, Wii Sports, Mario Kart Wii, Super Mario Bross and a bunch of others are included but you seem to get the idea. Nintendo is the best by far.

Made by third party companies.

Am I not allowed to laugh and challenge your statement?

"Nintendo doesn't even make the best games, not even close"

Sales, critical receptions and cultural influences says otherwise

Nintendo games sell for only 2 reasons:

1) Nostalgia for the gamers of old days

2) Toddlers (nah just kidding, more like 12 year olds)

3) They have been around for a looooong time, of course their games have altogether racked up a lot of sales in all these decades.

The second is the same reason why COD sells so much. Kids are many, and their parents have to give up to their demands. Adults are more calculative when they are spending money for themselves.

That also means that COD is among the very best games by your logic.

Is that really true? Does Nintendo really just have to be polite and everything will fall into line? You say they need to establish developer relations...but how? The problem is that publishers have decided that they don't like making games for Nintendo consoles, typically for sales reasons (which are often unfounded (see Mass Effect 3, Rayman Legends etc).

We know it isn't all about power for reasons like the fact that the Wii U missed out on a lot of games despite being powerful enough (games that PS3/360 got). What can Nintendo do without somehow promising more sales?

I'm not going to get all conspiracy theorist in this post and talk about how there could be a viable market on Nintendo consoles if third parties took a more fair stance towards the Wii U, but I believe that is a valid line of thinking too...

They are but they still win as the best games. By the way those two reasons you just gave are your opinion  too, there is no careful analysis or data that can back up those two statements.

Super Mario Brothers (NES) isn't sellling anymore. Games sold 30 years ago don't keep on selling up to this day (ar at least they aren't being tracked anymore).

I dont understand point number 2 at all.
Anyone interested in third party games are going to prefer playing the best version, or atleast close to best version of it. Nintendo are the ones 'compromising the value of the consumer' by not catering to that need.