Region lock is a hassle for some people but the majority of people don't really import games so it isn't as big of a problem as people like to make it out to be. The New 3DS thing has been something that has happened since the Gameboy Color and the DSi. I don't recall seeing people rioting in the streets over it back then or now.

And I still stand by what I said. I said fair shake and not right by customers. MK8 DLC price? Fair shake. DKCTF and WWHD selling for $50? Fair shake. Captain Toad selling for $40? Fair shake. Including Bayonetta 1 with Bayonetta 2? Fair shake. Full backwards compatibility and free online? Fair shake. 10% cash back on eshop purchases from launch to the end of 2014? Fair shake. Club Nintendo? Fair shake. Nintendo has been doing plenty of things that would be considered a fair shake to their customers that Sony or MS have not.

this article imo unfortunately fails at it supposed goal

it says it sets out to reform the few ("many") people who want Nintendo dead and gone, yet it only preaches to the Nintendo choir

most of the points it tries to make aren't detailed enough to make anyone outside the Nintendo community nod in agreement rather than just raising an eyebrow

so in my opinion it's real goal (or atleast it's real effect) is to get approval from Nintendo fans and instill a "them vs us" mentality by overemphasizing on the haters of Nintendo, although the faaaaaar majority of non-Nintendo-philes just are indifferent to the company and it's products right now and that's something Nintendo themselves have to work on

Jesus Christ why would anyone(gamers) want any of the three to die?

It's hilarious that you don't know that this article is totally outdated.

And what research did you do to come to that conclusion? Anything to back up your claim?

I don't want to see them die, but they are really trying real hard. Being the savior of the market 30 years ago doesn't mean nothing today. Atari was the creator of the North American console market 40 years ago, then caused its downfall and went bankrupt. Past glories won't save the day.

All this hate, in my opinion, is caused by the Wii. It wasn't a hardcore console and it tried (and almost succeeded) in making gaming a festival of shovelware with motion controllers. If PS360 had a really bad gen and Wii had legs, maybe now we would have 3 Wiis and only shovelware to play. If they tried to save gaming 30 years ago, now they tried to destroy it. The previous image of kid-friendly consoles was summed up with the image of casual, grandma, Wii Sports-only machine and core gamers hated it. Of course, a lot of core gamers bought one, but most of them also got a PS360 down the road because they were let down by the console.

Just play Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed instead. It shows how great games are made from a once first-party-dev and how it is successful and growing as a third-party. Sonic racing sold ... 2 million over all platforms combined, I agree Nintendo must be envious of this sales while MK8 just sells measly 4 million on WiiU. That success makes it easy for Sega to pay the additional royalties, that they have to pay as they aren't longer a first-party dev. Have much fun with Sonic racing, there is no need for Mario Kart for you.

Sony is very anti-consumer with their missing backward compatibility. Seriously, that is a thing that I see as a big problem as a consumer. I also don't understand why WiiU doesn't support GC-games and -controllers, but at least Wii-stuff is supported. And I agree, region locking is also anti-consumer.

As to the article in the OP: I think that is an opinion piece. It says Nintendo is needed in the market and while I subjectively agree the article presents no facts to strengthen this opinion. So the basic content is: I like Nintendo and don't want them to go away. I agree, others might disagree, but there is no point in discussing that as it is purely opinion.

Incredibly well written article.

I agree with all points, however, I think Nintendo needs to adapt and be a little closer to PS/XB. Keep innovating with Software, but innovate the hardware mostly on the console side, and not the controller side. Push the core market into buying Nintendo(and do that successfully) and someday Nintendo would become "cool" and as big as in the S/NES days.

When Nintendo dies because of fools, I will forever stop gaming on consoles.