Nintendo has been stretched very very thin as of late: trying to put out software to both WiiU and 3ds in addition to preparing a new console launch and making sure that this new platform launches with software so much so that the NX has been delayed beyond this year's holidays.

NX release can't come soon enough but I have reason to be optimistic for it.

In racking my memory maaaaaaybe 1993 was worse?

Nintendo censored Mortal Kombat drawing a ton of negative attention and basically allowed the Genesis to win the holiday season, also their lineup that year was kinda crap ... Mario All-Stars was their big fall title, though in those days Nintendo had so much third party support that putting out tons of 1st party games wasn't necessary in those days. Oh and the Super NES CD-ROM was delayed after Nintendo promised it for 1993 and then apparently shelved entirely in favor of Project: Reality (the N64).

The silver lining is 1994 was fantastic, with Nintendo roaring back with Super Metroid, Super Punch-Out!, and of course, Donkey Kong Country and the beginning of the Rare alliance, Killer Instinct for arcades, and Mortal Kombat 2 was allowed to be bloody.

Yep! For me personally 2011 was worse.

The 3DS was a non event and the Wii U's reveal was horrible. The future overall looked bleak.

I'm far more excited for the NX than I was for the Wii U and far more excited for Zelda U/NX than I was for Skyward Sword.

Probably.

The 3DS was good this generation though. The WiiU is miserable. The only ray of light still left for this generation is Zelda (I don't know what to call it anymore, just give us a name already Nintendo!) that seems like it's going to be absolutely amazing. Too bad for WiiU it won't fully be it's own game.

Before this generation I thought it would be impossible for something new to overtake the title of "worst Nintendo system ever", which at that point I considered to be the GameCube, followed by the GBA (in hindsight though after playing games I never got to back then it was a lot better actually). Back then I even quit console gaming altogether for a couple years. At least that didn't happen now, but the credit doesn't go to the WiiU.

So then this year. 2016. WiiU-wise it's beyond terrible. There's nothing. Zelda delayed again, basically no E3, no NX... 3DS I recognize actually has a decent line-up, but there's nothing I want to play, except Fire Emblem.

NX has the benefit of knowing almost nothing about it, which is makes it automatically better than the Wii U concept, lol.

Hopefully Nintendo doesn't fuck it up or they are done as a hardware maker.

The last years of the N64 were much worse.

Eh not really.

1999 -Donkey Kong 64, Jet Force Gemini, Star Wars Episode 1 Racer, Pokemon Stadium, Pokemon Snap, Ogre Battle 64, NBA Courtside 2, Griffey Slugfest

2000 - Zelda: Majora's Mask, Perfect Dark, Banjo-Tooie, Ridge Racer 64, Excitebike 64, Mario Tennis, Kirby 64, Starcraft 64

2001- Conker's Bad Fur Day, Paper Mario

2001 was bad, but 2001 also had both the GBA and GCN launches, so kinda hard to say that was a bad time for Nintendo fans.

I'd say '99 was a bit of a weak year, but 2000 was outstanding, barring Nintendo's bizarre decision to not bring Sin & Punishment to the West.

For me as a european who only got three (!) games in 2001 (a very bad rpg, a Tony Hawk game and Conker, none of them interested me (yes, not even Conker)) and a Gamecube that released on May 3th 2002, I can fairly say that 2001 was very bad. Much worse than 2016.

EDIT: Yeah, Paper Mario came that year. Still.

Yeah I think part of the Wii generation was worse because there were so few games for hardcore gamers. There are probably under 5 games on the Wii that I actually care about ever replaying. Nintendo has been incredibly crap after Mario Maker but at least we've got one of their biggest hardcore games ever in close proximity.

Fair enough. Nintendo really used to treat Europeans like crap. Now I guess North American and Japanese gamers can experience the suck of 90s/early 2000s Nintendo Euro era droughts ... hurrah!