I'm counting them allowing themselves to lose so much ground as disaster. I'm not just talking about sales and games.

Then Im guessing the PS3 is going to be called a disaster as well?

I'm doing a four part series highlighting the big three console makers of this generation. I will also do one on smartphone games. First up: Nintendo.

First off, with the Nes, Nintendo created some of the greatest games and characters in gaming history. Super Mario Bros, Link in the Legend of Zelda, Samus in Metroid, etc. Mario especially. People all over the world know about Mario.

Nintendo was once the leader of the console market in the late 80s to the mid 90s. Then briefly again with Wii. Though I don't really consider the Wii years as a true lead. The Nes years were easily won worldwide by Nintendo. They had almost a monopoly on gaming. They tightly and strictly controlled the market and third party publishers. Almost unfairly, but it worked. The only real competition was from the Sega Master System, which was the superior system, in my opinion, and it was barely even competition.

The next generation came and a mighty console war--known as the 16 bit wars--ensued. The Snes and Sega Genesis battled through the 90s for supremecy of gaming. However, Sonic the Hedgehog and many other Sega hits were not enough to win against the established king of consoles. Mario, Zelda, and other first party games, along with strong third party support, ensured Nintendo's success.

After the Snes, Nintendo went very very wrong. Their third console, the Nintendo 64, was a disaster that has haunted them til this day. In a time where CDs, polygon graphics, and cinema scenes were becoming the rage with Sega CD, Neo Geo CD, and PC Engine/Turbo Grafx CD, Nintendo made the decision to stick with old fashioned, limited in memory, expensive cartridges.

The hardware was limited as well. Polygons either had to just be plain and colored or texture mapped. The problem was that textures had to be stretched and blurry due to the hardware. Even though it had 64 bit technology, it's two 32 bit competitors had CD technology. One was the Sega Saturn. The other spelled N64s doom: The Sony Playstation'

Nintendo had made a deal with Sony to create a CD attachment device for the Snes. Nintendo decided to cancel their deal with Sony to make their own machine. Sony (perhaps angered) decided to create their own game system, the Playstation. This is what has haunted Nintendo for so long. 

More so than the overpriced Sega Saturn, Sony had a machine made for the next generation of polygon graphics. Sony ended up dominating the 5th generation of consoles, leaving Nintendo and Sega in the dust. Nintendo's approach seemed archaic.

The N64 survived off of a few of their first party games such as Mario 64 and Zelda: The Ocarina of Time. Also, a couple of 3rd party games. However this would be the end of massive third party support for Nintendo til today. Third parties ditched Nintendo for the superior, and cheaper, technology Sony provided.

Next up Playstation 2 VS Nintendo Gamecube VS Xbox to the current generation console battle.

By the way, are you really 43 years old ? 

Oh, and I don't consider the Wii as a direct competitor. The Wii was like it's own special gaming platform.

Yes, I started gaming on the Atari 2600 or Pong! I can't remember if I actually played Pong though. I've owned over a dozen systems. Do you not like older gamers?

Well then I dont count the N64 all the way through WiiU as competitors, so Nintendo is still very successful. See how that doesnt really work?