To rocketpigs post  I don't really understand what your saying? Nintendo is making the same games they were years ago? They are just making more of them now. Zelda has not been dumbed down, fire emblem has not been dumbed down, Advanced wars has gotten tougher, and so on and so forth.

Your saying because nintendo has introduced wii fit, wii music, wii sports that they are making their games less difficult? No they are just making different games for different people.

Great post. I have been feeling exactly the same way of late.

I don't have time to devote to games anymore, but I love playing them. Much of my gaming now, sadly, is done on the easiest modes of games so that I can get through them, and on to the next as soon as possible.

Adult schedules just don't allow for the kind of fun we used to have with games, but thankfully Nintendo are giving us games that don't all require we get degrees in them.

Sorry, Soriku. You're too young to comment. Now be a love and get me another beer will ya? I'm starting to see again and the world is so ugly.

 ^ what this guy said.

C'mon Rocketpig, your assertion that because Miyamoto hasn't made anything for you in the last ten months means he's "jumped the shark" and will never make anything you enjoy again is a little irrational, don't you think?

I agree with the OP that the best games have a system which is easy to get into, but difficult to master. That being said, it's also good to have a variety niche titles with no depth or with an insane amount of depth. I like variety in my games, and Nintendo provides me with a lot of gameplay variety.

I wasn't a Nintendo fanboy coming into this generation. I was a lapsed gamer who mostly just played WoW. Last gen I played more Xbox than PS2 or GC, and the gen before that I played more PS1 than N64, and the gen before that I played more Genesis than SNES. Nintendo have turned me into a fanboy. They earned it by offering me things I didn't even know I wanted. Last month, I bought a DS, and my conversion is complete.

Rocket, there is nothing wrong with a musical toy, and that's all Wii Music is. Get over it.

Also how is it I praise them and still fanboys get uppity as if I'm saying Nintendo isn't teh hardcorz? It's like I'm saying "Thank you for making this accessible and easy to play" and then fans say "TAKE THAT BACK!! It's NOT THAT ACCESSIBLE!! IT'S AS DIFFICULT TO PLAY AS ANYTHING SONY OR M$ PUT OUT!!!" Lighten up, jeeze. I finally thought I'd have a topic Nintendo fans wouldn't get offended by, but even when I PRAISE NINTENDO, it's not enough. I guess I didn't praise them right.

I have played every Zelda game ever made and I don't think they have been watered down at all ... I find that the games are getting easier but I think that is primarily because I have played all of the games and see the "pattern" in how everything is done.

A couple of my co-workers bought a Wii last year with Zelda and, although they were both pretty dedicated gamers, they had never played a Zelda game before. Every day I got to hear about how Twilight Princess was kicking their ass, and quite often it was because they never learned the lesson "In order to beat a boss in a Zelda Dungeon you will need to use the weapon/item you received in that Dungeon"

I generally agree with everything said in the OP ... Being that I really don't enjoy playing most "Core" games over weeks and months, and it is difficult to accomplish anything in a short play session, I tend to wait to start these games until I have the time to devote to them. As a result of this I have a backlog of dozens of "Core" games I want to play but haven't gotten around to playing.

The difference between Nintendo and a lot of other companies is that they have built many of their games in a way that really supports very short play sessions. Even a game like Super Mario Galaxy which is considered to be a "Core" game by many people can be played in 5 to 30 minutes, you can get a star or complete a planet, and you can feel like you accomplished something.

Cmon rocketpig and the other guy. You talk about independance day being bad.... tsk tsk
you have will smith, and jeff goldblum, and Lonestar.

some of the best quotes and one of the funniest movies of all time.
Wow. Epic fail.

Can't you say the say for any multiplayer games?