Here's some unnecessarily long and rambling thoughts on this:
It's called ... work. Nintendo is not a huge company in terms of man-power. (Ubisoft is bigger, Konami, and EA, are all larger employed companies)
The virtual console games they're releasing now are actually different
from the ones they released before ... and chances are if you just plop down a whole library ... you're going to be wasting your resources. People aren't going to search through it. How many of those titles will actually be purchased? It costs them money to offer titles, so having hundreds of games sitting on their servers that people aren't paying for is dumb. Not to mention the legalities around all these games and all the money involved in testing and QA processes. The games have to be adjusted, it's not just a straight up ROM dump.
This sounds kind of like the same arguments people have about HD remakes
, people think publishers are doing it for an easy quick buck, because they can just dump the game and sell it ... but the reality is, those titles are reverse engineered and rebuilt from the ground up, making it not a cheap thing to do. It takes money and effort, and it's a minimized cost compared to developing an entirely new game ... but is by no means effortless or cheap.
As far as I can tell, Nintendo is offering most of their retail releases as digital downloads also, they are currently attempting to put in a day and date release strategy for people who just want them digitally ... I'm not really sure where that complaint is coming from, to be honest, they're the only ones doing that right now outside of some Vita titles.
In terms of quality of games or originality ...
no I don't think they peaked (everything goes in cycles anyway, not bell curves) ... we also can't say anything for sure until we see what they're currently getting ready to release, which we will very soon, I think they heard what people have said and taken it to heart in combination with what developers felt internally. But, stuff takes time to come out. Nintendo really takes time on their games (which is a good thing), but because they're not very transparent about it, people take advantage of that quality, the game came out of nowhere, therefore it takes no time - line of thinking. So, if they came up with some new great IP or something in like 2009 ... we likely won't see that until around now. That stuff takes A LOT of time. And it's only been around now that Nintendo could really focus on software again ... they've been busy designing, producing, and launching two new pieces of hardware in the last couple years ... which they're still focusing on taking care of ... in addition to looking to the future for hardware ... supporting the new infrastructures they've developed ... creating new games ... releasing virtual console titles ... they just don't have the staff to do all of that in the speed people want.
Maybe they should expand Nintendo ... I don't know. But it looks like they're taking steps to alleviate this as well, they combined their hardware divisions and now they're on their way to having a global president.
Some games they released in the last five
(ish) years that weren't traditional style games or just pumped out sequels: Super Mario Galaxy, Rhythm Heaven, Battalion Wars, Starfy, Hotel Dusk, Elite Beat Agents, Glory of Heracles, Chibi-Robo and others were all published by Nintendo. Ignoring these releases is kind of just like putting blinders on. "If it's not another Mario/Zelda/Metroid/StarFox/F-Zero/Mother/Kirby style franchise that becomes a pillar, then I don't want to hear about it" sort of arguments are somewhat annoying.
Most of the franchises I listed have sequels
, or previous games that were just never released here. A lot are probably due to sales. The most vocal people only look at Nintendo when they release Mario 3D or Zelda 3D titles. It's pretty astonishing they're not releasing those annually. It actually shows a good amount of independent thought from them as a developer and publisher ... most video game publishers do not do the same. And right now, the mainstream game player who throws down the dough wants cover shooters and western style RPGs and stuff like that. So, this stuff isn't coming out here as regularly (look how difficult it was to get Xenoblade here ... and Nintendo is still refusing to release stuff like Earth Seeker and Fatal Frame 4). So I don't think that it's Nintendo not producing good games or unique games ... it's just ... you're basically saying, because there's not a profound new IP like Mario or Metroid ... there is nothing ... and that's just not true.
Video games in general have become a really stagnated place ...
in only 5 (ish) years UbiSoft turned a brand new intriguing franchise into an annual mundane affair with Assassin's Creed. Everything that seemed interesting and new only two or three years ago is suddenly killed to death ... something that used to take at least a couple console generations. Studios are being turned into sequel machines without the leeway to think up new ideas for the franchise they're working on. It's essentially eliminating any natural flow to development that may have existed before. That's how I see things happening now, in general, there's plenty of exceptions ... but if you compare it to the heyday of Nintendo that everyone puts up on a pillar ... they had creative competition. It was a back and forth kind of thing ... and there were entirely too many side scrolling action games ... but you had new interesting gameplay ideas all over the place. That isn't happening now. So, in relation to what Nintendo is doing ... I think you see something of a slower process ... since the rest of what everyone is doing is now so foreign to the type of content Nintendo is producing, they're officially on their own timescale when making games. They have been iterating a bit too much on some franchises (Zelda) ... but they are still doing very innovative and different things most everywhere else ... you just have to pay attention.
I can understand the sentiment, but I think it's unfair to target Nintendo specifically in this regard. You can like what you like, it's your tastes ... but I don't particularly agree.
Hatta wrote:Nothing specific, just the end of the run of the SNES.
But it wasn't quite the end of its run... 1996 had Super Mario RPG, Kirby Super Star, Donkey Kong Country 3 and Tetris Attack, and in '97 we got Kirby's Dream Land 3.
Cronozilla wrote:Here's some unnecessarily long and rambling thoughts on this:
thanks for that! that's the type of info i was hoping to get out of this. i guess it's not my place to judge when i'm not fully educated; you bring up a lot of good points. i guess one couldn't expect every new franchise they make to be of the same innovation as their main pillars; i mean they are pillars for a reason. i guess if i was an active nintendo fan of recent history i'd have a different viewpoint like yourself; they do (as any company) need to have profit as their priority after all so i guess sticking to what sells during a time when they essentially have more than 2 consoles to support & maintain should be expected somewhat. even if they can't be expected to live up to the level of consistent quality of their previous consoles it's admirable of them to bring something different & progressive to the table even if it is slow & steady.
Crono brings up a great point about the expectations people set for Nintendo.
Their lack of transparency is a big issue, one that I feel is a necessity, a single exception to a long list of things I feel need that transparency. Companies have continuously ripped off Nintendo on a technological and software standpoint. It is hard to see Nintendo's hand and to see what direction they are really going until the moment you have their games and their systems in your hands and playing them.
Has Nintendo peaked? Not at all. The 3DS is doing an amazing job, not only for Nintendo, but for other game developers who are developing software for the system. We always use the excuse that a lot of companies are scared to develop for Nintendo, because Nintendo is their biggest competitor software wise. That is a cop-out. Look at the 3DS and see the amazing games that sell very well not made by Nintendo.
What makes Nintendo's consoles so different?
Are they riding as high as they were when the original Wii came out? No. Does this mean they are doing bad? No.
With new systems especially, I am starting to see a really big trend that started during the original DS and Xbox360 era. These systems would come out during the winter Christmas season, have a sub-par launch with solid system numbers, but only 1 or 2 games of any worth until alllllllll the way into august or September.
You had this with Dead Rising for the Xbox360, Nintendogs and Brain Age for the DS, New Super Mario bros 2 for the 3DS etc.
These games are what sparked a downpour of continuously high quality and well selling games for all the systems.
I think a lot of developers are waiting until the next holiday season to bring out the guns and start showing their cards. I've learned from the experiences of poor performing launches on a lot of the systems I loved, that it takes time to tell how it will really do.
Ack wrote:I don't know, chief, the haunting feeling of lust I feel whenever I look at your avatar makes me think it's real.
-I am the idiot that likes to have fun and be happy.
I still think they could stop milking usual Mario franchise and inject something new,I think their main concern should be why they have so much hardware out there at the moment and have they learnt nothing from Sega who made the same mistake in the 90`s?.
MrPopo wrote:I don't understand why Nintendo re-releasing NES games is an obligation or expecation on you to re-buy them again. Maybe they want to make them available to people who played them in the past but no longer own them. Maybe they want to make them available to people who never got the chance to play them, either due to being a dirty Sega fan or to being too young/not born yet.
+1
As far as making them available to people that never got a chance to play them, of course, that goes without saying. But I'd like to make a point on people who played them in the past but no longer own them. Let's not forget that we're a pretty niche crowd here on Racketboy. Not every one still has their old game consoles, we're the minority. Actually, if the people I know are of any indication, hardly any one games on old consoles. Out of all my friends (who game) I am the only one who still plays the old stuff. Actually, after talking about retro gaming so much with my one friend he dug out his old NES and SNES, but other than that, all my friends just game on current gen stuff. Being able to download your favorite games from your childhood must be great for these people.
Major Franchises - The past few years have been a mixed bag for the major Nintendo franchises. The Mario Galaxy games were outstanding and you won't see many detractors unless they just don't like 3D Mario (I'm a 2D man myself, but hey). The Zelda series, while many critics have been favorable in reviews of the last couple of games, has begun to show signs of strain and may be due for some form of shake up. Meanwhile, Metroid Other M was certainly a misstep after the brilliance of the Retro developed Metroid Prime series.
Of course I am leaving some games out but I think they would follow the same pattern of unevenness.
Virtual Console - Some people gripe about it, and perhaps it could be better administered, but imagine if it didn't exist. All you would see on the interwebs would be people saying "Nintendo has this wonderful back catalogue that they aren't doing anything with! Take my money!!!!" So yeah, it's not perfect but on the whole I think its existence is vastly preferable to the alternative.
Handhelds - Nintendo is killing it. The DS was a money printing machine. So was the GBA. Despite a short rough patch, the 3DS seems destined to follow suit. Some of Nintendo's best work (software-wise) has been on these platforms and, again, the 3DS looks poised to follow suit. Nintendo looks down the gaping maw of iOS/Android gaming and laughs. If "mobile" is indeed the future of gaming, well... Nintendo has had it's finger on the pulse of that market since 1989.
Wii U - Time will tell. It's an unfortunate name, at least in the North American market. And those who shout "where are the games?" to the heavens make some valid points. But it's early yet. Let's wait and see what happens.
Personally, I look forward to seeing what Nintendo has up its sleeve. I have been a gamer since the 1980s and seen many of Nintendo's ups and downs. But they have always managed to survive and thrive in what has always been a very capricious market.
Bottom line: Love 'em or hate 'em, you can never count Nintendo out.
Have: Sega Genesis, SNES, Atari 2600, Atari 7800, Atari 800XL, PC, N3DS XL, Wii U, GBA, Xbox One, Switch
