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"Nintendo's Problem..."

No, this isn't another 'Nintendo are crap at advertising' topic. It's about the state of Nintendo's software.

To be perfectly honest, I've never had a problem with Nintendo's games, they're fun to play and overall great, but their approach to some of their leading franchises is just stupid.

We've seen some amazing original titles since the GameCube was launched (Pikmin, Luigi's Mansion, Doshin the Giant (even if it was to an acquired taste)) but the ongoing series' that they have are being destroyed so easily.

Okay, destroyed is harsh word to use, but it's true in some sense. Look at Mario Sunshine, for example. We'd all played Luigi's Mansion by the time we played Sunshine and in my humble opinion, Luigi's Mansion is still one of the best titles we've seen on the 'Cube. Mario Sunshine, which I would have much preferred, along with many others, to be a Mario 64 sequel, or a remake even, was destroyed by trying to incorporate FLUDD. Not dissimilar to the genius work of magic that is the Hoover in Luigi's Mansion, but it just didn't fit into the Mario-style gameplay we only just got to know. The 'dizzy heights' moments of all great platformers wasn't apparent in Sunshine because you always had FLUDD to fall back on.

It just seems as though Nintendo don't know where innovation is needed. We'd only just played Mario 64, a huge leap from the 2D days of old, and no similar kind of Mario game since, yet Mario underwent another change too soon. The people wanted an update, Nintendo didn't deliver. It did please me so much when it was revealed Mario 128 was going ahead and Sunshine was simply to 'fill the gap', but that's not really an excuse.

But this isn't just about Mario Sunshine. Metroid Prime, to me, is the greatest thing the Cube has seen yet. The Metroid series hadn't really changed at all in all of its life and in order for it to be a real hit it did need a drastic change. Because there are so many 3D adventure games, it could have ended up mediocre... but it didn't. Retro did what Nintendo couldn't.

Zelda wasn't in need of drastic changes and luckily Nintendo answered our prayers and gave us an update instead of this first-person-boomerang-'em-up it could have turned into (but wouldn't, really). The only subtle change (Link's boat) did change the game in minor ways for the worse, but for the most part, Wind Waker delivers.

My only worry is, the children of the future (Pikmin, Mario Kart) that will be coming to the 'Cube soon could be let downs. Pikmin's changes are just plain stupid (oooh, great, a Random Level Generator) and although there's no doubt it my mind that Mario Kart will be amazing, you never know.

Maybe this is me being pessimistic, but innovation in the right places seemingly isn't Nintendo's strong point. Retro did a great job on one of the longest running franchises and Nintendo didn't, that's the bottom line.

Discuss.

Rickoss wrote:
> I was on it for an hour on two when I first got it and loved it, it
> really is to an aquired taste though. I can see why people hate it.

I did like it for a few days...

But the problems that annoyed me a bit soon annoyed me a lot... and after a while I wondered... what am I doing.

It just took so looooong.

http://www.cube-europe.com/news.php?nid=5713

Hoho.

Ninty's problem - putting 'Woohoo!' at the end of their ads.

:p

I was on it for an hour on two when I first got it and loved it, it really is to an aquired taste though. I can see why people hate it.

I enjoyed it right up to the point where I loaded it up.

For a few hours after, I was smiling nervously, hoping it would get better, and pretending I was enjoying myself to justify my purchase. Then I just got angry because it was the worst thing I'd ever played, wrote a review on it and took it back to SR.

Everyone seemed to enjoy Doshin when it was released, granted it's not a game I'd go out of my way to complete but at the time it was great.

cookie monster wrote:
> I would love an Xbox live style service. But i dont have broadband.

I have broadband, but I would never use it to play console games on.

Bane wrote:
> No, Doshin was gay. Slow games I can handle (I played Black &
> White for three weeks straight), but Doshin was like a mong-mash of
> Populous - Idiot's Edition and Yoshi's Story For Retards, only with
> added spakker factor and pleb appeal.

Heheh. Perfect description I think.

I don't think I have ever said this before, but I agree with Tiltawhirl. I think Nintendo are limiting themselves by not making use of online play. Xbox.com proclaimed 500,000 Live subscribers the last time I checked. It does have appeal.

My opinion for the little it is worth is that Nintendo are getting slightly boring. I want another Mario 64, not another Mario sports something. Mario Tennis etc appeared to be just milking the franchise. There are too many Mario games, not enough Mario platformers.

Same with Zelda. My favourite remains OOT. Sure, WW was a bit different, and we all wanted an original Zelda game on the GC, but the re release of OOT and MM on the bonus disks is getting a bit annoying. I want something new. Stop milking the franchise.

I would rather that new franchises are developed rather than time being spent on re releases. It's time to innovate again Nintendo.

I would love an Xbox live style service. But i dont have broadband.

Rickoss wrote:
> Pfffft.

Now come on lets face it...

MEGA dissapointment.