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Violence isn’t the best policy, but Nintendo’s recent aggression worldwide does show that sometimes it does pay off. Nintendo always have and always will rely on a storming, unbelievable title to sell the machine. Although Europe is suffering (expect a catch up in the new year) Nintendo have stormed the two other areas in the world. Metroid Prime is selling bucket loads in America and has meant Nintendo can hold second position (for a short while at least) and that is no small feat especially when you consider the gap between Gamecube and the X-box was far greater than the one in Europe. In Japan the success story is even larger, the GBA has taken pole position as the biggest selling system and the Gamecube in late November was within touching distance of the PS2… that is incredible! The Japanese success stories are due to the 2 Pokémon releases on the GBA and the 3 Zelda releases on the Gamecube… it looks like Nintendo franchises are doing it again! Although there has been one unexpected occurrence for Nintendo.
If you had to choose a representative character of gaming who would you pick? I’m putting money on, Nintendo fan or not, you’d pick Mario. It was the character that propelled the most innovative games company onto bigger and better things, it was the character that invented and revolutionized many genres including interactive 3D worlds and platformers themselves. For people like me Mario will always be the pinnacle of gaming excellence, I was bought up with the game, I learnt to play games with him, I went to see the film and I loved the Mario/Sonic fights. Even today Mario Sunshine had me smiling from ear to ear, I truly admire this plumber. But my Dad constantly goes on about Pong, and as great as the game is for the industry… I just don’t see the attraction. But Mario is a star and he is always around, be it karting games, 3D platformers, Tennis games, 2D platformers, party games etc…. so surly he should live forever.
Or not.
The unexpected occurrence for Nintendo was the under whelming response to Mario’s triumphant return to 3D platform gaming. Yes it sold well initially but Mario trailed off… in all 3 areas Europe, America and Japan… Mario didn’t cut it as Nintendo had hoped. Maybe it is because Mario’s main fan base is now in their late teens and they just don’t want to play these games anymore, they know he is fun but they are more into their Grand Theft Auto’s than the ability to jump on enemies as a podgy Italian plumber… water cannon or not. But it isn’t necessarily a disaster, Mario Kart and Mario 64 managed to attract a third generation of gamers, just as Mario World against Sonic attracted a second and Donkey Kong started it all. So all Nintendo have to do is attract the young gamers of today. Then the GBA thing begins to make sense. In an attempt to re-create the Mario buzz would be to ‘re-release’ Mario… and that is exactly what Nintendo did. Mario Brothers was re-released on the Gameboy Colour and Mario Brothers 2, World and World 2 all appeared on the GBA. So Super Mario Sunshine should have sold well… and to an extent it did… it sold phenomenally for a game but not phenomenally for a Mario game (admittedly it didn’t sell as poorly as the superb Paper Mario).
It is rather depressing really, seeing such a figure of the gaming industry begin to slide down sale wise… and knowing Shiguru Miyamoto and how he reacts to criticism and poor sales, he’ll be taking this to heart. Nintendo always invented things in the past to keep Mario in the limelight; Mario Kart is a good example as is Smash Brothers and Mario Party but so far all Nintendo have confirmed is a collection of sequels, Mario needs something new. The mysterious Mario 128 could well be that game; Shigeru Miyamoto is leading the project and whether it is a puzzler or another platformer it apparently has a certain ‘freshness’ that was lacking in Sunshine. Releasing so many Mario titles could indeed keep the plumber amongst the greatest selling games of all time but the disappointing sales of Sunshine begs the question ‘Do Nintendo need Mario anymore?’ Nintendo are changing their image and it has slowly progressed over the years. Game wise we have the exclusive Resident Evil games to the Nintendo published horror title Eternal Darkness. A second, blue, Nintendo logo has appeared, representing a darker side than the friendlier red image. In America Resident Evil 0 and Metroid Prime are being advertised heavily in order to attract more teenagers and adults to the Nintendo fold. It is a new side to Nintendo and although Nintendo will always aim to attract Children a mass of Mario games really won’t do much good for the older side to the Japanese giant.
So with Mario’s sales slipping and Nintendo’s image changing what room is there for our world re-known plumber in this increasingly aggressive market? Well he is vital for so many reasons, those who do like platformers, in the know or not, will be interested in Mario and the industry needs Mario titles in order for developers to be inspired, take certain aspects and incorporate them into their own games. It is highly unlikely that Mario will disappear from Nintendo release lists but I wouldn’t be surprised to see less Mario Tennis and Golf games and the annual Mario Party ritual change. There was a stark warning from the start, making us wait for Mario was probably one of the most ingenious hype ideas Nintendo have ever come up with (it could have been ready for launch there was no-need for Luigi’s Mansion) but it also proved to the world that Nintendo don’t need Mario to sell.
Some may disagree, some may say without Mario Nintendo are relying on the smash hit success of Zelda to attract gamers year in year out. But then they are missing some vital factors… as Mario sales slip new franchises are being born which; in a few years will be some of Nintendo’s biggest titles. With Pikmin 2 confirmed it is obvious Nintendo will seriously push the Pikmin franchise, winner of some awesome awards mainly surrounding innovation. It was an addictive title despite being a bit short lived (although if it did take a while it wouldn’t have had the same experience) and could well take off dramatically in the near future. The same can be said for Nintendo’s new smash hit Animal Crossing and we’ve just seen Retro revive Metroid… and the twin RPG’s Zelda and Pokémon are still going strong. So Nintendo do not necessarily need Mario but lets face it, there is so much background and dedication to the character that he is an intricate part of the company itself. Ask someone what they think of when we say Nintendo and straight away you think Mario, he represents Nintendo and even if he disappears millions will still relate Nintendo to that overweight acrobat who likes to dabble in the odd plumbing. Whereas Mario’s influence on the Gamecube at the moment is even higher than Resident Evil (10 games either released or announced featuring Mushroom Kingdom characters) but whether with the new adult side of Nintendo this amount of Mario games will continue remains to be seen.
But the question remains? Will Mario continue to be the huge money earner with hundreds of spin off titles or will he be dumbed down in order to widen Nintendo’s appeal? I really would hate to see such a star go out on a low.
Here’s to the future
Dringo.
If you had to choose a representative character of gaming who would you pick? I’m putting money on, Nintendo fan or not, you’d pick Mario. It was the character that propelled the most innovative games company onto bigger and better things, it was the character that invented and revolutionized many genres including interactive 3D worlds and platformers themselves. For people like me Mario will always be the pinnacle of gaming excellence, I was bought up with the game, I learnt to play games with him, I went to see the film and I loved the Mario/Sonic fights. Even today Mario Sunshine had me smiling from ear to ear, I truly admire this plumber. But my Dad constantly goes on about Pong, and as great as the game is for the industry… I just don’t see the attraction. But Mario is a star and he is always around, be it karting games, 3D platformers, Tennis games, 2D platformers, party games etc…. so surly he should live forever.
Or not.
The unexpected occurrence for Nintendo was the under whelming response to Mario’s triumphant return to 3D platform gaming. Yes it sold well initially but Mario trailed off… in all 3 areas Europe, America and Japan… Mario didn’t cut it as Nintendo had hoped. Maybe it is because Mario’s main fan base is now in their late teens and they just don’t want to play these games anymore, they know he is fun but they are more into their Grand Theft Auto’s than the ability to jump on enemies as a podgy Italian plumber… water cannon or not. But it isn’t necessarily a disaster, Mario Kart and Mario 64 managed to attract a third generation of gamers, just as Mario World against Sonic attracted a second and Donkey Kong started it all. So all Nintendo have to do is attract the young gamers of today. Then the GBA thing begins to make sense. In an attempt to re-create the Mario buzz would be to ‘re-release’ Mario… and that is exactly what Nintendo did. Mario Brothers was re-released on the Gameboy Colour and Mario Brothers 2, World and World 2 all appeared on the GBA. So Super Mario Sunshine should have sold well… and to an extent it did… it sold phenomenally for a game but not phenomenally for a Mario game (admittedly it didn’t sell as poorly as the superb Paper Mario).
It is rather depressing really, seeing such a figure of the gaming industry begin to slide down sale wise… and knowing Shiguru Miyamoto and how he reacts to criticism and poor sales, he’ll be taking this to heart. Nintendo always invented things in the past to keep Mario in the limelight; Mario Kart is a good example as is Smash Brothers and Mario Party but so far all Nintendo have confirmed is a collection of sequels, Mario needs something new. The mysterious Mario 128 could well be that game; Shigeru Miyamoto is leading the project and whether it is a puzzler or another platformer it apparently has a certain ‘freshness’ that was lacking in Sunshine. Releasing so many Mario titles could indeed keep the plumber amongst the greatest selling games of all time but the disappointing sales of Sunshine begs the question ‘Do Nintendo need Mario anymore?’ Nintendo are changing their image and it has slowly progressed over the years. Game wise we have the exclusive Resident Evil games to the Nintendo published horror title Eternal Darkness. A second, blue, Nintendo logo has appeared, representing a darker side than the friendlier red image. In America Resident Evil 0 and Metroid Prime are being advertised heavily in order to attract more teenagers and adults to the Nintendo fold. It is a new side to Nintendo and although Nintendo will always aim to attract Children a mass of Mario games really won’t do much good for the older side to the Japanese giant.
So with Mario’s sales slipping and Nintendo’s image changing what room is there for our world re-known plumber in this increasingly aggressive market? Well he is vital for so many reasons, those who do like platformers, in the know or not, will be interested in Mario and the industry needs Mario titles in order for developers to be inspired, take certain aspects and incorporate them into their own games. It is highly unlikely that Mario will disappear from Nintendo release lists but I wouldn’t be surprised to see less Mario Tennis and Golf games and the annual Mario Party ritual change. There was a stark warning from the start, making us wait for Mario was probably one of the most ingenious hype ideas Nintendo have ever come up with (it could have been ready for launch there was no-need for Luigi’s Mansion) but it also proved to the world that Nintendo don’t need Mario to sell.
Some may disagree, some may say without Mario Nintendo are relying on the smash hit success of Zelda to attract gamers year in year out. But then they are missing some vital factors… as Mario sales slip new franchises are being born which; in a few years will be some of Nintendo’s biggest titles. With Pikmin 2 confirmed it is obvious Nintendo will seriously push the Pikmin franchise, winner of some awesome awards mainly surrounding innovation. It was an addictive title despite being a bit short lived (although if it did take a while it wouldn’t have had the same experience) and could well take off dramatically in the near future. The same can be said for Nintendo’s new smash hit Animal Crossing and we’ve just seen Retro revive Metroid… and the twin RPG’s Zelda and Pokémon are still going strong. So Nintendo do not necessarily need Mario but lets face it, there is so much background and dedication to the character that he is an intricate part of the company itself. Ask someone what they think of when we say Nintendo and straight away you think Mario, he represents Nintendo and even if he disappears millions will still relate Nintendo to that overweight acrobat who likes to dabble in the odd plumbing. Whereas Mario’s influence on the Gamecube at the moment is even higher than Resident Evil (10 games either released or announced featuring Mushroom Kingdom characters) but whether with the new adult side of Nintendo this amount of Mario games will continue remains to be seen.
But the question remains? Will Mario continue to be the huge money earner with hundreds of spin off titles or will he be dumbed down in order to widen Nintendo’s appeal? I really would hate to see such a star go out on a low.
Here’s to the future
Dringo.
Page:
Violence isn’t the best policy, but Nintendo’s recent aggression worldwide does show that sometimes it does pay off. Nintendo always have and always will rely on a storming, unbelievable title to sell the machine. Although Europe is suffering (expect a catch up in the new year) Nintendo have stormed the two other areas in the world. Metroid Prime is selling bucket loads in America and has meant Nintendo can hold second position (for a short while at least) and that is no small feat especially when you consider the gap between Gamecube and the X-box was far greater than the one in Europe. In Japan the success story is even larger, the GBA has taken pole position as the biggest selling system and the Gamecube in late November was within touching distance of the PS2… that is incredible! The Japanese success stories are due to the 2 Pokémon releases on the GBA and the 3 Zelda releases on the Gamecube… it looks like Nintendo franchises are doing it again! Although there has been one unexpected occurrence for Nintendo.
If you had to choose a representative character of gaming who would you pick? I’m putting money on, Nintendo fan or not, you’d pick Mario. It was the character that propelled the most innovative games company onto bigger and better things, it was the character that invented and revolutionized many genres including interactive 3D worlds and platformers themselves. For people like me Mario will always be the pinnacle of gaming excellence, I was bought up with the game, I learnt to play games with him, I went to see the film and I loved the Mario/Sonic fights. Even today Mario Sunshine had me smiling from ear to ear, I truly admire this plumber. But my Dad constantly goes on about Pong, and as great as the game is for the industry… I just don’t see the attraction. But Mario is a star and he is always around, be it karting games, 3D platformers, Tennis games, 2D platformers, party games etc…. so surly he should live forever.
Or not.
The unexpected occurrence for Nintendo was the under whelming response to Mario’s triumphant return to 3D platform gaming. Yes it sold well initially but Mario trailed off… in all 3 areas Europe, America and Japan… Mario didn’t cut it as Nintendo had hoped. Maybe it is because Mario’s main fan base is now in their late teens and they just don’t want to play these games anymore, they know he is fun but they are more into their Grand Theft Auto’s than the ability to jump on enemies as a podgy Italian plumber… water cannon or not. But it isn’t necessarily a disaster, Mario Kart and Mario 64 managed to attract a third generation of gamers, just as Mario World against Sonic attracted a second and Donkey Kong started it all. So all Nintendo have to do is attract the young gamers of today. Then the GBA thing begins to make sense. In an attempt to re-create the Mario buzz would be to ‘re-release’ Mario… and that is exactly what Nintendo did. Mario Brothers was re-released on the Gameboy Colour and Mario Brothers 2, World and World 2 all appeared on the GBA. So Super Mario Sunshine should have sold well… and to an extent it did… it sold phenomenally for a game but not phenomenally for a Mario game (admittedly it didn’t sell as poorly as the superb Paper Mario).
It is rather depressing really, seeing such a figure of the gaming industry begin to slide down sale wise… and knowing Shiguru Miyamoto and how he reacts to criticism and poor sales, he’ll be taking this to heart. Nintendo always invented things in the past to keep Mario in the limelight; Mario Kart is a good example as is Smash Brothers and Mario Party but so far all Nintendo have confirmed is a collection of sequels, Mario needs something new. The mysterious Mario 128 could well be that game; Shigeru Miyamoto is leading the project and whether it is a puzzler or another platformer it apparently has a certain ‘freshness’ that was lacking in Sunshine. Releasing so many Mario titles could indeed keep the plumber amongst the greatest selling games of all time but the disappointing sales of Sunshine begs the question ‘Do Nintendo need Mario anymore?’ Nintendo are changing their image and it has slowly progressed over the years. Game wise we have the exclusive Resident Evil games to the Nintendo published horror title Eternal Darkness. A second, blue, Nintendo logo has appeared, representing a darker side than the friendlier red image. In America Resident Evil 0 and Metroid Prime are being advertised heavily in order to attract more teenagers and adults to the Nintendo fold. It is a new side to Nintendo and although Nintendo will always aim to attract Children a mass of Mario games really won’t do much good for the older side to the Japanese giant.
So with Mario’s sales slipping and Nintendo’s image changing what room is there for our world re-known plumber in this increasingly aggressive market? Well he is vital for so many reasons, those who do like platformers, in the know or not, will be interested in Mario and the industry needs Mario titles in order for developers to be inspired, take certain aspects and incorporate them into their own games. It is highly unlikely that Mario will disappear from Nintendo release lists but I wouldn’t be surprised to see less Mario Tennis and Golf games and the annual Mario Party ritual change. There was a stark warning from the start, making us wait for Mario was probably one of the most ingenious hype ideas Nintendo have ever come up with (it could have been ready for launch there was no-need for Luigi’s Mansion) but it also proved to the world that Nintendo don’t need Mario to sell.
Some may disagree, some may say without Mario Nintendo are relying on the smash hit success of Zelda to attract gamers year in year out. But then they are missing some vital factors… as Mario sales slip new franchises are being born which; in a few years will be some of Nintendo’s biggest titles. With Pikmin 2 confirmed it is obvious Nintendo will seriously push the Pikmin franchise, winner of some awesome awards mainly surrounding innovation. It was an addictive title despite being a bit short lived (although if it did take a while it wouldn’t have had the same experience) and could well take off dramatically in the near future. The same can be said for Nintendo’s new smash hit Animal Crossing and we’ve just seen Retro revive Metroid… and the twin RPG’s Zelda and Pokémon are still going strong. So Nintendo do not necessarily need Mario but lets face it, there is so much background and dedication to the character that he is an intricate part of the company itself. Ask someone what they think of when we say Nintendo and straight away you think Mario, he represents Nintendo and even if he disappears millions will still relate Nintendo to that overweight acrobat who likes to dabble in the odd plumbing. Whereas Mario’s influence on the Gamecube at the moment is even higher than Resident Evil (10 games either released or announced featuring Mushroom Kingdom characters) but whether with the new adult side of Nintendo this amount of Mario games will continue remains to be seen.
But the question remains? Will Mario continue to be the huge money earner with hundreds of spin off titles or will he be dumbed down in order to widen Nintendo’s appeal? I really would hate to see such a star go out on a low.
Here’s to the future
Dringo.
If you had to choose a representative character of gaming who would you pick? I’m putting money on, Nintendo fan or not, you’d pick Mario. It was the character that propelled the most innovative games company onto bigger and better things, it was the character that invented and revolutionized many genres including interactive 3D worlds and platformers themselves. For people like me Mario will always be the pinnacle of gaming excellence, I was bought up with the game, I learnt to play games with him, I went to see the film and I loved the Mario/Sonic fights. Even today Mario Sunshine had me smiling from ear to ear, I truly admire this plumber. But my Dad constantly goes on about Pong, and as great as the game is for the industry… I just don’t see the attraction. But Mario is a star and he is always around, be it karting games, 3D platformers, Tennis games, 2D platformers, party games etc…. so surly he should live forever.
Or not.
The unexpected occurrence for Nintendo was the under whelming response to Mario’s triumphant return to 3D platform gaming. Yes it sold well initially but Mario trailed off… in all 3 areas Europe, America and Japan… Mario didn’t cut it as Nintendo had hoped. Maybe it is because Mario’s main fan base is now in their late teens and they just don’t want to play these games anymore, they know he is fun but they are more into their Grand Theft Auto’s than the ability to jump on enemies as a podgy Italian plumber… water cannon or not. But it isn’t necessarily a disaster, Mario Kart and Mario 64 managed to attract a third generation of gamers, just as Mario World against Sonic attracted a second and Donkey Kong started it all. So all Nintendo have to do is attract the young gamers of today. Then the GBA thing begins to make sense. In an attempt to re-create the Mario buzz would be to ‘re-release’ Mario… and that is exactly what Nintendo did. Mario Brothers was re-released on the Gameboy Colour and Mario Brothers 2, World and World 2 all appeared on the GBA. So Super Mario Sunshine should have sold well… and to an extent it did… it sold phenomenally for a game but not phenomenally for a Mario game (admittedly it didn’t sell as poorly as the superb Paper Mario).
It is rather depressing really, seeing such a figure of the gaming industry begin to slide down sale wise… and knowing Shiguru Miyamoto and how he reacts to criticism and poor sales, he’ll be taking this to heart. Nintendo always invented things in the past to keep Mario in the limelight; Mario Kart is a good example as is Smash Brothers and Mario Party but so far all Nintendo have confirmed is a collection of sequels, Mario needs something new. The mysterious Mario 128 could well be that game; Shigeru Miyamoto is leading the project and whether it is a puzzler or another platformer it apparently has a certain ‘freshness’ that was lacking in Sunshine. Releasing so many Mario titles could indeed keep the plumber amongst the greatest selling games of all time but the disappointing sales of Sunshine begs the question ‘Do Nintendo need Mario anymore?’ Nintendo are changing their image and it has slowly progressed over the years. Game wise we have the exclusive Resident Evil games to the Nintendo published horror title Eternal Darkness. A second, blue, Nintendo logo has appeared, representing a darker side than the friendlier red image. In America Resident Evil 0 and Metroid Prime are being advertised heavily in order to attract more teenagers and adults to the Nintendo fold. It is a new side to Nintendo and although Nintendo will always aim to attract Children a mass of Mario games really won’t do much good for the older side to the Japanese giant.
So with Mario’s sales slipping and Nintendo’s image changing what room is there for our world re-known plumber in this increasingly aggressive market? Well he is vital for so many reasons, those who do like platformers, in the know or not, will be interested in Mario and the industry needs Mario titles in order for developers to be inspired, take certain aspects and incorporate them into their own games. It is highly unlikely that Mario will disappear from Nintendo release lists but I wouldn’t be surprised to see less Mario Tennis and Golf games and the annual Mario Party ritual change. There was a stark warning from the start, making us wait for Mario was probably one of the most ingenious hype ideas Nintendo have ever come up with (it could have been ready for launch there was no-need for Luigi’s Mansion) but it also proved to the world that Nintendo don’t need Mario to sell.
Some may disagree, some may say without Mario Nintendo are relying on the smash hit success of Zelda to attract gamers year in year out. But then they are missing some vital factors… as Mario sales slip new franchises are being born which; in a few years will be some of Nintendo’s biggest titles. With Pikmin 2 confirmed it is obvious Nintendo will seriously push the Pikmin franchise, winner of some awesome awards mainly surrounding innovation. It was an addictive title despite being a bit short lived (although if it did take a while it wouldn’t have had the same experience) and could well take off dramatically in the near future. The same can be said for Nintendo’s new smash hit Animal Crossing and we’ve just seen Retro revive Metroid… and the twin RPG’s Zelda and Pokémon are still going strong. So Nintendo do not necessarily need Mario but lets face it, there is so much background and dedication to the character that he is an intricate part of the company itself. Ask someone what they think of when we say Nintendo and straight away you think Mario, he represents Nintendo and even if he disappears millions will still relate Nintendo to that overweight acrobat who likes to dabble in the odd plumbing. Whereas Mario’s influence on the Gamecube at the moment is even higher than Resident Evil (10 games either released or announced featuring Mushroom Kingdom characters) but whether with the new adult side of Nintendo this amount of Mario games will continue remains to be seen.
But the question remains? Will Mario continue to be the huge money earner with hundreds of spin off titles or will he be dumbed down in order to widen Nintendo’s appeal? I really would hate to see such a star go out on a low.
Here’s to the future
Dringo.
He isn't dying.
Wait for Mario Kart on the Gamecube.
Oh my how many people have asked for this game at work.
Way too many.
Wait for Mario Kart on the Gamecube.
Oh my how many people have asked for this game at work.
Way too many.
I still don't understand how a character that runs, jumps, and plays as much sport as Mario can still be overweight...
I don't know about other people, but if anything's going to sell me a console it's new games, not another spin-off.
Although games like Mario 128 and Pikmin 2 will be great and innovations beyond many things we've seen in gaming, there's always a thirst for something completely new. Meeting new characters and playing as them through different worlds and realising all-new backgrounds is much more exciting than 'another Mario'.
Yes - Mario is an Idol. Yes - he'll still sell loads of consoles and games. But I still think BRAND new is better.
Nice post Dringo.
Although games like Mario 128 and Pikmin 2 will be great and innovations beyond many things we've seen in gaming, there's always a thirst for something completely new. Meeting new characters and playing as them through different worlds and realising all-new backgrounds is much more exciting than 'another Mario'.
Yes - Mario is an Idol. Yes - he'll still sell loads of consoles and games. But I still think BRAND new is better.
Nice post Dringo.
Mario games will always be around, however I beleive that in the future he will slip into second place on Nintendo's list, lets face it, The Legend of Zelda is by far the most popular series of Nintendo games now, and probably Mario Kart after that.
I wouldn't be surprised if at the launch of Nintendo's next console we had a Zelda game or Mario Kart, with a traditional Mario game later.
I wouldn't be surprised if at the launch of Nintendo's next console we had a Zelda game or Mario Kart, with a traditional Mario game later.
WS wrote:
> I wouldn't be surprised if at the launch of Nintendo's next console we
> had a Zelda game or Mario Kart, with a traditional Mario game later.
I wouldn't be suprised if Nintendo pull something new out of the bag... but Zelda as a launch title and Mario later... a role reversal is what your reffering to? I'd expect Resident Evil titles or Metroid game to launch future consoles and go side by side with a Mario or pokemon game.
> I wouldn't be surprised if at the launch of Nintendo's next console we
> had a Zelda game or Mario Kart, with a traditional Mario game later.
I wouldn't be suprised if Nintendo pull something new out of the bag... but Zelda as a launch title and Mario later... a role reversal is what your reffering to? I'd expect Resident Evil titles or Metroid game to launch future consoles and go side by side with a Mario or pokemon game.
Yes, in other words I think the Zelda games will become the flagship Nintendo titles of the future, they are the ones selling bucket loads of consoles....
I don't really see Zelda launching Nintendo consoles. I think Nintendo still rely heavily on building up hype around their big titles, and with decent third party support (which will hopefully be carried on to the GameCubes successor) Nintendo only need to supply one or two good games for launch. Look at GameCube's launch. I think most would have to agree that Rogue Leader was the 'killer app' title. Also, I think Zelda games have to be incredibly polished and fresh. Nintendo always want to get the best out of them, in terms of showing off a machines capabilities and in terms of gameplay. And for this you need to play around with the machine a bit first. Mario Sunshine is a great game, but it's not all that stunning visually. It looks great, and the graphics suit the game brilliantly, but it isn't eye popping. Something like Zelda has to be the whole package, taking your breath away with visuals and gameplay innovations. Which is why I don't think it's right to have such a game as a launch title. Nintendo need to get a better feel for their machine before they bring out a Zelda game. This new Zelda is coming out relatively early in the GC lifespan (think back to how long we waited for Zelda 64) and I think it is a good sign. Nintendo had much of the gameplay mechanics working already from OOT.
But anyway. I wouldn't be that suprised if at some point a Zelda game did launch a console. I would be suprised if that Zelda game was as polished and accomplished, and made as good a use of the consoles capabilities as the rest of the series.
But anyway. I wouldn't be that suprised if at some point a Zelda game did launch a console. I would be suprised if that Zelda game was as polished and accomplished, and made as good a use of the consoles capabilities as the rest of the series.
I disagree... Luigi's Mansion showed off the Gamecube's graphical power excellently... it is simple instead of starting the next gen game as a mario title start it as a Zelda one instead.
Mario Sunshine used neat special effects too.
Mario Sunshine used neat special effects too.
I think Dringo's mis-understood the point of Mario.
Mario as himself isn't a great character.
The fact that is original name was "jump man" says it all.
He's popular because his games are good.
Now he's never going to be as big as he was in the early 90's.
Every craze/phenomenon get's it's fifteen minutes of fame and then either disappears are settles down as an accomplished, recognisable franchise.
Mario was HUGE in the late eighties and early nineties.
Then it died down a bit as Sonic stole the limelight.
There was a small resurgence with Mario 64 but that was barely a shadow of his previous success.
It works the same way for all big hits - bands/game franchises/film franchises/fashions...
Zelda was at it's biggest in the mid Ninties.
The franchise will get the odd boost in popularity and but wil mainly appeal to hardcore fans of the series.
Pokemon is the latest in this line.
It had a HUGE craze and will get the odd burst in popularity, but has lost it's sting and is just a great RPG series franchise.
That's one reason why Nintendo want to make lots of original games, to pick upon a new franchise.
I think that Nintendo also want to give older characters that didn't make it huge the first time round a shot at the big picture.
Samus and Starfox have both had new style adventures, but Starfox Adventures wasn't fantastic and although Metroid Prime is, you can't make a great franchise out of a character you can't see (and don't try argue with me on that one. EVERY popular games character has come from a third person game and even the best, most popular FPS games aren't exactly remembered by their characters, not the ones you play as anyway!).
Mario as himself isn't a great character.
The fact that is original name was "jump man" says it all.
He's popular because his games are good.
Now he's never going to be as big as he was in the early 90's.
Every craze/phenomenon get's it's fifteen minutes of fame and then either disappears are settles down as an accomplished, recognisable franchise.
Mario was HUGE in the late eighties and early nineties.
Then it died down a bit as Sonic stole the limelight.
There was a small resurgence with Mario 64 but that was barely a shadow of his previous success.
It works the same way for all big hits - bands/game franchises/film franchises/fashions...
Zelda was at it's biggest in the mid Ninties.
The franchise will get the odd boost in popularity and but wil mainly appeal to hardcore fans of the series.
Pokemon is the latest in this line.
It had a HUGE craze and will get the odd burst in popularity, but has lost it's sting and is just a great RPG series franchise.
That's one reason why Nintendo want to make lots of original games, to pick upon a new franchise.
I think that Nintendo also want to give older characters that didn't make it huge the first time round a shot at the big picture.
Samus and Starfox have both had new style adventures, but Starfox Adventures wasn't fantastic and although Metroid Prime is, you can't make a great franchise out of a character you can't see (and don't try argue with me on that one. EVERY popular games character has come from a third person game and even the best, most popular FPS games aren't exactly remembered by their characters, not the ones you play as anyway!).
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