Yves MakhoulNintendo. Loss of core identity.
December 7th 2008 10:24
Has Nintendo forgotten it's core?
Okay, of late this has been discussed to no end. So what? It's still making many Nintendo fans feel disenchanted with the company and deserves to be voiced for as long as it's an issue.
Personally, I love all consoles and won't side with any particular company, but at the end of the day there ARE certain things you expect of each console company and when you start going years without them, well.. you start asking questions.
Nintendo used to make difficult games. That's the
Who remembers Super Mario Bros. ? That was not as easy game. Sure, I -- and many others -- have completed it a number of times, but there's a reason the accomplishment is forever fondly remembered. SMB didn't have a riveting story, nor did it have breath taking graphics (even for it's time). What it did have was a dependency on you. On you having an obsession with "getting it right" no matter how many lives you lost, no matter how many times you had to start over.
That's a rush missing from a lot of games these days, but mostly from Nintendo's games.
Wii Music. Wii Sports. Brain Training. Cooking software. Wii Fit.
Where's my tough stuff?
Sure, Mario Galaxy hit the difficulty towards the end, but what's the point when most players will get over it once they've seen the ending to the story? Make them WORK for that ending.
We get it. Nintendo is Number 1 these days, and they weren't first place for many many years, so it's not like the hardcore fans are in a position to be making demands (especially since recently Nintendo's become the second most wealthy company in Japan, only behind Toyota). But didn't the core fans get Nintendo through it's dark days? Don't they deserve a little more attention.
Execs from Nintendo constantly say they haven't forgotten their core demographic and in the not too distant future we'll come to understand why. I'd like to see the fruits of your labor Nintendo. I'd like to see the promises (and rumors) come to life.
Where's my new Zelda? Where's my new Mario (and no, I don't mean your millionth spin-off). Heck, where's Kid Icarus? Now that was unmatched difficulty. And if it is in the works as rumored, should we be hoping and praying it won't be dumbed down for the masses?
For a moment i thought I was looking into this a little too deeply, but then I realised.. N•Revolution a UK magazine published Imagine has been shut down. Why? Here's what
Managing director Damian Butt had to say: "The decision to suspend N•Revolution has been taken because it has become increasingly obvious that Nintendo’s strategy for Wii and DS is no longer in line with Imagine Publishing's target readership, and has moved increasingly away from the hardcore gaming community that is our specialty."
It's not just my imagination then!
Times are changing and Nintendo's done a lot of for the video gaming industry (both historically and recently). But it must be asked: Will Nintendo ever need the core demographic ever again?
Let's see how long Nintendo will ride this money train.
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