Worst Mistake Nintendo's Ever Made

[The Almighty Narf]

INTVx666 said:

I think them getting sold by Nintendo just made them lose their taste.

You're putting the cart before the horse there. Nintendo sold them becouse they had lost the ability to make good games. I mean, it took them 3 years to make StarFox Adventures that was a medicore game at best (keep in mind, they managed to put out 11 games on N64)... and Nintendo knew that. Just about all Rare's talent went off to Free Radical and some developer who's name I can't seem to recall. Nintendo selling them was definently a smart choice (other-wise we would have had to suffer through Grabbed By The Gholies).

[Dances in Undergarments]

The said:

You're putting the cart before the horse there. Nintendo sold them becouse they had lost the ability to make good games. I mean, it took them 3 years to make StarFox Adventures that was a medicore game at best (keep in mind, they managed to put out 11 games on N64)... and Nintendo knew that. Just about all Rare's talent went off to Free Radical and some developer who's name I can't seem to recall. Nintendo selling them was definently a smart choice (other-wise we would have had to suffer through Grabbed By The Gholies).

I would agree with you IF Nintendo did something with the money they earned from the deal. It could have been used to secure some partnerships, get some exclusive games, etc, but at the moment it hasn't done much.

I'd say Nintendo's biggest blunder so far is the DS. I know that from a business point it made sense to release something before the PSP, but it could have been so much better. Scrap the 3rd pillar idea and release a Gameboy DS (though perhaps the GB name would be disposed to help get rid of the "kiddy" image), with the DS's "gimmicks" wrapped in a PSP-level screen, graphics and audio.

If you look at a normal DS, the potential for that is there - the top screen isn't surrounded by alot (speakers could be moved), so there could have been a much bigger, roughly PSP-size (haven't seen that screen in real life, though) on the top. Then they could have put in a Control stick or 2, and, more importantly, chucked in some basic Palmpad (whatever they are called) like functions, and kept the rest the same (maybe make it CD / UMD). Too easy (...in theory).


The more I think about it, the more I think that if this thread was bumped in a couple of years, we might possibly all edit our posts with "revolution". I'll buy it, for sure, and I'm sure it'll have great games, but there is something that bugs me. A while ago there was a quote that said something along the lines of "game controllers are too hard to use". No. No. No.
If it was 30 years ago, when not many people played games, I'd agree the simpler the better.... but not now. I have the feeling we are going to see a pad with one big button which says "push", and the games will have a banner at the top that says when to push. OK, not that extreme, but still - game controllers aren't that hard to use considering these days so many people play games, I don't think we need a console that a dog can play.

...rant, rant, rant. Blah, blah, blah.

[Andronicus]

Firstly, correction from Fryguy on the Nintendo-Sony story granted - my comment was un-educated (although, I had heard a different story regarding the break-up, to do with the Philips CD-i system, and Sony pulling out of the contract, not Nintendo).

Secondly - I COMPLETELY agree with DIU here - that's a damn good point man - I fear that in trying to appeal to casual gamers and "simplify" games and their systems, Nintendo is possibly digging themslevs further into that there "kiddie" hole they seem so intent on getting out of.
Think about it - an overly-simple gamepad with games that may follow suit... sounds like a move backwards...

Of course, Nintendo may very well do the exact opposite and give us something so simple, yet so "revolutionary" that we as gamers can't do without it, and it takes the general public by storm, so much so that people sell their first born child to get one, and riots break out in the streets from pure excitement as the end of the modern era draws near... maybe a bit much, but you get my point... (or do you?)

I'll wait until E3, then you'll hear what I think.



And, why has dman212 posted "i" three times?

[Fryguy64]

Dman has posted "i" three times because he's on his way for a ban. Maybe that's not HIS reason, but it's what will happen at this rate.

I half-agree on the simplification of games thing... but that also means I half disagree. Game controllers HAVE become harder to use, but only for those of us who haven't been raised on Nintendo. As for those of us who have been raised on Nintendo, we're shrinking... we're getting old and defecting to "mature" systems, we're having families and leaving games behind. Well... not us here... but you get the idea.

It's a tough position for Nintendo to be in, because the gaming market is shrinking, and their chunk of it is shrinking even faster. They have expanded into other markets, but not at the expense of their biggest fans. This time last year Nintendo looked a bit like a lost cause - their biggest fans were drifting. Then the Reggielution came and being a Nintendo fan is a good thing to be once more. Nintendo isn't abandoning its biggest fans - it's catering to us while simultaneously reaching out for more.

If the DS is a mistake, it's a profitable, huge-selling mistake with a larger female market share than consoles usually hold. Cheap to develop for, and cheap to produce - in a market where game costs are increasing to the point where companies are bankrupted every other week, that's a good thing to be. Nintendogs and the pink and blue DSs will no doubt take over the world. Wireless will take over the world. Nintendo is in a very good position with the DS, and if they get Playan out over here then we're talking some serious DS ability.

I was worried that Nintendo was dumbing down, and I was concerned that the Revolution and DS "wouldn't be marketed at me", one of their biggest fans. I have been proven wrong so far, and I hope to continue being surprised by what Nintendo can manage. The Revolution is supposed to boast graphics and sound to rival Microsoft's next console (according to reports in the industry), so spectacular games are still possible, and perhaps many more games will be exclusives if they make use of the Revolution's unique abilities. I'm confident that the Revolution will surprise us all come E3.

[Solid Snake]

Fryguy64 said:

Dman has posted "i" three times because he's on his way for a ban. Maybe that's not HIS reason, but it's what will happen at this rate.

Have you ever banned anyone before, Fry?

[missingno.is back?]

The said:

You're putting the cart before the horse there. Nintendo sold them becouse they had lost the ability to make good games. I mean, it took them 3 years to make StarFox Adventures that was a medicore game at best (keep in mind, they managed to put out 11 games on N64)... and Nintendo knew that. Just about all Rare's talent went off to Free Radical and some developer who's name I can't seem to recall. Nintendo selling them was definently a smart choice (other-wise we would have had to suffer through Grabbed By The Gholies).

Amen, I hated SFA.

[Dances in Undergarments]

Fryguy64 said:

Dman has ....
...all come E3.

All very good points there, Fryguy.

Oh, and I take back my comment about not wanting a console that a dog can play. Right now I'd love some multiplayer action but the only other creature in my house is my dog. I will challenge it to a round of SSBM and see what happens. He can be Fox.

[Andronicus]

Speaking of SSBM, I find that when I play this game against people who don't usually play games, they are lost at what to do.
They press buttons. but achieve little more than running off the screen and losing... perhaps controllers are a little too complicated?
The result is that Mario Kart is the only multiplayer game I can play against people with no gaming behind them - all you do is press A and move a stick around.

The DS has potential, yes, but unless Nintendo delivers the goods on this new handheldd system soon, thenit potentially could become a mistake - here's hoping that doesn't happen.

;D

[Solid Snake]

DancesInUnderwear said:

All very good points there, Fryguy.

Oh, and I take back my comment about not wanting a console that a dog can play. Right now I'd love some multiplayer action but the only other creature in my house is my dog. I will challenge it to a round of SSBM and see what happens. He can be Fox.

How about Bowser? he sounds dogish

[Fryguy64]

I haven't banned anyone from here before... but the last message board I was chief of (the Nintendo Land Pokemon board) I had to ban a couple of people.

I agree that Nintendo could spoil their chance and lose out because they haven't seized the moment, but in my eyes that would be their biggest mistake - not the release of the lovely DS itself.

[Smashchu]

I think only the E-reader. It was some what cool but limited uses.Their bads would be that no new Kid Icrus or other classic NES games to new concels.

Also the rare thing was a good Idea. Nintendo got money and Grabed by the Goules did terrible and they wasted a ton of $$$. Big plus for nintendo.

[missingno.is back?]

Smashchu said:

I think only the E-reader. It was some what cool but limited uses.Their bads would be that no new Kid Icrus or other classic NES games to new concels.

Also the rare thing was a good Idea. Nintendo got money and Grabed by the Goules did terrible and they wasted a ton of $$$. Big plus for nintendo.

I think the e-Reader was a great idea.

Discontinuing it was a big mistake though.