I have been a fan of Nintendo since I was 2 years old. Seriously, I was that 2 year old kid sitting Indian-style on the floor, playing Mario and blaming anyone and everyone who dared exist within screaming range for their unforgivable treason whenever I would find myself on the losing end of things, which was more often than I care to admit.
Since then Nintendo and I have shared many ups, followed by many downs; and it’s the latter downs that have motivated me to write this article, partly out of desperation (OK, completely out of desperation) about what Nintendo MUST do should they care to stand a chance against the mighty forces of Microsoft and Sony and avoid what seems to be their inevitable doom.
So, without further adieu, the 5 things I believe Nintendo must do before it’s too late and they’re swallowed up like their Sega brethren was all those years ago.
1. Get Over This Whole Motion-Control Craze
Alright, we get it. The Wii’s motion controls were innovative and polished, but let’s be honest for a second, we’re gamers. We don’t play video games because it allows us to work up a good sweat and stay in shape. We play video games because they allow us to easily and, ideally, motionlessly control other characters to do the running, jumping, and arm swinging for us. If there’s anything to be learned from the mega success of the Playstation 4 and Xbox One, it’s that gamers like to sit still. Heck, there’s even a market for furniture that allows gamers to sit still more comfortably (I love you, precious Gamer Chair). So if Nintendo is going to have any chance of winning over us lazy sloths and hedonists, they need to reinvest in the tried and true design found in the motionless controller, because no matter what she says, I know my girlfriend doesn’t think I look cool wearing my heart monitor when playing Zelda: Twilight Princess.
2. Churn Out Some New Titles
I’ll be the first to admit to being a series fan boy. Final Fantasy, Mario, Zelda, Mega Man, I love them all. But one thing Nintendo needs to do if they’re going to turn the tide of this gaming war is invest in new series while continuing the trend of building on already-established ones. While Zelda 432 and Final Fantasy 7,342 are sure to be big hits among us fan boys, the key to any business venture is to win over new demographics; which is a great Segway for my next point.
3. Widen Your Demographics!
I remember being a small boy and thinking that no console in the world was better than my precious Nintendo Entertainment system and the many Duck Hunts and plumber-based adventures it allowed me to partake in. I also remember being a slightly larger boy and going to war against Sega Genesis fans everywhere, in favor of the superior gaming selection found only in my pal, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. I even remember being a teenager and thinking that the Nintendo 64 was quite possibly a step ahead of Sony in the console war, with exclusive titles like WCW/nWo Revenge and Zelda: Ocarina of Time sapping my youth (and whatever small chance I had with the ladies in middle school) completely away.
THEN came the Gamecube. Like many of us Nintendo Fan Boys, I brushed off the threat that the Microsoft Xbox presented as just another future casualty in the wake of Nintendo’s destruction. After all, with the head-start Nintendo had, why wouldn’t it be? Well, it wasn’t. It pains me to say this, even after all these years, but the Xbox was a superior gaming system to the Gamecube, and I wasn’t the only one to know it; everyone, whether they admitted it or not knew it, and something had to be done about it. That something was(n’t) the Nintendo Wii… followed up by the Nintendo Wii U…
The point being that these new teenagers have yet to see Nintendo for what it was: A gaming juggernaut capable of destroying anything that stood before it with its innovative consoles and amazing titles; and until Nintendo releases content that’s mature enough to stand next to Call of Duty and Battlefield, these teenagers are going to be hard-pressed to find a reason to take a chance on a console that, for the majority of their lives has been the 3rd wheel on a steamy date between Microsoft and Sony.
4. Better Graphics
I’m not a graphics whore, as they’re called; nor will I ever be. I’ve always been a big believer that a game needs to be fun first and pretty second. However, a large portion of the gaming community disagrees with me on this issue, and I’m all-too aware of it. Many people out there (kids especially, who have yet to experience anything but spectacular graphics) won’t even come close to a console whose graphics appear to be years behind the market’s leaders. If Nintendo is going to stand a chance in toppling Microsoft and Sony’s reign of terror, it is imperative they release a console whose graphics are at least almost as pretty as the current Generation’s.
5. Complete integration with the Nintendo DS
I’m not even 100% sure what I mean by this; but I remember when I was a kid, Nintendo released a cartridge called the Super Gameboy that allowed people to play their favorite Gameboy titles on their Super Nintendo. It was a simple idea, but it worked beautifully, as several people who, up until that point, only owned a Gameboy jumped at the chance to play their favorite titles on the big screen. Now, I’m not suggesting Nintendo copy this move with their next console (although it would be a dream-come-true to play Pokemon X and Y on a big screen TV), but Nintendo has cornered the market on handheld gaming over the last few decades, with the Gameboy and DS/3DS and they’d be crazy not to utilize this advantage in winning over fans to their console’s cause. After all, many of Nintendo’s greatest handheld fans are sitting in their living room right now, playing Call of Duty on their Xbox One, just waiting for Nintendo to give them a reason to jump ship.
Conclusion:
The bigger point here is that Nintendo used to be great, and I, maybe out of hope or allegiance, think they can be great again. I was one of the millions of people who waited in line to get a Wii U, only to be, once again, let down by Nintendo’s neglect to certain facets that made them the King of Gaming in the first place. Here’s hoping Nintendo gets their head screwed on straight and comes out of the gate with a new console that will put them back in the forefront of gaming and show everyone, children and adults-alike, why it was only a few, short years ago that they, not Microsoft or Sony, reigned supreme.