Ben-DutkaFor a kid who grew up during the dawn of gaming and gazed upon Super Mario Bros. with fascinated awestruck eyes, this is a heartbreaking moment.
It's difficult to do. It's the end of a love affair. The end is long overdue; it has been in the making for a very long time (really, since the latter days of the N64 and the onset of the GameCube). And now, with the emergence of the Wii U, I'm afraid we must go our separate ways. I desperately tried to love Super Mario Galaxy 2 . I wanted so badly to desire every Nintendo system produced since the Super Nintendo and only now do I realize I've been deluding myself; I've been living in the past.
A couple days ago, I found myself watching the unveiling of the Wii U with that old-fashioned kid-like glee, and for a while, I was saying things like, "Hmm…that's kinda cool" and, "Yeah, that definitely has potential." And I would let all my favorite mascots work their way into my head; there's my buddy Mario, who was always there for me, there's Link, who was one of the first memorable heroes, and oh yes, even Samus in her nifty hi-tech futuristic suit. She sure can move. But then the presentation ended and cold hard reality set in.
I no longer care. Truthfully, there isn't anything about Nintendo's new machine that even remotely interests me. I understand they went a different direction with the Wii and they totally lost me, but for some reason, I've always believed Nintendo would recapture me as a fan. And the bottom line is that Nintendo has clearly chosen a path…and it's a path I don't wish to follow. I've chosen another path now, and you can call me what you want; "graphic whore" or whatever. I've long since decided I want the best of the best in gaming and sadly, I don't see the Wii U having any part of the "best of the best." It's just not what the avid gamer wants, in my opinion.
Honestly, it's a completely different form of entertainment now. It isn't Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception and it isn't Gears of War 3 and it certainly isn't Heavy Rain . …maybe I've finally grown up. But I'm sure all those hardcore Ninty fans out there would just take that as an insult, so I shouldn't say that. Trust me, I would want nothing more than to love Nintendo again. We always try to lie to ourselves and rationalize, and give ourselves a hundred different reason to return to our first love. But sooner or later, you have to understand you've grown apart.
'sniff' Goodbye, Nintendo. You'll always have a place in the form of the SNES in my bedroom. But that'll have to be good enough.
awe nintendo no more for you??
Last edited by thj_1980 on 6/10/2011 9:49:54 PM
i never had the opportunity of owning a n64 which i hear many things about but imho, the nes and snes were the best, i play em both more than i have ever played the wii sitting in the house
LOL i dunno if its cause my herbal medicine but this post made me lol while reading.
ahhh yes… nintendo the 1st vg system i held in the early 90s left me breathless & amazed in a new way as i seen the italian plumber mario eat shrooms & do unbelievable things lol.
i followed mario & nintendo to N64 & i enjoyed the systems they made in between. something happened though…. as i aged nintendo didnt age with me..
i love nintendo all the way to N64. after n64 they just did something i dunno its hard to explain… i play systems damn near all genre of games & graphics isnt my focus its THE FUN in every game offered & nintendo i dunno is on some other delivery that no longer captures me… i would rather load up the old nintendo & super & n64 & have fun like i would with PS3 today.
the awkward controller on the 64 did it for me and the few good games.
i remember when i was playing N64 the 1st time i used the controller i sat there thinking WTF is this lol. it took me along time to get adjusted to it.
when gamecube released i tried to accept the controller but i just gave up.
when wii released i said ight koo.. motion sensing but the graphics didnt improve from gamecube to me. then playing VG 2am & acting like im 7 years old i couldnt do it.
I had to let them go with the Gamecube, the Wii just solidified that position. And this new thing, I wonder if it will succeed. It is an interesting attempt to remain "different" while introducing a new gimmick. And now they will be able to offer hardcore multiplat titles as well (Though I'll be upset if development for Wii U slows things down).
In any case it should prove entertaining to watch this system sink or swim. I just don't know if people can acclimate to that giant controller no matter what it does. Look at Kinect though, gimmicks DO fool the masses.
Haha no kidding.
I hear you World. I feel the same as Ben. You know I wonder if Nintendo should instead go the route of their former old time competition, SEGA. It might be time for Nintendo if you ask me. I think they'd do good as a game developer/publisher company. Plus, it'd be a good way to keep their well known franchises alive.
I would really hope that Nintendo would consider doing this before they considered hanging up shop for good. 2012 and onward is going to be interesting.
Well Shadow, if this new Wii fails and it might if people don't take to the tech, then I really hope they do software. I'd love to see their top tier franchises like Zelda show up on the PS4.
Nintendo said that they would rather go out of business than to ever make games for other's console.
This was also proven by the Sony-Nintendo relationship after SNES. Sony wanted to make a console with Nintendo but Sony wanted more control (or share it) with Nintendo. This is how Sony just went their own way and made ps1.
But seriously, I don't see Nintendo ever making games for other's consoles.
Scarecrow,
Nintendo broke the deal with Sony and went to Phillips for the CD-ROM element to their system – SNES-CD. Nintendo wanted to freeze Sony out of anything to do with the games. Essentially Nintendo only wanted Sony to supply the CD mechanism. Sony on the other hand had developed the entire SNES-CD add-on, it was essentially a stand alone console (developed by Sony) that attached to the SNES. Nintendo figured out (*after* signing the contracts and working with Sony for some time on the project) that Sony's lawyers wrote the contract in Sony's favor – unsurprising perhaps since Sony were creating the SNES-CD for Nintendo – Sony wanted Game revenue, and Nintendo didn't want to give any up. Nintendo broke the deal, Sony reacted by appointing Ken Kuturagi to work on their own console, and he later formed SCE with other Sony executives and established the PlayStation brand. It's interesting that Nintendo were the ones that broke the deal, yet your own synopsis portrays it as Sony's fault. I wouldn't say Sony were entirely innocent, but Nintendo did sign the deal with Sony, so they accepted the terms that they later rejected – breaking the deal.
I'm sure Ninty has tons of cash from Wii, but for arguments sake it's easy to make statements to the effect of rather going out of business than making software but it's a whole other matter when you are actually facing bankruptcy.
Scarecrow, the true facts are exactly as Highlander just said.
Plus, Nintendo even went as far as doing asneakily abrupt blindsiding of Sony at their supposed-to-be joint announcement proceedings at the 1991 Consumers Electronics Show, when Nintendo suddenly announced they were going with Phillips instead of Sony, disregarding all the work Sony had already done to put out the SNES-CD unit.
And as Highlander already stated, that's when Sony decide to make their own gaming console, & the rest is history as the PS1 was born.
It'd be a shame if Nintendo really went out of business and ended it all without considering the option of becoming a software company. Heck, I can respect Sega because they showed some humility when the failed as a gaming console hardware provider when and started to develop games. We got some good ones from them too. Of course, Sony did influence some of that.
I'm by no means saying Nintendo is going to fail but as some of us here are saying, the new Nintendo console isn't really going to take us away from what Sony is offering. Sony is comprised of real gamers and I think that this is one of the reasons they truly get the industry. I don't know that I'll ever turn my back on Sony.
@ Highlander
How is it that you always have sound information no matter what the topic when it concerns gaming amongst other topics?
It's a combination of age (I've seen most of it happen), ADD (I truly am ADD, but I love video games and remember pretty much anything to do with the subject that I read and lastly, one of the things I do the most in my current work is to find and evaluate information quickly – I am an analyst, and although video games are not an area of professional interest, they are an area of personal interest.
Very cool.
Even if the wii u happened to fail, nintendo would still be raking in enough cash from whatever ds variant they happen to be selling to stay afloat
=( I think I'm starting to feel the same way about pokemon games. I'm sad because for a very long time pokemon, metal gear and ape escape have been my favorite games. But now I can't even finish black version.
I'm intrigued by the Wii U. While I have a bucket load of reasons to doubt it'll be able to fully measure up to my expectations, it has at least a shimmer of potential compared to what the Wii had. Which was, simply put, the least played gaming console I ever purchased.
I don't want to close any doors to Nintendo's potential future, but Nintendo will have to compel me to walk through any door that they may open.
Seeing that Wii U isn't out until… what, late next year? I suspect either Sony or MS will squash any excitement for the Wii U by eluding to what their horizon has waiting in store for their customers.
Nintendon't there, Ben?
I'm kind of liking the new controller, but I have yet to see what the console itself will actually do & look like(that mock-up or something different???).
But what I Nintendon't like is that you'll only be able to use "1" Wii-U controller with it, as the Nintendont's new console can't power up 2 Wii-U's at the same time, plus they don't plan to remedy that huge fault in the future either.
And because of that, you can't buy a Wii-U controller separately from the console either.
Oh, and the fact that I didn't see any games I really wanted either.
But since I will need one for my gaming collection, I'll wait a few years after it's come out & buy a used one just like I did last year with my black Wii.
Last edited by BikerSaint on 6/10/2011 10:13:11 PM
Well, when you grow up, the consoles grow with you. As a gamer and a consumer, you know what you like. That's what's important. I still have my Sega Gen and Gamegear, along with my early Nintendos for that very reason. Though I do enjoy the Wii U's concept and find it interesting, it doesn't make it high up on my gaming priority list.
I'll get one, but it's further back than the 360 is.
That's the thing with Nintendo. Identity. Nintendo's identity in the market is approachable family fun. They've gone on record saying in the past that people don't care about things like "story and graphics" in video games. Re-enforcing their pedigree for the "fun" in conventional game design.
Nintendo won't change this identity anytime soon as that's who they are in the market. They won't "grow" into something different, like we do. Because they have that market cornered and to leave it is to die. It's exactly why they're fearful of Apple's looming presence. but that's a different topic.
Sony on the other hand does make an effort to offer premium hardware and software in all of their business avenues. That's their DNA and history of their existence. It's always been their M.O. to innovate new technologies, shape consumer trends, and bring home software experiences that demonstrate the fruit of their efforts.
We know what to expect from both Nintendo and Sony….
Now it's time for me to attack MS.. yeah, we knew it was coming.
MS enters the market playing a set of cards to appeal to the dedicated older Sony gamer. Promising the most power, and most ground breaking experiences. Their identity wasn't all that dissimilar to Sega's bad boy attitude from the 80's-90's. BUt seeing that this market wasn't as profitable as they thought, and they weren't in a position to facilitate their own hardware standards, they had to think up of another way to grow their business.
Their new plan, stream line their offerings by foregoing the identity of hardcore power and cutting edge experiences and instead put on the image of popular culture sensible fun to just "jump in." The success with Xbox LIVE was their cash cow, and still is, a coveted service of they're protecting. They are now scrambling to broaden the "value" of Live before a paradigm shift in the hardware market happens that could potentially draw away a massive amount of subscribers, and never return. Basically, what I'm saying is MS's identity is trying to congele. They haven't found their "zone" yet and here they are trying to tap into another market with KINECT and try to centralize themselves of the Walmart of consumer media entertainment. Anyway, I'm done. Sorry, I know. I can be intense =p
Last edited by Temjin001 on 6/10/2011 11:08:51 PM
It's actually quite the opposite for me. I didn't really care for Nintendo at all, but I knew they had some great games that I was a fan of. Now that I've seen some of the amazing things the Wii U can do, I'm thinking of buying one when it comes out. It really blew me away and drew me in as a potential fan.
Nas is like… sex to a nympho.
You know, I still respect Nintendo as a games company, although I do think that they have relied on the same four franchises for nearly 30 years, and you know, it's time for a change.
Anyway, I completely parted ways and lost respect for them this year. Their E3 presentation was a complete sham.
Perhaps it's harsh, but with respect to WiiU, this is where I stand. Nintendo didn't show the actual console because they don't have a console to show. It's the emperor's new clothes all over again. They didn't have 3rd party video of *anything* running on WiiU hardware. Even their own Zelda stuff was little more than tech demos, and I wouldn't be surprised to learn it was running on a Wii in 720 mode and then scaled up.
They showed the controller because it's easier to mock up, but it only ran two tech demos, neither of which will be future games, so in essence Nintendo showed *nothing*. It was actually a masterful performance because they fooled much of the gaming media and nearly all the Nintendo fanbase into thinking they were seeing something that literally was not there. The 3rd party game footage was PS3 and 360 sourced, and their own stuff wasn't run live and could have been pre-rendered on a test rig, or a development Wii.
Even their biggest games for the 3DS were simply ports of N64 games.
Nintendo showed *nothing* and people lauded them for it.
That emperor is naked you know, bare, running around in the buff, unclothed. It is a nude emperor.
Nintendo you can fool me no more.
You bring up a good point. Like you said, they survived 30 years on the same franchises. If that's not a company fooling people, I don't know what is.
It isn't unheard of to show something made up, show no games, and simply offer up a mock-up video that shows what the tech should capable of. Does any of that sound familiar?
hint… Kinect.
@Worlds, do you not remember when I compared Kinect to the Emperor's all new wardrobe last year? Seriously, I'll call a spade a space, if Sony did this, I'd be just as vehement about it. But Nintendo outdid even Microsoft this year.
Zelda, Super Smash Brothers, Mario, and Pokemon.. Are those the four franchises?
Your right, it is time for a change especially in Zelda. I want to see some character development!!!! For every new game link is always the same…..as much as it hurts to say this… but he feels like a mindless puppet who simply follows orders.
Thats just the way I feel though.
I was thinking Metroid rather than Pokemon, but include all five, they all illustrate the point.
I agree with you, Highlander. It seems that Nintendo was more interested at trying to make a splash at this year's E3 with the "next big thing". After all, they did essentially create the nonsense that is motion gaming that has spread across all 3 major consoles like a plague. So people were waiting for them to "innovate" even further this year. But what they failed to do, was actually show us ANYTHING. A reel of PS3/360 footage? HD Zelda footage that probably isn't running on the Wii U? A console with very vague details? A tech demo of hide and seek to really showcase what this fancy new controller can do? Then information slowly starts to come out that the system will most likely only be able to support one tablet controller at a time. Their whole E3 show seemed sloppily put together in a rush. I don't doubt that the eventual console will be able to support games that look equally as good, if not better, than PS3 games, but I'm tired of them trying to convince everyone that they're revolutionizing gameplay with these gimmicks. They did the same thing with Wii.
The Wii was my least played console that I owned, and also one of the very few that I sold (and used the proceeds to buy a PS3, best decision ever). Wii Bowling was obviously a blast, and what got me hooked on buying the stupid thing. Outside of that, Mario Kart, Super Mario Bros New, and Mario Galaxy… things got old, and quick. Nintendo seemed more than content capturing a different kind of gamer than what I consider myself, and obviously they hope to somewhat continue that momentum with their new console. Having Wii in the title indicates they clearly want it to be known that its the orginal's successor, and being compatabile with Wii Remotes is a huge turn off for me.
The new fancy tablet they have for their controller doesn't really impress me much either. Seems gimmicky, and the fact that they showed off a game of "hide and seek" to showcase its features makes it even more clear to me that I have no business purchasing their console.
And now that its revealed that there will be only one of those controllers compatible with the Wii U it makes it even less appealing. What about all these hardcore games that they're showing off? You can't possibly play those with the Wii Remotes; so what, there is going to be a THIRD kind of controller for use with the system? Seems a bit excessive, and its a turn off to keep track of 3 different kinds of controllers to use with any given game.
Sorry Nintendo, but you lost me after Nintendo 64. And after the Wii, I don't want to fall for your tricks again.
Jimmy,
Great post, and lots of really good points you made there. As it happens I think Wii bowling was a phenomenal game that could so easily have been a product in it's own right. Sell a unit with that game and a couple of the other standards embedded in it, a single wii-mote and a price tag of under $99, and even I would buy the thing. I can talk up High velocity bowling any day, but Wii-bowling was a great party game.
You make a great point about the supposed new hardcore games they say will be on the WiiU. As you say, controlling them from the Wii-mote isn't going to satisfy, and neither is playing them from a Nintendo branded iPad with thumb circles.
I don't understand where they are going this time.
I'm going to wait and see but some of the stuff I've been hearing is concerning. I've heard only one person can use the Wii U controller; everybody else has to use the nunchuk and remote. I would also agree that the Wii U probably will have the power of a PS3 or 360. I don't think Nintendo cares about competing with Sony or Microsoft.
Will people buy it? Well, they bought the Wii in droves during its first 4 years. Will they buy its successor? Time will tell.
All I know is that the damn thing raised more questions than answers for me.
Last edited by n/a on 6/10/2011 10:44:32 PM
I'm a huge Nintendo fan but that Wii U presentation was sad. Other than the beautiful Zelda clips (that better be a full blown game!) there wasn't anything else that was impressive.
That controller is sad…they didn't show me any reason why I should use it over a regular controller……………….if my friend is playing another game or whatever I can just play on the 3DS or psV.
I don't know what they were thinking…It would have been better if they didn't even bother with that controller and showed us real games* A couple of jaw dropping (Uncharted quality) games along with that new Zelda would have been more amazing than that controller.
There's still time until the release of the Wii U but right now I would choose to buy Dark Souls, Uncharted 3, and White Knight Chronicles 2 over that…
The Zelda footage was more akin to a target render than actual Alpha or even pre-alpha code.
and everyone remembers that famous "zelda" footage premiering for the GameCube. Where a few years later to everyone's E3 dismay, Nintendo unveiled everyone's happy little tunic wearing star in all of his cell shaded and Warner Brother'ish splendor.
I think FF7 fans would take it to the streets if Square Enix unveiled a cell-shaded anime stylized FF7 remake after all of these years.
Don't forget the new Zelda isn't even for the Wii U, just the regular old Wii.
yeah, skyward sword. or something. i really did try Twilight Princess, but the antiquated blocked together hallway map segments and graphics that look hideously bad on 40 inch 1080p TV's was just too much for me to swallow.
You know, Zelda is cool and all with it's simple text dialogue and warm friendly Peter Pan like aura. Like how Fisher Price toys and Legos have warm nostalgia, where I may stop and squat next to my daughter and help her build a little colorful lego fort for some mild amusement.
There's nothing wrong with cel-shaded graphics.
And if there is than Sly Cooper's in for some real trouble.
There is nothing wrong with cell shaded visuals but there is something wrong with presenting the vision of your new platform with a trailer featuring a more adult Link in more vivid detail (eluding to what's in store for us) and then two years later unveiling the much anticipated flagship Zelda game as a younger centric cell shaded game.
I adore Nintendo. When I'm not in the mood for headshots, breaking necks, blistering shootouts, I can kick back with a cold can of pop and save a princess again. My timing and skill vs. the programmers' designs. Just because I can No need for cutscenes and all that razzmatazz to give me purpose or direction. Nintendo represents the innocence and wonder that seems to be sorely lacking in most games of today. They've done it their way. And I admire that they have never turned their backs on their fans for acceptance from the 'hardcore'.
The Wii U has great potential. Power, anyone with money can do. Trying to redefine the experience of gaming, that's much harder. Thumb analog for 3D gaming, Force feedback, motion. Nintendo has set industry standards before and I have no doubt they can do it again with the Wii U.
I notice how nobody can make an argument for Nintendo without mentioning the word "innocence."
…I'll just leave it at that.
How can you be so bullish, they showed *nothing*. You're working almost entirely on blind faith here. Is Nintendo going to join Apple on matters of blind faith? Are we supposed to believe them because they say it will be wonderful?
Wake me when there's actually a WiiU to show along with alpha copies of 1st party games and demonstrations of the new controller attached to a WiiU (not a Wii) and running something other than a tech demo.
The "hardcore" were their fans. I use to love Nintendo but they just don't do it for me anymore. I had a Wii launch day and ended up selling it 1yr later. I tried and tried to enjoy it but I just couldn't. I ended up buying another one for my daughter and she would rather play EyePet.
The Wii U is the same thing all over again but this time I can't see myself wasting money on it. All the trailers they showed weren't even for their system. By the time the thing hits the market Sony and MS will probably have the specs on their new systems.
@ Highlander
Faith is okay sometimes. You see, fancy tech stuff and specs is your thing. You can process all that. It's a little above my pay grade,though. I care only about games and if there is one thing I can trust Nintendo to do without seeing as much as a pixel, it's produce great ones.
Porkchop, it's not about the specs, as it happens the specs I've seen are pretty good and definitely more powerful then either PS3 or 360. I know that the technology can get pretty deep and over a lot of people's head quickly, that's not a problem – it's specialist knowledge after all.
But that's not my point. Nintendo didn't show anything. I'm not saying people should not believe that the console will be powerful – I think it will more powerful than either PS3 or 360. The blind faith I refer to is the fact that people are acclaiming this console as being all sorts of different things as if it was just shown to them, and actually exists. The trouble is that they (Nintendo) didn't show one, and can't because they don't have one. Nintendo don't even have early development systems or prototypes to show – if they had them, they'd have shown them.
That's what I mean about blind faith, they (Nintendo) don't have a product and yet a lot of people are lauding the WiiU as being some incredible product and the next best thing since sliced bread. The problem is that the product exists only in name and an empty casing. There is no console – yet.
Last edited by TheHighlander on 6/11/2011 12:28:53 AM
Oh. I think the controller was the most important part, though. That other stuff will fall into place as it typically does, I guess. I'm just going to file it under 'Great' until Nintendo gives me a reason to change my mind. No real harm in that, right?
I dunno, when I think of "blind faith" I think of faith without good reason to support it.
While I know Nintendo hasn't actually shown much hardware-tech-spec for the Wii U, they do have many fans who trust Nintendo to deliver the goods for legitimate reasons. So in that sense, I wouldn't call it blind, because there's nigh 30 years of experience backing them up to have "visible" faith in Nintendo's pedigree for innovation in fascinating interfaces.
Though, I won't disagree that Nintendo really seemed to have shown this thing pretty premature as it's still some ways off.
I agree that Nintendo still sets industry standards, but they are in the business of setting a whole different kind of standard these days. It used to be the best games, now it's a specialized experience that uses smoke and mirrors to make you think it's more than it is. What's the different between swinging a Wiimote and swinging a Wiimote while you can see your golfball on the controller you placed on the ground?
But they definitely are trying to cater also to the hardcore with some emphasis on trying to have multiplat games that Sony and MS have too.