Nintendo and its Fan Base; Who Abandoned Who?

[King Zarthius]

Nintendo and its Fan Base; Who Abandoned Who?



Nintendo and You. Nintendo has always been there, been your best friend, and your toughest opponent. It brought you together with friends and you missed it when you were grounded from it.
But now, here you are, feeling betrayed by your old best friend. Sony and Microsoft stepped in, draped their arm over your shoulder, and insisted, "You're older now. It's time to grow up. We can show you a good time." And so, as gamers, we have been led away from our old best friend. And we are convinced that it is Nintendo's fault for not "growing" along with us.
Is this fair, either to Nintendo OR to ourselves?


To quote Craig, "I've never felt so stupid playing a game, and that's saying a lot considering I have a Wii-mote in my hand." "This is one of those things that for the first time in my life I've ever kinda wanted to turn my back on Nintendo." "Nintendo has totally abandoned their core audience."
Hearing these words was slightly depressing. Is Wii Music the perfect game? Oh, no, far from it. But I would not say that it was ever made to intentionally "abandon their core audience". Shigeru Miyamoto himself has stated that he wants to make a fun system with fun games that anyone can play. He wanted to make games that his wife would enjoy, because she herself is not a gamer. He was finally able to achieve his dream of having his wife understand why video games can be fun. Can you imagine how rewarding that must feel?
Let's think back on what made Nintendo so great before in the past. Was it ever about graphics? Was it ever about what was "cool"? No, never. We played it for its games. So, what games DO we remember?



Remember The Legend of Zelda? It was there in the beginning. And it returned again for this generation of gamers.




Remember Super Mario Bros.? There's something that's never changed.


Remember Metroid? We've had a few of those, too.

Pretty much everything that anyone ever loved about Nintendo is still there. And still being made. And their games haven't lost their classic feeling. But in the case of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, the play system has been slightly altered to work around a Wii remote. And it WORKS.
So, I'm just wondering, what is everyone's problem? Whenever Nintendo makes a game that's NOT adult-oriented, their audience throws a hissy fit and says that they've been forgotten.
Is that true? I don't believe so.
I personally believe that it's the audience that has abandoned Nintendo. Everyone else has "graduated" to a "higher league" of game play. Everything has better graphics, better gore, better online game play, the works. It can be compared to turning your back on your family because you've grown up and think your family is lame and only your new friends are cool.
But what happens when you switch over to these other gaming systems? When you listen to everyone playing online? You have to put up with cursing, racism, children who think that they can dish out verbal pain, kids who have been given M-rated games by parents who either don't care or don't pay attention... Sure, the audience may have gotten more "mature" in age, but they have not matured in behavior.
The games I see in other company's libraries are titles that typically give me an image of a gamer that becomes easily enraged. Honestly, these games make me think that people don't actually even enjoy the games they play. And if they do, they don't know how to show it. Back in the day, I remember hearing people say to each other, "Man, you got me good. That was a good game! Thanks!" Now, you just hear, "Oh, my GOD! You are so CHEAP! Stop doing that MOVE! JESUS, you F****T! I'm gonna kick your ASS, N****R!" Did I just not grow up with this? Did I just not "mature" like everyone else? Because despite the fact that the gaming audience is aging, and the level of maturity the games are supposed to be presenting has supposedly grown with us, why don't I feel any more "mature" when I play them?
Unfortunately, you're not going to be able to stop a new generation of gamers. Things will change. But don't you think it's interesting that, to be honest, Nintendo really has NOT changed? Nintendo has always had an atmosphere of fun, with a happy smiling face in a hat, overalls, and a mustache. Even through the course of console wars, even with a new kind of controller, even with a handheld that has used touch-screen functionality in addition to typical button-mashing, Nintendo is still the same fun it's always been. Nintendo has re-released classic games for handheld systems and as downloadable content. It's the same games we always loved. They've even managed to get hold of other dead systems' games and re-release them as well. Our past is still the same, asking us to remember it.
Honestly, there is one other thing that the Wii could be providing us, and that is more content from 3rd party developers. But that's the sad thing; everyone is too afraid to touch it. The gamers won't touch it because it hasn't "grown" along with them, and they think there's no good games for it. But there's no "good" games because 3rd party developers are afraid to make games for technology that they don't understand. If there could only be a little more persuasion from Nintendo gamers, just a little bit more of a push, I think we could find some truly intriguing material for the Wii. Unfortunately, it's been about two years now, and that STILL has not happened.
I just wonder sometimes, you know? Sonic... everyone remembers Sonic, right? Back in the day, it was always an all out battle - who was better? Sonic? Mario? Sonic is yet another piece of our childhood that no one is willing to turn their back on. Even though Sega is all but dead, people STILL have hope for Sonic games, even though you can always pretty much assume that most new Sonic releases are going to bomb royally.

So, why so much loyalty to a character that's practically dead, but not to a character or company that has actually managed to remain alive and well? It baffles me a little.
So, say what you will. Like what you will. I'm not telling you to like or enjoy anything that I do. But at the end of the day, when all is said and done, when I'm tired of the drama and the immature behavior of the "mature" games, there's one place I'll always go back to. I'll always go back to what reminds me of home. In the end, Nintendo is what continues to make me happy. Nintendo is where I truly have fun.
And, this is just me personally, but if Nintendo ever stops making games, I will stop playing them.

Source

[yoshikunimiharu]

wow great !!!! i never saw nintendo the way you see it... thanks i'm sticking to nintendo and it's time to stop hating... i heard great games are going our way we just have to wait a little

[mk666]

Im still be sticking with Nintendo

[ShadowX (KOH)]

Wow... Zarth... I agree with you bro! Awsome stuff... Such great times!