3. Nintendo Believes that it is on an Island
Let’s talk about the concept of “target audience.” There is no doubt that compared to the other last-gen systems and even current-gen, Nintendo does not seem to care about advertising. There were times during the football season that a commercial break wouldn’t go by without telling me about the next CoD or Assassin’s Creed. I might have seen three Wii U commercials all of Christmas season, and they revolved around children convincing their parents to get the Wii U so they could play Super Mario 3D World as a family. You probably couldn’t do the same with Saint’s Row IV (my wife doesn’t even want such games in the house!).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bso27e3Inzc
This commercial, titled “The Pitch” was Nintendo’s approach to selling the Wii U for Christmas 2013. Looks like it’s from the 90’s except in HD.
They say that Nintendo should have gone to companies such as Rockstar with a suitcase (or hat) full of money and begged them to port Grand Theft Auto V over to the Wii U, which is an interesting suggestion, because one of the best DS games in existence is GTA: Chinatown Wars. What makes the DS immune to the kind of discrimination that the Wii U is facing? I really can’t speculate there, because I have not even owned my 3DS for a full year yet, my first portable console since the Game Gear. But that is a digression.
They say that Nintendo “is a Japanese company and does things their way” as the game industry has been transformed by the west and the alleged “maturation” of gaming audiences. Such an approach to this topic makes me uncomfortable because it is partially true but also a rather xenophobic thing to say. WTF does “the Japanese way” mean when it comes to video games anyway? Emphasis on portable platforms over consoles or the fascination with lolicon and waifu characters such as those found in Valkeria Chronicles? At any rate, Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata has recently confessed that he has been out of touch with the competition. Time will tell the meaning of this message, but if it means attracting third-party developers to make the same games that will appear on the PS4 and Xbone, I’m not sure if it will be for the better.
What makes Nintendo unique among the competition is that its systems tend to host games that are not found on other platforms. Nintendo has never been about grandiose set pieces or graphical opulence or pushing the limits of the ESRB to get away with as much as possible without earning an “Adults Only Rating.” Nintendo has been in the business of creating neat worlds which cry out to love them as we venture explore their secrets. When Wii owners transferred their data from their Wiis to their Wii Us, that was a set-up for us to give a *** when one of our Pikmin dies in Pikmin 3.
Last gen brought a perverted form of the fanboy called the dudebro. I seriously believe that this isn’t even satire, and the gaming industry caters toward them. Nintendo does not, unfortunately, to its peril.
But to feel appreciated, or embraced by developers rather than simply fed like some savage, carnivorous animal through a video game…that’s something few companies like Nintendo have accomplished. Valve is another.
That said, I think “How much Mario do you expect us to tolerate?” is a legitimate question. Sony in particular is unassailable in terms of fostering and developing productions coming out of Sucker Punch and Naughty Dog. Nintendo seems to be content with Mario and Zelda…even the Wii had Metroid games in the pipeline. Where is Star Fox or F-Zero? Kirby? Kid Icarus? Hell, I’ve personally been waiting for a serious console-based Pokemon game since Pokemon Stadium on the N64. Most importantly, when is Nintendo going to attempt something NEW? That’s a question the entire industry would like to know the answer to, yet Nintendo is content with being conservative, austere.
They say that Nintendo isn’t interested in “mature” gaming. I would agree. Nintendo isn’t interested in making violent games for the sake of doing so, nor are they interested in reproducing the kind of language you’d hear in prison or during P.E. at middle school, nor are they fond of creating graphical depictions of what could be found on the internet on websites designed for 18+ audiences. I really can’t think of a violent game that Nintendo, rather than Rare (Killer Instinct, Conker’s Bad Fur Day), has made. What encompasses a “mature” game is a conversation to have in itself, but it seems to me that the majority of the industry is content in the interpretation of “mature” as “vulgar.”
Take a look at the BEST SELLING GAMES OF THE PREVIOUS GENERATION:
Wii:
Wii Sports 82 million (bundled from the start)
Mario Kart 35.26 million
Wii Sports Resort 31.89 million
Wii Play 28.02 million
New Super Mario Bros 27.88 million
Wii Fit 22.67 million
Wii Fit Plus 20.86 million
Super Mario Galaxy 11.72 million
Smash Bros 11.49 million
Wii Party 7.94 million
PS3:
GTA V (14 million)
Gran Turismo 5 (10.66 million)
Gran Turismo 5 Prologue (5.35 million)
God of War III (5,197,632)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (4.8 million approximately)
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception (3.8 million)
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (3.8 million)
The Last of Us (3.4 million)
360:
Kinect Adventures 24 million (bundled w/ kinect)
GTA V 15 million
Halo 3 14.5 million
Black Ops 12 million
Minecraft 10 million
Modern Warfare 2 7.5 million
Look at that. 360 has nothing but shooters and Minecraft, available on a variety of platforms. To Sony’s credit, Uncharted will be remembered as Tomb Raider was remembered in the 90’s, and The Last of Us might be the next evolution in the convergence of narrative and gameplay in video games. God of War III was BEAUTIFUL, but it was a button-masher. I didn’t include GTA in Place to Be Nation’s GAMES OF THE GENERATION because it’s more GTA, and we’ll see it again down the line. With Nintendo, we had never seen a game like Wii Sports before, and Mario Galaxy is a masterpiece from which all future games will take note. There isn’t a single “M” rated game on Nintendo’s list.
Which, they say, is a problem, as well, because older gamers are the ones who sustain the industry. Sony and Microsoft target the spenders of the dollars, and it’s not mom & dad. It’s twenty-something year-old guy with no kids, and thus, a lot of disposable income. Nintendo alienated those individuals, and now the Wii U is suffering because of it. Valid point; the Wii won the previous generation, but the victory was a pyrrhic one.
Back in the N64 era, Nintendo maintained a “quality versus quantity” policy in regards to the discrepancy between number of games on the PS1 (and Saturn, if anyone outside of Japan counts it) and the N64. It was the kind of trash talk Nintendo had learned from Sega in the 16-bit era. However in retrospect, that was a foolish perspective because the PS1 would become establish Sony and its PSX as a household name. Still, I find that stance to be apropos today, especially as even CoD: Ghosts sold a ton as usual, but was met with a lukewarm critical reception. In contrast, Wonderful 101 was met with both underwhelming reception and sale , yet it is beginning to gain ground among gamers as a cult hit like Neir, Vanquish, El Shaddai: The Ascension of the Metaron, The Last Story and Zack & Wiki –games that didn’t blow away sales charts but are being hunted down by serious gamers because they take risk by digressing from the status quo.
But wait, there’s more! Remember when Nintendo struck gold with an underpowered system and motion controls? After the SNES, Nintendo always ventured to do things differently than its competition. With the N64, Nintendo opted to go forward with the more expensive cartridge format while sacrificing quality in sound and storage space. Back then, consumers had faith that the N64 would be like the SNES, but many followed companies like Squaresoft and Konami over to Sony’s PSX. When Nintendo released the GameCube, gamers were offended at the sight of a system that looked like something out of a toybox (which seems to me precisely the effect Nintendo was trying to achieve) rather than an electronic device from Circuit City or Best Buy. Again, Nintendo opted for an unconventional mini-disc format which limited space.We already know the deal with the Wii: Sony and Microsoft, with the resources of its other business ventures in electronics, engaged in a High Definition arms race while Nintendo was content to play it humble.
Unfortunately with the Wii U, it seems that Nintendo was trying to appeal to the same casual crowds that had moved on to tablets and other portable devices. OR they were trying for some cross-over appeal with the touchscreens of the DS and 3DS. Nobody is buying it particularly because outside of Nintendo Land and a handful of games like Zombi U and (another ULTRA LATE port) Deus Ex, nobody knows how to utilize the gamepad—maybe including Nintendo if word about Wario: Game & Watch is any indication. The success of the Wii U is predicated upon innovative use of the gamepad, the most expensive part of the console. Besides off-TV play (personally, I watch The Walking Dead episodes on Netflix while doing dishes), we have not seen much, TBQH. Seems odd that Nintendo has been unable to “sell” the strength of its system like it did with the Wii. It is apparent to everyone now that Nintendo’s attempt to transition from motion controls to traditional gaming was a mistake. Why mess—or digress—from success?
And yo, when the greatest game developer/producer/director of all time admits that he was caught with his pants down when it came to HD development, well, it’s probably too little, too late to just be getting started when Microsoft and Sony have been at it for years.
I’m actually not so concerned with how Nintendo will right the ship. I’m more concerned with the question of, “What could they have done differently?” If they opted for a traditional powerhouse system, I seriously doubt that they would have re-captured the attention of either the hardcore gamer who was eyeballing the “sequel” to their HD systems or of the casual audiences that supported both the PS2 and Wii. I honestly believe that based upon the “westernization” of the industry (hell even Thief’s (2014) rating says there is nudity and “strong sexual content,” and it’s a stealth game!), Nintendo is becoming…niche. And that should be disturbing to anyone involved in the industry, whether it be consumer or producer. Should Nintendo continue to struggle, video games may never be the same. Remember when Sega produced consoles and gave us games like Streets of Rage, Shinobi, Panzer Dragon, Jet Grind Radio, and Toe Jam and Earl? So do I.
Now I’m not forecasting that Nintendo will go into just software, but if people think the Wii U doesn’t have games now, just wait until Nintendo decides to abandon it and not just the third parties. It will join the likes of the Atari Jaguar and Panasonic 3DO.
