Everything Right and Wrong with Nintendo

Nintendo has been one of the major icons of the gaming world since it's creation and overall peak. They've essentially led as pioneers of the market, creating fun and innovative games that have gone on to define gaming as we know it. With the dawn of the Nintendo Entertainment System(N.E.S) or Family Computer(Famicom) Nintendo definitely stood at the foundation of gaming's core, helping to inspire many gaming companies to follow suit. It's not secret that with the dawn of Sony's Playstation and Microsoft's X-box that Nintendo began to trail behind the ever popular growing competitors, resulting in being in the butt of jokes. Even the Big Bang Theory did an episode on which of the two consoles Sheldon Cooper should pick from with the Wii being a big joke that audience laughed at. Being that I grew up with the Super Nintendo in the 90's I couldn't help but feel saddened by the current state Nintendo is in, and have been trying to wrack my brain on what they've essentially been doing wrong with their company and how they could once again rise up to the top again. So let's dive into what I essentially think they're doing right and wrong.

The Right

Nintendo original titles Icons

Nintendo made several smart moves that insured it all the rights it could want when they decided to create original characters of their own instead of relying on third party characters like the other consoles do. With titles like Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong, Metroid and plenty more, Nintendo has the rights to do whatever they want with the series to create the most exciting game possible. By doing this, they can essentially collaborate their titles into something amazing like Super Smash Bros, which features all of their characters going head to head against one another without needing to pay other companies to use their characters unless they want to. With their own characters Nintendo essentially has icons to push the system for them. Everyone knows Mario and Zelda which will always be associated with the Nintendo systems, which allows for stability of the company in terms of not needing to constantly update the list. Relying on these icons really helps the company with familiarity too. Produce good games with a stable character and the fans will stick to you forever.

Handhelds

While not always this way, the handheld consoles Nintendo has produced seem to sell more than the home consoles unfortunately. Most of my friends own a Nintendo DS/3DS/New3DS as opposed to a Gamecube/Wii/Wii U nowadays. With the handheld consoles being a lot cheaper, and their games being more affordable and abundant, it's no surprise the handhelds are what's keeping Nintendo afloat these days. The fact that their handhelds are online capable also helps push Nintendo's capabilities. We have to essentially treat the handheld and home consoles as two different parts of the company because they handle both systems differently. While the home console tends to be more weary about risk taking and outsourcing their games, Nintendo seems to have no issue doing this with the handheld system as they have plenty of games not specifically done solely by the company. This style of business is exactly why Sony and Microsoft are so successful and push more home consoles than Nintendo. Nintendo's handheld console does a much better job of handling this because the DS/3DS blows the sales of the PS Vita out of the water, with no competition to even mention.

Giving us great games
Rushing anything is never a good thing, it produces a sloppy product with a lot of problems. Nintendo is very good about not doing this with their products. While this might come across as scared and passive to most, I consider it good work ethic. Making sure you produce a quality product is the most important thing with any consumer related field. Nobody needs garbage games and Nintendo does their best to follow this.

The Wrong

Bordering constant limitations
Nintendo's main focus above all else with any of their consoles, home or handheld is to be innovative with their systems. While this initially comes off as cutting edge it also has it drawbacks to the company. While Nintendo focuses a lot on giving the fans the best game possible, they often times border on limitation within their own hardware. Every system Nintendo seems release doesn't seem to be good enough to run their cutting edge games. This happened with the S.N.E.S and their Nintendo 64, with several titles that required roundabout methods to support their game. Donkey Kong 64 and Majora's Mask required extra hardware with the expansion in order to support them. Come on Nintendo, you gotta know your hardware better.

No static controller
Since Nintendo's first console controller to the most recent one nothing about any of the systems has stayed the same. With video games, I think there needs to be a certain amount of consistency that allows players to continue wanting to play your console. Playstation and X-box have, for the most part, maintained the same style of controllers, altering things only slightly. Who honestly enjoys the Wiimote? While fun, it couldn't necessarily bring the same level of comfort that the competition does with their products. The latest Nintendo console has around 4 different types of controllers for their system. With all those options, I don't even know what to play with!


Shying away from third party titles on the home console
With all the freedom the handheld console gets with third party companies making games on your system, you'd think Nintendo would do the same thing with their home console. Unfortunately Nintendo tends to play it very safe with their bigger projects, which has hurt their sales too. When you're the only developer, it's hard to push games at the same rate as Sony and Microsoft who have other companies merely use their hardware to showcase their games. While this doesn't necessarily maximize profits with Sony and Microsoft, it does push console sales. Why Nintendo felt the need to stop doing this baffles me. Anyone remember the Super Nintendo? A majority of their best selling titles weren't necessarily made by Nintendo directly, as other companies used their hardware similarly to what Sony and Microsoft is doing now.

While Nintendo definitely has its fair share of problems, I honestly feel the good outweighs the bad in most cases which is why I continue to stay faithful to the company in both the handheld aspect, and the home console and will continue to do so, but what do you guys think? Do you guys have a Wii U or are most of you guys sticking specifically to the handhelds? Reasons? Share at the bottom! Thanks for reading!