Lordy, lordy, lordy. So much ado about nothing. Because that's what Wii U sales are, amirite? Hi-yoooo!
It's times like this and articles like this that remind of this article at Pietriots. You can click it here.. Sure, you may want to argue different points in it. But I think the last paragraph is what rings true with me the most.
But let's take a moment to look at some of the cray-cray going on in this thread.
Tora writes
Dear Khushrenada,
Nintendo caught a virus of casualty and can't bring them selves to try on their products any longer. May this be a kick in the ass so they'll change back to the Nintendo we all grew up with. You may recognize these as some pretty strong (though pretty erroneous) statements I've been making. I like making such hyperbolic statements. Please don't point out how wrong they are.
Your pal,
Tora
Sorry Tora but that's a no.
Nintendo doesn't try with their games? Let's take a quick look at some of their franchises.
Mario - Had massive success and critical acclaim for Super Mario Galaxy. Repeatedly called innovative. (I may not be a fan but even I wouldn't say that they were being lazy or not trying with the game.) Super Mario 3D Land was a new approach to Mario 3D platforming that got more critical acclaim and is considered one of the top 3 games for the 3DS. The sequel 3D World has also been massively praised and acclaimed. Plus, NSMB U has been the best 2D Mario platformer released since probably Super Mario World. It just gets overshadowed due to the New brand aesthetic wearing thin. The franchise is at the top of its game.
Zelda - This one is all over the map depending on who you ask but the latest entry on the 3DS was also just critically acclaimed not only as being well designed but also for trying to shake up the Zelda formula with dungeon progression. *Gasp* Actually trying new things! I don't understand. You said they didn't. Skyward Sword has divided people but I work with a fellow who is a huge Final Fantasy fan and more of a PC gamer. Yet, he keeps urging me to get around to playing Skyward Sword and says its the best Zelda. I find it hilarious how he keeps explaining how great the motion controls are and the ways you have to counterattack. Nintendo also re-released a couple Zelda games in the Wind Waker and Ocarina of Time. In both cases, they redid the graphics and tweaked a few things about the games to give them more polish (although some people still wanted more). They could have just released them as they were already. Rayman 3D didn't exactly seem to do much to repolish itself. There have been other lazy ports to the Wii U while a better release of game has gone to the other consoles. But I'm sure that was 3rd parties trying unlike Nintendo.
Donkey Kong - DKCR was the return of the Country franchise and a hardcore game through and through. DKC:TF might not be a leap forward but it is still probably the better game and the DK franchise is at the best its been in years.
Animal Crossing - It just had its best version come out last year on the 3DS.
Fire Emblem - Its popularity has skyrocketed with Awakenings release last year. Interestingly, a big credit goes to the change of being able to have permadeaths turned on or off. Good thing Nintendo tried something new there.
Kirby - This franchise has been on a steady rise. Looking at the last 6 games released for it, the weakest is Squeak Squad. Canvas Curse, Mass Attack and Epic Yarn were all new ideas for the character. Superstar Ultra may have been a re-release but new content was added into it, it was up-rezzed and it is what I consider the best Kirby game made so definitely worth a play. Return to Dreamland is probably the second best traditional Kirby game made after Superstar. And there have been rumblings with Triple Deluxe that it could be better than both of those. Kirby is killing it.
Pikmin 3 - It actually got a release and tries new things and was also well received critically.
Kid Icarus - It got revived but has had an uneven reception with some praising it and others criticizing it. I'd still say it is the high point of that particular franchise. Maybe that's because it was made with little effort. Oh no, wait. That wasn't it at all.
Pokemon, Smash Bros., Mario Kart, Professer Layton, may not be doing too much different in their franchises and opinions will vary as to which games are better in their series but they are all stable franchises and they do try new things. Right now, it just seems to be about passing judgement on something before actually trying it as evidence by the Mario Kart and Smash Bros. reception.
Could things be better? Sure. F-Zero was at a huge high when GX was released and has now gone dormant. Star Fox has been unable to get past its 64 version. Metroid is on a cool down phase. Yoshi can't seem to find a way to move past Super Mario World 2. The Paper Mario franchise is losing appeal for experimenting too much. Oddly enough, The Thousand Year Door seems to be the high point of the franchise and yet it's a very close copy to the original and may be the least experimental. Seems gamers don't always like when Nintendo tries.
Yet, there's so much more going on. Luigi's Mansion just got a sequel that is better than the original. The latest Mario Golf seems to have the potential to be the best in that series and it took almost 10 years for this latest sequel to be released. There's all the Mario Sports titles that could have new iterations released. The Mario and Luigi franchise got a new release last year. Advance Wars is dormant with the last one trying to change things up with a new cast and aesthetic. The Battalion Wars franchise was created from it. Nintendo even put in some new entries for Wii Fit, Crosswords and the Brain Age series even if you don't care for them. Pilotwings got a new entry.
I'm not going to keep going through every single game and franchise that Nintendo could be making games for right now. It's an embarrassment of riches that other game companies dream of. Yet, despite this and the cries of so many gamers for Nintendo to make a sequel for this or that, they also want new IP's which Nintendo has done (they're just never the new IP's people were dreaming up in their heads). That's a lot of ideas expected from one company. Thus, I'm not surprised that not every game released is going to be the best version ever. That's the cost of trying new things or working to meet demand. Yet, the fact is that with the Wii U and 3DS, we are seeing some of the best entries made in a lot of these franchises and to say that Nintendo isn't trying or needs to go back to the Nintendo of old is plain ignorance. There is nothing wrong with the current design of games.
(And I didn't even get a chance to get into some of the other bad points in this thread. Oh well. Tomorrow is another day.)
Hmm..Let's see.
Mario- I agree Galaxy was probably the best Nintendo game released since N64, and is the height of Nintendo quality, and still is. 3D Land not so much. While the game was fun, it was crying out 'lack of effort' through and through. Especailly with the boss fights. God that was awful. It was such a downward slope of quality when compared to Galaxy. Please don't bring up NSMB series. We've seen four of them in a 6 year radius. The consensus is has been lackluster. It's not a special thing if you keep releasing old school offerings, it just makes nintendo seem stuck in the pass to people. Which is why I think the Wii U isn't doing good. Nintendo-halfassery might work ok on a handheld, where the quality is generally lower, but it's so evident in their console releases, espeically since the Wii came out.
Zelda- ALBW had the same problem with 3D Land and NSMB. Relying to heavily on a tired formula, with only minor changes made. Also, it's another example of Nintendo not utilizing their own hardware to its limit, which is never a problem for the other consoles. Skyward Sword was even more tried. It's like that slap on a gimmick to a game with the same stuff they've been doing for years and expect people to rave at how new it is. And usually the gimmicks or 'innovations' are met with mixed response. Again with the remakes. Living off pass success.
Donkey Kong- DKCR, along with Metroid prime, are some of the only Nintendo games with polish. Though it doesn't surprise me seeing as it was developed in the west, and there is a completely different mentality in place. RETRO actually tries to make their stuff deep and creative. MP had 3 games in the series and it didn't start to feel stale IMO intil halfway through the last game. DKCTF, living off nostalgia once again. When are nintendo gonna have the guts to release a real 3D Donkey kong game? Is yet to be seen...Or anything open world for that matter...
Animal Crossing- Can't comment to much on this series, seeing as it's not a game I'm in any way interested in.
Fire Emblem - Saying Fire Emblem skyrocketed is a HUGE overstatement. Yes, it sold better than the older games, but I'd attribute that to the new art style, and more focus towards casuals as well as the marriage system. It is still in no way a popular or crazy sucessful game. Also, adding one new feature that should have been in the series in the first place is in no way any call for praise. Last year, I remember people bragging about "oh FE:A did 200,000 copies in one month. So impressive! Sony's dead." I'm like if that's what you're bragging about I don't even need to say how stupid that sounds.
Kirby - Kirby is a lot more daring than the other Nintendo franchises, seeing as it's comfortable in changing it's scope, but look how that turned out for them on DS. Now they're back to making tired Kirby.
Pikmin - Never played it, but all I hear about it is people complaining that it's too similar and needs more/better modes. As well as crappy DLC. Not my words.
Kid Icarus - Sakurai doesn't dissapoint, but this game was mixed for a reason. The controls where IMO, god awful. It didn't feel right, even though this is the first thing Nintendo's got to a need IP in a while.
Pokemon, Smash Bros., Mario Kart, Professer Layton - Smash bros has basically been the same, Mario Kart 7 changed Mario Kart a little bit, and Pokemon is almost an exact carbon copy.
Paper Mario TTYD wasn't experimental, but it was progressive. If only Nintendo had natural progression to all their games, it would make their PR problem so much better.
I'm not saying they aren't making games, I'm just seeing lack of ambition in 90% of their products. Especially went put next to Sony which are consistently making great games with new I.Ps
Topic: Comparing Wii U's Sales to GameCube, Wii (Read 52352 times)
