There’s no way I’m letting that Nation guy hog the “out of retirement” spotlight. Sure, he might have the family and still be a “long-winded … opinionated blowhard”, but deep down he’s just depressed that he was never as cool as good ol’ Rick. You wouldn’t think two years would make that much of a difference between “cool older guy” and “over-the-hill family man,” but it does. So if he thinks he can jump back in because the water’s warm, he’d better think again, because the shark is back in the ocean!
While I’ve been gone from Nintendo World Report (formerly Planet GameCube) for some time now, I continued blogging on technology and games for my good friend Andru Edwards and his network of sites until last year. I took some time out for myself and made a series of sweeping life changes, but when I ran into Justin Nation on Facebook I figured it was as good a time as any to put the band back together. This might just be a one-time reunion, or maybe I’ll go out on tour. Who knows?
Unlike Nation, I’m not going to bore you all to tears talking about how old I am or how hard we had it back in the day. I’m here to continue my tirades on Nintendo, calling them out on decisions they’ve made and continue to make, and I’ll do it out of love. Or at least, do it out of some deep-seated need to be right all the time. It’s only because I’m almost always right anyways. Speaking of which, I clearly whiffed on my diatribe regarding the selection of “Wii” as a product name. Yes, it was non-sensical, and yes, Nintendo still faced all of the challenges I outlined. And as the title of my editorial suggested, we did indeed get over it and led Nintendo to where it is now, quite literally writing themselves blank checks.
But let’s move on. My last editorial for NWR was about Nintendo whiffing on their PAX ’06 appearance. Since then, Nintendo has changed in some ways, but has also stayed the same. I waited in line for my Wii in November ’06 (along with Andru) just like a lot of Nintendo’s hardcore fans, because it was clear Nintendo was trying to innovate in the gaming space. Two years later, I hardly turn my Wii on any more. It’s currently at my girlfriend’s house, where she and her sister use it to “play” Wii Fit. I figured it was better off over there than gathering dust on the shelf at my place.
Does that make Wii Fit a brilliant move by Nintendo to capture the casual market? Absolutely. Business-wise, Nintendo struck gold with their “blue-ocean strategy”; they’re attracting a whole new market with games like Wii Sports and Wii Fit. Nintendo owns the casual market right now, and they’re perfectly happy selling to people that will turn the Wii on once a day to work out, or once a month when they have a kegger on campus. They make enough money on the console (and controllers, and peripherals, and licensing) that they really don’t care much about the attach rate. And that’s where their fatal flaw lies: Nintendo doesn’t know how to transform this casual market into consumers that will buy more software.
The Wii is priced to be an impulse purchase for the market they’re tapping. Nintendo is quite happily boasting about being responsible for 99% of the industry’s growth, but were they really? If Wii owners bought it for Wii Sports alone, or for Wii Fit, can you really claim to have grown the segment? Until Nintendo can prove that they can convince those people to buy more software, more GAME software, they’ll continue to get the same eye-rolling response they did when they made that statement. A rising tide is supposed to raise ALL the boats, not just the ones owned by Nintendo.
Sadly, Nintendo doesn’t realize that not only could they have it all, but they’re at risk of losing the casual market with the same strategy that got them there in the first place. The same people that lauded the Wii’s ability to get gamers off the couch and active are starting to realize that those games have little depth, and are only fun for such a brief time that their benefits are minimal. Even Wii Fit owners are coming to the conclusion that it’s no replacement for “real” exercise. If the dearth of entertaining software continues out of Nintendo, they’re seriously at risk of losing that same market they’ve fought so hard to attract, through what I call “Wii fatigue.” I suspect that for every Wii they sell, someone stops using theirs. Those Wii’s aren’t getting traded in though, so Nintendo still has an opportunity to capture those hearts again.
Which leads me into my closing statement: I received some very disturbing news recently and turned to gaming as a way to ease the pain. With all the gaming systems I had access to and all the games I could play, I went back and spent time with my old friends Donald and Goofy. I loaded up Kingdom Hearts 2 (via my PS3), and enjoyed every moment with these childhood friends. I passed up playing with Mario, or Link, or any of my former favorites. Square-Enix recently released an updated Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories for the PS2, which used to be a Game Boy Advance title. Why did Nintendo not pursue having this game on the Wii? The audience for a game like Kingdom Hearts should be right up their alley. Instead, they’re satisfied with having an upcoming DS game while Square-Enix releases similar games on the PSP and mobile phones. This is a gaming franchise perfect for the casual market built by Wii, with recognizable characters from outside the gaming world, and Nintendo let it get past them.
Nintendo is fat, dumb, and happy. They’re in a place right now where they have become complacent in their success with casual gamers (similar to their GameCube-era complacency), and it’s showing in the kinds of product they’re selling. Uninspired and shallow Wii Remote experiences; third-party shovelware that is a slap in the face to those that still remember the Nintendo Seal of Quality; Wii-makes of N64 and GameCube games that hearken back to a time when Nintendo was more innovative; plastic, high-margin accessories that do nothing but inspire even more plastic, high-margin accessories from licensed vendors. Nintendo used to inspire the best kind of copy cats, people who would steal Nintendo’s innovative ideas and release software that raised the level of competition. Now the only competition they inspire is for the space in the box that holds all my plastic crap. Nintendo is slipping into the realm of being merely an expensive toy manufacturer, a purveyor of plastic and digital bits, the equivalent of gaming junk food. Nintendo hasn’t just partnered with McDonalds, Nintendo has become McDonalds - the 800-pound gorilla selling whatever you’ll buy to anyone who will walk in the door, empty calories in a pretty white box.
At least now you have a scale in your living room to weigh yourself afterwards.
[Editor’s note: Rick’s opinions are entirely his own, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Nintendo World Report and its staff. –JL] <P>
Speaking of which, I clearly whiffed on my diatribe regarding the selection of “Wii” as a product name (http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/'http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/editorialArt.cfm?artid=11407'). Yes, it was non-sensical, and yes, Nintendo still faced all of the challenges I outlined. And as the title of my editorial suggested, we did indeed get over it and led Nintendo to where it is now, quite literally writing themselves blank checks. <P>
They make enough money on the console (and controllers, and peripherals, and licensing) that they really don’t care much about the attach rate.
And that’s where their fatal flaw lies: Nintendo doesn’t know how to transform this casual market into consumers that will buy more software.
Nintendo is quite happily boasting about being responsible for 99% of the industry’s growth (http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/'http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=21888'), but were they really?
Until Nintendo can prove that they can convince those people to buy more software, more GAME software, they’ll continue to get the same eye-rolling response they did when they made that statement.
A rising tide is supposed to raise ALL the boats, not just the ones owned by Nintendo.
Which leads me into my closing statement: I received some very disturbing news recently and turned to gaming as a way to ease the pain. With all the gaming systems I had access to and all the games I could play, I went back and spent time with my old friends Donald and Goofy. I loaded up Kingdom Hearts 2 (via my PS3), and enjoyed every moment with these childhood friends.
Nintendo is slipping into the realm of being merely an expensive toy manufacturer, a purveyor of plastic and digital bits, the equivalent of gaming junk food.
At least now you have a scale in your living room to weigh yourself afterwards. <P>
Wow, so toys are digital junkfood? You really haven't followed Nintendo's, and even Miyamoto's, unifying theme throughout their history: entertainment for everyone, evoking emotions and smiles from regular people instead of evoking drool from cloistered gamers, and using innovation to surprise and expand, not dig themselves deeper into a hole.
Somehow plenty of us have found a nice array of games to enjoy. Sure not all of them are epic blockbusters, but games don't need to be in order to be good.
Somehow plenty of us have found a nice array of games to enjoy. Sure not all of them are epic blockbusters, but games don't need to be in order to be good.
True but there are still plenty of others who are just bored with what some consider "Wii gems". Its not like we're forcing ourselves to dislike Wii games, nobody wants to spend $250+ on a console they'll never use, its an investment. Its just very disappointing for many of us b/c we can imagine so many good titles the Wii could provide.
Man, bad timing. With Bill's farewell speech, there's a lot of discussion going on about negativity on these forums and against Nintendo and concerning the staff. This wasn't the best time to release an editorial like this. Not to mention, it just seems to exasperate the hardcore/casual debate. Like Stogi said, Kairon replied with any points I'd have brought up.
Man, bad timing. With Bill's farewell speech, there's a lot of discussion going on about negativity on these forums and against Nintendo and concerning the staff. This wasn't the best time to release an editorial like this. Not to mention, it just seems to exasperate the hardcore/casual debate. Like Stogi said, Kairon replied with any points I'd have brought up.
Somehow plenty of us have found a nice array of games to enjoy. Sure not all of them are epic blockbusters, but games don't need to be in order to be good.
True but there are still plenty of others who are just bored with what some consider "Wii gems". Its not like we're forcing ourselves to dislike Wii games, nobody wants to spend $250+ on a console they'll never use, its an investment. Its just very disappointing for many of us b/c we can imagine so many good titles the Wii could provide.
It's funny that you bring up Mario Kart to defend your point, because I would point to it to defend mine. How many games outside of Nintendo's stable are making up that high attach rate? If I were to suggest that out of a six-game attach rate, those games are likely to be Wii Play (because of the cheap Wii-mote), Super Mario Galaxy, Twilight Princess, Wii Fit, Metroid, and Mario Kart ... how happy do you think third-parties are likely to be with that? 49% of all software sold in 2008 was for a Nintendo platform. And how much of that was made by Nintendo? Give me that number, and I'll think about conceding your point.
Quality and sales don't always go hand in hand. I do know that Nintendo doesn't really deserve their number one spot. They don't have the best lineup of games. If you base it on quality the Wii doesn't deserve to be number one.
Is there a reason this is an editorial as opposed to a blog?
Is there a reason this is an editorial as opposed to a blog?
Sadly, Nintendo doesn’t realize that not only could they have it all, but they’re at risk of losing the casual market with the same strategy that got them there in the first place. The same people that lauded the Wii’s ability to get gamers off the couch and active are starting to realize that those games have little depth, and are only fun for such a brief time that their benefits are minimal. Even Wii Fit owners are coming to the conclusion that it’s no replacement for “real” exercise. If the dearth of entertaining software continues out of Nintendo, they’re seriously at risk of losing that same market they’ve fought so hard to attract, through what I call “Wii fatigue.” I suspect that for every Wii they sell, someone stops using theirs. Those Wii’s aren’t getting traded in though, so Nintendo still has an opportunity to capture those hearts again.
Which leads me into my closing statement: I received some very disturbing news recently and turned to gaming as a way to ease the pain. With all the gaming systems I had access to and all the games I could play, I went back and spent time with my old friends Donald and Goofy. I loaded up Kingdom Hearts 2 (via my PS3), and enjoyed every moment with these childhood friends. I passed up playing with Mario, or Link, or any of my former favorites. Square-Enix recently released an updated Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories for the PS2, which used to be a Game Boy Advance title. Why did Nintendo not pursue having this game on the Wii? The audience for a game like Kingdom Hearts should be right up their alley. Instead, they’re satisfied with having an upcoming DS game while Square-Enix releases similar games on the PSP and mobile phones. This is a gaming franchise perfect for the casual market built by Wii, with recognizable characters from outside the gaming world, and Nintendo let it get past them.
third-party shovelware that is a slap in the face to those that still remember the Nintendo Seal of Quality
If I were to suggest that out of a six-game attach rate, those games are likely to be Wii Play (because of the cheap Wii-mote), Super Mario Galaxy, Twilight Princess, Wii Fit, Metroid, and Mario Kart ... how happy do you think third-parties are likely to be with that? 49% of all software sold in 2008 was for a Nintendo platform. And how much of that was made by Nintendo? Give me that number, and I'll think about conceding your point.
Link's Crossbow Training? Seriously?
Nintendo made a conscious, deliberate business decision this generation to lower quality control on third-party submissions, because the market they wanted to tap into wanted the illusion of choice.
Meanwhiles, sales of games like Boom Blox suffer because of the halo effect from other third-party drivel.
Third parties have been VERY vocal about how their software isn't selling.
But if the third-party support evaporates because they can't make money too, they'll be back where they were with the Nintendo 64.
Second, the quality of the third-party titles doesn't come close to approaching first-party efforts, and further, that's it's a more or less intentional effort on the part of Nintendo.
Second, the quality of the third-party titles doesn't come close to approaching first-party efforts, and further, that's it's a more or less intentional effort on the part of Nintendo. Partly because it brings in licensing monies, and party because poor third-party software pushes people towards first-party software. As support for that viewpoint, I can only point to the disastrously bad Super Monkey Ball for Wii. That game should have been a home-run, and in an era where Nintendo was quality testing third-party software, it would have been.
Now this is a new one. You're suggesting Nintendo is deliberately encouraging third parties to make sub-par games in an effort to funnel people burned on crappy games towards their own first party efforts?
And since when did Nintendo ever quality test 3rd party software, aside from making sure the game actually ran?
Can't say I'm enthusiastic about the Wii's upcoming lineup, but I can say the same for the PS3. Aside from RE5 in March, there's nothin' for me.
Nintendo is fat, dumb, and happy.
Is there a reason this is an editorial as opposed to a blog?This was an oversight that has been fixed.
How many games outside of Nintendo's stable are making up that high attach rate? If I were to suggest that out of a six-game attach rate, those games are likely to be Wii Play (because of the cheap Wii-mote), Super Mario Galaxy, Twilight Princess, Wii Fit, Metroid, and Mario Kart ... how happy do you think third-parties are likely to be with that? 49% of all software sold in 2008 was for a Nintendo platform. And how much of that was made by Nintendo? Give me that number, and I'll think about conceding your point.
crap now it is hidden away in staff blogs.
And while it's not Wii-related, I suspect we're going to start seeing articles like this one about Wii Fit or Wii Sports soon as well. Mostly due to Nintendo being a huge target, but there's some glimmers of truth here. http://ds.ign.com/articles/948/948080p1.html
The fact that this guy used the word "charlatanism" to describe it is hypocrisy at its finest.
The fact that this guy used the word "charlatanism" to describe it is hypocrisy at its finest.
Direct insults are not allowed on the NWR forums. You have been reported.
I agree with Ian and Rick. In short, Nintendo has trimmed their hair and gone casual:
(http://www.galeon.com/allmusic/caratulas/m/Metallica_-_Load_-_back.jpg)
Hey the old man is back. Lets not forget how completely wrong you were about the DS and PSP too.
The people Nintendo wants to reach with the console will not be caught dead walking into a store and asking for “Wii" within earshot of friends.
Yes, hardcore fans will get used to the name, but the mainstream won't even give it a chance.
https://www.nintendoworldreport.com/forums/index.php?topic=12039.0
There's the DS vs. PSP thread, by the way.
It wasn't so much a blatant comment he made, more various hints and touches he made in different threads and such.Hey the old man is back. Lets not forget how completely wrong you were about the DS and PSP too.
I've heard that a few times now, but I can't find any article he wrote that suggests that. Link?
EDIT: nevermind, I think I found it. FWIW, in March 2005, he posted some very legit concerns about the touch screen control interface. He never says anywhere in the thread that I can find that DS will fail and PSP will reign supreme. He remains skeptical.
I don't remember getting ANY use out of my DS in March 2005. The first games I remember really loving on my DS (which was purchased in January 05) were Kirby's Canvas Curse (June 05) and Meteos (June 05). Fact is, in March 2005, I was skeptical too, and rightfully so. I had very real doubts about the viability of the DS until I played those games. They made me a believer. Until then? I would have taken a PSP over the DS, hands down.
Okay, sorry for the derail. Rick was being accused of saying something, and I wanted more information on that accusation. Back to crucifying him for being a critic.
Good question... why did Wii Music and why is Wii Sports 2 (almost) taking as long as OOT?
KnowsNothing: We need Rick to come back and whip this board into shape.
Me: Oh Mr.Powers, where art thou?
This might just be a one-time reunion, or maybe I’ll go out on tour.All we need now is Billy Berghammer to make an appearance, and the band will be complete...
Casual gamers are making up one bell curve, with "core" gamers making up an entirely different bell curve. Your suggestion that Nintendo is trying to create "bridge titles" suggests Nintendo's own admission that this is the case.
It's funny that you bring up Mario Kart to defend your point, because I would point to it to defend mine. How many games outside of Nintendo's stable are making up that high attach rate? If I were to suggest that out of a six-game attach rate, those games are likely to be Wii Play (because of the cheap Wii-mote), Super Mario Galaxy, Twilight Princess, Wii Fit, Metroid, and Mario Kart ... how happy do you think third-parties are likely to be with that? 49% of all software sold in 2008 was for a Nintendo platform. And how much of that was made by Nintendo? Give me that number, and I'll think about conceding your point.
The problem is that they've realized, much like the TV networks, that they can spend less money (thereby making more money) by giving us shallow game experiences and a nifty plastic add-on ... the gaming analogue of Reality TV.
Second, the quality of the third-party titles doesn't come close to approaching first-party efforts, and further, that's it's a more or less intentional effort on the part of Nintendo. Partly because it brings in licensing monies, and party because poor third-party software pushes people towards first-party software. As support for that viewpoint, I can only point to the disastrously bad Super Monkey Ball for Wii. That game should have been a home-run, and in an era where Nintendo was quality testing third-party software, it would have been.
Plugabugz: Dark Side of the Moon would have been a MUCH better example, though perhaps at the risk of seeming hyperbolic. :-)
OptimusPrime brings up an intriguing argument about the Wii being a disruptive product. But again, the problem here is that a truly disruptive product is disruptive only to COMPETITORS and to other industries, not to partners, licensees, and such. One thing I've noticed is that Nintendo likes to toss a word like "disruptive" around like it's a good thing. It's not.Well
For the Wii to be called truly disruptive, it would have to be threatening the business model of a previously unrelated industry, or it would have to give Nintendo such an obvious competitive advantage that everyone else would have to take a back seat. Neither has happened. If you want to call the Wii disruptive to anything, perhaps it's to other forms of entertainment that it mimics with motion controls (like bowling), and even that's a stretch, since I don't hear tennis racket manufacturers complaining.
No, the problem here is that Nintendo has simply created a business model where they lowered development costs at the same time increasing profit margins. They've manage to do this by realizing that there was a market that doesn't care about quality or depth and for whom a short, repeatable play experience is acceptable. Why spend money creating an epic game when you can lower your costs 90% by making a game some people will enjoy playing for just an hour or two?
The main thesis of my argument is that Nintendo is doing very well financially, and the numbers are hiding a terrible secret ... they are starting to lose the very same market that they carved out for themselves, and they're losing it because even casual gamers will enjoy more complex games once you've whetted their appetite. Sadly, those games aren't coming fast enough, and interest is dwindling. The point is that the games that the "core" gamer is waiting for are ironically the same ones that the "casual" gamer wants. The sales numbers hint strongly at that point.Um... here's the thing, it takes a long time for Nintendo's core games to go through the development cycle. Anyone who has stuck with Nintendo's systems knows this, which is why they release B-rated titles because these games fill out a release gap, and they sell. The GCN saw four Mario Party titles and a slew of spin-offs, but the Wii has only seen one and a couple of Mario sport titles. Why? Simple, the GCN was suffering for an audience. The Wii has an audience, but the declining interest everyone is harking about towards the Wii is, personally, just a cheap ass pot shot towards the Wii. With all the BS that happened last generation, I was planning on giving up on console games because nothing really changed. Then Nintendo showed off the Wii, and I was sold. Why? Because, whether you like it or not, there has to be change.
Taking the Reality TV analogy a bit further, look at American Idol. Still has the strongest ratings of almost any show on TV, but ratings are dropping and they're trying to find ways to fix it, like adding a fourth judge. Dig into those ratings a bit further, and you uncover the terrible secret ... the people watching American Idol most are not the ones they were trying to attract. Turns out it's older people, and not the teenagers sought after by advertisers. Trust me when I tell you that there was a bit of shock when they finally realized that.American Idol isn't that great of a show. Sure, outside of Simon's snarky comments (to people who deserve it, mind you) and the horrible first auditions, it's just an over-the-top game show about people singing. If I wanted to choose any Reality TV show I would watch in good taste, I would pick Gene Simmons Family Jewels or TMZ (shut up it's funny).
And this will be your only warning about hurling insults ("old fart") ... attack the ideas freely, but leave personal attacks out of it.Attacking forum posts = a very good time waster. =D
precisely what value would the site have if it were only worshiping mindlessly at the altar of Nintendo?
Look, shovelware didn't crash the PS2 (and now that system has a flood of Singstar and Buzz versions that are not going to be bought by hardcore gamers), why would it crash the Wii?
I reserve my judgement until I see what all Nintendo is developing for Wii MotionPlus. If they have two or more great internal games for the device at/near its launch, I'll consider this to be a "downtime" period for Wii a la N64 and GameCube, and acceptable.
I don't think the Wii truly deserves to be the market leader in that it probably has the weakest lineup of the three consoles. If the rest of the world realizes that then Nintendo would be in trouble.
Quality and sales don't always go hand in hand. I do know that Nintendo doesn't really deserve their number one spot. They don't have the best lineup of games. If you base it on quality the Wii doesn't deserve to be number one.
Ian, please refrain from making these types of outlandish comments. I can see where this thread is going and I don't like it. It doesn't have to go that direction. Thanks.
hen I'm buying a PS3
