Topic: Nintendo's biggest blunder

[Adrock]

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Ian Sane wrote:
There are really only three Cube games that I expected great things from that kind of let me down: Super Mario Sunshine, Wind Waker, and Mario Kart.

Those games let me down too for different reasons. Sunshine was just Mario 64 with a waterpack and an even wonkier camera. Wind Waker was like 70% sailing and the music aspect made the game even slower than it already was. Double Dash was just a sub-par game with some of the cheapest AI in any videogame. I don't think the MK formula is used up. Racing is still a viable genre. The developers of MK just rely too heavily on old ideas. The 2 kart thing didn't really change the game that much. Changing from paratroopa to Daisy didn't stop a purple shell from annihilating you then Bowser running over you right after recovering from the purple shell.

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couchmonkey wrote:
I think Nintendo is beginning to recognize that quantity matters more than quality these days.

I think Nintendo finally figured out that they need both. Ocarina of Time was great, but 2 games of the same quality is always better.

[BigJim]

Interesting points here.

I would have pegged their biggest blunder as not paying enough attention to Sony and giving them big headstarts for 2 generations in a row. Even they would probably admit that was "our bad." The cartridge thing was nasty too, though.

And truth be told, Nintendo has demonstrated a little bit of trouble stepping outside their creative comfort zone. Despite the new "types" of games like Pikmin or AC, there was a homogenous feeling to the lineup. But it may be changing a bit with Wii. Hopefully they will try more new things.

[GoldenPhoenix]

Awesome posts guys, definately some great arguments from both Ian and Couch. One thing I do disagree with is Nintendo letting talented 2nd parties go, Rare was on the decline and people like Silicon Knights and even Factor 5 to a degree were not putting out enough games to justify holding onto them.

[Arbok]

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Originally posted by: VGrevolution
One thing I do disagree with is Nintendo letting talented 2nd parties go, Rare was on the decline and people like Silicon Knights and even Factor 5 to a degree were not putting out enough games to justify holding onto them.

Was Factor 5 ever second party? I mean some of their games like Roque Squadron also ended up on the PC. Their situation seemed to be just that they prefered to work with Nintendo, much in the same way that last generation Tecmo seemed to prefer working on the Xbox.

[GoldenPhoenix]

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Originally posted by: Arbok

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Originally posted by: VGrevolution
One thing I do disagree with is Nintendo letting talented 2nd parties go, Rare was on the decline and people like Silicon Knights and even Factor 5 to a degree were not putting out enough games to justify holding onto them.

Was Factor 5 ever second party? I mean some of their games like Roque Squadron also ended up on the PC. Their situation seemed to be just that they prefered to work with Nintendo, much in the same way that last generation Tecmo seemed to prefer working on the Xbox.

I think you may be right about that one. So I guess I could clarify my statement by saying that studios that made exclusive games mainly for Nintendo consoles during the GC/N64 era that were pushed out the door (or decided to leave by themselves) were not huge losses.

[couchmonkey]

Yeah, although I didn't like it, Nintendo's decision to cut second parties loose seems to have worked out very well.  My thoughts at the time were that Nintendo was giving up a lot of exclusive properties - Killer Instinct, Banjo Kazooie, Perfect Dark, etc.  However, as Sony vs. Nintendo has shown, a large stable of long-time exclusives isn't everything.  Take Crash Bandicoot and Resident Evil from Sony, and five new games take their place (such as Jak, Ratchet and Clank, Fatal Frame, Devil May Cry and Ico).  

Nintendo has enough long-time properties in it's collection without buying more from second parties.  The only way to hurt Sony is to turn things upside down so the massive third party support moves in your favour.  So far I think Wii is doing a hell of a job on that.

[Mario]

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The last few years of the Cube were really weak but that's because Nintendo didn't care anymore.

I thought they were the best ones

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Mario, they didn't play killer7.

[IceCold]

Or Jungle Beat.

[Luigi Dude]

Or Fire Emblem.

[couchmonkey]

Or Kao the Kangaroo, am I right?

[ShyGuy]

I liked the Lego Star Wars 1 and 2. Latter day Cube games get!

[BlkPaladin]

In a part of his argument he said something about him being in charge of
a title he was Pikmin.