Game-Revolution, by far my favorite videogame review website, has recently posted an editorial detailing Nintendo's problems and shortcomings in an editorial entitled
The Trouble With Nintendo. I wrote a counter editorial largely based on my post in the Time Magazine thread, which I will send to them, but my email account is currently down. So while I'm waiting for it to get back up, I've decided to post it here for your critique. All comments are welcome, both positive and negative, as long as they are relevant.
EDIT: Eric Josue of
Otaku Ezine has posted this editorial on his website, which you can find
here.
Dear Game-Revolution and Kaanchy,
I’ve been a faithful reader of Game-Revolution for 7 years now, and I regard you as the best videogame review website on the internet- you’re unbiased, you’re fair, you’re intelligent, and you know what’s relevant to real gamers. And I know this editorial on Nintendo’s future was written out of concern, and I’m not here to bash it as I’m sure many fanboys are. However, that doesn’t mean I haven’t recognized the ignorance in it- indeed, had it been posted on any other website I would have thought it were purely for shock value and the increased traffic it brings.
Quite frankly, though, Nintendo's business practices are perfectly fine, exemplary even- you do realize they've only lost money for one quarter since going public some 40 years ago? Most other companies could never dream of being able to make such a claim. The problem, as I have always said, is the third parties. Nintendo makes the best games in the world- even if you don't care for their style, you have to admit their games are some of the finest made and most polished pieces of software on the planet- it's not a coincidence they have such an incredibly loyal following. This poses a conundrum for 3rd parties- when sitting on a shelf next to a world class Nintendo game, who's going to want to buy a mediocre 3rd party game that's riding more on image than quality? 3rd party games rarely do well on Nintendo consoles as of late because of the simple fact that most owners of Nintendo consoles would rather lay down their hard earned money for the assured quality of a Nintendo game as opposed to taking a gamble on a 3rd party game, which can range from being rare gems to little more than excrement hastily slapped on a disc. This used to not be a problem, back in the NES/SNES/Genesis days, and there's a very good reason for that- the only consoles 3rd parties could develop for were made by extremely talented 1st parties, which forced the 3rd parties to match that level of quality in order to catch the attention of the consumer and convince them to buy their game. Again, it's no coincidence that some of the best 3rd party games ever made were released during those two generations, and the bad ones nearly always floundered- quite the opposite of today.
Then along came Sony- not to disrespect the advancements Sony has made for the industry, and they are improving, but they created a console (the Playstation) completely devoid of a stellar 1st party, or really a good 1st party at all, which meant half-assed crappy games could sell much better than before simply because the consumer didn't have a choice. Conversely, 3rd partiers left Nintendo, whose consoles it was now difficult to garner sales for, requiring at least as much effort as Nintendo put into their own games. When they left Nintendo, all that was left
was Nintendo, and, by association, Nintendo fans. Gone were the people who enjoyed a few of Nintendo games but really liked the diversity their consoles offered. Indeed, gone was the diversity altogether, gone to the Playstation. It's truly a testament to Nintendo's quality that their hardcore fans alone could not only support them in such bleak times but turn them an enormous profit as well. When we moved into the next generation, Microsoft released the XBox, which is based on the exact same principle as the PSX/PS2, that without the high quality 1st and 2nd parties, mediocre 3rd parties can thrive.
That's why I truly believe that it's not competition between multiple consoles that brings the best out in developers, but competition between each other on one console, at the very most two if both have extremely good 1st parties. I say this because it forces the 3rd parties to rise to the level of quality of the 1st party to catch the buyer's eye.
Basically, the point I'm trying to make is that Nintendo is doing all they can do- yes, sometimes they make some bad business decisions, but so does every company (especially Microsoft with the XBox- why no fortellings of doom for the console currently in 3rd place worldwide, not to mention losing hundreds of millions of dollars?), and Nintendo makes far less than most. It's the industry that needs to change, not Nintendo. Sony's 1st parties are gradually improving, but both the PS2 and the XBox are making it okay for 3rd parties to shove half-assed games out the door because they actually SELL. Eventually, though, when image and graphics no longer matter, when the difference in graphical ability between consoles is indistinguishable, actual game quality will be what drives sales, and it's then when Nintendo will rise once again.
As for image, that’s a subject Nintendo fans generally feel very strong about- the day Nintendo changes their image, the day Nintendo throws in blood and gore for the sole purpose of getting sales, is the day they’ve lost my business- I’ll turn away and never look back. If such elements are the result of a creative decision, that’s fine, but Nintendo’s always been about creating the best games possible, and it’s not their fault if people don’t recognize that. You forget that there is such a thing as dignity left in this world, and I’d rather Nintendo lag behind with the best games than nab the #1 spot bowing to the public’s demands. It’s no fluke that most of the developers that still do believe in dignity are Japanese. Nintendo's all I could have ever hoped for, multiplied a hundred times, and there are millions out there who agree with me- we’ve carried Nintendo this far, and have been greatly rewarded, and we will continue to carry them until the time comes when the public finally recognizes Nintendo for the incredible effort and heart they’ve poured into this industry for decades. In a world where a game can ride on image alone, Nintendo is holding true to the one mantra they’ve kept for so long, which is to make the best games possible. If that means they’re not the sales leader, so be it, as long as they still make a profit. I’d rather live as a poor man with a clear conscience than as a rich man with none at all.
Topic: "The Trouble With Nintendo" (Read 41261 times)
