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Originally posted by: Adrock
Nintendo was never cool.
As a fan as a consumer, I think you hit the nail on the head. And perhaps that's why i've always liked them over the competition. They'd do their own thing and I like it compaired to the competition. Pherhaps not because it was "anti-cool" but because it wasn't what is 'supposed' to be cool. There are always going to be companies that will out cool Nintendo, because Nintendo is going to do its own thing come hell or high water. Nintendo's "own thing" is going to be what they want, not what pop culture says you want/need.
I think the biggest thing to take away from this 7th generation of consoles is the concept of "respect". The latest thing for videophiles is an HDTV paired with a 5.1 or 7.1 or 10.2 or 50.25 speaker surround sound system. For Nintendo to step in and essentially say "HD and Surround sound are
NOT cool" by releasing the Wii, which does neither, was a big sign of "
DIS-respect" to these people. It doesn't matter that Nintendo has shown its respect to gamers by keeping their systems cheap, releasing fun highly polished no load time games, giving away free pre-order items (t-shirts, link cables, 2 zelda collectors edition games), or by holding free pokemon conventions in the US and the rest of the world every year...
It's that Nintendo hasn't paid lip service to the silicon god, by doing DVD movie playback, 1080p, and 15.15 surround sound audio (the "True" defintion of surround sound).
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Sony, ironically, was responsible for expanding the market by making games a more socially acceptable pastime.
Nah... They just showed "respect" to "gamers". It doesn't matter the systems overheated, gave DRE, or just flat out died prematurely. Or that Sony told their customers purposefully ficticious information about the systems specs. They massaged gamer's egos the most through "FMV" and Dobly Digital and 'Toy Story' grade graphics with their 'Emotion Engine'. The PS3 is that "respect" take to its logical conclusion. It is a system that includes
EVERYTHING "cool" with no consideration to price.
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That said, I think Nintendo can be considered "cool" with Wii.
And this is said as a rock solid Nintendo fan... At the very least, I think Nintendo has shown that you can rally non-customer support (i.e. Sony/Microsoft fans and 'non-gamers') without being "traditionally" cool.
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They're attempting a complete image makeover while MS and Sony are trying to convince everyone that this the same ol' Nintendo. It's really up to Nintendo though and so far, I think they've done a pretty good job. Could be better, but at least they're trying much harder.
I really think it is up to the
gamers instead. I'm sure a lot of gamers would like to be able to purchase 1 "Cool" system and buy said systems "fun" games, but also as well purchase Nintendo's idea of "fun" games. Since, I think, most gamers do consider Nintendo's level of polish on games to be a cut above even some of the most well respected 3rd parties.
But that's at odds with Nintendo who has said they'd would rather go out of bussiness then produce games as a 3rd party publisher. Support for Nintendo's console systems and games has certainly waned in compairison to competition. I do not think Nintendo will waver from its position. If consumers really want their console systems to be multimedia entertainment systems that play music, movies, non-game entertainment (i.e. Hollywood movie trailers, etc..), and HD video games, then Nintendo probably will step aside and become a part of console gaming history. Or at the very least no longer produce a high-visiblity console system "compatible" with "gamers". i.e. Producing something much more small scale and more radically taylored to 'non-gamers' then "Wii".
And, Wii, might just be this question to "gamers". It's very uniquely "cool" without steping outside of what Nintendo wants in a TV based video game system. ("Steping outside", i'm guessing, would be just tossing more Ghz and Ram and High-Def at the problem of 'What to do for a new video game system')
That perhaps greedy of Nintendo, to take away all of their game franchises from TV video gamers. But it's no more greedy then Sony and Microsoft video game customers wanting Nintendo's games on their terms. Nintendo, i'm sure, wants to know if their presence is wanted, on Nintendo's terms, by "gamers". If you just want a games and a system that has more Ghz, Ram, High-def, and multimedia, you've got plenty of choices.
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At the same time, it all depends on what your definition of "cool" is.
Yea, most likely I am just be talking out of my ass again. But, hey, I dunno, maybe someone can show me the error of my way. I just know I definatly do not like what Sony and Microsoft's defintion of "cool" is.
Topic: Has the Wii made Nintendo cool again? (Read 4524 times)
