But there were a lot of fans bitching before 2008. I wish Nintendo would just say "Shut the f*** up. We release games for you and you ignore them or continue to bitch anyways. We are making the fastest selling game console ever and selling more games then ever before, so we know what consumers want more than you."
You have people whining about Nintendo ignoring them all the time. They will shut up for a couple of days when Nintendo does something like announce "Punch-Out!!" and "Sin & Punishment 2", then they start bitching all over again. Nintendo is still making great games and are selling more games then they ever did with the GameCube and N64, so they don't need to listen to people who complain for the sake of complaining. Don't forget that they are also tons of great third party games too, you don't have to buy only first party games.
You're right. It seems that with every generation of gaming fans have something to hate Nintendo for. In the N64 era it was the constant delays of its core titles, its lack of edge when compared to the Playstation, the lack of third party titles and the biggest one of all, the childish factor. Then in the Gamecube era it was the sequels to N64 games, lack of third party support, no online play and reliance on gimmicks (ie the GC to GBA connection). Now this generation is about the abandonment of core gamers and reliance on casual titles.
KDR is also right in that once the generation is over people look back upon it with fondness. I am sure that fans will say how amazing and promising Wii Sports was at launch, how wonderful Mario Galaxy was and how incredibly deep some Motion Plus games were.
But when I made that post I was talking about the Wii in general, not just Nintendo. Like I mentioned already, despite an uproar over the name fans WERE excited for the Wii and so was the media. 2007 was also filled with excitement because there were a lot of core titles released for the Wii, including the all mighty Mario Galaxy at the end of the year. The first half of 2008 was also filled with promise because of Brawl and Mario Kart Wii. But once E3 rolled by it apparently became cool to hate Nintendo, and I suspect that the media played a huge part on this.
Once the media didn't get what they wanted at E3 they started telling games to hate on Nintendo because what they wanted to see was not shown and was proof that Nintendo didn't care anymore. I mean I remember MANY outlets that said that the future looked very bleak for Nintendo fans. Since then its been a big meme to hate on Nintendo and I think its because the media told fans to do so.
Let's see what happens at this year's E3. If the show promises to be big and amazing and lots of core titles are announced let's see what the media says.
This article is also proof that the internet does not equal overall consumer appeal. Fans may whine all they want but the ones that truly dictates a company's worth is the consumer. The fanatics are, as some would deny, just one small part of the consumer market.
Also, one reason I believe Nintendo is putting so much emphasis on these "casual" games is because its much, much harder selling a game to non gamers and people outside of the core fanbase. I mean, Nintendo says "A new Zelda is out...RIGHT NOW!" and a million copies is guaranteed to be sold in a week. But for something like Wii Fit they need to get the word out as best as possible.
If you look at it this way its understandable. Its like selling a new computer. To a techno geek a sale is guaranteed because he/she knows how it works, what advantages it has over other computers and such. But to a new customer you must try hard to convince him or her that their purchase will be worthwhile.