Yes, even I, the biggest Nintendo fan I know will admit it. Nintendo has made some mistakes. Okay, they’ve actually really screwed up in the past. Yet somehow the big N has managed to find its way through the mediocre systems, lack of titles, and broken promises. Their newest addition, Wii, looks to have the potential to change the entire industry, putting Nintendo back on top. But care must be taken to ensure Sony takes a backseat, and a bad taste isn’t left in the mouths of countless fanboys for the third time in a row.
The fatal flaw of the 64 was Nintendo’s insistence to use cartridges. This was a move that caused both consumers and developers to flock to the Sony Playstation, a system using CDs for its titles. This move gave Sony more space and less expense to work with. The Playstation quickly took the top spot in the home console market, a spot firmly held by Nintendo’s NES and SNES during previous generations.
Nintendo then brought us the GameCube. While they had seemingly learned from their cartridge mistake from the previous generation, GameCube missed the boat again by using another proprietary DVD format and not allowing DVD or CD playback, a feature that has proved to be a deal breaker to consumers. Online play was another huge letdown for GameCube with only one notable game utilizing the feature. Needless to say, GameCube’s niche titles were not enough to give it back the market share it lost in 1996, giving it the third place spot in the console race.
Nintendo has always had the mentality that the games must be fun. It’s been their focus since the NES. While the vision has worked well, their focus on it has caused them to lose a lot of customers by not keeping up with technological advances. But this time around with Wii, Nintendo has done something drastic by taking another approach to the “next-gen” mentality. Sony is pushing the graphical envelope, and Microsoft is focusing on getting everybody connected, but Nintendo revamped the one aspect of gaming that the others have seemed to largely ignore: the controller. By completely changing the way people play games and not making huge graphical leaps, Nintendo is taking their old song and dance, and giving it a new venue.
However, we can’t forget the broken promises that have been an ugly stain on the last decade of Nintendo’s past. It’s imperative that they learn from this storied history to avoid a mass exodus of fans, and an even bigger “I told you so” from critics. What do they need to do to stay afloat?
The Controller: The biggest thing with Wii is the controller, and Nintendo needs to ensure it doesn’t become a gimmick. There are quite a few titles, like “Madden 07” and “Wario Ware Smooth Moves”, that make very creative use of the Wii remote to add new aspects to the gaming experience, but it needs to become standard practice to ensure we don’t get a bunch of cookie-cutter FPSs.
Variety: Right now, a huge list of third-party developers are on board for Wii projects. This is a huge shift from the days of 64 and GameCube, where games were constantly being dropped or taken to other systems. Gamers want variety. While we love Mario and Zelda, a system can’t survive on the vision of Miyamoto alone.
Extras: Wii has huge potential as far as peripherals, channels, and other add-ons. Make sure your consumers get them. For example, right now the Channel screen looks pretty slim on my Wii, and I’m praying it fills up as the console matures. I can only check the weather so much in one day.
Online: The online capabilities of Wii are most robust of any system Nintendo has ever released. By effectively and efficiently implementing it, Nintendo could have the beginnings of a huge online community bolstered by fanatics looking for friends and rivals as devoted as them.
By sticking to the promises and potential of Wii, Nintendo can turn around its bad image and regain the market share it lost to giants Sony and Microsoft. They so far have been doing it pretty smoothly, letting Wii speak for itself. It’s a system that touts simplicity, elegance, and fun; and all you have to do is pick it up and play. This is a radical view compared to the rest of the industry, giving them a new kind of arrogance. It’s an arrogance that tells you to just play. It doesn’t matter if you haven’t ever played, don’t like video games, or are a hardcore gamer. You’ll love Wii.
It’s a refreshing kind of pride compared to that of Sony, a company that says the PS3 is worth the enormous price tag just because it is the cutting edge of technology. That’s great, but is it fun? Many people don’t care, but Nintendo is proving that many more actually do.