The Future of Nintendo (Home Console Version)

The GameCube era is gone. That purple lunchbox is a thing of the past. Now Nintendo can live without shame thanks to the Wii. Regardless of what core (“dedicated”) gamers think, the Wii is selling magnificently and is therefore a success. In the year and some change the Wii has been out, it has already outsold the GameCube. So, after more than five years of being ridiculed, mocked, and jeered on the home console front, Nintendo can finally raise its head high and be proud of itself. They developed something innovative and fun, and even after a year and a half of being released, the Wii is still hard to find.

But now Nintendo has the job of keeping its status. It’s easy to be successful for a while, but maintaining success is more difficult. In order for the Wii to remain in good standing with the public, it’ll need to improve online play, develop more mature titles, maintain online content, and release more first-party titles.

Online play is an important facet in gaming. Many gamers won’t consider playing a game if it doesn’t have some sort of online play. Microsoft and Sony have both shown the importance of online gaming, and if Nintendo wants to stay relevant, then they’ll have to push themselves harder. Super Smash Bros. Brawl is one of the first games to fully utilize the online capabilities of the Wii, and it was disappointing.

“For the most part, the non-online part, 'Brawl' is an amazing game. But the online play is lah-ha-ha-ghee,” a gamer said in his blog. “Sometimes Nintendo really makes me wonder. It's as if they assumed no one would want to try out this new-fangled online feature of a game the company has delayed over and over and over.” There’s been more success with Mario Kart Wii, but Nintendo will need to have more than just one game that plays well online if the company hopes to do well.

Since Nintendo targets a wide, family-based audience, it is seen as a childish company. Cooking Mama, Wii Fit, and the myriad of other casual-gamer oriented games have been supporting this conclusion. Unfortunately, this watering-down of video games upsets or disinterests many gamers who want mature content in their games. These gamers look for something along the lines of Metal Gear Solid, Grand Theft Auto, Halo, and etc. In order to satisfy this demographic, Nintendo should make some games on the more mature side.

No More Heroes was a step in the right direction, and the recently announced game Mad Mad World looks to be taking a bigger step in that direction. What would be a better idea would be to release a mature game with online play. That way the replay value would keep up, and the mature gamers will spread the good word.

The Virtual Console was a smart move by Nintendo. Many gamers have fond memories of playing their NES, SNES, or N64 games, but can’t any more. This way, for a fee, gamers can play those games again and live up their nostalgia. Nintendo also made the brilliant move of getting the rights to sell Sega, Neo-Geo, and Turbografx games. And if this wasn’t enough, Nintendo out did itself with WiiWare, original downloadable games. WiiWare games must be made with certain graphical and size limitations, but they still get good marks. LostWinds, one of the first released WiiWare games, is a sterling example. The only problem stemming from the Virtual Console is the lack of storage space on the Wii. Nintendo seems to acknowledge this, but gives no real answers.

People love Nintendo because of its franchises. Mario and Link are a part of nearly every gamer’s childhood. And the games that come out are great. Super Mario Galaxy and Twilight Princess are both awesome games for the Wii, but this isn’t enough. It was seven years between Majora’s Mask and Twilight Princess. It was 12 years between Mario 64 and Super Mario Galaxy, not counting Super Mario Sunshine. There hasn’t been another true Donkey Kong or Kirby game since the days of the N64.

Nintendo needs to delve into its first party titles more. Not just plaster Mario’s face on a racing game, or Donkey Kong’s face on a rhythm game. If Nintendo were to release one good first-party title a year, then that would be enough to satisfy most core gamers. Mario one year, Zelda the next, then Donkey Kong, then Kirby, then Samus, so on and so forth. That’d give Nintendo at least five years to create another game of a certain franchise.

This isn’t to say Nintendo should give up on the spin-offs. Those are great. Super Mario Strikers is one of the best Wii games out. But they should focus on what made their characters popular in the first place.

Nintendo is having a great run with the Wii, but if they want it to be a long distance run and not a sprint, then they need fix the problems they have. This could be a great era for Nintendo, but that’s in Nintendo’s hands.