Nintendo’s Growing Pleas for Attention

Okay maybe this is just me but it seems like Nintendo is growing increasingly desperate for not only attention but sales.  We all know the Wii was vaunted as a success for Nintendo since it sold so well to the “everyday” or “casual” consumer.  The thing SOLD to nursing homes after all as a way to help their residents increase physical activity.  But honestly I don’t really see it as a success…

I want to lay all my cards on the table here, and be as honest and clear cut as possible. To start with Nintendo was my system growing up… I defended them with the N64 even though I felt it was the weakest of that console generation. I held the GameCube up as being something new, quirky, and weird, but still acceptable… even though again it was the weakest system of that generation.

Then Nintendo released the Wii. When the PlayStation 2 released their motion control with the Eye Toy I felt it was a mistake, it was a gimmick and it worked poorly at best, I felt and still to a great extent feel that it is also gimmicky and doesn’t work well.

Let me clarify a point here… I don’t like motion control for games PERIOD. Dance mats are acceptable, light guns are alright though cheesy, however motion controls in my opinion have never been very accurate and usually function poorly. Worse they take a considerable amount of space to play (even the Wii) and if you are in tight quarters you risk breaking things just to play your game.

The Wii’s controls to me in its first iterations are awkward and don’t function well. They work don’t get me wrong but frequently are a little jittery and frequently are difficult to perform fine control. The updated controllers work better… on games that use them but still are jittery and hard to control. Plus the controllers just aren’t comfortable to hold for long periods. And I’m not the only one to notice these problems with the controllers… I’ve heard it in reviews, I’ve watched streams where its mentioned… in short its an issue with the system.

Nintendo has become increasingly desperate for support for their consoles from the Game Cube up when they stopped using the “Nintendo Seal of Quality”. With the Wii if you had an idea for a game and could publish it… basically it would seem that Nintendo said okay… with the noted exception of sticking mainly to non-adult games. Now Twitch and other channels I watch are constantly bombarded with ads for Nintendo.

I wouldn’t mind but when you get a solid block of 2 to 3 minutes of nothing but Nintendo Ads. Have you seen the ads? I mean seriously have you seen these? It’s practically begging PLEASE BUY OUR BADLY NAMED NEW SYSTEM. Oh wait they already begged owners of the Wii to do that.

It shows how out of date Nintendo has become with their audience. I’ve seen it time and time again with companies such as Borders… they say they “know what their audience wants” but in reality they aren’t listening to their stores or their customers. Instead it’s the company listening to some uppity ups in the corporation or some advisors or something. Look at what happened to Borders… I honestly wonder how long Nintendo can continue.