Culture

Nintendo Fans Are Too Entitled, And It’s Time to Change the Culture

Entitled Nintendo fans are nothing new - in fact, entitled gamers in general are commonplace. But is it time to change how we look at gaming?

Are you getting too old for long games?

Someone at 1UP is… What I know I would like to see is developers recognizing not everyone can play games for long stretches at a time and creating ways that make it easier to play in smaller bursts. Not enough games allow you to save your progress at any time, despite the fact that there are ways to do so without opening the door for exploits. Temporary saves that are deleted once they’...

Where have all the middle games gone?

Ryan Winterhalter wrote a great piece last week about the decline of middle-class games. “It seems that players are spending more time playing games, but paradoxically spending that extra time with fewer titles,” he says. “Game makers have never in the forty-year history of the medium had such a massive consumer base to sell to, but players have never been so unwilling to try ...

Sequel glut driving players away from consoles to more “original” games on iOS?

That’s what Gamaustrua analyst Matt Matthews suspects: The second point (of last year’s annual console sales) brings out is just how sequel-driven the top end of the market has become. Every game, with exception of Just Dance 2 and Batman: Arkham City is a sequel several times over. I’m just now beginning to try to follow the mobile/tablet gaming market, and while many of the g...

Wayward Nintendo fan buys Wii for first time, falls head over heels again

The following letter comes Infendo reader Verno, who until last week, hadn’t owned a Nintendo console since the Nintendo Entertainment System in the ’80s. He never left games’opting instead to play Xbox, PlayStation, and Sega hardware in that time. But man does he like Nintendo again. Not only that, his letter is a nice reminder of why most of us like Nintendo as much as we do. We just...

What are your holiday Nintendo traditions?

Infendo’s Derek has played Zelda: Ocarina of Time at least once a year ’ sometimes twice ’ since the game’s debut in 1998. “All told, I’ve probably beat it 20 times,” he says. “It’s my favorite game, although admittedly it’s also a nostalgic ritual.” Derek didn’t say what time of the year he returns to this ritual, but I suspect it happen...

Manual game saves: Retro chic or outdated design?

Derek and I have previously said that specific Zelda gameplay should be updated for the 21st century. One of those issues is manual game saves. Although not exclusive to Zelda, the new Skyward Sword, like previous Zeldas, requires the player to manually save their progress. Instead of auto saving like most modern games, Skyward Sword players will have to save their progress at “any of t...

Is Nintendo trying to be something it’s not?

Yes, says Malstrom, the obscure, long-winded, and one time Infendo commentator. “The Ultimate Big Problem is that the decision makers inside Nintendo (e.g. Iwata and Miyamoto) wish to define the company in a way different than how Nintendo customers wish to define it,” Malstrom writes on his blog. “When will Nintendo be Nintendo again? Not in the eyes of Iwata or Miyamoto but in ...

Video game consoles numbered among “extinct gadgets” in 10 years

In addition to stand alone GPS, recordable optical discs, e-readers, low-end digital cameras, and DVD players, Yahoo Shopping predicts video game consoles will also be extinct by 2020. Popular video game systems such as the Wii, PlayStation and Xbox may still be in homes next decade, but they will look much different. Rather than buy a separate console, Enderle expects that consumers will instead ...

Poll: Why do only 10% of players finish video games?

I penned a story for CNN last month on why most people didn’t finish video games. The basic rule of thumb, according to developers, is that “90% of players who start your game will never see the end of it unless they watch it on YouTube.” The numbers aren’t as bleak when isolated to die-hard gamers, but combining all players, only 10% finish their games. So I ask you: {dem...

It’s hard not to like Nintendo when they do stuff like this

In an age when executive greed and entitlement runs rampant, it’s refreshing to see Nintendo reducing their own salaries by 50% during tough times. We’re rootin’ for ya, Ninty. Just get back to making great games often and the money will follow.

Death of the fanman: How Nintendo lost one of its most avid evangelists

Jack Loftus was one of the first contributors to Infendo. He began writing for the blog in 2006, a year after I founded it. Known for his wit, provocative writing, and unabashed subjectivity, Jack lovingly referred to himself as the “fanman.” When gamers prematurely wrote off the DS, and later Wii, Jack was quick to champion each platform and its maker. Over the last half decade, i...