Nintendo has always been one of the best systems around, that is a given. It has stood the test of time and weathered the passing of great systems such as Sega, Neo Geo, Turbo Graphix 16, Atari, and Watara Supervision.
However, over the past few years it seems to have been lost in the shadow of the XBOX 360 and Playstation 3. It seemed for a while that Nintendo might not be able to keep up with the new young guns.
Excitement of the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U have reignited interest in the company and hopefully will allow the company to once again 1Up the competition. I have recently had conversations with multiple people in regards to Nintendo and the other popular consoles out there. One common theme has existed, their Wii was fun at first but soon began to collect dust. It seems that as new games are released, excitement builds but quickly wanes.
Some of the biggest complaints I have heard are:
1) The graphics are sub par when compared to Xbox 360 or PS3
2) The motion controller is no longer fun to use, and when using it as a standard controller it lacks in performance. Most people are wanting something with analog sticks.
3) The game selection is stale compared to Xbox 360 and PS3
4) The online game-play is not as exciting as Xbox 360 and PS3
Personally, I do not agree with all of the point above but some are valid arguments. Unfortunately, I have not played my Wii in about a year or so. However, I play my 3DS quite often, and my kids still play their DS lites. With the announcement and excitement surrounding new releases such as Kid Icarus: Uprising, I started thinking about what Nintendo is.
To me Nintendo is a company that represents its characters in a way that no other company can. When we think of Mario, Link, and Kirby as mascots but all of its characters define Nintendo as a whole. You cannot say that about the other companies. When I think of Samus or Lolo, or even Bomberman, I immediately think of Nintendo. They are but a sample of the vast catalog of games that made Nintendo what it is.
So why not re-brand in the old design?
Why not bring back the old forgotten favorites, like they did with Kid Icarus? Instantly 
recognizable characters with simplistic back-stories. Build upon their history and use the games to reignite interest. Bring back Contra, maybe as a FPS with a bigger back-story and climax. Allow Battle of Olympus to rise again as an epic role playing game that rivals the Final Fantasy series. I would love to see Clash at Demonhead remade too, the possibilities are endless!
I think Nintendo is on the right track to level back up to become the top dog, but they still have some work to win back those that they lost. I truly believe that if they once again allow their characters to define their company they will rule once again. Do you have any thoughts on the old classics that you would like to see return? Any ideas on what they can do to improve?
Essel… How have you not played your Wii for a full year? No Skyward Sword? Possibly no Rayman Origins?
That's borderline Ninten-heresy…
And you call yourself a Nintendo fan… For shame.
Sadly, I have not purchased Skywards sword yet… Actually I have mostly focused on DS games, PSP games and PS3 and XBOX 360. I have a pretty large backlog of games to finish, so I have held off until I am caught up.
I completely agree that its character library is what sets Nintendo apart from all other game makers. Their characters and signature franchises give them a solid identity Sony and Microsoft will never match, and Nintendo should exploit that strength to its fullest. Wii sold so well and had such a huge impact on gaming in popular culture that I think Nintendo has no regrets about the product at all. Going forward, they should just concentrate on solid games that reinforce their identity. Let Microsoft and Sony get more generic, bland and "realistic" with each passing hardware generation (and I know 360 and PS3 both have good games that buck that trend); as long as Nintendo keeps their identity, they'll always have an audience–one that reaches far beyond the stereotypical "gamer" pigeonhole.
One Miyamoto SNES game I've always wanted sequels to: Stunt Race FX!!!
I'vw always thought Battle of Olympus would be a great game to be remade. If they made it someything like zelda it would work great with all the greak mythology and locations!
Greek!!
How about Clu Clu Land. No? Anybody!?
Is it an Essel Pratt posting without a bunch of links to nintendosforsale.com? No. No it is not. Honestly, do you get a cut of the sales? It seems like EVERY article/essay you post…
ME: "Oh, will this be an interesting or insightful link?"
INFENDO: "No. Buy this old Kirby game."
I understand that the website needs to make money, but it's a bit of a hard sell, and a bit off-putting. Am I the only one feeling this way?
NintendosForSale.com, Relive The Fun!
Basically, the trend that I've noticed is that "Essel Pratt' exists solely to post articles that lend themselves to NintendosForSale.com. When Blake had the site, he at least posted articles that aroused discussion, but it seems all Mr. Pratt cares about is pleasing his advertiser.
I'm calling it now: this is the beginning of the end of Infendo.
Upon further research on “Essel Pratt” aka Daniel Moore aka Owner of NintendosForSale.com.
You heard that right: Essel Pratt/Daniel Moore bought Infendo from Blake only to turn the site (and his “personal” site NerdZy.com) into a a fake gaming blog designed to drive clicks/sales to his TRUE business: NintendosForSale.com.
Blake sold all ya’ll out cold. Delete this post if you want but I’ll be around spreading the cold hard facts.
Infendo.com is no more people. Stop participating. It’s no longer genuine.
Sorry you feel that way. I love gaming and Nintendo as much as anyone. Essel Pratt does not work for NintendosForSale and he is a good writer with good stories and opinions. There is as much discussion now as there has been, traffic is growing and I will take your feedback to make Infendo better and better. Thanks
From the title, I was thinking that you were going to suggest that the Wii U simply be named "Nintendo" (or perhaps, "The Nintendo") which I think would actually be awesome
I've been using my 3DS more than Wii lately only because of TV time, but otherwise I have so many Wii games backlogged its going to keep me busy all year. Plus we got Xenoblade and Last STory coming.
I have a PS3 as well, but barely play the thing. Hard to justify purchases on it when I have Steam and most games can be bought 75% off and the PC won't have the install/load issues that PS3 suffers from.
Still, Nintendo is where they are and will continue to be where they are even next generation. Wii U is going to lack the graphics of PS4 and Xbox 720 when they come out in 2013, and we'll be back to a similar problem of this generation.
@Dan
The readers of Infendo deserve to know the truth about about the new ownership of this site. NintendosForSale.com owns Infendo now. You know this, I know this. Anyone can look up the whois info on both sites and determine the fact.
Infendo is no longer an independent gaming site. It's being used to drive sales to your retail site. Period.
As for "Essel Pratt", you own his "personal" website. Again, whois info proves this. Owe up to the truth because the secret is out now. Blake sold out big time.
@Dan
The readers of Infendo deserve to know the truth about about the new ownership of this site. NintendosForSale.com owns Infendo now. You know this, I know this. Anyone can look up the whois info on both sites and determine the fact.
Infendo is no longer an independent gaming site. It's being used to drive sales to your retail site. Period.
As for "Essel Pratt", you own his "personal" website. Again, whois info proves this. Owe up to the truth because the secret is out now.
Blake sold out big time. But you should have been upfront with the readers when NintendoesForeSale took over the site.
Do the right thing.
please accept this opportunity for me to apologize to everyone for linking to Nintendosforsale.com so much. I honestly am not affiliated with Nintendosforsale.com, other than its association with infendo and nerdzy. The reason I link to NFS.com is so that people who might have nostalgia for a game can easily find the game for sale from a trusted site. I could easily link to Gamestop and other sites, however I feel that it would be wrong to link to a competitor of NFS.com. I will link less to their site, unless of course there is an obscure title mentioned that might be hard to find elsewhere.
I do not have a personal web site, however I do have a Facebook page under my real name (Scott L Pratt), a fan page under Essel Pratt (my Pen name), a Twitter account (@esselpratt) as well as a blogger (Darkness breaks the Cloudy Veil, I rarely write on here).
My goal on this site is to give my point of view within my articles and hopefully stir up some conversations and friendly debate. I welcome criticism and praise, as well as your personal opinions on the subjects I write about. I have been enjoying video games since the early to mid 80's and don't see myself ever getting too old for them.
Again, I apologize if linking to their site has upset anyone. What sorts of places would you like to see keywords linked to? I am open for any and all suggestions. I understand that I cannot make everyone happy with every article, but if people get involved in discussions and debates, I feel that I have at least brought people with similar interests together.
Some of the biggest complaints I have heard are:
1) The graphics are sub par when compared to Xbox 360 or PS3
Point A: Developers have stated that the Wii U is 5 times more powerful than the PS3.
2) The motion controller is no longer fun to use, and when using it as a standard controller it lacks in performance. Most people are wanting something with analog sticks.
Point B: No argument here. I do enjoy motion controls, but there should be the option of a more Classic Controller (Pro).
3) The game selection is stale compared to Xbox 360 and PS3
Point C: How can you even make this a legitimate statement whenever we don't even know the Wii Us' specs, let alone what games are being made for it? E3 my friend…E3.
4) The online game-play is not as exciting as Xbox 360 and PS3
Once again, what the heck. We don't even have the system in our hands, and we're already judging the online play?
@GameCollector44, please keep in mind that the points above are all opinions about the Wii, not the Wii U. Almost everybody that I have spoken to is excited about the Wii U and it's possible capabilities.
@Essel
Why don't you take the time to explain your relationship to Daniel Moore, owner of Nintendosforsale.com, Infendo.com and Nerdzy.com since you guys have already deleted my post exposing the truth.
Any future comments regarding ownership/site structure on this thread will be deleted. The majority of people do not want to see a long thread of comments regarding this. If anyone would like to email me directly and ask any questions feel free daniel@infendo.com Thanks
@Essel: My backlog is at 100+ retail games between Wii, DS, 3DS, PS3 and PSP, and 120+ on digital releases for all of said platforms. Didn't stop me from buying Skyward Sword. I play every day (Golden Sun/Ocarina of Time on 3DS, God of War Chain of Olympus on PSP, Lost in Shadow on Wii and Elemental Monster on PS3) and I'm currently working on my backlog (no purchases till July, Xenoblades being an exception). Add writing reviews on Wii, 3DS, PS3 and PSP games, and that still doesn't factor in me not buying games during 2011.
@ EdEN, I have to admit that my backlog is no where near yours. I typically only have a chance to really play on the weekends. My day job (which I should be doing now 🙂 keeps me pretty busy Monday through Friday. So that leaves em with Friday Saturday and most of Sunday to play games. I would say that my backlog is about ten games. I try not to purchase a game until I am actually ready to play it. This helps me to keep the focus on the game I am currently playing, otherwise I would attempt to play too many at one time and either confuse teh stories or speed through just to finish. It also allows me to give the games I want a time to get played and sell cheaper at a used price. I am kind of a cheapskate, and hate paying full retail for something that I can get considerably cheaper down the line.
@Essel: Yep, we grow up, get a job, get married, have kids… and gaming time goes down. Still, I have a very understanding wife, thus allowing me squeeze in 2-4 hours of gaming every day. As for all the games on my backlog… well, I have the money but not the great "10 hours of gaming in a row" time, but I still like to support my favorite developers/publishers. Anything by Nintendo is pretty much a given, but I also show my support for NIS America, Aksys, XSEED Games and Atlus which are smaller studios/publishers with more niche games.
My PS3 has decided to stop reading Blurays (again), so my PS3 backlog has been on hold. Will send it to Sony once I'm done with my current load of review (last week of march or so) and work on the rest of my backlog.
Now, back to work!
Why does work always have to get in the way, LOL! I hope my PS3 doesn't go out anytime soon, it is one of the backwards compatible versions!
@Essel: STOP USING IT FOR BLURAY MOVIE PLAYBACK RIGHT NOW! I made that mistake, and it kills the lens, and FAST. Since games don't constantly access information on the disc, wear and tear is lower. With Bluray movies, the lens is constantly reading information of the disc, and this lowers the life of that little blue ray of hope.
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Very Good point EdEN, I actually only watch movies via Netflix on mine.
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