What if Nintendo Rebranded Themselves as…Nintendo?

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 Pratt has spent his life exploring his imagination and dreams. As a Husband and a Father, he doesn't have as much time to write as he would like. However, his mind is always plotting out his next story. Someday he hopes to quit the 9-5 grind and focus on writing full time. Currently, Essel has three published short stories and is working on a handful of novels. Essel focuses his writings on mostly Horror/Sci-Fi, however is known to add a dash of other genres into his writings as well. In his spare time, he can be found playing one of the 40+ video game consoles in his collection, especially his Wii U (NNID: EsselPratt). Click the links below to follow Essel's exploits in the writing world, and be sure to follow his blog at http://esselpratt.blogspot.com/ as well as his articles on Nerdzy.com.