Hmmmm...good question. A lot of people said they lost it back in the N64 days. Others probably would say GameCube days. Why did they lose it? Is it for pushing quality titles like Turok: Dinosaur Hunter, GoldenEye007, WCW: World Tour, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Metroid Prime, or Rogue Squadron or was it something else? Can they get it back? CAN THEY?!





Nintendo introduces a new way to play. A way to get you that more into gaming. This is honestly one step closer to virtual reality or PS9 in 2078. But it was immediately written off as gimicky. Is it gimicky cause Nintendo did it or just cause the idea? Either way, they can't win. Cause this new way to play is easy for anyone and therefore attracts nongamers to play, causing haters/competition/others to call it a "casual" console.





Nintendo has been known for its franchises. Everyone says, "I am tired of all the Mario 238902 rehashes." There is a lot of them but they have also been around for over 20 years. You are telling me if Halo was released 20 years ago there would still only be three or four Halo titles? C'mon! And look at Final Fantasy, they are up to 12 but with 20823 FF7 spin offs. But neither of these two franchises get as much flack as Mario, Link, and Samus does. And for the most part (besides recent Link console games) have been pretty different. Are you going to tell me that Super Mario Bros. 1, 2, & 3 are identical and all the same? Why is Nintendo the only one really being hit with this?





These franchises also don't feature blood and gore, which apparently makes it a kiddy game and in turn a kiddy console Yes, there are some kiddy games on the Wii and GameCube and such, but guess what...Surf's Up is on the 360. The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy is on the PS2. Resident Evil 4 is on the Wii. They have mature games and developers are making mature games for the Wii and DS. Games like Manhunt 2, ObsCure 2, No More Heroes, Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, and more are set to come out for the Wii, all of them being M-Rated. Does this make Nintendo's Wii less kiddy? Not having an M-Rating on a game does not make it any less mature. I found Metroid Prime (first one) to be incredibly deep and involving and didn't really see how a kid could play that game. Is it not mature just cause it has a Teen rating?

I don't mean to point fingers but I can't help it. IMO, I think part of this whole kiddy image came from the came of Microsoft. I know that nowadays they almost blatantly say that it is for casual-goers or kids, but it seems like back in the day they mentioned it subtlely, even before things had really kicked off. That and with MS' money backing them, it probably wouldn't be too hard to persuade some people developing their "mature" games for the Cube.




Now to the latest issue. Online gaming. Nintendo has embraced online gaming. You might not think so but they put Wi-fi into their system! The 360 has no such thing. And originally only the high-end PS3 model did. Same goes for their handheld device the DS. It was there from the get go, revving up. They even had downloadable content the first week the Wii was released. You could download games. But is that good enough? NO. Screw you Nintendo for letting us download games that we might have or might not have played before from pretty much the beginning of your console. Instead of being like, "sweet, games I can download," people were like, "why can't I play games online yet?" The DS didn't have online play until a year after its release with Mario Kart and I can't help but think that that wasn't a huge deal.

People compare it to the MS' Xbox Live. Well I have some news for you people. XBL was released a full year after the Xbox was released. MS is also a SOFTWARE (for computers) based company, meaning they have more experience with online components. So not only did MS had that year to get the kinks out, they also had three years to get it ready for the 360's release. Sony started their online dabbling during the PS2 era with games like SOCOM. Their beast is still growing.

Besides a VERY brief stint with Phantasy Star Online, Nintendo has had little to no online gaming experience under its wing. So they develop a system that protects people from others they don't know (you cannot say that you want to talk to EVERYONE on XBL, The Master Baiter DJ Duffy?) and release their first online game in about 6 months after being online and you complain? It is one on one and you can't talk. It is Pokemon, do you really want to hear all the little kids whine? I know I am tired of the little kids on XBL. But don't think of this as me sticking up for Friend Codes, I am not a fan of them but they are what they are and recognize where they are coming from.

Now more and more games are being announced with online play. Ghost Squad, NiGHTS, Battalion Wars 2, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and Mario Kart Wii are among some of the ones said to have online play. Aren't these some pretty heavy hitters? Oh yeah, all these games but Mario Kart are suppose to come out this year. Will this help get some respect for Nintendo? I mean having four online games come out on top of the other two that are already out after only a year of being in the online business? Isn't that good? Is that enough?


Nope, I can already hearing your whining and complaining..."but there is no voice chat supported!" Yeah, it sucks but take what you can get. Did XBL have voice chat from day one? Maybe, I don't know but this is definite proof that they are heading in the right direction.


If it wasn't for the Big N, we wouldn't have video gaming or at least it wouldn't be anywhere where it is now. That alone should make you at least give it SOME respect. Even the folks from Silicon Knights said that if Too Human is a success, it is all cause what they learned from their days with Nintendo. If they can give a nod and the respect Nintendo deserves, why can't we?