• Home
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Ethics
  • Submissions
  • Contact Us

Grimag

  • Popular
  • #GamerGate
  • Topics
    • Culture
    • Industry
    • News
    • Opinion
    • Retro Games
    • Reviews
  • Submit An Article
Home The Reports Of Nintendo’s Demise Are Greatly Exaggerated

The Reports Of Nintendo’s Demise Are Greatly Exaggerated Why Nintendo is here to stay

Chris Bechtloff

Just a man who isn't sure if he wants to save the Princess or watch the Kingdom burn.

June 24, 2015 OpinionNintendo
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

My colleague Chad Hargrove recently put out an article on what he expected from this year’s E3 coverage. One of his predictions was Nintendo-bashing on the part of the gaming press. As he put it, in the eyes of the gaming press, “Nintendo is now the worst ever, their demise is ever constant and imminent!” And Chad was indeed right about that: there was a lot of Nintendo-bashing at E3, and other than pointing out how utterly tone deaf Nintendo was towards Metroid fans with their Metroid Prime: Federation Force trailer, most of the bashing was stupid and misinformed.

Nintendo Is Dead, Long Live Nintendo

For years now, I’ve heard the same line about how Nintendo is in trouble. Nintendo is dying, Nintendo is finished, this latest misstep will spell the end for Nintendo: it’s like a cacophony of retardation. Over and over again, I hear people claiming that Nintendo needs to change in order to stay relevant. And for the longest time, I bought into that crap myself. I even wrote blog posts on what I thought Nintendo needed to do to save itself.

And you know what? It was all crap.

Nintendo doesn’t need to do a damn thing different. Oh, there’s plenty of things they should do. I’m not arguing Nintendo can do no wrong; far from it. Their policy regarding YouTube and Let’s Play videos is idiotic, and they would do well to focus a lot less on gimmicks like motion control or 3D when making consoles. But really, Nintendo is in no danger of dying anytime soon.

Nintendo Owns Mario, Zelda, And Pokemon

You can certainly point to all sorts of things Nintendo could or should be doing better, but to imagine they’re in some sort of bad position because it’s fashionable for the gaming press to shit on them—or because some gamers like to sneer at them for not being “hardcore” enough—is the height of foolishness.

In an industry that’s falling apart, Nintendo still manages to make a modest profit where many companies are losing money by the bucketloads. There’s a reason for that: the strength of Nintendo’s intellectual properties. Nintendo owns franchises that have stood the test of time, that generations of gamers have grown up on, that pretty much built the industry.

And I’m not just saying that because I love Mario. I’m not a big fan of Pokemon, for example, but look at how successful those games are. Look at the mountains of merchandise that IP has moved. Look at the Pokemon cartoon that has gone on for over 15 years and spawned countless theatrical movies. Nearly two decades for a kid’s cartoon is insane.

A Fashionable Hatred

It’s fashionable to bash Nintendo. Part of the hatred of Nintendo is because, as Chad pointed out, they don’t suck up to the gaming press. Part of it is also because—and I need to be careful how I say this—Nintendo doesn’t make games for douchebags.

Oh man, I didn’t say that very carefully, did I? Look, all I mean is the Wii U isn’t gonna have the latest Call of Madden game on it. Hey, if you love Call of Madden, that’s fine. I like the Transformers movies, so it’s not like I don’t enjoy vapid cookie-cutter crap sometimes, too. But it is what it is.

shooters

There’s this meme floating around lately meant to make fun of Nintendo. People use this to mock Nintendo, but to me it shows that Nintendo is actually standing out from the crowd. Nothing wrong with the above games; it just seems obvious to me which one stands out. And in the case of Splatoon, it paid off for them, with over a million games sold already.

Nintendo Isn’t Going Anywhere

Nintendo is a company that has saved the industry from demise multiple times. Nintendo is a company that owns a laundry list of legendary IPs. Nintendo is the company that has basically dominated the handheld market since the original Game Boy, and unless you count people playing Candy Crush on their Obamaphones, that continues to this day. Nintendo is doing just fine, or at least as well as can be expected in the current climate. Only a fool places a long term bet against Nintendo, because mark my words, as long as there even is a video game industry, there will be Nintendo.

the usual suspects

Read More: How Virtual Reality Could Destroy Western Society

Jun 24, 2015Chris Bechtloff
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
Wikipedia Editor Tries To Blame #GamerGate For Charleston ShootingWhy The Religious Right Is Wrong On Video Game Violence
More From Reaxxion
  • Liam Neeson Convinced Me To Play Clash of Clans

  • Archie vs. Predator & Tony Stark vs. Tony Stark

  • The Glitchy Gracefulness of Any% Speedrunning

Don't Miss Reaxxion's Best Articles!
Every Monday we send an email that recaps the week. Enter your first name and email below to make sure you don't miss out...

We guarantee 100% privacy
Your information will not be shared

Chris Bechtloff

Just a man who isn't sure if he wants to save the Princess or watch the Kingdom burn.

June 24, 2015 OpinionNintendo
Top 5 Posts Of The Week

  • Parasite In City Is A Great H-Game That Is Full Of RapeParasite In City Is A Great H-Game That Is Full Of Rape

  • Booth Babes And Sexy Cosplayers Are In Danger Of Being Completely Banned From EventsBooth Babes And Sexy Cosplayers Are In Danger Of Being Completely Banned F...

  • The Plague Of Video Game Developers Who Wish They Were Making MoviesThe Plague Of Video Game Developers Who Wish They Were Making Movies

  • How Randi Harper Uses Her Ties To Twitter Executive Del Harvey To Silence Other WomenHow Randi Harper Uses Her Ties To Twitter Executive Del Harvey To Silence ...

  • Women In Gaming Receive More Praise And Privilege Than MenWomen In Gaming Receive More Praise And Privilege Than Men

Amazing Email Newsletter
Don't miss a post! Every Monday we send an email that recaps the week. Enter your first name and email below to make sure you don't miss out on our best articles...
We guarantee 100% privacy
Your information will not be shared
Recent Posts
  • Reaxxion Is Closing
  • Crusader Kings II Will Steal All Your Free Time
  • Will Half-Life 3 Ever Be Released?
  • 3 Things Games Must Not Apologize For
  • Z Nation Is Actually Kind Of Awesome
RSS Newest Articles From Return Of Kings
  • Return Of Kings Is Going On Hiatus
  • How To Conquer Writer’s Block
  • 2 Signs To Identify A Liberal In Disguise
  • Comfort Will Not Give You Meaning In Life
  • The Devolution Of The West Can Be Seen Through Popular Sports
RSS Newest Articles From Roosh
  • Top 10 Passages From Leo Tolstoy’s War & Peace
  • American Christian Warrior
  • The Saints Among Us
  • Hugs Are Dangerous
  • Should You Receive A Mandatory Vaccine To Get An Office Job?
RSS Latest Forum Threads
  • The Australian politics thread
  • Monkeypox / Smallpox epidemic
  • Hugs Are Dangerous
  • Joe Biden thread
  • World War 3
  • Mandatory vaccination policies
© Kings Media 2014-2015 • About • Advertise • Submissions • Contact Us • Privacy Policy • Terms Of Service