As a young gamer, my earliest memories are of Nintendo. I remember my days with Mario, Link, Samus and the others with fondness. Nintendo, however, lost a lot of love in the N64/Gamecube days when the third party support dried up and the gimmicks they worked towards did not satisfy either the casual or the hardcore.


The times they are a changin'.

Nintendo is unquestionably on top of the videogame world.  The sheer number of hardware units sold between Japan and the West guarantees that they have the largest opportunity for branding and the biggest install base. It would also be reasonable to assume that they've create a whole new demographic for the industry.

There is however, one big issue that Nintendo faces above all others.  This issue is their abandonment by the hardcore.

For many people, Nintendo has betrayed them deeply. The company that was once the lifeblood of videogames is now pandering to women, children, and the elderly. At the beginning many within the industry were applauding this strategy. After all, more people would be playing games, isn't that what we want?

Then the crap started to flow.

Piles and piles of games started to appear on Nintendo systems. Of these games, almost all of them were geared towards the new demographic. You would occasionally get a Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn or Super Mario Galaxy, but most of it was licensed garbage or a packaging of mini-games. This is the time when people really began their show of rage towards Nintendo.

Nintendo made a lot of promises. Virtual Console unleashed drool from many of the hardcore at the beginning. I know that I personally was happy that I no longer needed to hook up all of my systems to play some of the games that I enjoyed. Now Virtual Console lies mostly abandoned, as the game flow has dwindled. Punch Out! was released to general jubilation, but it wasn't enough. These fans demanded pain, and Nintendo was not listening!

Can Nintendo recapture your hearts? Is it the quality of the games you dislike, or the demographic that Nintendo now controls? Does it bother you to have a system that your grandparents want to play as bad as you do?

Here are Mike's tips to Nintendo to increase their credibility with the hardcore.

#1) More first party titles.

First party Nintendo titles almost always perform well, both in the sales figures and the hearts of the hardcore and casual alike. The problem is that most of Nintendo's first party games take forever to be released. This ensures the quality is top notch, but leaves the market stale in the meantime. Just because it's a first party title also doesn't mean you can't try to invent new IP's or resurrect long neglected games.

                                                                   
#2) Balanced Marketing

All the Nintendo marketing that I have seen is almost always the same. A family is sitting around the television playing Nintendo games, smiling and laughing. This is fine, but there's no attempt to truly showcase the challenge and accomplishment that gaming can bring, and because this is lacking, the hardcore do not flock to it. Also, I have seen a local rehabilitation center for the elderly advertise that they have Wi (conveniently dropping an i to avoid copyright infringement) games to play. No hardcore player wants to play a system that is in a nursing home.


#3) Work with Retailers to Showcase Higher Quality Games

Homework folks. The next time you are in a department store or a mainstream electronics store (i.e. Best Buy), take a look at the Wii and DS section. Almost all of the games, especially in a store like Target or Wal-Mart, will be putrid. Nintendo is making no effort to increase their base with the hardcore because the casual are buying these games. This is fine for now, but it is extremely short-sighted because a casual interest can disappear as quickly as it comes.  Work on showcasing what the Wii has to appeal to a wide range of audiences, not just Mom.



#4) Make the Wii user friendly for all audiences.

The Wii is actually a pretty nifty little system if you look at it. It offers classic gaming and a unique control scheme. The hardcore, however, concern themselves with more than just these things. Graphical prowess, storage space, and fabulous games are all necessary to compete for the hardcore audience's attention. There have been rumblings of an HD Wii, and this is a good start. A storage solution that is more accessible than the SD card would be a nice touch, as would more unique methods of using the Wii-Mote.
#5) Internet, Internet, Internet

A lot of hardcore gamers are big internet players (at least in the West). The Wii's internet capacity is unfortunate. Everybody has complained about the friend code, and I suppose it makes some sense in a safety concern world. However, it could easily be an option embedded in the system whether to turn it on or off as a requirement for online play. Some games are still enjoyable like Mario Kart, but Super Smash Bros. Brawl is abysmal. I think that a revisement of the internet policy with Nintendo alone could bring some of the hardcore back to Nintendo.

    SSBB: Horrendous beyond words online.


What do you think? Am I crazy? Have better suggestions? Let's talk about it.