Link
Nintendo has recently announced the return of Nintendo World Championship Event (or whatever it is called). Go to the Nintendo page to find out more. There is a silly skit with Reggie. I enjoy the skit, but it becomes more distracting than anything. I also think it is a business mistake to use real people as ‘characters’ such as “Reggie” or “Miyamoto” or “Iwata”. The reason why is that “Reggie”, “Miyamoto”, and “Iwata” will grow old, retire, and die. But Mario, Link, and Samus do not age (thank God Samus does not age. The Perfect Woman!!!!). This is why I so love the Dos Equis ‘most interesting man in the world’ marketing because while the actor may grow old and die, the character is eternal. This is why I dislike celebrity endorsements as well. The celebrity may go to jail or say something stupid.
That said, I have been wondering what has been missing at Nintendo lately. I then thought of an Iwata Asks interview long ago when Iwata interviewed someone at Nintendo who went over to Capcom to help make the Capcom Zelda games. Iwata asked, “How was it working with Capcom?” I’ll never forget the answer. He said: “They are different from us. They are much more sporty.”
Sports Psychology is an interesting concept when it comes to video games. With something like E-sports, it is not the video game that is relevant but the sports psychology of the players. When playing these games, the sports psychology is fun. By sports psychology, I mean the ‘sporty’ type behavior. It is a game. There are winners and losers. There is sportsmanship.
While I think many of the E-Sports game scenes can be ridiculous, the sports psychology is not. It also highlights perhaps the true reason why the NES Era of Nintendo is my favorite. It is the only period where Nintendo embraced sports psychology.
Steve Wozniak is the all-time Tetris high scorer in the Gameboy Version
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