Will the next generation of gamers remember a good Nintendo?

I mean when I was growing up Nintendo was amazing. The NES and SNES were legendary devices that gamers of that time will never forget. Don't forget the Gameboy too. But what about the next generation? People who grew up with Wii/Wii U. Will it still have the same imprint on them? I ask you SW since you know absolutely everything.

Nintendo is a lot better now than they were during the NES/SNES era.

well....in the 80s we had a mario cartoons....mario tv shows....mario toys everywhere...mario movies(the wizard)

obviously the new generation will not be the same.

as for the games though....thats the same quality.

Of course. Nintendo still puts out a good number of quality titles. They'll be around for the long haul, just not on their own hardware.

lol

Yeah, it's the people who buy the Nintendo products that are going to kill Nintendo.

Probably not. I already think 90's babies missed out, so I can't imagine being a y2k baby and getting stuck with gen 6 + Nintendo for a childhood.

So uh... what's the deal? What do you guys think is wrong with what he said?

If you're looking at it from the perspective that Nintendo doesn't bring highly competitive console hardware to the market then sure.

Nintendo as a game developer though is light years beyond their NES/SNES efforts. The SNES is my all time favorite console, easily. But it was mostly due to having killer 3rd party support.

Based on what?

Yeah, most of the best games on the SNES/NES were not made by Nintendo. I could only imagine how much fun a game like Super Mario 3D World or Galaxy would be to a kid. Heck, even Skyward Sword. I was stuck with the NES version of The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario Bros 3, while an amazing game for its time, simply is not as good as the 3D Mario games. It's not even as good as NSMBU.

You'll be castrated for saying that, but I was just thinking the same thing.

I love Super Metroid, LttP, SMW, etc.. as much as the next guy, but putting my intense nostalgia aside, Nintendo games have only gotten MUCH better. Yoshis Island is the one anomaly from the SNES that I believe Nintendo has yet to surpass in 2d platforming.

I wouldn't say "light years" ahead, but I might have to agree with this somewhat. I, for one, wasn't a Nintendo fan until the GameCube era. I loved the SNES before that, but most of the games I loved on it were third-party games. When it came to first-party games, I didn't start getting into Nintendo games until the GameCube era, around which time I also rediscovered many of the N64 classics I previously missed out on in the PS1 era. I think the lack of third-party support since the N64 era, in a way, forced Nintendo to up their game when it came to their first-party software.

@SolidGame_basic: You wont see much dissention from "the flock" over this one. They wont admit that Nintendo has fallen in prominence. You're already seeing people say "Nintendo is better than evarrr" etc etc etc. They even defended the wii era when Nintendo effectively turned its back on them all.

During the NES era, Nintendo made games like Wrecking Crew. There were some gems, sure, but they put out a lot of bad games, too. Even a game like Super Mario Bros had some WTF moments. Did anybody actually get through the castle in World 7 without consulting some sort of guide? If so, how?

Well yeah, light years is an obvious exaggeration, but you get the point.

I was with Nintendo from the start and I always loved their 1st party games. Outside of maybe a couple of exceptions though, they've only gotten better and better.

Lack of exclusive 3rd party support can do wonders for a 1st party. We saw it with Sony and the PS3 last gen. Nintendo is even worse off with a lack of 3rd party in general and for such a prolonged amount of time.

On average I'd say Nintendo games aren't nearly as creative as they used to be (this can be said of the industry as a whole really), but they still deliver the quality and quantity in increasing amounts.

you are in the minority on that one

as long as the handheld is around, the reputation wont be totally tarnished or forgotten.

Luck and patience for me lol.

We can really break this down game by game man. It's not so hard.

I can't say Nintendo turned their back on me with the Wii when the 1st party output was pretty fucking great. The system had more shovelware than any Nintendo system to date, but that doesn't negate the list of great games it also had.

Please, no vague answers. How did Nintendo become worse in your opinion?

Ummm have you heard of the 3DS / DS? Fun for all but kids absolutely love em.... and they will soon grow up and be the next generation of gamers.

It's so easy to blame Nintendo for everything. Blaming Nintendo for having stronger competition now than they did back then is essentially were this thread will be heading, though nobody will put it so bluntly.

Nintendo has considerably better output these days, but they'll never stand out the way that they used to. Gaming has come a long way and the competition is strong.

To pretend that the NES and SNES have anything on current Nintendo is just laughable though.

Can you name some games that Nintendo made during those eras that are better than the games they are putting out today?

@PurpleMan5000: I did. I was 3 when I first beat it and I didn't know how to read (I had just moved to NY from Puerto Rico) so I couldn't have consulted one if I wanted to.

@ConanTheStoner: I wont give you vague answers, no fear about that. I know you're probably worth an explanation and wont give me a load of insults back.

I had a wii. I bought it at the end of the generation in order to mop up the best the console had to offer, and there really wasn't much at all for me. Galaxy was very good, but overrated. Not the best game of the generation, not even close. Great platforming, not my favourite genre, but nevertheless, finely crafted by the experts of it. Skyward Sword was awful for me. I was at that point used to playing HD action adventures, and I don't get nostalgic over Zelda despite playing them since Links Awakening way back. If you released the game on PC with a brand new team and character people would laugh. What else was there?

By virtue of the lack of new games, Nintendo is getting worse, because their first party is getting so so stale. Are you not bored of 2d mario platformers by now? It's been done. So many times. I wanted to have a few good months at the end of the generation experiencing the best the wii had to offer, and it lasted a very short time. The only games I liked enough to play through were Galaxy and Xenoblade.

When I did this end of gen console buying with gamecube, the console lasted me a lot longer. Resi 4, Baten Kaitos, Tales of Symphonia, I built up a rather nifty library. Wii had a distinct lack of mature titles, and I consider madworld the least mature game in existence as it is trying too hard. Might not matter to some, but it certainly does to me. Do you remember E3 2008? The bragging about OAP sales, finishing up with Wii Music? The announcement "core gamers were hungry for", another animal crossing game changed little since the N64? That wasn't for the people who had supported Nintendo all these years, and although never a diehard, I had been one considering I'd owned a few of their consoles up to that point. They had a gimmicky controller which made games worse. And this gen, they have a gimmicky controller which makes games worse. It's not as bad, but its clunky and would be better without the screen which has not been used properly.

I remember Nintendo during the 16bit era, and I respected SNES a lot. It had third party titles, it had the best racers on console, it had the best RPGs on console, the games looked superior. Since then, every single year Nintendo is falling further behind in every single one of the things that matter to me. Third party support is getting worse, graphical deficiencies are getting wider, and the range of genres catered to is getting worse too. I look on the shelves at the wii u and there is nothing there at the minute remotely making me think twice about buying one. Another 3D mario which looks like it was cobbled together in response to criticism. Fun, but in no way original, or console affirming. Mario Kart, again. Some niche titles like pikmin. Dress that and W101 up all you like, but they're like indie games, they're 10 a penny even on ios.

The wii first party represented a lazy nod to the hardcore Nintendo fan. It was the same stuff as ever, and if you're fine with the same franchises as the previous gen, that's fine, but I'm not. People have a decent point when they say other franchises are pimped more in a shorter space of time, Uncharted and Gears of War are already worn out after one gen, but when there is little else being released, you can't write off stale franchises.

And look at all the new IPs Sony introduced last gen. Uncharted, GoW, Last of Us, Little Big Planet, Infamous. Even the Souls series started on PS last gen. Some of the biggest games of the gen, brand new. At the apex of the gen. And that's without third party.

I just think they have to change things up. They did address some criticisms I had of zelda (SS was really really stale) by making it open world and big but honestly, would it have killed them to create a brand new franchise out of it? A toad platformer? A yarn version of a yoshi platformer? This is winning people over? Nah. It's the same people being placated, and they're just not going to be enough.

Suspect you might see things differently as people have their own likes, but I'm at least justified in saying, for me, they get less appealing every single gen. I was planning on getting one right at the end to buy the best games. I'm still waiting for one I can't miss out on. One.

I don't understand this argument. The question is about the effect of living in the eras, not comparing third/fourth gen games to eighth gen games and judging by eighth gen game standards. Back then, Nintendo was the biggest face of gaming, and they were providing extremely revolutionary software that was praised, not just by Nintendo fans, but by all gamers. You could also get away with having a Nintendo system as your primary, because guess what? They actually had third party games. Today, Nintendo is seen as the third wheel, and with games like Minecraft around and all the shiny AAA stuff being only playable on their competitors' systems, kids don't need to grow up with Nintendo anymore. Nintendo is actually concerned about this change themselves, because I have heard this topic being mentioned by them before.

On a personal note, there are games like Mega Man 1-7, X1-X3, Super Metroid, Sparkster, OoT, MM and so on that I would and do take over what Nintendo offers on their current systems.

@DocSanchez:

Haha, definitely not a vague answer, I don't even have the time to read and respond to it right now.

Not ignoring it either though, I'll give it a read here shortly. Gotta get dinner ready for the family.

Taco night yo!

You pretty much hit the nail on the head with what I was getting at when I started the OP.

@ConanTheStoner: No problems. I'm just typing to stop me from going to bed, I really don't want to go to work tomorrow.

Nintendo are still just as good, but no a days there are competitors who invest more $$$ in their product than back in 90s. New Generations wont remember a time when Nintendo consoles were seen as a Primary console.

Nintendos better than ever? Really?

Their software output has become increasingly predictable, safe, and conservative as time has passed. They now rely evermore upon tried and true (and tired) IPs and when they do put out new games they are very fiscally conservative. How many new IPs has Nintendo put out that are on the eshop that could be named by many who aren't Nintendo fans?

Nintendo ignores legendary IPs, yea I know the apologists' line that they've swallowed, hook, line and sinker to excuse this, as there's always an excuse for everything the infallible Nintendo does: "they don't sell" (said as if Nintendo's mediocre performance as a business holds no bearing on that, no that COULDN'T be it, it's the market and the dude-bro gamer's fault).

Nintendo used to make great games such as Eternal Darkness, Goldeneye64 (the game that birthed the dudebro), Perfect Dark. They were once a company that attempted to cater to the older demographic with such titles. Now they don't even try.

Yea there's some new IPs shown this E3 but they're more niche than ever before.

And finally, they don't compete. A company that doesn't compete is essentially conceding defeat before even trying and tuck-tailing and running to find a safe place where it can perform by its own subpar standards. A company that fails to compete head-on is never as good as one that does.

Nintendo is in no way a better company today then it once was, even game wise. There's a reason they're performing so poorly currently.

@thehig1:

the choice wasn't hard again Sega

@PurpleMan5000: yeah especially since everything good for the NES and SNES is avalible on WiiU.

Remember... We're not kids (well.. some of us anyway).

Things looks VERY different out of the eyes of a kid compared to a working adult. Things that we've seen 1,000+ times will be seen for the first time for a kid.

Having said that.. the VG atmosphere is VERY different compared to the 1980's. Tablets, Smartphones, and inexpensive PC's (that can play low to moderate games with ease) are everywhere. Kids today have access to a lot more. So who knows what they think about Nintendo.

@sHaDyCuBe321: really? I consulted a guide with pictures to finally do it and could not believe how complicated the pattern was. Did you make a map of everything that didn't work or did you just try like 1000 times and finally get lucky? That level is the equivalent of getting to the end of ocarina of time and having to win the chest game without the glass to proceed.

I agree that Nintendo should publish more new IPs. It should be noted that it looks like they are publishing more than twice as many new IPs over the next 1.5 years as Sony or Microsoft, though.

Nintendo has m been terrible longer than they have been good. 96- 2014 = 18 years.

He could have worded it better.. say, Nintendo's 1st party output is better than the SNES days. Which is true.

But the SNES as a whole is, and will probably forever be the greatest console of all times.

Nintendo is Nintendo....nothing more....nothing less.

To me Nintendo have never been bad, just different from everyone else and that doesn't rest well with some people.

I think you might be letting nostalgia get the best of you here. The Gamecube is the best Nintendo console, imo, but the Wii U is shaping up to maybe contend for that crown.

Super Metroid

Mario World

Link to the Past

Mario Kart

Donkey Kong Country

Earthbound

Star Fox

Every game they made was a huge step up from the prior ones in every way with new ip's here an there but now? Zelda games has been the same shit since Ocarina of Time and only becoming more and more boring with the long ass tedious puzzles in each temple. Mario Galaxy, Smash Bros, Mario Kart, Mario Party, etc. all the same shit on Gamecube, Wii and Wii U.

Seriously, Nintendo innovated more when they were lacking in resources compared to having 3D and a bunch of stuff to expand the experience. But the worst offender is how much they gimped the difficulty in their modern games that are greatly lacking in any kind of challenging gameplay compared to their days on Nes, Snes and even N64.

The people who grow up with a Nintendo system in the house seem to love them here...
Of course (of course) I cannot psychicalogicalliuminatedly see what the other people in the world think.

Super Mario 3D World

Mario Kart 8

Donkey Kong Country Returns: Tropical Freeze

Pikmin 3

Bayonetta 2

Devil's Third

NSMBU

Star Fox

Xenoblade 2

Captain Toad

Those are just games published by Nintendo within the first 3 years of the launch of the Wii U. This list is every bit as diverse and innovative as yours, and more challenging as well.

you said "a lot better now than they were" is such a blanket statement.

if you are talking about technological no they arent.

if you are talking about quality, i can argue that those games at that time was better than the games that came out during these times. in some ways, their games today are behind. voice acting is one where they are lacking for damn sure. even some indie games have introduced better 2d platforming mechanics. they were revolutionary back in the days...and snes was rpg heavy back then. so take your pick

they had a better public perception back in the day compared to now. they werent the kiddie console despite sega's efforts

market share....they were in better position back then than they are now.

I was talking to a 14 year old who loved pc gaming and ps3 and 360 gaming. I told him I played Wii U and he looked at me like I had a fist growing out of my head.

But he also gave me the same look when I said metal gear solid was my fav game series.

I feel bad for the upcoming generations. There aren't really any good consoles for younger children other than Nintendo. I'll be picking up a SNES for my kids so they can enjoy gaming the way I enjoyed it when I was their age.

Do it now while you still can find them

Thanks. It baffles me how so many don't get (or don't want to get) the question that's really being asked.

Eh, I'll probably actually end up hooking an old laptop to the TV and buying them a few controllers to emulate.

Heresy!