Does Nintendo Actually Need FEWER Games Right Now?

With the new Zelda game not meeting even the lowest expectations we're seeing yet another Nintendo property diluting it's brand.

As Nintendo has been dealing with the recording setting failure of the Wii U and the cooling off on the 3DS they've been sending games out the door that aren't ready to be games. At the very least they're games that don't live up to the franchises they're named after.

In what looks like a desperate attempt to salvage anything they can from the console and handheld, quality control seems to be an afterthought.

Now I understand that Nintendo devices have very few influential games this holiday but are sup par games better than no games?

Everyone knows that the new Nintendo console will be released next holiday season and it will introduce a new handheld or cell phone app to work alongside the console. Is it worth tarnishing these brands as well as Nintendo overall just to get a few more sales? Because let's face it, no title on the Wii U right now is a power title, it's not like because they released one title it turned the tide.

All that's happening right now is that Nintendo is leaving a very bad taste in it's customer's mouth, it's making sure that when people think of these two devices and the games associated they think of the way they spiraled down with never meeting expectations.

Is that really the best way to go into the next generation?

@Jaysonguy: Another Pokemon game coming in Nov. Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon. What is this, like number 5 or 6 in the mystery dungeon series?

@Jaysonguy: I am commenting on Wii U games in this discussion. What games has Nintendo tarnished? The Legend of Zelda Wii U cannot be considered ruined when it is not even out yet. Nintendo delayed it to develop new ideas they had while they were working on the game. They did not rush Star Fox Zero either; instead they delayed it to improve it.

Honestly I don't think they need fewer games. I think the problem is, they need to delve back into more of their forgotten games such as Stunt Race FX, Vortex and Uniracers. The constant barrage of Zelda and Mario is a bit overbearing now even though the games may actually be good (minus Mario Maker as I just can not justify the purchase of that game when out of as many levels I've seen - over 200 - only 2 were actually good in level design and weren't troll levels or punishment stages).

Nintendo has a great archive of games, but they are in a tight spot right now as the loss of 3rd party is a big deal regardless of how many people think you don't need 3rd party and you only buy Nintendo consoles for Nintendo games. That's the biggest BS I've heard and if Nintendo was still getting 3rd party support, that line wouldn't have been made up.

Fact is, Nintendo needs to desperately regain 3rd party as they are missing out on a bunch of potential sales regardless of what we think is a good game or not. Games like CoD, Battlefield, Batman AK, GTA, Street Fighter, Tekken, Assassins Creed, Metal Gear, Mass Effect, (Oh God I hate that I'm about to say this one but it's true) Destiny... etc generate millions of sales and they move consoles. This is what Nintendo needs. WiiU is a good console but the lack of 3rd party severely hurt it's sales.

What games have they ruined

Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer and Zelda: Tri-Force Heroes for starters. Soon to be that Wii U Animal Crossing game and the new Metroid Prime: Defense Force. Mario Tennis be up there, and will be if they didn't bother improving Upon. Hell, it's even argued that Sticker Star ruined the Paper Mario franchise (although I personally don't agree). They are fallible, but of course I don't expect someone with a Nintendo name for a username to be able to acknowledge that.

Like JPL said, you have Zelda and Animal Crossing. Add in Yoshi and now Fatal Frame.

Three very established franchises from Mario, Zelda, and Animal Crossing and they were all duds.

Fatal Frame is another black eye because we heard that Nintendo was going to treat the franchise with respect and it wasn't a mistake that they're in charge of it.

Turns out it was a mistake to let a game like that be a Nintendo game.

This is what's going to be on people's minds when the NX comes out. These games that are missing the mark.

@Jaysonguy: Yes, we know, you only trust Gamespot reviews, the majority agree the games are good though. You act like this is the first time Nintendo has done spin-offs, this is what they do and have always done. Critics have never praised these spin-offs as masterpieces, probably never will. But im happy Nintendo will still cater to us who do like them.

The IGN review gave Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer an 8.0. I agree with the reviewer that your character should have their own home and there should have been a reward system; and I would add that you should earn money to buy things for your own home. I would still get it if I was a 3DS owner.

I am getting Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival, and I put some more money down on my pre-order today. I like board games, and It comes with 2 Amiibo and a pack of cards. I watched a GameXplain trailer, and some of the other game modes look fun too. I think it will be a nice game to chill out with the family during the Christmas holiday. It will be my first Animal Crossing game. Some franchises have been around long enough that they get a board game treatment.

@Collie_Lover: Yeah, the new Animal Crossing choose for a more casual approach. It gives you a bunch of freedom to do what you like and doesnt punish you hardly for making mistakes. Its kinda sand-boxey. But it does add some awesome new things to the Animal Crossing series that im positive will be in the next Animal Crossing games. I would say, game is good, but its no New Leaf.

Actually if you knew me the only thing I even sometimes agree eye to eye on is Van Ord

@Jaysonguy: Yeah, hes a great reviewer, too bad he dont do Nintendo reviews.

Yes, but the Wii U never got the traditional treatment first. A Wii U-sized New Leaf would have been amazing, and then they could have put out Festival.

He's not a "great" reviewer. There were days long ago were Gamespot could be trusted for reviews... what an amazing group of talent they had then. Oh well, that's off topic.

It pains me to agree with @Jaysonguy not because of his opinion, but the fact that Nintendo dropped the ball with the Wii U. There has been a few great titles, but no main series Mario, Zelda, or Metroid, to be released 3 years into the lifespan is painful, and the spinoffs, although charming, aren't masterpieces.

Wii U should have been a showcase for Nintendo in the HD era, and it hasn't been.

@sonic_spark: Have no fear, Zelda is coming. Ive liked their HD stuff so far. Pikmin looked amazing, 3D World, Donkey Kong, Mario Kart, Super Smash, Splatoon, its all looked amazing. Sucks you didnt get your dream game though, them some hard ones to find from what i heard and have experienced.

@Jaysonguy: It's quite clear that all of the recently announced and upcoming games are all "filler" titles until NX. Mario Tennis, Animal Crossing Home Designer & Amiibo Festival, Zelda Triforce Heroes, and even Star Fox are filler titles. Even Pikmin 4 is a filler title, as it's a quick game to make given that they already have everything setup from Pikmin 3.

The reason we have filler titles? Because all the "A teams" at Nintendo are working on NX games.

Now to answer the question of this thread, is having these filler games okay to have? Or should we have next to no games at all?

I think the answer is pretty obvious. Imagine if we had no games at all. Or just 1 really good game and that's it. That would look terrible on Nintendo's part. All of their loyal fan base get zilch as they move onto the next generation.

I'm happy getting decent games at least. For example, Zelda Triforce heroes is still a really fun game, and I'm glad we get it rather than nothing at all. Just because a game is a 7/10 instead of a 10/10 doesn't mean it's not worth having at all.

@trugs26: Was Super Mario Maker a filler game also? How bout Xenoblade Chronicles X? Star Fox Zero? These dont seem like filler games to me.

Also, this is Christmas time for 3DS, we go through this every year with them, its the holidays, parents buy these type games. Animal Crossing Happy Home, Zelda Tri-Force, YO-KAI Watch, Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon, these are all common holiday games. The hot 3DS games come early 2016 like always.

Here's the thing though, Nintendo's fans are pretty much at this point dead.

They're nowhere near passionate enough to keep a console viable let alone successful.

What Nintendo needs to do now is appeal to everyone else. They need that small minority who currently has Nintendo hardware and give them something that wows them.

When it comes to scores I'm not saying that any game that scores how these games are scoring is bad (besides Fatal Frame) but they certainly don't live up to the pedigree of those franchises. If this is someone's first Zelda game Nintendo is screwed, if it's their first Animal Crossing they're screwed.

Wii U gamers have lived through the longest period of time with no software in video game history, it's not like they were getting a steady diet of games let alone great games. There's no need to placate them with sub par titles because they did nothing to help the Wii U and now the 3DS.

I really don't think you can look at Nintendo's fanbase as anymore than a blip on the gaming landscape. They're not a group worth altering your game making strategy for, I think is the best way to put it.

PMD games are good.

@JigglyWiggly_: Yeah, i would agree, im just saying we have had these type spin-off games forever, we get them while the big ones are still being made, but they are never really super epic, or none ive ever played have been. To all of the sudden expect these games to be epic and hold them to such high standards just comes off as odd to me.

Xenoblade was announced a long time ago. It has already been out for a while in Japan. It's just taken a long time for release. Star Fox Zero was also announced in 2014, but even that title didn't look in good shape when they showed it off at E3 2015 (which is why I lump it into "filler". It's also just a re-imagining of the N64 game, not a brand new take on things).

Specifically, I'm talking about the games announced recently (2015) and are coming out this year/next year are filler titles. Mario Maker is the only exception, everything else is filler. All those common holiday titles you listed reeks of "filler" with the exception of Yo-Kai Watch (again, a game that came out a while ago anyway, and is just being localised now, so it's not what I'm talking about).

We have to face it, Nintendo are just doing B grade software because they've clearly moving onto development for the next system.

First Zelda game? First Animal Crossing game? Let's be real here, most people who own a Wii U are just the dedicated Nintendo fan base. It's only sold 10 million units, and that's pretty much the core Nintendo fanbase right there. This won't be their first for those series'.

I'm not sure what you're getting at with your third paragraph. They need to appeal to "everyone else", then you say they need to give something to that small minority who already have a Wii U? Seems like a contradiction.

If Nintendo were smart, they'd save their "wow" titles for the next console, otherwise we're gonna be in the same position we are in now for the NX. They need that wow title on launch day for the NX.

As for the current install base of Wii U titles, sprinkle the B grade titles throughout rather than just 1 A grade title. I'm still gonna have fun with those games. Otherwise, waiting for that 1 title is gonna be a huge drag. I'd just throw my Wii U in the cupboard and just forget about it.

Besides, we do have Pikmin 4 and Zelda Wii U, which I consider both A grade titles to compliment the B grade titles (though Pikmin 4 also reeks of filler too, and I'm pretty certain that Zelda Wii U is gonna get the Twilight Princess treatment and appear on NX at launch too). But regardless, those A titles will appear next to the sprinkle of B titles.

@trugs26: We should all know when the hot 3DS games come out, early next year just like always. Holiday releases are for people shopping for gifts etc.

@mesome713: Admittedly, my criticisms mainly apply to the Wii U, but still partially applies to 3DS as well.

@trugs26: I accept the criticisms, i just feel like this year has been good for the Wii U. We got Kirby Rainbow Curse, Art Academy: Atelier game, Mario Party 10, Splatoon, Yoshi Woolly World, Super Mario Maker, Fatal Frame for Halloween, Animal Crossing Amiibo Fesival, Mario Tennis Ultra Smash, then Xenoblade Chronicles X, i kinda like the lineup a little. Wish Star Fox was in it, but guess can wait, i still got plenty to play. I knew Zelda was not coming, i knew 30th Anniversary was his.

That's exactly my point, most Nintendo hardware owners are the fans. Nintendo doesn't need to concern themselves with those people. They need to go after the ones who don't ordinarily play the Wii U and 3DS. Either from being in their homes or a friend's house or find one on the beach.......anything.

Instead of throwing out a handful of lackluster efforts just release maybe one game the rest of the year. Make sure that game is on point though.

A perfect example is fabric Yoshi, they took a solid (if rather easy) Kirby game and just ehhh, just a so so game that shouldn't have been made.

The gaming audience is fickle, one wrong move and they're on you like dogs. This "C" effort from Nintendo is making people think "Huh, I guess Nintendo doesn't make games that are all that great" and when the next console rolls around that's going to be in their heads.

Well it's a risk. They put too much effort into Wii U, then NX will have a lackluster start. Or give Wii U a lackluster finish and NX a strong start. Which would you choose if you were Nintendo? I'd go for the later. You could strike a balance, but again, if I were Nintendo, I'd push for a bigger start for NX to get things going.

@mesome713 Don't get me wrong. This year was pretty good. Mario Maker and Splatoon are my favourite games on the Wii U (surpassing Pikmin 3, which was my previous favourite). But this is more about the end of the Wii U life cycle. A lot of the good games you listed were announced in previous years and are just releasing this year. I'm more so criticising the end of the Wii U - that is, games announced this year and released end of 2015 or during 2016.

@trugs26: I can see that, all we got so far is Star Fox Zero, Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem, Pokken Tournment and Zelda Wii U announced. I do think we will get something else during the next direct. To hold us over before e3, at e3 i think they will announce a few more. Also Reggie confirmed we would be getting a JRPG for 2016, just nobody knows what it is yet.

@mesome713: Don't forget Pikmin 4 ;)

@trugs26: I actually think that one might be a good ideal for NX, put it on home console and handheld. Cross buy that beast.

@mesome713: I think Pikmin would be too small on the screen for a handheld.

@trugs26: I dont think would be too bad, i many played the whole game on the Wii U Gamepad and had no problems.

@mesome713: Did you do the touch controls method?

@trugs26: Yeah, its my favorite way to play now. I use to play with Wii-Mote, which was fun, then i tried the Pro Controller, it was ok, but didnt work good cause no map. Gamepad and Wii-Mote are best way to play, but yeah, my favorite is the touch controls using the stylus. Once you get use to it, you can play pretty smooth.

What?

Honestly, I wish they'd step back and just focus on releasing quality games rather than meeting deadlines. But hey, it's not a perfect world.

I wouldn't say that they need fewer games. They'll have zero games if their count gets much lower. What they need are more worthwhile games. I mean, if they're going to release an Animal Crossing game, make a damn Animal Crossing game. Not some amiibo game board cash in. Nintendo has a backlog of franchises that haven't made it to Wii U that they could use to diversify things.

But then they have to decide how much they want to support a dead platform. Nintendo is basically dragging the Wii U's soiled carcass to the finish line.

@YearoftheSnake5: So you want them to just release Animal Crossing every year? 3DS just had New Leaf, these games take time to make. Animal Crossing Happy Home is to hold them people over and keep the name relevant. Same thing they do with Pokemon.

Home console already had a Animal Crossing game, it was called City Folk and it can still be bought and played on the Wii U. Let me guess though, just not enough. Instead of anther Animal Crossing game, they gave us Splatoon, and im sorry, i would have rather had Splatoon then yet another Animal Crossing. Now that they are finished with Splatoon and Happy Home Designer, they are working on something new, what that is? I have no clue.

I don't think less games would really be better - they need to give people who own the Wii-U and 3DS something new to look forward to this Holiday season, or else lose profit.

Do I think Zelda Triforce Heroes tarnishes the brand? Not in the slightest. Four Swords didn't tarnish it and that game sucked, Link's Crossbow Training certainly didn't tarnish it, nor did Windwaker - and that was a game that kind of polarized some Zelda fans. I haven't really gotten into a new Zelda game since Windwaker to be honest, but I still believe a good Zelda game could come along again one day. And I'm sure that Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword were decent games in their own right.

If you want to talk about tarnishing a brand, look at how many Mario VS DK games and Mario Party games have come out over the years. Look at Amiibo - a tarnished, gimmicky mess of an idea right out of the gate. How about pretty much every Kirby game not being as good as the first couple of them.

At the same time, it might be wise of Nintendo to not spend so much energy and time on the Wii-U and 3DS. With the NX around the corner, they should be focused on supporting that system.

@Ovirew: Kirby Triple Deluxe is the best Kirby game ever. You think Amiibos tarnished Nintendo? Its increases sales of other products thanks to Amiibo. Amiibos have sold almost 22 million and we havnt even hit its second holiday yet. Also Mario vs Donkey Kong series is awesome and good brain food.

In the long run no one is going to remember The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes when they think of The Legend of Zelda.

They'll remember games like Skyward Sword and A Link Between Worlds.

So it doesn't matter since they haven't continually ruined their franchises with spin-offs that have been a miss. They're no where near Sonic The Hedgehog levels of bad.

They will if it's their first game.

They'll be fine