There's been a lot of criticism for Nintendo by how it is ignoring the hardcore gamer. Only a few titles on the Wii are actually hardcore. At this point back in the Gamecube's lifespan, it had about double the amount of hardcore titles, many were 3rd party titles. Nintendo is more focused on the casual and the non-gamer and making them gamers. Its a great strategy, one that is paying off big time, however it can't last forever. The bubble will pop. As Nintendo makes gamers out of those who weren't, these new gamers will step up to the hardcore crowd and integrate thus becoming hardcore gamers themselves. If Nintendo continues to ignore the hardcore crowd, then in turn it will eventually fade itself out of the industry. Nintendo has started to take notice. While not a permenant solution, in Spring 09 Wii owners will be able to play virtual console/WiiWare save files directly off the SD card. The next console will likely have a solid solution to the memory issue with perhaps a hard drive. Games on the other hand will be coming here, it just takes some time. Here is my prediction for Nintendo's hardcore releases for the remainder of the Wii's lifespan. Spring 2009 Sin & Punishment 2 Punch Out! Tenchu 4 Fatal Frame 4 Summer 2009 Arc Rise Fantasia -further Japanese hardcore titles Fall 2009 -few more Jap titles Pikmin Wii Star Fox Wii Spring 2010 -remainder Jap titles Summer 2010 F-Zero Wii Fall 2010 Mario Wii Zelda Wii Spring, Summer 2011 -no major Nintendo titles, EAD working on launch for next home console Fall 2011 -launch of home console
First, the term hardcore has different meanings to lots of people, so it's hard to quantify what exactly that is. All I can say about Nintendo is that they make a lot of odd choices, the outcome of which generally deosn't appeal to me but always makes them lots of cash. What I do like is their main franchises- Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Starfox etc. Even these franchises have had their hits and misses, but in general, if they make a system and these games show up for it, I will get the system. Whatever is making them money otherwise is not too much my concern.
Are we really looking at launch of the next gen consoles in just 3 years? That seems a bit quick, doesn't it?
That would fit in with the old standard of every 5 years for a new console. However, I think that standard is going to change to being around 7 or 8 years, just because of the expense of shifting to more powerful technology is too much for a lot of companies. Also, system prices are getting higher (when they launch) so a lot of consumers won't be too happy to shell out another thousand dollars for a system and some accessories and games every 5 years.
So no major A+ Nintendo titles till Fall 2010??! Its a sad day to be a Nintendo fan. BTW: Im not dissing Star Fox or F-Zero franchises by any means, its just that the last good (great) Starfox game was on the 64 and I believe that Miyamoto did not like the GC F-Zero so I wouldnt expect it to be like the GC version.
That list was just the OP's guesses. It doesn't sound too off but I think Nintendo may surprise us with a new Metroid or Zelda sooner then that.
i honestly haven't been too upset with the wii. the virtual console and wiiware have been a lot of fun, and the good titles have been *really* good in my opinion. for the most part though, most of my regular gaming takes place on the ds, and the wii is better for when people are over or for if i actually have a chance to get the tv away from my wife or kids.
Ah, educated guess. Yea, I was thinking that we would not have a new Zelda till about the end of the console's lifetime too. Im not expecting any new Mario game though. Not expecting a new Metroid either.
I would bet substantial amounts of money that that will not happen. News: Nintendo: No Wii successor any time soon - ComputerAndVideoGames.com Wii still makes megafucktonwatts of money years after its release, hell the DS is STILL going strong, as long as they're selling and the shovelware keeps coming Nintendo has no reason to release another console in three years time. DN
The GCN was awesome. But because it didn't have a DVD player, it was shunned quite unfairly. It also had the best controller of all time. Well, in my opinion anyway.
I will never understand why people still care about Nintendo when they're making it absoloutely clear that they do not care one bit about you anymore.
Read an article in a magazine about this lately, and one of the things it mentioned is that Nintendo uses things like E3 for mass market games, while they'll wait with releasing hardcore titels until they're close to release. Don't know if that's true, though, but it sounds logical.
You left out Cave Story. One of the greatest freeware indy games ever made. It's getting a complete makeover and new stuff added for Wiiware.
there needs to be a new wii, one with HD support, a hard drive and a controller that doesn't need 101 attachments to make it 1:1. i might consider getting one if that happens.
See.... this... but not entirely this. Gamecube didn't lose me because it's games sucked. I loved Windwaker... and I mean, almost married it, Loved. I loved Phantasy Star online. We played the living hell out of it. And Zelda 4 swords is still probably the most fun I've ever had with a group of friends in the same room (seriously, try it sober, try it drunk, I promise you will laugh). The Star Wars series were awesome as well. The Cube just suffered from Nintendo's ego saying "we release games whenever we want, and you will wait for us because we are Nintendo, and while you may have to wait 2 years for our next big hit, that hit will be better than anything on the competition." But that worked 5 years ago, but now I prefer Ratchet series over Mario, and while Zelda hasn't been replaced, other games have come in and taken my attention from it. So Cube didn't dissapoint for lack of quality titles, rather, it stayed quiet on the shelf a lot, while the PS2 and Xbox were always busy. Kinda like Sega, prior to DC and after Genesis, I lost faith that there would be strong support for the system.
