I remember it like it was yesterday, waking up on Christmas morning to a small box. At the time, I had no clue that what was in the small box would change my life, but as a 7-year-old kid, I didn’t really think about those things. I opened the box to find my first Gameboy Color and a copy of Pokémon Red Version. Since then, I can honestly say Nintendo has had a special place in my life. It is because of this connection I’ve had with Nintendo that I now have to ask, “What are you doing, Nintendo?”
It’s no secret that Nintendo is one of the most successful video game companies of all time, ranking just below Sony and Microsoft in revenue. They are home to some of the most familiar and popular franchises in all of gaming. With fan favorites like Pokémon, Mario and The Legend of Zelda, Nintendo has had the hearts of fans dangling by a thread for years now.
So what could Nintendo be doing that would cause someone who has loved their games for years to question them, you ask? Nothing, Nintendo is doing absolutely nothing. Let me explain. It started in January of 2012. I am scrolling through the internet looking at details of the newly announced Wii U, the successor to the widely loved Wii console. As I looked, however, I felt underwhelmed by the lack of games that had been announced for the system at that point. I blamed it the fact that it was still too early to know much about the console.
Fast-forward to November, when the Wii U released. Low and behold the release titles were still underwhelming, and I didn’t know what to make of it. So, I waited. I waited through 2013. I waited through a lot of 2014, and finally a game worth buying a Wii U for finally was slated for release. I finally bought my Wii U with Mario Kart 8, but it didn’t feel the same as all the Nintendo consoles I had bought in the past. It felt as though I was just buying a console because it was Nintendo, and not because of the slew of great games that usually comes with their consoles.
The rest of the console’s life cycle was underwhelming as well, and if it wasn’t for the Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo wouldn’t have anything going for it in this current console generation. The numbers back this up as well; in 2012, when the Wii U’s launched, it only managed to ship just above 3 million units, and it currently sits at 12 million units sold, behind the Xbox One’s 19 million and the PS4’s 36 million.
The truth was that the Wii U was underpowered and not many developers wanted to make games for it. This left it only with the few first-party games that Nintendo released for it. The lack of games caused it to fall far behind its competitors, and so it still sits at the bottom of consoles bought for this current generation of gaming. So of course Nintendo will learn from its mistakes, right? Well, not necessarily.
At this year’s E3, Nintendo held a small event called Nintendo Treehouse Live. At this event they only focused on two games, Pokémon Sun and Moon and The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild, the latter being one of only two triple A titles coming to the Wii U in the near future. Before E3, there was mention of a new console that Nintendo was supposedly working on, but there was hardly even the slightest mention of it at E3.
With the new console supposedly launching in early 2017, I am beginning to become a little worried that Nintendo is bound to repeat the mistakes they made with the Wii U: too much hype, and not enough games. The only thing we can do at this point is wait and see, but I implore you Nintendo, don’t let your next console be like your last.
