A good article about Nintendo's downfall.

[Shoeberto]

http://www.n-sider.com/articleview.php?articleid=369&page=1

I'm a big fanboy of the big N, and I agree with what's being said. The fact that it's on a website biased towards Nintendo gives it more meaning. Thoughts?

[CloudSquallandZidane]

I have to agree Nintendo is on a downward slope, i loved SN and even N64, but i gotta say i feel nothing for gamecube.

[NM]

I'd say that sum's Nintendo up quite well these days.

However as I live in the UK I have other issues with the big N other than lack of original game ideas. The main one being pointless delays on game release's. I'll admit things are better than they were but not by much.

Legend of Zelda : Four Swords came out in June in the US, it isn't even out in Europe yet. Animal Crossing came out more than a year after the US release. Why? I know they like to use the old excuse of adding different languages but that could be done during development. Besides the UK is the third largest market for games after Japan and America yet they continue to treat us like an after thought.

The other problem is Nintendo like to decide what we do and don't like. I doubt Final Fantasy would of ever come to Europe had Square not jumped ship to Sony.

I like Nintendo but they need to get there heads out of the clouds and stop acting like it's the early '90's, otherwise there going down the same road as Sega.

[omnitarian]

I would certainly n-sider is Nintendo biased, because it's owned by the big N. :p

Anyway, I pretty much agree with everything the article pointed out. Nintendo has a gift for making fresh and original game concepts, but then they simply package it with an established franchise. Games like Donkey Konga make the public simply shrug their shoulders at what appears to be "just another DK game". Meanwhile, their experiments of blending fresh characters and game concepts (Animal Crossing, Pikmin) are turning heads.

Nintendo needs to start fleshing out new and creative franchises before they find themselves in a rut.

[theundeadhero]

In my opinion the game boy is the only thing that kept the company going during the 64 days. I had a gamecube but didn't like it a whole lot.

[SomethingBig]

I agree whole-heartedly with that article and I never would've noticed, if I hadn't read that. Hopefully Nintendo will learn from their mistakes.

[Erdrick Holmes]

I think Nintendo should stick to handhelds.

[DMKA]

I think Nintendo should stick to handhelds.

[Super Christ]

The article made a number of good points. The Gamecube is one of my favorite systems, and the only system I've got that I have more games for is my Master System. However, the majority of those games are franchise games from either Nintendo, Sega, or Capcom.

*I'd* probably say, though, that part of the problem is that Sony came along and marketed video games to the kids that used to beat me up for liking video games. Being popular has hurt gaming about as much as it's helped, and seeing some of the stuff Spike TV does to appeal to gamers makes me ask if anything's sacred anymore.

Or, to put it another way without my old person ramblings, Nintendo caters very well to a niche. And 10 years ago when Nintendo was really big, the entire video game industry was a niche.