Quote Originally Posted by Aulayna View Post
I think the crux here is that a lot of gamers want to like Nintendo still, but Nintendo's archaic stance toward proprietary distribution methods and hardballing with third parties means that people will no longer see the value in giving £300+ to Nintendo each console generation to play the latest iteration of their beloved childhood IPs. More to the point, older consumers buying for their families may not see the merit in doing it when competing consoles come with additional value in terms of multimedia services and connectivity. Sure most people probably have a myriad of devices they can already access those services with, but when Netflix is one of the most used things on XBOX Live, it's kinda telling about consumer habbits.
This actually was what prompted the thread. This was always my opinion on how most gamers saw Nintendo. It's certainly how most of us here feel.

But the comments I read that caused me to write this were extremely different from that view, or any of those expressed here. Frustration at Nintendo's policies, desire for them to change, or disappointment at their errors I totally get. I think we all understand the feelings here, and I really am thankful that we can have such deep and well thought out discussions on the matter.

But the comments I read didn't seem to take this approach. There was more outright hatred of the company in general, not to mention tons of disgust and unabashed bias against the 3DS merely for being a Nintendo product. I saw it dismissed as a kiddy handheld, called inferior to an iPhone, berated for not looking as good as the Vita, and followed with a litany of profanity that I really do not care to repeat, or track down to quote. People dismissed Bravely Default as "another Square screwup" because they "made the mistake of sticking it on a Nintendo system" (again, ignoring the review they were commenting on which pointed out that Nintendo funded the translation).

This was what I didn't get. The honest skepticism and frustration I can understand. But blind dismissal of the company and products I just find...wrong.

Maybe I've been spoiled by being a part of positive gaming communities like EoFF for so long.