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Video Games: The 5 Biggest Mistakes Ever Made By Nintendo
Member Since: 2/9/2012
Posts: 10,283
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The 5 Biggest Mistakes Ever Made By Nintendo
5. Virtual Boy
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The year was 1995 – the Super Nintendo Entertainment Systems (SNES) was already 5 years old, and the Nintendo 64 wouldn’t be released for another year. Gamers wanted something new – something they hadn’t experienced before: they wanted to jam their faces into a piece of plastic held up by a thin legs and play games with ugly graphics in nothing but red and black colors. Or, at least, that’s what Nintendo thought was the case.
It’s hard to tell what Nintendo’s intention was with the Virtual Boy at all – it couldn’t have been to replace the Game Boy, because it wasn’t easily portable at all, and required a hard, flat surface for use. It definitely wasn’t their idea of a “next gen” console, since it was developed concurrently with the Nintendo 64 (which was released a year later). It was the ugly red-headed (literally) stepchild. And, at some point, Nintendo realized that too. They rushed it to release so they could move all development resources to the upcoming Nintendo 64. The result? Nintendo’s first major failure.
How bad did it do? It was only out for a year, and only 22 games were released (and less than 15 were released in North America). After that, it was gone for good. Papa told me he took it to a farm upstate, the same one he took our dog to when he got too old and sick. I bet Rex is jamming his face in it right now.
Fun Fact: The game largely thought to be the worst one for the Virtual Boy was Water World. And when you consider Virtual Boy is Nintendo’s worst system – that may make Water World for Virtual Boy the worst game in history. Good news, ET for Atari.
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4. Keeping The Nintendo 64 Cartridge-Based
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The Nintendo 64 was the last major console released that was cartridge-based. There’s a reason for that: cartridges can’t hold as much data as CDs and they were much, much more expensive to produce. So you end up with crappier-looking games at several times the price. Another dynamite business strategy, Nintendo. Whatever the advantages were, the disadvantages far outweighed them in one game: Final Fantasy VII.
It was originally planned for the Nintendo 64 – but Square found the cartridges too constraining for its vision for the game (rendering Cloud’s hair alone would have filled up an entire cartridge’s memory), and decided to bring it to the Sony PlayStation. To date, Final Fantasy VII has sold over 10,000,000 copies – but more importantly, it helped turn the Sony into a serious competitor to Nintendo, as the popular Final Fantasy series stayed Sony-exclusive for another decade. Before, Nintendo’s only serious competition was Sega, and their star was fading quickly with their miserable Saturn console (if this list was about Sega’s mistakes, we would just link to Sega’s Wikipedia page and say “pretty much everything”). Nintendo allowed its dominance to be challenged, and it paid dearly for it.
Well, at least Nintendo learned its lesson and would make sure the next console was disc-based. Surely that would make it a flawless, wild success!
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3. Nintendo Gamecube
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For the first time in their history, Nintendo had on their hands a third place console (behind Sony’s PlayStation 2 and Microsoft’s XBOX). But what went wrong here? They did the discs! The discs were supposed to fix everything, right? RIGHT?! The first thing Nintendo did wrong was opt for a tinier disc than its competitors (with the hopes of curbing piracy). It didn’t help, and it allowed their games less storage, much like its predecessor’s cartridge issue. Not only that, but the smaller size precluded the Gamecube from allowing DVD playback, as the Playstation 2 and XBOX had. Nintendo’s always been focused on leaving their consoles as game-focused, but it may have been a little foolish to not realize a lot of gamers liked the simplicity of having their console function as a DVD player as well.
But maybe the real problem was what was on those tiny discs: at launch, the “big titles” were Luigi’s Mansion, Wave Race: Blue Storm (AKA “Worse Wave Race 64”), and Rogue Squadron 2. Of these, only Rogue Squadron 2 was worth remembering. The bigger issue was that this was Nintendo’s first console to launch without a new Mario game (and once the Gamecube’s Mario game arrived, Mario Sunshine, reception was mixed). Also, the controller had a…unique design. It made more sense than the N64’s controller (that required you to have 8 tentacles to properly handle it), but it was still an polarizing choice.
The Gamecube ended up selling about 22 million units. Not bad! Until you consider the Playstation 2 sold an astounding 154 million. So…kinda bad.
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2. Shunning the Internet
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“The internet? Yeah, like that thing will ever take off. Psh. Next thing you’ll tell me is today’s youth doesn’t want to jam their faces in glowing red eye-destroyers filled with Game Boy graphics!” – someone at Nintendo, probably
Why does Nintendo hate the internet? While Sony and Microsoft were rolling out major online gaming networks, Nintendo stubbornly insisted that no one would be into playing games over the internet, providing half-assed wi-fi solutions to Gamecube and later consoles and handhelds. And the worst part – the Friend Codes, long serial numbers required to find and play with people you know online. Nintendo’s goal with their hesitancy and stringent measures was to limit how exposed anyone would ever be to the crude ‘n rude world of online gaming by making sure you only gamed with people you knew. XBOX Live, for example, is a notorious cesspool of scum and villainy (also: racism, misogyny, etc.), but it has brought significant dividends along – at this point, more people are using their XBOX 360 for non-gaming purposes, and this is all thanks to Microsoft’s embrace of online capabilities. Nintendo had a solid control of their brand, and did not want to give that up. In the meantime, they got left in the dust.
Nintendo seems to be turning a corner, with rumors of the WiiU not requiring Friend Codes, but at this point they’re far enough behind that they have an enormous amount of ground to make up for. Hear that everyone? Soon we’ll be able to play Mario Kart online and hear random 12 year olds screaming racial slurs. That’s how Nintendo will know they’re back in the game.
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1. Creating Sony PlayStation
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This is the big one – the one that would truly haunt Nintendo for the rest of their existence. Nintendo is responsible for its greatest rival’s existence. Back in 1986, the CD-ROM platform was just taking off – and the possibilities were endless. Nintendo partnered with Sony to develop a CD-ROM attachment for the SNES, some sort of station of play – known as “Play Station.” The problem was Nintendo and Sony could never come to an agreement over how to share the revenue and rights. Things seemed to be going fine otherwise, until June 1991.
That was when Sony debuted The PlayStation at the Consumer Electronics show, and then the very next day, Nintendo said they were breaking their agreement and would be doing a new CD-ROM/SNES program with Philips. This made Sony angry. Nintendo wouldn’t want to see Sony when it’s angry. Sony decided to push forward into the gaming industry out of pure spite (also, for money). Within a few years, Sony would release the PlayStation we know and love, and the rest is history.
Oh, and the thing Philips released was the CD-i. Definitely worth it, right?
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Bonus! Multitudes of Useless Peripherals
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R.O.B.
PowerPad
GameBoyPrinter
GameBoyCamera
Super Scope 6
N64 Transfer Pack
N64 Disc Drive
GameBoy Advance e-Reader
DK Bongo Controllers
NES Four Score
Wii Speak
Each was awful/terrible for unique and fascinating reasons, but something has always been clear about Nintendo accessories: they’re made to be purchased, not to be utilized. Typically they’re wildly under- or entirely un-supported. The GameBoy Camera has the unique distinction of being a worse camera than the first camera ever invented. Great work, Nintendo.
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SOURCE: http://www.dorkly.com/article/39118/...de-by-nintendo
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Member Since: 1/16/2010
Posts: 17,698
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#1 mistake is deadly 
The creation of N64 was a mistake for their part - financially but for us players it has such classic game.
My favorite of all time is Donkey Kong 64. Love to death!!
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Member Since: 8/29/2011
Posts: 18,282
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I liked the game cube. 
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Member Since: 3/29/2012
Posts: 28,833
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The GameCube was great 
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Member Since: 8/29/2011
Posts: 18,282
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Quote:
Originally posted by KT&T
#1 mistake is deadly
The creation of N64 was a mistake for their part - financially but for us players it has such classic game.
My favorite of all time is Donkey Kong 64. Love to death!! |
I agree. I loved the cartridges. As a little kid it was easier to keep intact.
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Member Since: 9/17/2011
Posts: 4,774
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I'm going to buy a Gamecube
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Member Since: 3/10/2011
Posts: 5,354
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What the? The Nintendo 64 cartridges are legendary.
I also enjoyed the gamecube.
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Member Since: 4/11/2012
Posts: 19,069
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Doesn't matter.
Nintendo are the best gaming company ever anyway
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Member Since: 5/22/2011
Posts: 21,227
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I love my Gamecube..
I play SSX 3 all the time still. 
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Member Since: 3/25/2011
Posts: 10,337
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"♫ I don't care what they say, I'm in looooove with you ♪" (in reference to my Gamecube)
But yes, unfortunately Nintendo is responsible for the existence of...well their entire competition. That is the price you pay when you are an innovator. Certain pop stars know this very well.
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Banned
Member Since: 6/25/2011
Posts: 37,192
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They coming back to slay with the Wii U and the 3DS though. The gorls are not ready for their holiday season lineup.
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Member Since: 5/9/2011
Posts: 1,384
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They better fix their mess with the Wii U 
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Member Since: 2/5/2009
Posts: 3,784
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The best games console will forever be the Sega. 
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Member Since: 12/16/2008
Posts: 59,380
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Gamecube remains unbothered tho 
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Member Since: 4/29/2011
Posts: 6,884
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Quote:
Originally posted by Jack.
Doesn't matter.
Nintendo are the best gaming company ever anyway
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Basically. No gaming system will ever reach the heights of Nintendo. But not sticking with Sony was stupid. 
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Member Since: 6/26/2010
Posts: 28,299
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I love the Game Cube  . Nintendo has mistakes because they are huge risk takers, the Madonna of video game consoles 
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Member Since: 8/18/2011
Posts: 3,072
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5 huge mistakes and still here. When will Sony or Microsoft?
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Member Since: 12/26/2011
Posts: 14,707
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I still have and love my gamecube.
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Member Since: 3/25/2011
Posts: 10,337
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Their commentary on the GCN presses me though.
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Mario Sunshine, reception was mixed
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Flawless game though
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lso, the controller had a…unique design. It made more sense than the N64’s controller (that required you to have 8 tentacles to properly handle it), but it was still an polarizing choice.
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The Gamecube's controller is the best video game controller. It fits so well in your hands and the button layout is intuitive as soon as you pick it up. They are doing the Wii U such a disservice by excluding it.
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Member Since: 3/26/2012
Posts: 37,592
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Quote:
Originally posted by Eaten By Lions
Flawless game though |
Yeah, I never really got Mario Sunshine... I always got stuck after like 2/3 challenges, got mad and gave up. Mind you, I haven't tried again in several years. My fav GameCube games are Double Dash and Mario Party 5.
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