sponsorship

Can Nintendo survive the next generation, or will the Xbox 360 and PS3 eat it alive?

The most recognizable name in videogames has, in some ways, lost its allure. The onetime reigning champion of consoles--the company that reinvented at-home gaming with the NES, Super NES, and Nintendo 64--is now a distant third in the current console race. The driving force that gave birth to worldwide gaming icons like Mario, Link, and Donkey Kong, bled innovation with thousands of creative games, and spawned a thriving videogame subculture, is struggling to stay alive. Yes, Nintendo still dominates the portable gaming market, but with Sony and the PSP nipping at its heels, that market is no longer certain, at least in the long run. Where did Nintendo go wrong? Should we count the Revolution out in the next-gen, or can Nintendo turn the tide and retake the throne?

"My name is Reggie. I'm about kickin' ass. I'm about taking names, and we're about making games."

That was how the media was publicly introduced to Nintendo's executive vice president of sales and marketing, Reggie Fils-Aime, at E3 2004. Unfortunately, the video game industry is not quite that simple. Nintendo has always been great at telling the consumer what they want. Microsoft and Sony may embody everything the American consumer hates about "big business," but there's no doubt these companies listen to their audience. The same cannot be said for Nintendo, who has picked up the habit of cramming innovation down the throat of its customers (see the Virtual Boy, Nintendo 64's analog stick, and the DS's touch screen), with mixed results. Increasingly, Nintendo has focused on pushing gaming innovation forward (i.e., the DS dual-screen and touch-screen), bypassing the trend to constantly push graphics forward. Though this seems like a solid strategy, it remains to be seen whether customers are willing to sacrifice graphic quality for "innovative" features like touch-screens and unusual controllers. Graphics are important to gamers, and Nintendo should recognize that fact.

Of all Nintendo's problems, though, its lack of third-party support is probably the most urgent. There's no denying that Nintendo put out some truly great games for the GameCube (Metroid Prime, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker), but there's just no way a console can succeed without a flourishing third-party lineup. And where are the GameCube releases? Aside from The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, Killer 7, and Madden NFL '06, the lineup can best be described as sparse. If it weren't for the runaway success of Capcom's Resident Evil 4, Nintendo's GameCube outlook would be far more grim. As it is, it's merely disappointing.

Nintendo's Revolution is expected to start third out of the gate in the next-gen race, and it will be pitted against the tag team from Hell: Microsoft's mighty Xbox 360 and Sony's powerhouse PS3. Now is the time for Nintendo to take a step back and re-evaluate their goals as a company before launching the Revolution into what will surely be the toughest console race yet. The good news is that Nintendo is showing signs of doing just that: aside from a recent rumor of a touch-screen controller and some primary hardware specs, all we really know about the Revolution is that users will be able to download a catalogue of classic Nintendo titles from all the company's old systems.

This is a great idea and could make many gamers give the Revolution a second thought. But without third-party support, it's ultimately more of a novelty than anything else; after all, emulators have already given many gamers access to these classic games on their PCs, handheld system, and even illegally modified Xbox systems. And for free, no less.

Nintendo still has the ability, the brand name, and a history of iconic gaming dominance to drive it back to the top. It's a long and steep road ahead. Where should Nintendo start? By acknowledging that it doesn't have all the answers, and that gamers really do know what's best for the company. Because, in the end, gamers want what's best for Nintendo. And what's best for Nintendo can be summed up in one word: games.

Games.net's Countdown to...