Has Nintendo gone lazy?

[kernow]

I just don't know what people are playing on their pal wii's - apart from 'ooh look at the red standby light' or virtual console.

[Sixty]

Oh man. Is this going to become another "no hardcore games on Wii" thread? Can't we just have one dedicated place for this stuff instead of starting a new discussion about the same thing every month or so?

Edit: Hmm, maybe that's jumping the gun a bit, but it's bound to happen.

[noobish hat]

I'm a bit of a Nintendo fanboy, and my collection is largely Nintendo stuff, but I don't own a wii, I own a 360. This is sad. However, I do have a DS and over 30 games, but even that of late seems a bit barren. Still, I tend to look at gaming in the long run, and I'm not worried because it could all turn around by next gen, who knows.

[charlesr]

Hardly a new discussion in this particular case...

I think Nintendo are trying VERY hard to please, but I might not be the person they are trying to please any more. Even Wii Fit wasn't for me, cos, well... I'm already fit and the majority of it was more interesting than useful for me.

Having said that, Elebits wouldn't have been possible unless Nintendo had been trying hard to innovate. VC is pretty lazy though when compared to XBLA retro stuff and their high-score boards.

[Kongster]

I wouldn't say that Nintendo have gone lazy - I just think that their approach has changed. And it seems to be working because they are rolling it in.

[abigsmurf]

I think Nintendo are being a bit lazy.

The mini game collections, PS2/GC ports were acceptable at launch, however now it's just a sign of laziness, especially when it comes to third party releases. Nintendo need(ed) to take a firm line with the shovelware producers, The Wii, is more powerful than the Gamecube and much more powerful than the PS2. So far, only Mario Galaxy and SSBB look better than Game cube.

The second gen Wii titles should be upon us and there is very little wow factor. We should be seeing ingenious new ways of using the Wiimote but there's little that has gone beyond the waggle at launch.

Nintendo need to take sony's approach and make it harder for people to produce the drivel that fills the Wii's line up from third parties. Nintendo should be leading in creative uses but instead, rather than have teams soley dedicated to creating showcases, they're going in and creating stuff like Wii Music. Yes these are mainstream and popular but they don't hold interest enough.

Nintendo worked hard to try and get rid of the "kiddie games" label with the Game Cube, paying capcom lots of money for REmake and RE4 as a timed exclusive. With the Wii, they're quickly building up a reputation for games lacking in any substance that are meant to appeal to 60 and 8 year olds, not teenagers and twenty-somethings.

The DS has endless amounts of shovelware, but it also has some incredibly creative games, this mix is why the console prints money. Nintendo led the field there with Another Code, Mario DS, Metroid Prime, Phantom Hourglass and mario kart all taking advantage of various different applications of the console's hardware and making great games. Third party support for the DS is immensly strong and as a result, I feel the DS has the best line up of any console around. Something which is a first for a handheld.

[Goemon]

This is a bit of a tough debate...

With the GC I thought N struggled to meet demand for first party titles and so sent out games half cocked while farming others out to other companies. This helped them attempt to meet expectations and allowed them to work on other things.

Nower days projects have to have around 100+ staff and N have a lot of popular franchises. Back in the day it was easier to create these franchises but now games cost big bucks and take years to make.

Does this make them lazy? I don't think so.

Unfortunately, I don't think we'll ever see the Nintendo of old ever again. We'll see moments of magic, but it won't be the same.

[Ady]

I think Nintendo are being a bit lazy.

The mini game collections, PS2/GC ports were acceptable at launch, however now it's just a sign of laziness, especially when it comes to third party releases. Nintendo need(ed) to take a firm line with the shovelware producers, The Wii, is more powerful than the Gamecube and much more powerful than the PS2. So far, only Mario Galaxy and SSBB look better than Game cube.

The second gen Wii titles should be upon us and there is very little wow factor. We should be seeing ingenious new ways of using the Wiimote but there's little that has gone beyond the waggle at launch.

Nintendo need to take sony's approach and make it harder for people to produce the drivel that fills the Wii's line up from third parties. Nintendo should be leading in creative uses but instead, rather than have teams soley dedicated to creating showcases, they're going in and creating stuff like Wii Music. Yes these are mainstream and popular but they don't hold interest enough.

Nintendo worked hard to try and get rid of the "kiddie games" label with the Game Cube, paying capcom lots of money for REmake and RE4 as a timed exclusive. With the Wii, they're quickly building up a reputation for games lacking in any substance that are meant to appeal to 60 and 8 year olds, not teenagers and twenty-somethings.

The DS has endless amounts of shovelware, but it also has some incredibly creative games, this mix is why the console prints money. Nintendo led the field there with Another Code, Mario DS, Metroid Prime, Phantom Hourglass and mario kart all taking advantage of various different applications of the console's hardware and making great games. Third party support for the DS is immensly strong and as a result, I feel the DS has the best line up of any console around. Something which is a first for a handheld.

Some fair points, especially concerning the DS, but I've never understood why Nintendo gets blamed for the output of 3rd parties. Unfortunately Nintendo cannot make 3rd parties take their machine seriously (which they clearly are not, even now).

That said, I am starting to get somewhat disillusioned with the Wii in general though because the machine has so much potential, as you say but it's not being realised - even by Nintendo (how is it, for example a game like Pilotwings, which would be perfect on the Wii hasn't even been thought of?).

I don't blame them for courting the mainstream as, contrary to popular belief they still produced plenty of "proper" games in the meantime, but it's pretty clear to me now though that decent 3rd party games aren't going to happen on this console. I'd like to be proved wrong though, but I won't hold my breath. Two years in, the DS was killing it with tons of great games and support from other companies. That's just not happening on the Wii.