
Since the mid 80’s Nintendo has been synonymous with video games. You always asked your friends if they wanted to come over to play Nintendo or that you were going to the store to buy a new Nintendo game. It’s hard to imagine there being a time without Nintendo in the video game industry, but that time almost happened. I was looking at the latest issue of Game Informer and two quotes stood out above all the rest in the entire magazine. They were quotes I had never heard before and this was an issue I had never thought could possibly happen. Here are the two quotes. The first is from a news story in 2003.
“Nintendo of America expressed a firm commitment to hardware successors for the GameCube and Game Boy Advance for the first time. Previously, the company had openly debated the need to stay in the hardware market, mulling a future where it would only make software.”
I do not know what source that is from, I assume it’s from a previous issue of Game Informer, but the only information with the quote was that it was from the news. The second quote is from Nintendo President Satoru Iwata in July of 2003.
“We will not retreat – we are staying in the console business.”
Nintendo had suffered a couple of major set backs with the Nintendo 64 and the GameCube. Neither console was very successful despite ushering the console market into the 3D era. The GameCube, despite being one of the most powerful systems of that generation finished dead last in sales and it was widely rumored that Nintendo might be thinking of getting out of the hardware market much like Sega had a few years earlier. What might the gaming landscape look like now without Nintendo?
Well, the biggest difference would be the advent of motion controls. Nintendo started this generation taking the lead in motion control and I don’t think you’d be hearing people talk about it yet without that lead. Sony had motion in their PS3 controller when it launched, but it was not well implemented, and I believe it was a knee jerk reaction to what Nintendo was doing at the time. They’ve since basically abandoned the Six-axis controller and are implementing a new controller that looks very similar to Nintendo’s Wii Remote. By this time in 2010 all three systems will now be using motion control in one way or another. Microsoft has the best chance to take some of the market away from Nintendo. Again, Sony’s motion control feels like a me too reaction to what’s going on now.
That also brings the Balance Board into question. Without the Wii there would be no balance board. I don’t think Nintendo, as a software company, would have been able to do the balance board. Nintendo taking chances and focusing on a system that used motion as an input and expanding the audience was what allowed Nintendo to take another gamble with the Balance Board. That would also mean games like Tony Hawk Ride might not exist. I think that game may still be a dismal failure, but it’s Activision’s belief that people really like motion based inputs now that allows that game to exist. That mindset would not be around with Nintendo showing that to be the case.
The DS would not exist. These comments all come from 2003 and the DS was not released until 2004. The handheld market would be non-existent or Sony would now own that space with the PSP. That was Nintendo’s first venture into unusual control methods, and while it started slowly it gained momentum and now is the industry leader in the portable market.
The audience would still be 14-24 year old males for the most part. It’s been the success of the DS and the Wii for Nintendo that has shown there are other people out there that enjoy gaming. They’re completely different experiences and it has guided what Nintendo has done this generation. It has made many long time gamers feel that Nintendo has lost their way, but I fell exactly the opposite. Gaming’s not an exclusive club anymore. It’s open to everyone and that’s made the industry better as a whole, in my opinion.
There are a number of new games and franchises that wouldn’t exist. They were built around the concept of motion control. Some of those titles are: Zack & Wiki, LostWinds, Wii Fit, Wii Sports, Boom Blox, Mad World, Drawn to Life, Swords & Soldiers, and Bit.Trip. That’s just a few and it doesn’t even include many DS games. Tiger Woods would still be trying to replicate a golf swing with dual sticks rather than immersing you into a world where you really feel like your swing affects what happens on screen.
I can’t imagine a world without Nintendo. It just seems weird to think that the number one console maker in history wouldn’t be around. They’re on top of the world now because of the gambles they took. They saw that doing the same thing generation after generation wasn’t working anymore and players needed something different, even if they didn’t realize it yet. They’ve shown time and again that they understand the industry needs to change. It’s not just about making the games look prettier year after year. You have to change the way gamers interact with their games. They started it this generation with motion control and very soon it will be a pseudo-standard in the industry. None of that would have happened if those statements above had proven to be the end of Nintendo. And besides, who wants to play Mario on a 360 anyway?