Like many of my peers, I grew up with Nintendo. I was born in 1981 and before I was 5 the original NES system was released. I have fond memories of the first day we brought home the NES. I would spend hours sitting on the floor in front of our huge console TV. Having spent who knows how many quarters in an arcade, being able to play for as long as I wanted was a huge deal. Add to that the addition of the light gun and you couldn’t have had a happier 5-year-old.
Who could watch that commercial as a 5-year-old and not want one of those things? I’ve owned several Nintendo consoles since then and enjoyed following the careers of Mario and Zelda, my two favorite video game characters. But I’m finding it difficult to get excited simply because of the last two consoles Nintendo has released have been so bad. I recently purchased a Wii U and was very disappointed. With the newest Nintendo console on the horizon I thought I would visit why I don’t think Nintendo should make home consoles anymore:
Console Interface Speed
Have you used a Wii or a Wii U before? If so you know what I’m talking about. I love purchasing digital games but waiting 20-30 seconds for the store to load and then load times just to look at the details on specific games is just not acceptable nowadays. The previous generation Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 didn’t have these problems.
Controllers
I know I can’t be the only one that hates the Wii Remote. When the Wii first came out I thought it was awesome. But then the novelty wore off and it became apparent how uncomfortable this thing was. I will observe a moment of silence here for all the LCD tv’s that met their demise to a flying Wii Remote (Yes my dad did throw one into my 40” Samsung several years ago). The exception to this is the Wii U Pro controller. This thing works great and is very comfortable. And then there is the motion of the Wii Remote. You can tell which games really put thought into how this would work, others just used it because it was there. And then there are those times when you just want to hang out on the couch for a few hours. How dare you make me exercise when I don’t want to Nintendo!
The Sensor Bar
This is just one more piece of equipment to get lost or destroyed when trying to take your console to a friend’s house. This is also a major issue if you want to have your equipment in a different room. I’ve spent more hours than I would like to admit creating my home theater and having all the equipment in a different room was essential. Now I have to deal with a wireless sensor bar sticking it on a chair in my living room when we want to play the Wii U.
Screen Resolution
Just as Nintendo releases a console that supports 1080p games, the rest of the world is ready to move to UHD. I would bet they have lost tons of sales on the Wii to people who wanted an HD gaming experience and it was a huge oversight to skip it. Most people don’t buy multiple consoles and most wanted HD even when the Wii came out.
Game Selection
I wonder if Nintendo did any kind of market survey’s before releasing the Wii? I’m a huge Mario and Zelda fan but even I enjoy killing the occasional zombie. Yes, they have started to fix this with the Wii U after they realized that again, most people don’t buy multiple consoles. If you’re only going to buy one, game selection is a major issue.
Because of these last two consoles I just don’t have the faith that Nintendo has what it takes to compete with Sony and Microsoft. I would love to play me some Zelda with that amazing Xbox One controller. Then again I could be wrong, it has been known to have happen before. Nintendo hasn’t survived all this time by making horrible product after horrible product. While I haven’t played any of the new Gameboy consoles, I’ve heard nothing but amazing things from friends. Are you excited for the new “Nintendo NX”? Let me know in the comments below.
