The Top 7... Nintendo mistakes

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How the videogame giant became the world's favorite underdog

Anywhere you look in the world today, you'll seeevidenceof Sony's continuing downfall. It seems like every time someone from Sony opens hismouth, we want to twist our own heads off in disbelief. Can't that damn company go one day withoutembarrassing itself?

But if you think Sony's too cocky, arrogant and detached from the consumer base, you apparently weren't around for Nintendo's heyday. It was once just as influential, bossy and jerkish as Sony is today, and then some. Imagine a company with total control of an industry, where its word is law and no one can stand up against its decrees. Then imagine it falling from power so hard that companies practically lined up to walk on its back.

These are the mistakes that led to Nintendo's downfall. Sure, it's a lovely time for the company now, but if history repeats, Sony will fall, leaving someone else, possibly Nintendo, to get fat and lazy all over again. And by our reckoning, even its current console powerhouse is a possible misstep in the making.

Can the same magic that made the DS an international phenomenon happen with a console? Nintendo's betting on it. Betting it all, really.

Because what do you do next? Five years from now, when the PS4 and NextBox show up, they're going to jump in hardware power again. And then Nintendo's left with a machine that looks two generations old instead of one. The motion controls, now considered somewhere in between "the best damn thing that's ever happened in the world" to "gimmicky stupid childish nonsense," will be super played out and exploited. Unless there's some other gameplay innovation on the horizon, Wii could be viewed as a fad, susceptible to the same fickle emotions that killed snap bracelets, pet rocks and Sega. And if Nintendo bites the bullet and gives the machine a visual kick in the pants, well there goes its whole mantra that graphics don't matter. There's just enough steam with this idea to last one generation, and none after that.

Today, the Wii is insanely popular with almost every audience. But if this wave of good vibes ever ends, Nintendo's gonna be stranded. Casuals will be tired of Wii Sports, with no interest in shelling out $50 for a Wii Sports 2, and the typical gamer will be more interested in playing something with a normal controller, one you don't have to clear the room for.

Sure we love Super Paper Mario and can't wait to see Super Smash Bros. Brawl, but do either of these games have anything to do with the Wii Remote's primary function? Nope. And most third party games that find their way onto the system have control setups that baffle even the most hardcore of gamers. Hold B while flicking up to swing a punch? Please. Nintendo better have some crazy unique ideas coming up or we'll have to start clutching our DS systems even closer.

7 - Creating the Wii

Can the same magic that made the DS an international phenomenon happen with a console? Nintendo's betting on it. Betting it all, really.

Because what do you do next? Five years from now, when the PS4 and NextBox show up, they're going to jump in hardware power again. And then Nintendo's left with a machine that looks two generations old instead of one. The motion controls, now considered somewhere in between "the best damn thing that's ever happened in the world" to "gimmicky stupid childish nonsense," will be super played out and exploited. Unless there's some other gameplay innovation on the horizon, Wii could be viewed as a fad, susceptible to the same fickle emotions that killed snap bracelets, pet rocks and Sega. And if Nintendo bites the bullet and gives the machine a visual kick in the pants, well there goes its whole mantra that graphics don't matter. There's just enough steam with this idea to last one generation, and none after that.

Today, the Wii is insanely popular with almost every audience. But if this wave of good vibes ever ends, Nintendo's gonna be stranded. Casuals will be tired of Wii Sports, with no interest in shelling out $50 for a Wii Sports 2, and the typical gamer will be more interested in playing something with a normal controller, one you don't have to clear the room for.

Sure we love Super Paper Mario and can't wait to see Super Smash Bros. Brawl, but do either of these games have anything to do with the Wii Remote's primary function? Nope. And most third party games that find their way onto the system have control setups that baffle even the most hardcore of gamers. Hold B while flicking up to swing a punch? Please. Nintendo better have some crazy unique ideas coming up or we'll have to start clutching our DS systems even closer.

Brett Elston
Brett Elston

A fomer Executive Editor at GamesRadar, Brett also contributed content to many other Future gaming publications including Nintendo Power, PC Gamer and Official Xbox Magazine. Brett has worked at Capcom in several senior roles, is an experienced podcaster, and now works as a Senior Manager of Content Communications at PlayStation SIE.