Hey, guys! Check out this cool song:
Oh Nintendo!
Oh oh oh!
Ohhhhhhh-ohhh!
Ohhhh?
That was a real good song, even if I do say so myself, and it pretty much sums up my relationship with Nintendo these days; a series of "ohs" expressing different things.
Some of them are weary-ohs, some surprised, some affectionate, some frustrated. Here's what I say again, in case you've already forgotten: "Ohhhhh..."
It has been a weird, transitional year for Nintendo. It began with the company sliding its yellow, moist, torso into mobile apps and gaming, unveiling a miniature version of its first games console, that made everybody go a bit silly, before announcing its next console (which will console-idate its under-telly and handheld businesses), giving up on the Wii U, and revealing that it is moving into the theme park business.
Why, it almost feels as if Nintendo is having some sort of mid-life crisis. It'll be buying a sports car next.
Oh Nintendo!
Oh oh oh!
Ohhhhhhh-ohhh!
Ohhhh?
That was a real good song, even if I do say so myself, and it pretty much sums up my relationship with Nintendo these days; a series of "ohs" expressing different things.
Some of them are weary-ohs, some surprised, some affectionate, some frustrated. Here's what I say again, in case you've already forgotten: "Ohhhhh..."
It has been a weird, transitional year for Nintendo. It began with the company sliding its yellow, moist, torso into mobile apps and gaming, unveiling a miniature version of its first games console, that made everybody go a bit silly, before announcing its next console (which will console-idate its under-telly and handheld businesses), giving up on the Wii U, and revealing that it is moving into the theme park business.
Why, it almost feels as if Nintendo is having some sort of mid-life crisis. It'll be buying a sports car next.
PHENOM-NOM-NOM
Miitomo, it's probably fair to say, wasn't the social media hit that Nintendo might've hoped for. Certainly, I lost interest in it very quickly.
According to figures, so did most people, once the novelty of putting your Miis into compromising positions had worn off; from 1.6 million downloads in the US in its first four days at the end of March, by May only a quarter of the people who'd first acquired the app ever bothered opening it regularly.
Pokemon Go broke download records for a mobile game, and became a full-on cultural phenomenon. Unfortunatey, downloads dried up sooner than Nintendo hoped for, and sales of in-game coins have all but stopped.
An update this week is aiming to reinvigorate the title, with new Pokemon and a Christmas hat-wearing Pikachu, but many of the promised features - such as Pokemon trading, or player versus player battles - remain absent.
Super Mario Run - due out this week - is Nintendo's first bona-fide, premium-priced, mobile title, and the first it has developed in-house. It's likely that its success or failure will dictate the direction of Nintendo's mobile strategy.
Miitomo, it's probably fair to say, wasn't the social media hit that Nintendo might've hoped for. Certainly, I lost interest in it very quickly.
According to figures, so did most people, once the novelty of putting your Miis into compromising positions had worn off; from 1.6 million downloads in the US in its first four days at the end of March, by May only a quarter of the people who'd first acquired the app ever bothered opening it regularly.
Pokemon Go broke download records for a mobile game, and became a full-on cultural phenomenon. Unfortunatey, downloads dried up sooner than Nintendo hoped for, and sales of in-game coins have all but stopped.
An update this week is aiming to reinvigorate the title, with new Pokemon and a Christmas hat-wearing Pikachu, but many of the promised features - such as Pokemon trading, or player versus player battles - remain absent.
Super Mario Run - due out this week - is Nintendo's first bona-fide, premium-priced, mobile title, and the first it has developed in-house. It's likely that its success or failure will dictate the direction of Nintendo's mobile strategy.
SWITCH PALACE
The other big Nintendo news this year was the reveal of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and the unveiling of its next bona-fide console, Switch.
I wasn't blown away with the first promo that Nintendo unveiled. It felt like it was trying a bit too hard to be cool, when Nintendo's traditional base has always been broader than slender Millennials with white teeth.
Still... for whatever reason, Nintendo decided that this was indeed the correct strategy with which to show off its new console, and I've since warmed to the Switch. I mean, we still know barely anything about it - least of all which of its biggest franchises Nintendo will be bringing to it beyond Zelda - but I actually sort of like how cute and Nintendo-y a concept it is.
Nonetheless, Nintendo remains the singlemost stubbornly idiosyncratic games company in the world. It almost exists outside the rest of the industry, refusing to abide by any traditional rules of engagement. Success in Nintendo terms is different to the way Microsoft or Sony might define it.
Indeed, success for Nintendo could be viewed as, say, Universal announcing that it is bringing a Super Nintendo World to its international theme parks.
For all the ups and downs of the last few years, clearly Nintendo is the only games company with brands and characters that are - 'scuse the pun, daddy - sufficiently universally recognisable to compete with Mickey Mouse.
The other big Nintendo news this year was the reveal of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and the unveiling of its next bona-fide console, Switch.
I wasn't blown away with the first promo that Nintendo unveiled. It felt like it was trying a bit too hard to be cool, when Nintendo's traditional base has always been broader than slender Millennials with white teeth.
Still... for whatever reason, Nintendo decided that this was indeed the correct strategy with which to show off its new console, and I've since warmed to the Switch. I mean, we still know barely anything about it - least of all which of its biggest franchises Nintendo will be bringing to it beyond Zelda - but I actually sort of like how cute and Nintendo-y a concept it is.
Nonetheless, Nintendo remains the singlemost stubbornly idiosyncratic games company in the world. It almost exists outside the rest of the industry, refusing to abide by any traditional rules of engagement. Success in Nintendo terms is different to the way Microsoft or Sony might define it.
Indeed, success for Nintendo could be viewed as, say, Universal announcing that it is bringing a Super Nintendo World to its international theme parks.
For all the ups and downs of the last few years, clearly Nintendo is the only games company with brands and characters that are - 'scuse the pun, daddy - sufficiently universally recognisable to compete with Mickey Mouse.
U WOT?
Regardless, the Switch needs to succeed. The Wii U has shipped just over 13 million units worldwide - a fraction of what its predecessor achieved, and lagging way behind the PlayStation 4.
Nintendo will be putting all of its eggs into a single basket with Switch - there'll be no Game Boy or DS safety net - and the jury is out as to whether its mobile games experiment is working.
While Switch shouldn't be viewed as a direct competitor to the PS4 or Xbox One - not least because it's a hybrid console - it still needs to perform better than the Wii U has done.
My prediction? It'll do better - far better - but it still won't do Wii or PS4 numbers. The genius of the Wii is that it was accessible to everyone. People who would never have otherwise picked up a games console were buying the Wii. It was a party system, a family system. Young kids and grandmothers, and their murderers, could play on it together.
The Wii U was nothing of the sort... and the Switch - while emphasising two-player gaming on the go, with its detachable joypads and portable screen, doesn't have that appeal either. And you can't really blame Nintendo for that. If Best Ideas Ever were that easy to come by everyone would be having them.
Given the basic idea of the system they've unveiled - frankly, multiplayer gaming on the go doesn't particularly interest me - the key selling point for many potential Switch gamers will be the games themselves.
It'll rest on whether Nintendo listens to the clamouring for its biggest franchises, whether it launches Switch with a line-up of triple-A, in-house games, a new Mario game - and more. That's what Switch needs in order to build buzz. It needs to appeal to a new audience, and recapture its old one; the one that drifted away after Wii U, and grew frustrated with the idiosyncracies which define the company.
Just look at how well the NES Mini has done. This is a company that still has a lot of loyal people out there waiting to return.
Regardless, the Switch needs to succeed. The Wii U has shipped just over 13 million units worldwide - a fraction of what its predecessor achieved, and lagging way behind the PlayStation 4.
Nintendo will be putting all of its eggs into a single basket with Switch - there'll be no Game Boy or DS safety net - and the jury is out as to whether its mobile games experiment is working.
While Switch shouldn't be viewed as a direct competitor to the PS4 or Xbox One - not least because it's a hybrid console - it still needs to perform better than the Wii U has done.
My prediction? It'll do better - far better - but it still won't do Wii or PS4 numbers. The genius of the Wii is that it was accessible to everyone. People who would never have otherwise picked up a games console were buying the Wii. It was a party system, a family system. Young kids and grandmothers, and their murderers, could play on it together.
The Wii U was nothing of the sort... and the Switch - while emphasising two-player gaming on the go, with its detachable joypads and portable screen, doesn't have that appeal either. And you can't really blame Nintendo for that. If Best Ideas Ever were that easy to come by everyone would be having them.
Given the basic idea of the system they've unveiled - frankly, multiplayer gaming on the go doesn't particularly interest me - the key selling point for many potential Switch gamers will be the games themselves.
It'll rest on whether Nintendo listens to the clamouring for its biggest franchises, whether it launches Switch with a line-up of triple-A, in-house games, a new Mario game - and more. That's what Switch needs in order to build buzz. It needs to appeal to a new audience, and recapture its old one; the one that drifted away after Wii U, and grew frustrated with the idiosyncracies which define the company.
Just look at how well the NES Mini has done. This is a company that still has a lot of loyal people out there waiting to return.
AMID-DLE
Amid all this, one thing comes across: people still love Nintendo. I still love Nintendo. People want a games industry where Nintendo is a major player. There's a yearning for Nintendo not to balls things up, and to do well. The company understands the purity of game design almost better than anyone else.
Speculating wildly... I wonder if Nintendo's bright colours and warm visuals are exactly what we all need right now.
Here at the end of 2016 the world feels bleak for many of us. Switch - with its emphasis on bringing people together, and the shameless fantasy of Breath of the Wild - might be exactly what we - what I - need.
That's what I hope.
Oh Nintendo!
Oh oh oh!
Ohhhhhhh-ohhh!
Ohhhh?
Such a cool song...
Amid all this, one thing comes across: people still love Nintendo. I still love Nintendo. People want a games industry where Nintendo is a major player. There's a yearning for Nintendo not to balls things up, and to do well. The company understands the purity of game design almost better than anyone else.
Speculating wildly... I wonder if Nintendo's bright colours and warm visuals are exactly what we all need right now.
Here at the end of 2016 the world feels bleak for many of us. Switch - with its emphasis on bringing people together, and the shameless fantasy of Breath of the Wild - might be exactly what we - what I - need.
That's what I hope.
Oh Nintendo!
Oh oh oh!
Ohhhhhhh-ohhh!
Ohhhh?
Such a cool song...
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