Dear Nintendo Fans,
You deserve better. Really you do. Your blind devotion to Nintendo, which is rarely seen outside of Apple conventions and religious cults, is commendable but you deserve something new. You deserve a new set of characters with their own plotlines and Nintendo is letting you down. The launch of the Wii would have been the perfect chance to introduce a new franchise that used the controls in a new and innovative way. Instead we got iterations of the same franchises we’ve been playing in the past (Zelda, Mario, Metroid, MarioParty, Mario Kart, etc). The Xbox 360 (Gears of War) and PS3(Resistance Fall of Man) got new franchises within a year or so of their launch and yet Nintendo has been content to keep using the same roster of characters we`ve seen before.

There`s no doubt that the Wii hardware is unique and innovative but why hasn`t Nintendo expanded their character roster in years? I did a little research and checked with our in house experts and the last new Nintendo franchise they could remember was was PikMan back in 2003. That’s right, it’s been almost five years since Nintendo created a new franchise. Compare that with Electronic Arts who has delivered four major new IP’s in the last year, two of which (Boogie and Boom Blox) were for the Wii. I know Shigeru has been working on WiiFit but why haven`t we seen anything new from him recently? You could argue that Nintendogs,WiiSports, or WiiFit are new but are can you really put them in same league as a Mario or Zelda game?

You have to wonder why Nintendo has become comfortable to just crank out slightly update versions of their old franchises. Is it because it`s easy to crank out new games with existing characters because they know their fans will eat it up no matter what? Is it because they are afraid of creating something new that won`t fly with their faithful? Is it possible that the roster is full and that they think adding more will dilute it?

It doesn`t help that the Nintendo faithful eat up every new game that Nintendo cranks out even if the game just features updated controls or a slight twist on the gameplay. Why are the fans still content with rescuing Princess Peach and Zelda year after year? I haven`t seen this much of abuse of a fanbase sense George Lucas unleashed Jar Jar Binks on his fans. The only difference is that the Star Wars fans actually rebelled against Lucas while the Nintendo fans have continued to buy the games in droves while the Nintendo fans seem content to continue to do the same thing they`ve been doing for years.

Look at Super Smash Brothers Brawl. If you’re a long time Nintendo fan this was a near perfect game but to an outsider the game was average at best. The plot of the single player game barely makes any sense and the controls aren`t exactly the most intuitive in the world The same could almost be said of Wii version Mario Kart which maintains the same flaws of the previous games but sold like hot cakes because of the emotional investment the Nintendo faithful have in their core franchises. I`d go on about online support but I think even the most ardent Nintendo fan will admit that the friends code system is heavily flawed.

EA catches a lot of crap from fans because they milk their sports franchise every year but isn`t that really what Nintendo is doing with the Mario brand? If EA owned the Mario brand and came out with Mario tennis and soccer games fans would be up in the air but Nintendo is able to avoid the ire of their fanboys. I`m not saying these games are bad and they are certainly of a higher standard that what EA cranks out on a yearly basis bu...

I don't think Chuck is just asking for new characters, but also new adventures. You bring up Link, yet outside of a few minor differences, most of the recently Zelda games have been the same. I can certainly respect that the Zelda games are good, but like the character itself, the games have become a bit same-y. Of course, that's just opinion, like the piece you are responding to.

But c'mon, how cool would it be to get a brand new adventure set around a completely different character? It doesn't have to be like Zelda, it can be its own brand new thing, with different gameplay ideas and people to talk to. I don't think anybody is asking for a Mario game with a different character, I think we just want something new. At this point it just seems like Nintendo is a little too predictable. Before any Wii games were even announced we knew that there would be a Mario, Zelda, Mario Kart, Smash Bros., Mario Party and Metroid game. And look at that, all of those games came out within the first year (give or take). Now we expect a new Animal Crossing, Pikmin, and a bunch of other familiar games we played on the GameCube, Nintendo 64, Super NES and even the original 8-bit NES. It's just more of the same. The same characters, the same franchises, the same everything. I appreciate WiiFit and Wii Sports, but they aren't exactly in the same league as a new Mario, Zelda, or whatever.

As for your comments about Resistance and Gears of War, I think those complaints may have more to do with the storytelling. Certainly you could make a unique character fit into that world, even if it's nothing more than duck and shoot. Look at Grand Theft Auto IV. Niko Bellic is one of the best game characters I have ever been introduced to, yet he's in an action game that doesn't exactly redefine how action games are played. Then again, I wouldn't say Nintendo's newest Mario Party, Smash Bros., Mario Kart or Legend of Zelda game exactly redefined their genres. I would like to believe that new characters could pop up from new gameplay designs, but so far I haven't seen a lot of those. The most exciting uses of my Wii have come from Wario Ware (an existing franchise with an even older character) and Wii Sports (which has YOU as the character).

Well written, Chuck.

I agree it's time for Nintendo to give long-time fans something refreshing. The IP's are getting tired but still selling like hotcakes.

Maybe Nintendo's scared of creating something different. But, I'm sure anyone would agree that for the most part Nintendo has always been a casual "family" game company. Therefore, they thrive on the familiar because that's something to which housewives and kids can relate.

However, with how well they are doing on system sales and rehash games, you think that they could have the courage to try something new more often than every 5 years.

And if you look at Wii-ware, it's not for lack of ideas out there. Maybe they will actually be watching how well some of the Wii-ware titles sell and learn something from it.

While I do agree that Nintendo could benefit from a new franchise, in terms of new game titles being released these days, the entire game industry is pretty stagnant in general. Sequel after sequel offers us the same damn thing in a prettier package. The most recent original or innovative games all seem to involve some new peripheral or control scheme (guitar/drum/mic controllers), but now were even starting to see clones of those popping up. That's not to say there are no fun games being released today, but if we're looking for originality here, no one is offering anything terribly new right now. If it's not a direct sequel with the same characters/ motif, then it's the same gameplay that's been rehashed a thousand times over. And which is really worse? Is it the duplication of gameplay mechanics, or of the story/characters? Is it better to have several different first person shooters with new stories/weapons/character designs (halo, bioshock, call of duty, etc.) that all play essentially the same way, or to have several games that featured the same characters but with completely different game styles (super smash bros, mario kart, mario strikers, etc.)? I guess it really depends on your tastes, but in terms of trying to create new original gameplay, Nintendo really deserves a lot of credit. Their entire platform is based on trying to do something new. As for their existing franchises, the characters and plotlines may seem a bit overdone, but before we bash them too hard I think it's important to look around the room and see what the other guys are doing. Nintendo is really the only contender with an in house studio publishing their own software to run on the hardware they created. Sure, Microsoft and Sony might go out and buy a development studio (once they've proven they can create a great game), but really there is nothing new coming out of those hardware companies. So if you don't find Nintendo's games/franchises fun or interesting, thats definitely valid. But lets not go bashing until we do a fair assessment of whats going on out there in general.

But hey, thats just my $.02. Chuck, now that you've shown us how Nintendo has done us wrong with their original game lineup, why don't you show us how Sony and Microsoft have really come through for us with their original titles.

And too the inevitable "the wii is for kiddies" comment, I have one word for you: MadWorld.

I just don't buy this kind of argument. Yes, there are a lot of me-too games coming from Sony, Microsoft, EA, Konami and even Nintendo, but there definitely are original ideas popping up here and there. I point to a game like Crush for the PSP. It's a completely original and inventive puzzle game ... that nobody played. I would also argue that Puzzle Quest was truly original. It was a great pairing of traditional puzzle (Bejeweled) and traditional RPG. And it worked ... amazingly well. It was my favorite game of 2007. Or what about Portal? Sure it uses a first-person perspective, but it uses its gameplay in completely original ways.

There are a lot of other examples, including a thriving independent scene that is getting completely ignored.



This is what they said all along, but so far only a few games from Nintendo have really used the motion sensing to create new gameplay experiences. I would argue that both Wii Sports and Wario Ware (as well as Super Mario Galaxy, though not as much) have done amazing things using the motion control. But a majority of Nintendo's own releases could have been done on the GameCube. Do we really need the Wii's control for Smash Bros. or Mario Kart? Clearly we don't. Nor did we need them when playing Zelda, Super Paper Mario, or Metroid. I can't wait for all of these innovations pop-up, but it frustrates me to see them put on a pedestal because they say they are being innovative. I'm sorry, but Mario Kart Wii is not an innovative game ... Crush is.

Considering that Microsoft didn't develop (and aren't publishing) Castle Crashers I don't think you can use that as an example. And Gears of War was two years ago by my count (oh how time flies).

But Chuck is right, Microsoft is responsible for a number of new IPs. What about Viva Pinata? Sure it had a Saturday morning cartoon, but it introduced us to some interesting new characters and was highly regarded as one of the better games of that year. And then there's Too Human, which is coming out eventually ... maybe. Speaking of games that may or may not come out, Alan Wake would top that list AND be considered a brand new IP. There's also the terrible Vampire Rain, but nobody wants to talk about that one. And what about Blue Dragon? Lost Odyssey? Crackdown? Mass Effect?

I mean, the list goes on and on. Sure they release sequels, but so does everybody else. But at least Microsoft is TRYING to come up with new ideas. And let's face it, Microsoft isn't known for being the amazing game maker that Nintendo is. Why should we settle for Nintendo rehashing when we could have completely new ideas with new characters?

Of course they deserve credit. You misunderstood my point. I give Nintendo all the credit in the world for trying something new. I'm not sure what they did was as successful as I would have liked, but I respect them for trying. What I was saying was that when other companies are just as innovative they never get recognized. You don't see Guitar Hero or Rock Band being talked about for its innovation, you hear people talk about it because it is a fun game. My point was that there are games that are truly deserving of the label "innovative" (like Crush, which I've mentioned several times), yet they tend to get ignored. And when you bring up the idea of innovation it seems like people only seem ready to talk about Nintendo, even though very few of their current games are actually innovative.

As I said, Microsoft isn't known for being the great first-party developer that Nintendo is. If you're going to ask me who the best developer is, then Nintendo would win out over Sony and Microsoft. However, they've also had a lot more time to develop their craft. Microsoft jumped into the console market seven years ago, so it makes sense for them to pick up a lot of good developers. I'm not sure they should be disqualified because Microsoft owns the companies that makes them. If that's the case, then there are plenty of classic Nintendo games that aren't actually made by Nintendo proper.

But they DO have games of their own. I listed a half dozen, and that's just from the last two years. Does it matter that Microsoft bought these companies at one point? The projects are still being paid for by Microsoft dollars, so what is the difference?

I certainly can't look into the future, however I don't think you need a crystal ball to see that MS will continue to milk Halo for all its worth. But that isn't the argument. If you want me to list off all of the problems Sony and Microsoft have I will be more than willing to do that. But that isn't the point of this article. This article is about Nintendo.

Here's what I don't understand, why is it the moment that Nintendo gets brought up everybody's defense is to slime Sony and Microsoft? Can't we have a conversation that is about somebody being disappointed with Nintendo's recent lack of original IPs? Why does this have to be about Sony and Microsoft and whether or not they make their own games or just buy companies? What does that have to do with Nintendo not making any new IPs?

Nothing, it's a diversion tactic because people don't actually like to address real problems facing Nintendo. I understand the love, I love Nintendo ... but I don't have a blind love. I love it knowing that they will make mistakes here and there, and that there's nothing wrong with bringing it up from time to time. It's a valid complaint to be sad that Nintendo hasn't released many new IPs recently. That isn't Chuck bashing on Nintendo, it's him voicing an opinion out of love and respect. Yet the moment he brings it up he's being called ignorant. It's sad, really.

I don't think anywhere in the article do I bash Nintendo, I just ask why one of the most creative companies in the industry hasn't turned out a new signature franchise in a while. The article wasn't intended to take shots at the company but just to ask that question. I would hope that WiiSports/WiiPlay and every other mini-game collection isn't going to be the legacy of the Wii.