I have been enjoying the Nintendo 64 quite a lot of late alongside the GameCube and Triforce Arcade. You could say that I do actually love Nintendo but the reality is, I do not. I “enjoy” the NES, I “like” the SNES and LOVE the next two consoles for various reasons but that is where the romance ends. Well, kinda… The Wii will always have a spot in my heart for reasons, one of which is it makes an excellent GameCube and Triforce Arcade but I do also enjoy many Wii games despite the awful motion controller they forced upon us for far too many games. Beyond that though… I have no Interest in the Wii U due to its dumb screen controller pad thing and the Switch in all forms has nothing of interest on it for me and I see it as nothing more than an overpriced nostalgia console that is also a waste of silicon and money. I am not here to talk trash about trash though, I am posting this just to highlight how , for me, the highlight of Nintendo were the years 1996 through 2011.
Such a short time frame when you consider modern PC and Console gaming. Just fifteen years to take us from 2D gaming to 3D and then throw in some life changing motion control too. And that isn’t hyperbole either. The Wii, despite my own personal thoughts about it overusing motion control changed the lives of many people, from disabled to the older gamer and brought an often ignored subset of gamers back into the mainstream. Heck, it even changed my life to a degree as I could now play “Light Gun Games” again on my flat panel monitors and TVs. Yes yes, I know they are no longer actual light guns and the tech is extremely different but people who argue that are just insane. You point a “gun” at the screen and shoot things, same ole in game-play. Throw in the odd fun motion control game like bowling or tennis and it changed the way we all play video games to a degree. It was fun! Just as the 64 took us into a 3D based console from 2D machines trying to play 3D, the Wii moved us even further on whether you like it or not.
I know the N64 has a reputation of Vaseline blur, awkward camera angles and a push some just did not want but it also has some amazing titles that just would not work as well on the old hardware of the SNES etc. Mario Kart 64, Wave Race, Mario 64 and many more including some series I cannot stand but, to many, remain top tier games about some lass called Zelda. The quality of image mostly lacked on PAL systems that, some, lacking s-video really did look quite terrible. To the lucky few Europeans and all NTSC users s-video fixed that to a degree that whilst not perfect was better. The sad thing is its Nintendo themselves that caused this issue through… well, Nintendo being the narcissistic Nintendo they always have been to the end user. It has to be said though that the very best titles on the 64 were done by Nintendo themselves and of course Rare. Let Goldeneye never be forgotten and fuck perfect Dark!(even if it ran great compared).
Then of course there is my personal favourite in many ways, the GameCube. The powerhouse of a childs toy in its perfect Fisher Price case that really did it no justice in the eyes of the mainstream critics, i.e. you! Yeah I know, I get the complaints but honestly I loved it. It was cute, small and had a handle FFS! You could carry it anywhere and it was TOUGH! I swear you could use it as a 10 pin bowling ball and it would still boot up afterwards and play its little discs that again made us feel like it was designed by a 12 year old for 10 year old gamers. The games though! Luigis Mansion showed us how cool Green Mario really was. Double Dash was THE worthy successor to Mario Kart 64 and looked lovely. Killer 7 took us places we never expected whilst games like Metroid Prime reinvented the wheel we didn’t realise needed it. The games pushed technology to a World of good 3D games with decent cameras and loads of colour and clarity and to top it all off? We suddenly got amazing Star Wars games to beat the already amazing ones on the N64. Life was good.
So, yes. I like Nintendo but not the modern ones nor the silly off-shoot that was the Wii U. Nor do I crave the much older ones that makes Americans weep tears of nostalgia for “better days”. Those middle years though were perfection. The highlight of gaming some will say and… I kinda agree with them. Despite my love for other systems and other companies and despite my bitching at what Nintendo became they were once Kings and I miss those days, or I would but I can play them all on original hardware still so go me and fuck the Switch!
Interesting stuff. While I consider SNES as the classic era for the big N, I actually have a greater fondest for Nintendo as a handheld company. The GameBoy is legend of course (even though I never had one), but the GBA, DS and Switch are all excellent and unique handheld systems (yes I consider the Switch a handheld). I’m still a computer gamer at heart, but the Ninty handhelds are the closest I got to proper console gaming instead of having machines gathering dust under the TV.
As is fairly well known, handhelds have always held little appeal for me so honestly when I wrote this I didn’t even consider them. I guess if we stick to original handhelds, i.e. not the amazing devices like the RG35XX then Nintendo def won that war and classics like the GameBoy were certainly just that, classics.
I do have a gameboy and honestly don’t rate it as is was with its awful screen etc but I have enjoyed my DS Lite before getting multi devices instead but its still just cut down version of proper games on proper consoles to me. I am just not what they aim for market wise I guess. If I am on the move I prefer music or a movie on my phone and do not even use my RG35XX much on busses etc.
Me too to be honest. If I play handhelds, I almost always play them at home, and generally play handheld exclusives – Professor Layton, Mario & Luigi series, handheld Zelda games. Obviously most things are handheld exclusive on Switch since I only play handheld on there 😀
Playing on the move is just a recipe for real life getting in the way of your gameplay!
This sums everything up really well, out of the Nintendo consoles I own the one I use the most is the Wii. Not just for the GC/Wii functionality but also for the virtual console feature and the WiiWare games (got some good indie titles on there, World of Goo was a fun one).
The WiiU gamepad screen thing in my mind shows Nintendo pivoting from classic consoles to full time handhelds which they completed with the Switch. As I see it the Switch, and the Switch 2, are both handhelds that happen to have a console mode. I feel this is shown the best by the Switch Lite where they took out the dock ability.