Nintendo. Worth keeping an eye on! (ARTICLES)

Here is why, in my opinion, Nintendo is worth a look.

Nintendo first came about in 1889 maiking playing cards since the start. Nintendo has since done many things, at one point they owned a cab company and even a love hotel, – I think the name explains it all. They even own the Seattle Mariners baseball team.

Their first console that I can remember was the NES, that launched in 1985 in north America. Its main competition was the Sega Master System, released the following year. Nintendo was already a step ahead, their console had start and select on the controller where as the Master System did not. There the start and select buttons were on the console itself. The NES also came with the classic Super Mario Brothers and included many other great titles such as The Legend of Zelda, Final Fantasy and Mega Man.

On November 21, 1990, Nintendo launched the Super Famicom to an eager Japanese audience, selling out in just three days. The following year the Super Famicom was re-branded and launched in America as the SNES. It wasn’t until 1992 that Europe got their hands on it! The controller on the SNES was the first controller to have left and right shoulder buttons as well as 4 face buttons in a diamond formation. The SNES also had online capabilities via an add-on that connected to satellite via a modem which was released in 1995 in Japan only. This allowed the user to download and play games – again, well ahead of its time. Where Nintendo went others would later follow. When I think about the SNES I have good memories playing Street Fighter 2, Mario Kart, Super Mario World and Donkey Kong Country.

In June 1996, Nintendo released the Nintendo 64 (N64) in Japan. America got it September 1996, with Europe having to wait until March 1997! The N64 controller started the trend of having both an analogue stick and a D-pad as well as the traditional A, B, L, and R buttons. It also included a Z trigger button on its underside. This controller unique shape and layout made games like Golden Eye and Perfect Dark so good that once again Nintendo were a step ahead.

2001 saw the Gamecube being released in America and Japan. On May 3, 2002 Europe got their hands on it. Whilst not as remarkable as some of its predecessors, the standard GameCube controller had a wing grip design, and was designed to fit well in the player’s hands. It included a total of eight buttons, two analogue sticks, a D-pad and an internal rumble motor. All things we look at as standard now. The console itself had some good titles on it, Mario Strikers and a remake of Resident Evil 1, which is regarded as one of the best survival horror games of all time. The console however did not stand out and only sold 21.74 million units in its life span.

However, as a company Nintendo would bounce back.

The Wii was released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. The Wii, as of May 2011, leads the generation over the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in worldwide sales, and in December 2009 broke the record for best-selling console in a single month in the United states. Whilst the Wii does not appeal to many hard core gamers, figures show Nintendo sold 86 million units worldwide as of the last count. The Xbox 360, at last count, sold 53.6 million and PS3 50 million. Nintendo were the first to introduce motion controls from day one on the Wii. Now Microsoft has Kinect and the PS3 has Move. Just one more example of Nintendo leading the way.

I feel that the new console being revealed at E3 will be aimed more towards the hardcore gamer but, at the same time will appeal to the casual gamers out there. I feel now Nintendo has cashed in on the Wii and are thinking that technology has come a long way since the PS3 and 360 were first released, so they can make a powerful console that can hold its own at a good price and make itself a major contender once again.

Typically Nintendo console’s have a life span of about 4-5 years, this can be beneficial for them as the PS3 and Xbox 360 still have a few years left in their cycle giving Nintendo another chance this generation.

For me Nintendo need to bring something that is unique and that you can only play on their system. They need something that stands out and they need a good online system. What would Nintendo have to do in order to get hardcore gamers to buy their system? I look forward to E3 this year and hope Nintendo bring something worth while that stands out.

The views expressed here are the views of the writer and may not represent the views of all YARS staff members!