Nintendo's worst mistakes.

Nintendo is a very successful business, and gaming wouldn't be the same without them. Unfortunately, they've had their share of missteps.

What do you consider the worst decisions Nintendo have ever made? My pick would be sticking with cartridges for the N64, causing them to lose third party support.

Mine would be them not buying Rare when they had the chance, in addition to what you said. Plus them being as late as they were to online gaming, their minimalist approach when it comes to online and such things... At this point they've easily made far more mistakes than they have good decisions, but get by simply because they have some of the most iconic recognizable IPs, not all of which I'm personally a fan of but still.

I would agree with that.

Originally posted by Smasandian
I would agree with that.

Which post, mine or Ridley's?

Ridley's.

I think Nintendo gets a bump from everybody when they release games.
I read a review from a big site calling the new Kirby one of the most original in the series and rated it a 9.

Maybe it's true but from what I have seen, it's literally just Super Mario Odyssey. Which that game just expands the idea of Kirby.....(and overrated as well).

I also feel the same way about some Sony first party published games...though more about being the best of all time to just being very good aka Horizons 2.

Originally posted by VG_Addict
Nintendo is a very successful business, and gaming wouldn't be the same without them. Unfortunately, they've had their share of missteps.

What do you consider the worst decisions Nintendo have ever made? My pick would be sticking with cartridges for the N64, causing them to lose third party support.

Their ridiculously stupid and overpriced cardboard peripherals.

As with many of these Nintendo threads, I guess it depends on how we're defining "mistake."

Is it just things we personally wish they did differently?

Or is it things that actually had meaningful consequences, like the Wii U?

They too closely resemble Apple, in their business practices.

Nintendo messed up with Virtual Boy, then made N64 too niche, with the cartridge and controller.

They are basically out of the hardware business, the Switch isn't much more than a midrange smartphone, with half the innards reoved.

The industry has just grown too big and Sony and Microsoft are giants playing a totally different game to Nintendo.

They try to ride their IP in a similar vein to Apple, but they have no "iPhone/iPad", to make the most of their software. Instead, they're basically a Motorola phone or an Amazon tablet.

And with the arrival of the Steam Deck, I suspect that the Switch 2 will not have much of a future.

Well that's a very stupid take. While they are playing a different game then either Sony or Microsoft, they have achieved a ton of success with the Switch. In fact, the Switch is poised to surpass PS4's sales soon and will very likely remain the most successful of all current gen consoles. I see no reason the Switch 2 won't see a ton of success. Specifically since they are catering to a more casual audience than the Steam Deck.

I'm not sure how much Switch 2 would be successful.

I would think it would be less successful than Switch but a lot more than Wii U.
That being said...who knows what they are going to do next. They always change it up.

But I always forget that Switch is very successful but essentially replacing two devices....

It's always possible for them to make a Wii U kind of marketing mistake with a Switch 2, which I wouldn't put it past them to be honest.

Still funny to me how the Wii which was their previously highest selling system got succeeded by their worst selling one (worst outside of the Virtual Boy anyway).

Maybe they'd still be using the Wii brand if the U wasn't a flop, but it's expected that they'll stick with the Switch brand for now in the case of a successor system, which would expectedly have backwards compatibility with Switch games, etc. But I don't know how interested I'd be in it; depends on the games.

Well...the Wii was an unexpected success. I don't think there is anybody who thought it would be that big.

And it appealed to a lot of casual players. Everybody I knew had a Wii...but most of those people played it for a year and then left it alone.

So when Wii U came out...which was a terrible name...those casual fans didn't give a shit....

I don't think that will happen with Switch 2.....because it's catering to two markets (handheld and console)...and handhelds have always sold well for Nintendo. So I don't think we will see another failed console from Nintendo assuming they continue producing 1 product to meet 2 markets.

However, if they go away from that...I don't think the Nintendo console does well.

Fair point. The 3DS which was the last handheld of its kind before Nintendo started going hybrid sold well, but it had a rough slow start; with the rise of mobile games it also made sense for the 3DS to be the last of the handheld line and Nintendo moving on to hybrid.

I thought the Wii U would've eventually picked up some momentum like the 3DS did, but was dead wrong. Outside of being able to buy older games on the virtual console store which will soon be defunct, it sucked for anyone who got a Wii U, seeing superior ports of games of games they previously bought on the Switch. No one in their right mind would've gotten a Wii U if they knew how the Switch would be, absorbing like 95% of the U's library.

If there ever is another Nintendo flop on that level, I'm not buying it. I learned my lesson from the buyer's remorse I had with the Wii U.

That's my main criticism against Nintendo. They re-sell games for new game prices.

Yeah. In the case of the Wii U to Switch though, it was kind of justified; giving games that didn't sell well initially on a failed system a 2nd chance, but it still sucked for the consumer who bought like Mario Kart 8 when MK8 Deluxe was revealed, etc. Usually there's a whole new Mario Kart on a new system too, so it was unprecedented.

I don't have a problem if re-released for half price or something like that.
But full price, nah **** that shit.

Unless it's being completely remade (like RE2 and etc).

I feel like we need to blame consumers for that one. Nintendo only charges that much for re-releases because people are buying them.

Folks need to do the same thing gamers did to the original FFXIV release, and just not buy it. Companies listen once they see their profits shrink.

Originally posted by VG_Addict
Nintendo is a very successful business, and gaming wouldn't be the same without them. Unfortunately, they've had their share of missteps.

What do you consider the worst decisions Nintendo have ever made? My pick would be sticking with cartridges for the N64, causing them to lose third party support.

Nintendo is an overrated company who re-releases the same crap gen after gen, and blind fans eat their exorbitantly priced shockwave up because nostalgia.

I couldn't play Metroid Prime or Windwaker then, would rather play Psychonauts or Beyond Good and Evil, the current offerings have no appeal to me now.

Originally posted by StyleTime

Folks need to do the same thing gamers did to the original FFXIV release, and just not buy it. Companies listen once they see their profits shrink.

Won't happen, People these days love their nostalgia.