Despite the Switch 2 being the fastest-selling console ever made, a reader is frustrated at the constant fearmongering over the future of Nintendo.
Nintendo had been involved in the video games industry for 54 years. It’s literally impossible for any company to have been involved longer because there wasn’t a video games industry when they started and they’ve been in it since day zero. You would think that alone will get them automatic respect, and the assumption they know what they’re doing. And if not that then the decades of top quality games.
But this, of course, never happens. Every time Nintendo makes even the smallest mistake (and they’ve made some whoppers too) they’re immediately considered to be doomed and about to go third party. Nobody ever said that about Xbox, right up until the point where they actually did, and everyone tried to pretend the PlayStation 3 wasn’t a disaster when it obviously was.
Gamers always assume Nintendo don’t know what they’re doing, even compared to the clown car that is modern Xbox, and even when they’re successful the talk is always of what will happen to turn their fortunes the other way. I’m sure Nintendo don’t care about that sort of thing but it depresses me, because it shows how little most people actually know or care about how gaming works.
Recently, there’s been a lot of negative talk about Nintendo, after the Switch 2 launch and because of the games line-up after Donkey Kong Bananza. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not a zealot. I’ve been disappointed too and I give the first year of the Switch 2 no more than a 7/10.
Metroid Prime 4 was a major disappointment, the minor games like Kirby Air Riders and Hyrule Warriors were uninteresting, and Mario Kart World was not the 10/10 smash that most people expected, even if it was still very good. The console was great, but the software line-up was just decent.
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And yet increasingly I’m seeing It described as a disaster and that Nintendo are in a great hole that they can’t get out of, all the while ignoring that the Switch 2 is the fastest-selling console ever. It literally could not have done better and still people rag on it. And no, it didn’t have any problems at Christmas, it’s just the PlayStation 5 was super cheap. They release figures just this week that show that.
Yes, I’d like to see more big name games announced. The Animal Crossing Switch 2 Edition seems weird timing, and I don’t understand why they haven’t at least teased a new 3D Mario yet. Although it’s not hard to guess why. If the movie is called Super Mario Galaxy and they’re currently selling remasters of those two games, why would they want to split the vote and have people save their money for a new game, if they announced it?
It’s a boring business decision but that takes five seconds to think about and explains everything. The problem with talking about Nintendo on the internet is that people can’t decide, both haters and fans, if they’re an evil corporation just out for your money or if they’re the good guy in the industry that’s only in it for the games.
They’re not either, obviously, but a little bit of each. They’re a company that loves money and they’ve realised that making good games is the best way to make that money. Which sounds childishly simple until you realise how much trouble other publishers have with that simple logic.
So, I don’t know what Nintendo is planning for 2026 and beyond. And I don’t know whether it’s all some secret masterplan or something that’s going to blow up in their face. But I do think that it’s about time we gave them the benefit of the doubt and accept that they probably know more about gaming than some random loudmouth on Reddit.
By reader Cubby
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