Nintendo - The OTHER Guy

There's a lot of focus on Sony and Microsoft here at Zero Tolerance.  This is predominantly because they've each got a new console coming out in a little over a month and we're still not sure how to react to Microsoft coming up with bullshit policies and then retracting them after they realized that shoving shit down our throats wasn't going to fly.

I'd like to put someone else under the microscope here for a second though.  Nintendo hasn't been doing or receiving as much press as the other two, but the more I think about it, they've been getting a lot of things right as of late.

• Top o' the list: BACKWARDS COMPATIBILITY - going all the way back to the GameBoy Advance, Nintendo has shown a solid commitment to backwards compatibility with their consoles.  The GBA could play classic GameBoy titles, the Wii can play Gamecube titles, early DS consoles had a slot for GBA games, and even the new 3DS can play original DS games.  The WiiU regrettably can't play Gamecube discs, but will still run Wii games just fine.  Sony and Microsoft have thrown this vital part of the modern console market away.  Graphics aren't improving by the leaps and bounds we were used to as kids, and hardware designs that aren't capable of running older titles from the same storage media as their predecessors are just frustrating.
• Repeated visits to the Dead Horse Stables - Nintendo has this habit of spitting out a new Zelda or Mario game with slightly less frequency as Activision does Call of Duty.  However, these mainstays of the Nintendo brand are always well-received.  They haven't (and aren't) going the way of Guitar Hero, being beaten to death and reproduced long after gamers wanted more.  This brings me to another topic.
• Nostalgia Bombings - Repeats, rehashes, rereleases and new entries in classic franchises from the late 80s and early 90s are an interesting strategy.  Nintendo's ability to keep throwing new Mario, Zelda and Pokemon titles at us should be admired, considering the fact that we all still rush out to purchase them.  Part of this is because deeply ingrained in the older gamer are memories of times long since past playing our favorite childhood titles.  We want to relive these experiences on new hardware, with new graphics, new gameplay and new story.  This is why Pokemon X and Y sold 4 million copies on launch weekend (source: Nintendo).  This is why fanboys keep begging for more Zelda titles, and Nintendo keeps re-releasing the pinnacle titles of the series (Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask and Wind Waker).  Unfortunately, this is also why I keep buying each new Sonic the Hedgehog release, praying to god it's not as offensive as Sonic 06.
• At this point in the race, the WiiU is about a year ahead of Sony and Microsoft in terms of release schedule and that means one important thing - they've already had time to start building a library.  Both fortunate and unfortunate for Nintendo, this means a lot of really solid first-party titles, and a lot of third-party shit.  However, coupled with the console's backwards compatibility, its becoming an increasingly enticing addition to my living room.

Nintendo has always done some really wacky shit.  If you need proof, look no further than the VirtualBoy.  The Wii and WiiU control schemes might not be something I'd consider attractive, but even they realize this and offer alternatives.

Also, the damn thing is getting Bayonetta 2 as a console exclusive, and I'ma need to play the shit outta that.

-Nik "Latency" Trumble