(Latest case in point.)
It’s not like you hear people speculate Xbox’s or PlayStation’s doom before every new hardware release. Why Nintendo then?
As a recap, the viability of Nintendo was debated after the Genesis was released, before the release of the Super Nintendo. It was debated before the Virtual Boy and changing of the seasons to N64. It was certainly debated before GameCube. It was debated before DS. It was debated before Wii. And now it’s being debated on the eve of 3DS. (The only time it seemingly wasn’t debated was prior to the release of NES, Game Boy and Game Boy Advance.)
That said, Nintendo is 8 of 9 when it comes to releasing profitable and viable gaming systems. Only the Virtual Boy (pictured) was a failure. Admittedly, the N64 and GameCube underperformed by Nintendo’s other high standards, but those two lovable consoles sold a combined 55 million units ’ far from being failures and even beloved by tens of millions of people worlwide.
So again, I ask you: Why do gamers discuss Nintendo’s demise before every subsequent hardware release? It’s not as if the company is terribly unreliable? So what is it about them that keeps people coming back to this tired discussion?