Critic: ‘Nintendo has nowhere to go but down’
Thursday, March 13th, 2008 at 7:30am by Blake
MSNBC’s Levi Buchanan writes in his gushing review of Smash Bros. Brawl:
There really is so little to complain about in “Brawl” that you almost worry if from this point on, Nintendo has nowhere to go but down. Besting this achievement — and the stellar “Super Mario Galaxy,” will be a tall order for the company.
Wii has been a raging success, as have been the majority of first-party games released thus far. So is Buchanan right? Will things start to simmer down?
March 13th, 2008 at 7:56 am
NEVER, EVER, USE THAT PICTURE AGAIN!
I WILL MOTION TO STRIKE!
March 13th, 2008 at 7:59 am
That picture is some serious nightmare fuel.
Anyway, in regards to the question, I sure hope not.
While Brawl and SMG are awesome, I’m hoping its the beginning of cutting edge graphics and play on the wii. The system isn’t even a year and a half old. I’d hate to think Nintendo has hit a plateau or peak already…
March 13th, 2008 at 8:41 am
There are always new developers with new ideas for new games — and even new developers with new ideas forold games (or franchises). The only way Nintendo would go down form here is if another video game market crash happens like it did in the early 80’s. With the Xbox, PS3, DS, Wii and PSP going strong, I doubt it.
March 13th, 2008 at 9:29 am
Hey looks kids its Mario cosplaying a pornstar!!!
March 13th, 2008 at 9:48 am
If you ask me, Nintendo has nowhere to go but up. They are a smart company and have defined gaming from the very beginning. Surprising for a company that deals only with, you guessed it, GAMES. To think they released their only big hits this early into Wii’s life is purely stupid. Have we forgotten Mario Kart is just around the corner, and I am excited about WiiFit (mostly for the balance board and what possibilities their are for that), Disaster has me enticed also. Not to mention Factor 5 getting in the picture, Unreal engine, Retro’s next project, man are you kidding me, THINGS ARE JUST HEATING UP!
March 13th, 2008 at 9:54 am
Well, they could improve their online component, for starters…
March 13th, 2008 at 10:00 am
I always imagined a Mario movie featuring Ron as Mario and Scarlett Johansson as Peach. I don’t know why though….
March 13th, 2008 at 10:12 am
Nintendo releasing three stellar games in such a short span, they definitely have bigger and better things planned for the future. I just have a feeling about it. They’re really going full force this generation.
March 13th, 2008 at 10:20 am
When you’ve done your best with your existing franchises, it’s time to work on some fresh new games. It’s time to innovate and grow your fanbase. When Nintendo made two great platformers in a row, SMB 3 and Super Mario World, they took a break and made some other games. Then they came back and made an amazing Yoshi platformer.
March 13th, 2008 at 10:30 am
I agree with KillerHeroes. As I mentioned above, I’m hoping this is the beginning of what the big N has planned. Not the downward slope.
March 13th, 2008 at 10:36 am
in a couple months:
“There really is so little to complain about in “Mario Kart Wii” that you almost worry if from this point on, Nintendo has nowhere to go but down. Besting this achievement — and the stellar “Super Mario Galaxy,” and “Brawl” will be a tall order for the company.”
March 13th, 2008 at 10:46 am
Since when does a lack of news equal bad news? The gamersphere has been saying for months that Nintendo has blown its wad too early. Zelda, Metroid, Mario, Brawl and Kart all within 18 months of Wii’s launch, and nothing else ANNOUNCED for the end of 2008. As if Nintendo is out of ideas just because they haven’t been hyping games that barely exist yet. Reggie even said they were not going to focus too much attention on games that are more than 8-12 months from release, and concentrate more on upcoming releases. But because we don’t see concept art of Pikmin 3 or Animal Crossing MMO 2 years in advance, Nintendo has nothing left to release and the Wii fad will FINALLY die down.
March 13th, 2008 at 11:08 am
Saying that Wii will only go downhill makes no sense. Wii Fit (is it!) and Mario Kart are going to be huge spring/summer releases, and we still don’t know what Big N has planned for the back half of the year. As someone else mentioned, Nintendo has some serious room for improvement in the Online space, they really ought to focus some resources there to make the experience more enjoyable and fun than utilitarian and annoying. And with Wii Ware coming, constant (if reduced) VC releases and a hopefully improving slate of 3rd party games, I’d say things are looking good for the Wii. At least I hope so.
March 13th, 2008 at 11:26 am
He does have a bit of truth…After alll Mario Kart Wii is not pushing the franchise forward…
March 13th, 2008 at 11:44 am
How ’bout they get with the picture? XBox360 and PS3 have nowhere to go but down. Boring dual analog controls will meet their demise this generation due to limited gameplay mechanics and due to the fact that Wii will wipe the floor with them and in fact already has. Don’t get me wrong, last gen I owned PS2 and XBox and GCN. Had lots of fun. But shiny new graphics and a high price tag are not ‘next gen’ to me. Nor are they ‘current gen’. The only thing current gen is Wii. The only thing keeping Microsoft and Sony going is the fact that they deal in other markets as well. How successful would they be if they only dealt with games? Zero innovation from either of them this, I mean, last gen.
March 13th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
The answer is clearly “NO”… but who knows after Mario Kart Wii and Wii Fit? Although there are too many franchises still to be exploited, such as Animal Crossing… Now, that one is going to be BIG!
@ Janush:
If Ron is playing Mario then Jena will have to play Princess Peach! (or Ginger Lynn, if we are gonna go all old-school!)
March 13th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
No. Why?
1. More games with awesome(er) graphics and controls
2. 3rd parties
3. More(better) online games
March 14th, 2008 at 8:22 am
TWhite says…
“retros next project”??
March 14th, 2008 at 10:32 am
Retro hasn’t given any details yet, they simply stated they have moved on from the Metroid Prime series and if people like the kind of games they make then they will like their next project. If the awesomeness of the Prime series is any indication then surely whatever it is will be awesome.
March 14th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
Is it really a bad thing to release a great game that you may never top again?
When Nintendo had bad games, people complain. When they have good games, people complain.
March 15th, 2008 at 2:32 am
Nintendo isn’t exactly at the top yet until they’ve managed to woo developers into making a real commitment and effort, and by that I mean companies like, say, Konami giving the Wii franchises like Metal Gear Solid or Silent Hill instead of cheap uninspired efforts like Dewy or Elebits. The same goes with Square-Enix and their FF or Kingom Hearts franchise. Right now Nintendo’s in purgatory. So close to heaven but not close enough. At best the Wii is treated more like the most successful “also ran.”
March 17th, 2008 at 1:21 am
Great movie. Ron Jeremy as the star in Super Hornio Bros. 5 stars. Bob Hoskins eat your heart out!
March 17th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
Oh, my… You mean that picture is from an actual movie?? I always thought they just caught Ron at a Haloween party or something…