The GC is the last Nintendo concole I really enjoyed. Almost every Wii game I've played has been lacking. I'm not even interested in the Wii U games, except for Bayonetta 2. Good thing for Nintendo they can do right on handhelds. Let's hope they don't ever screw that up.
Marketing 101: Nintendo
The console wars are underway! How has Nintendo handled them in the past?
It was probably the Nintendo 64 where the Big N began to shift its focus. The backstory on the system was almost more interesting than the final product. Originally, the Super Nintendo was to have a CD ROM add-on developed by Sony. The deal eventually fell through, and the add-on would go on to become the PlayStation. Meanwhile, Nintendo (who had been hyping the benefits of CD technology in Nintendo Power) suddenly had to change their message, and let people know how much better it was to have cartridges with huge amounts of memory packed into them. All of a sudden, CD ROM technology was a non-starter, and it was carts that would continue to forge gaming in the future.
The reality was much different, so it was with a bit of irony that the codename for the next Nintendo console was Project Reality.
This time around, it almost seemed as if Nintendo was content to let other press outlets hype up the new machine. Project Reality was announced in 1993, but would not see the light of day until 1996. The three years between was a massive buildup of hype, where magazines such as Electronic Gaming Monthly and DieHard Gamefan would drool over one or two screenshots of Super Mario 64 or destined-to-be-cancelled titles like Robotech: Crystal Dreams and Freak Boy. Eventually, it was announced that the new machine would be called the Ultra 64, but this was later changed to the Nintendo 64 to keep parity with the Japanese version of the console.
It was an agonizing wait for the new Nintendo platform, but gamers got a taste of what the system could do in the arcades, thanks to games like Killer Instinct and Cruisin’ USA, which ran on hardware that was very similar to what the Nintendo 64 was supposed to be capable of.
Nintendo sold the new system almost entirely on the back of Super Mario 64, the perfect showcase for the new analog controller, which gave players full control of Mario in a three dimensional world. If ever there was a “killer app” for a console, this was surely one of the biggest in terms of communicating what a console could do.
However, the expensive to produce cartridges were far less appealing to third party developers when compared to the much cheaper CD ROMs that the Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn used. As such, the Nintendo 64 struggled to maintain strong exclusive titles from third parties. Yes, the N64 was the home of some beloved third party titles like Goldeneye: 007 and WCW/NWO vs. The World, but it would fall to Nintendo to move consoles thanks to strong first party titles such as The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Mario Kart 64, and Super Smash Bros.
Best Nintendo commercial ever, or best Nintendo commercial ever?
Nintendo had bet on the cartridge format, because it was something that they could control. That would prove to be a misstep, and Sony ultimately came out ahead.
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