You Say You Want A Revolution?
By: Nick Arvites
The interesting part of this argument is that Nintendo is suddenly portrayed as the poster-child of originality and new properties. While the Kyoto giant did reinvent console gaming in the 1980s and practically invent and refine the side-scrolling game, Nintendo's originality in terms of characters and titles has all but faded in recent times. Looking back across the last year, Nintendo has not put out an original console title. Mario Party 7 is still a rehash of the previous six titles, and sticking Mario characters into a sports game may be fun, but it is not original. As far as new franchises, Nintendo has not produced a successful new franchise on the home system in years. Furthermore, the treatment of their traditional characters has been lackluster at best. The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker was frankly a laughing stock. Instead of getting the teaser CGI versions of Link, gamers found themselves looking at a cel-shaded experiment that failed miserably. Want evidence that it was a miserable failure? They shifted the look for the delayed The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess towards a more realistic CGI, darker, older look. At least Link has received a proper title for the GCN. Mario, the company mascot and flagship character, has yet to receive a proper game in almost ten years. Yes, 2006 marks ten years removed from the 1996 release of the Nintendo 64 and its flagship title Super Mario 64. While Super Mario Sunshine was released, it has gone down on record as one of the worst Mario titles ever. While significantly different from Super Mario 64, it actually took a step backwards in many respects. The game lacked the open-ended nature of Super Mario 64 and put the plumber in an unfamiliar environment with unfamiliar characters. Many people tell me to wait for Mario 128, the long rumored "true-sequel" to Super Mario 64. This title not only missed the N64's release window, but it is rapidly looking like it will also miss the GCN's window as well. All of the excitement over Mario 128 comes from a few vague comments from Miyamoto and other Nintendo executives and a tech demo that was shown at 2000's Spaceworld expo. Since then, the game has consistently missed E3 and other trade show announcements. The latest rumors have Mario 128 as an early, possible launch title for the Revolution. However, I'll believe it when I see it. Mario 128 is in the same category as other vaporware titles, like Duke Nukem Forever (ironically DNF for short) and Team Fortress II.
The Revolution, many Nintendo supporters tell me, will be completely original because of the gyroscopic controllers and the hardware. Indeed, the prospect of a movement-based controller does seem interesting. However, this is a very hit-or-miss situation. While Nintendo's homebrewed titles will undoubtedly utilize the controller fully, there is no guarantee that the system will get any sort of proper 3rd party support. While many are expressing "interest" towards the Revolution, "interest" does not always equal successful games. As of press time, there are no screenshots, movies, or anything showing actual gameplay, whereas games for the PS3 (also due out by the end of the year) are increasingly showing more material.
The controller's biggest weakness is its abilities. While it has the potential to change gaming as we know it, there is equal, if not greater potential for the concept to fall on its face. Nintendo has an interesting track record with innovative technologies. The NES was littered with interesting but ultimately useless gadgets that were supposed to revolutionize gaming. R.O.B. the Robot and the Powerpad are two examples that come to mind, although they did have games that exclusively used those two devices and they weren't really truly alternative control devices. The one device that Nintendo produced for the NES that is the glaring example of innovation falling flat is the Powerglove. The Powerglove was supposed to provide greater control over games and quicker response times, although most people never got a chance to try it. The accessory was extremely expensive and generally not supported by software titles. Combine those factors with the overall difficulty of use, and it is clear to see why the Powerglove was a complete failure.
Sure, the Powerglove was a failure, but Nintendo's been much better since then, right? Well, not exactly. In addition to several flawed SNES accessories (Super Scope comes to mind), the 1995 Virtual Boy is often pointed to by DS detractors as another failed experiment. While certainly hurt by the release date being too close to the upcoming Nintendo 64, the Virtual Boy was an overpriced experiment that never should have gotten to retail. For those of you who haven't had the "pleasure" of playing a Virtual Boy, you aren't missing much. The games were simplistic and boring while lacking any strong franchise titles. In addition, the system was actually physically painful to play. Not only was it uncomfortable to put your head into the viewer, it was also uncomfortable on the eyes. While the innovative nature of the controller is hard to predict-and by no means am I saying it will automatically fail like the Powerglove and Virtual Boy-the issues facing the Revolution hardware loom as bigger problems.
Since the Super Nintendo faded in the mid-1990s, hardware has been Nintendo's failing point for their consoles. The first bungle was the Nintendo 64's use of cartridges over the emerging CD format. Many have suggested that Nintendo has never truly recovered from that decision, and it seems they would be correct. Nintendo's market share has significantly dropped and console support has plummeted. The GCN was no different. It featured a proprietary mini-disc format that offered none of the benefits of DVD-based consoles. The system was often underpowered and unsupported, and it fell to third place behind industry behemoth Sony and newcomer Microsoft.
Posted: 01/20/2006