During the last 10 years, Nintendo had a very eventful decade. From printing money in the previous generation to stumble for the next generation, eventually hitting the reset button for a better go around. I looked at Nintendo through those years and saw how it change through all of the time. So, today let’s talk about it.
The Wii Days
In 2010, it was no secret Nintendo was dominating the gaming market with the Nintendo Wii. By the beginning of the year, the Wii was the second highest-selling console for Nintendo. Just short of surpassing the Gameboy. All Nintendo’s best games like Mario Kart Wii, Wii Sports Resort, and Super Mario Galaxy were already released, with new games set to release in the following years. Most people forget excellent games such as Super Mario Galaxy 2, Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Metroid: Other M (yes, I am prepared to die on this hill), and Donkey Kong: Country Returns were set to be released for 2010 and 2011. After 101.64 million units and 7 years of having the 7th generation console, Nintendo was ready to move to a new console.
The Fall from Grace (Sorta)
At E3 2012, Nintendo poorly announced to the world that the Wii U was announced. I say ‘poorly announced’ because Nintendo had a significant marketing issue with the new console because they never said it was a new console. Most people, myself included, thought the Wii U was either a new controller or new console, and when people found out it was the ladder, expectations were lowered. Besides the poor presentation, the console would have some improvements over the predecessor, right? In an objective and non-consensus opinion, yes. This was the first Nintendo console with 1080p resolution and featured the new gamepad and the same I/O as Wii, making it backward-compatible. However, it failed mainly due to acting like a better Wii and the gamepad in a wholly subjective and consensus opinion.
The first issue, the Wii U’s primary demographic, was people who wanted to play motion-control sports like tennis and bowling. With everyone having a system that can do that, what was the point of getting a new console that already did that? Second, the gamepad was a problematic device to develop for Nintendo. It was so tricky to incorporate that third-party developers and publishers either made small throwaway titles for the system or avoided making the games altogether. With next to no big third-party games, people at least expected a strong first-party presence for the new console. Unfortunately, none of the major first-party games were in the launch window (the first 3 full months of a new console). Eventually, games like Super Mario 3D World and original IPs like Splatoon and Super Mario Maker would release. But outside of New Super Mario Bros. U and Nintendo Land, there were no large titles for the first 8 months of the Wii U. Between the poor presentation, the unresponsive demographic, the weak launch window, the Wii U was set for obscurity.
The only saving grace for Nintendo’s dark years was the 3DS sales and research and development of their next home console. During this time, most people forget that Nintendo had more than one console out. The 3DS was released a year before the Wii U and was thriving until early 2019 and still kept sending out hits such as Pokémon: Sun and Moon, Super Mario 3D Land, and Fire Emblem: Awakening. The 3DS even got releases in games Nintendo fans wanted in their home consoles like Metroid: Samus Returns, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, and Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon. Thanks to the success of the 3DS, and learning the mistakes of the Wii U, Nintendo took their L’s and came back hard in October 2016.
The Come Up
It’s late 2016, and your new console is ready. How do you present it, so it won’t fail? Remember all the mistakes from the last console and make sure none of those mistakes happen. Nintendo released the trailer of their new console, and in that one YouTube video alone, every issue the Wii U had was corrected in 3 minutes.
First, they correctly showed off the console and ensured the name was non- “Wii” related. For the target demographic, they focused on teens and young adults who would use the Switch functionality the most. Lastly, the games could not stop coming. Off the bat, they released Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild on launch day, then Mario Kart 8 Deluxe a month later, and these were just first-party games. Third-party games such as Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus and FIFA 18 came to the Switch. Even indie games such as Hollow Knight, Dead Cells, and Cuphead (link for my Cuphead review) appeared on the new system.
Some Analysts said this was gonna be a short-lived spark for Nintendo, but the train hasn’t stopped. With Super Mario Odyssey during holiday 2017, Super Smash Bros Ultimate in 2018, Luigi’s Mansion 3 in 2019 (link for my Luigi’s Mansion 3 review), and Animal Crossing: New Horizons for 2020 (during COVID-19, no less), I think it’s safe to say the Switch is here to stay.
Final Thoughts
Nintendo has taken an interesting route through the last decade. They have been through many ups and downs, but it has thrived spectacularly, and if the previous few years of success have shown us, Nintendo is looking good for the next decade. Thank you for reading my article. Make sure you leave a like and a comment to let me know that you enjoy this little piece. Have a great day, and stay safe.