Nintendo hates risk?

[rounds1]

I think the console itself was a pretty big risk, but the software has been the same old fare that Ninty's been pushing out since the beginning of video gaming....just with waggle.

[Li Cha]

Originally Posted by webshark

back on topic tho, wasnt the wii the biggest risk of all? back in early 2006, ninty was coming off of getting their ass handed to them with the n64, and lets not even talk about how they did with the GCN. E3 06 was seriously do or die time with ninty, if the wii didnt not take off, nintendo would have been out of the console business. i think that the completely radically different approach to the wii was a HUEG risk and it sems to be paying off in the short term at least.

Nope, Ds was a risk and they had gba back ups for it, the Wii was a sure thing knowing people will eat it up because of the Ds so not a risk at all.

[SAMaine]

Hmm... New seventh-gen IPs from Nintendo...

Nintendogs: 15.77 million
Training Series (which includes Brain Age): 26.71 million total
Wii Game Series: 18.18 million total

It's kinda hard to argue to not make more games like Nintendogs, Brain Age, and Wii Sports and instead make games like these...

Gears of War: 4 million
Monster Hunter: 2.75 million
Resistance: 2 million
Crackdown: 1.5 million
Saints Row: 1.4 million
Lost Planet: 1.4 million
Dead Rising: 1.3 million
Motorstorm: 1 million

People criticize Nintendo for not making new IPs when they made DK and Mario in the Arcades; Zelda, Metroid, Fire Emblem, and Wars for the NES; Kirby, Wario, and Pokemon for the Game Boy; Yoshi, F-ZERO, and Starfox for the SNES; Animal Crossing and Super Smash Bros. for the N64; and now Nintendogs & the Training Series for the DS & Wii Series for Wii. It's really the GameCube that got the shaft in terms of new IPs, only having Pikmin as the popular one.

[boffo]

Originally Posted by webshark

back on topic tho, wasnt the wii the biggest risk of all? back in early 2006, ninty was coming off of getting their ass handed to them with the n64, and lets not even talk about how they did with the GCN. E3 06 was seriously do or die time with ninty, if the wii didnt not take off, nintendo would have been out of the console business. i think that the completely radically different approach to the wii was a HUEG risk and it sems to be paying off in the short term at least.

It wasn't so much a risk as it was necessity. You said another failure and Nintendo could have been done. The bigger risk would have been releasing something similar to the previous 2 consoles. Instead they were able to use the DS to find out different control methods can mean sales. It really made the Wii more of a calculated gamble than a risk.

[webshark]

damn, SAMaine just pwned this thread....

To be honest I don't care. Playing Super Mario Bros, Mario 64 and Super Mario Galaxy are experiences that I will never forget, and they are all different games even though the character is the same.

Nintendo COULD have made a new character, maybe some kind of animal and animize it, say a goat, then humanize it with admirable characteristics such as bravery, and put him in an outwordly galaxy adventure. But why do this when they already have a well-established character known for his many different adventures, be it karting, golfing or princess-saving? Would it really matter for you as a gamer that you are in control of a new goat character with a "hip" name such as Gaotzo running around in galaxies, or your good ol' pal Mario?

When you sit down with a new mario game you say to yourself, "I wonder what new adventures me and mario are going to today!" but if you have a new character you have to spend time getting familiar with him, learning what makes him, him. You may say that I'm getting far out now, but this is the way the human psyche works, and Nintendo knows this, and Miyamoto knows this.

[rounds1]

Originally Posted by webshark

damn, SAMaine just pwned this thread....

By comparing game series sales to singular game sales?

[webshark]

i was more of referring to his gigantic list of nintendo IP's....

[rounds1]

Originally Posted by webshark

i was more of referring to his gigantic list of nintendo IP's....

For that I'll give him credit.

[SAMaine]

Originally Posted by rounds1

By comparing game series sales to singular game sales?

Ok, a valid complaint.

The first of the Training Series, Brain Age, sold 9.66 million. The first of the Wii Game Series, Wii Sports, sold 11.86 million, though truthfully, the Wii Game Series are pack-ins and that should be noted, but then various Mario and Sonic games were pack-ins at one point or another and are considered major franchises. Nintendogs doesn't have a sequel, but does follow the Pokemon style of releasing versions.