Nintendo’s Revolution

There’s a hidden love, an everlasting undying loyalty that lurks deep within the crusted hearts of just about every Sony fanboy, no matter how “hardcore”, no matter how much they’ve “growed up”. Just about every gamer at one time or another (even the most ardent Microsoft Xbot) was weaned on the sweet nutritious gaming milk that flowed bountifully from Mario’s digital teat. If you’re 35 or under chances are you owned the original NES… scratch that, chances are the original NES owned you for a good 5 years. You’ll have fond memories of  consoles that came with games included, blowing carts, smacking carts against your thigh, the Power Glove, and the delicate time honored tradition of inserting a “NES game PAK” just right.

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There’s a hidden love, an everlasting undying loyalty that lurks deep within the crusted hearts of just about every Sony fanboy, no matter how “hardcore”, no matter how much they’ve “growed up”. Just about every gamer at one time or another (even the most ardent Microsoft Xbot) was weaned on the sweet nutritious gaming milk that flowed bountifully from Mario’s digital teat. If you’re 35 or under chances are you owned the original NES… scratch that, chances are the original NES owned you for a good 5 years. You’ll have fond memories of  consoles that came with games included, blowing carts, smacking carts against your thigh, the Power Glove, and the delicate time honored tradition of inserting a “NES game PAK” just right.

Are you getting all nostalgic yet? Good, because this is exactly the side of Nintendo that needs to re-emerge (shedding of course their wildly imperialistic approach to videogame publishing at the time). The side that seemed to care, the side that you cared about, that you simply couldn’t ignore because it was so darn fun. Nintendo permeated the culture, it was PlayStation before there was PlayStation, and more  because it touched  our hearts, and touching is good.

In many ways the Nintendo of 2006 is a shadow of its former self, but in a position now to become a much stronger entity. Of course they’re nowhere near as monstrously huge as they were in their heyday, and their name recognition has taken a hammering in the wake of the rise of the PlayStation, but they still have cache (buzzword!) where it counts. It’s been stated innumerable times by just about everyone including Nintendo themselves, but they’re aiming for a completely different market than the one Sony and Microsoft are currently waging bloody war over. Sound familiar? They sang a similar tune when the DS vs. PSP battle was just beginning to heat up, and quite frankly very few people really, honestly believed them. “They’re both hand-helds right? Same market!” Was the general thinking. Look at the big picture right now.

In an ironic twist the PSP is arguably the more traditional evolution of the handheld gaming device. It’s got better graphics and more of just about everything than its forefathers. The DS, is not. It’s a revolution, it plays differently than anything we’ve seen, and with games like Nintendogs, Phoenix Wright and Brain Age, Nintendo are beginning to deliver on their promise. Speaking of Revolutions…

This E3 will define Nintendo. What they show, how they show it and what and say will be the deciding factor concerning whether they survive as a console manufacturer over the course of the next 5-6 years, and they absolutely can’t afford to skimp or play things too close to the vest. Gamers need and deserve to know just about everything, tech specs, games, downloadable content, the games, peripherals, the controller, the games… the whole nine yards, we’ve waited and been patient for long enough.

The Console:
We won’t be rehashing any of the specifications rumored or known in this article, but suffice to say that technically speaking the Revolution is not in the same league as either the PS3 or the Xbox 360. That said, the cheaper components and more streamlined approach to gaming (not including expensive CPU’s for physics intensive games, a large capacity hard drive for storage, and an expensive next generation optical disk drive) help to lower the cost of the console substantially. It looks like Nintendo is banking on the idea that there’s space enough in everyone’s  living room for at least two consoles, and they’re willing to settle for being that “other” console, the one that provides an experience so markedly different that it claims its own space.  You see, the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 both provide very similar services, they’ll give you great games with awesome graphics in high definition, and in the minds of most gamers and the general public they are direct competitors and one or the other will suffice, you just need to choose which one’s for you.

Nintendo is looking at it differently, and they want you to look at it differently as well. They don’t want you to have to choose between their product and those offered by Microsoft and Sony, they’d rather you see them as providing a completely different service. But are they? That’s the real question, the one that will be answered, must be answered at E3. Let’s say we’re willing to believe their pitch, how do they prove it? Simple, as I’ve said and as Nintendo’s PR department would have us believe, “touching is good.” We need to touch the Revolution, squeeze it, hold it and rock it gently and ever so lovingly to sleep, everyone needs to get a chance to get their hands on it and experience the sensation for themselves. We’ve heard the rumors that the PS3 will be in short supply at E3 (whether they’re true or not remains to be seen) but if Nintendo want’s to make the right impression (not to mention captialise on a possible Sony blunder and the fact that Microsoft ain’t got no bullets in the barrel… maybe), they need to have demo units all over the place so we can see what they’ve been raving about, it’s that simple. Show us the munny, build it and we will come etc, etc.
                               
The Games:
Now this one’s something of a conundrum. Nintendo have easily been the most consistently good developer of the modern age (i.e NES onward) They’ve released a countless number of hits and nurtured their star franchises while at the same time creating all new ones, yet paradoxically games are still the company’s biggest hurdle. Why? Three words – third party support, or rather, a distinct lack thereof. Quite simply Nintendo doesn’t have any, and they need to get some. The Revolution is the best to place to start, not only is it much cheaper to develop for, but the Virtual Console is an ideal way of delivering low cost indie games directly to gamers.

It’ll be all well and good to see Twilight Princess at E3 this year, and reassuring to fiddle with the latest Mario game, but we need more than that, and I’m not talking about Red Steel here, I mean something fresh and compelling.

The Controller:
Do you remember what you thought the first time you ever saw the Revolution controller? What did you think of it? What do you think of it now? I know there are a ton of people out there that think it’s the greatest thing since taco pie, and there are all sorts of kooky ideas brewing in your little noggins about how best to put that miraculous gyroscpic shaft to use. There are also a good number of people that just think the whole idea’s dumb and gimmicky, and then there’s the camp (to which I personally belong) that think the idea has huge potential, but are worried that it will quickly become a novelty much like light guns, maracas and bongo drum controllers.

Nintendo made a huge gamble when they decided to stick to it and go with the Revolution controller, they signaled to the world that they were in fact shifting gears and didn’t intend to compete with the likes of Sony and Microsoft any longer. They were playing it their way, and you would be too if they had anything to say about it. This new controller has the potential to appeal to a whole new demographic, those that simply can’t be bothered to figure out a DualShock controller. Think about it, even your grandpa can use a remote control, and if the games are as immersive as they seemed to be in that infamous Revolution commercial then there’s a good chance we’ll see a lot more people gaming than we’re typically used to. Best of all, they’ll be different sorts people, they’ll be mama’s and papa’s, lawyers, accountants, your dental hygienist… your best friends mother! Expect chang3.

The Future:
Not a clue, all we can do is speculate. Everything will be unveiled at E3 (we hope) and you can expect QJ to be there with a team that’s not going to be farting around and taking pictures of booth babes much… just kidding, we will of course have tons of pics of booth babes, but we will also provide you with the most in depth and up to the minute reporting possible. Nintendo are really taking their future into their own hands and will have no one else to blame but themselves for any failure. Where Sony and Microsoft both face production battles and technological hurdles, most of Nintendo’s core technology is proven and simple, only the idea is untested. Let’s hope that for once a company long known to be inflexible and stubborn is able to make the changes required of it to survive. Heck, a Revolution’s just as good a place to start as any.

P.S. Nintendo really ought to just come out at E3 and announce a change in the Revolution’s codename to the Nintendo Entertainment System. There’s your revolution right there, and a guaranteed instant 10 million in sales off nostalgia alone.