What's your favorite console of the last three generations? With the exception of maybe the fifth gen, odds are it'll either be the Playstation or Xbox. It's kind of odd, really, given the Wii's sales numbers relative to the other two, but most people who I talk about gaming with, except for other PC gamers, talk about Xbox or Playstation. That's just how it seems to break down.

My favorite is the Dreamcast. But the Gamecube comes in a close second. Very close. It almost felt like the Dreamcast and N64 had a baby. And boy did it bring the classics. It also sold like [censored]. How does a system with Metroid Prime, Wind Waker, Viewtiful Joe, Resident Evil 4, Super Mario Sunshine, F-Zero GX, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Luigi's Mansion, Rogue Leader, Battalion Wars, Tales of Symphonia... you know what, I'll just stop listing and go with F'ING AMAZING EXCLUSIVES OUT THE ASS sell so poorly? I mean, this thing brought out the best launch line-up I've ever seen, when the only games worth playing on the other two were ZoE, MGS2, Timesplitters and Halo. And no one bought it. And it has launch titles that look better than most of the stuff that came out towards the end of the generation on the other two.

The Wii sold, but no one admits to having one. The Wii U is picking up, but I have yet to meet anyone who owns one. These are good damn systems. Wii U's been a little slow getting good games out, and the Wii had a terrible launch (Of course, that didn't stop the PS2 or X360), but more concerning than sales is Nintendo's reputation. And that's basically the point of this wall of text.

I'm trying to understand how a company that has consistently put out some of the most solid games of all time, regardless of target age bracket, and come up with some of the most playable systems of the last few generations, can inspire such vitriol in the gamer community at large. They are one of the most consistent companies in terms of quality that I've ever seen in gaming. Sure, they're a little light on the multiplats, but what they do have seems to more than make up for it. And it seems like for all the complaining about not supporting third parties, when they do bring in third parties, people either ignore it or complain (Bayonetta 2). Where does Nintendo go wrong in dealing with western gamers?

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2014-secret-developers-wii-u-the-inside-story is a good read on where Nintendo went wrong in dealing with western developers regarding the Wii U.

I own a WiiU. I don't use it that much though. The main thing that gets me is not the lack of third party titles, the underpowered console, or the "kids game" console distinction. It's that they trot out the same 1st party characters on their AAA games. I'm sick of Mario, Link, and all the others. I've seen them for close to 30 years now. Honestly the characters all feel like Krusty the Klown just in it for the paycheck. They need to come out with new mascots and ideas for AAA games.

That's a great read. Thanks for that. Gives a lot of insight into the developers' point of view. Of course, Nintendo releases underpowered systems for a good reason, that of lowering the price point, which is gonna stick in a developers' craw, but it sounds like they've made the process of dealing with that harder than it needs to be.

But I'm looking more at the gamers themselves. I can definitely get not buying what they're selling if you play online a lot, but the amount of hate Nintendo gets goes far beyond reason. Much of it is objectively wrong, like the argument that they only produce kids' games, when a cursory glance can turn up loads of mature, if not mature-rated, well-designed games. I can't help but wonder if Nintendo is largely struggling just because they aren't cool enough.

Of course, your article also brings into mind another side to this. Twenty years ago, if a console was hard to work with, the gamers would likely not hear about it. Nowadays, a dev releases a blog about how much of a pain it is, that defines the narrative. It brings an entirely new side into PR, that I'm not sure a company as traditional as Nintendo is equipped to deal with.

True, those characters are getting old, but the last time they tried to focus on their "B" stable or introduce new franchises, it didn't go all that well. After all, despite Pikmin, Monkey Ball and Fire Emblem in the West, Geist, Animal Crossing, and so on, none of those new IPs came even close to the sales of a Mario or Zelda game. It's understandable why they focus on the big guns, and I can't help but disagree that they're phoning it in. Every one of those big series has had nothing but strong gameplay and each has managed to change up mechanics, setting, and feel quite a lot. Would it be better if they released something like Mario Galaxy and reskinned it with a new character?

Also, when Nintendo moves away from their traditional series and model, they catch flak for being gimmicky, and when they don't, they catch flak for getting stale. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.