Ronnie

Coasters. It's all about the upcoming coasters....

Fantastic post.

I appreciate all that. I mistakenly read it as MK8 and Smash support was being taken away. I think four years is just barely acceptable for a failed console.

I may give this a go but not if it only includes things from the Nintendo UK store. There's nothing else I want on there or else I'd have bought it.

Be interesting to see what form Miiverse takes on NX, especially if it loses the gamepad. I think it's one of the big innovations this gen, especially the way it's integrated into the games, so I'd be sad to see it gimped on NX.

At the end of the day there's room for cinematic story-driven titles AND games that focus on the gameplay itself. I like both. Some people want realistic graphics and cutscenes that make their jaw drop, others want pure gamplay experiences that have you smiling like an idiot throughout. I suspect the leap into HD and poor sales of the Wii U have made Nintendo reluctant to invest too much in the former this gen. Not to mention the fact that they're not about to put 2000 people to work on one game with a $100mil+ budget.

Thank you. You get the impression the AAA competition is all about the size of their overworld, grinding for loot drops, putting as many missions on a map as possible or having the best cutscenes. Nintendo focus on gameplay and making games fun. Thank god for them and indies. Believe me, I love indies and you'll never hear me argue against them. My point was I didn't realise we were including them into the discussion or else I would have listed eShop games.

And I think that because they're single-handedly supporting the console they're doing a very admirable job of offering genre diversity.

I love indies, they provide much needed variety on the other consoles that the AAA's certainly don't provide. My point was if we're including indies I could have listed all the eshop games on the Wii U to pad out the diversity. Throw those into the mix and the Wii U has even more variety, but I suspect people don't judge the Wii U on those games.

The fact that you have to name 5 indie games out of 7 examples, says it all. Anyway this is going in circles, no one is going to agree on anything in here, apart from Nintendo releases nothing but platformers and are bad, the competition releases the most diverse range of big titles known to man and are good. The most popular games out there, FIFA, COD and AC releasing every single year is fine, because they're not from Nintendo. I make an inocuous comment about how Nintendo have a cupboard full of famous IP and that that stands them in good stead, and it leads to open bashing season, as usual whenever an ounce of positivity is injected into this toxic thread.

So you're saying having world recognised IP is of no value whatsoever? Come on, it opens up a huge market.

Hypothetical numbers? All I claimed was a sample size of 100. Make it 1000 if you want, the point is the same. It's fairly obvious that more random people off the street will recognise Mario or Link than Drake or Master Chief. Like NintendoLand, Wonderful 101, Hyrule Warriors, Captain Toad, Splatoon, Super Mario Maker? I think the sequel-itis is present on both Nintendo and the competition to the same degree. The biggest franchises on the other consoles, FIFA, COD and Assasin's Creed see a new installment every year. The biggest franchises on Nintendo consoles see a new installment every generation.

Not sure how you can criticise a once-a-console Smash or Mario Kart when the rest of the industry has YEARLY sequel-itis. 5 Mario Karts spanning 23 years isn't too bad. Nor is 4 Smash games spanning 16 years. Yes I do class diversity as being able to slot into different genres. Every one of those types of games are drastically different from each other. Sure many use the same IP, but the gameplay between each is totally different. Sure there are lots of platformers on the system, but every console has it's stable, shooters and action games being the equivalent on other systems.

The age of the mascot came and went for them because nothing stuck. Show 100 people off the street photos of Mario, Link, Picachu and most will tell you who they are. Show people off the street pics of Drake, Master Chief, COD/Battlefield/Division shooter and they'll have no idea. That's a huge positive for Nintendo.

I never said they wouldn't. Would they sell much? Doubtful. I never said otherwise.

Splatoon: team-based online shooter Smash Bros: Beat-em-up/brawler Mario Kart 8: Racing game Mario 3D World: 3D Platformer Mario U, DK, Yoshi: 2D Platformer Pikmin 3: RTS Hyrule Warriors: Hack and Slash NintendoLand: Mini game collection Wonderful 101: Strategy/Action Bayonetta 2: Action Captain Toad: Puzzler Mario Party 10: Party game Super Mario Maker: Level creator Starfox Zero: Arcade shoot-em-up Xenoblade Chronicles X: RPG Mario Tennis Ultra Smash: Sports Project Zero: Horror Zelda U: Action/Adventure

Battalion Wars isn't world renowned. Nor is Earthbound or 1080. I'm talking about Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Pokemon, Donkey Kong, Kirby etc... Because they don't. They have quality games that people love, but in terms of characters, not so much. Certainly nowhere near the vast cupboard of IP that Nintendo have at their disposal. It's why everyone wants to see Nintendo games on PS4/XBO. Nintendo have 30 years of nostalgia and IP at their disposal, Playstation has... Drake, Sackboy and erm, Crash Bandicoot. Xbox has Master Chief.

They've been losing more of their core fanbase since the NES days. Compared to the rest of the industry, their diversity is fine. They have something their competitors don't have, world renowned well loved IP, it makes sense to use them.

How would they be abandoning you? You've already got the full Wii U games, play them for as long as you want!

My point was you have unique experiences on both. 2D Mario, Donkey Kong and Yoshi are key franchises yet where nowhere to be seen on Gamecube. Wonderful 101 is a brand new game. Splatoon isn't just 'another shooter'. You're also comparing a SD console that was out for five years, with a HD one that's barely over two and a half years old. Not exactly fair. Cut the Gamecube's library in half then compare them.

Where are the GameCube equivalents of Splatoon, Donkey Kong Country, Captain Toad, Wonderful 101, Super Mario U, Hyrule Warriors, Yoshi's Wooly World etc? The new pinnacle of gaming? Technically maybe. Gameplay wise, Mario 3D World trumps it critically, if Metacritic is anything to go by. The majority of those Wii U exclusives reviewed very very well.

It's not personally for me but I can appreciate how different it is. Certainly makes the game stand out.

Give me a timeless Wind Waker art style over the Witcher any day. The latter will look dated by the end of the generation. Ok great, I just never hear how amazing the gameplay supposedly is. I hoped the game wasn't only relying on visuals + scale. Glad to hear the actual moment to moment gameplay is incredible too.

re: The Witcher 3, I keep hearing about how amazing the overworld is, how pretty it looks, how many missions there are to do, how the scope and scale of it all is breathtaking. I never hear any comments about how much fun the gameplay itself is, something that Nintendo pride themselves and focus on. It's the same with a lot of these big AAA games, questionable substance behind all the visuals and huge overworlds. Destiny had you replaying the same 5 levels over and over and over again, in the hopes of finding better random loot drops. Personally I find that kind of gameplay so boring, and the antithesis of what Nintendo offer. Case in point: You'd honestly choose a mediocre game because it lets you chat to your mates easily, over a brilliant Nintendo game that doesn't? I'll never understand that way of thinking. I also don't agree the Witcher looks anything special. The game will look dated in five years, unlike say the Wind Waker to a slightly lesser extent Skyward Sword which just look timeless.