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Nintendo Should Learn to Play Nice With Others

Nintendo Should Learn to Play Nice With Others

We must remember to share our toys children!

I have to admit, with all the next-gen news that’s been bouncing around lately, I kinda’ forgot Nintendo was even a thing. I mean, first you’ve got the Xbox going bat-sh*t crazy with their pricing gun (to where they’re practically giving hardware away), while Sony is making waves with its most recent technical debacle relating to its v2.00 update. Then when you least expect it, out pops the Wii U to remind everyone it’s still hanging in there. Surprisingly, things have seemed a bit quiet on the Nintendo front as of late (aside from the upcoming release of Super Smash Brothers of course).

And while you your average gamer might be able to ignore this little white box on most days, when Nintendo’s head-honcho (and surrogate gaming-father to us all) Shigeru Miyamoto speaks, we all stop to at least hear what he has to say. During a recent investor’s meeting, Miyamoto revealed Nintendo’s plan to tackle the coming year, in a landscape dominated by both Microsoft and Sony. He states that, as they did with the semi-crossover Hyrule Warriors , allowing outside developers access to their A-Team franchises is key to bolstering the struggling Wii U’s software library. “…part of our plan to do so is to use ‘spin off games’, which allow us to use our major title franchises, but create on a smaller scale and we are working hard on making these sort of derived products. In this way, we are preparing to expand on our characters while also increasing the number of software we output…we are also working more and more with many different 3rd party companies to produce our titles and from this year we have begun to work with some software developers for the very first time… I feel that next year’s Wii U titles are plentiful. We will continue working hard.” he touts.

If you remember, it was not so long ago that I went on a pilgrimage against Nintendo and their current direction. I’ve had no problem expressing my trepidations relating to the company’s home console strategy, which I personally feel is completely upside-down with the half-step that was/is the Wii U. The huge losses reported last March did little to change my opinion, which almost cost Satoru Iwata his job. Now I take no personal satisfaction in seeing my predictions come true, actually quite the opposite. I wish Nintendo would prove me completely wrong, as I love the company and want to see them flourish. However, there is little on the horizon in 2015 that would indicate any major shifts in their current business model. Nothing that is, except for Shigeru’s promise to allow third-party developers deeper access to Nintendo’s licenses. Again, referring back to Hyrule Warriors , I remember seeing this title at E3 and thinking it was a fun little departure. Nothing more. Never did I think it would amount to much more than a one-off type scenario, as I assumed Nintendo’s grip was far too tight to ever allow this kind of title to be published on a regular basis.

Nintendo Should Learn to Play Nice With Others

I’m happy to admit, they’ve been successful in proving me wrong in at least this regard.

Miyamoto has hit on an absolute stroke of genius and possibly uncovered the spark that could reignite gaming on the Nintendo Wii platform. Farming out their IPs to other companies (ones they’ve held at arm’s length far too long I might add) could be a wonderful way to revitalize their base. Imagine a Mario game in the style of a Borderlands shooter. What if Princess Peach got a Lara Croft makeover? How scared do you think Luigi would be if his next ghostly adventure had a Resident Evil or Evil Within flare ? Wait…wait…I’ve got it! Yoshi meets Dragon Age: Inquisition . It’s a perfect fit!

What do you think? Should Nintendo be more open to allowing outsiders to take their characters in directions they’d dare not venture in the past? What crazy mash-ups can you think of? Let us know in the comments section below!

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