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I just wanted to pop in here and give my 2 cents on this whole debate. Since I've been playing Videogames since I was 2 years old playing pacman at my grandma's house, Videogames have been my number one passion.
First off, the few people in this thread that have nothing better to rip on Nintendo for other than "They make all teh kiddie gamez!". I can't disagree. They're games are packaged in a family-friendly way. But since about 3 years ago, this complaint has been dead in the water since Nintendo has made an image comeback with the release of games like Resident Evil 4, and other adult-oriented games. One other point on the kiddie games argument. Maybe the games ARE packaged for kiddies, but there's no denying that every game that's released for Nintendo has a certain polish, a certain 'finished' quality, that X-Box and Playstation have never had. Nintendo makes quality games with tight controls, amazing gameplay, colourful graphics that work to their consoles strengths, rather than their weaknesses, and brand-recognition that can make the company a billion dollars with the release of a single Pokemon, Mario or Zelda game.
SO! Lets cut to the chase, Nintendo is going to destroy the competition in this round of the Console wars.
Nintendo has always been the most innovative of all the console companies. Nintendo has always truly had the better software, most fun games (actually, in this regard, N64 still takes the cake), and smartest business philosophy.
While Sony got greedy as soon as it's popularity picked up and pushed their developers to pump out games at 3 Final Fantasy's a year. Nintendo has always been more than happy to delay game releases such that the game they release is polished, plays well, and is user-friendly.
Nintendo lost a lot of ground when Sony released the PSX and Square jumped ship. Mostly because of Nintendo's decision to stick to cartridge-based gaming, and 3rd-party developers jumping ship for the Dreamcast and PSX because CD-based games are incredibly easier, and cheaper to make.
Suring the PSX/N64 era, Nintendo also had the problem of Playstation creating more adult content, while Nintendo was still very family oriented (and actually, continues to be still, although not as strict). And thus they lost even more ground after FF7 brought gaming to the masses.
With the release of PS2, Gamecube and Xbox. Nintendo made a big mistake in releasing the GC in PURPLE (BWAHAHAHAHA). They were already fighting an image backlash. But now at the end of the current era, most gamers with a love for GAMES (and not just pretty graphix) are realising Nintendo's biggest advantage. The one thing that's kept them in the business for 25 years (almost?). AMAZING first-party software.
Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Kirby, Donkey Kong, Pokemon, F Zero, Starfox. More obscure franchises (at least in NA) like Fire Emblem, And more recently... Animal Crossing and Pikmin. Are all extremely popular with all ages of gamers and are available for systems from ONE company. Nintendo. And all of these games can claim with almost EVERY release one thing that most companies can not. They all have tight controls, and gameplay that's very easy to learn, but also equally hard to master. (Anyone who thinks Smash Bros is easier than any game in, for example, the Street Fighter Series is fooling themselves, or blinded by the "NINTENDO IS FOR KIDDIES!" propeganda)
While Sony and Microsoft (and in earlier years, Sega) rely almost solely on 3rd-party support, Nintendo has always had their own games (and the portable market) to carry them through rough times. This is going to work to their advantage in the coming generation.
Just like back in the late 80's the video-game industry is becoming saturated with horrible 3rd-party games. For every Zelda: The Ocarina of Time that Nintendo releases, there are 20 E.T.s released by everyone else (And if you don't know about E.T., you really should just drop out of this debate RIGHT NOW).
The obvious reaction to this fact, is that videogaming is starting to enter into a recession. The most common complaint in video-game magazines these days is that every game released is just the same game that was released last year, but with pumped up graphix and 15 more button combinations to add "new" material.
This is where Microsoft and Sony are still headed. While Microsoft is basically following the hype and doing the only thing they know how (shamelessly rip-off from others, but spend their billions of dollars to make it prettier), Sony is becoming comfortable and losing their drive to innovate and impress the masses.
Lets not forget that neither Sony or Microsoft are actually gaming companies... Sony has a whole slew of problems going on right now (what with PSP floundering and their now HDVD and Blueray war, along with tons of bad publicity over things such as their CD spyware that messes with computer registries) and are trying to turn videogame consoles into Blackberries with "Teh pwn graffixxx!!1". Microsoft has tons of money and will probably take another console before they give up on the market, but they'll always be a copy-cat company, and when videogaming is no longer the cool thing to do (as is quickly becoming the case), they'll be totally lost with no idea what to do.
In the meantime, Nintendo is doing what they've always been amazing at, innovating and bringing new things to the market. When people grew frustrated with giant joysticks, they INVENTED the D-Pad (and actually, the controller for that matter). When people wanted more buttons, they added shoulder-buttons to the SNES (which have become an industry standard since). When people demanded a new type of control to explore the new 3D realm, they created the first controller with an analogue control stick (which Sony quickly copied). And now, although not much vocal rumblings have been happening of late in the controller realm, Nintendo is ONCE AGAIN inventing a new controller that ONCE AGAIN gives gamers a whole new feeling of freedom with their games.
PS2 is only the king on the hill right now because of momentum, and backwards compatability with the PS1 and N64's failure. Look at any gaming site or gaming magazine these days, and Wii has all the hype. Retro-gaming is making a comeback, which Nintendo is embracing, and their new controller offers more potential than anything that's been introduced to the market since 3D graphics.
I give it 3 years, tops, before people finally realise why Nintendo is the real King of gaming.
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Captain Planet is gey.
Water, Fire, Earth, Wind, Heart???
These forces are supposed to combine to create Captain Planet?
Bullshit.
Those forces combine to create a soaking, boiling mudstorm on Valentine's Day.
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