I'm going to say why I still support Nintendo after everything.
They're the only game company that feels like it has any sort of soul.
Maybe it's because I'm old and nostalgic and from a different time, but once upon a time, you bought a game system and all it did was play games. It didn't play movies, stream videos, surf the web or Skype chat and no one cared. Multiplayer meant friends came over and you all laughed and hung out and had fun. No one was screaming homophobic slurs into a headset. I remember when game heroes came in all shapes and sizes as opposed to now when most are just generic white guys with guns. I remember a time before game ratings existed so no one could decide that a game was "cool" by the rating on the box. There was a time when you bought a game and that was that. No DLC. No patches and no one worried about evil used game sales eating their profits.
I remember when "console war" was people arguing over silly things like blast processing and which mascot could beat up who. Now we bicker over which system runs the same generic shooter at 1080p. Instead of talking about what level we reached, we focus on how many hours we sunk into a game. There was a time when game companies weren't afraid to experiment with new characters and ideas. Now they're all afraid if they're too different, they'll lose too much money so everything is watered down and homogenized to please the focus groups. For all the good advancements we had this gen, there is so much equally bad. Online DLC led to companies nickel and diming us for things that should've been on the disc. Online gameplay connected us to a bunch of homophic trolls. Prettier visuals lead to ballooning budgets leading to less creativity.
And then I look at Zelda and Mario and it reminds of me of a time gone by, when things were simpler. Games that don't try to be movies. That focus on gameplay. Where I don't have to be connected to the internet to enjoy the full experience. Yahtzee on the Escapist said something regarding Nintendo that, for all the crap he gives them, he still supports them because they're the only ones that still act like a GAME company rather than trying to make some all in one multimedia box.
And if the WiiU is Nintendo's Dreamcast, then so be it. There were plenty of Sega fans who stuck by their console to the end. I would rather stay on the sinking ship with the captain and jump sip with the rats. (yeah I went there) Because once Nintendo is no longer in the console, market neither am I. I'm old, there's little in modern gaming that interests me outside the indie scene. I will say the PS3 was good to me and it gave me some enjoyment but we didn't get one for years. If there is no Nintendo console in the future, then whatever my husband choses as the main gaming device is what I'll play so it will probably be PC gaming. While everyone thinks Nintendo would be better off as a third party (rather it would be more convenient for some not having to buy a console to play Zelda and Smash Bros. on), I saw what happened to Sega. When was the last time Sega made anything truly great? Sadly this is what I think a third party Nintendo's fate will be.
I look at the whole Xbox One vs. PS4 war and I see very little difference between the 2. These days, they have 90% of the same games. They're both big, black monoliths that seem more interested in social media and TV streaming than games (Sony's a little better about it). Right now the highest selling PS4 game is CoD: Ghosts and I'm willing to be this will be the Xbox One's best seller too. Welcome to the Next Generation. Same as the last just a little prettier and better online. At least the WiiU actually feels different. But clearly everyone wants to fight over which big black multimedia box plays FPSes better. I want nothing to do with it.
I'm going to stop before I start singing "I dreamed a dream." Because that's going through my head right now.
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