Should Nintendo do adopt more of Sega's design principles?

Splatoon, IMO not only feels like a Nintendo title, but it also feels much like a Sega game in spirit. While it is a good start, I think Nintendo should do more. Sega and Nintendo were similar in that they both focused on simple gameplay and novel control schemes (Nintendo with their console/handheld innovations, and Sega with their many arcade games). But the difference, is their approach to those philosophies. Nintendo is about a certain way of looking at gaming, Sega however, was about encapsulating what was a little more "real" about being a gamer. They were the Nickelodeon, to Nintendo's Disney. They were bolder, louder, weirder, and more experimental than their safe, wholesome counterpart.

For example, take a game where you race on hoverboards. While Nintendo would just make a relatively slow paced game with simple controls, easy to learn tutorials, and a simple look. Sega would make an outlandish arcade racer with a gimmicky board controller, loud, funky music, vivid colors and flashy effects, rebellious attitude, and gameplay so-fast and in-your-face, the whole game is over before you even realize what happened. This is what seperated the two. While Nintendo focused on slower paced home console games, Sega's strength was fast paced arcade games that throw as much at the player as possible in a short amount of time. Unlike Nintendo, who introduced mechanics and content little at a time, Sega gave you all the mechanics you need at the start, and more often than not, what you saw was what you got.

In recent years, Nintendo has taken some ques from Sega of yesteryear, culminating into the creation of Splatoon, the most innovative thing to come out of them in a while. It takes the design elements Sega was known for, and combines them with Nintendo's. But I think Nintendo should do more. They should adopt more of the bold, risk-taking, culture of Sega of Yore, while not tossing out their own values. Going back to Disney. People say Disney has expanded with brands aimed at more mature audiences. But Disney also had to adopt some of Nickelodeon's philosophies as well. You can see this in some of their newer cartoons like Gravity Falls, Star Vs. The Forces of Evil, Phineas and Ferb, Future Worm, etc. So I definitely think Nintendo can learn from many of Sega's games. The question is, should they?

@TheMisterManGuy: Waaaaaay to many sheep on here atm because of the Switch, that are going to try and rip you a new one.

Just remember Sega does what Nintedont, oh no they are gonna come after me now also, jumps in car and speeds off lol

Splatoon has the feel of a Sega arcade shooter, like Last Survivor, Virtual-On, Outtrigger, Border Break, etc.

It's time to bring back the 32X.

That's why we're getting mid-gen upgrades this gen.

Huh? You realize that the Sega we used to know isn't around anymore, right?

lol

The hell is Note do?

@reduc_ab_: Sorry, that was a typo.

@Kjranu: You should try Yakuza 0.

Yeah, there's waaaay too many sheep on here. The sheep haven't been trying hard enough to rip me a new one while I've been ripping Nintendo a new one because of what the Switch is. Don't worry the sheep might ignore you. Come get some sheep!

I was interested in Splatoon since I saw it for the first time after it was revealed.

@TheMisterManGuy: great post. This encapsulates why I always liked Nintendo but preferred Sega. Nintendo has been more consistent in quality, perhaps, but safer - sometimes to their detriment. It is good to see them stretch a little into that void more

It's similar to how Sega's Yu Suzuki summed up the difference between himself and Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto:

"The difference between Miyamoto-san and I is that he takes the same game and takes it deeper and deeper, like with the Mario series, while I like to work on different games and concepts," says Suzuki. "I don't like doing the same thing."

@Jag85: Well, Nintendo is made up of more than just Miyamoto. And now that Miyamoto no longer runs Nintendo EPD (New name for EAD essentially), Well be seeing a massive shift in Nintendo's software going forward.

Or even more backwards.

@TheMisterManGuy: Nintendo have always had the same feel to Sega games! Both companies have roots tied to the Arcade! So, if you are wanting an Arcade Experience, yes, Nintendo is the way to go

At least Miyamoto-san knows how to make money!

Nintendo should adopt one principle we all experienced from Sega during the Genesis era and that is to be extremely aggressive with marketing. Stop pussy-footing around and go for the jugular when giving consumers a reason to purchase a Switch by showing its strengths (if any) over MS and Sony.

When Nintendo fumble their hardware, they re-design. When SEGA fumbled their hardware, they patched it with more hardware. This philosophy made all the difference, and explains why one is still at the forefront and why the other has been reduced to software.

You have to do a little bit of both.

Sega was a much bigger risk taker, and that's why there were so many unique arcade style games on their systems. The bad thing is there were a lot of shit games, and it hurt the Sega Brand.

Nintendo played it safe and improved upon existing formulas for their games, and this made the nintendo brand really strong, but there weren't many games or different flavors.

If you can get in the middle you're perfect.

Sega does what Nintendont... That's all I got. :P

Sega only ever fumbled the hardware for one console, the Saturn, which was powerful but poorly-designed. It was the Mega Drive/Genesis, which was both powerful and well-designed for a late '80s console, that they attempted to extend with add-ons.

In comparison, Nintendo fumbled with three weak consoles in a row (Wii, Wii U, Switch), while Sony fumbled with two poorly-designed consoles in a row (PS2, PS3). And yet Nintendo and Sony got through it, whereas Sega didn't.

Nintendo does what Sega don't.. :) Still make good games.

I think Nintendo should adopt more of Sega's IPs.

Instead of just Sonic how about we get Jet Set Radio 3, or Nights into Dreams 2, or Panzer Dragoon Saga Remaster, Outrun Complete or a New Space Harrier OR A NEW VIRTUA FIGHTER?

The Switch would be like a God Like Console if we got not just Nintendo, but Also Sega Games.

The thing is ... SEGA pretty much killed themselves. They got out of the hardware world and I can't remember the last playable game they've made... they killed all their own great IP by making crappy sequel.

Sega are still making good games, like Yakuza, Valkyria Chronicles, Binary Doman, Total War, etc.

You're making the argument that a bad console design is an under-powered console. This attitude is exactly why SEGA and other hardware fails - they're emphasizing the wrong features.

Power does not guarantee market take-up, it guarantees high production costs and console sales that are made at a loss.

You didn't acknowledge that Nintendo does not make add-ons for forwards-compatibility, which sega has does twice.

Patching hardware to incentivize sales is something only SEGA did, and SEGA is now the only legacy corp of significance out of the business.

@Jag85: Sonic and Virtua Fighter are pretty much dead while they are their flagship.

Blast processing is due for a comeback.