SM3DW boring??? Wow. If you found that game boring, then I would imagine that all other Mario games are boring as well. Anyway....to each his own.

Anyway, I've always been a single console gamer, because owning multiple consoles encourages me to spend even more money on games. It also diminishes the value of owning a console, because you have to pass up on games that you would have played had you only owned that one console. But now with two consoles, you have to only pick the cream of the crop games to play on each one. I prefer owning just one console. Besides, I'm not one to spend obscene amounts of time playing games. Maybe 5 hours a week.

What is the likelihood that Nintendo will develop a new 3D EarthBound game for the Wii U?

I grew up with Nintendo as well. They still make some great games today, but very very few. Barely any new IP's, and barely any third party support. They're nothing like what they used to be in the 80's and 90's. And around the year 2001, it all started going downhill from there.

Four months ago I did purchase the Wii U, but mainly for one reason. I was excited for SM3DW. I played it, beat it, and it was superb. But I'm tired of the same franchises over and over, to the point that I don't even look forward to them anymore so much. If they were to announce or unveil a new Zelda game tomorrow, I wouldn't care. The ONLY game that I would be truly excited for, if they were to announce, would be a new EarthBound game for the Wii U. And it must be a fully 3D solid adventure/RPG. Sadly, that won't happen.

It's just very disenchanting, because I know how Nintendo was back in the 90's when I was a kid. But for some reason, they can't deliver on the same excitement now. No new IP's that are a big deal.

I'm 29 years old, single and have been gaming since I was 10 years old, when I got a Game Boy as my first system. Since then, I have owned every Nintendo console and handheld (except VB). Up until I was in college, I would play games for about 20 hrs per week. But now I only play less than 5 hours per week. Sometimes months go by with no play time, however. Currently, I own a Wii U and recently sold my 3DS. I have both Mario games for Wii U and they were excellent. DKC, MK8 and SSB look good, too. But.....

I'm seriously sick of Nintendo. I know.....they are one of the most successful game developers out there, with a legacy of industry involvement, and the top 15 best selling games of all time are made by Nintendo. But, I feel like it was more fun when I was younger and lived with the family. Now, being single, games like Mario Kart and SSB just aren't that fun when living alone. And even Mario and Zelda have become not quite as exciting as they used to be.

I'm also sick and tired of Nintendo not being up to par with current technology standards. They're always half a generation behind. Terrible online services, outdated interfaces, toyish looking controllers, consoles and handhelds and the list goes on.

Also....why the hell does Sony produce a wider range of exclusives, many of which are good quality? In the meantime, Nintendo just keeps milking Mario, Zelda and Pokémon. It's so annoying.

I think I'm going to sell my Wii U and purchase a PS4 as soon as possible. It provides so many superior experiences for an adult single person who values cutting edge technology and the simplicity of using a console in the living room (I hate PC's so don't even go there).

Overall, Nintendo is fantastic for children and families, but clearly, they don't care about technology, new IP's, adult gamers and online gaming.

Has anyone else ever done this? Abandoned Nintendo and never looked back? I mean, the Wii U is selling significantly worse than GameCube, even.

It is my understanding that Sony has a 78% chance of going bankrupt in 2016 and that the PlayStation division isn't really that great of a profit generator. And that the Xbox division of Microsoft is losing like $2 billion a year. So, although the Wii U is selling awful, Nintendo still has $10 billion in cash and could purchase the PlayStation brand. Xbox would cease to exist.

Do you think this is likely to happen or not?

1. Earthbound

2. F-Zero

3. Star Fox

4. Golden Sun

5. Paper Mario

I actually agree with the thread starter. I'm 29 years old and have been gaming since around 1994, but I retroactively played NES/SNES games of course. In my opinion, games in general had more of a fun/excitement factor back then. But around the mid 2000's things really started getting.....boring. Everything started to rely on dark, depressing themes, pop culture, and too many guns, shooting and blood. The only game developer that avoided this was Nintendo, who in my opinion still develops real games that escape reality and provide a very high fun factor, although admittedly too much reliance on old franchises. I mean, even here on the GameSpot website, just click on Games, then Nintendo, and the artwork at the top of the web page shows a variety of game characters...some happy, some angry. But then, if you go to the PlayStation, Xbox or PC pages, the artwork at the top of the page shows a bunch of angry, dark characters. In other words, gaming has become too reliant on dark themes and violence, and I think it has made gaming somewhat boring today. Everything is about competing for the best graphics and trying to look cool. That's why I have always thought that non-Nintendo platforms over the past 5-10 years are most appealing to teenaged and college males who need these games to feed their ego and look cool. They simply are too insecure to be playing Super Mario or Zelda. Instead, CoD and other shooters reign supreme.

However, PS4 seems to offer a great variety of indie games that aren't all dark and depressing.

Has anyone else seen this general shift in the game industry? From colorful games to dark, depressing, violent games?

I don't spend much time on these forums, but I'm probably older than 99% of anyone on here, and have been gaming since the 80's. I just wanted to chime in on this current generation of consoles. (I've been a Nintendo person my whole gaming life, with occasional PS gaming).

PS4 has won this generation, easily.

All the key indicators are there.

PS4 is outselling at a rate above all previous PS consoles, including the PS2. The shortage is so severe that is preventing Sony from building a strong enough base, yet it's still significantly outselling the Xbox One. It has over 180 games in development -- far more than the Xbox One and has the strongest third party support now. Furthermore, the price point is perfect, the hardware is superior to other consoles and the controller has improved greatly.

And of course, Sony had an excellent E3 in 2013, which began the momentum. It doesn't matter that Microsoft reversed its DRM and online policies. The damage was done. It's not about the change in policy. It's about the intent of what Microsoft really wants to do.

PS4 is nearly impossible to find anywhere at this time. This past weekend, I was at Toys R Us and asked if they had any in stock. The woman told me that I was the tenth person that day to ask her that. Also, I was on the Best Buy web site and saw that the PS4 had "LIMITED STOCK" at my local store. Later that same day, I went back to the same web page and it said "UNAVAILABLE."

It's not too early to tell who will win this console war.

It's over.

PS4 won. And it will only gain consumer and developer support going forward.

Microsoft will still sell plenty of Xbox One consoles. Nintendo will struggle with the Wii U forever. PS4 will dominate and reach a 70% market share in the long run.

I like Nintendo, but I'm sorry to say that they will most likely become dead last this generation. The momentum is with PS4. The XONE will do fine, but the PS4 will be untouchable. Wii U just doesn't have the third party support, the current gen hardware on par with the competition, a solid online gaming experience, or enough games that appeal to adults. They make some of the best games in the industry, but let's face it.....they are milking Mario and Zelda just too much now.

Yeah you guys are right. I'm going with Wii U. Specs, hardware and sexy looking consoles don't mean that the games are necessarily enjoyable to play. Plus, Super Mario 3D World and Donkey Kong Country interest me more than ANYTHING on ANY other console, past present and future, with regard to this new generation.

Thank god for Nintendo. What a breath of fresh air in an age of competing for hardware specs, graphics and countless shooting games and numerous dark themed, violent, depressing games.

That's right. I'm 29 years old and have little time or care for gaming these days. But even 28 years after it's inception, the Super Mario franchise is still FUN, fresh and still getting better and better. Yet, other franchises like CoD and Halo are already boring, and have only been out for about a decade.

See....I used to have a PS2 back in the early 2000's and a GameCube. Both systems were great. They competed more directly with each other, and as a result, the PS2 had an amazing library of games -- dark games as well as colorful games. But progressively over time, the PS3 and now the PS4 are more and more focused on attracting the PC gamer and shooter fans, and I feel that games on PS systems have become progressively dark themed, which simply isn't fun to me at all. I know shooters are fun for many other people, and heck, I enjoyed some myself from time to time. But for gamers like me, it just doesn't excite me. I think these days, PS4 competes directly with Xbox One and doesn't even compete with Wii U, really. I feel like Microsoft has made the gaming industry progressively more dark themed, and I am not fond of it. It seems like Xbox mainly appeals to ages 12 - 24. But Nintendo appeals to ages under 12 and OVER 24.

So, I am going with the Wii U. Thank god....it's only $299 and has an excellent exclusive game to actually play on it now, and more to come in 2014. And when you're an adult and work full time and have other things to do, it's just so much more practical and easy to play Nintendo's games. Gaming on PS4 and Xbox One is usually more time consuming and complex.

What do you think of my decision?