Nintendo does me over once more

I have been a fan of Nintendo for a long time. Ever since I was lucky enough to get an original two screen Donkey Kong pocket LCD game. I missed the NES because I was busy cutting my teeth on the ZX Spectrum and Atari ST.

But I can still clearly remember Christmas day 1992. Came down stairs, and there waiting under the tree was a large box. I already knew.. or at least hoped I knew what it was. But I diligently opened my other presents first. That box would be saved for last. Went through the usual, socks, some clothes, the new Beano and Dandy annuals.

Then it was time… I had waited long enough and I could not take it any longer. I started in the corner, peeling the paper away and seeing on the black background of the box, the bold Nintendo logo in red. I had it! I rushed to pull the paper off. There is was in all its glory. The Super Nintendo, Street Fighter II bundle. 16-Bits of pure goodness.

The best of times

I got some money as well, that was all going on the SNES. The new kid on the block “Game” had recently opened a shop in Woking. I was there the day it opened. They held a competition to see who could get through the second level of Super Mario World the fastest. It was an amazing sight, it was so fast and smooth, the controls so responsive, the graphics state-of-the-art.

With my money in hand on Boxing day I headed straight for Game. Found the last copy of Super Mario World they had, and another controller (what good is Street Fighter II without a second controller?). Made my purchases and went home. What a wondrous time for a boy. The cutting edge console, two all time classic games, and plenty of time off to put them through there paces.

See it through

Super Mario World holds a very special place in my in my heart. It was the first game that I truly wanted to get to the end of. I wanted to see every level and fight my way to Bowser and rescue Peach. But once I had done it, I was not satisfied so I found every single secret there was to find. Including all of the Star Road, and the eight secret levels after that.

I still play it now. I have it on a GBA cart, and quiet often play through a few levels on my DS just for fun. It was a pleasant surprise to find they had not just ported the game, but actually made a few subtle tweaks that added something new.

I have no idea how many hours of my life I have lost to just that one game. But I know I enjoyed every second of it.

The start of the end

I can pin-point the moment the rot set in, and I started to think Nintendo didn’t care about me at all. I had just sold my Sega Saturn (an under appreciated system, with some of the best games ever made Guardian Heroes, and NiGHTS). I bought the then brand new N64 with Mario 64. Got it home and everything worked as it should. Mario 64 was another great addition the Mario family and I was happy.

Until a few months later. Suddenly Nintendo decide it is time to screw all the people who supported them by buying the N64 early. Whats the best way to do that? Drop the price by £100 of course.

I actually felt quiet bitter about it. It was a lot of money to me, but I wanted the N64 to succeed, so I supported the company. They repaid me by giving me a good hard kicking. This is when the realisation hit me, Ninty are far for intelligent than I had given them credit for. They had planned this from day one, and now it works don’t be shocked when they do it again.

They get clever

I have always ignored the Game Boy (The game gear was in colour). But mainly because I didn’t think it was good enough. It was fun, but just to limited. But I was very interested when they brought out the Game Boy Advance. It looked like a hand held SNES (Excellent). But I skipped it, and I was glad I did. They replaced it within two years. Adding the much needed feature they had missed from the original “a back light”. Now there’s a feature.

Sure enough they were kicking their supports but they had come up with a genius way to do it. Don’t just drop the price, that makes people upset. Bring out an upgraded version. Sure, the people who bought the first one will be upset, but chances are they will buy the new one (Ninty can double their money), and can actually RAISE the price of this new machine. Ninty win twice and the fans are now getting kicked with both feet.

Losing their way

But I did get a Game Cube. Not straight away. I left it a long time before I got one, I had learned my lesson from the N64. In the case the Game Cube, I waited to long, it had already started to die a slow death when I got mine (didn’t actaully take long).

On the whole the system was good (still is) and the Wavebird is one of the best controllers you can get. But the console was not well supported. It was as if Ninty lost interest halfway through its life and just decided to focus on something else. This was a shame, it was a good machine, definitely better (in terms of graphics) than the PS2. But the lack of decent games (especially more adult ones) doomed the machine.

But it also had the very best version of Mario Kart. I won’t go into it here, Nikobe has already done that for me. But you can not beat “Shine Thief” battle mode. It requires real skill, and when you get two expert players like Nikobe and Sideswipe together, it is a lot of fun.

A DS is for life

The DS was released in 2004. A well thought out, dual screen, touch sensitive, hand held. Nice! What more could you ask for? I looked ugly as hell, but it was something new. So I forgot my passed history with Ninty and got one. Got it with Mario Kart, and throughly loved it.

Until a few months later when Ninty did it to me once more. Withing 6 months Ninty announced they were replacing the DS with the DS Lite. A much better looking machine. I was absolutly furious for some time. I had promised I would not let them do this to me again, and I had bearly had the machine and they had already replaced it.

Did I get a DS Lite I hear you ask… well there is one in the house if thats what you mean. Which brings me to the point of the blog. They have replaced it again. That’s right, they have replaced the replacment. Added a few more features and are trying to flog it. They will suceed as well, people will fall over them selves to get them and be thankful to Ninty for letting them do it.

Honourable Mention

I also have a Wii. But all I can think it that it was a complete waste of money. I am so unimpressed with it as a platform. But the kids enjoy the bowling. It is saying something about a console when the tech demo is the best game on it.