Nintendo?

Personally I actually enjoyed the GameCube, I mean it's definitely not up to par with the Wii and SNES, but there where quite some good games for it. But otherwise the problem is some of the third-party games aren't the best and isn't what you'd call "Nintendo's best sellers". Anywhy I enjoy there handhelds more, but I like how many of the games can be enjoyed by everyone.

Nintendo's doing quite well in my book. :D

 

I do agree that Nintendo games aren' t as great as before.
Mario : I don' t really play them anymore, depite my avy and sig, yeah, how ironic. None of the Mario RPGs ever felt as great as Squaresoft Snes Super Mario RPG.
Zelda : I enjoyed Windwaker and Twilight Princess, but I was a bit annoyed at how easy they were to complete. The two DSgames gave me the same feeling, they have a good gameplay but they' re short and way too easy. I don' t think my age is the problem, go play Zelda 1 and 2 (or Super Mario Bros, or Metroïd) on the NES and see how you suffer.
Metroid : The series went downhill since Super Metroïd IMO. Sure, Metroid Prime are good games but they don' t really qualify as Metroïd games to me, Metroïds aren' t supposed to be FPS. The GBA Metroïds were closer to Super Metroïd, but what I hate about them is that they became linear, even a skillful use of the bomb trick will get you nowhere, you just HAVE to play the levels in the exact order that Nintendo decided you should. Other M has the same problem, although the exploration is a little bit less rigid and the gameplay feels closer to the 2D games it' s an incredibly linear, short and easy game. It took me a measly week to complete it 100% (I' m not even sure I ever completed Super Metroid 100%). Seeing Samus wait for an order to use her upgrades, even if that means her own death, is fu****g ridiculous.

Those problems aren' t exclusive to Nintendo, a lot of my favorite franchises became linear, easier and shorter than before. They also took a major turn in their approach, which always feels as a treason even when the result is good (Resident Evil 4-5, Silent Hill since Origins, FFXIII).

The other two reasons I hate the Wii is that third party developers seem to have abandoned the boat (no good RE games or good RPGs like Baten Kaitos anymore), and that I hate the Wiimote. I suck at it immensely. I still think Wii games are easy, it' s just fu****g frustrating to play an easy game and end up losing because of the lame controller, it makes it all even worse. That' s the reason I' m not looking forward to Skyward Sword at all. When Myamoto said that they focused on the Wiimote gameplay while developping the Zeldaverse wasn' t really their concern anymore I lost any excitement for that game. I' m quite sure a lot of gamers feel that way towards the DS stylus gameplay too, I don' t suck at playing with the stylus but I know lots of Zelda fans who didn' t play the two DS Zelda games just because they can' t be played with the paddle.

The only Wii game I' m looking forward to is Xenoblade (and maybe Last Story) that was recently announced to be released in Europe, and the only 3DS game I' m looking forward to is KH DDD (and maybe RE, we' ll see).

I think it' s interesting to notice that the PSP sold better than the 3DS in Japan since its release. OMG, Nintendo is "tanking" in Japan, with a handheld !!! Of course the explanation is probably its poor launch line-up, while Squenix is on fire on the PSP.
More about it here :
http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2011/04/07/media_create_sales/
http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2011/04/08/nintendo_stock_drop/

Even in France the 3DS had a little price drop a single week after its release. Knowing that Nintendo based its price on its popularity while it only costs them 70 euros to make one doesn' t help to make me want one either. It' s the same as the Wii being sold for the price of three Gamecube.