How is Nintendo successful?

I don't get you people. You think you know better then a company that has been around for over 100 years. One of the oldest gaming company that has nearly 40 years of success and still believe they don't know what they doing. We get it. You don't like Nintendo and truth be told you probably still wouldn't buy their games if they were 3rd party. I don't care for Nintendo myself anymore but respect them.
 
Nintendo has been around for over 130 years. A company doesn't get old without doing some things right.
 
Its simple, Nintendo puts out an experience with every first party title (and most third party exclusives).

Some may balk at that word, and they likely haven't played a nintendo game in a long while. They don't look the best (but they look good), their fluid, with strong gameplay, great presentation, and often deliver something you cannot get elsewhere (or only get a cheap knock off elsewhere).
 
How is Nintendo successful when they're consistently behind the times, from not using CDs to having bad online?
Mainly on the back of their first-party exclusives, which have been generally excellent. [Look at the N64 library; outside of Nintendo/Rare developed titles can you think of "one" good N64 game?]

Nintendo at the management level is insular, backward, and believes they are special when they really aren't. But their first-party exclusives have kept them afloat long after devs have abaondoned their consoles for shovelware.
 
Turok and it's sequel
San Fransisco Rush and Rush 2049
All of the Aki wresting games
Ogre Battle 64
Star Wars Rogue Squadron, Shadows of the Empire, and Racer
Good choices overall (shocked someone other then me remembers Ogre Battle 64 was a thing), but nothing on the Nintendo/Rare tier of titles. The N64 library was hilariously top heavy.
 
Turok and it's sequel
San Fransisco Rush and Rush 2049
All of the Aki wresting games
Ogre Battle 64
Star Wars Rogue Squadron, Shadows of the Empire, and Racer
I'd add Doom 64, Extreme-G, Quest 64 and WinBack to that list
Good choices overall (shocked someone other then me remembers Ogre Battle 64 was a thing), but nothing on the Nintendo/Rare tier of titles. The N64 library was hilariously top heavy.
I think Turok was superior to any of the FPS titles Rare put out on the N64. I know that is going to sound blasphemous to the people with rose tinted glasses on for Goldeneye. Rare being closely tied to Nintendo at the time and they couldn't even figure out how to get consistent framerate in most of their games while third parties did.
 
I'd add Doom 64, Extreme-G, Quest 64 and WinBack to that list
Now your getting into so-so territory. Extreme-G was nice, but F-Zero GX was superior as a racer. And I'd argue Quest 64 was outright mediocre to outright bad.
I think Turok was superior to any of the FPS titles Rare put out on the N64. I know that is going to sound blasphemous to the people with rose tinted glasses on for Goldeneye. Rare being closely tied to Nintendo at the time and they couldn't even figure out how to get consistent framerate in most of their games while third parties did.
Turok was a great game, but I understand the performance issues; the maps were fairly large for the time and likely were stuffed into the N64's fairly minimal RAM capacity. Ironically, the expansion pack use in Turok 2 made things worse due to the high-res textures taking longer to load.

Remember: Access times on the N64 RAM were so slow that for small amounts of data it was faster to read directly off the cartridge then to access main memory. The N64 had great memory bandwidth (great for moving lots of data at a time), but piss poor access times (not so great for retrieving small data values).
 
How is Nintendo successful when they're consistently behind the times, from not using CDs to having bad online?
For what it is worth, the CD thing was a genuinely bad strategic decision by Nintendo because it ultimately led to the behemoth that is Sony becoming competition.
Nintendo at the management level is insular, backward, and believes they are special when they really aren't. But their first-party exclusives have kept them afloat long after devs have abaondoned their consoles for shovelware.
I don't blame Nintendo for not wanting to participate in the "hardware-as-loss-leader" game like what Sony/Microsoft are doing. Currently, it isn't a problem in the current generation (Switch) but my thought here is that as long as Nintendo share similar supply chains with Sony/Microsoft - (i.e. AMD and Nvidia), they will experience similar pricing/costing pressures.

At this stage, I think the biggest thing for Nintendo to do is to actually learn how to do online + gaming e-commerce well. By doing that, it give themselves an option to go to alternate hardware if they need to one day.
 
For what it is worth, the CD thing was a genuinely bad strategic decision by Nintendo because it ultimately led to the behemoth that is Sony becoming competition.
But Nintendo didn't see it that way. Remember, Sony was supposed to be the one to make the CD expansion for the SNES; Nintendo management nuked the deal because "we don't make 50/50 deals with SONY".

That's just how Nintendo internally thinks. Frankly, the entire company is being held up by a few old timers, and once they go I suspect Nintendo will enter some seriously dark times.
 
I always liked Space Station Silicon Valley, but then that was a DMA Design game, and they’re rock stars now…
 
But Nintendo didn't see it that way. Remember, Sony was supposed to be the one to make the CD expansion for the SNES; Nintendo management nuked the deal because "we don't make 50/50 deals with SONY".

That's just how Nintendo internally thinks. Frankly, the entire company is being held up by a few old timers, and once they go I suspect Nintendo will enter some seriously dark times.

Sony wanted most of the profits in the deal. It was a bad deal for Nintendo.
 
I'd add Doom 64, Extreme-G, Quest 64 and WinBack to that list

I think Turok was superior to any of the FPS titles Rare put out on the N64. I know that is going to sound blasphemous to the people with rose tinted glasses on for Goldeneye. Rare being closely tied to Nintendo at the time and they couldn't even figure out how to get consistent framerate in most of their games while third parties did.
Funny you mention Winback because this past weekend I’d been coming though looking to play it again because I have tons of fond memories of the single player and multiplayer. My next older brother and I loved playing the multiplayer.

Definitely underrated, and innovative for what it was. Also liked the fact you could achieve multiple endings based on how fast you played. Remember watching my brother play after I beat it, and he got a different ending being quicker than I was my first playthrough. Noticed it based on an early-ish cutscene.

Anyway, maybe too OT, but one of my favorite N64 games.

Nintendo sticks with what works for them, and when a change doesn’t work they fall back to whatever was working before. Mario, Zelda, and Pokémon don’t hurt, either.
 
For what it is worth, the CD thing was a genuinely bad strategic decision by Nintendo because it ultimately led to the behemoth that is Sony becoming competition.

I don't blame Nintendo for not wanting to participate in the "hardware-as-loss-leader" game like what Sony/Microsoft are doing. Currently, it isn't a problem in the current generation (Switch) but my thought here is that as long as Nintendo share similar supply chains with Sony/Microsoft - (i.e. AMD and Nvidia), they will experience similar pricing/costing pressures.

At this stage, I think the biggest thing for Nintendo to do is to actually learn how to do online + gaming e-commerce well. By doing that, it give themselves an option to go to alternate hardware if they need to one day.
I really hope Nintendo sets up a way to gift games to people through the eshop.
 
I really hope Nintendo sets up a way to gift games to people through the eshop.
You can buy codes and send them codes, i've done this with my wife quite a few times for co-op games that we both need copies of.
Not nearly as easy, but functional.
 
You can't within the eshop itself, but you can from Humble, gamestop or amazon.
Ah, ok.

Trouble is, the Eshop frequently has sales and those prices usually aren't reflected on Amazon's digital codes for Switch :(

Also, many Switch games aren't available digitally at all, from Amazon, etc.
 
Ah, ok.

Trouble is, the Eshop frequently has sales and those prices usually aren't reflected on Amazon's digital codes for Switch :(

Also, many Switch games aren't available digitally at all, from Amazon, etc.

Yes, it would definitely be nice to be able to do it directly. I usually by a highly anticipated game early on, so full price, or close to full price. (on Steam for example) Then, if my kids want it, or we're going to play something multiplayer, I wait for a sale, then gift it to all of them. It's extremely easy and clean that way. It would be nice to be able to do that on the Switch.
 
Nintendo is a toy company that uses tech, not a tech company that makes toys. They aren't pushing for being on the bleeding edge of anything outside of well rounded, fun, memorable games. Yes, Nintendo is for kids, but things for kids can still be great if we let our guard down for a moment just to have fun. I kind of view Nintendo as the gatekeeper of PG-13 content, they allow themselves to be viewed as the safe company when looked at from the eyes of parents. I think this really has helped them stay in their dominant position within the gaming industry for decades. While most parents might not care, there's a significant amount of them who do, which gives the big N an edge. They play toward the always blossoming market of youth, but maintain being relevant towards young adults by having hardware that is just good enough to keep those good nostalgic vibes rolling through the future.
 
Nintendo is a toy company that uses tech, not a tech company that makes toys. They aren't pushing for being on the bleeding edge of anything outside of well rounded, fun, memorable games. Yes, Nintendo is for kids, but things for kids can still be great if we let our guard down for a moment just to have fun. I kind of view Nintendo as the gatekeeper of PG-13 content, they allow themselves to be viewed as the safe company when looked at from the eyes of parents. I think this really has helped them stay in their dominant position within the gaming industry for decades. While most parents might not care, there's a significant amount of them who do, which gives the big N an edge. They play toward the always blossoming market of youth, but maintain being relevant towards young adults by having hardware that is just good enough to keep those good nostalgic vibes rolling through the future.

I agree with most of that. They were, at one point, interested in pushing things in the tech department. Actually, they still do, they've just shifted the focus from brute force to power within a specific envelope (and now a portable one). They do tend to focus on their whole product "ecosystem" for lack of better term across toys, games, and video games.

While their first party content is safe as you say, they have opened up a lot more to entertainment on their platforms for more mature audiences. Which is great. They're also a premiere platform for indie games (which is very cool IMO).

What I really agree on, is letting one's guard down, and allowing oneself to enjoy a game that isn't the latest tactical shooter or sports game. If people were a bit more honest with themselves, they could allow themselves to play a Mario or Zelda game from time to time, and enjoy it. I think too many game players that are a bit older want to be a bit more [H] than maybe they should be about it. They're all games. It's like collectors who collect action figures, because it's a "high-brow" activity. You know deep down they want to rip open that package, and pop Han into the Falcon, and go "wwwwwwhooooosssssssshhhhhhhhhhh!!!" :p Playing Nintendo's games is fun. I think many people that say it isn't are just keeping it to themselves. Sure, I'm guessing there are also plenty to whom these games just aren't to their taste. That's fine too, but I'm also guessing there are less of those people than the closet N players. :D

Wait, I can play Mario, and still be a badass with a heart of gold? **sniff** :cry:
 
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Family friendly games, and their first party titles are highly polished. Not a lot of bugs in them.
This is big time.

My seven year old has a switch. He has a few Mario games. Then there are Mario Party and Mario Cart. Don't have to worry about blood and gore, and the party games are just fun for kids and for mom and dad. They aren't going for the latest look...Mario still looks like a cartoon.

Oh and the other day, my kid requested to get out the old NES and play Super Mario Bros, you know, the original. It is still fun in its simple way. Not fun, getting a 35 year old game and console to work and using the blow trick and everything.
 
This is big time.

My seven year old has a switch. He has a few Mario games. Then there are Mario Party and Mario Cart. Don't have to worry about blood and gore, and the party games are just fun for kids and for mom and dad. They aren't going for the latest look...Mario still looks like a cartoon.

Oh and the other day, my kid requested to get out the old NES and play Super Mario Bros, you know, the original. It is still fun in its simple way. Not fun, getting a 35 year old game and console to work and using the blow trick and everything.

It's spelled Mario Kart. Kind of like how combat is is stylized in Mortal Kombat.
 
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