Why do people keep getting excited over Nintendo?

So from what I've seen, the consensus among the press and people I know seems to be that Nintendo's announcements yesterday were underwhelming and predictable. I watched the Nintendo Direct and felt the same way, but I wasn't surprised. Everything that they had seemed to be either iterative or a straight up rehash of games from "the good old days". However, despite the fact that gamers are aware of this, they still get super excited when they see the next Super Smash Bros. or Mario Kart game.

So my question is: why do people keep getting excited to pay for these same games over and over again?

From what I understand, gamers get really frustrated with Activision every time another iteration of the Call of Duty franchise comes out. So why isn't the reaction the same with Nintendo and Super Smash Bros. or Mario Kart or Super Mario 3D World or New Super Mario Bros. 20 etc.?

This isn't a personal attack on Nintendo fans. I'm just curious about how people can keep getting excited for these games from year to year. Thanks for weighing in.

Because they are stuck in the past.

When they're on, they're on. I understand why Gamespot awarded Super Mario Galaxy their GOTY in 2007. Its so full of imagination that I don't get the same kind of joy from other companies that I do from Nintendo at its very best. Its impossible to always be peaking though, and with little outside support Nintendo is in the position of not only having to be consistently high quality, which cmon they are, but consistently world beating. That is just not realistic.

"Gamers" dont get frustrated when another CoD comes out. SOME gamers do. Millions still purchase those games each and every time. Same case here. Plenty of people get frustrated with Nintendo for its reliance on old franchises, but plenty others still enjoy them.

Couldn't agree with you more really. Nintendo do seem to get away with it more than others.

Well, there are some significant upgrades and variances. These things don't happen every year, and they tend to very fun and very innovative, even if they generally star the same set of protagonists.

I understand your question though. My best answer is rhetorical: Why would someone get stoked about sex if you've already done it plenty of times before?

Speaking solely for myself as someone who thought yesterday's Direct was awesome: Super Mario 3D World looks fantastic and it's a goddamn multiplayer version of one of the best 3D Marios ever made (which 3D Land most certainly was) and it's beyond comprehension to me that someone could not be excited about that; Donkey Kong Country also looks awesome and I really liked the Returns and I'm ready for another one because it's been three goddamn years; X looks amazingly good and I do not understand why people are ignoring it; and the new Smash Bros. hit all the right buttons for me.

Put another way: Nintendo makes games I like to play and I want to play them.

Fun things are fun and the minor changes, while minor, generally make the old things feel fresh and enjoyable again.

But it's also not really just a Nintendo thing. Nintendo does it the most, by far, but sports games do it all the time and with much more minor changes (you can make new Zelda dungeons but you can't change a football field) and everyone expects a new CoD every year. There's plenty of devs on all consoles making the same basic game over and over.

I think the problem I have with them is the lack of new IPs. It's just the same old characters over and over and over again.

Right. I'm not saying that other devs don't do it. Like someone said above me, Nintendo seems to get away with it more than others. I'm just curious why it seems like people are more willing to look the other way for them.

X, the game from Monolithsoft, looks like anything but a rehash. Bayonetta 2 is shaping up to be the bigger, better sequel to the best action game ever made. Smash Brothers is a popular series that gets tons of attention for the character choices and the fact that there hasn't been one in a while. As a general rule there's been one Smash game per generation (Which still seems to be the case here, if the 3DS and Wii U versions don't have any major differences), and every time it's different enough from the last that it's considered a big deal.

On top of that, it's probably just because they still make good games. It'd be different if every new iteration was stale and boring, but Nintendo's been kind of on the ball for years about giving something to be interested in with every new installment. They don't always succeed, but hell, no one has a perfect track record. All said and done, I'm more interested in the games Nintendo is putting out than I am in getting a new console at the moment.

That isn't really a fair comparison. Last time I checked the last Smash Bros was released in 2008. I'll concede on Mario Kart, although it typically only appears once per Nintendo platform (which I personally don't feel is all too egregious). As for Super Mario 3D World, I must admit I was a little disappointed by this announcement at first. I suppose I was hoping for some sort of Mario Galaxy esque paradigm shift, but from what I saw in the trailer, I would hardly call it a rehash. People who expect Nintendo to reinvent the wheel with every new game in the Mario franchise are fucking delusional.

While I'll agree that Nintendo seems to be playing it a little safe lately, I think the 2-4 year gap between major Mario and Zelda games gives the franchises enough downtime for most people to not feel too burned out.

I never did and never will... but yeah... it can be a little odd. People love to look back at what made them happy as a kid. Simple.

@afabs515: Because, with the exception of the "NSMB" games recently none of those is a yearly occurrence. Do you really need clarification on why people give COD shit?

Because Nintendo USED to take forever with each new installment of a franchise. I remember it being agonizing waits to see what the next great Mario or Zelda game was. But now they are doing it on a yearly basis instead of relying on other franchises that they own to carry that horse and letting the two big ones rest it off for a bit.

Because Nintendo consistently put out good products. If a product has Nintendo on the box, you can almost guarantee it'll be a good game. It might not be your thing, and it might be similar to the last game in that franchise, but it'll be a quality product.

@professork: I should have been clearer above. I understand that people give CoD shit because it's yearly iterations that are largely the same game. But what if CoD came out on the same schedule that Nintendo franchises come out on. Would people still complain about it so much? While we're at it, what if Nintendo games were yearly; the same games with the same innovations, just released on a yearly basis. Would people complain about those games more than they do now, assuming the quality is exactly the same? If so, then is the time between entries in a franchise what's really important, or is it originality/quality of ideas/innovations?

I don't think there is always such a huge difference. I definitely don't think Nintendo get away with it in terms of getting criticised for it I'm probably the sort of person you're referring to (ie a fan of Nintendo stuff), and on the websites I go on make the comments tend to make the same argument you do but in the opposite way, eg; "Why does everyone have such a go at Nintendo when Call of Duty and [insert various other games with numerous iterations] etc etc etc". Personally I'm more aware of Nintendo criticism than I am of CoD criticism, probably because being a Nintendo fan I'm more inclined to notice.

So imo it depends on your standpoint and personal taste. :P

Edit - of course when I say I don't think Nintendo 'get away with it', I mean in terms of people bashing them for it. They clearly get away with it with many games in terms of sales. :D

When I was younger, I was devoted to supporting Nintendo and claimed they were the best gaming company period. Probably because I grew up playing some great games from both the N64 and Gamecube eras and loved games such as the Smash Bros games, Super Mario 64, Pokemon, and others.

I'm nowhere near as dedicated to supporting Nintendo than I was back then, but there is still an audience who gets jazzed over game announcements like these. These people too grew up playing these games, have extremely fond memories of these titles and Nintendo (for the most part) knows what their audience wants, new games that caters to their nostalgia. You want a new Pokemon? BOOM! Here's Pokemon X and Y! You wanna a new Smash Bros with Megaman in it? PRESTO!

Also with the complaints about no new IPs, I too want Nintendo to make a push for those, but it seems that the company wants to play it safe maybe because they're afraid their audience would react hostilely towards a change of pace. Maybe I'm wrong and Nintendo fans want something new, but it could explain why Nintendo has stuck to their current marketing strategy. All I know is when Nintendo announced Geist back in the GC days, I was stoked because while that game ended up being average, at least that was a new IP of Nintendo's and they were trying something different. I want Nintendo to do something like that in the near future (but be good).

"New IPs" is totally overrated. I care about mechanics and style, and Nintendo games are top tier when it comes to that stuff.

X, Wonderfull 101, Bayonetta 2, and SMT IV were all shown during that same show, so saying that it was just all rehashes on the same old Nintendo franchises is incorrect. They've got people working on the next big thing just like everybody else.

All the old stand-by franchises get game after game because they're usually high quality, big selling releases. It's the same reason people are excited for a new Halo or Final Fantasy game, or new Avengers movie, or whatever the newest book about love struck teens who are also Frankensteins happens to be. Abandoning things that are proven and successful just for the sake of innovation is kind of a bad business model.

@afabs515: The scenario you present is actually worth considering, but I would have to say that I believe it does matter. If COD wasn't yearly it wouldn't catch nearly as much shit. It's essentially the Madden of shooters and Maddens gets shit on too.

But that being said, the quality of Nintendo's 1st party games are second to none. Whether or not they are in you personal wheel house, the quality of their titles is what has earned them such loyalty. Mind you the only reason I even own a Wii U is because of Monster Hunter and I don't remember the last 1st party Nintendo game I've played since the GC, but I can see why people love the big N.

Well, back in the day the release of a new core Nintendo franchise ment a brand new experience. Just think about how different Mario 1 to 2 to 3 are. Look at the difference between Mario World and Mario 64. A new core game from Nintendo used to mean something. Now, it seems like they are sort of making the sales games over and over. Not that these games aren't great-just not revolutionary which is what they used to do

Because nostalgia and because they are capable of being the best developer out there when they let themselves try exciting things.

I can see why Nintendo would seem a bit stale to someone looking in from the outside, but that isn't fair.

I've been a Nintendo fan ever since I picked up a controller and I've pretty much experienced nearly everything they've put out. It doesn't feel like rehash material to me.

Honestly, I watched a lot of e3 coverage, and although some of the stuff looks cool, it didn't really do much for me. Nintendo's Direct got me excited though! Super Mario 3D World looks absolutely amazing! I'm even stoked for Wind Waker HD. That game was absolutely epic and I will gladly go back and play it again because it's so damn good. Also, a portable Smash Bros?! Awesome! Now my buddies and me can trash talk, get pissed and get into actual fist fights wherever we go!

I don't know, I guess it's just the way I'm wired. Nintendo makes games I like to play.

@afabs515 said:

If starting from CoD4 they followed the Smash Bros. schedule, CoD4 would still be the latest one. If it was Mario Kart, CoD6 (MW2) would just have been unveiled for 2014. Zelda? CoD7 (Black Ops) still hasn't been revealed. But no, CoD10 is coming later this year.

The main Super Mario franchise is the only one that has kept up with CoD, and even then it's spread between three platforms and with Galaxy, 3D Land and NSMB the franchise has seen more variance than CoD ever did.

And more on Smash Bros., each game has added a ton of content and they all play different. Out of all the Nintendo franchises to complain about, Smash Bros. seems like an odd pick.

Because they don't release a new Smash Bros very often and it's tons of fun with the right friends? I love Nintendo at their best. They get really fun and inventive within their existing franchises just fine. Not sure what the weird fuss is. The Wii years have left me wanting for a more traditional Nintendo.

I completely understand, and it's too bad for Wii U 'cause to me it seems like they're just not pulling anything out that looks really compelling, except for their 3D games. I get somewhat excited too over their stuff that's not something they've done in a while. I mean, I don't at all get excited over their 2D platformers even if they're great, but a new one like the Super Mario 3D World (though I saw only images, and very little of it) is exciting to me, and when a new Zelda; Metroid, or what have you come along, that will probably get me kind of excited as well. I'm not sure if what they have is enough though.

They make fun, high quality video games. I was super dissapointed with the Nintendo Direct, but after a while I just can't not get super excited for a new Smash Bros. or 3D World and Donkey Kong (vikings!?!). There are new IP's now and then like Sakura Samurai, HarmoKnight, Pushmo, Wonderful 101 et.c. and they're usually pretty good too.

They might look like the same games but they are more often than not different in their own way. I like Nintendo a lot, if you don't that's cool.

I think that Nintendo games have been a niche genre of their own for a couple of generations now. Like Jrpg fans or rhythm game fans, Nintendo fans are going to get excited to some degree by almost every Nintendo game that gets announced because that's what they've got. If you are super into Nintendo's brand of fun then you have basically one company making those games and they come out infrequently enough that once you finish with one you have to wait (and wait and wait) for the next one. Specificity and scarcity create a kind of anticipation treadmill which is immune to the mediocre or occasional bad game. Provided that Nintendo hits a certain level of quality often enough then their fans are going to be happy, content is less of an issue because there are no real alternatives. Add in the fact that Nintendo make the occasional stand-out game and it seems more understandable that the average, well-adjusted Nintendo fan is probably okay with the status quo as far as the software catalog goes.

I have no long-winded explanation of the psychos who insist that everything Nintendo does is a shining golden beacon of creativity and innovation that we're all just too jaded to see. Those people are just crazy.

I ask myself the same thing every time people get hyped over "new" Nintendo games. I honestly do no understand it.

Because people have a general desire to repeat experiences they enjoyed in the past?

There is, though. People still complain about that stuff all the time.

People are excited because those games are fun. Some people like fun games. Mario Kart, Smash bros, etc. usually only appear once on a system, whereas a year hasn't gone by since the 360 launched without another Call of Duty game. Nintendo aims for a younger audience that probably didn't play those games when the last one came out, so this will be many of those kids' first time playing those games. And if you get those kids to become nostalgic for those games they might just buy the next one when it comes out 5 years later.

@hockeyjohnston said:

This except for MS and Sony's cases. Those needed new IPs. Nintendo's code to me screams out "If it ain't broke,don't fix it" and It took me a long time to realize that. Nintendo showed some damn good games that probably wowed me more than the PS4 and X-one games did so to me: They won E3.

Because most Nintendo games (save for all the recent Mario games) don't come out once a year.

I find it weird that people get frustrated over CoD. I don't play it but I also don't care that other people enjoy it.

There are enough experiences in gaming that people who want more of the same should be left to it.

I will buy every version of pokemon they put out, even if its the same thing. I'm okay with a city change and new pokemon and I find this particular iteration to be exciting.

Also: you don't have to play every game ever.

They've continued to make really good games throughout every generation. You can always count on a Nintendo game being at least fun to play through no matter what.

Because they reboot most of their core franchises once a generation, and now its a new generation. being excited seems pretty reasonable.

I think it's a combination of what a lot of people have said. People do complain a fair amount but they are more lenient for two reasons. The first is that many of these series only come around once a generation, and the second is that new entries are often quite different than previous ones. Yea in the case of Mario they seem to be in a bit of a rut, but the last Smash Brothers game came out five years ago. The last console Mario Kart came out around then too. I think Nintendo's problem is that they have been around a really long time and people who have been fans since the NES days are getting very tired of the same set of characters and worlds over and over again. But the NES came out almost 30 years ago and the average gamer is around 30 years old right now. So even if they started gaming when they were five years old they still would be too young to have experienced the NES. And a lot of gamers are too young to remember the SNES as well. For a lot of people these games that some of us have been playing for decades seem a lot more fresh. That's the thing with only coming out with one entry in a series per system. With a five year lifespan each new system really can introduce a whole new generation of players to gaming. For people whose first console was a Gamecube, Mario Galaxy was their first true Mario platformer and it wasn't until the DS that they got a true Mario 2D platformer. For people 20 and under they were likely experiencing a lot of these series for the first time on the Wii and the DS.

I think in a way Nintendo is no longer catering to the crowd that has been with them from the beginning. That's a sad thing to say, but it really feels true at times. I really wish we could see some new IP from the core Nintendo EAD team. I love the Monolith stuff and the Platinum stuff, but I'd love to see Miyamoto's team come up with something completely new. That said, I think Mario is really a timeless game. There is just something really amazing about Mario that makes his games a joy to play no matter how old you are or how many times you've played a Mario game. The thing is, while the IP remains the same, Nintendo innovates on the gameplay front a ton. A lot of times the Nintendo strategy is to take a popular character and place him or her into a new gameplay scenario. Mario Kart is the perfect example. There is still Mario in the name but it has nothing to do with traditional Mario games. Take a known IP and innovate from a gameplay standpoint. That has always been Nintendo's strategy and while I would love to see them branch out in some completely new directions from a character and world standpoint, from a gameplay standpoint they still make some of the best and most innovative games around.

How many Call of Duty games came out on 360 and PS4 this generation? 7 or 8? One every year?

How many Mario Kart games came out on the Wii? 1. The Gamecube? 1. The N64? Super Nintendo? Game Boy Advance? DS? 3DS? There have been more Call of Duty games on this generation of consoles than there have been console and handheld Mario Kart games ever.

Nintendo actually exploits their series' less than most companies, they've just been doing it longer. I don't get why it's so hard for people to notice the difference.

Not to mention that Nintendo DOES experiment with its franchises (albeit slowly) in terms of gameplay features and even graphical approaches, and the average level of quality of each of their games is higher than most other companies'.

You can complain that Nintendo isn't trying enough to create new IP or new franchises. That's a fair argument (though it discounts "casual" IP like Wii Fit, Wii Sports, etc.). But they definitely don't constantly rehash anything other than franchise names. New Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Galaxy are really different games.

I'm not going to do the research but I'm going to assume that there's been one Mario Kart per console or handheld. Effectively, including the newly announced version, that would mean that there have been four Mario Kart games "this gen" (Wii, WiiU, DS, 3DS). It's not exactly CoD numbers but it's a pretty fast turnaround for a Nintendo franchise, averaging one every two years.

There have been quite a few Mario platformers too. 2 Galaxies, 3 "New SMB" (I think), now 2 "3D," the anniversary release of AllStars, I'd concede that they are slightly different takes on the concept but that's a pretty big stack of Mario games all the same. It seems reasonable that there would be a perception that Nintendo has amped up the frequency with which they churn out certain titles.

Why do people keep getting excited at all about video games? We all know that every single one of them involves you moving your body slightly (either in gestures for motion controls or to press a button) and colours change on the screen. It's all the same man. Gaming is Dead!

@rebgav: Despite the fact that those Mario games are technically 3 different kinds of games, I'll grant you that they have returned to the Mario well a bit too often lately. It'd be nice if they focused on some of their lesser franchises or a new IP to help space them out, so I definitely see your point there. To play Devil's Advocate though, the 2 Galaxies on one console were an aberration, the 2 "3D" games are on different consoles (one of which is a handheld), the New Super Mario Bros games were all on different consoles (though are so similar that it really shouldn't matter), and All-Stars was just a lame cash grab on Mario's anniversary: a "collector's item".

Not that that makes the Mario series indefensible, but using that logic, the handheld versions of Call of Duty, which are "unique" games too, should count, doubling that series. So like, 14 Call of Duty games in half as many years? More so, probably, since they had slightly different campaigns on the Xbox and PS2 while releasing new versions on 360 and PS3.

It's a bit unfair to lump Mario Kart's by generation, especially since, even if you use the logic that Wii U and 3DS are "last gen", their predecessors would also have been considered "last gen" when they came out, so they are clearly 2 different generations, even if both gens are behind with current trends. But even so, one per console I think is pretty reasonable.

Mario Kart Wii came out in 2008. The next console Mario Kart is schedule for...2014 I think?

Mario Kart DS was 2005. Mario Kart 7 on 3DS was 2011.

So we get a new Mario Kart every 3 years or so, switching between consoles and handhelds, one per console. That doesn't really feel like it's whoring out the franchise to me. 4 games in 8 years. CoD comes out 4x as frequently. There isn't really a comparison.

Now don't get me wrong, I definitely identify with Nintendo franchise fatigue. I'm starting to feel it too (particularly with Mario and to a lesser extent, Zelda). But their situation, and their problem, isn't the same as Activision.

Nintendo needs to come up with some new IPs and plotlines to get people invested, gameplay isn't enough anymore.

Nintendo has made some of the most influential games ever and we all hope that their next reveal will be something that brings back the same joy we have felt before. It's a shame that we have now seen a pattern that has been repeated over and over again with the company. *sadness*

Smash bros is where it is at, regardless of how the game ends up I will be hyped for anything barring that name. I assume other people feel the same about the other series. To me what they showed looked too similar to previous games in those series. Nintendo is at their best when they take something familiar and innovate within it, case in point Mario Galaxy. Or Kirby's epic yarn. At least they have the support of platinum behind them for innovation, wonderful 101 has me curious and Bayonetta 2 does as well. She has a different hair style, man!

If they were releasing the same games annually people would be less excited but they do a decent job of spreading them out. I do wish they'd just kill Mario Kart though.

I think Nintendo games will always be at the top of the industry for sheer fun from video games. I'm not the biggest fan of most of their more popular franchises (Mario, Zelda, and Metroid games have a lot of fun sequences, but also a lot of frustrating ones too), but the most fun I've had with games can probably be traced to crazy stuff happening in Smash Bros, narrowly winning a Pokemon battle, or decking out the perfect team in Fire Emblem.

That being said, games aren't just about fun gameplay anymore. Just within the past year, games like The Walking Dead, BioShock Infinite and (I'm assuming) The Last of Us have tapped into more satisfying, mature, and deeper experiences that I just don't think Nintendo is capable of. Nintendo games are great to play when you're in a fun mood and with some friends on a couch--and when you've played something like that for so long it's nice to see some changes, little as they may be--but not for much else.

I like how, depending on where I look, Nintendo is either "allowed to get away with it" or "the media's whipping boy." Yeah, it's iterative and derivative. People like iterative. Different people like different kinds of iterative. Some people like derivative military shooters, others like derivative zombie games, others like derivative Nintendo games. It scratches an itch for people. Me, I got kind of excited because the games looked polished and fresh, the courses on Mario Kart looked really cool, and I've been getting back into Pokemon, so that stuff looked neat. Gamers are a wide, wonderful rainbow of possibilities!