[Skulhedface]

My take on the situation:

Having grown up with Nintendo (not getting a Genesis or any other system until I got older and played the ROMS) I do have a lot of faith in Nintendo's games, but my faith in the company itself is starting to ooze a feeling of disappointment.

While I know like RoG, I find a lot more enjoyment out of a GBA than I do out of a PS2 and XBox, I also find myself startled at Nintendo's aggressive "You sucker!" sales tactics. Nintendo prides itself on it's reputation (to a point, deservedly so) so badly that it prices third parties right out of the market into the open arms of Microsoft and Sony. Not only that, but it seemed like an insult to me as a consumer to be forced to shell out quite a bit more money just to see a LITTLE more, mind you, of a game they've released, and for us that are not "finished" with a game until we've done 100% of what we could with it, I find that downright loathesome.

A perfect example is Metroid Prime. Granted, getting the original NES version of Metroid and a new costume isn't that big a deal, but I like finishing every last bit of a game before I declare it beaten, and to have to buy a whole new system and a whole new game just to get the original version and a damn costume is a bit ridiculous. I love Metroid Prime, I love Metroid Fusion, I don't like having to pay out of the ass to see everything there is to see in both games.

So as a game player, I'm mildly disappointed, as a consumer and a loyal supporter of Nintendo, I'm disenchanted.

As far as Sony goes... why is everyone bitching about the graphics? "Sony's graphics are nowhere NEAR GCN and XBox caliber!" If graphics is SOLELY what you base your opinion on, then my friend you're missing out on a LOT of good games. To this day, by today's standards, Super Mario Bros. has absolutely fucking HORRIBLE graphics and I'd rather play that than shit like BMX XXX, which not even the promise of nudity can help that this is a SHITTY GAME.

I liked my N64, though as someone who doesn't play sports games (except wrestling) I found a few less titles I liked as you guys, but I can't look back and say "This was a shitty system". For my dollar, and for the enjoyment I got out of it, I consider the 64 a success. Not an over the top success, but a success nonetheless.

Realistically, if too many more people feel like I do though, it's very possible Nintendo will go the way of Sega. Mario and Pikachu aren't going to bail their asses out forever.