Why Does Nintendo Get a Free Pass From Criticism From So Many Gaming Journalists?

Nintendo first gained international recognition in 1981 after the release of Donkey Kong. That escalated to newer heights with the main protagonist of the Mushroom Kingdom, who became the mascot for the company following its popularity. New characters then joined the party, including Link, Kirby, Pikachu, and more.

Many of those characters will give nostalgia to the fans who used to play the games created by the company. Maybe that’s why they are delivering fun to the gamers by repackaging nostalgia in the form of characters like Mario and Zelda today.

Nintendo, Mario, and Zelda Makes a Great Trio But it Needs a Break

The term Nintendo is said to have the meaning ‘leave luck to heaven’. They aren’t really adhering to it; instead, they have left their luck to characters like Mario or Zelda. There’s a variety of them, but these two can be seen walking around somewhere whenever the company’s name pops up in the news.

While there are just 29 games in The Legend of Zelda media, Mario games have spawned over 200 times throughout its history. They seriously need to get over that jumpman, or the people should. But fans cannot simply let go of it. It’s only MacMillan in Call of Duty, but there are many MacMillans in Nintendo‘s world.

Fusajiro Yamauchi’s company is leveraging it to an extreme degree. And why shouldn’t it? After all, “this is business.” But maybe it’s time to add some colors to the mix; fans will appreciate it, as they have in the past. So why isn’t it doing so? When a gamer is paying big bucks for a console, just a couple of franchises don’t cut it.

And we must not forget about the third-highest-selling console of all time, the Switch. It’s not horrible, but not something of a market mover either. What’s all that hype about it’s successor? It is nothing but Mr. Satan of console wars.

I hope those couple of characters won’t remain the only selling point after portability. If something is new, it must come up with something new. Otherwise, why does it matter?

A Little Variety Will Only Add Flavor; Just Look at Xbox and PlayStation

Maybe we cannot take that PlayStation or Xbox outside on a sunny day, but at least they aren’t giving us the S.S.D.D. (Call of Duty fans will know). They don’t have to rely on decades-old characters, or franchises, for that matter.

We got familiar with Joel, Ellie, and Abby over a decade ago, and we still cannot say they are old characters like our Italian plumber or the Hylian hero. There’s a variety in Sony and Microsoft’s gaming worlds; we cannot simply get enough of it.

Astro Bot is making waves in the industry now, and it’s a marvel of environmental storytelling. The character first appeared in the same year as Joel, Ellie, and Abby. Aloy from Horizon video games isn’t even a decade old, and fans are already in love with her.

As of now, Nintendo is worth over $60 billion. That is bigger than that of Sony and Microsoft. We are talking about the gaming divisions of the latter giants, ladies and gentlemen, before you make any comment. The Japanese video game company can definitely take that risk of adding some new fictional people to expand its roster.

Lucky are the ones having PlayStation and/or Xbox consoles at their disposal. Otherwise, they would have to rely on those YouTube walkthroughs to get a hold of characters like Chris Redfield, Atreus, Captain Price, and more. Of course if they aren’t all about the Mushroom World or The Kingdom of Hyrule.

Where variety goes, energy flows. I am not saying that the Japanese video game company should just churn out new characters like a horde of zombies. Give us a few, but please, something new.

I have been playing both Call of Duty and Mario since 2003, and the latter never gave me dissatisfaction until recently. That too wasn’t owing to the character issue I am ranting about, but the way they diverted from their roots.

Activision will be going back to its roots when the story is concerned, as will EA with Battlefield, as it went through something similar with its latest entry. I believe them. Nintendo is already deeply rooted, so it doesn’t need that. But it should lower the production from the same tree, providing us with the same fruits.

What do you think of what the Japanese video game company has provided us with over the years? We would like to know about it in the comments section below.