Topic: The Arguments of Yesteryear

There always seems to be some great debate occurring in the gaming corners of the internet, with conviction abounding on either side despite the lack of conclusive evidence: Will Smash Switch be a port or a new game? Will the NX be a true home console or some sort of “hybrid”? Is Ridley really too big for Smash? etc.

After all the drama of ‘the big reveal’ however, the debates tend to vanish instantly, leaving no trace they ever happened. Within a relatively short period of time, the questions that had the internet tearing itself apart become answers that seem as commonplace as the analogue stick.

This is an open invitation to reminisce and reflect on some of the debates we used to care so passionately about, before they look their place as everyday fact. Were there any convictions you were dead wrong about? Were there any debates you particularly relished having? Can you remember some of the best arguments as to why what actually happened was downright impossible?

Let the reminiscing begin!

If Smash Ultimate was an enhanced port or not. Having Sliggy at NL was fun.

Nintendo Switch was the first console I ever bought at launch, and also the first one I followed the news on almost obsessively. After spending months looking at pictures and footage, it was surreal to actually hold the thing when it first released.

Anyway, it pretty much turned out to be everything I was hoping it would be.

Before the Wii U was revealed, I thought the idea that Nintendo's next home console would have a touch screen was a ridiculous conjecture born of unimaginative minds who could do no better than to base their predictions directly on what the company was already doing with its handhelds.

Whether I was justified in this scepticism is left as an exercise for the reader.

There are a handful or political things that I could mention but wont because I don't want to relive those arguments.

Anyone remember when Mircosoft said the Xbox One would have Kinect always on and watching you, and would not use any physical media?

I also seem to recall a lot of people arguing that both the Wii and Wii U were actually the previous generations' consoles, not the "current" generation.

One I grew up with was the debate over N64 cartridges vs Playstation CDs. Personally I still feel cartridges were better in a lot of ways, namely in durability. I knew so many kids growing up who had ruined PS1 and PS2 games but I can't think of anyone who ever broke an N64 cartridge, unless they did it on purpose.

"lol more like GAYmcube"

...what I'm saying is you're all already overselling the intelligence of most gaming discussion.

Chad Warden....
I'll see myself out

Every time a Nintendo console's sales slow down, analists start predicting when they will go third party. After watching Sega the last few decades, I hope this never happens.

@Heavyarms55

I remember that. Myself and my girlfriend at the time were so pissed off we sold our xbox 360s and all our games and became a Sony household. Even made me go and get a Wii U.

It still amazes me how loud that clap back was to Microsoft. They did an almost immediate about face it seems.

@judaspete

Theres an article i read ages ago that tracked how much money Nintendo is actually worth. I forget the exact amount but its something like they could afford to launch a dozen massive failing consoles in a row and still be financially stable.

Nintendo made a TON of money for a very long time and most of the games they make are safe bets.

I wasn't really into discussing games on online forums at all until just before the launch of the Wii. So probably the earliest "speculation threads" I was involved in were the ones for 3DS and Wii U. For 3DS I don't remember any community dividing speculation threads. The general speculation was "Nintendo should make a more powerful DS as the DS successor".

But with the Wii U I had some more interesting speculations. The biggest being the idea that Nintendo could've dumped optical media for cartridges again. Or at least if not for "Project Cafe" then for whatever comes after it because the trends were running against discs. I also wasn't a huge fan of some of the speculations some had of it being a super powerful but otherwise boring piece of hardware. In the end I think I was about unsure on what Cafe would be as Nintendo ended up being.

I had similar thoughts about the NX. I always thought it'd be a "portable" console so I always thought it was always going to be cartridges. I always thought it'd be based on some ARM SoC. I didn't think it would be a massively powered console, I thought it'd be less capable than the Wii U if anything. I saw the NX as a chance for Nintendo to focus on one thing and do it well. I pretty much nailed this one I think, so has Nintendo.

With the Switch when the first video was released everyone was amazed that you could play it on the go. I was completely against this and said it would always just be a home console for me. Then on the third day of having it I took it to work with me to play over lunch......and have ever since. To be honest I hardly play it at home at all, it's just mainly during that half an hour to an hour lunch break during the week.

I remember the furore on this site in 2013 when Michael Pachter said that the Wii U would ONLY end up selling around 40 million units.

I remember the sheer hatred you would get for even suggesting that Nintendo might end up making mobile games. Then they announced it and suddenly discourse changed very rapidly regarding mobile games lol

Anyone else remember the Wind Waker reveal? That was the mother of all arguments. I was initially devastated but completely won around once I saw the game in action.

I also remember there being a lot of arguments when Nintendo announced Metroid Prime would be in first person. "It's not a FPS - it's a first person adventure" did little to calm the furore. Again I was on the wrong side. To me Metroid was defined by Super Metroid and as much of a platforming game as a shooter (Turok was the highest profile game to have attempted to merge the two genres in 3d... and some of the staff had worked on Turok...), I thought Metroid Prime would be a steaming mess, especially since there were never any good news stories from the developer. But it was great!

Well, I'm a 70's child, so for me, the biggest argument of yesteryear would probably have to be the 16 bit wars, and the crazy school yard battles, and insane billboards and commercials. It was almost everywhere. Just imagine how truly disgusting it would have been if we would already have had internet back then, and all the salty fan boys could rant and rage online about how much greater Nintendo or Sega was vs the other...

@StuTwo I think most of the outrage also came from most people expecting the next Zelda game to have visuals like the ones shown in that infamous "realistic looking" E3 video, where Link was fighting Ganondorf.

If you're expecting something along those lines, and then get a cell-shaded, cutesy looking cartoon Link, that was probably a bit too much of a surprise for most of the haters. But for me, it was also a great game, and it's still one of my favorites.

On the topic of Zelda games: I'm still a bit sad that the in my opinion absolutely gorgeous looking Wii U demo never got turned into an actual game, though, because that could potentially have become something quite special, but they went with cell-shading AGAIN. Well, kind of...

But once again, it's a great game, and I'm pretty glad I got it.

Apart from the old Sega vs Nintendo or Mortal Kombat vs Street Fighter the worse I can think of is the build up of the whole “hardcore vs casual” rubbish. No time for it personally.

The whole "ccartoonish graphics are kiddy graphics" MOSTLY (not completely) died with Overwatch and League of Legends getting massively popular thankfully.

@StuTwo My first Zelda game was OoT, which I played on my older brother’s N64, but I think I was still too young (or too disconnected) to be involved in debate and speculation when WW was announced.

So my experience was just playing it and thinking it was great, and then a few years later when I tuned into ‘the discussion’ I remember hearing all about how massively controversial it all was. Which just seemed strange.

I remember I was on holiday in the Lake District (northern England) in late August when my younger brother and I had our birthdays within the same week. We got a Gamecube with Zelda as a joint birthday present, and had to search around all these little rural villages for somewhere with a technology shop. We then spent the following days climbing mountains outside and sailing the Great Sea when we got home. It was great.

But, yeah, I remember being bemused to read that the game had ever... ‘rocked the boat’ so hard at the time.

I remember the internet having a really cold response to Nintendo games that mixed up the formula or had a different art style. But now, these games are quite beloved. MK Double Dash, Wind Waker, most of the Wii library etc. There are some games like Skyward Sword that may not be "beloved", but people have warmed up to it. As for me Double Dash and Wind Waker were always awesome.

In general, I see this a lot with Nintendo games.