Topic: What exactly is “Nintendo being Nintendo”?

I see a lot of comments mentioning “Nintendo being Nintendo”. What exactly does that mean?

@Don It could be lots of things.

1. More expensive physical media.
2. Remasters that are little rushed.
3. Censoring policy?

If anyone else knows more please add

Being different for the sake of being different; and in that same vein, doing whatever they want regardless how obtuse it might be for users even though there's been an industry standard for decades.

I personally kind of dislike how adamant modern Nintendo is on not pushing the technological envelope like they used to. It seems as if their mentality of being different for the sake of standing out can really come back to bite them in the ass when it comes to how severely underpowered their hardware is when it's released so late in a gaming generation like what happened with the Switch.

Nintendo is my favorite company in the world because they seem to operate in their own little universe, unaware of the latest gaming trends, and I believe that is part of their strength.

Nintendo isn't a reactionary company like so many others are. They're not going to suddenly make a "live service" game or a battle royal shooter because that's what every other company is doing. No, they do their own thing with respect to their franchises (for the most part) and reinvent them with new ideas. It can make them seem old-fashioned at times, or unpredictable in how they communicate with their audience, but they're the longest running console makers around and if they keep being this successful, I believe they'll outlast both Xbox and PlayStation.

You just keep being you, Nintendo.

lol I'm hoping this is sarcasm.

I'm sure Nintendo feels really screwed by being the most successful gaming system of the past year and a half, and selling way more than expected even AFTER a global pandemic. After all, they're competing with upcoming gaming systems where half their exclusives and even non-exclusives are quietly (well less quietly from Microsoft, to give them some credit) also releasing on current gen anyway. Whatever shall Nintendo do?!?!?!

There are many times where Nintendo does things different in ways that don't actually make sense, this ain't one of them. Spending less money to fill a void in the market instead of being "Playstation, except Nintendo" is so obviously a better strategy, that I feel like that should be too obvious to even mention.

@kkslider5552000 I'm not talking in terms of how successful the Switch is in terms of profit

I'm talking about actual third party support.

It's a pillar that I've seen a lot of people overlook on this site when it's literally a key element of sustaining a console's library of games in between the exclusive stuff. Nowadays people who only own Switches have to wait like upwards of two or three years to get a version of a massive AAA title that looks worse, performs worse and is still charging full price even if it's available for cheaper on other, better platforms, and that's because of how woefully underpowered their console is. What good is portability if your game looks like crap or requires a massive download just for it to become playable

Even Nintendo games suffer from how meager the Switch's specs are, since there are games like Xenoblade 2 that look like muddy messes in TV mode

Hmm, there are Sony exclusives that strain that hardware so you can see the seams, and I’m sure the same applies to Xbox titles too (though they are never exclusives). Instead of wishing for PS4-quality performance on a handheld, why not enjoy what it can give you.

That said, bespoke Switch titles are always going to be more appealing than stripped-down ports. That’s one of the reasons I’m so excited about SMT V and by the fact that Capcom is finally releasing unique Switch games. Monster Hunter Rise will be a monster hit, obviously, but I’m just as encouraged to see a mid-tier title like MH Stories 2.

@Krull We may not have seen anything in game from SMTV yet but UE4 has worked out pretty well for Switch thus far, especially for games tailor made for the hardware. If Persona 5, Nocturne, Digital Devil Saga and Devil Survivor were any indication, Atlus definitely know how to make a game with some seriously good production values and a really slick presentation

The better you are, the bigger your mistakes seem.

1. Most popular games aren't actually that powerful.
2. AAA studios release very few games nowadays, and somehow some of them run ok on Switch anyway
3. "requires a massive download just for it to become playable" is in fact a regular negative about the PS4 that people have discussed for the entire generation

I mean if Nintendo wants to keep up with non-Nintendo games people like, they should begging the Fall Guys devs to put their game on Nintendo more than Ubisoft's 90th open world game. shrugs

I'm not saying there's no issue, but its a handheld so of course it doesn't get a lot of big budget console games from current gen systems. That's normal and how it has been since the Gameboy essentially. I mean, they would, but they were essentially demakes like how Tony Hawk's Pro Skater became this weird, isometric top down skating game on GBA, for example. Compare to that or most 360 to Wii ports, Switch has done very well for itself for what it is.

It could mean nintendo binge just plane stupid.

@TheFrenchiestFry

Third party support is the best it has been since the SNES for Nintendo.

In fact, the only reason third-party support on Switch is as strong as it is IS BECAUSE of Nintendo creating a unique hybrid model that appeals to people.

Regarding game performance, there's always going to be a range depending on the price and design of the hardware. Some people refuse to play on consoles because anything under 60fps is unplayable to them. Personally, I think it's a waste to play games at lower framerates on tv-tethered platforms, whereas I'm more inclined to be forgiving with Switch because of the miracle of being able to play something like The Witcher 3 natively away from the TV. Whether that's "worth it" is up to the individual, but I'll never understand this narrative that only Switch owners are making sacrifices when it comes to game performance. Unless you're only gaming on a top-of-the-line PC, you're always sacrificing performance to some extent. There are a multitude of factors that go into determining the worth of a platform and a particular version of a game beyond how it compares relative to other versions.

As to Xenoblade 2... all I'll say is that the game looks lovely on my TV. Visuals only become "muddy" when I'm playing undocked, and, even then, that's limited to certain (large) areas.

Nintendo leaning on gimmicks to move hardware. Nintendo haven't cared about pushing the TFLOP power agenda since the GC got stomped by the PS2.

Nintendo never getting the interwebz thing right.

@TheFrenchiestFry While the Switch's specs may be meager... I think the question you should ask is "Would the Switch have the install base it does if it wasn't a hybrid". The Switch had (at the time) nearly cutting edge technology in it. For the price, they weren't going to get it to be much more powerful than it is. And it's really not that underpowered. Decent RAM / VRAM for the resolutions it's pushing, a decently powerful graphics card, a screen that matches what the system should be outputting in portable mode. The big problem it has is going up higher without messing up thermals, plus a somewhat underpowered CPU. Plus, it's very easy to develop for (something Nintendo usually struggles to do).

I'd say that if Nintendo had made the Gamecube 2.0 instead, we wouldn't see anywhere near this third party support. The fact that the platform offers things that others don't is exactly why third party games are actually selling decently on a Nintendo platform for once.

The one thing I forgot about Nintendo being Nintendo that I hate is their gimmicks like Labo and forced touch controls like Zelda Phantom Hourglass.