Back in the ‘80s, Nintendo was on top of the world. They had the best gaming consoles with great games and they didn’t have a lot of competitors. During the ‘90s, however, that really began to change. Nintendo ended up making some pretty big mistakes that cost them dearly. They’re still around though, but they’re no longer the leaders that they once were in the video game industry. It sometimes seems as though they are trying to get back on top, but they are having trouble finding their way there. Because we all have such good memories of Nintendo and their games, here are 5 mistakes that we wish the company didn’t make!
5. Virtual Boy
When Nintendo created Virtual Boy, a portable game console that was supposed to be capable of displaying “true 3D graphics,” they weren’t looking to replace their home console Super Nintendo or their handheld console Game Boy. Instead they were looking “to reignite the market for their games.” Sadly, Virtual Boy wasn’t able to do that. Not only was it ridiculously expensive, it was not in full color and the headpiece made the experience cumbersome and potentially dangerous. Virtual Boy proved to be a commercial failure and was discontinued less than a year after it was released.
4. Wii U
Nintendo’s Wii U is a pretty compelling video game system, but it is not without its flaws. Some major issues that users have with this game console is that its horsepower is lower compared with its competitors and that it lacks many system wide console standards, including group chat, achievements and the ability to play non-game disc-based media. Making things even worse, the game controller only lasts for 3.5 hours.
3. Nintendo 64
Nintendo’s decision to stick with a cartridge format for the Nintendo 64 was definitely one of the company’s worst decisions; however, it won’t go down in history as being a worse decision than that of Virtual Boy. Their competitors, like Sony, were all using CDs at this point, which were way less expensive than cartridges and offered a lot more space.
2. The Game Cube
The Game Cube was Nintendo’s opportunity to correct the mistakes that it made with Nintendo 64; however, instead of learning from their mistakes, they made some new ones. Fans were initially really excited about “Project Dolphin,” Nintendo 64’s successor. It was supposed to rival Playstation, but it failed to do so. Sales were poor and many complained that it looked “toy-ish.” Instead of using DVDs, like their competitors, they used mini-disks. The controller also kind of sucked. Some critics complained that one needs extra thumbs to use it effectively.
1. The Sony Playstation
Back in 1988, Nintendo and Sony had a deal to develop a CD-ROM for the Super Nintendo; however, Nintendo ended up backing out of the deal a few years later and partnered with Philips instead. Nintendo had reportedly been in talks with Philips behind Sony’s back for quite some time; however, just as they had reneged on their deal with Sony, they did the same thing with Philips. Sony was the only one that came out of this with a great product, the Playstation, which went on to sell over 100 million consoles worldwide.
