Nintendo’s Future: A Link to the Past

In 2003 the landscape of gaming was looking positive for Nintendo; they had recently released Ruby and Sapphire the third generation of games in the Pokémon franchise and they were about to release The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, a flagship title for the GameCube. However there were reasons for Nintendo to be nervous.


Initial previews of the latest Zelda had revealed a complete style change from the more photo-realistic installments on the N64, transitioning into the cartoony world of cel shading. This new “Toon-Link” divided and confused fans, wondering whom exactly this Link was for? According to Shigeru Miyamoto it was designed to “extend Zelda’s reach to all ages”. An attempt to appeal to the younger gamer with the modest block colours, the simple shapes and bold outlines. It made sense because it resembled a style that Cartoon Network’s Cartoon Cartoons series made popular in programs such as Dexter’s Lab, Powerpuff Girls, Cow & Chicken etc. Yet it was difficult to see how the more elderly gamer would be suckered in by this. You could believe (at a stretch) some parents and grandparents encouraging their kids by joining in on ‘little Timmy’s cartoon boat adventure’ but to the uninitiated adult going out to buy himself a game or console this seemed a little far reaching. The biggest worry of course was that many gamers who enjoyed previous titles felt alienated, which is a dangerous tightrope to tread when you consider that it could end up not appealing to either old or new. Digging through old archives you can see the kind of debate that was forming
“Not everyone likes cartoons. I don’t, and will not pay money to play games, which look like them. I may not even play the game in the first place.”
- ChrisG
“And Nintendo wonders why their sales are so horrible, rot in hell you crack-head bastards.”
- 63353372
“I’m a big fan of NPR (non-photorealistic rendering, which includes methods other than cel rendering), and think it’s about time that it’s getting recognized. Every art form goes through a period when everyone thinks that the more realistic something looks, the better it is. But that’s not where the breakthroughs are made.”
- me2
“I’ve gone from hating cell shading to dealing with it to liking it over the last couple of years. As soon as Wind Waker booted up in my GameCube I decided I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
- flukus
Criticism came generally from an inflamed reactionary dislike to the changes presented by Nintendo, but the more thoughtful pondered why Nintendo refused to showcase the GameCube’s impressive graphics capabilities. The more patient and less bothered by aesthetic changes would let the proof come from the finished product.

The high anticipation was understandable. Nintendo hadn’t factored in a negative audience response and nails were already being chewed down to their cuticles back in Japan over the sixth-generation console, which was widely regarded as a flop. The GameCube had tanked severely selling only 17 Million Units in the market compared to its predecessor the Nintendo 64, which had sold roughly 32 Million Units by the end of 2003. To top it off, the GameCube was now being sold at half the price ($99) of its original launch cost after the inevitable price cut, led this time by Sony with its behemoth PlayStation 2. $99 was a ludicrously low price and if you consider that Nintendo was selling the GameCube at a loss of around $9 per unit, it’s obvious to see the focus shifting towards software. Nintendo would only begin to profit on the console again by selling software; an interesting model, selling the console as a loss leader in order to make profit later on. It makes complete sense, you can’t have the console without the software. But Nintendo was relying on its reputation to draw back its loyal fan base. This paradigm shift was emphasized in the “President’s Message” from Satoru Iwota.
“Today the eternal quest for more realistic and complex game graphics is approaching its limit and that old formula for success is no longer effective. A novel approach to game play is necessary now more than ever.”
“As the hardware manufacturer with the strongest R&D teams and most respected software creation record in the industry, Nintendo will continue to augment the strength by collaborating with creators from premier software developers around the world to create new forms of entertainment.“
- Satoru Iwota
Interestingly Satoru Iwota laid out the schematics for the future, which relied heavily on their impressive developmental history, the message being investors should trust Nintendo because they have always done the right thing. Behind the scenes however Nintendo was in an identity crisis, no longer sure who their gamer was. They were instead aiming for gamers “aged five to ninety-five”, but you could presently shave away a large chunk of that figure to create a more realistic goal of 5-15, because the conventions of a mature game lie in graphic depictions of violence, strong language and adult themes. The GameCube drew very few publishers making mature rated games because of its image of being a kid’s console and while there were a few, ultimately it was just a small splash in the ocean compared to other consoles. A game does not need all of those things to be enjoyed by a mature gamer of course but amongst the majority, it certainly helps and its useless pretending it doesn’t. Nintendo’s report was also littered with devices and attachments for the GameCube such as the WaveBird, the Game Boy Player, the e-Reader etc. Trying to capitalize on the enormous sales of the Gameboy and its connectivity capabilities to boost the sales of the GameCube but ultimately the devices were rarely used. For one the great thing about the Gameboy was the idea of gaming-on-the-go and tying yourself down to a heavily bordered version on the console seemed to miss the point. I much preferred to play with my handheld under a shaded tree or in the backseat of a long car journey. What this paved the way for however was a more novel approach to game play, it just wasn’t certain what exactly what form that would take.

Hindsight has taught us this radical new formula was a success. The Wii has outsold all other consoles in Nintendo’s back catalogue, likewise for the DS (in regards to handheld consoles). The Wii was true to its target of capturing the 5-95 year old (96 year old’s would have to go play outside) it exploded into the household of the casual gamer, drawn in by its futuristic yet modest design and the simple multiplayer friendly games. It captured that slightly misguided imagination of what a 70s child might dream of video games in the future; they were immersive, simple, fun and most importantly you didn’t need to plug a cable directly into your brain. The casual gamer now had great party games that could keeps kids entertained, adults preoccupied as well as bringing them all together into the chaotic fun. There is nothing to sneer about the casual gamer, it creates a common ground of understanding across generations and in the future adults will have a far different outlook towards video games, less alienation and instead a long awaited guiding hand that gently lowers them into the virtual world. Everybody needs an entry point and I think this is perhaps the best opportunity you could hope for.
The constant throughout all of Nintendo’s endeavours is of course the flagship games marched out in times of crisis. Some might suggest that eventually Nintendo may, like Sega, focus more towards publishing video games rather than keeping up with the console market. However, even in 2003 the GameCube may have been doing badly but it was nowhere near as poorly received as Sega’s Dreamcast, which suffered from a lack of gripping titles and being too ahead of its time. Its online gaming platform was sadly unplayable with most people still using dial up. The back catalogue of staggeringly wonderful games is the reason Nintendo can afford to sell their consoles at a loss, even if they sell just one piece of Software to go with it, then they are in the profit.

Before 2003 was through, Nintendo would post a net loss of $26.2 Million. Yet this is nothing when compared to the WiiU era, which could spell the demise of this new but short lived model of novel innovation. The parallels with 2003 are quite curious; roughly ten years later we have received a re-release of both of Nintendo’s highest selling games of 2003 in the forms of Zelda: Wind Waker HD and Pokémon AR and OS. The Wii U too was (for a time) being sold at a loss of $100, a loss ten times larger than the Gamecube era, meaning two pieces of Software would needed to be sold to turn a profit. Nintendo have posted an annual operating loss of $457 Million and have posted similarly large losses in the two years prior. While Nintendo can sleep easy because they are a very wealthy company with around $5.34 Billion in the bank, it is not something that can sustain them forever and they need to be realistic. With the 3DS and WiiU we might be experiencing one gimmick too far; 3D technology hasn’t taken off as much as people had hoped.
With the handheld market saturated more than ever with devices and games, Nintendo no longer has the stranglehold it once had over the market. Nintendo might be struggling to innovate fully, with their downfall (much like the Dreamcast) being that we are left with a console where the infrastructure to maximize its key features is underdeveloped. Why would you want tablet gaming that is tied to a console? Reminiscent of the Game Boy Player and channeling much of the same questions and problems. Nintendo has recently posted an earning of $86 Million (a small fraction of its previous losses), which correlates quite nicely with the release of Mario Kart 8 and they are forecasting an annual profit of $337 Million. Satoru Iwota has blamed the previous years failures on a lack of good software prospects. This is still a long road to recovery to make a profit overall out of the WiiU but it seems once again they are aided by their big titles and it’s hard to see Super Smash Bros (WiiU) not doing very well, yet when these installments are left to settle and Nintendo are left with its smaller pool of releases from major developers what is next? Could we again be heading into the next decade of Nintendo’s reinvention? Or is this merely the death of a gaming giant that (like Sega) will quietly bow out to the new generation of console homogeneity, whose only differences are arguably their frame rate. Perhaps in the next address by the president all this may become clearer and shed some light on the situation.