Opinion: Where’s Nintendo In My Backlog?

Main image source: www.forbes.com

When I was in my teens, Sony had just started muscling into the console space, at which point the narrative quickly developed that Nintendo made “kiddie” games while Sony was for the “mature” gamer.

It’s a little simplistic, but I can absolutely see why it was such an easy contrast to make: on one hand, you had Nintendo, which had built its reputation on the foundation of the colorful and cheerful Mushroom Kingdom, and on the other hand you had the Playstation, the console where you could play Twisted Metal, and where the rave you attended Saturday night never had to end, so long as you had a copy of Wipeout.

I have to think this was part of a larger strategy for Sony; surely they realized not only that gamers were growing up, but also, what was the point of competing with Nintendo and Sega on their terms?

If Sony could stand apart via its marketing and choice of games, it would be much easier for them to sell Playstation consoles.

The nineties were a wild time in a lot of ways, videogame ads included (Image source: reddit.com)

Anyways, back to the “mature” distinction: I suppose that everything is relative, because what exactly is “mature”?

Sure, Twisted Metal would be more appropriate for someone in junior high than elementary school, and certainly at around 14 years old I would have been in the prime demographic for games centered on “blowing shit up”, but is that really “mature”?

Eh.

Don’t get wrong, I definitely played Twisted Metal back in the day, but even if was certainly aware of the “kiddie/not kiddie” distinction, I didn’t pay too much attention to it, opting instead just to keep playing what I thought was fun.

As you would expect, many of those “fun” games (to say the least) were from Nintendo, and in addition to the game experiences themselves, I also have some fantastic memories tied to them: the NES Mario games I’d play with my brother and one of my best childhood friends, the SNES we received for Christmas which had Super Mario World as a pack-in, getting Mario 64 for another Christmas several years later and eventually meeting Yoshi on the castle rooftop…

You get the idea (and I’m sure you all have your own memories associated with those games as well!).

But now, as I start getting seriously back into gaming, I realize that Nintendo games are nowhere on the list of games I’m excited to discover.

Nintendo’s characters are all legendary, but at this point in my life, I’d rather play other games…(Image source: fandomspot.com)

I think that has to do with the fact that in 2023, you can make the case that if you are looking for a more “mature” game experience, you still have to look elsewhere than first party Nintendo titles, and fortunately the definition of a “mature” game has changed significantly in the past 25 years or so.

Whereas back in the PSX days, “mature” meant some blood and juvenile violence, today you can find fully fleshed out stories that are indeed “mature”, in the sense that you need to have a certain level of sensibility to appreciate them.

Off the top of my head “Wolfenstein: The New Order” comes to mind (though admittedly, there’s a lot of “blowing shit up” in that game as well), but Alan Wake and Bioshock are just two examples of what you could inarguably qualify as “mature” games.

Don’t get me wrong, Nintendo and its various series are some of the most recognizable properties in any domain; the company has been, is, and will continue to be a pillar of the gaming industry. But, there are just so many other games I’d rather get to, as opposed to playing what is, to me, basically yet another Mario game.

I know that statement is going to raise some eyebrows, because, yes, Mario Sunshine is very different from Mario Wonder, which are very different from Mario 64, but isn’t it all still just Mario games?

If I want variety in my platforming, I’ll hit up the Crash Bandicoot remakes, then perhaps the new Tomb Raider games.

Expansive adventure games were never really my thing, but I find playing the Metal Gear series (notwithstanding my unsuccessful revisiting of the first game) a more compelling proposition than checking out the latest Zelda games.

I’m not saying these Nintendo titles are “bad'“ games, not at all, and I fully acknowledge their legends and influence on gaming as a whole; rather, I’m saying that to me, they’re uninteresting.

Even if I wanted to play some now classic Nintendo titles, another aspect to consider is the cost associated with catching up with a backlog of Nintendo games spanning decades.

Whereas most titles will depreciate quite quickly after launch, Nintendo titles hold their value, and over a long-enough time period they actually seem to get more expensive!

I am a giant-cheapskate when it comes to gaming because, for the games I want to play, frankly I can be, and when faced with the choice between a 60 euro Mario game - pre-owned - and a 10 euro copy of Tomb Raider for PS4 (also pre-owned), well, I know which one I’m choosing.

I guess you could say that, when it comes to satisfying my gaming preferences…

Everyone else does, what Nintendon’t.