What was the All-Time Low Point of Enthusiast Interest in Nintendo?

[ToddBonzalez]

If the Direct memes are anything to go by, gamer interest in Nintendo in the Switch era is higher than it's been in some time. IMO Nintendo has perhaps done the best overall job over the years of staying interesting and relevant to gamers of all stripes.

It got me thinking though, what era saw Nintendo at their worst and least relevant to the gaming community at large? Was it the N64 with its adherence to the outdated cartridge format, the purple GameCube in the era of dark and gritty "mature" titles, the Wii U with it's odd controller and small userbase, or something else?

 

[Squarehard]

This feels like it belongs in the video game section.

 

[5taquitos]

I think you could just look at console sales numbers and go from there.

 

[ToddBonzalez]

yeah should be in Video Games. would appreciate if mods could move the thread.

 

[RockmanBN]

This feels like it belongs in the video game section.

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Nintendo transceds all.

 

[Colonel Getafe]

Probably somewhere between 1930 and 1945.

 

[Occam]

Maybe when Nintendo was considered off topic in a video game forum.

 

[HStallion]

Posting in the Off Topic side.

 

[Geirskogul]

Wii music e3

 

[Mii]

Peak enthusiasm was reached during the love hotel era

 

[Majiebeast]

This feels like it belongs in the trash.

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[Servbot24]

Pretty clearly is the Wii U.

 

[Khaos Prime]

I would say the Wii U. Dismal sales, the 3D Mario for it was a disappointment, No Zelda game to call it's own. No Metroid. Gimmicky controller.

 

[Cocolina]

Probably the Wii U.

 

[Mory Dunz]

2016...?

I dunno

 

[Khanimus]

The N64 still had Ocarina of Time, Mario 64, Goldeneye... games that dominated alot of peoples' homes. I would say early Gamecube, as both their handheld and console were dismissed as being "for kids" (even if the GBA did very well, this stigma about handhelds was still prevalent), but also their games weren't dominating the charts. They had their hits, but they weren't hitting the zeitgeist in the same way.

 

[Decarbia]

The 90 or so years before they made video games?

 

[4859]

Well, n64 era had trail blazers like m64 and oot...

Cube was pretty apathetic by and large, but had really good stuff like Metroid Prime and Re4.

Wii was super popular but pretty hated by the 'gamer' community because of its weaker hardware.

Wii u was NOT popular, and also disliked because of its weaker hardware, and then even fans who only expected nintendo titles and releases and bought the system knowing this, were dissapointed by a lot of missing entries, or entries that were teased for the entire damn length of the systems life before finally coming out at the end of it... So despite having real gems like w101 and bayo2... there is a lot of bad blood over the wii u.


So im going to go with the Wii U.

The 90 or so years before they made video games?

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.....
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Well crap.

 

[ZanderEzekial]

Wii music e3

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Exactly my thoughts. That Ravi Drums conference was a rough one.

 

[Cess007]

Wii music e3

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I was about to say something about the WiiU era, but tha E3, my god. Everyone was left in shock after that presentation, I think even Nintendo itself

 

[Neiteio]

What was the year Wii Music and Animal Crossing: City Folk was their E3? Was that the same E3?

 

[ShiftaDeband]

For me, it was the late Wii U era, especially after a year or two with the system. Everything after that seemed so bleh. I see so many directs that I missed because of this.

At least the 3DS was there.

 

[JJH]

Last two years of the Wii until this past March.

 

[seiki]

I would say the Nintendo 3ds I mean they just announced a 3d nintendo ds which was awesome but thats all it was.

 

[Deleted member 11008]

The Wii U

The GameCube and Wii eras were a blast to play with friends, especially Melee, Brawl, Mario Kart and Wario Ware. All of those moments were lost in the Wii U era for me :(

 

[Vicious17]

Would the Virtual Boy count?

 

[Cybersai]

Anyone who is listing N64 must not have lived through that era. Ocarina of Time, Mario 64, Mario Kart, Rare games like Goldeneye, Banjo Kazooie, Diddy Kong Racing, etc.....Nintendo 64 had a huge multiplayer following too.

 

[RockmanBN]

Were they that popular in 1889?

 

[petran79]

Between Sega Mega Drive release and SNES US and Europe release
Nintendo's greatest peril to exit the console business

 

[maximumzero]

Enthusiasts are going to be interested in Nintendo no matter what, so there aren't really "low" periods.

That being said, if there were a low period I feel like it has to be the second half of the Gamecube's life. The industry was so focused on the Playstation 2 at the time that the Gamecube was practically forgotten by everyone.

 

[Ryouji Gunblade]

Probably around 2012-2013. Almost nothing around that time interested me, and Dark Moon was depressingly mediocre. NSMB2 was like a shiny reskin.

 

[jar155]

Yeah, during the N64 era, the N64 was a total party machine. PS1 had more games, but many people poured far more hours into the N64 due to all the multiplayer hits.

 

[spman2099]

Around the time the Wii became everyone's favorite hand-me-down gift to give their mother...

 

[Diarrhea Day-Lewis]

I feel like late 02-mid 03 was bad. $99 Cube turned it around a bit before 04 became more of the same

GBA was at least holding them up and it didn't have the "Nintendo should be mobile on my iPhone!" that WiiU/3DS has to deal with 2013-2015. 3DS I think had a bit better rep too because GBA had the PSP lurking over it and everyone thought Nintendo would lose portable market to Sony like how they lost the home market

I will say my personal worst time as a Nintendo fan was mid 2015 until Switch launch/reveal. The delay of Star Fox into 2016 (and I hated it when it did come out, traded it the next day) and "we aren't showing NX at e3 and will only show Zelda" killed all hype for most of 2016 for me. I just pretended they didn't exist as I had too many games on other platforms to care

As is, it worked out and Switch is one of my main consoles

Summary: id say Cube 2002-2004, then WiiU/3DS 2013-2015

 

[MrDoctor]

wii u barely passed 10m sales

 

[Ahasverus]

2009-2012 wii shovelware hell

 

[Gonzalez]

From around the end of the N64, to the release of Wii, then back down near the end of Wii.

 

[jar155]

Enthusiasts are going to be interested in Nintendo no matter what, so there aren't really "low" periods.

That being said, if there were a low period I feel like it has to be the second half of the Gamecube's life. The industry was so focused on the Playstation 2 at the time that the Gamecube was practically forgotten by everyone.

Click to shrink...

Oh my goodness. Those were the days when people were fighting about whether or not games like Billy Hatcher could move some units. Things got a bit rough.

 

[Mokujin]

Nintendoland unveiling was the lowest point for me, Wii U era in general was pretty uninteresting for me.

 

[Eddman]

It's a tough one between Wii U and Gamecube, but I'm going to say Gamecube.

Wii U came after the Wii, so even if it was a massive failure, lots of people were expecting Nintendo to get their shit together with the "NX" (Switch).

Gamecube era started alright with great games and 3rd party support, but once Xbox gained traction in America, the 2003-2006 period was the highest point of the "Nintendo is doomed, going 3rd party" stuff; only the most hardcore fans believed the "Revolution" would make a difference.

 

[Deleted member 35598]

Probably the Wii U.

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Yes, the worst years.

 

[carlosrox]

For me it was easily during the GC era. I was super hyped for it during the Spaceworld reveal but didn't like how Sunshine looked, Wind Waker I had mixed feelings on, and both ended up as relatively disappointing entries in the series.

After the first year or two of GC my interest was at an all time low. My love for Nintendo has only risen since Wii, Wii U, and Switch. All great systems with amazing games.

 

[Phediuk]

When did "enthusiasts" ever lose interest in Nintendo?

Even at the nadir of the Wii U, we still got at least one thread a day on the other site that boiled down to "How awesome is the Wii U? So awesome! Praise Nintendo!"

 

[Gilgy]

For me personally it would have to be the entirety of 2016. That year had really nothing for me on both 3DS (except Sun/Moon) and WiiU, most of that year was playing Pokemon Go and waiting for NX.

 

[IfSleepoversCouldTalk]

Post Mario Galaxy Wii era.

 

[Gilgy]

For me personally it would have to be the entirety of 2016. That year had really nothing for me on both 3DS (except Sun/Moon) and WiiU, most of that year was playing Pokemon Go and waiting for NX.

 

[Neiteio]

When did "enthusiasts" ever lose interest in Nintendo?

Even at the nadir of the Wii U, we still got at least one thread a day on the other site that boiled down to "How awesome is the Wii U? So awesome! Praise Nintendo!"

Click to shrink...

I think he means enthusiasts feeling disappointed. Generally speaking, the fans are the ones who are hardest to please, since they have impossible expectations.

 

[hussien-11]

64 didn't sell that well but hardcore gamers loved the system and games like Ocarina and Mario 64 were unmatched, even with the Gamecube Nintendo was loved by gamers and the GBA was fantastic. its the past 2 or 3 years... they were like a nightmare to be honest &_&.. the hardware was less entertaining than any of their previous systems (whether its the 3DS or WiiU), and they released some of the worst and most offending spin-offs they ever developed (Metroid Federation Force for example).

 

[Tarextherex]

Wii U still got plenty of hype trains for directs, they did a bunch of horrible decisions for it and the 3DS but mindshare was still high solely thanks to social media. However, Wii U/3DS after E3 2015 was abysmal until they brought it back with november 2015 and that was mostly thanks to Cloud in Smash. After such an E3 people stopped expecting shit other than the milking of the usual franchises, everyone was just waiting for NX/Zelda reveals.

Close second would be GameCube droughts, especially after 2004 or so. It simply missed on basically every game that wasn't the usual EA/Activision/Ubisoft one

 

[NinjaCoachZ]

I don't know if it's the all-time low but a lot of 2011 was pretty bleak. Slow start for the 3DS, weird Wii U reveal, and the Wii winding down was a pretty rough combo. I zoned out until Skyward Sword and the 3DS's huge 180 that holiday.

2015 was also brutal to go through. Post-E3 whiplash, BOTW delayed, Iwata's death, Directs vanishing, Ultra Smash and Amiibo Festival being the big November games, and Ninty going almost totally radio silent until November... It was just dire.