Do What You’ve Always Done Best, Nintendo
The most important thing for Nintendo to do in order to win 2017 is to remember all the good things that got the company to where it is in the first place. Nintendo has always been about fun first. Graphics aren’t everything, and neither is the power to create impossibly large worlds with tons of things to do. It’s all about making sure the player has as much fun as possible with everything in the game. It’s a methodical whimsy that seems crazy and full of life on screen, but takes a talented team to deliver without a hitch.
We’re not saying that Microsoft and Sony don’t offer any fun, but there’s something different about how Nintendo approaches things. Color and music, simplistic controls, challenging puzzles, and characters that are so easy to love are all staples of how they became such an integral part of so many childhoods. While it is definitely time to compete in earnest, something Nintendo hasn’t done in a very long time, the company needs to not change completely in order to do so. Delivering just another Xbox or a PlayStation won’t do the oldest member of the Big Three any favors. It needs that sense of awe and wonder that makes games like Splatoon seem silly but become incredibly popular. We need Mario and his friends to revamp the platforming genre yet again. There hasn’t been a new Donkey Kong rap in a long time and the world is a lesser place because of it.
Nintendo is going to have to find that balance between fresh and new alongside tried and true. If they can nail it, delivering a powerful, affordable console that has new blockbusters alongside classic favorites, then it would be hard for them to lose in 2017.
