My Thoughts on Nintendo (as of 2025)

I will always be a Nintoddler. I can't help it. I grew up with Nintendo games since the SNES days. Everyone says they are like the Disney of video games and I have to agree. Some of my favorite vidya games (and I am the sort of guy who doesn’t like to have favorites since I have different preferences for what I want to play depending on how I feel) are from Nintendo: Animal Crossing, Pikmin Series, Metroid Prime, Super Smash Bros, All the Mario games are great but I like 64 the best, and Zelda series of games are all par for the course for what are generally good games. I honestly don’t see a need to make a “review” for anyone of them because what I have to say about them has already been said by millions of other gamers. They just have a standard of quality that is unmatched by some of the biggest gaming studios out there like Bungie or Rockstar because from a game design perspective, they are made within the limitations of the hardware but to the fullest potential. It’s like having a really tuned car...pfft I don’t know what I am saying, I don’t know anything about cars. But just like new cars or anything new these days at the time of me writing this blog post, I am starting to notice a drop in quality when it comes to their games. I don’t remember if I mentioned this in my Animal Crossing New Horizon’s review but I came into contact of some noticeable glitches when I was playing that game regularly back in 2020. When I played Luigi’s Mansion 3 on the switch (one of the nicest looking switch games I’ve played btw), I managed to get Luigi stuck at the elevator corner by accidentally clipping through by accident. It’s not something that ruined the game for me but these are little things that weren’t apparent in older Nintendo titles. So how did I get this point when it comes to my lukewarm opinion of Nintendo now?

Don’t get me wrong, I think Nintendo is arguably better of the three console giants. Xbone is a dying brand since the Don Mattrick days and believe it or not, the Xbox brand has never been profitable to begin with. I respected Sony since the PS1 days but less so after the PS4 era. Frankly I never bought a PS4 so I skipped that generation until I got a Switch-Lite. PS5 exists but it has like what...three games (and I’m being very kind and generous when I say this) that are worth playing I think? I think Nintendo these days is the best of the trio right now but it’s not saying much when they do so many baffling things lately. I like SEGA too even if they are not in the console market anymore...yeah I had a broken family too so of course I had a Genesis and Dreamcast too because every kid with a broken family was a SEGA boy. Funny enough, I only knew one guy from my elementary school days that had a Saturn. I hoped he kept it.

Nintendo these days just seems kind of soulless these days. Even back during the dark ages of the Wii-U era, you still had Reggie Fils-Aime and Satoru Iwata giving some life to the brand as the president/spokesperson of the company. Not saying Reggie was perfect but he was charismatic and he was a proponent of games being fun first and foremost. Especially consider at the time, “Cine-slop” games were all the rage for worthless journalists who play games on Easy mode just to whip out a shitty review or for gamers who never picked up a book fawning over “good” story telling with little or no-substance when it comes to actual game play. Iwata seemed to struggle as Nintendo’s CEO and President in his final years which is tragic to think about. As far as CEOs go, he was one of the more humble and honest ones in the industry. Not to mention, he was a talented programmer and game designer which is very respectable.

I loved the Gamecube and Wii Era. I know some people may smear me for liking the Wii but I respect it for being different from the competition. I had a lot of fun with my wii….heh. I’m not all that into online gaming but I’m a big fan of split-screen multiplayer and Nintendo filled that niche for me for most of my life. As far back as Elementary, Nintendo consoles were always my go to for playing games with my cousin and in rare cases with kids from other schools or at a relatives place. It’s more personal and fun to play alongside people you know. It’s just not the same as playing with strangers online who are supposed to be your “friends”. That’s probably just me being weird. I’m pretty anxious when it comes to online interactions but if I’m comfortable around someone IRL, I can be pretty chill.

To be perfectly blunt, I can’t even tell you who is supposed to be Nintendo’s current CEO right now without looking it up. Some Japanese business man I presume. As for Nintendo of America, the only thing I know of Doug Bowser is his last name. He’s apparently “retiring” or being laid off by the end of this year and getting replaced by a woman or something. I’m not sadden one bit because I don’t know anything about Doug Bowser. It wasn’t the same reaction I had when Reggie retired or when Iwata died. My only regret with Nintendo is that I wish I supported them during the Wii-U era.

I seriously hope Nintendo can bring some good faith to the industry again like the good old days. I don’t think that’s going to happen. They are incredibly successful and not just in gaming but as a brand. You can call out bullshit on my end but back during the 3DS era, I made a prediction to my cousin that Nintendo was trying to move away from gaming into other frontiers. It was kind of apparent with those “You should take a break” messages that would pop up in some of their games in the Wii era. It’s like they wanted their fans to go outside and socialize with street pass, friend codes, and all that. I made a prediction that they would delve into theme parks and films which turned out to be true. In other words, they really are the Disney of gaming. But just like Disney, it’s not entirely impossible for them to lose their magic. People despise Disney these days. I could see it happening to Nintendo too if they aren’t careful with their greed.