Out with the old and in with the new, or is it the other way around? After this year’s E3, it is obvious that Microsoft and Sony are bringing motion controls to their consoles. On the other end; Nintendo, who introduced motion controls, seems to be focusing less on their market-changing technology for a more retro flashback.
Once upon a time a video game system known as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System dominated the market. The success of this system was the responsibility of Nintendo and third party developers. Jump forward about 15 years and we see that Nintendo’s latest system’s success is reliant on mainly Nintendo themselves, with hit franchises like Mario, Zelda, Metroid selling more copies than most third party games. The Wii has already seen entries in the three previously-mentioned franchises in its 3.5 year lifespan. So what franchises can Nintendo turn to that hasn’t been released for Wii?
At this years E3 we found out that Donkey Kong Country finally “Returns.” Being a major hit trilogy for the Super Nintendo, Donkey Kong’s success ended when the DK Country trilogy ended. Sure other DK games were made after DK Country III, but they were in no way as great as the Donkey Kong Country series. After Rare, the developer of the Donkey Kong Country trilogy was bought by Microsoft, Nintendo failed to deliver a DK game that compared to the trilogy. Hopefully Retro Studios, developer of Donkey Kong Country Returns, will bring Donkey Kong out of the cave he has been hiding in since his Super Nintendo days.
Rare was not only known for making Donkey Kong games. When Nintendo 64 was the system all the kids on the block were playing, Goldeneye was the must-have game. Goldeneye offered endless hours of entertainment with its multiplayer mode. Back then, you actually had to have real friends come over in order to enjoy the multiplayer mode. With technology advancing, multiplayer modes in games are widely experienced online. I’m sure many fans are anticipating the launch of Goldeneye to see how it will stand the test of time, even though it is not developed by original developer Rare; instead Activision is having Eurocom work on the remake. Also, James Bond is not modeled after Pierce Brosnan, the original actor from the Goldeneye movie; instead he is modeled after Daniel Craig from the current James Bond movies such as Casino Royale.
Before first person shooters became the most popular genre of video games, many gamers played 2D side-scrolling platformers. If it wasn’t Mario or Donkey Kong, it was probably Kirby. Many gamers remember Kirby as the pink puff ball that sucks in his enemies to acquire their abilities. In his latest entry, Kirby’s Epic Yarn, it seems like this feature has been replaced by using yarn to lasso your enemies and to change the background by cutting out or wrinkling pieces of fabric.
It seems like the Wii will be the ultimate console for receiving Nintendo’s new and innovative franchises as well as their hit series that fans have grown to love since the Super Nintendo days. Now with Donkey Kong and Kirby being revived, and Kid Icarus finally “Uprising”, and Star Fox possibly coming to 3DS, Nintendo pretty much has their classic franchises covered. As innovative as Nintendo has been with this generation, fans can always expect Nintendo to offer a blast to the past.
Read more articles written by Ernie Miller at: http://www.pixeljumpers.com
