Why Nintendo lost me as a customer (and why that's OK)

When I look back on my childhood, and my introduction to video games, I am bombarded with visions of Super Mario World, Pokémon Blue, Super Smash Bros and Mario Kart. Nintendo brought some of my favorite games of all time to life, and yet today I own systems created by both of their main competitors while the Nintendo Switch is sitting on a shelf at Best Buy continually waiting for me to purchase it. Today I’m going to get into what I love about Nintendo, but the unfortunate reality of why I’m not interested in the Switch, nor will I be for a while.

My first memories of video games are of playing Super Mario World with my dad and brother on the SNES. From there I owned a Gameboy colour, N64, and further down the road a 3DS. These consoles hold a special place in my heart, and here’s why. The games were simple, yet fun. This allowed everyone to be able to play no matter how into games they were. Whether it’s running from left to right in Mario World, or racing to the finish in Mario Kart, or fighting to the death in Super Smash Bros, Nintendo gave everyone a clear objective that is easy to comprehend and often with simple controls that aren’t difficult to get a hang of. Aside from the simplicity, though, a key aspect of what made the games so special to me was the social nature of them. Playing with friends or family was always more fun than playing alone, which is one reason why I missed out on some of the classics of Nintendo lore such as Zelda (yup, I’ve never actually played a Zelda game). This didn’t matter though because I could hang out with my friends and play Mario Party, or play sports games like NHL Breakaway 98 or Mario Tennis with my brother. This leads me to why I fell off the wagon when it comes to Nintendo, in that they simply didn’t keep up with the times and playing with friends became less fun and harder later on.

Nintendo has always focused and continues to focus on selling consoles to kids. They see their consoles as toys, and that the only people who play with toys are kids. There’s nothing wrong with that, but sometimes it just makes me sad knowing that they aren’t really trying to get me to buy a Switch. Some games I look at and the nostalgia alone makes me debate picking up the console, but then I think about what value I will actually get from it. Online gaming on Switch isn’t made simple, not to mention that most friends my age don’t own one, so there isn’t anyone to play with. Couch co-op just isn’t the same as it was as kids, where you had sleepovers and gamed all day and all night together. So if I purchased the Switch and Super Smash Bros or Mario Kart 8, I would play against computers and it simply wouldn’t be fun. The single player games on the console don’t appeal to me as someone who never played any Zelda games or any of the 3D Mario games (I know… And I call myself a gamer right?). All this kept in mind, it doesn’t help that the console isn’t powerful enough to play games created by third party developers such as Call of Duty or Assassin’s Creed. Playing on the PS4 I play games by third parties more than exclusives, so not having those available really hurts my chances of playing on the system.

Nintendo will always hold a special place in my heart. There’s always a chance that a few years from now I’ll pick up a discounted Switch and get to play the few titles that appeal to me, then trade them all in a few months later. For now, though, Nintendo isn’t what I need in my life. I need a system that can keep me entertained for hours; give me new and fun things to play both alone and with friends (and make it easy to do so). This all being said, Nintendo has their own niche. As a kid I could see myself loving everything Nintendo is putting out. I hope that they do stick around so that my future kids, our next generation, can have the same fun experiences that I had growing up. It’s a sad farewell to say that I won’t be playing anymore Nintendo games, but I honestly wish them nothing but the best.