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Editorials   Nintendo's Next Console
- By Lander Clinton

As videogames mature so does Nintendo. It seems like the whole industry is stuck in middle school at this point, and Nintendo has to decide if it wants to fit in with "the cool kids" or continue to do what it wants and set itself apart.

Nintendo just won several AIAS awards for its 2002 games and Nintendo employees pride themselves on Nintendo's reputation for innovation. However, now that Satoru Iwata is head of NCL he seems to be doing his best to change some of the company's old mantras. Nintendo is now pushing very hard to lose its "kiddy" image, something that has been bolstered by competitors for years. Games with intense violence and nudity are allowed on the GameCube, and Nintendo has courted third party developers like Capcom and Konami to put Resident Evil and Metal Gear Solid on the GameCube.

Nintendo is still committed to games that the whole family can enjoy, but being the only hardware-maker that remembers kids like videogames too continues to haunt them as being a "kiddy" company. I put "kiddy" in quotes because there's a lot of debate as to what qualifies a game as "kiddy" or "mature" that I don't intend to get in to. It's a transitional phase for Nintendo- its voice could crack at any moment. Nevertheless, having the strongest line-up of quality games of any system has not made the general public take notice of GameCube. You know, I was just about to refer to GameCube as "Nintendo's flagship system," but it occurred to me that the Game Boy Advance is much more deserving of that title.

So why has the GBA done so well? You almost never see television ads for specific titles. It has 1000s of games but most are crap. However, just about anyone you talk to considers Playstation and Game Boy synonymous with videogame, and they also recognize Xbox as another videogame system. Why? Microsoft has spent millions more than any other company to promote the Xbox, and it is now just barely edging past the GameCube. People know the name Xbox, but haven't heard of any games for it. Conversely, people don't know GameCube, but everyone knows Mario, Zelda, and Nintendo's other franchises.

It seems like name-recognition is the biggest Game Boy Advantage. Nintendo would never dare to release another portable and not have "Game Boy" in the title, yet the only constant name in their home systems is "Nintendo," a name that people equate with original Donkey Kong and Super Mario Bros. Already game journalists and fans refer to Sony's next system as PS3 and Microsoft's next as Xbox 2, but Nintendo's is called "GameCube's successor." No wonder people think Nintendo should leave the hardware business- "GameCube's successor" sounds like they haven't even started working on it, while PS3 and Xbox 2 sound like inevitable additions to your living room.

Not too long ago Nintendo wouldn't even admit that they had competition, let alone that they were no longer number one. Recently Iwata said that Nintendo's next console would likely launch at the same time as Playstation 3 to avoid the late-launch mistakes of N64 and GCN. As long as they're gunning for Playstation, what else could Nintendo do to promote their next system? I think it should have name recognition beyond "Nintendo." People like to be part of a legacy, even if it's a manufactured one. Anyone who's been playing Final Fantasy since the first one feels justified in thumbing their noses to people who joined at seven. It makes them feel important. I would name Nintendo's next console "Super Nintendo GameCube." It may not be as original as StarCube, Dreamcast, or Project Reality, but it reminds people of two great Nintendo systems while confirming that Nintendo is in the hardware business to stay. Keeping the GameCube name also alludes to my next point- that it be backwards-compatible with GameCube software.

Who wants to keep buying new systems if it makes playing old favorites a hassle? My N64 hasn't been plugged in since last May, but if the GameCube played N64 games I'd still be playing them- I've been loving my copy of Master Quest. This is one of the reasons people who owned the Playstation and the older Game Boys didn't mind shelling out the money for the latest versions. The newer models will slightly enhance their older games and allow them access to bragging rights over friends who don't have one yet (plus it plays new games).

If Nintendo wants to be the most popular kid in school without giving up its unique qualities, it needs to find a way to get the masses to appreciate those qualities. The first step to achieving this is name recognition. They don't need a new 'tude to get our attention, but they shouldn't start over every time with an unrecognizable system name. That's all I have to say about that.