Nintendo: Love and Hate Part 1

Love and hate are two sides of the same coin. They might seem like polar opposite emotions, but their similarities cannot be denied. They are the most powerful emotions we can experience, fueled by passion. Love and hate are not words that we should throw around lightly, yet we do.

Power. Passion. These two words sum up Nintendo. By extension, and for me personally, I regard Nintendo with much love, and, at times, much hate. I've experienced a lifetime's worth of joy, memorable moments, and grievances, all thanks to Nintendo. As of right now at least, my love still outweighs the hate, I think, otherwise I wouldn't continue to buy Nintendo products or play Nintendo games.

Of course, we cannot forget that without Nintendo, the video game industry simply would not exist. After the fallout of the video game market crash of 1983 due to poor quality control, product devaluation, and disingenuous advertising, the general public became disenchanted with gaming and saw it as merely a fad. Newly released Atari games could be found in bargain bins or a Mexican landfill. The very notion of selling a new video game console in the U.S. in 1985 seemed like financial suicide. No one wanted to buy video games anymore.

That's why Nintendo advertised the Nintendo Entertainment System as a toy - not a gaming console, but an entertainment package that includes R.O.B. the toy robot. Nintendo also dedicated itself to quality control and carefully oversaw the types of games that were released on its console. They avoided the mistakes that Atari and video game publishers had made prior. Nintendo brought video games back to life when many believed such a feat was impossible.

Many people who grew up with the NES spent hours of their lives playing Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda. Thanks to Nintendo, video games did not die - they endured, continued to live on, and became our loving partners in life. In 1990, the Super Nintendo, arguably the greatest video game console ever made (other than the Playstation 2 of course), entered the world and defined my (and others') childhood. 1998 solidified my lifelong love for Nintendo when I got my hands on Pokémon Red and Blue and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. I bought a GameCube solely to play Super Smash Bros. Melee, and it was worth it. Mario, Zelda, Pokémon, and Super Smash Bros. These games defined my formative years and have provided me with endless hours of joy, even to this day.

Fast forward to 2017, and we have the Nintendo Switch and Super Mario Odyssey and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, two of the greatest games ever made. Every year there is a new Pokemon game that I have to play. Today, it is 2018, and there is a little more than a month before Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is released. Nintendo's legacy and continued staying power are unquestionable.

However, having seen multiple generations of consoles come and go, I cannot withhold my criticisms, nor my hatred, of Nintendo's less admirable decisions and practices. I have willingly parted with much of my hard-earned money to purchase Nintendo products. Too much of my money, to be honest. But this was not the case between 2007 and 2010. Besides still being in school and not making any money, I experienced the first and greatest grievance from Nintendo in 2006. I then entered a four-year period during which I refused to give Nintendo my money, save on rare occasions. All I bought was one Zelda game, a DS Lite from eBay, and a couple Pokémon games. For all the other Nintendo games I wanted to play, I simply found other means (I won't say how, but it's not hard to guess).

2006 was the year that The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was released. I'd been wanting to play Twilight Princess, my most anticipated game, for so long. I wanted to play it so badly. It was set to release in November, but then, Nintendo decided to delay the GameCube version's release by a month since they wanted Twilight Princess to be a Wii launch title to help sell console units. So, I had to wait an extra month since I had no interest in buying a Wii at the time. 

I had been a Nintendo fanboy filled with blind devotion to the company up until the Wii released. Then, over the years, I began to realize that even Nintendo is not immune to greed and ill-informed decision-making practices.

I hate the Wii. Don't get me wrong: I love some of its games, such as Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime Trilogy, and Xenoblade Chronicles, and several others. I don't hate motion controls as a concept (though they're more of a gimmick), but I hated Nintendo's adamant insistence that motion controls were the only, or at least the preferred, way to go. Motion controls have come and gone, and no one really cares about them anymore, not even Nintendo.

Also, how many people sought desperately to purchase a Wii in 2006-2008, only to realize that it was sold out everywhere? How many people chose to buy a Wii on eBay for unfairly marked up prices due to the console's short supply? How many people played Wii Sports for a while, only to then leave their Wii consoles and Wiimotes laying around in their garages or closets to collect dust? This is how I see the Wii: an exemplar of Hamlet's quote "quintessence of dust," and money wasted. Sure, it was one of the best-selling consoles of all time, but it forced me to wait another month to play Zelda. Twilight Princess was meant to be a GameCube game, not a Wii game (and Link is supposed to be left-handed). My love for Zelda games is unconditional, but I cannot say the same for Nintendo. Petty? Perhaps. But I have yet to discuss my other grievances.

Nintendo has a track record of under-supplying stores with its products to create the illusory perception of high demand. Sometimes this was deliberate, as was the case with the Wii, and other times this was due to Nintendo's lack of foresight and underestimation of product demand. However, the roughly three-year period when the Wii was impossible to find in stores was simply unacceptable. More recently, Nintendo released small figurines known as "Amiibo" to serve as companion products (and cash grabbers) to their well-known gaming franchises. Earlier this year I completed my collection of all the Smash Bros. amiibo. Most of them I managed to purchase for retail price, but some of them required me to spend extra money on eBay due to their short supply. In another instance, I overpaid for my NES Classic (retail $60; I paid $180) since Nintendo themselves previously stated that they would not re-release the product. They lied. I'm glad that people today can easily purchase the NES Classic and SNES Classic for retail price without having to turn to eBay, but I wish Nintendo didn't lie to me. You don't lie to your loved ones.

But, I'm fully aware that even if I love Nintendo, they don't necessarily love me. That's the reality of the situation. They want my money. Why does Mario love collecting coins so much? Because he, and Nintendo, is a gold digger. And, even at times when I want to give Nintendo my money, I can't because their products are sold out, and I instead have to pay a scalper on eBay to obtain a product I unfathomably desire.

Consumers who are not dumb and who don't love Nintendo wouldn't fall for the trap of having to purchase so many Nintendo products simply for the sake of having them. Unfortunately, I'm a dumb consumer who loves Nintendo. I hate Nintendo, but I continue to give them, or occasionally scalpers, my money. Thus is the predicament of an abusive relationship.