[KillerGremlin]

Yup, the Minish Cap is tight. I've been playing the Rom for a while now too.....and I'm impressed.

While Nintendo totally lost control of the 3D market with the N64, they've been doing pretty damn good with the 2D market. Personally, I think the entire gaming market is getting a little stale. There are too many sequels and not nearly enough new ideas. It's not just Nintendo that's bringing the industry down, although Nintendo seems to be trying the hardest. I would blame a lot of this on Nintendo when they became overly pompous and lost all of their 3rd party support in the Nintendo 64 days. Realistically, the N64 should have kicked the Playstation's ass. It had better graphics, a better controller, and it supported up to four people on multiplayer opposed to Sony's 2-person multiplayer. Unfortunately, Nintendo let opportunity fly out the window and they made about 47 games with Mario in them, and a load of other franchise games for the N64. I'm not saying that Mario Kart or Mario 64 or Paper Mario weren't good......but why not just Kart Racing? I was happy when Banjo Kazoie came out, because you didn't play as a major Nintendo Franchise character.

I still hold the N64 at a very high level, because there where a lot of good games for it, even if a lot of them where franchise titles. Unfortunately, Nintendo continued along the path they started treading on with the Nintendo 64. Aside from the Gamecube's fairly strong launch (Pikmin, Rogue Squadron 2, Super Smash Bros. Melee....all three KICK ASS games), Nintendo hasn't done much with the Gamecube. A few franchise titles here and there doesn't make a system or company good. The Wind Waker played out so much like Ocarina of Time, even if it had a good story the gameplay was so ridiculously similar to Ocarina you had to be wondering what Nintendo was doing with your 50 dollars. Mario Sunshine was basically Mario 64 - shines, not stars. What a huge difference there - and even if Mario had a waterpack, the effect of it wore off quickly and the end result felt very gimmicky. Especially considering that Mario 64 was a much more fun game.

Nintendo has failed to capitalize off the Gamecube. They have neglected to go online. With their new console on the horizon, one wonders if Nintendo WILL take the Gamecube online. I don't want to be skeptic, but with the amount of effort Nintendo has put forth so far to take the Gamecube online, it seems doubtful that they will get it online in the next year or two. Nintendo continues to push 3rd party developers farther away with the Gamecube, offering nothing better then its Sony or Microsoft counterpart. And even though Nintendo fans have begun to complain more openly about Nintendo's tactics, Nintendo is still on the loose releasing silly, unnecessary, and ultimately useless peripherals like the E-card Reader and the hookup to connect your GBA to your Gamecube.

And Nintendo still says that they are about the gaming, they are about the fans. That's obviously bullsh*t, especially because that was the argument used as an excuse when Nintendo announced they weren’t going online. Ouch Nintendo, that hurts.

On the other had, Nintendo has had a stroke of luck with the handheld market. The Game Boy Advance was a remarkable little system, with great gaming and graphics. And while it didn't push any graphic envelopes, it provided enough colors and pixels to bring SNES games to life again - something that I was very happy to be part of. The thing is, 3D gaming just doesn't seem as fun, in retrospect, to its 2D gaming counterpart. 2D gaming just plain kicks ass, in my opinion. The 2D Zelda games, the 2D Castlevania games, the 2D Mario games - they all beat the hell out of the majority of the 3D games on the market right now. Unfortunately, with the DS and the PSP out, we might as well kiss 2D gaming goodbye, once the portable market makes the shift to 3D. It's going to be a sad time when playing SNES games will only be possible through emulation, or hooking up your SNES.

Nintendo is on the edge of insanity. Their fans are smelling the weakness, and people are starting to realize that Nintendo just isn't what it used to be anymore. I don't know if that will directly affect the Nintendo DS, but I do know that it will affect Nintendo's next console unless Nintendo pulls its sh*t together and starts releasing original titles, and stops sucking off their franchises.