Growing up, I was a hardcore, through-and-through Nintendo fanboy. Between the Super Nintendo and the GameBoy (I had a bright green Pocket), my first experience with video games will go down as one of the greatest. The Big N just has this special sauce, this magic, that has had me hooked on its brand ever since the fateful day I first powered up Super Mario World.
So why is it that I still don't own a 3DS XL or Wii U? There are a couple reasons I've held off in shelling out the cash. A few qualms that could easily be remedied if Nintendo just got its act in gear. So I've decided to put together a list of the five pleas I have for the company. Five smart moves that will have me on the Nintendo bandwagon once again.
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1. More 3DS XL Color Options
Why is it that North American gamers only have two color options to choose from… TWO. Sure there are a handful of special editions that offer some variety, but is an all-black or all-white version of the 3DS XL too much to ask? After all, they're offered in other regions around the world. What has convinced Nintendo that red an blue are the colors that sell in the United States? If I'm to ever take the device outside of my home, I don't want onlookers to think I'm playing with some Fischer-Price toy. The Wii U is only available in black or white, but going by Nintendo's logic, shouldn't the console be either blue or red in North America? See how stupid this logic is?
2. Wii U Price Cut
Let's face facts: $349.99 is simply too expensive for Nintendo's tablet-centric console. With the PlayStation 4 launching this Fall at just $50 more, the Wii U is going to look incredibly overpriced by comparison. It is basically a given at this point that Nintendo will drop the console's price very soon; it has to. And with not a whole lot to play on the device right now, I'm happy to hold out for the inevitable discount. I just hope (for both Nintendo's sake and my own) that the company does it sooner rather than later. I'm not going to pay top dollar just to play Pikmin 3, but if the console was below $300, well… that would be a different story.
3. Zelda Like You Teased
Back when Nintendo first revealed the Wii U, it showed off a Zelda tech demo that had me literally squealing in delight. The company pulled a similar stunt when it showed off a realistic depiction of Link and Ganondorf at Spaceworld 2000, so expecting the next proper entry for the Wii U to look just like the tease is foolish. However, that's not going to stop me from pleading with Nintendo to embrace this gorgeous visual style for its next game. Sure, it'll be a lot of work and incredibly expensive, but oh boy will it be worth it. That said, I'm sure The Big N is already waist-deep in Link's next adventure. At this point all I can do is cross my fingers and hope the company makes the right decision.
4. Better Virtual Console
Hey Nintendo, where are all those awesome games you've released in years' past? While I understand it must take quite a bit of work to bring Nintendo 64 and GameCube games to the Wii U Virtual Console, the fanboy inside of me eager to play these games on the tablet is having a hard time staying patient. The company has such an incredible library of games, it's such a shame it is taking Nintendo this long to make them available digitally through its new console. As amazing as Super Metroid and the promise of Earthbound are, we need more.
5. Metroid Prime Wii U
The greatest disappointment of the entire year for me thus far has been the announcement that Retro Studios is working on a new Donkey Kong Country game. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against the series—I'm quite a big fan, actually. You see, it has nothing to do with what the studio is working on, but rather what it isn't working on, namely a new Metroid Prime. Instead of blabbering on about how cool tablet functionality might be as a scanning device, I want to draw attention to how incredible it would simply be to have a new Metroid game in HD. The Prime games are absolutely gorgeous in standard definition, so can you imagine how amazing a brand-new entry built from the ground up for HD might look? Forget the price drop. If Nintendo released Metroid Prime 4 for Wii U, I'd happily shell out $500+ for the console.
What will it take for Nintendo to get you on board with its gaming hardware? Are you already embedded heavily within the ecosystem? Let us know by commenting below.
