Blog Mission Statement: Lifetime Nintendo Geek Needs His Outlet in Nerd-Dom

Hello everybody. Welcome to the place that I would like to dedicate to be a "Shrine", if you will, to all of the things it is to be a Nintendo fan. We all know what it is that is so special about Nintendo but I have yet to have read someone quite put what that special thing which Nintendo possesses into words that do the house of Miyamoto justice. That thought came during a realization that I had about Nintendo and how they very much still are a toy company (and definitely not in a derogatory kind of way). This childlike mix of fun and imagination is very much what makes Nintendo's consoles and experiences toy-like and toy-like = fun.

We have all seen Nintendo's controller layouts-of-choice be gawked and scoffed at as weird in their respective generations since the days of the N64. But the N64 added analog sticks and the underside Z-Button that felt like a trigger that and other companies followed suit with this innovation. Sega did with the Dreamcast, Microsoft with the original Xbox/360, and the PS3's awkward squeezy shoulder buttons are another example of the influence this little addition had down the line. The analog stick that the N64 has also been on every single standard game system controller ever since. The Gamecube brought in the layout of joysticks now seen on the 360 and analog sensitivity to the shoulder buttons that were designed to feel like Mario was squeezing a water gun in Super Mario Sunshine. It felt nice then and am baffled why Nintendo hasn't used analog button technology since the Gamecube days. The Wii brought in Motion Sensing and the idea that the player should be more physically and actively involved while playing games and the Microsoft's Kinect addressed that with questionable support in the software department despite the Kinect itself selling so well. Sony took the tilt technology from Nintendo's controller that mostly went ignored in implementation into actual games. These are only a few of the fires that Nintendo started and call them a loser of console wars all you like but their influence in the industry is undeniable.

With all of this said, I am a gamer and like games on all systems. But I am also a raging Nintendo fanboy and always long for Nintendo to once again be on top. I hope that I can help ignite some insightful discussions and give some everyone some mental gum to chew on with my posts. Welcome. - Ian Boyle