Nintendo is one of the longest-running gaming companies as it’s around 130 years old. With that being said there must’ve been a lot that the company has accomplished. Well we’ll show you Nintendo’s five biggest Gaming Industry successes.
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1. Nintendo DS
The Nintendo DS is one of Nintendo’s more successful portable console that just about everybody loves. Currently before we had the 3DS, we had the regular Nintendo DS in which we could play handheld games using two screens, a play screen and a touch screen for extra controls. It was basically a big boom for gaming when it released as tons of new and exciting games were available that could potentially be the next step from the Game Boy Advance that Nintendo had previously worked with.
So how successful was the DS? Well according to sales as of now, Nintendo has sold around 154 million units of the DS in it’s lifetime, marking it’s success in 2004 when it first released. You could basically play all sorts of games on it, first we got Pokemon Diamond and Pearl in 2006, Nintendogs in 2005 and Animal Crossing Wild World in 2001. It indeed was a very versatile console that could handle a whole lot, even making a low-rendered version of Super Mario 64 with a few more characters as well.
Eventually, Nintendo released a new version of the DS in 2011 called the 3DS which was capable of replicating 3D games without the use of any other peripherals. While the 3DS indeed was technologically improved through this new gimmick and slightly improved graphics, the handheld only sold 75.28 million units, which was way less than the original DS’s 154 million.
Well while the Dual-Screen mechanic was very interesting at the start, I suppose people were turned off when Nintendo released a console that everybody knew as “the 3D version,” this was especially true as the new DS was able to play the newest games, which turned everyone off who thought that the original DS would last a bit longer. Well in either case, the DS still has one of the largest handheld console sales.
2. The Wii
Before we had the Nintendo Switch, we had something called the WiiU and before that was one of Nintendo’s more successful consoles being sold over the years, the Wii. That’s right, when the Wii as announced for 2006, it was basically a mystery to everyone. How are people supposed to play games with a non-standard controller with motion controls? Well we’ll tell you that it’s pretty easy once you attach the nunchuck peripheral to it. The Wii basically revolutionized gaming after it released and sold millions, in fact as of now in it’s lifetime, the wii sold around 101.63 million units. That’s pretty impressive considering that the Wii was basically the start of something that would eventually become the Nintendo Switch today.
I believe the reason the Wii was so popular, was that their games were very intuitive and very interactive at the time with motion controls with varying results. Of course Twilight Princess and Smash Bros were very interesting games with the Wii remote, but they do play a bit better using a pro controller attachment. So then in 2012, Nintendo released the Wii U in and was faced with quite a bit of criticism. First off was the console’s touch screen which was in my opinion, unneeded and forced many of their games to utilize it. While it wasn’t all bad, it was a bit cumbersome to use the screen controller. Additionally, the games themselves that released during the time such as Wonderful 101 and Tokyo Mirage Sessions, at least until now were known as cult classics with no other way to play, due to people’s aversion to the console.
Now with the Nintendo Switch, which the console ultimately led to was a combination of the screen the Wii U used and had the cute dual controls that the original Wii had with the JoyCons. With currently 38.67 million units sold and counting, we can say the Switch’s current success was due to both the Wii and Wii U so thank you.
3. Nintendo Online Services
Nintendo definitely wasn’t known as the online console for quite a while as the company was very intent on making a bunch of games with very unique mechanics that basically never needed any online play. Well over the years the fans have yearned to have some sort of full online interaction though mulitplayer. The Wii started off strong as Smash Bros. was a driving force for multiplayer at the time. While other multiplayer games at the time like Call of Duty World at War and Modern Warfare released on the Wii, they were severely downgraded with no real skill to be seen online. Additionally, thanks to the virtual store, players were able to play classic games through the shop, which was a pretty big bonus and allowed for a bunch of games for the Wii.
Well after the Wii U introduced Splatoon, with it’s surprisingly fun multiplayer and it’s cute and charming gameplay, Nintendo decided to make a big push for online. They first tried with the Miiverse, but ultimately canned that idea due to the community posting whatever they wanted. It wasn’t until the Nintendo Switch came out that Nintendo wanted to seriously make a paid online service. For $3.99 a month and $19.99 a year, you can have the benefits of using the Switch’s online functionality which includes multiplayer, tons of NES games to play and cloud saves. While the Miiverse may be gone, we can be assured that Nintendo will surely make Online both fair and fun for all gaming.
4. Smash Bros.
We cannot deny that the most successful series of games to come from Nintendo is their Smash Bros. series where all of Nintendo’s biggest icons come together in order to fight to become the greatest fighter of all. Starting from a small humble game on the N64 as Super Smash Bros. the game eventually had a sequel with the Gamecube with Smash Bros. Melee. which was even more popular and more competitive, albeit a bit goofy. When the Wii came out Smash Bros Brawl was there. then when the WiiU came out, it was known as Smash Bros. Wii U. Finally, today we have the Nintendo switch with Smash Bros. Ultimate which is supposedly the most complete roster to date for the series.
The game continues to have professional tournaments as well as having some of the more competitive fights around EVO where tons of players come together to fight in these games for recognition. With how popular the series is, it’s impossible to think that the game will go away anytime soon.
5. The Brand
So what do you really think of when you hear Nintendo? You’re probably thinking of Mario right? Maybe Link from the Zelda series? Maybe Pikachu? Well either answer means that you definitely know of Nintendo. That’s right, they’ve been around for so many years that their games and characters have become so well-known in the gaming industry that just about everybody knows who they are. If not, you at least know all of their characters through their successful series of games. Mostly games like Mario Party, and Mario Kart series shows you all of these charming characters that Nintendo owns and currently cares for. They usually have a good image for both the company and their characters and that in turn makes Nintendo one of the biggest brands in the gaming industry.
Conclusion
So what do you think? Do you think that Nintendo has more successes that they can share? Also what else do you think belongs on this list? Let us know in the comments.
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