A Formal Letter to Nintendo

Posted by Dennis Scally in Games on Jan 8th, 2009 | View Comments

To whom it may concern within Nintendo Inc.

I, Dennis Scally, am writing you this letter to express my unhappiness and disappointment with the change in your target market over the last three years. Please understand that I wish no wrong to you as I have been an endearing fan for the greater part of fifteen years. I only wish to explain why I am no longer going to purchase any of your products.

The first reason is probably the most obvious. As a twenty year old gamer, I have been a “hardcore” fan of your Nintendo Entertainment System and Nintendo 64 Entertainment System. The game lists on both consoles were truly vast and unique, ranging from action, sports and racing to adventure, mystery, and role playing. Such great games were loved by young and old people alike. It is very sad to see such a great company go from that, to a gimmicky venture like Wii Fit. Something is not at all a game and can do no more for a person that a normal exercise schedule. I completely understand the reason for the release of games such as Brain Age, Cooking Mama, and Endless Ocean that target more of a mass audience. All of them give a wider view of gaming to people who normally would not play the likes of Mario, Zelda, or Metroid, but with the move to please that new audience, gamers like me who enjoyed the challenge of more classic arcade games, I find no satisfaction in the Nintendo Wii. with such a huge lack of meaningful titles, I find myself no longer seeing you as the colossus you once were in the Gaming Industry.

The second reason for my move away from your Nintendo Wii is your refusal to compete with competition in terms of additional content. Sony has took a large step by release a virtual world, and Microsoft has completely renovated their user interface, while Your own system is still very much the same as it was during its initial release. This conservative approach has dulled the original appeal of the Wii compared to your competitors’ ever-growing expansions. I am sure there are many who see your system as a much more practical console meant for light use, much unlike other, more mainstream systems, whose fanbase consists of rabid, trigger-happy teenagers, but for a middle-range person like myself, there just isn’t enough incentive to purchase your products.

My final, and most important reason is the actual approach you took going from one market to the other. It was not a gradual transition that would usher in a new genre of gaming for existing fans. It was a total abandonment of them in favor of a completely new fanbase. This harsh change left a very large number of people wondering what, exactly, had become of their favorite company, only later to be officially kicked aside altogether as you moved onward in your new direction. With such a huge slap in the face, there is nothing more that can be done but to walk away and find a new way to satisfy my needs as a gamer, and it is for these reasons that I will no longer be purchasing any Nintendo-made game products.

Again, please do not take this letter as an attack on your company as a whole. I only wish you to know how your actions have affected your former fans around the world. Also, I do very much hope you embrace the memories of your past consoles and begin making games that target former fans as a way to hopefully bring them back from other companies.

My best wishes to you and your future ventures

,Dennis Scally