About
Archives

Pokemon
Kirby
Smash Bros.

The Aftermath of Passing and how Nintendo destroys Iwata's legacy
N/A
N/A

Programmer's Shrine
N/A
N/A

LAYOUT CREDITS
Lovely Designs

AD

The Aftermath of Passing and how Nintendo destroys Satoru Iwata's Legacy

26/12/2021
I don't want to be too dramatic with the introduction in any way. It is all a couple of thoughts I have about Nintendo's latest behavior.
Sit down and listen to the slightly coherent rambling of an old man.

I bet many of you reading this remember the times of Nintendo from 2002 to 2015. In my opinion - one of the best eras the company went through. The time where the worldwide-known Nintendo Quirk was blooming and gave many people a lot of amazing memories in their childhood.
Later on, Nintendo would come up with an ahead-of-time idea of Directs, that are going on up to this day.

I also bet the name "Satoru Iwata" is known to you. After all, he was co-responsible for many of the things that made Nintendo lovable by the younger audiences. Like you know... Wii exists.
Iwata left a huge legacy as a programmer and CEO - a legacy that is the fundamental power of today's Nintendo (and the entire gaming industry). Or rather - should be one. Many hoped that Nintendo Switch would proudly carry on the torch of innovation (as it's been known that Iwata was involved in Switch's development right before death) and joy like Wii and the DS/3DS family.
However, something went... wrong to say the least.
The Switch, when you dig a little deeper, has a mere spark of the quirk left in itself. Compared to its precedessors, it looks just like another corporate product made out of soulless components. Hell, even the flop called Wii U was more fun to use.
Does that mean Switch is a terrible console? Of course not.

Even if it's only a tiny spark of the quirk, it's still a really enjoyable product by a lot. There are still very amazing games on it and the quality did not drop that much.
Is Switch the first nuke to Iwata's legacy? Yes, it is the first nail to the coffin of the bloom era.
The Switch did a good job to bring Joy-Cons in. It's one of Switch's most unique features that many loved. However - the amount of issues they brought was not acceptable and it could be seen with the never-ending complaints about the infamous Joy-Con drift. Of course... some may complain for the sake of complaining and their JCs may not be broken, but I don't recall this many complaints before the Switch era.

The paid online subscription is also another corporate byproduct that takes away the uniqueness of Nintendo - it's just following everyone else by the footsteps. And I bet people wouldn't mind paid online if it meant online servers would work better. The truth... well, shows how it really is like.

I know to many, complaining about no themes or mini-games on Switch would be seen as cherry-picking, but to be real - this is what made 3DS a great console too. These little toys you would use between gaming sessions were part of the quirk.
I personally am a person who loves to focus on the goods rather than bads when it comes to Nintendo - here, however, it's an issue too big to look over. I understand the anger of people who are disappointed by the Switch.

Because what Nintendo does is simply nuking what Iwata built for years in the company.
And I'm not claiming that Iwata's actions were always right - with everyone there are always ups and downs. But clearly, one can always tell that he was a force for good.

Nowadays, the public face of Nintendo is also lost. Before, along with Reggie, those two were recognizable all around the world. Now? Do you know who's in charge of the company? Do you know who's the boss in USA? The new people are not recognizable at all. They are forgettable.
And only very few faces at Nintendo remain. In the near future, it'll be all lost, and the last spark of the quirk will fade away.