Weekly Thought: The Future's Bright, the Future's... Nintendo?

What lies in store for the Big N?

Where, I wonder, are Nintendo going? With the Wii fast becoming outdated by the technically superior (and arguably more attractive) competition’s foray into HD motion controlling and the likes of the iPhone stealing a huge portion of the portable gaming crowd as well, naysayers abound claim that we’re reaching the end of the road for the Big N; outgunned, outmanned and outmanoeuvred, things don’t - admittedly - look so good for this leviathan right now. But do the golden oldies have something tucked up their sleeve to prove the critics wrong?

Well, first we need a reality check - to be perfectly blunt, I don’t think things are nearly as they would appear or as bad as folk would have you believe. I mean, as far as the big white box goes I’d like to point out that it is still the most popular home-console choice of all three market contenders by a comfortable margin, regardless of what’s on the way and the interest it happens getting; on top of that, because the Wii and Nintendo are already such established names in and around the family market (becoming - like the Playstation 2 of old - undoubtedly synonymous with current ‘gaming’), I rather doubt that either Move or Natal will manage to shift it from it’s throne any time soon, simply because they don’t have the same pedigree. Sure, I do think we’ll be seeing a whole new edition before long - the Wii is woefully old fashioned when compared to the other two consoles after all, and Nintendo will undoubtedly want to close that gap as quickly as it can - but I doubt that we’ll see it sooner than 2012.

Secondly - and on a slightly brighter note - the company have recently announced a brand new swanky handheld instalment (the 3DS) for release in 2011, so don‘t worry about the death of a Nintendo handheld, either; not only does this system leap into uncharted territory with the much vaunted 3D, specs-less technology that will laugh in the face of archaic, uncomfortable 3D glasses, it will also bring with it a lot of tech to match and better the iPhone and it’s app-ridden ilk (vastly improved graphical capabilities, basic tilt-style motion controls, 3D movies and improved internet features, you know, that sort of thing).

In that case, what is the future for Nintendo? To cut a long story short, I don’t think they’ll be going anywhere any time soon; for all the reasons above, I reckon that and we’d better get used to them being on the top spot, for that’s where they’ll be staying for the foreseeable future.