Nintendo Wii Fanboy

We can only guess that these people think that you are playing Cooking Mama every day, or that there will be many, many sequels -- otherwise, we'd have to call them a little late to the party. And really, were they even invited?

We can understand swords and shields. We can even get behind rackets and bats, though they're a little silly. But ... a frying pan? Spatula? Did someone kill off imagination without sending us a memo?

[Via DCEmu]

We've heard it before -- Nintendo's success is bad for the gaming industry as a whole, because they muscle other companies out of the way. This time it's Todd Mitchell of the Kaufman Bros complaining the incredible success of the DS and Wii might be bad for everyone else. After all, Nintendo's first party titles tend to be extremely successful, which leaves less room (theoretically) for third party publishers. But is it really Nintendo's fault?

Certainly, Nintendo has had problems with third party publishers before. Every longtime Nintendo gamer is familiar with the history of shaky relationships between the House of Mario and the rest of the industry. But if there is a current lack of third party games available for the Wii, who's to blame: Nintendo, or everyone else? While it's easy to point the finger at Nintendo (history supports that position), this time around, that doesn't seem to be the case. Reggie Fils-Aime has talked himself hoarse talking about Nintendo's efforts to bring more third party games under the Wii's umbrella, and it seems to be working. In fact, when one looks at the upcoming offerings for both the DS and the Wii, when compared to releases for the GameCube and N64, it almost looks like a different company altogether.

So who's at fault here -- Nintendo, for releasing games that are dependably awesome? Or could the fault perhaps lie in third party titles that just don't measure up? Nintendo gamers don't seem to shrink from good games, regardless of who makes them. We'll admit that we're hard to please, but if it's good, not only will we buy it, but we'll even buy it a few times for good measure.

GoNintendo's Kevin Cassidy (perhaps better known as Rawmeat Cowboy) had some interesting things to say about attitudes in the Nintendo fanboy community. Cassidy believes that we refuse to be pleased; we moan about a lack of third party titles, but decry those we have as being too kiddie, or old ports that are late to the party, or just crap. Essentially, he seems to say that while we love Nintendo and Nintendo's games, for the rest, we would maybe rather have a library that more resembles that of other consoles. And we don't want them a year later.

It's an interesting point, and over at big daddy Joystiq, Ross Miller countered with the notion that while "they" talk a lot, sales figures don't necessarily reflect this side of popular opinion. Still, Nintendo's uneven history with third party developers is a matter of record, and it's established that many people do think of Nintendo as the "kiddie" console.

It's a lot to consider this early in the morning, but it does leave us with a few questions. Are we, as a fanbase, too demanding? Are we asking too much of Nintendo ... or has the bar merely been set so high over the years that we expect nothing less than the best? Are we right to snub most third party offerings? Like any form of media, only a small percentage of releases actually shine, after all.

[Via Joystiq; image here.]