Time for Nintendo to grow up
The Switch ascended to the console throne on the back of Mario Kart, Animal Crossing and Pokémon. Children and hardcore fans are happy, so high time Nintendo finally served adult audiences as well.
I can always get my friends excited about a round of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. The all-time bestselling Switch game spans all levels of society. But apart from rare games nights with friends, my peers and I have almost entirely outgrown our Nintendo phase. Yet we all grew up with NES, SNES and the like, so it seems nostalgia hasn’t stopped us from moving on.
Sure, I use my Switch regularly, albeit primarily with the children or for professional reasons. But the majority of my gamer friends, on the other hand, don’t even own a Nintendo console. When I ask why, I always hear the same answer: «It only has games for kids.»
Source: Nintendo
The family console
And I kind of agree. Nintendo’s virtually synonymous with family-friendly consoles. Sure, millions of adults also play the Switch – including me. But I’m starting to dislike its child-friendly range more than ever. The high point for me came with the Nintendo 64. Super Mario 64, Goldeneye and Starfox 64 were outstanding in terms of both gameplay and technology. And apart from a brief outburst with the Gamecube, Nintendo’s turned away from graphical contention and focused even more on flashy children’s entertainment. Unfortunately, this development goes completely against my preference. As a result, my enthusiasm for Nintendo’s consoles has steadily waned.
Nintendo games continue to impress with their creativity, sure. But the constant hand-holding, same old stories with no soundtrack and childish presentation are really starting to bother me. I fully understand why this is the case, by the way. Nintendo wants to make games that everyone can understand and play. And so as not to exclude anyone, the lowest common denominator’s often «kid games». But there has to be something else, something that won’t make me roll my eyes every time. I want to feel spoken to as a player and not just be an afterthought.
Source: Nintendo
True, there are certain games that go in this direction, such as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and especially Tears of the Kingdom. The latter in particular is really gloomy in places. Both are rated for ages 12 and up. They retain their childlike Nintendo charm, but rarely drift into childishness. However, the majority of games that Nintendo develops or publishes are classified for younger audiences. The European age rating system PEGI lists 103 games for the Switch. They’re broken down as follows:
- 18 and up: 4 games
- 16 and up: 6 games
- 12 and up: 29 games
- 7 and up: 59 games
- 3 and up: 30 games
As different versions of the same title are counted, the total’s a bit higher than the actual number of games out there. And even if a lower age rating doesn’t per se mean that a game’s automatically for children, the trend’s obvious.
Off to new shores
Nintendo also shows little willingness to experiment with game variations. The same series always appear on bestseller lists. The countless Mario, Zelda and Pokémon spin-offs have long been in the double-digit range. Nintendo’s welcome to milk these cows into time eternal, there’s obviously a lot of money to be made from this. However, it’s clear the console market’s stagnating. Xbox boss Phil Spencer recently emphasised that it’s necessary to cultivate other areas as a result. For Nintendo, this would mean targeting PC, PlayStation and Xbox users. The Switch 2 would be the perfect opportunity to invest some creative energy in more grown-up games. In other words, games that offer more complexity in terms of gameplay, deal with more difficult topics or don’t use up the entire colour wheel visually.
Source: Nintendo
I’d be most excited if a Nintendo studio ventured into new franchises. I don’t mean launch fillers like 1-2-Switch or Arms, both little more than tech demos for new console features. I want a fully fledged Nintendo game that exploits the technical possibilities of the Switch 2 and taps into the Japanese game developer’s wealth of ideas. Whether single- or multiplayer doesn’t matter to me, I just want to feel the Nintendo magic, which is used far too rarely outside of the usual suspects.
And the image of a family-friendly console wouldn’t have to suffer either, games don’t have to be brutal or bloody. With Emio – The Smiling Man, Nintendo’s already developed its own 18+ game. But I have something bigger in mind. A real Nintendo blockbuster, just without Mario and his cronies. – although I’d also find it exciting to see the traditional brands in a new setting.
A detective noir story with a hot-tempered Mario looking to solve the murder of his brother Luigi. Or Pokémon from the perspective of the little monsters, breaking the shackles of their Poké Balls and turning against their masters because they no longer want to fight each other. Or a kind of GTA where you become the gangster boss of a big city as a wicked Wario.
Source: X/montana classic/Nintendo
Nintendo might be too protective of its own gaming icons for this. However, the Japanese company has never been short of ideas. I’m convinced that Nintendo would be an asset to the industry if they started considering an older target demographic here and there.
What mature games would you like to see from Nintendo? Or do you prefer the status quo?
Philipp Rüegg
Senior Editor
Philipp.Rueegg@digitecgalaxus.chBeing the game and gadget geek that I am, working at digitec and Galaxus makes me feel like a kid in a candy shop – but it does take its toll on my wallet. I enjoy tinkering with my PC in Tim Taylor fashion and talking about games on my podcast http://www.onemorelevel.ch. To satisfy my need for speed, I get on my full suspension mountain bike and set out to find some nice trails. My thirst for culture is quenched by deep conversations over a couple of cold ones at the mostly frustrating games of FC Winterthur.
