The 'Shroom:Issue 125/Critic Corner: Difference between revisions

One of the things that make Nintendo consoles great is that they often try to do something unique, new, and revolutionary. Usually this works out quite well, [[Nintendo DS|garnering massive sales]] and sometimes [[Wii|producing imitators]]. But sometimes, even though the console is doing something revolutionary, it doesn't work out so well. The prime example of this is the [[Virtual Boy]]. In the early nineties, Nintendo gained the license to use 3D stereoscopic head-tracking technology made by Reflection Technology, Inc. to make a game console. They then experimented with the technology to make it affordable and health-conscious. Seeing that the head-tracking feature caused motion sickness and risk of lazy eye, they removed it and focused on the stereoscopic 3D feature. Even then, the system caused symptoms such as dizziness, nausea, and headaches. After several years of development, Nintendo began pushing for the Virtual Boy's release so it could focus development on the [[Nintendo 64]]. However, the console was unfinished and it had been severely downscaled from the original idea. Despite this, the Virtual Boy was released in 1995. It was a commercial failure and was panned by critics. Its failure was attributed to its high price, health problems, and poorly handled marketing. So, I think what went wrong with the Virtual Boy can be described in two words: too early. In the most basic sense, it was too early because it was rushed to market in an unfinished state to focus on the [[N64]]. However, on a wider scale, it was too early because the technology just was not advanced enough to do the revolutionary thing they wanted to do: stereoscopic 3D. It would be over 15 years before they succeeded in implementing 3D properly with the [[3DS]]. So the moral of the story is: be revolutionary and ahead of your time, but not so far ahead of your time that you can't even do it properly.<br>

'''3. Wii U'''<br>

I've been having a lot of fun with my Switch lately. When I'm not playing in handheld mode, it sits in its dock atop my [[Wii U]], a rather symbolic placement for a console triumphant over the console defeated. Speaking of which, why was the Wii U defeated? What caused it to fail? Well, there were many reasons for the Wii U's failure. First of all, it was not marketed well at all. When it was first revealed, no one could tell whether it was a new console or just a tablet peripheral for the Wii. This was due to the trailer's vast focus on the gamepad without showing the console itself, and the fact that used the Wii's name, just with an extra U. Furthermore, the trailers primarily showed children playing it, turning off older consumers. Another reason is that it was difficult to develop for because of the abnormal gameplay style of having two screens, causing third-party developers to shun the console. This and Nintendo's failure to consistently release first-party titles led to a huge lack of games. But what was perhaps the biggest problem was that it tried to ride on the success of the Wii and didn't establish itself as its own entity. It even used Wii Remotes as seemingly the primary multiplayer control option! What they should have done is taken the console's concept farther and drop its connection to the Wii besides simple backwards compatibility. Perhaps we could have seen a system like the Switch, taking the console Off-TV play farther. Or perhaps it could have kept the two-screen feature while truly communicating the revolutionary concept that they were trying to realize.<br>     

'''2. N64DD and N64's Specs'''<br>