How Microsoft and Sony could learn from Nintendo

Nintendo may have been slow to embrace new gaming trends in the last couple of generations, but they are undoubtedly a gaming institution. Despite this, there has been some criticism of Nintendo for being slow to learn from other gaming companies. With this in mind, I was wondering what Microsoft and Sony, on the other hand, could learn from Nintendo’s strategy.

The first idea that would undoubtedly benefit Microsoft, especially with the reputation of its online service, is the limitation of online communication. This no doubt is a controversial idea, with this being one of Nintendo’s biggest criticisms, but on the other hand it has also led to a better online community.

Engaging with the Miiverse community is much less toxic than the other multiplayer services. With the general toxicity of gaming as a whole community any attempt at controlling the way in which we engage with one another is sadly the lesser of two evils considering the vileness that can get spewed online.

Another idea that other companies could learn from Nintendo is the value of aesthetics over graphics. While Microsoft and Sony continue to expensively battle over making their boxes render more and more detail that many wouldn’t even notice, on the other hand Nintendo focuses on making its games look beautiful in design rather than through graphical clout. The sheer beauty of the likes of Breath of the Wild and Super Mario 3D World stand as testament to the power of making a game look good on what is considered weak hardware.

The use of colour seems to be the best aspect of a Nintendo game, where, despite reinforcing that annoying ‘kiddy’ image, this results in beautiful, varied locales and games that have a visual identity. On the other hand, the majority of games on Microsoft and Sony consoles seem to be generic shooters with no real visual identity other than brown and grey. In this way, the house of Mario stands ahead of the other two in terms of their visuals, despite their use of under-powered graphics hardware. Microsoft and Sony could do with more effort in making their games look colourful and full of visual charm, rather than gunning for ultra-realism.

The third thing that Microsoft and Sony could learn from Nintendo applies more to Microsoft than to Sony at the moment, with Crash N’Sane Trilogy coming out shortly and the release of WipeOut Omega Collection showing a better intent, it seems that where Microsoft is most lagging behind is in the treatment of its intellectual property.

Nintendo have been accused of focusing too squarely on Mario and Zelda in the past, but undoubtedly the company understands which of its IP have the biggest draws. With further 3DS releases of beloved IP such as Fire Emblem, it seems that Nintendo, as well as Sony, do well with the use of their franchises. Microsoft, on the other hand, seem to have a lack of those killer franchise titles that draw gamers in. Halo 5 was ultimately a disappointment on the Xbox One and other than Gears of War 4 it is difficult to come up with many ‘killer’ apps for the console.

Nintendo may come under fire for a lot of bad decisions, particularly with their being stuck in the past in the online space. However, there are a lot of decisions that are made right with the company, and if it leaves the console race altogether then gaming will be a worse place as a result. As we move forward in gaming, we need to learn lessons from even the console manufacturers we criticise, both in what they do right and in what they do wrong. Nintendo may be mocked and disliked by a lot, but there is no denying that its approach to the console race is interesting.