Because it is the closest I can get to that true gaming feel. I am a SEGA fanboy of old, and although different they are more similar than say Sony or Microsoft. Most of the games on those platforms, I feel, are catered to a very different crowd. It is more about competitive play and there is a certain element in it that favours graphics over game-play. Ofcourse there are titles that are very creative, but in general a title like Wonderful 101 would sell even less on a Playstation 4 or Xbox One than it would on a Wii U. Something like DKC: Tropical Freeze or Kid Icarus: Uprising really push the right buttons for me, where as Halo has stopped being fun after the first game.
I must admit Microsoft did have her own niché for a while, with Crimson Skies, Rallisport Challenge, Midtown Madness and so forth... but since about a third into the lifespan of the 360 they gave it away for the image of being a shooter box. I really miss for instance what RARE was able to do, I do not blame Microsoft for their demise but I do feel a bit like the studio simply doesn't have a chance. For that same reason I do like Kinect and Kinect sports, the Gunstringer was also very entertaining....yet.. those are the minority of games.
When I power on my Nintendo system, it is like powering on my Master system that I had since age 7. It is like powering on a PC Engine, Megadrive, SNES, NES, etc. It just is there for gaming and it does that very well. It still has that toy atmosphere that the others fight too hard to get rid off. And in that fight... they loose a lot of their initial charms just to cater to a crowd of people that try to hard to appear adult. Yet in that trying, that comparing of resolutions and maturity, they come off as childish. With Playstation and Xbox I miss that charm, that willingness to admit that you are a toy.
The whole atmosphere with the others feels a bit toxic to me, the push too hard.
You have the same on PC ever since steam arrived, proud GOG user myself, but the whole F2P generation seems self entitled, very loud and easy to offend. For instance World of Warcraft, I loved to Roleplay in it. Was a fan of Thalassian Elves ever since Warcraft 2 and the first time I played the Human campaign... but since the start of that game and the whining on the forums.. the game has changed so much into a 15 minute gratification/gambling addiction fostering grind fest. Everything is under 15 minutes, everything is done for you.. and PVP is filled with over entitled little pricks. Storywise it has been reduced to the story of Mary Sue leaders and the whole universe it once had, which was inspired on Warhammer Fantasy battle, is gone; Replaced by the story of Thrall and Friends.
So while you have a bunch of Racial Mary Sue leaders:
- Running around on the front lines.
- Bowing to the self entitled players (As every player is super special now that did everything alone)
- Risking their whole nations as they are just one arrow away from leaving them without a leader.
- Oversimplified into two factions to an extreme that everything have to be made twice to please two factional pride forum sides.
- With a very toxic forum indeed, any form of criticism is to be stifled
- And all fun was condensed into 15 minute grind runs, removing all forms of RPG and exploring of instances from the game.
Then suddenly it feels relaxing to pop in that Nintendo game, that has actually quite a bit more depth, where the gameplay isn't a mindless grind and one can explore. Where even Mario games bother with a story and the game just breathes quality rather than "overzealous bullying fanbase, making sure nobody criticizes things".
It is that feeling that I enjoy, and I must admit it pulls me in a lot more lately than any form of Thalassian Elf (High or Blood) lately. And I used to be addicted to that game and all the writing you could find in it. Different times, different audiences... luckily Nintendo will always cater to original audience as well
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PS: The 3DS puts out far more than N64 Graphics, just because they ported ZELDA: OOT to it doesn't mean the N64 could pull of Kid Icarus: Uprising or Donkey Kong: Returns.