had they not decide to abandon the move to discs when working on the N64--they would have had what is considered "the best RPG of all time", FFVII, on their console. I think that pretty much closed them off from a lot of parties that decided on pushing the envelope with discs (via the PlayStation) as they were less limited than Nintendo's cartridges. Still, as much as it may have limited them, it didn't stop Nintendo from having a decent share of the pie. They even had some good third party titles like GoldenEye and WCW/NWO Revenge.
the n64 might be my favorite of consoles, which i think is an equal mix of it being really the first successful venture into 3D depth, some ridiculously amazing genre-defining games (mario, zelda, goldeneye), and it just so happened to hit when i was in high school / college, which was probably my peak of play-time. but, yeah, it might also single-handedly be the biggest example of product / industry failure. from not using CDs, to pissing off sony, to shooing away third parties, to essentially opening the door to an xbox... disastrous ramifications that they didn't really start to make back until recently.
It may be that hindsight is 20/20, but the Wiimote was shear genius. Was it looked at as an oddity and gimmicky by developers and raging internet fanboys? Sure. But, when the competition starts copying the brand that had "relegated itself to third place and--eventually--the dustbin", it is time to rethink who the industry innovators are.
that.
Rob loves you dude
i love all my children!
