QUOTE
	"Nintendo is the top developer in the world but even the best can’t go it alone, Batman had Robin, Frodo had Sam, and Mario had Luigi. The answer is obvious--Nintendo needs help!"

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It’s arid, hot, and dry outside. The sun is beating on my back as I am in desperate search of a game to play. But I have a particular thirst that needs to be quenched--I need to drink the goodness of an exclusive Nintendo GameCube game. It might be an all too common problem among Nintendo fans these days, as they wonder where exactly Nintendo’s games have gone. Not specifically where the games themselves are headed, but the disappearance of the games themselves. Granted, last year Nintendo gave us some excellent titles that were exclusive to the Cube, but there seemed to be a drought of Egyptian proportions when looking at the Cube’s exclusive games release list. With no further contribution by the dynamic duo of Retro Studios and Silicon Knights, Nintendo fans were forced to sit in the desert of solitude, wondering when their next Cube exclusive game would come out. From Zelda and then to F-Zero GX, and then finally to Mario Kart, gamers had to endure months of agony to receive exclusive content. Of all the simple things that Nintendo could use right now, there is one thing that would help Nintendo the most--but what is that?

Consider this: a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…well, maybe not that long ago and not that far away either--about 10 years ago and on the planet Earth, Nintendo was well underway with creating games for the Super Nintendo. The SNES, regarded by some as the greatest Nintendo system of all time, delivered what the Cube could not--plenty of games. But it doesn’t stop there. Nintendo didn’t just bust a Sony and release a bunch of games uglier than the hunchback of Notre Dame himself. No. There was quality too. Quality and quantity--a combination that couldn’t be stopped. How did Nintendo manage to get so many exclusive games on the SNES that were filled with quality? Rare and Square both developed exclusively for Nintendo at the time and they literally opened the floodgates and released a torrent of games. The Final Fantasy series and the Donkey Kong Country series comes to mind when I think about Rare and Square. The games didn’t just stop there however, many other companies were also locked in with Nintendo. Enix, Square’s former arch-rival, also developed exclusively for the SNES as they were compelled to compete against Square on the dominant platform in Japan at the time. Couple Rare, Square, and Enix with Nintendo themselves, and you have an unstoppable developing superpower. However, it didn’t end there as Nintendo had other affiliates as well, including first party developers HAL Laboratories and Intelligent Systems. The bottom line: Nintendo made many fans during this era of gaming because of the number of exclusive games that were available to the Super Nintendo.

Fast forward a little bit to get to the Nintendo 64 era. In this era, Nintendo had many multi-platinum system sellers that handily beat their PSX system selling counterparts. Right before the N64 was released however, Nintendo suffered a tragic blow to its power and ultimately its ego. Square had just left Nintendo and most fans were in shock. Final Fantasy VII was going to the PSX, but no one was totally sure of the implications. As it turns out, Enix left also to duel with Square on the PSX. This left the N64 at a perilous situation in Japan where the lack of RPGs quickly caught up with the N64 and left gamers out to dry. While Square was gone, Rare quickly matured and became Nintendo’s right-hand man.

Pumping out Goldeneye during the second year of the N64’s life proved to be pivotal, as word-of-mouth quickly propelled this game into the legendary status. Rare saved the N64 and Nintendo knew it--in fact, after Goldeneye was released, Nintendo followed up with the rest of Rare’s games and planned long, promotional blitzes to ensure even more sales. While Rare was a critical player during the N64 era, it was also joined by other Nintendo affiliates. Left Field was tapped to develop sports games for Nintendo. While its initial forays into the gaming world weren’t exactly spectacular, they eventually came of age when they finally released Excitebike 64. HAL also added depth to their gaming by adding the wonderful Smash Brothers game to the N64’s repertoire. Nintendo also contracted with developers Camelot, Hudson, and Factor 5 to ensure the N64 lineup remained healthy. There were still droughts on the N64 though even with all these developers--possibly evidence that developing in 3D was hard to get used to. While the N64 did eventually lose the battle to the PSX in terms of the installed base, its games did manage to outsell the PSX’s by staggering margins. This was something that Nintendo fans could always point to, proclaiming in one unified voice, “It’s about the games, stupid!”

Flash forward to the current age, the age of the Cube. It seemed to be a trend of Nintendo’s to lose a key developer at every succeeding generation, and the Cube era was no different. After developing only one game for the Cube, Rare was sold, with permission by Nintendo, to Microsoft to develop for them once and for all time. In addition to that, Left Field was also let go for reasons that Nintendo has not specifically stated. However, Nintendo did grab a few companies to make sure that the lineup wasn’t spread too thin. Retro Studios was hired and eventually went on to develop the deep game, Metroid Prime. Silicon Knights struck gold a little earlier in the Cube’s lifespan and developed Eternal Darkness, a game whose story has been unrivaled on the Cube. However, while these two developers retained a reputation for great games, they were just not big enough to accommodate the Cube. Nintendo has realized this and has tried to correct the situation by getting Sega to develop exclusive games and by asking Capcom to keep certain games exclusively to the Cube. However, it is all too apparent that Nintendo’s exclusive games lineup is very thin at the moment. True, Nintendo did release Mario Golf and Mario Party 5 this year--but honestly, did anyone really get excited about those games? Here’s a message to Rare and Square, the Nintendo fans miss you! We no longer look forward to the next exclusive Final Fantasy or the next FPS by Rare, no--we watch as the X-Box and PS2 rock our games sales. Nintendo is the top developer in the world, but even the best can’t go it alone. Batman had Robin, Frodo had Sam, and Mario had Luigi. The answer is obvious--Nintendo needs help!

The amount of games is steadily increasing on the Cube, but the rate is not fast enough. By letting Rare and Left Field go, gaping holes have been left on the Cube’s release calendar. Even if some questioned the quality of games by those certain developers at times, it surely has never hurt Nintendo by having extra games to throw around. Nintendo is not totally ignorant on this matter though--they have been taking steps in the right direction. Sega has made F-Zero for the Cube and has given us a lot of other exclusives. Nintendo must now pursue this relationship and try to get games like Shenmue from Sega. Namco is also another third party that Nintendo should try working with more. If Nintendo springs the cash, Namco could possibly give the Cube an exclusive Soul Calibur. In terms of other first or second parties, Nintendo must figure out a way to increase the developing capacity of Retro Studios and/or Silicon Knights. These companies must have as much depth as Rare had at the latter part of its life. Nintendo must also look into purchasing more companies to secure its place in the everlasting console wars. Nintendo must be on an eternal hunt for talent throughout the world and invite those companies to join the ranks of the top developers in the world. Also, if possible, Nintendo should also try setting up a system similar to Fund Q, in which top developers would get rewarded for their efforts. Look at the Game Boy right now, it is in a season of plenty right now with the seemingly unending amount of games released for the GBA in the past few months.

Nintendo is on the right track. All they must do now is finish the job by pursuing with even more zeal, exclusive third party games, expanding the capacity at current Nintendo affiliated studios, and finding the untapped talent of the gaming world. Nintendo should not just do any of the aforementioned tasks just once though--they must keep going until the Cube (or the N5) has at most, a two month gap between upcoming exclusive games. In the end, it all comes down to the games. This generation has had blockbuster hits across all systems, but it’s going to come down to just one thing--whoever has more wins.

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