What Next Generation Said: "The vast majority of Nintendo 64 games to date are made up of either coin-op or PC conversions, sequels to previous Nintendo hits, or -- in the case of Shadows of the Empire -- no brainer adaptations of no-brainer licenses. Where are the risks? Where are brave new genres? Where are the never-seen-anything-like-it-before titles such as PilotWings and F-Zero that accompanied the launch of the Super NES?

"Sure, initially one of the most exciting aspects of Nintendo 64's future was the promise of 64-bit updates of its classic 8- and 16-bit franchises. But a system cannot live on sequels alone. Yes, Super Mario 64 set a new standard in platform-style gaming, but how unexpected are PilotWings 64, Mario Kart 64, or Star Fox 64? In many cases, once the effect of the 3D graphics (an effect which is lessened with each new update) has gone away, Nintendo 64 gamers are left playing essentially the same games they played on the Super NES and even NES.

"It would be nice to think that with superstar talent like Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo will once again be the company responsible for creating new gaming paradigms, especially considering the new technical freedoms enabled by Nintendo 64. In the gaming industry's infancy, gamers looked to Nintendo to tell them what videogaming was all about. From the lessons offered by Nintendo lately, new pupils could be forgiven for thinking that videogaming is about doing the same thing over and over but with better graphics."

Has Nintendo Learned Their Lesson? For a company that is known for its innovation and popular game franchises, Nintendo has had a hard time coming up with new game characters to exploit. At this year's E3 every single one of their games was based on some sort of popular franchise, such as Mario, Zelda, Wario and Super Smash Bros. That's not to say they won't eventually come out with new franchises, but for the first year or two it looks like we're going to be chewing on a healthy diet of sequels and updates. This is especially depressing when you take into consideration how fearless they are with their new controller, if there was ever a time for Nintendo to go crazy and bring us a bunch of new franchises now would be a perfect time. What the Wii needs is something brand-new, similar to what Pikmin did on the GameCube or Animal Crossing did on the Nintendo 64. I'm not sure what they could do, but with people like Shigeru Miyamoto on staff it would have been nice to see something fresh. Instead we have a control that is new and innovative, but games that we've seen many times before.

What Next Generation Said: Next Generation: The frustration left by game developers and publishers over Nintendo's choice to go with a cartridge-based machine in the age of the CD-ROM has been well documented. And although Nintendo insisted otherwise, and even managed to lull the masses into a false sense of security with great-looking games such as Super Mario 64 and WaveRace 64, the concerns over a cartridge-based machine in the age of advanced 3D gaming are obvious and well founded. To date, the problems have manifested themselves in the form of limited texture capacity (as in Shadows of the Empire where navigating the maze of hallways is made difficult not by challenging level design, but because of the redundancy of monochromatic walls) or in the incessant and maddening looping of music in Cruis'n USA. There are many more less obvious, but nevertheless important, examples.

"Not as crucial, but not to be discounted entirely, is N64's lack of ability to include FMV sequences in story-based games. FMV carries with it a well-deserved stigma because of several missteps in the application of video, but many recent CD-ROM games have managed to find a natural and satisfying place for FMV in their games. Tomb Raider uses FMV sequences as a reward for finishing a level and enhances the cinematic feel of the game. It would be difficult to argue that any Nintendo 64 game can offer the same rich production values. And aesthetics aside, is there anyone who would claim that the experience of playing Shadow of the Empire would not have been enhanced immeasurably has LucasArts been able to incorporate a full CD version of John William's Star Wars musical score?"

Has Nintendo Learned Their Lesson? One could argue that Nintendo learned their lesson five years ago when they released the GameCube. This will be the first time Nintendo has ever released games on a non-proprietary format. The GameCube's mini-DVDs was a step in the right direction, but some complained that the small size hindered larger games. This will not be an issue this time around, the Wii sports a full-sized DVD, so game developers can pack the games with tons of cinemas and extra music. Don't think that's important? Where would the Grand Theft Auto series be without all of their different radio stations? And how cool would it have been to not have to switch Resident Evil 4 discs? Thankfully the woes of cartridges are long gone, even if Nintendo opted for the current generation DVD and not something like Blu Ray or HD-DVD.

While it's not necessarily the same thing, Nintendo is suffering from one technical problem that could be likened to their stubborn cartridge support. I'm talking about their refusal to support newer Hi-Def TVs. In a world where all of the other consoles are going for 720 and 1080 support, the Wii is being left behind. Much like their decision not to embrace disc technology ten years ago, Nintendo's refusal to support HD feels like the system's one major mistake. We're only two years away from the official switch from standard def to hi-def, something that could ultimately make Nintendo look outdated. Could this be as big a problem as cartridges were to the Nintendo 64? I guess we'll have to revisit this article in a few years and find out.