Nintendo’s 20 most inspirational and innovative products that changed the game industry - Part 3

10. Mario Party (1999: Nintendo 64)

The year of 1999 was the year for new Nintendo IP along with “Smash Bros” released on the same year. People think I’m nuts to include this within my top 20, the game on its own merits in regards of gameplay I agree, “Mario Party” games have never been the most solid executed games ever but “Mario Party” series were very original/experimental with unusual game formula for their time introducing the concept of mini games reflecting pure sillyness and fun which anyone can get into and enjoy. “Mario Party” created the basic principles of the “Party game” genre and created stark/demand for this type of genre hence Nintendo creating far better executed fun party title called “Wario Ware” in 2003 on “Game boy advance” (First game in the series) and both of these game series have inspired the industry in the recent years with titles such as “Rayman: Raving Rabbits” and “EA: playground” games especially on “Wii”. People would argue that I should place “Wario ware” within this position as “Wario Ware” titles have always been better conceived in regards of both gameplay and game sales but without “Mario Party” success; you wouldn’t have “Wario Ware” or probably the “Party game” genre.

9. Brain age/Brain Training (2006: Nintendo DS)

This is one of the first titles that embraced Nintendo recent conquest towards the casual gaming market back in 2006 and still sells by the bucket lot with 13 million sales so far worldwide and still remains placed within the top 40 chart after two years from release, impressive! Gamers intend dislike this new wave of “Quiz/puzzle” games but you can’t denide that Nintendo have been very clever and creative with the whole design approach towards these brain training games making them perfectly suitable for portable gaming. This is where the innovation taken its poll as it tries to emulate next evolutionarily step of crossword/sudoku puzzles due to it’s pick up and play nature and accessibility of varied play lengths varying from quick short bursts to full intense hours of gameplay popping a few new brain cells testing how logical brain is. This is why they proved so popular becoming the crossword puzzles of the 21st century.

8. Nintendo DS (2004)
I remember when Nintendo first unveiled the “Nintendo DS” back at E3 2004 and people thought “Nintendo” had lost the plot with its ugly blocky design (often compared to “Game and Watch” console) , gimmicky dual touch screens control scheme, lack of original titles which fully took advance of the DS’s hardware features. To be honest, I was so worried that Sony PSP would take over handheld market as it had promising propositions. Satoru Iwata had (Nintendo’s president) said "We have developed Nintendo DS based upon a completely different concept from existing game devices in order to provide players with a unique entertainment experience for the 21st century.” Nintendo have certainly have achieved that goal with diversity array of titles for appealing wide audiences of hardcore gamers, gamers, casual gamers, non- gamers, etc selling 77 million units worldwide so far with support of 586 DS titles smashing PSP out of the water. I think DS will eventually become most successful with more sales than “Game Boy” with a total of 118.69 million units worldwide (combined with “Game boy color” sales). Nintendo deserve their success as they took a big risk re-inventing what the handheld gaming is about as it could of easily went other way with Sony controlling a monopoly on the handheld gaming market.

7. Four player split screen games/console (1996/1997: Nintendo 64 with Mario kart and Goldeneye)

I remember playing Mario Kart 64 four player for the first time ever; it was magical moment for me which I hope never forget. Four player games was nothing new especially if you were pc gamer back then with games like “Doom” and “Duke Nukem” playing LAN or over the internet but it was niche market limited to hardcore gamers only. Myself and like many others, Nintendo 64 with games such as “Mario Kart 64” and “Goldeneye” were my first multiplayer experiences and Nintendo 64 made multiplayer gaming more accessible and mainstream with smaller requirements of only 4 controllers and TV than dedicated PC alternative. These days, Multiplayer gaming is huge part of social gaming culture with online services such as “Xbox live”, “PSN”, “Stream”, etc playing huge epic matches with millions of players all around the world but its not quite the same as killing your friend in the same room as you, seeing his/her reactions to your skills, screen watching to outdo your opponents. “Goldeneye” put multiplayer on the map for console games before then 99% of games were single player only affair whereas today it’s considered to be suicide to have a game without MP/online functionality especially on 360. “Goldeneye” was the first game where I wanted to create my own fun coming up with my own ways/modes of gameplay like the famous “One shot kills” with pistols which became legendary made-up way of playing “Goldeneye”. The way “Goldeneye” and “Mario Kart” were made with solid overall experience for both single player and multiplayer, I wish games were made like that today with that much thought, innovation and polish into the final products, they didn’t need patches nor download content, multiplayer games will never have the same impact but I’m maybe just old school!

6 . Super Mario Bros (1985: Nes)

You can’t miss to mention such important title for the industry such as “Super Mario Bros” in a list like this, like do I really need to say more? It’s “Super Mario Bros” the best selling video game of all time (selling over 40 million copies so far) putting Mario to be Nintendo’s most famous mascot and gaming icon. This is one of Shigeru Miyamoto's most influential early successes; as it has inspired countless imitators placing the platform genre as the main genre of the late 80’s and early 90’s with “Sonic” from Sega, “Zool” from Gremlin, “Dizzy” from Codemasters, “James Pond” from EA, etc. The success of “Super Mario Bros” has caused it to be ported to almost every one of Nintendo's major gaming consoles, in some form or another. “Super Mario Bros” was also largely responsible for the initial success of the “Nintendo Entertainment System” (Nes, Nintendo’s first games console), as well as ending the two year slump of video game sales in the US after the video game crash of 1983.