Though it’s debatable whether game makers should be hearing out much of what the brilliantly inconsistent Peter Molyneux (of Fable fame) says these days, a recent comment he made in an interview with IGN seems like pretty sound advice: don’t sell Mario short.
The comments were made in response to a question on how Nintendo can remedy the woes of its struggling Wii U, and Molyneux has been around long enough to know that a few missteps, even extended ones, don’t necessarily mean the company is down for the count.
The problem with Nintendo is that they did a fantastic job of finding these millions of new players with the Wii. The Wii U, it kind of does that, but also tries to bring in the existing gamers as well, so I think they may have lost their way a bit. But they’re super smart people; never underestimate Nintendo. They’re probably one hardware release away from something that utterly convinces us that they know exactly what the future of gaming should be.
Huh! That’s actually more optimistic than I feel, as a documented Nintendo fan. Even so, his main point is sound; it’s far too soon to count Nintendo out. With the release of Sony’s new virtual reality headset in the vein of Oculus Rift, though, it does raise questions about how prepared Nintendo really is for the future. Still, if Peter Molyneux were to surprise everyone and drop Project Milo VR edition, I think it’d distract me from my fears substantially. Or just creep me out.