Nintendo for IOS

There was once a time when Nintendo ruled the home console market in gaming. But for many years now the Nintendo consoles have gone from leading edge technology, to too family friendly, giving themselves a reputation as being the ones who release games for babies.

That may never have been the case when it comes to Nintendo's own Super Mario games, especially with the newest Mario game and Mario Kart releases, but where Nintendo lacks in sales is coming from other companies not bothering to make a Wii or 3DS version of the latest games that are helping sales rocket for PlayStation and X-Box users.

It can be traced back to the Nintendo 64. Even tho in just about every way, the Nintendo 64 was the better console between it, the Playstation 1 and Sega Dreamcast... it was Sony that pulled away with higher sales due to two reasons. 1 being that the games where CD based, which where much easier to produce for PlayStation than on the N64. Which became a shame that the N64 never received any of the popular fighting titles such as Street Fighter II and up, just to name bu one of many games that the 64 missed out on. The second reason was CD's where something easy to copy, so bootlegs meant modding the play-station was as easy as $50 or so, and you could buy any game after that you wanted for a few bucks.

Nintendo then came out with the Game Cube, which used a specific CD that was not easy to duplicate, again leaving the Playstation 2 and X-Box consoles lapping Nintendo in sales. Nintendo however did manage to keep themselves above water with the GBA and DS release. Both consoles revived old NES and SNES games, to which where the biggest sellers on the system, but again, not many other companies where interested in making games for the smaller devices... the 16 to 32 bit era seemed to be dead. Even 64 seemed passe, and the word itself "bit" just diminished on the next generation of consoles.

These days with Wii, Wii2 and the 3DS, Nintendo is still in the same boat. It does create fantastic new Nintendo titles,the Mario games, Donkey Kong and Zelda etc... but where are the other games that are rocking the PlayStation and X-Box worlds? Even when the Nintendo systems do get a version of those games, they are hardly ever said to be the superior version... in fact, no titles come to mind when I think about that.

There have been many rumors floating around that Nintendo are done for, outside of Japan anyway. With lack of sales competing with Playstation and X-Box, rumors have been spilling that Nintendo may just shut down all together and not bother to make games anymore (outside of Japan).

What I think Nintendo need to do, is go back to basics, and revisit what made them #1 in the 1980's and early 90's, and not make it exclusive to Nintendo only consoles.

A few years back, I would have thought 2bit gaming and sprites where a think of the past, but with ISO technology for I-Phones, Androids and whatnot came in, it wasn't the large 3D games with the latest tech specs dominating sales, it was basic old school designs making the cash. A game as simple as Angry Birds became an overnight sensation for Rovio Entertainment. A game simply about shooting birds off a slingshot and into house frames with pigs on them. If someone described that game to you in 1985, you probably would think it sounded like crap... but then again, today, if you describe Frogger to a gamer today with no knowledge of 80's games, they probably would think that was crap.

This is why I beleive now is the time Nintendo should suck it up and not focus so much on where the future of gaming is going, but revive what made Nintendo the shit in the first place. Bring those old titles like Super Mario, Mario 2, 3 and Lost Levels, and revamp them into a game for the Iphone/Androids.

Just the potential of Super Mario Bros, the original, alone has so many possibilities to be revived.
Whatever it be just a straight up rom dump, Nintendo would only have to charge 99 cents for the game, and no one can deny it would make a million more bucks in as little as 3 years at the most. Old school gamers would love the chance to have the original Super Mario on their phones, even if it's just an exact copy of the nes game.

Then again,  maybe Nintendo could put a bit of effort into it and update the game a little? Better graphics, or just release the SNES version on Mario All-Stars? Still get the same people wanting it as before, and a new generation will take interest too.
Then there is the choice of will it be a separate solo game, or will it be a package of Mario Allstars? Perhaps it might be a solo game, you can pay 99 cents for the whole game, or a free version allows you to play up until the first castle? Then again, if it's All-Stars, maybe the original Mario Bros. (Not SUPER mario bros) could be the free download for All-Stars, but you have to purchase Super Mario 1, 2, 3 & Lost Levels?

Nintendo really succeeded in pleasing fans on the SNES with Mario Allstars, on the GBC with Mario DX, GBA consoles with the revived versions of Mario 2, 3 and Mario World. And then again on the DS with Mario 64. But what has Wii and the 3DS really done? They put games up for download that just don't feel right with the Wii controller, nor the shoddy controller for the Wii you can buy separately... those are just the old games, nothing new to them.

The IOS systems are the perfect opportunity for Nintendo to get back into the gaming market. They have obviously failed with trying to go head to head with next gen consoles, but they need to back away from those fights and focus on where their original strengths are. The 2D games. Or 3D games in the style of 2D. Nintendo need to stop chasing PlayStation and Microsoft, and send their little stereo typed plumber after a different, but familiar market. The IOS systems. Nintendo have a back catalog of classic games that they can either simply convert to IOS games, or revive them and update them before releasing them. Their potential for just Mario and Zelda games alone has the foundations to give Rovio a run for their money.

And even perhaps, revive Nintendo as the leader of 2D games once again, showing the current developers of IOS games how it is really done. Some games have already proved successful with IOS conversions from Arcade and console versions, but it's Nintendo that need to suck it up, face the fact they can't compete with new generation consoles, and switch to competing in a field that suits them more. And who knows where that might lead... Nintendo might find it so rewarding the next Mario game is exclusive to android/Iphone etc...

But Nintendo really need to hurry the fuck up, swallow some pride, say to hell with nintendo only being available on nintendo consoles, and get cracking on IOS games before IOS becomes as useful as owning an Atari system today. The current IOS technology is always getting better, and before you know it, it will have caught up and probably be 10 times better than what the PS4 and X-BOX One combined are today... so hurry the fuck up Nintendo if you wanna save yourselves from being a strong company in the world of video games today, otherwise you guys are going to perish everywhere but Japan, because everyone knows the next Nintendo console release will not interest anyone over 13 years old, and Nintendo will go bust.

Revive the LJN Wrestling Games for Iphone/Android

When thinking about what old school wrestling games would be perfect to bring today on andriod and Iphone technologies, I can't help but only thing of one franchise of wrestling games. The games on the SNES and Genesis that where the best a wrestling game could be at the time.

Sure, WWE did in recent years allow a revival version of the arcade classic Royal Rumble to be released. However, it lacked the feel of the original arcade, and ripped everyone off having to pay a price for the game, and continue to fork out money for extra wrestlers. That spells nothing to me but bullshit.

But thinking back now, a game that would work perfectly for the handheld technology now would be the old LJN classic wrestling titles, mixed into one, like everyone wanted before the games became obsolete.

Sure, LJN have a pretty bad reputation with making video games, especially if you are familiar with reviews from The Angry Video Game Nerd. However the titles they did get right are classics, and bringing them back for downloadable apps to play is the perfect time to revisit some of the best wrestling games of the early to mid 90's.

Super Wrestlemania (1992

Being that I was a Nintendo fan during the Nintendo vs Sega wars, the game I first played was Super Wrestlemania on the SNES. It was a basic wrestling game, with basic moves. Your moves where limited to a standing punch or kick, an irish whip, a suplex, a headbutt, a body slam. Ground moves where a simple stomp or elbow drop, and the same elbow drop animation could be done from the top rope of either side of the upper left or right corner ring posts. Outside the ring you could pick up a chair to whack over an opponents head. Apart from a couple of running moves, there wasn't much more.

However it did feature a some of the greatest wrestlers of the day, which have since become some of the greatest of all time. Starting with the immortal Hulk Hogan, The Undertaker, The Road Warriors, Randy Savage, The Natural Disasters, The Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase, Jake The Snake Roberts and Sid Justice (Better known today as Psycho Sid Vicious).

Matches where limited to one on one, two on two and if memory serves me right, 3 on 3?

The game did provide a few hours of enjoyment back in the day, but it was the follow up game that made this particular version look like shit. 

Before I go onto that tho, I will talk about the Sega released version of Super Wrestlemania. Like I mentioned before, I was a Nintendo boy all the way, so I never would have even glanced at anyone who may have had Super Wrestlemania on Sega. However, had it happened, it may have changed my views on Sega back then. Sometime only a few years ago I played the game on Sega for the first time and released the SNES got screwed with it's version. Not only did it contain a few characters I loved at the time like The Ultimate Warrior & The British Bulldog, but it also featured finishing moves. Or special moves if you wanna call it that.

My eyes almost popped out of my head when I saw Hogan give me the atomic leg drop and Ultimate Warrior splashed me! Since then I have to admit, Sega did get the upper hand on that first release of the game.

However, so much was improved on both systems for the next release.

Royal Rumble (1993)

WWF Royal Rumble unleashed the most awesome wrestling game imaginable at the time in 1993. This was a game I played for hours on end and never grew tired of. Its controls where the same as the previous game, but new moves had been added with the top shoulder buttons, illegal moves, such as an eye gouge and a choke hold. But the biggest improvement was the finishing moves and new modes not seen in the previous game.

Despite being a much larger roster, the game modes where awesome. 1 on 1, Tag, Triple Tag, Survivor Series, and the Royal Rumble. There might have been more I am forgetting. But in 1993, this was a huge thing to have so many modes to choose from, as most things where a rail system or the same thing every time.

This is the game in particular that I want revived, as it got a bit whacky in the next release and implemented bizarre moves. But why I always seem to come back to this version was because it seemed to be the only one that was flawless.

Again tho, I had to admit years later... Sega got the better version, only because I was a Hulkamaniac and only the Sega version had him in it. It was due to Sega getting the first version, while Hogan was still with the WWF, but by the time SNES got its release, Hogan had gone and he was taken out of the game :(

It's not so much that either version is any different to each other, they are both exactly the same, but if you are a Hogan fan, or want him in the game to beat up, you have to settle for Sega's version.

RAW - (1994)

By the time RAW, aka "Raw is War" came out, I think the early 90's wrestling boom had died out, and didn't pick up again for a couple more years. Back in these days most of us rented games before even considering buying them, and this title seemed to be one local video stores where not interested in getting in. It wasn't until the early 00's I first got my chance to play this one.

My initial thoughts of first playing was that it almost felt like nothing had been changed but an updated roster and whacky new alternate finisher moves... but I soon found they had mixed up a few of the regular moves, however some of the new ones looked horrible. I couldn't tell if Undertaker was choke slamming or backbreaking, but once I saw Doink the Clown fold someone up and kick him out of the ring with a field goal, it made me realize why people say they prefer Royal Rumble over this one that got whored to every console imaginable, and not one of them is regarded as classic today.

Rage in The Cage - 1994

Don't be surprised you have not heard of this one, but you may be surprised to find it was probably overall the best version of these LJN wrasslan' games. although it was a good effort, it was unfortunately released on Sega CD, a device that was for many too expensive in the day, or when someone did fork out enough for it, their first choice of buying an expensive CD rom based game was not going to be a wrestling title.

However, those who did play it got a version of Royal Rumble with extras modes and a shitload more characters to choose (20 in total). It featured everything that Royal Rumble had, but this time it also included a steel cage match!

Reviving This S.O.B

Basically the game is already great the way it is. All that needs to be done, is take Rage In The Cage, and choose a new roster. I myself obviously want Hogan put back in, but I don't think anyone would give a rats arse if say the Headshrinkers where taken out and replaced by Stone Cold, The Rock, Kane etc...




A few new animations will need to be done for their finishers and look, but it's a 16bit game, it's piss easy these days.
Maybe add a few new moves, a custom wrestler option, add a hell in a cell and a hardcore match, and you have a perfectly revived game from the old 16-but days that would sell like hot cakes today with the current android/iphone technology.

Someone Attempted To Do Tho, I know, but...

Before anyone mentions that MDickie! has already done this... let me tell you, he hasn't. I'm not bashing MDickie's wrestling games available on the itunes store at all, he has done a terrific job in trying to recreate something simmilar. But it's not quite the same.

1)  He has used Flash, or something simmilar to make the graphics. It feels very cartoon like and floppy at times.
2) He does not have the licenses to use actual wrestler names.
3) The controls need to be improved alot.
4) 2kSports I'm willing to bet could make a much better game reviving the old LJN games and creating a monster wrestler game perfect for androids/iphones that fans of the franchise have been wanting for many years now.

Just imagine what could be using the same ideas Mdicki had, and using the same engine as the original LJN games?