Nintendo has three decades of game selling experience in the U.S., and it just happens to have the most recognizable franchises in gaming. From the 1980s (when gaming was a niche) to today's crowded marketplace (when games can be played on any device), Nintendo's hardware continues to appeal to rabid fans.
Its success is partly due to great quality hardware, but mostly because Nintendo publishes some of the best and most memorable games. It adds new elements that didn't exist in games before. In the 1980s, it brought real stories to games, along with characters like Mario, who are recognizable to children all over the globe. Nintendo's titles have been able to push risky or experimental consoles into millions of homes, for example, the original Nintendo Entertainment System, the Game Boy or the Wii.
Nintendo's senior communications director Charlie Scibetta told Mashable that the company doesn't focus as much on what its gaming competition is doing. "We just make our games as good as possible, and everything else will follow."
Nintendo is preparing to launch its next-gen Wii U console, which has made some risky design choices with a tablet screen in the controller. The question lingers whether Nintendo can repeat its success. The company has announced 50 games that will be available within the first four months of the Wii U launch, but will those titles capture gamers' hearts and minds according to its historical precendent?