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Atari Founder Says Nintendo May Be On “Path To Irrelevance”

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Nolan Bushnell, who after founding Atari, knows a thing or two about video game companies becoming irrelevant, has given a new BBC interview. In the interview, he makes several candid statements about Nintendo, including that he feels the gaming giant “could be on the path to irrelevance.” Bushnell’s comments were rationalized through his beliefs that dedicated handheld gaming devices have become obsolete in the age of mobile gaming, and that Nintendo is at the forefront of a shrinking market. The BBC article also discusses similarities between the Wii U and Atari’s Jaguar.

Bushnell is steadily gaining a reputation for making disparaging comments about Nintendo, as he also found time to bash the company upon the Wii U’s launch, stating that Nintendo’s importance was waning and he was “baffled” by the new console. Here are more of Bushnell’s latest comments:

“I don’t think handheld game-only devices make sense anymore. Not when you have an iPod or an Android microtablet.”

“Nintendo always had a soft spot for young people – they sort of did the 12-and-under pretty well, and the other guys did the 12-and-over. And now I think the other [consoles] are good enough on those things, and the rush to upgrade from the 12-and-under is not nearly as important.”

246 thoughts on “Atari Founder Says Nintendo May Be On “Path To Irrelevance””

    1. The Atari Jaguar did just 250,000 units in its life.

      Even Wii U’s pitifully low 3.6million in 10 months is over 14 times better than the Jaguar did.

    2. Nintendo’s making tons of money, its industry is doing awesomely! I am a fan of Nintendo now (I look at Nintendo’s new games via 3DS e-shop) even though before I was terrified of Animal Crossing Wild World because I was afraid of Mr. Resetti (when I was seven). And, Nintendo’s console will do awesome because of their partners that make the mature games. Nintendo makes childrens’ games and then leaves their partners to invest in selling mature games! That is how Nintendo is, and because of this, just don’t listen to the Atari founder. His words are biased.

      Speaking of which, Time made an article against the Wii U’s touchscreen pad. First thought: Time works for Atari. See that? Atari has a rep. There is no reason to go hating on Nintendo. DO NOT BE CONVINCED BY MR. ATARI!!!

  1. Yeah, a guy from Atari has no case to bring forward, let alone answer. Anyone associated with a company that helped orchestrate the Video Game Crash of 1983 doesn’t have much of a say in anything in my books when it comes to analysing the industry at current.

    Nintendo pulled the industry out of the mire, and it won’t go away any time soon. Simple as that really.

    1. Exactly! Let him dream ;) Isn`t that what sony-boys would say? Haha! Freaky, dirty little Sonyboys. They never learned much in school.

    1. SherlockWillFightBilbo

      Ha, burned.
      A friend’s dad worked at Texas Instruments but a couple years back left and started working for Apple :P

    1. Well Atari is very experienced with irrelevancy, makes sense that his opinion is also irrelevant and the topic itself is irrelevant making this comment irrelevant.

  2. well that’s what happens when you want to cater to kids. nobody takes you seriously as a gaming company anymore. poor nintendo. I’m sure they’ll be alright for another gen.

    1. They cater to EVERYONE which the west still seems ignorant to understand…

      Just because the games don’t look all hollywood with boring humans all the time doesn’t make it childish…

      1. No kidding. The japanese still have scrupples about playing games where you shoot people.
        In contrast in the west, we don’t feelvlike we’re big boys unless we get our exploding headshots, movie-like gameplay, and Good Job! stickers… er, I mean achievment systems.

        1. Indeed…

          I have nothing much against FPS games really, mostly against its gamers, specially American gamers considering they always have to have these boring rules like “No rocket launchers, no camping, no rushing, no grenades, no vehicles, no dogs, no perks and since I owned them all with knife only, no knives allowed”, how can you have fun playing a game with such people?…

          Most who plays FPS thinks they are in a real life situation rather than a game and instead of having fun they only play it to show how big manly apes they are…

      2. ^This. It’s sad how even people within the industry need to have this “big boy” image.

        No, Nintendo isn’t a 12 and under only company. Who does he think pre-ordered the Wind Waker HD Limited edition (which sold out in a few days)? As if kids under 12 care about collectable items…

        Who does he think attended the Zelda Orchestra? Not a single kid was there.

        Why does he think Pokemon X and Y will include the original, Generation 1, starter Pokemon? Kids under 12 weren’t even born back then to care.

        I could go on and on but a couple of sentences are all this guy is worth…

          1. Xbots ruined the peaceful gaming industry, maybe Sony Ponies too. The Sega and Nintendo war was somewhat friendly fire, but this gen, ugh, its bloody with icing on top

        1. This dude knows^
          Most of the people(like me) who have grown up with Pkmn, Mario, Sonic, Mega Man find most of the games nowadays boring, they’re all… people… and in every case they’re shooters which the major difference between 2 of them is just the title. That’s why I keep loving Nintendo, they’re always more original, just look Pikmin 3, Kid Icarus: Uprising, Pokémon X & Y etc. They(Nintendo) still have that touch that made them special.

          1. Yeah, I have nothing against “mature” games, but the insecurity in today’s youth to have to play shooters with blood, sex, stealing, gangsters, armies, and gore or you are a kiddy loser is pathetic, and the biggest audience these games have are 12 year olds who have the pressure to grow up as fast as they can to look cool. While I just enjoy fucking games I like, no matter what, from Resident Evil, to Shin Megami Tensei, to Mario, to Fire Emblem, to Kirby, I just wanna play fun games, but now it’s gimme a shooter with exploding heads or you are doomed. I don’t need to play mature looking games to look cool or mature, I also need to stop playing Mario because I’m in my 20s. All this is stupid shit that comes from an insecure misogynist macho fanboy community.

          2. ^^ This. Most of the games today lack any innovation, fantasy or imagination. Just shoot something/someone over…and over…and over. That’s why games that came out during the 90s (SNES, Sega, GameBoy, N64, PS1, etc.) were probably the best ever.

          1. true. they need to be slightly more adult oriented if they want to stay relevant in the future though as more adults are dominating the gaming market by the year.

    2. “The surest sign of immaturity is the never ending desire to appear mature.”

      Get an education, kid. Nobody is taking you seriously.

      1. you are one pathetic retard. it’s morons like you that give nintendo fans bad names. white knighting them at every turn. it’s sad really.

  3. anyone who says phones and tablets will replace handhelds have lost all credit with me my apple iphone is only good for making phone calls and ect and anygames i do play on there are simple and i haven’t touched them in months 3DS and Vita will be fine phones and pads are annoying to play with esspacially games like zennonia i got it on my psp instead could not play it cause one controls were unrespansive half the time go figure and the screen is so small my thumbs take up most of it wich one would you rather play games on?just saying who really takes the phone game seriously i don’t know a single person only one that does play often only does so when there taking a crap >.>

    1. They will probably replace the Microsoft Realm first considering how almost irrelevant they are without the Third Class games…

      The Sonyans will have lower influence but not by much unless gamers get tired of the same movie games over and over again…

      Our empire will survive aslong as they keep refreshing old IPs and creating new ones because you cannot play Nintendo games anywhere else…

      1. I’m getting tired of Nintendo playing it safe with side scrollers like Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. The 3D Mario World looks basically the same as the one on 3DS.

        1. I have nothing against 2D games aslong as they are fun and personally I feel as if SM3DW should have been the launch title instead of the repetitive NSMBU…

          I’m still waiting to see Nintendo games that makes such a great use of the Gamepad that we haven’t seen so far…

          1. NSMBU was much better than NSMB2, in my opinion. I’d say U was the bet in the series… but not as good as the classics.

            I would like to see them not be so strict with the forumla and make a side-scrolling Mario but with all the creativity and bells and whistles that modern Nintendo has to offer.

              1. It did not impress me. Neither did NSMB Wii for that matter. I think U has some good things going on and thr DS was good just because it was the glorious revisit to 2D Mario.

        2. if you have a 3DS there is no real point in getting a WiiU, the WiiU just gets ports of the 3DS games it seems,

          Super 3D Mario Land is a far better game then NSMBU

          1. SherlockWillFightBilbo

            ….
            Super MARIO 3D Land (you got the title wrong) is a 3D Mario game, while NSMBU is a 2D platformer. They’re supposed to play differently >.>

            It would make sense if you were comparing it to 3D WORLD, but that hasn’t even come out yet so you would just look dumber.

      2. Well, that all depends. If Microsoft and Sony chase the money… you might see them adopt nore free-to-play models. Who knows.

        One thing I can always count on is Nintendo will make quality products over chasing the money. Sure, they aren’t perfect always… they underestimated how quick we’d adopt the HD standard… but only them could have made outstandingly fun games for an underpowered, motion -controled console.

        I just think too many have this attitude of “It’s inconvenient for me to enjoy Nintendo games” for one reason or another.

        1. Indeed, all my former “friends” had this Nintendo is for kids only mentallity…

          Well I didn’t leave them because of that obviously…

          1. Yes, “comrades” of mine spend their time online on Battlefield 3 and are basing their purchase of a PS4 vs X1 on a “we should all get the same thing” mentality.

            Personally, I’m glad Nintendo can still make fun local multiplayer experiences (though I won’t undervalue the pros of online on titles such as Mario Kart and Smash Bros)

            1. Well I still would’ve appreciated Nintendo Land be online.

              1) Gives them a good way to test their online abilities
              2) Half the games (especially the best ones) are multi-player only

            2. True…

              The only thing High Command has to do is increase their online gaming experiences and use the Gamepad in ways nobody else can come up with…

  4. Wow. Nice to hear that from Atari founder, that Nintendo may be on “path to irrelevance”. It means that Nintendo will be alright. If Atari founder says Nintendo is “on path to relevance”, than Nintendo will have same future as Atari. LOL.

    1. I know! Nintendo’s making tons of money, its industry is doing awesomely! I am a fan of Nintendo now (I look at Nintendo’s new games via 3DS e-shop) even though before I was terrified of Animal Crossing Wild World because I was afraid of Mr. Resetti (when I was seven). And, Nintendo’s console will do awesome because of their partners that make the mature games. Nintendo makes childrens’ games and then leaves their partners to invest in selling mature games! That is how Nintendo is, and because of this, just don’t listen to the Atari founder. His words are biased.

      Speaking of which, Time made an article against the Wii U’s touchscreen pad. First thought: Time works for Atari. See that? Atari has a rep. There is no reason to go hating on Nintendo. DO NOT BE CONVINCED BY MR. ATARI!!!

  5. So the same guy who made the worst console in HISTORY is talking about how Nintendo will be irrelevant?… Okay… could anyone tell me how many games has Atari made this year or these years?

    1. Woah, bite your tongue man. I agree that every game with the Atari logo on it in this day & age has been crap (in my opinion. Though Kao The Kangaroo seemed to have potential). But back in the day, the Atari 2600 DOMINATED!

      I think that Bushnell is just sore that Atari isn’t STILL dominating like they once did. But even in Atari’s days of dominance, I don’t think they EVER dominated like Nintendo always has.

        1. I never owned the original Odyssey, but I have the Odyssey 2. Loved that. But it just didn’t have what the Atari 2600 had. Though the Odyssey 2 came out after the Atari 2600, I think the graphics are even more primitive than the 2600 is. It seems to have less colors or something. LOVED Monkeyshines and the Quest For The Rings (and Showdown In 2100 A.D., among others)

      1. The Atarian God is still feeling the rage caused by his own hands that he nearly destroyed our universe and cannot handle the fact that our empire restored order and joy from the chaos the brought upon it…

        Now he feels the need to bash our empire no matter what…

        He sent himself and the Atarians to the Deleted Realm and will never again rise…

  6. says whom?? the guy that took Atari into the ground…

    in other news: the 3ds just passed the 33 millions units sold worldwide

  7. I agree w/him on some things, like not making sense to sell handheld game-only devices in today’s era, especially when the 3DS was selling at $250. Nintendo’s behind on a lot of things like online which only some of their games utilize &just now have HD.

    1. Nintendo is behing because they release a Gaming only protable device, how is Sony with their more expensive Vita not behing then? The fact that the 3DS is selling really good now means that Handheld gaming is NOT dead yet, sure a 3DS with Texting and calling functions would be cool but hey, phones are really light weight and the 3DS fits in your pocket to, what’s the problem with carrying them both around?

      1. The Vita had more to offer at $250 than the 3DS did. What saved the 3DS was price reduction & more games finally being released for it. One bad thing about carrying it around vs a phone is the battery life. I have more fun playing 3DS games though.

        1. So the vita gives you more what exactly? Lets take also into account that you can play any 3ds game from the get go even the downloadable ones will on the vita case you need to invest on a memory card.

          1. I admit that’s one fault the Sony did with their Vita – not bundling a memory card w/ it. (There’s still some games you can play on it w/o a memory card though.) And is also took them a while to finally get a YouTube app.

            1. Then Why wasn’t vita saved by the priced cut? Price cuts can only do so much, 3ds shot-up in sales after the cut, then quickly came back down. It’s started picking up again when more compelling games were released. It’s about games and has always been about games (mostly).

              As long as there is a demand for quality games, there will always be room for game consoles. If not saying the market wont shrink, but if the games are there people will pay.

              1. Sony have lots of ips that would work better on handhelds the problem is that they don’t want to make a handheld full game.

                1. Indeed…

                  The PSP and the Vita are really created just to steal a bit of territory from our grand Nintendomination, that’s it really…

                  If the Xbots create one, I’ll be laughing forever…

                  I don’t want any Y-Wing handheld console with another extra fee to play online…

                  1. Ps1 era RPG’s and ape scape that Godzilla like game they had on ps2, rogue galaxy but I don’t know if that’s owned by them.
                    In short Sony could bring ps1 era dogs that smiled the ps2 and ps3 .

                    1. True. But no company makes all of the games within the first two years of a system’s launch. It still has many years ahead of it to get some of those games. ;)

                      The PSP got a lot of its best games in the later part of its life cycle.

              2. The Vita just got a price cut a few weeks ago. We have yet to see the results of that. Also, since the cut in Japan, it has grown quite a bit.

                But yeah, I agree – price cuts alone don’t do much. You also have to have software that people are eager to play. The Vita has had some big name titles drop here and there throughout the year which have boosted its sales for a week or two at a time. There are also some games coming up in both Japan and the West that are set to give the Vita another rather large kick.

                Still, I don’t think that the games, price cut, and memory card are the only issues here. A major problem with Sony’s handling of the Vita is not marketing it well. People don’t know about the handheld and people don’t know about the games on it. Marketing can go a long way (see: Apple, Microsoft, Activision, Nintendo in the past).

                1. Not that I disagree, but sometimes even marketing isn’t enough to save things. I read an article that said NoA spent 25 million-dollars marketing the Virtual Boy in a hard attempt to sell more, which resulted in a waste, even with price reduction.

            2. Well, Vitas have been coming with memory cards since about August 2012, so unless you’re a person who plans on downloading a lot of games, you’re taken care of already.

              The prices should still come down more and sizes should increase for those who do want to upgrade their memory cards though.

          2. You need a memory card for the 3DS too if you’re going to download stuff. They both come with memory cards. It’s only the launch systems for the Vita which didn’t. Since about August of 2012 though, Vitas come with a 4GB and 3DS’ have always come with 2GB cards (4GB for the XL).

            1. The biggest difference is that NIntendo games, physical copies of course, can save on their cartridge, while vita games still need the memory card. While it is a good idea to separate the memory from the games, it is a disadvantage to have no internal storage for the Vita, which is what consoles have. A Vita with say 200 gb of internal storage would have been nice, with the OPTION of the memory card.

              1. It’s true. There should be internal storage on the Vita. 200GB is too much in my opinion; a bit of overkill for a handheld device. Still maybe 16-32 GB like most smartphones these days would be good. Then memory cards as an addition.

                I think the whole thing was that Sony wanted to make up the loss they were selling the Vita for with the mandatory memory cards – another reason the memory cards are high in cost.

                I’m sure in time they’ll release a model with built-in storage and bring down the memory card prices more.

  8. MR BUTT HURT AGAIN BUTTS HIS NOSE IN

    Hr has been saying this from 1980s he is all twisted inside over the nes and snes DISRUPTING AND DESTROYING ATARI

    And the usa computer game industry PooR BUTT HURT

    Xbox has lost 20 billion ps3 lost at least 7 billion and 3rd partys dieing

    A 80%reduction in AAA BIG BUDGET GAME PRODUCTION

    But nintendos is irelevent WAUT A DSRN SECOND NINTENDO CAN BUY OUT SONY PANASONIC AND EA GAMEZ

    With there loose change LOL YOU COMPLEAT BUTT Tard

    Every 6 months this guy cherps anti nintendo anti japan racist based CRAP

    1. If you’re still holding on to an arguement we had on a now old article, you’re the butthurt. Be it what it may, he still makes some good points. I never said anywhere in my post that Nintendo’s irrelevant or will be anytime soon.

      1. Holding on to factusl history is a butt hurt

        MEDS ARE THETE FOR A REASON TAKE THEM DULLSHOCK MASHER NINTENDO HAS THE WARVCHEST TO BUY EVERY SINGLE JAPANSSE ELECTRONICD GIENT COMBINED THE GUYS IRELEVENT

        And so are you im a nintendo stick investor im in the british channel islands buying property from my investments GO TO SKOOL DUDE

    2. Also Sony is a diverse business and they do more that just games and consoles, I highly doubt Nintendo has the money to buy them out.

        1. Could be, but the most they’d probably end up doing is dropping out of the gaming market and continue to sell other products of theirs.

            1. Competition isn’t a bad thing, it pushes each company to do better. I wouldn’t like Sony to drop out either,since that’d leave us w/Microsoft&to me they’re much worse.Sony’s been making a lot mistakes lately,too& I can’t say I’d be surprised if they quit.

            2. Wouldn’t it be MS that will over? I’m not saying they’ll screw us over, but they are in a position to replace playstation if it fails(i’m also not saying sony’s gaming division will go under anytime soon).

              Anyways, the Playstation brand is big to SONY. It’s other sectors aren’t going to well. If Playstation fails, their value will go down big time and will be vulnerable for a take over or break up.

              1. I don’t think Sony’d let themselves get to that point. As soon as they see that the PS’s causing them the most lost of money, they’d likely drop the concept & just sell games like Sega or other products of theirs.

          1. The gaming and entertainment industry is one that Sony has adamantly said they will not be dropping out of as it is one of their most vital divisions. If anything, they might stop production on other things in their electronics division that bleed them out.

      1. Whats diverse got to do with money

        Are you inept 12 year old are ua insane dualshock masher WEIRDO DERANGED FANBOY

        Sony lost alll there profits ftom the past 20 years with the ps3 fiasco EDUCATE O ES SELF CHAV

        Sony lost more money from ps3 than they ever made made from ps1 and ps2 sony are a junk bond staus company ARE YOU INSANE THETE OFFICIALLY JUNK BOND STATUS THATS ONE STEP AWAY FROM BANKRUPCY YOU UNEDUCATED NO MONEY CHAV

        Sony are noone nintendos war chest is billions appon billions they can buy out sony 10 x over IM SICK OF DERANGED DUALSHOCK Mshers and thete chav no miney view of the world

        Grow a cock grow a brain stop madhing dualshocks and be a man

  9. I don’t know what to think about Nintendo. I don’t want to blindly assume they’ll be relevant next generation even though I hope they will be. Time will tell.

  10. Man, he sounds just as crazy as Pachter usually does. Thinking mobile gaming is going to win over regular handheld gaming? Give it up! Mobile gaming isn’t even gaming in my opinion. That sounds just as crazy to me as it would if he said that retro floppy drives is going to win the next console war.

    Bottom line, sounds like sour grapes to me. Not everybody is like Atari.

  11. this jackass was involved in a supream court of america case were atari were saying nintendo were very bad and they were very good and demanded ALL OF NINTENDOS PROFITS

    Yes this happened and books have been writen about it

    And that sean malstrom bloke at sean malstrom blog. Was acked by congress men in the 80s to write anti nintendi japan bash articles about them BY CONGRESS TRUE STORYS GUYS

    The depth of nintendo hate IS LIKE WATCHING SCITZOPHRENICS HAVE EPOSODES

    He is a stung butt hurt looser

    Nes was a disruption tool and wii was a disruption tool and DS was a disruption tool

    Wiiu and 3ds are red ocean but with disruptive eliments and price and exclusive hardware

    Sony cannot win they do not havr the genetics to win

    Nintendo planned a 3ds like first year for wiiu its OBVIOUS they planned on disrupting the release if ps4

    Commonsense = great stock market investing I just dropped 10k on nintendo

    Lol you industry butt hurt person

    You are irelevent

      1. Altthough I still think that the Sonyans would have won the 6th generation no matter what, the only reason they sold so many PS2 units was basically because of the DVD gimmick…

        I doubt it would even sell almost half the amount they did without it…

        1. Actually it was because the system was still selling games because if you look at the amount of games sold on the PlayStation 2 is because of that fact… also why do you keep calling Sony “Sonyans”? You are sounding more and more like an ignorant fanboy

          1. I though the reason that it sold so many console was because of the high fail rate. Almost no one have a working ps2 or ps1 this gen heck even the fat ps3 are disappeared.

            1. None of my PlayStation products have ever stopped working on me. I have owned all Western versions of the PS1, PS2, and PS3 (except the super slim version), and none of them have ever stopped working even after many years of constant use.

                1. None of my friend’s stopped working either. The only one I can recall was one of my friend’s PS2 but that was because she tried to mod it for Japanese games. lol

                  You make it sound like the failure rate was so high that every system was breaking. Yeah, systems stopped working. It happens with every electronic device – some a little more than others. If it was bad enough, they would have been required by governmental standards to recall the devices.

                  1. Dude, Sony lost a lawsuit over the PS2 disc read error. To this day, they still deny any responsibility for that, even though they got their arse handed to them. Everyone just forgets that because Microsoft came along and obliterated that failure rate with the RRoD.

        2. @ Nintendo Commander,
          What you just said is what REALLY makes me scratch y head. I couldn’t understand why so many people bragged that the PS2 could play DVD’s and complained that the Gamecube couldn’t. IT’S A GAME MACHINE FOR GOSH SAKES! I myself would never want to use my game console to play DVD’s as well. Man, I don’t wanna wear out my console playing stuff that I could play in my DVD player. I just could never understand people like that.

        3. That’s funny ’cause the JP version of the Gamecube came with a built in DVD player too & it actually sold worse there than in NA, according to sales. Meaning DVD was not the main reason PS2 sold more.

  12. SHOUT OUT TO SONYBAND MS FANS THE TWO ATARI LIKE COMPANYS OF TODAY

    If it wasnt for NINTENDO gamers would still be playing on atari joysticks or pc joysticks FACT

    Controller evolution is nessasery and 100% nintendo

    Ms and sony and sega and atari can take nooooo credit here

    Nintendo is gaming everyone else is a FAKE

    1. Don’t know whether you a blind fanboy or just a troll?

      Without Sony, dual analog sticks wouldn’t have came into fashion and without Microsoft we wouldn’t have a interesting online experience. Nintendo did revolutionised the controller but only the D-Pad. Nintendo has done a lot of neat things like the Wii Remote and the Wii U Gamepad but really saying everyone else is fact just because Nintendo made it makes you sound like a typical youtube fanboy who rants and screams at anyone who “copies” or “rips off” his favourite youtuber but really the person is just trying to make some entertainment with the same genera.

      Atari (Though I hate them) have given new life to consoles with the 2600 and without them consoles would be nothing more than black and white pong machines. So please wise up and see that just because this dumbass idiot said something doesn’t mean the whole company is like him.

      1. Hahaha, dual sticks. Arcade games had dual stick for single player games decades before Sony invented the dual shock also Sony have more flops than any of the current console manufactures. You do know that the 2600 was not the console that started the video game industry do you?

          1. The PSP and the ps3 even though the ps3 have sold millions it did not made them money and just recently started to made profits I’m not counting vita cuz still the handheld has been out for long.

                  1. But I don’t see the apeal of having a ps3 over a ps4, Xbox one, wiiu or the handhelds. Right now the ps3 and 360 are the most expensive of the consoles.

          2. PSX in japan (its an all in one unit of the Playstation 1) and the PSP Go. Also the PSP in US could be considered a failure, but it Japan it was quite healthy.

            The Move also failed, both in sales and accomplishing its goals.

  13. He’s right about the mobile phones/tablets slowly killing the handheld market. People just prefer to play quick flash games on there phones. It sucks to think about sense all I ever play are handheld consoles.

  14. Phones, tablets… PU-LEASE! And considering Atari’s history, the guy’s obviously just have a vendetta against Nintendo. I’m 22 and I couldn’t care less about retarded war games.

      1. Funny how I’m 4 years older than Rin but 4 years younger than you…

        It is quite funny how this Atarian God says our empire is irrelevant for those above 12 years old when it’s basically 6-18 years olds that buys the most games on the Sonyan and Xbot consoles…

        Even PC in some cases, mostly FPS…

        Nintendo fans are often either under 15 or above 20 so yes, Nintendo is so irrelevant……

          1. Nice, we continue to show these hypocrites that acuse our empire to cater only children that many of us adults are Nintendo fans, probably more than the Sonyans and Xbots combined…

  15. He loses credibility once he said “12 and under”, because a lot Nintendo fans are over 20yr old.
    I doubt he keeps up to date with the gaming industry as much as he use to. He probably only know big media stories and just parroting myth&misconception. He is out of touch.

    And Parents are the target audience for the “12-and under”, Nintendo has a better kid-friendly image to parents than the competition, even if Sony and MS are getting better marketing for kids. I’m pretty sure in parent’s eyes, it’s still violent shooter/fighters vs mario, and media terms like core/hardcore doesn’t do sony/ms any good on that front.

        1. lol, aww, come on that’s a bit harsh.

          It’s was partly the interviewers fault, he said “irrelevant” first, then Bushnell followed.
          And he started video games which inspired Nintendo to go into the business.

      1. Showbiz is better, its the reason Chuck E. Cheese still is around. It bought them after the 80s when Chuck E. Cheese was tanking.

        This guy failed too many business, he sold Atari to Warner Bros. had the same ideas as Magnavox (sounds like two entertainment giants we know of). And he tried to over expand Chuck E. Cheese until it couldn’t go against is main competitor.

  16. Nolan Bushnell butt hurt Atarian since 1983. Nintendo Commander, how are you my friend? Monster hunter 4 has over one million pre-orders in Japan :). Handhelds are actually more relevant now than ever before. The 3DS has surpassed the 33 million mark; by end of this year we could have 42 million 3DSs in people’s homes. Smile people :), gaming just got better. People forget that even in the nokia days people played phones games on those dumb phones i.e Dumb glass lol.

    1. I’m rather fine and stressed at the same time as I began university this week…
      It is as if I don’t understand most things but hopefully I do soon…

      That’s great to hear, MH4 is the first MH game that has me really interested and I will very likely end up buying it after Pokemon Y…

      After this year we will have around 40-45 million 3DS sold because of Pokemon X and Y…

      Talking about the Nokian Empire, they were bought up by the Microsoft Realm last week I think…

      So now the Nokians will be corrupted too…

      How are you?…

  17. I respect Nolan Bushnell for what he did with the Atari 2600 (when it was a success). But I don’t like anyone who bashes Nintendo, my favorite game company EVER. My childhood would have been SO much more dull if it wasn’t for the NES entering my life. Man, those were the days that turned me into the gamer I am now.

    1. AND just because 3DS isn’t “doing” as well as ipads and ipods and androids, etc.. doesn’t mean the 3DS can’t be successful on it’s own terms!!

      There is a horribly wrong connotation with success that you have to be number 1 to be successful. That is completely false. 💋

      1. Yes, if it weren’t Nintendo (looking at you, Vita), it WOULD be losing out to mobiles.

        But it’s Nintendo. I wasn’t sold on 3DS when it first came out but after SM3DL and Kid Icarus Uprising…. and then this wonderful year of 3DS games… I can see now that nothing else offers thishandheld experience except Nintendo.

        Oh… and a Link to the Past sequel AND Smash Bros?

        No no… I’m sure Candy Crush is an equally fufilling game….

    1. And even worse, his creation is only worth 3.5 million dollars today…

      Talk about irrelevance compared to REAL gaming forces like our empire…

    2. You know for Donkey Kong to be aimed at 12 and younger, to this day, those games are so hard, only game I beat was Donkey Kong 64. I never beat Returns or Country Its hard trying to collect everything and beat the level at the same time. Some Zelda games I had to look on youtube to find out where to go next as well as some Pokemon tittles. Pikmin 3 is harder since the purple ones are not in the story. As for 3DMW I want to see more stages like the boss or something.

  18. I agree 100% with him. As an ex loyal Nintendo fan. Nintendo used to make other types of games for the ones of us who aren’t interested in all these 12 an under games. They had all these awesome 2nd party studios, Rare (Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, Conker, etc), Silicon Knights (Eternal Darkness), Left Fied (Excitebike64), the special relationship they had with Factor 5 (all the Rogue Squadron games, Battle for Naboo). But Nintendo decided to sell all these awesome studios years ago. Now all they do is games for the 12 and under crowd. I only owned Nintendo consoles, but no more. I am moving on to places where I can play the types of games that appeal to me. I’m not and never been interested in Mario and Pokemon, etc, games.

    “This is Nintendo. We are going to keep serving the same Menu over and over and over. We might add a little bit of salt and pepper to change things a bit but it’s basically the same Menu. The same Kids Menu we served you when you was a kid. We are not going to change our dishes into a teenager/adult content Menu. When you finally grow up and get tired of our Kids Menu, we will still be serving it to your kids and then the next and the next.”

    “Actually a few years back we used to have an adult/teenage Menu, we used to own awesome 2nd party developers like Rare (Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, Conker, Jet Force Gemini), Silicon Knights (Eternal Darkness), Left Field (Excitebike64,Kobe Bryant NBA Courtside), the special relationship with Factor 5(Battle for Naboo, Rogue Squadron games),Retro Studios (Metroid games). All these amazing and talented western studios used to make dishes for our adult/teenage audience, but we decided to shift our focus on our Kids Menu and sell all these western studios (we only kept one).”

    “You already could see our change in focus on our last product the Wii. It had a lack of more mature/teenage content. We believe there is no audience on our restaurants for these type of dishes. Yet our fans were clamoring for an adult/teenage Menu. It took “Operation Rainfall” to convince us to release Xenoblade, The Last Story, Pandora’s Tower on the West, as we know our market and it is centered at kids. We still didn’t bother to release Fatal Frame 2 in the West, we know our audience and this type of dish doesn’t sell well on our systems.”

    “The only western studio we currently have left is Retro Studios and we ordered them to work on another Kids Menu dish (Donkey Kong). We could have given them the freedom to do their own dish but we told them to work on this kids dish instead as it is part of our Kids Menu program. (Obviously if you ask them they will tell you that they wanted to, we own them, they will do and say as we do).”

    “Come an enjoy our Kids Menu. We add new iterations of our popular dishes. Gone is the time when we made other type of Menus for our different audiences. Different people like different things but we aren’t interested in them. Our focus is our Kids Menu.”

    1. The key to success is not supporting the older crowd. For some reason there is a stigma in the videogame industry right now that you can only succeed by making a game that appeals to a typical teenage boy….

      That is anything but true. People all over the world of different ages and genders are playing videogames now-a-days. There is no way to appeal to the majority of the demographic anymore.

      Plus, Imagine if Nintendo stopped making their “kiddie” games and focused on the “mature” games… that would only flood the market with MORE of the games like CoD, Assasin’s Creed, Battlefield, Halo, etc. It is nice to have a little bit of variety when it comes to videogame developers. Nintendo provides that variety, as well as a lot of the indie developers these days.

      People like variety. And children who play videogames are far from obsolete. 💋

    2. Hahaha! I remember when I was not gaming as much until I rented a copy of Donkey Kog Country Returns and I was instantly put under that glorious spell of charming, challengig platformers I used toblove so much. So you can shove your kiddie crack in a sack, mister!

      Sure, I’d love it if Nintendo had some overtly “mature” titles so you could ego to your friends and say “Hey, Nintendo is cool after all!” so you won’t feel embarassed buying a Wii U and playing all the quality games Nintndo has to offer.

      Don’t worry. Enjoying Nintendo games does not mean you lose credibility as a gamer. They create fun, challenging, and high-quality experiences. In fact, you’re more a true gamer if you can stand up and admit “I like it. It’s fun.”

    3. You never loved Nintendo as you also mentioned this a few weeks ago, everything you seemed to like are NON NINTENDO GAMES so how in the world did you ever was a Nintendo fan?…

  19. I think this guy is looking at things as black and white when there is a TON of grey area to consider. The reason Nintendo will be relevant while Atari became irrelevant is because people buy Nintendo, BECAUSE it’s NINTENDO.

    Nintendo is a company people love. They have killer ips like Mario, Dk, Pokémon, Zelda, etc that Atari frankly, never had. There was no game or system that people would buy JUST because Atari’s name is on it…and that is where Nintendo will succeed while Atari did not. 💋

  20. If he ran Atari with that mindset I’m not surprised then of how things ended up for them.

    Sure, mobile devices are gettin more advanced and stuff, but that doesn’t mean gaming systems can’t provide more than they did before to keep attracting consumers. Its like he still thinks everyone is stuck in the Pong and Asteroids days.

  21. Pingback: Bushnell: Nintendo on a path to Irrelevance

  22. “It’s weird how Iceazeama keeps giving them all of this news to post on MyNintendoNews. Yet he was banned just a few days ago. I seriously don’t understand how things work around here.”

    Somebody said this a few articles back. Can somebody answer this for me? If this is true…… where is the real ice then and how is he still here?

    1. He wasn’t banned the Ben account was wich had his old ice name now he is something Better ( don’t worry ice your last alt will be safe).

      1. Really, do you have proof that he was that douche? If so show me. If not im not going to accuse bit ill still hate him.

    1. Even though it was 64 bit the jaguar have the worst ports of the multiplats doom on Thea 3do was the best till the n64 version.

  23. So this guy who messed up the industry is bashing the company who saved the industry and his butt for another 13 years in the console business…………………ungrateful bitch.

  24. How can a handheld device be obsolete if it’s on pace to sell just under the best selling hardware of all time, and thus outperforming almost quite literally, EVERY GAME MACHINE EVER?

    World gets dumber by the day.

  25. I’m sorry, but who was it that created E.T, One of the worst games of all time? Atari! Who created Mario, one of the most loved Franchises of all time? Nintendo! Who contributed to the video game crash of 1983? Atari! Who saved games? Nintendo! Just because the Wii U isn’t selling well doesn’t mean it’ll suffer the same way Atari did. I’ve never heard of a good Atari game, and the only reason why the Wii U isn’t selling well is because Nintendo hasn’t released it’s key games like Mario, Zelda or Super Smash bros. Pikmin was awesome, and that was just a sample of what the Wii U has to offer. Atari diedn outn long ago, so save your trolling for someone else.

  26. I am not worried about the 3DS, Pokemon X/Y are coming soon and will sell more than any previous Pokemon iteration, they look phenomenal. The Wii U needs games and a really good game too. Nintendo should refine and upgrade motion games like Wii Sports Resort not abandon them, Wii U needs a hit like a Nintendo version of Disney Infininty.

    1. I agree about Pokémon X & Y, even if I don’t think they’ll sell more than the first versions, but… new versions of motion games ?!
      Do you really want floods of grandmas and ants to buy the Wii U and permanently make Nintendo become a gaming company for casuals ?…
      I do not.

  27. DO YOU THINK THAT EVERYONE WILL BE PLAYING ON A MOBILE? COME ON!! THATS GOOD NEWS FOR THE OPTICS STORES, AND ALL THE MINOR WILL PERMITED BY THEIR PARENTS TO PLAY ON THEIR MOBILE OR BUY THEM ONE SOO THEY CAN PLAY ,COME ON!!!!!!!!!

  28. He isn’t wrong, they are. While they do their own thing, Microsoft and Sony are capitalizing on the mainstream market. While I would hate to see Nintendo go away, it’s a definite possibility

    1. Where Nintendo got it wrong is when they focused on making casual games and built a “casual community” around their Wii and DS.
      They made shitloads of money over these consoles but, as they are casual and don’t know shit about games/don’t have interest in it in the long term, they didn’t even think about buying a Wii U or a 3DS. They have the previous consoles and that’s enough for them as they are able to play their Wii Fit and Brain Training Programs ( a friend’s grandpa still thinks that the DS they offered him for his birthday is a “sudoku machjne”, ahahah ).
      And now that most of the gamers are gone for a PC, Sony or Microsoft, well all they can do is trying to call their former gamers back. If they fail, well I think too that they MAY disappear or become obsolete…

      1. Are you even aware that 3DS is the best selling console of the generation so far? Just in Japan it is outselling PS3 and PSVita 40 units to 1.
        Just from there your argument is stupid and broken.
        This market is not moved through some bullshit buyer’s philosophy about polygon count and HD textures, it runs on a single, absolute rule: Exclusives sell consoles.
        3DS is selling marvelously (A few months away from surpassing DS, actually) because since Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7 the stream of exclusive games, both first and third party, hasn’t stopped.
        Meanwhile PSVita, the one you, this man from Atari and many others are praising as the “mainstream” and “better” choice, is widely regarded a dust gathering brick; and that’s not because the console is bad, but because the console has no support, at least not outside Japan, and even there it is just selling around 5,000 units more than Wii U weekly.
        If Nintendo were to ensure a steady flux of exclusives to Wii U, the console will eventually become indispensable. Contrary to what you seem to believe, having the same CoD recolor that other four consoles do does not give you market, it diminishes it by splitting it.
        Nintendo is not gonna disappear, all you people crying SEGA on Wii U are basically showing your ignorance on how market works, Nintendo has a huge base of exclusives that companies like Atari or SEGA never had, and Wii U is bound to be a success the second those exclusives begin popping up on it.

        1. D’fuck are you talkin’ ’bout dude.
          You seem to think your market analyzing skills are tew ghewd but you’ve learnt nothing to anybody here. Come down on Earth a little and keep cool…

          I don’t see how my argument is invalid, you just completly missed the point.
          I was saying that Nintendo made the mistake to take the “quick and easy money” path by orientating their two previous consoles towards casual gaming.
          On a financial level, it worked wonderfuly in first place but now that tons of gamers left Nintendo for other companies and that casuals have their Wii and DS, they have to attract their former gamers back and that’s what they tend to do with the 3DS and maybe the Wii U in the future ( I expect so ), even if the return of Wii Fit U and other craps like that affraids me a little. It feels to me that they are trying to feel the ground a little to see where they should focus on with the Wii U, who will be the main public.
          I don’t doubt Wii U will probably sell as soon as big games arrive though, we are all waiting for 2014 and I myself will buy my Wind Waker pack as soon as I can afford it.

          Plus, I’m not a Sony or a Microsoft player, I’m with Nintendo since I’m in age to hold a controller. Looks like all this console war got to your head, you’re fanboying a li’l too hard here.

  29. And if someone knows irrelevance that is Atari.
    Not even with Nintendo pushing the industry for two decades they could save their sorry asses from constant bankruptcy.

  30. Phone games and Ipad games WILL NEVER BE FOR THE GAMER. Those are what the casuals are stuck on now. Atari went belly up cause they refused to change. Atari sucked. Nintendo wont show signs of declining untill 2052 and that still probably wont happen. Im not even a Nintendo fanboy, its just fact.

  31. He’s just saying this ’cause all he makes now are mobile games. It’s like some kid telling people to buy his lemonade because he doesn’t think Minute Maid brand lemonade will be able to continue producing quality lemonade for very long.

  32. Same old story again? Nintendo is for kids? come on, Atari! Kids are the ones who think that way. Too narrow minds, pathetic!

  33. Atari? Really? Last I checked they pretty much died a couple decades ago. They’re now a small sad company compared to what they used to be.

  34. Is Nintendo the only company in the gaming world?, just asking because any time someone has doomsday thoughts it’s always the Big N, they just hating because Nintendo is AWESOME. Haters gonna hate.

  35. Nintendo’s making tons of money, its industry is doing awesomely! I am a fan of Nintendo now (I look at Nintendo’s new games via 3DS e-shop) even though before I was terrified of Animal Crossing Wild World because I was afraid of Mr. Resetti (when I was seven). And, Nintendo’s console will do awesome because of their partners that make the mature games. Nintendo makes childrens’ games and then leaves their partners to invest in selling mature games! That is how Nintendo is, and because of this, just don’t listen to the Atari founder. His words are biased.

    Speaking of which, Time made an article against the Wii U’s touchscreen pad. First thought: Time works for Atari. See that? Atari has a rep. There is no reason to go hating on Nintendo. DO NOT BE CONVINCED BY MR. ATARI!!!

  36. Pingback: Naughty Dog Co-Founder Says Nintendo is “Irrelevant” In The Hardware Business | My Nintendo News

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