There is an unfair branding of Nintendo gaming systems as being only suited to younger players, whilst this may have been true at one time, the simple fact is that those gamers are growing up and are looking for more varied gamestyles. No-one begrudges Nintendos efforts at producing in-house software that, at worst, promotes the image of a company that is family friendly; however, the position that third parties adopt, that this excuses them of producing more mature software, must stop. They accuse Nintendo of doing nothing to help rid itself of its childish image, but then only release software that tries to exploit that image, this is simple hypocrisy.

Nintendo has recently revealed its next handheld system to the world, a system that has caused a great deal of interest in the press and gamers alike, it should lead to a great deal of innovation from developers. Instead, there are already hints that thinking is becoming limited, even such innovators as Hideo Kojima are narrowing their options before the system has already reached the market:


Quote Source

Have you thought about doing a Metal Gear Solid game for DS?

Kojima: It would be nice to have a Metal Gear game for DS, but the thing is I personally think that the audience for DS will be like that of GBA - it'll be a much younger audience. And this Metal Gear's not really suitable for them.


We are Mature Gamers. We are simply seeking a less blinkered attitude from the developers and publishers who are planning to work on the Nintendo DS. Do not brand the system as childish, or kiddie, before you have even seen the market that will adopt it. We are excited about this system and we want games that challenge us, not demean us; we want games that talk to us, not talk down to us; we want games that exploit the systems strengths, not ones that leave us feeling it is wasted. In short, you have the chance to create the market that you sell to, please, do not throw it away.

To those signing this petition, please contact as many publishers as possible, passing on the URL for this petition. Those officially announced by Nintendo already are:

THQ, Electronic Arts, Activision, Atari, Ubisoft, Majesco, Capcom, Sega, Konami, Hudson Soft, Namco, Bandai, Koei and Square Enix.

There are plenty more out there, let them know how you feel.


(The petition author would like to mention, at this point, that he is 34 years old and has been playing videogames since the mid-1970's. He is currently more excited about the Nintendo DS than anything else, in the videogame industry, for many years. Please, do not disappoint him.)