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I still love the old school Nintendo. For some reason, the minimal options on the controller-left, right, jump, shoot fireballs-are appealing to me in their simplicity.

I lose interest as the options become more complex and varied, though I know that for most people, the opposite is true: the more possibilities on a gaming console, the more entertaining.

The problem that I see for Nintendo in the long term is not in their ever-increasing functionality, however; it is in the recent safety flaws in the Nintendo Wii remote, ie. the safety straps breaking away.

This obvious lack of testing and basic engineering oversight speaks volumes about Nintendo as a company. They got ahead of themselves and presented a revolutionary gaming system that has forever changed the gaming experience, but at the expense of what should have been the strongest and simplest component of the controller.

If a company cannot develop the software side of their product at the same time that the structural basics are maintained, what else are they unable to juggle? Marketing and accounting? Will they jump back to basics at the expense of further gaming development?

This may seem like a small issue to some, but from my perspective it is extremely telling of Nintendo as a company, and it doesn't speak well of their future prospects.

Learn more about this author, Alfred Nylund.
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