>>713158103
Against the contrarianism of this website?
You kinda are. Nintendo has remained relevant over the decades for a reason and it's not just "nostalgia".
Their games look like they are not much for lack of impressive graphics or grand stories, but it's just that they tend to be very well put together. Think of them like a bare Argentinian steak: no condiments, no spices, just the steak itself but it's REALLY good.
Their approach is usually to focus on one mechanic and then do as much with that mechanic as they can before moving on.
This is why outwards a lot of games may look samey... but that is because there is still shit they can squeeze out of the mechanics they have created. Only once a mechanic has been squeezed fully dry of what you can do with it do they move on.
Game design wise, a game is divided into three aspects: Mechanics, Dynamics and Aesthetics. Story and Graphics are the latter. Dynamics are "what you do with the mechanics given to you". Nintendo is the reigning king of designing games by dynamics. To take Super Mario Bros. as an example: prior to it no platformer allowed you to defeat enemies by jumping on them. But in it jumping is THE universal action to dispose of enemies, clear gaps, use items (the ! blocks), etc. everything works by jumping. This can then be combined to do things like "jump on a flying enemy to propel you further over a really wide gap".
This situation would be a dynamic created from the mechanics interacting.
Dynamics like that are why basically every game designer worth their salt is and remains a fan of Nintendo games, because they still serve as an inspiration to them. If you are interested in game design Nintendo will sooner or later become a closer subject of your studies.
