It’s easy to see why the casual gamer isn’t too fond of Nintendo. It ignores online gaming; leaving Microsoft and Sony to plunder cyberspace unchallenged. It stresses quality over quantity and provides fewer choices for the older gamer – particularly “M” rated software. It also seems to have no concept of what good advertising is – giving off an image that is out of touch with the average player (who is said to be around 25 years old now).

On the other hand, the longtime gamer has a lot to love Nintendo for. The company knows, without a doubt, how to innovate and create delightful games for all audiences; albeit ones that require a certain amount of affection for the company to begin with (Mario fans no doubt tried Pikmin, but how many Hitman followers did?). Nintendo caters to these fans like they’re its last hope, and in some ways they could be just that.

The Dreamcast tried to be quirky and look where it ended up. Now the Gamecube seems to be getting a lot of gimmicky software (the two new Donkey Kongs are reminiscent of Samba de Amigo), which will undoubtedly attract huge Nintendo fans, but how much will Average Joe Gamer care? That remains to be seen. Nintendo’s position is not an enviable one no matter how you slice it.

Well, that’s the case with the console situation, anyway. When it comes to handhelds Nintendo knows precisely what to do; and now it’s combined its success of the Game Boy Advance with the nostalgia its target audience feels with the new NES Limited Edition GBA SP. Nintendo seems to have figured out one thing it will always have that neither Sony nor Microsoft can touch: the power of