I'm not optimistic. Like Sony, Nintendo's insularity has caught up to them in a way that can't be easily remedied. The packaged game looks pretty archaic in a w

I'm not optimistic. Like Sony, Nintendo's insularity has caught up to them in a way that can't be easily remedied. The packaged game looks pretty archaic in a world where just about every game is assumed to be seamlessly multiplayer, loaded with social features, easily updatable, easy to share with friends. And yeah, free or $5 if a gamer has some money burning a hole in their pocket. App Store reviews where gamers complain that something wasn't worth $8 should chill Nintendo execs. Even the "living room" multiplayer gaming experience they seem to be banking on might feel out of place in 2012. Guitar Hero-type games and MS/Sony's awesome Wii competitors seem to have faded. I wonder if social networks and constant mobile connectivity are fulfilling the hole that the group videogame experience once filled. The nail in the coffin is that their whole approach to their IP has been an extreme vulnerability for years: they've flogged all of it to death. I probably saw more press around Angry Birds: Space than any Nintendo game in recent memory and I wouldn't hesitate to say that a new Blizzard game generates vastly more excitement in gaming circles.