Nintendo’s 10 Biggest Failures EVER
8. Not Playing Ball With Developers
On most Nintendo platforms, the most successful games are the ones developed by the company itself such as Mario and The Legend of Zelda. One reason why Nintendo doesn't have many third-party developers is because they're expected them to jump through all sorts of hoops.
During the Wii U's era, Nintendo expected indie developers to have a permanent physical office or they would not be considered. This seems like an unfair and hypocritical stipulation since many of the biggest companies started out in a garage or a warehouse including Microsoft and a little company called Nintendo!!
Since Nintendo has a family-friendly image, they usually don't port violent games on their systems, even if they are compatible. Nintendo do this out of principle but it makes them lose potential sales. When they have embraced more mature content, it usually works in their favour. R-rated games like Resident Evil 4 and Bayonetta 2 started off as Nintendo exclusives and were considered among the best games on their respective consoles.
The Switch has far more third-party developers, which is one of the main reasons for the console's success. It's just a shame Nintendo didn't realise the importance of playing ball with other companies sooner.