NintenConspiracy part 1: Why was NSider shut down?

This article is going to be AT LEAST a two-parter. Part two will most likely NOT be up tomorrow night, as I will likely be too tired from an all-day excursion to write it. It WILL be up on Monday, if not sooner.



As you are all most likely aware of by now, the Nintendo NSider Forums closed down on September 17th, 2007. As of this Monday, they will forever be removed from public view. The thing is, barely anybody was informed of this until it had already happened. I was posting there in the morning, and when I came back in the afternoon, I was "greeted" with this:

Nintendo NSider Forums Update

Nintendo is working on a major overhaul to Nintendo.com to support the continued success of Nintendo DS and Wii. As we prepare for this huge site update, Nintendo must unfortunately close the Nintendo NSider Forums message boards indefinitely beginning Sept. 17, 2007.

For more than four years, these NSider Forums have fostered engaging, robust debates, a strong community and friendships. While their future remains uncertain, in the interim we invite our fans to build on the spirit of community by starting their own Nintendo discussion sites. Remember also that the unique features available with Nintendo DS and Wii give Nintendo the opportunity to communicate directly with fans, while also enabling fans and friends around the world to communicate with each other.

Nintendo has the greatest fans in the world, and it is because of their support and passion that Nintendo DS and Wii have become so hugely successful around the world. We hope that the faithful Nintendo community members will look forward to the future games and website updates that will enhance Nintendo's global community of Wii and Nintendo DS owners.

Starting Sept. 17, existing NSider Forums will be available in Read Only format for one week. Private Messages will be disabled. On Monday, Sept. 24, the forums will be removed from public view.

Well, isn't that just dandy? And without a moment's notice! Why did this happen? Why weren't we informed? Is it really just going down for maintenance, or is it something more? Here are all the possible situations I have come up with (Some are elaborations on ideas overheard at the Nintendo Pipeline Forum).

Possibility #1: Their explanation

Let's say that Nintendo really is telling the truth here, and the forums really have been taken down for a massive overhaul. There's a bit of a problem with this.

They say the forums have been taken down "indefinitely". Dictionary.Reference.com defines "indefinite" as "not clearly defined or determined; not precise or exact: an indefinite boundary; an indefinite date in the future.". If this were a planned update, then wouldn't they know when the forums would be back up and running? "Indefinitely" implies that they have no idea when the forums will return. Doesn't this make it seem like Nintendo was somewhat caught off guard by the need to take down NSider? Peculiar, because you'd assume a company would know of their own forum's status.

Also, why would the forums need to be removed before the rest of the website? If this truly is little more than a massive overhaul, shouldn't it have all gone down at once? There's just too much answered in this measly press release...

There's a few more problems with Nintendo's explanation of this event, and they will be touched upon in the upcoming possibilities.

Possibility #2: Getting rid of the core audience

This is one of the less pleasant theories that's been floating around. Some believe that Nintendo is doing this to get rid of the core gamer in order to more focus their resources on the casual crowd. After all, look at how many casual titles are being released these days, and look at how amazingly well they're selling. In Japan, Wii Sports has been on the top selling lists ever since the Wii came out 10 months ago. Take a look at this weekly sales chart. See what's up there at #10? Wii Sports, with 13,255 units sold in seven days. A total cash-making machine.

If Nintendo didn't have us core gamers begging for Mario and Zelda and Metroid, they could focus on developing more titles like Wii Sports and Wii Fit. It's probably the most radical of all these theories, but it does make a lot of sense. Nintendo could be trying to ditch the main crowd. After all, look at this line from the message on the NSider forums:

While [the forum's] future remains uncertain, in the interim we invite our fans to build on the spirit of community by starting their own Nintendo discussion sites.

Bluntly put: Go somewhere else, bud.

Possibility #3: NSider reborn on the Wii and DS

Take a look at these two lines from the NSider announcement:

Remember also that the unique features available with Nintendo DS and Wii give Nintendo the opportunity to communicate directly with fans, while also enabling fans and friends around the world to communicate with each other.

We hope that the faithful Nintendo community members will look forward to the future games and website updates that will enhance Nintendo's global community of Wii and Nintendo DS owners.

"Future games and website updates"... Doesn't that sound a little odd to you? To me it seems to suggest that NSider will indeed return, but will instead become integrated in some sort of Wii update and/or DS download.

This is probably the most exciting of all the possibilities listed here. Just imagine, the Nintendo forums and more, all right there at your fingertips. Just boot up your DS or Wii, and you've got instant community. This would correlate well with the site being taken down. Perhaps the whole thing is being revamped for Wii and DS compatibility! Nintendo's website would no longer be confined to computers and web browsers. It could be integrated into every Nintendo product! There's no website, just one huge network of interconnected Wii and DS systems! It seems all too fantastic to be a reality, and thusly, I doubt this will happen. But it still could happen, as it is still within the realm of plausibility. Everything is in place, Nintendo merely needs to set it in motion.

So is NSider gone because of anything I said above? Or is it something different? Something terrible? Something virtually unthinkable? All this and more will be discussed in NintenConspiracy part 2: The big picture.

The Duck Has Spoken.