Nintendo is the Disney of video games, with a long lineup of family-friendly characters like Mario and the various Pokémon that can bring people together. They have been around for over a hundred years, being established in 1889 primarily as a toy and card company. 

So it stands to reason that they have withstood many storms due to poor mistakes. What were the ten worst things they ever did? Well, this list is here to sum it all up. Despite these goofs, the company remains strong. Will there ever be a disaster that truly brings them down? That is a topic for another day. 

10 Joy-Con Drifting

This is a known issue for the Switch controllers, but by no means has it ruined the console’s image. It’s still selling like hotcakes despite the drift issues. From the very launch in 2017, this was reported as an issue, and it wasn’t until last year that Nintendo really commented on it, allowing players to send their controllers in for repair. It’s like a very small scale Red Ring situation from the Xbox 360 era. 

9 Nintendo Labo

Nintendo Labo has also not tanked the company in any real way. It’s on here more from a standpoint of questioning why it exists in the first place. The platform was supported when it launched in 2018, but then after a few additional packs, support has all but vanished. The biggest issue wasn’t the fact that the games were bad. It was the price point. $80 for cardboard? That may strike a parents as being too high. 

8 Amiibo Shortages

Amiibo were first introduced in the fall of 2014 with the launch of Super Smash Bros. on Wii U. Right from the start they were near impossible to find and with each subsequent release, their rarity only increased. This went on for almost two years before Nintendo wised up to their supply demands. On a related note, the shortages for the NES and SNES mini consoles were also frustrating for fans. All people want to do is give Nintendo money, so why not let them?

7 3DS Launch Price

super mario 3D land in squirrel suit

The 3DS launched on March 27, 2011 for $250. That made it just as expensive as the Wii when it launched in 2006, for some perspective. The launch lineup was lacking on top of that exorbitant price. Continual low sales forced Nintendo to do an unprecedented price drop that August. It was dropped down to $170, an $80 slash in the span of less than half a year. It was able to recover in the end, but things were certainly not looking good at first. 

6 The Wii U

The biggest problem Nintendo faced with the Wii U was the name. Early press seem to think it was just an HD version of the Wii, and who could blame them? The name was similar and it used Wii controllers and played its games. This, on top of new consoles like the PS4 and Xbox One launching a year later, crippled sales, even though the system legitimately had good games coming out. They were few and far between, but Nintendo gave it their best.  

5 Switch Social Aspects

One aspect Nintendo still can’t get right is its social platforms. Their consoles are targeted to kids and advertised as the more familiar friendly device everyone can enjoy. Because of this, Nintendo is very protective of keeping children safe from online harassment, so things like Friend Codes were implemented with the Wii and consoles afterward.

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It’s something that can’t be turned off. What was their solution with the Switch? Put an app on a phone. It is incredibly shortsighted and has frustrated fans, just as they have for over a decade now with their online decisions. 

4 N64 Cartridges Over Discs

7 N64 Carts

Despite a long list of excellent games over the N64’s lifespan like Super Mario 64 and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, it was one Nintendo’s biggest mistakes in the home console market. This blunder comes in three parts. First of all, even though sticking with cartridges assured that the games would load faster than discs, it also meant they were more expensive. Most factories had switched over to printing discs at that point. That’s the reason why N64 games could get as high as $80. 

3 64DD

In order to push as much graphical quality out of the N64 as possible, Nintendo tried to work on an expansion bay called the 64DD. Many games actually started out as 64DD prototypes, so when things went south for the platform, this caused delays in games coming out and/or games getting outright canceled.

RELATED: 10 Canceled Nintendo Games You Never Knew Existed

Again, there were lots of good games for the N64. Unfortunately, they were few and far between with the 64DD slowing production down. 

2 Breaking Their Deal With Sony

One of the company's biggest mistakes is breaking their deal with Sony. Just think about how different the video game landscape would be if the two companies stuck together. The PlayStation wouldn’t have happened, thus defeating the competition. On the other hand, maybe the console would have been terrible and caused a loss for both companies. It’s hard to say, but one thing is for sure, when they passed on the deal and caused the creation of the PlayStation, they shot themselves in the foot for an entire generation. 

1 Virtual Boy

nintendo 3ds history

Everything above pales in comparison to the Virtual Boy. It was a prototype at best for an impressive 3D handheld, but because of the red glare and clumsy setup, one couldn’t play it for long without getting uncomfortable. Poor sales and bad reviews for the games led the system to be discontinued in less than a year.

It launched in August 1995 for the U.S. and was discontinued the following March. Funnily enough, those are the exact opposite months for the 3DS’ price drop and launch. Except in this case, the Virtual Boy was not able to recover.

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