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In light of Nintendo's recent travails, concern about its reliance on treasured brands is understandable. In these circumstances, it's worth thinking of the company not as a creator of games, but as a maker of premium toys. Viewed this way, the aim of its output is clear: its focus is not on past buyers, but on a new generation of players who won't mind that they're getting something similar to what their parents or older siblings played with.Meanwhile, avid collectors remain enamoured with the company for the consistent quality of its product. The toys are ostensibly familiar yet subtly improved every time the line is refreshed; consider an action figure, hand-crafted to the same set of stringent design standards, but now using only the finest contemporary materials, with a greater level of detail and more points of articulation. In other words, it looks, sounds and moves better than ever before, and therein lies its maker's enduring appeal.
Problems with this approach only really arise when the the update isn't up to scratch. And it's immediately apparent that Yoshi's New Island has been outsourced to a manufacturer without the same level of quality control. To the untrained eye, it might not look like such a bad job, but those in the know can instantly tell it isn't the real deal.
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