Webcomics often provide niche interests with humor that isn’t found in the local Sunday funnies. But they can also serve another important purpose: the editorial.

A picture is worth a thousand words, or so they say, so a multi-panel comic must be worth bonus points. And this VGcats comic definitely gets a high score for its scathing portrayal of Nintendo.

Hit the jump for more saucy comic goodness.

Many would argue that Nintendo has largely ignored its long-time fanbase in favor of the new, exciting “casual gamer” market, especially after their abysmal E3 showing, when the boiled down their message to: We’re so e’ffing awesome, we could sell shit in an outhouse. Or, like, toasters. And just to round out the trifecta, here’s one more.

That’s the beauty of webcomics. When done right, they’re funny, smart, and with just enough sass and satire to keep us all on our toes.

And as long as we’re on the subject of Nintendo, I would like to add my two cents.

I have mixed feelings on Nintendo’s new business plan. Part of me wants to shout, “Casual gamers are whores! They will have their way with you, and when they’ve had their fun they’ll stop returning your calls and you’ll cry yourself to sleep because they don’t really love you, they just wanted to keep it ‘casual.’ And when that happens, don’t come crying back to us with your empty promises of Marios and Zeldas. They will never love you like we do!”

On the other hand, Nintendo is mining this strange new market with all the vigor of a Texas oil company, and dragging the rest of Gamerdom into the mainstream in the process. And that’s capitalism for you.

So, the question then becomes, is there a happy medium? Can Nintendo win the hearts of new, “casual” gamers and the long-time “core” gamers? What will it have to do to accomplish such a feat? Will it continue to sacrifice life-long fans on the altar of commerce?

Tags: Ctrl Alt Del, Nintendo, penny-arcade, Potatomoto, VG Cats, webcomics

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2 Comments » madpuppy on August 5, 2008 11:42 pm huh? I thought the big N was all about casual gaming in the first place. I was a PC gamer until the 360 and PS3 came out and the thought of playing the continually regurgitated, ugly nintendo games would have had me running back to my PC in no time. greeneggsnsam on August 6, 2008 2:12 am Nintendo fans are the most accepting fans there are. The worst thing about what Nintendo is doing is that it truly has lost it’s fans. They’re dwindling. That said, if they make a new Zelda or Mario, you know it’ll be good, and we’ll all go buy it anyway. The thing is, Nintendo puts these as side projects now because there’s more money in “casual” gamers. RSS feed for comments on this post. Comment Now Note: Commenting on Ripten does not currently require registration, however to be eligible for contests on the site, you must be a registered user. Name (required) Mail (will not be published) (required) Website Commenting Rules: No hate speech allowed. If you must argue, please debate intelligently. Comments containing selected keywords or outbound links will be put into moderation to help prevent spam. Ripten reserves the right to delete comments and ban anyone who doesn't follow the rules. Thanks. Notify me of followup comments Tired of the Goomba? Upload your own custom comment avatar.