It was with a twisted interest that I recently read through the speech of Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo’s vice president of sales and marketing, as it has been transcribed on IGN. After sifting through the tremendous amount of spelling and grammatical flaws, I began to consider the comments that Reggie was making about the Nintendo DS, the Nintendo Revolution, and the future of the company itself.

Frankly, after hearing his ideas, I don’t agree.

In his speech, he draws a rigid analogy between the movie industry and the video game industry. For the past few decades, people sitting comfortably in their theatre seats have - as he states - been captivated by the increasingly improving special effects budgets in modern movies. People first found themselves frightened by a mechanical Jaws, only to be terrorized later by a gruesome insect-like alien. Through the use of special effects, the movie going public has seen every major city in the world destroyed, ancient wars in Middle Earth, a digital prison for mankind, a nuclear bomb detonated in Los Angelos, and the entire world fall victim to Mother Nature’s torrential destruction.

Indeed, this was so appealing to movie-goers because the images on screen were so real. Reggie claims that movie ticket sales have decreased because the “razzle-dazzle” of special effects is no longer as entertaining as it was when it was new. Perhaps he is correct. Even still, this is actually the point where Reggie’s analogy implodes. For years, the movie industry has shaped their special effects into more and more realistic displays of human conflict. This is the point Reggie neglects. Realism. Special effects have become so real that many viewers are indifferent to their improvement. Video games - on the other hand - have not even approached a photo-realistic environment with which a video gamer can fully interact. This is - in reality - what the majority of gamers crave most of all.

Look at the more extremely popular video games of our time.

The Grand Theft Auto series is reputedly popular for its violent content. On the contrary, it is popular with gamers due to the freedom and diversity game scenarios represent. In past generations, never could you have imagined a 3-dimensional game that combines the facets of a third person shooter, a racing game and RPG asset acquiring. With the Grand Theft Auto series, you get the complete gaming package coupled with an immersive story that highlights the gritty reality of modern-day mankind.

Following along in the trend of near-absolute freedom comes Halo, a shooter series that offers so much to the gamer. An immersive experience all-around in respect to graphics, story and gameplay. The freedom between weapon usage, vehicle usage and online gameplay makes this game extremely popular. Halo is - in fact - a game that takes “razzle dazzle” and inflates it to explosive preportions.

Surely that 16 percent decline in revenues we saw in September, and the 24 percent drop in game sales, were flukes.

No fluke Reggie. In fact, that decline in revenue and sales is likely due to your companies ineptness to maintain your foothold at the top of the food chain. After the fall of Atari, Nintendo swooped in as the only gaming system. Nintendo - at that time - worked dilligently to make their company name synonymous with video gaming. When people think of cola, they think of Coke. When people think of tissue paper, they think of Kleenex. When people think of in-line skating, they think of Roller Blades (yes, that is a brand name). And for a time, whenever people thought of video games, they thought of Nintendo.

However, as more competitors move into the fray, Nintendo cowered in the corner. Even until recently, handheld gaming and the Game Boy were one and the same. Now, Nintendo has had that throne usurped from them as well. Nintendo needs to regain their former position; not by rethinking what video gaming is, but by constantly raising the bar in graphics and gameplay innovation. When did Nintendo have any “revolutionary” gameplay concepts in this generation? Was the F.L.U.D.D. your innovation? More characters in Super Smash Brothers Melee? How disheartening. In the meantime, the competitors of Nintendo were coming out with more Grand Theft Auto-style games, and innovative concepts like Shadow of the Colossus.

And this is - in fact - Nintendo’s greatest weakness. Software. The Gamecube was a decent system and yet what games did you release on it that were different? Metroid Prime 1 & 2? Everyone loved those. Pikmin 1 & 2? Sure, you captured some sales there. But what else? The highest rated games on IGN are comprised of sports games (not innovative), ports, or multiconsole releases.

Nintendo, your problem was never your hardware. It was your software. Even now, on the DS, you are releasing games that allow you to compose music and answer trivia questions. Those seem like they should be mini-games in a much grander gaming experience. We need more innovative adventure games like Castlevania. A gripping story, intriguing method to improve abilities, weapon customization, etc. Brilliant. Utterly brilliant.

However, your Revolution will be your downfall. The next-generation of Nintendo gaming is utterly disappointing. I’ve played every Nintendo console since the NES - including all iterations of the Game Boy - but I will not be getting the Revolution. The ability to relive ages past is an intriguing perk, but the control scheme and massive amounts of peripherals is discouraging.

While reading throughout Reggie’s speech, I got the impression that Nintendo had stopped caring about the gamers and begun to only care about profit. While I understand that profit is the need of every company, it should be noted that revenue is reached by pleasing your target demographic.

In that aspect, Nintendo, you have failed.