I don't regularly read Polygon, but have they ever posted an article about Microsoft being "desperate" to sell the Xbox One, what with their having abandoned pretty much every core, defining concept of the system within the first 8 months of release?
Why is it chic nowadays for all of the "serious" gaming "journalists" to shit on Nintendo? There's no question the company is in a rough patch, but I really think there's a component of Big N's "games for the sake of games" approach to design that just fundamentally irks a certain contingent of the gaming press that sees itself as high-minded and progressive. Here you have this old-guard company putting out a string of very, very good games that have no epic narratives, no trenchant social commentary, absolutely no airs of import, and it drives these guys crazy. They're frothing at the mouth desperate for games to become "legitimized" in the eyes of...somebody/thing they deem to be a barometer of taste and sophistication, and they hate that they can't just write off these bright, breezy games about cartoon plumbers and kidnapped princesses.
I think that's why there's so much pressure from media figures for Nintendo to go 3rd party. If Mario games are just another PS4 franchise, something that can be comfortably slotted behind the "serious" Rockstar and Naughty Dog output, it makes them easier to minimize and dismiss. Nintendo staying in the hardware biz gives their brand of game a platform and degree of relevance that's harder to shuffle into the closet when the "grown ups" come over.
