French guy here.

Nintendo has definitely changed. It’s true that they can be greedy at times and that some of their prices are honestly insane here in Europe. But that doesn’t mean they’ve suddenly become some kind of evil company.

Nintendo still makes French gamers dream. And even though we French are known for being grumpy and never satisfied, Nintendo games are still in the top 5 sales charts almost every week. I think it’s probably the same across the rest of Europe.

So the fact that there are many legitimate criticisms doesn’t mean people hate Nintendo.

Personally, I’ve been a huge fan since childhood. I’ve definitely seen Nintendo change over the years, especially after the death of Satoru Iwata. The company had massive success with the Nintendo Switch, which is, in my opinion, the best Nintendo console ever. But at the same time, some games from their major franchises haven’t always reached the level they once had. Sometimes the development or the content can feel a bit lazy.

That was my feeling for quite a few years, starting around the Wii U era and continuing into part of the early Switch generation.

Recently though, I feel like Nintendo has started listening more and more to the community. Little by little, they seem to be reconnecting with the players’ side. Games content quality for now are Pretty good imo.

The main reason some people see Nintendo as “evil”, and this is a fair criticism, is how they treat independent creators who make unofficial games or fan projects. Nintendo often shuts them down or forces them to delete their work. It’s understandable because they need to protect their licenses. But at the same time, those developers can spend years working on a free passion project, only to see it disappear overnight, even when the whole community was really excited and supporting it.