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| Top Ten Reasons Nintendo Suck |
| Tuesday, 16 September 2008 |
Put your tongue in your cheek and come in and read the reasons why Nintendo sucks as much as they do.
GameCube 1.5
That’s right, Wii graphics don’t match up to those on PS3 and Xbox 360 and neither do the DS graphical capabilities match up to the PSP. Gamers are a fickle bunch, if a game isn’t made on a blockbuster budget and doesn’t have impeccable photo realistic graphics then its automatically rubbish. When did we all become so shallow? There’s still plenty of power that can be squeezed out of the Wii and DS humble power, and far be it for me to say that games should try to be cartoony and creative. Who wants that, eh?
Waggle
Motion control? No you’re wrong there, that’s waggle you mean to say. Admittedly, shaking the Wii remote is used too much in games when pressing the A button would work just as well. That doesn’t mean to say that every kind of motion control in all Wii games is as boring as sitting and shaking the Wiimote. The remote has been intelligently used in plenty of games already; just because every single game isn’t revolutionary it doesn’t mean they all aren’t. Check out Zack and Wiki and see how varied the capabilities of the Wii are.
No DVD Playback
In this day and age, with the Xbox 360 pushing HD DVD and the PS3 pushing Bluray, you’d think that the Wii would at least side with one or the other- or even plain old DVD. But alas, no. In this day and age you would also expect that DVD players have been around long enough for anyone who wants one to have one already, but alas, no. Sure it might be nice for that extra bit of functionality, but this isn’t last generation anymore where the PS2 was popular as a cheap DVD player. The Wii doesn’t need to play DVD or anything other than games, and its doing fine as it is. Anyway, you’re bound to have a DVD player in your house or a computer that plays them.
Not Hardcore
Did you realise that just because your mum and sisters now actually fancy playing some video games with you, it means you are no longer hardcore? Uh oh, scramble! Move that Wii up to your bedroom, get the curtains closed, the lights out and play some Wii Sports alone. Yeah, now you’re hardcore again. How dare you play games socially- that’s so casual!
WiiConnect24…?
Friend codes, no voice chat, wait; does the Wii even allow you to play games online? Of course it does, and the system in place isn’t as bad as most would have you believe. So you can’t chat, so you have to trade friend codes, so it’s not Xbox Live, do we ever stop whinging? It seems not. Its all too easy to overlook Nintendo’s fatherly nature in that they always want to shield us from the big bad world, just because we have to input a friend code to add people to our friend rosters it automatically means playing the likes of Mario Kart online is boring. Just type in the code then play the games, I assure you they are fun. Go on, try it out.
No First Party Games
I said "first party games" not party games because we know fine well the Wii has its fair share of them. So then where are the games from Nintendo's big franchises? Well, take a look buddy- they are already released. Zelda, Metroid, Mario, all available and all damn good. But what’s next? Just Wii Music and Animal Crossing you say? I see your point now. Why would they announce games that are due out soon rather than tell us about other games that are still a year or more down the pipeline? I understand the mass panic now: we don’t care about what’s coming out in the short term but we’d rather sit and wait for what’s coming out this time next year. My mistake, carry on.
The Fridge!
They didn’t include a terabyte of internal memory with the Wii, how dare they. Actually this is the most valid argument on this list. The system of deleting data in order to make space to download new games is a bit of an obtuse decision. We do like to hoard our games and collect them all, so why can’t we do the same with our virtually bought ones? I just don’t know. But believe me when I say it is possible to make do with clearing out your fridge when need be- once you begin with it, you develop a ruthless streak that makes it easier to remove things from the fridge every time you need to do it.
Rare
Nintendo and Rare parted ways during the GC days and we still feel like we’re waiting for that space to be filled. During the N64 days Nintendo and Rare complimented each other perfectly and basically carried the machine through its lifespan, imagine that dream team at work on the Wii. Well atleast we can console ourselves with the fact that Rare have hardly set the world alight with their Xbox and Xbox 360 showings, but that isn’t to say that things would be so mundane if they were developing for the Wii. The Wiimote + Perfect Dark would blow anything out of the water (including Metroid Prime) and we would even get GoldenEye on the VC.
Too Much Success
The sudden turn of fortunes for Nintendo has caused them to rest on their laurels and just let the cash roll in. It’s a thought that lurks in the back of even the staunchest fanboy’s mind. So is it true? Well it’s true that Nintendo have changed, whether that’s for the better or worse is yet to be conclusively judged. In the meantime we should enjoy this new brand of gaming, if nothing else, the Wii has refreshed and reinvigorated gaming and has shown us that its really not just about upping the power of the consoles.
Nintendo Suck because it’s Cool to Hate Them
Just as it was cool to hate the N64 and GC for being kiddy, its also the cool thing to hate the Wii- if you are a “hardcore gamer.” Now that the Wii is the leading console and everyone and their grandmother is playing it, the machine can in no way be accepted by the gaming community. Rally the troops! We must change to supporting the PS360 and whatnot! Haven’t you heard, Wii Sports isn’t what real gamers play, you’re better sticking with the old ways of playing games, yeah, its all about the button mashing like it has been forever. Its cool to have to install your games, its cool to have to go through several SKU’s to find the one you think suits you best, its cool to own a machine which is guaranteed to break down on you rather than being guaranteed to last you long-term. If the Wii is apparently going to be outlasted by the other consoles predicted longer lifespans, then why is it that the Wii is the one that’s most reliable and most likely to last you a decade without breaking down? Ironic.
Labels: Nintendo, Top 10, Wii
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posted by darksnowman @ 19:50  |
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| Fanning the Flames - Do Fanboys Have a Place? |
| Sunday, 7 September 2008 |
 As each company carves their own direction this generation, we take a look at the fans that helped put the companies where they are and whether there is a place for them in the current gaming climate.
This is perhaps my most personal Fanning the Flames yet. I have now written three pieces and covered various topics. Two in particular would be very easy to read and awesome I am a fanboy of either company X or company Y, I have even been accused of such in the comments. It seems that by praising any one company in a manner which others don't agree with means you must be a fanboy simply for presenting something in a light that either is disagreed with or not a common view.
The most hardcore fanboy will defend their chosen company to the death almost. Throwing insults at each other on forums without a thought towards each others feelings. Whilst most dismiss this as idle banter it can very messy very quickly, just look at the case studies of Denis Dyack and Luc Bernard. They all think their consoles are the best, have the best games and deserving of that much coveted worldwide majority share.
It could be argued that fanboy's of each of the big three have reasons to secretly feel aggrieved. Sony fans will definitely feel that the depth and diversity they have become accustomed to is currently absent. Nintendo fans will deride the casual direction of the company when their last console the Gamecube was clearly a game machine for them, none of this paradigm shifting, if anything Microsoft fans must be the most relaxed. They get the most exclusives, biggest library, best online service but even some of them may skeptical at the companies desperation to capture the market.
So does the average fanboy have a place in today's climate? Surely if you want to witness all the delights this generation has to offer you cannot afford to be so fiercely loyal to one side? Can you really afford to deride each other for the decisions made by companies just out to make money. Whilst they do prey on this loyalty (look at Nintendo's exploitation of their fans by slowly iterating on their franchises) They do also reward fans patience by eventually giving them what they want, Nintendo with Smash Brothers, Microsoft can always be relied on to provide more Halo games and Sony are slowly bringing their popular franchises to PS3. So it's not all bad there are some rewards.
However can these rewards be off set by the advantages of looking at the industry with an open mind? This isn't something that would fit well with most, changing loyalties to platform holder for many would be akin to changing which football team you have. However viewing the industry with no bias can be a great feeling and a refreshing change. If you ever find your loyalty tested you should perhaps try it out.
So back to why this is personal, its worth mentioning that I am a long time Nintendo fanboy who feels he is not getting what he used to from his childhood heroes. What is Miyamoto playing at? He is the man whose ever word I lingered on and now he's stood up on stage playing his pretend saxophone. I now find myself having bought a Playstation 3 whilst previously I wouldn't touch a Dualshock controller and I am now actually considering picking up a 360. Where does this leave my Wii, with an inch thick layer of dust on it that is only going to get thicker as the winter nights draw in. Labels: Fanning The Flames, Features, Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony
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| posted by flameboy @ 15:01 |
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| NWTD: Geldof blasts Nintendo |
| Friday, 22 August 2008 |
  Sir Bob Geldof has gone off on a sweary, crazed rant again. Although this time it isn't about third world poverty, it's about a brutal underground animal fighting syndicate held by Nintendo employees. Geldof, 56, held a conference today at his bungalow in Slough.
Geldof was visibly angry as he described how Nintendo employees went out into the wild to search for animals for their sick game. "The animals normally hide in long grass to avoid detection by humans" said Sir Bob. "Once the employee has found an appropriate animal, he captures it in a small red and white trap." He then goes on to describe the trap. "It's the size of your fockin fist!" Said Geldof, holding up one of the traps "Some of these animals are as big as a car! That's just fockin cruel, not to mention physically ludicrous." yelled Geldof
Geldof then went on to describe what happens once the poor animals are brought back to the Nintendo offices. "The poor things are then only released to fight each other until one faints. At which point it is returned to its trap and taken to the vets. The little fockers aren't even allowed out of their traps when they're being treated, the doctors just heal them while they're in there and send them out to fight again" Sir Bob described how brutal the fights can be, including lightning and fire attacks leaving many animals permanently scarred and traumatised.
And the worst part is the people responsible aren't even content with capturing a few animals. The motto for the group is "gotta catch 'em all", implying that they won't stop until they have every breed of animal captured in their tiny cages. Geldof named the person responsible for researching the creatures as "Professor Oak". "The worst part is, only this Oak chap really knows about the creatures. Most people don't even know they fockin exist!"
Gamingcorner approached Nintendo bosses but they have been advised not to talk to the press by their lawyers. More on this story as we get it. Labels: Nintendo, Now watch this drive, NWTD, Pokemon
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| posted by goaferboy @ 11:00 |
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| Nintendo's Current Direction |
| Wednesday, 13 August 2008 |
 Now I don't want this article to come across as me going on a long rant about Nintendo because I am still quite a big fan of theres. The problem is that I rarely plan out what I am going to write ahead of time and some anger that I have about Nintendo's direction in gaming may bubble to the surface in here.
I just wanted to write down my feelings about how Nintendo have approached this generation, with the Wii and to a lesser extent the DS.
I guess my main problem at the moment would be the same as a lot of people. Nintendo seem to be focusing more and more on the casual gaming market. Now for them this is an approach that has paid off, their profits have been very good. Especially considering how poorly the GameCube did for them. Unfortunately for those of us who have been with Nintendo for a long time, we are starting to feel left out and un-catered for. Yes, Nintendo made a point of releasing some big names early in the Wii's life but this just isn't good enough, not when its competitors are getting big name exclusives.
Nintendo's view on graphics and power for consoles would be my next complaint. They have stated time and time again that you don't need a powerful console to make good games. Now I may agree with this to a point (If you read my retro posts you will know I prefer older games anyway) but because of the Wii's lack of power we are missing out on multiformat games that could bring more credibility to the console. Graphical power is unfortunately a big draw in the current gaming world. I know a lot of people who consider the Wii a kids console because of its more cartoony graphics. Once again I do not agree with this personally but the way things are going at the moment, games are taken less seriously by certain people if their graphics are not top notch.
The lack of third party interest in the console would be another worry. I mean the sheer amount of party games released for it is terrible. I think there are several reasons for third parties shying away from the console. They are still not sure yet what to do with this new control scheme. I have read interviews from many developers praising Nintendo in taking this step but how many of them have actually used them well? I think the power and graphics points I made earlier will be more problems for developers. They will know that creating more complicated games will make them more profit on the other two consoles so the Wii will once again be relegated to easier, more casual games. Finally I believe Nintendo's example is influencing developers. They will see Nintendo releasing brilliant games like Super Mario Galaxy or Resident Evil 4 (Wii Edition) but then for every one of these games they will release a load of party games.
Taking a quick look at the Amazon.co.uk Best Sellers List for Wii here are the top 10 games:
- Wii Fit
- Guitar Hero III
- Wii Play
- Mario Kart
- Carnival: Fun Fair Games
- Mario & Sonic At The Olympics
- Big Beach Sports
- Super Smash Bros. Brawl
- Family Ski
- Big Brain Academy
Now I would say roughly half of those are worth playing and possibly the best on the list (SSBB) is near the bottom.
Considering how well Xbox Live has done you would think that Nintendo would have finally caught on to creating a proper online gaming community. Once again though, not so much. Instead we have overly complicated Wii Console Numbers and we get a weather channel, something im sure a lot of gamers were just gagging for!
Now yes I think the Virtual Console is good and WiiWare is coming along. But it also just seems so small compared to the Xbox Live Arcade or the PSN. I may not be the biggest fan of online gaming but I have had hours of fun playing Call Of Duty 4 online. I cannot say the same for the Wii. I really do hope Nintendo take a hard look at online gaming for their next console, they need to build a proper community which is easy to access.
Now, onto the control system. I was extremely sceptical when it was first announced but I gave it the benefit of the doubt. When the Wii was released I spent months trying to get hold of one. Once I did, I enjoyed playing Zelda and Wii Sports. But soon all that started to change, I began feeling like the controls were losing their appeal and feeling almost gimmicky (a word I usually hate being attributed to Nintendo). I actually sold my first Wii, I was missing the more simple controls I was used to, being able to sit anywhere instead of in front of a bar on top of my television so that everything registered properly.
I think with the controls that Nintendo possibly tried to do too much too fast. As I mentioned earlier, developers just haven't done much with these new controls but I think if they had been introduced gradually this may have led to some games using them a lot better.
Now I did mention the DS at the start of the article but I think it has fared a lot better than the Wii when it comes to a good selection of games for all interests. We still have all the casual and party games that I have been complaining about but there is also some brilliant games on there, in a wide range of genres. This is how Nintendo need to start working on the Wii, they need to make sure all their audiences are happy instead of just throwing the more loyal Nintendo fans a Mario game every now and again.
Well, reading back on that I realise that it does in fact come across as very anti-Nintendo. But I guess that's the way I am feeling about them currently and theres no point trying to change that.
I think this years E3 would be the obvious thing to mention for Nintendo's current direction. They seem to think that showing the more hardcore of the fans a new Animal Crossing game will appease them and then filling the rest of the conference with a snowboarding game and the new Wii Sports title.
A change is definitely needed in Nintendo, unfortunately though I don't see it coming anytime soon. They are making the money they want and unless these new markets they have opened up are a temporary thing then they will keep making that money.
If you want to talk about this article you can either post a comment on the blog or join the forum as there will be a thread in the "Articles" section.Labels: Features, Nintendo
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| posted by Happenstance @ 17:42 |
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| The Best and Worst of Mario |
| Monday, 11 August 2008 |
Hot on the heels of our latest Fanning the Flames feature we take a look at the best and worst of the Mario titles, the games Nintendo should be taking forward with them and the games best left in the past and consigned to the scrapheap.
3D Platformers
Best - Mario 64 (N64)
What can be said about SM64 that hasn’t been said before? Mario’s first 3D outing is given the honour of defining the 3D platformers. Every one of them owes a debt in one way or another to Mario whether it’s the perfect analogue stick controls, the faultless camera controls or the idea of platforming collection based missions outside of the usual A to B premise. (Donkey Kong 64 however famously took collection far too far). The title was jam packed full of little nuances, stand out levels and inspiring moments of brilliance which many games since have failed to come close to matching. There have been games since that have come close to its brilliance and those that have even built upon and surpassed various elements of the game but it will always be remembered as the definitive 3D platformer. Yes the recent Super Mario Galaxy was sublime but Mario 64 has to be remember for everything it did for 3D platforming and for shaping the direction the genre has taken ever since.
Worst - Mario Clash (VB)
Mario Clash was a Virtual Boy game that was headache inducing (usual for the console) though also because of the migraine-inducing gameplay. It was basically a 3D update of the original Mario Bros game and involved clearing a stage of it’s enemies. This entails a boring and dreary mechanic of getting koopa shells and throwing them either into or away from the screens and trying to hit other enemies and knock them into the pit. Where it all comes tumbling down is that Mario cannot aim for love nor money, resulting in what looks like a prefect throw go hurtling past an enemy. The game had 40 levels although oddly no save system meaning you could pick to start on whatever level you choose to. The graphics, despite their red nature, aren’t actually that bad - with Mario’s model being relatively well detailed and some of the levels platforms showing good attention to detail. However none of this helps to make up for a 2D game that never should have strayed into the 3D world of the Virtual Boy.
2D Platformers
Best - Super Mario Brothers 3 (NES)
There are so many games that perhaps could lay claim to this title; the original Super Mario Bros. for the way it defined the 2D platformer, or perhaps Super Mario World for being the ultimate refinement of 2D Mario, or how about Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island, with it’s gorgeous canyon drawn backgrounds? Despite all these titles’ claims to the title. There can be only one best 2D platformer; Super Mario Brothers 3. After the slight sidestep that was the Doku Doku Panic remake Super Mario Brothers 2, the world was introduced to this beauty. Nintendo decided to go back to purity of the original and build upon those mechanics. Adding an overworld map added depth, as players planned their route hoping not to bump into Hammer Bros or even worse Koopa’s airship. In the levels themselves the innovations continued, with the new power ups in the form of suits. The frog and tanooki were awesome - but the most incredible and gaming changing was the racoon suit. It opened a whole new level of movement around the levels and coupled with the new scrolling system (which allowed the player to go backwards, up, and diagonally beyond the usual flat plain) gave an entirely new sense of freedom, which was needed to discover some of the well hidden secrets the game had to offer. SMB3 was perhaps the biggest cultural phenomenon in gaming at the time, resulting in more merchandise being released than you could shake a Goomba at; lunch boxes, clothing and of course the Super Mario Bros 3 cartoon. Although it had dreadful voice acting, it helped to retell the Mario story via other media and was perhaps the only TV show that kept kids away from their NES.
Worst - Hotel Mario (CDi)
Actually more like a Puzzle game, but it’s original conception as a sequel to the sublime Super Mario World and its own position as perhaps the worst Mario game of all time means it simply has to be included in this list. Nintendo famously allowed two of its key franchises - Mario and Zelda - to appear on Phillips’ CDi machine. This ended up leading to some of the most derided games in both franchises' history. One of the first titles planned was Super Mario’s Wacky Worlds, intended as a game set in the real world which would use and improve upon the superb mechanics of Super Mario World. However this proved to not be possible with the CDi hardware so the games assets and resources were transferred over to Hotel Mario... and what a mistake that proved to be. The title did actually have a similar structure to Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World, though instead of visiting the Koopa Kids’ castles, the mission was to bring down their hotel empire. The story was presented by poorly animated cartoons with awful voice acting. Once these were over, the game was simple puzzle solving, with a littering of Mario universe characters coming out of their hotel rooms to cause trouble and prevent Mario from reaching the elevator to the rooftop boss battles. These battles were not even close to the worst boss battles from previous Mario games. These were uniquely bad. Never before has "steaming turd" so aptly described a video game.
Sports
Best - Mario Tennis (N64)
Now this was a tough call. Camelot bring a lot of class and pedigree to their Mario Golf series, meaning their two entries in that series were both in contention. However the slow paced nature of these meant that multiplayer could sometimes become tiresome with four players. Whereas the fast paced tennis gameplay made four player sessions an incredible, long lasting and highly enjoyable experience. The sheer pace and exhilaration of a match clenching rally is something only a select few tennis game have ever managed. Nintendo attempted to build on this game with the GameCube sequel Mario Power Tennis, however the overpowering nature of the power ups meant the game never hit the same level of portraying one of the worlds greatest sports.
Worst - Mario’s Tennis (VB)
The second Virtual Boy title to feature as a “Worst” nominee and (the also second of only two Mario games that hit the system). For everything that Mario Tennis did right, Mario’s Tennis did wrong. It had too few gameplay modes and what you did play wasn’t up to much; Awful animation, awful AI... just plain, well, awful. There was a two player mode via linking up two Virtual Boys, but the link cable never saw a release making the option some what redundant. As usual with Virtual Boy games it was also headache inducing. The game was also too slow and had none of the excitement needed in a tennis match making this game one of the worst sports simulations ever.
Karting
Best - Mario Kart DS
Karting could technically fall into the sports section, but such has been the influence of the series that we consider it more than deserving of its own category. Mario Kart DS is arguably the best in the series. It dumped all of the GameCube versions' unnecessary features and added some of its own. Mario Kart DS added a wealth of new tracks as well as including some classics. One feature taken from Double Dash!! however was the option to use different karts, each with its own unique shape and stats, with drivers free to pick any vehicle they have unlocked. The greatest addition to this title however has to be addictive wifi multiplayer, which surely has to be one of the most played games on the DS’ online service. Great graphics and tight, responsive controls help to polish off a fantastic title and a must-have for every DS owner.
Worst - Mario Kart: Double Dash (GC)
While by no means terrible, the two passengers idea didn’t really work out. Chuck in a load of unbalanced character specific items and the game felt a lot more random and a lot less skill based. Undeniably one of the better looking Mario Kart, with great character animations in the karts and varied and colourful, and a smattering of well designed levels means, this game isn't without its redeeming features.
Handheld Games
Best - Super Mario Land (GB)
Before this title was released much was made of whether the murky green screen of the Game Boy could really do Mario justice. Gunpei Yokei's title proved all its doubters wrong arguably providing one of the best Mario platformers out there. Cracking level design with some original new enemies and situations helped this game along as did the iconic opening music (which was unfortunately remixed into a song that hit the UK music charts). The title also added shooting levels which have not really caught on with the rest of the series (though Super Paper Mario had one level that included space based shooting) despite actually being highly playable and a welcome addition to break up the main platforming levels. Hopefully the rumours of a Virtual Console service for the DS will ring true and see a reintroduction of this title to a new generation.
Worst - Wario Master of Disguise (DS)
Not technically a Mario handheld title, but it's still in the universe and unfortunately is remembered more for what it got wrong than what it got right. Wario’s first DS outing abandoned the gameplay mechanics that had served him so well in the previous Wario Land titles. Instead drawing on the premise of Wario taking various disguises but this fulls down owing to the awful symbol recognition used to switch between the various guises. Unfortunately a little too often it will for recognize your drawing wrongly, resulting in annoyances such as facing a boss dressed in the ineffective artist costume. Couple this with some generic and just plain boring platforming and you are left with a title that leaves a lot to be desired.
Miscellaneous
Best - Mario Paint (SNES)
Mario Paint is at its heart just a simple version of Paint. However add in a delightful mixture of Mario inspired features and a bundled in mouse helped round off a nice package. It had all the basic paint feature but also the ability to create various stamps (Nintendo Power in America helped users to do this) as well as the option to create animations, however a lack of being to distribute these movies (other than record them to VHS) meant a lot of fantastic creations have likely never been see. Following on from the animations option Mario Paint also contains perhaps one of the best and easy to use music editors ever; go on Youtube and watch “Mario Paint Halo” if you’re in any doubt as to what can be achieved on it. The mouse helped make it a joy to control and edit everything and also meant the inclusion of the mini game Gnat Attack to show off the precision that mouse control could offer.
Worst - Mario Teaches Typing (DOS/Windows)
As an alternative to this title perhaps consider buying a stopwatch and opening Word, timing yourself and using word count to help calculate your WPM (Words per Minute). Imagine a kid’s excitement on Christmas Day and unwrapping a Mario game only to say “What... I have to type words on a keyboard to make him break blocks and kill Goombas? There’s no joypad?” The characters jumped and squashed enemies just like you expect, but all the fun was taken out of the game by the fact that you had to type out words like APPLE and ELEPHANT to get Mario, Peach or Toad to go through the levels. Nintendo didn’t actually create this, instead licensing out the Mario rights, which just makes the game reek like the cynical cash-in it is.
There are of course plenty of other honourable mentions that didn’t fit into these categories; Luigi’s Mansion for its unique and fun Ghostbusters style (and also for the fact it righted the wrongs of Luigi’s first solo effort, the awful education history title Mario’s Missing). It's a crime, but we didn't manage to squeeze in any of the RPGs, though Super Mario RPG on the SNES was a major contender for the Misc category (though it’s lack of release across the world ruled it out). The Paper Mario titles definitely deserve a mention for its fantastic fan humour that litters each of the games. Finally, Wrecking Crew for NES needs to get a bit of screen space for it’s destructive mayhem - plus the semi-introduction of Wario in the form of Construction Foreman Spike and for its great level designer which was relatively unheard of at the time.Labels: Best and Worst, Features, Nintendo, Super Mario
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| posted by flameboy @ 12:00 |
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| E3; Round Up |
| Wednesday, 23 July 2008 |
This years E3 despite what you may have read wasn’t without merit. There were three conferences each with their own style and each had some highlights and moments that should have perhaps stayed at the rehearsal. We analysis each of the platform holders offerings, first up is numero uno Nintendo.
Unfortunately Nintendo’s conference can for the second year running be described with just one word “casual” the current buzzword in gaming.
Despite this though it is hard to see quite what gamers expected. E3 as an event has very much evolved; there are more members of the mainstream press than ever before, publications such as USA Today and mainstream entertainment magazines ran stories on the event and will likely cover many of the products when they launch. With this in mind Nintendo showed to this crowd the types of games that when reported in the mainstream press will get the casual audience interested.
Nintendo did not disappoint in this respect, delivering plenty to keep the casual gamer pleased. Wii Sports Resort whilst offering somewhat strange sports still looks like it will provide the same Wow-Wii moments that Wii Sports originally offered. Packaged with Wii Sports Resort will come the Wii MotionPlus, a little block that plugs into the wiimote and gives complete 1:1 motion sensing capabilities, something wanted by hardcore gamers across the world. Which is why it seems strange that Nintendo didn’t reveal a game that will use this 1:1 motion whilst appealing to the more hardcore gamer, instead just teasing with this whilst offering no real killer app for the device left everyone wanting more. The 1:1 movement was perfect however and was really shown off during the Frisbee throwing game and sword fighting, but to a lesser extent on the jet ski game, whilst no other sports were revealed it is hoped that we will see more mainstream competitive sports.
Whilst there can be little doubting that Wii MotionPlus is a fantastic innovation, Nintendo’s arrogance with regards to its release cannot be understated. There have been reports that the announcement actually took developers by surprise and some have even allegedly gone as far to say they feel “betrayed”. For Nintendo not to have given out dev kits for this new hardware or at the very least inform them shows the company of old under Yamauchi where they believed they could just do what they wanted and everyone would jump into line and follow them blindly. Whether we will see enough new games developed with this in mind remains to be seen.
Animal Crossing; City Folk was by far the biggest and most anticipated game that actually got announced. Whilst it’s easy to dismiss Animal Crossing as a purely casual game it does in fact have some very hardcore elements to it, at its heart if you distil it down to the lowest gaming denominator you will find a game not too dissimilar to the likes of Diablo, a game all based around loot. Whilst yes it does have a decidedly kiddy charming look to appeal to the masses it still has that collectathon loot aspect that will keep the hardcore trying to earn enough money and do enough jobs to get the gifts they deserve. It comes with just enough features to keep the fans happy, as Nintendo proves how good there are at iterating on their franchises offering nothing ground breaking but enough new stuff to avoid criticism. One major new feature and one the game has been crying out for since the forever is voice chat. Coinciding with the release of the game will come the Wii Speak microphone, not a head set but instead a more sociable tv mounted mic that will allow for inter family communication on a large scale.
The final game to be shown off was Wii Music. The stage went dark and the big build up of suspense was felt throughout the auditorium. Fanboys across the world were going “OMG Zelda” “OMG Kid Icarus” “OMG Punchout” and all were thinking WTF when a man was seen using the wiimote, nunchuk and balance board playing the drums and then Shigeru Miyamoto came out to play the saxophone doing little more than moving the wiimote up and down and pressing a few buttons. He revealed that this is not a hardcore music game like high level Guitar Hero and Rock Band play. It instead concentrates on being accessible. The music plays and you can alter pitch and such like by moving the wiimote and pressing buttons, but the basic tune still plays regardless of your performance, your music playing adds to it rather than makes it. The drum functionality does have some cool features offering a full drumming tutorial, how well these lessons could be transferred from Wii to drum kit remains to be seen. Whilst it may intrigue a lot of people this next game in the Wii franchise is not going to be the killer app Wii Sports and Wii Fit are and likely won’t sell any where near as many copies as Wii Play. It does however potentially offer the most socially orientated music game, it is easy to imagine families having a jam session on the drums and guitar and inviting Grandfather in to play one of the more relaxed instruments.
There was very little to get excited about with regards to DS, GTA; Chinatown Wars was announced but nothing bar the logo was shown. Nintendo seems to have faith in third parties to continue to sell the console whilst their older titles such as Brain Training and New Super Mario Brothers keep on racking up the sales to new adopters.
Where was Wiiware?! Nintendo’s service clearly has so much potential but we are yet to see much in the way of quality 1st Party support, there were heavy rumours suggesting a Wiiware Zelda title and it can only be assumed that these were either shown behind closed doors or will be revealed in future events. With no mention of it at all Nintendo clearly felt that E3 was not the place, whilst Microsoft and Sony showed off some impressive looking XBL and PSN games that have received much praise. This perhaps proves Nintendo have made a mistake in this respect.
Nintendo did reveal during a post conference roundtable something for the hardcore. Pikmin 3 is indeed in development and that the Zelda and Mario teams are indeed at work on something. It is clear that Nintendo Loyalists need to readjust their expectations about what they get from E3 and that the titles for them will either not be announced at all or in the case of Wario Land; Shake It for example, shown off in advance. Relying on the conference for the big franchise reveals now seems a thing of the past.
.Labels: E3, Features, Nintendo
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| posted by flameboy @ 15:31 |
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