Topic: Extremely biased "The Age" Blog in Australia

[Aussiedude]

The Blog from "The Age" newspaper in Australia is so uterly biased against Nintendo it makes you wonder if they have shares in Sony Or MS. Surprisingly most of the comments to the blog blast it, surprising since majority of gamers here are MS or Sony players.

Full Source text, Non 100% copied portions below

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Nintendo knows third-party support has been its Achilles heel in the past and obviously wants to be seen to be addressing the situation, for example giving Ubisoft centre stage at its E3 press conference to demonstrate shoot-'em-up Red Steel.

But the fact that Red Steel and other seemingly average fare like SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab and Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam got such prominence at Nintendo's press conference only highlights Wii's dearth of 3rd-party software.

Red Steel is far from "Average Fare", some of the others maybe.

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Not only do third-parties have to contend with the strength of franchises like Mario and Zelda for shelf space and consumer dollars, but they also have little assistance from Nintendo, who is famous for its secrecy, even within its own organisation.

Wrong. Nintendo more than willing to work early with company's such as Ubifoft who got on early.

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It's no wonder most publishers have sunk the majority of their resources into Xbox 360 and PS3 development. Nintendo already has a massive head-start on the third-parties whose developers are probably only now getting to grips with the possibilities of Wii's motion-sensor controllers.

The situation mirrors that of the Nintendo DS. While DS has been a spectacular success for Nintendo, with sales of over 20 million units around the world, Nintendo absolutely dominates software sales.

Wrong. This occured because most third parties had no faith in DS or Wii.

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Review scores show that third-party manufacturers have been unable to utilise the benefits of the DS console's twin displays and touch-screen as quickly as the console manufacturer. Metacritic's DS Top 20 contains only five titles not published by Nintendo.

Because most third party games on DS are crap. Ace Attornet, Atlus medical game, Castlevania and soon to be released FF game proves quality third party can sell. The fact most 3rd parties jumped on board late means they have to ruch out "crapier" than usual games.

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The message for game fans is to be careful what you wish for. We're all salivating at the prospect of innovative motion-sensing Mario, Metroid and Zelda games, but certainly not at the expense of next-gen versions of the likes of Grand Theft Auto, Pro Evolution Soccer, Prince of Persia, Final Fantasy, Need for Speed, Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil, Burnout, Guitar Hero, Elder Scrolls, V8 Supercars, Splinter Cell, et al...

Wrong. These games would simply move to the more affordable Wii system.  

[Dasmos]

LOL!!

This isn't as biased as you think.

[Infernal Monkey]

Haha, the last bit makes it seem like it's against the law to own more than one console.

[Mario]

Friggin Guitar Hero? Give me a BREAK, that's the biggest straw clutch i've ever seen in my entire life. How on earth would Guitar Hero like games be worse on Wii? Has he heard of Wii Orchestra? Wii is going to be so awesome for music games, and most of those games he listed could benefit hugely from it.

[GoldenPhoenix]

Is it just me or did they seem list every popular franchise without much regard for quality with that snippet? Oh no we sure don't want to make Mario and Zelda at the expense of innovative franchises like Need for Speed.

[Aussiedude]

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Originally posted by: VGrevolution
Is it just me or did they seem list every popular franchise without much regard for quality with that snippet? Oh no we sure don't want to make Mario and Zelda at the expense of innovative franchises like Need for Speed.

He listed all the games that are most popular here. What he seems most concerned about is the Wii will succede here.

Oh! Guitar Hero is a real fun game, very popular here. But it would actually be more suited to Wii, where you could plug the Wii-mote into a guitar shell with the added advantge of having movement game elements like a person waving the guitar around like a real rock star. And other players could play drums and other instruments at the same time.

 

[Aussiedude]

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Originally posted by: Dasmos
LOL!!

This isn't as biased as you think.

The majority of comments in the blog think it is. It could have been a good article, one can see some of the things he is alluding too if it was written in a possitive way.

[Mario]

Or they could just use real instruments, for cheaper.

I've seen many Guitar Hero setups in malls around the place, they attract a fair amount of attention for a poser pretending to play a song. Imagine how much a playable Wii would generate.

[Dasmos]

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Originally posted by: Aussiedude

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Originally posted by: Dasmos
LOL!!

This isn't as biased as you think.

The majority of comments in the blog think it is. It could have been a good article, one can see some of the things he is alluding too if it was written in a possitive way.

Okay, what I meant was the points you had labelled as wrong had an element of truth to them.

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Originally posted by: Mario
Or they could just use real instruments, for cheaper.

Plus it's alot more fun and rewarding playing a real guitar compared to a small plastic one with 5 buttons.  

[Requiem]

Ya, but real guitars a really hard to play!


Anyway, I think this guy is afraid of Nintendo dominating. He thinks that third parties will die under Nintendo's quality barrier. Meaning that Nintendo will get all the software sales.

What he doesn't realize is that Nintendo fans are videogame fans, and no matter who makes the game, if it's good we'll buy it. That's why I think it would be great if Nintendo did dominate because now third parties are pressured into competing against Nintendo. They have to make higher quality games then they are use to. All in all, more higher quality games for us, the end user!

[Smash_Brother]

Reminds me of Zdnet Australia, which is the most anti-Mac site I've ever seen which absolutely grasps at straws when it comes to Mac bashing.

Consider this nothing more than another frivolous analyst with his head up his ass. I've seen people excited for the Wii who shouldn't even KNOW about the Wii.

It's like Nintendo snuck a hype-generating enzyme into the water supply of the world...

[Strell]

Anyone who is talking about "using real guitars" obviously hasn't played Guitar Hero.

It's not meant to be a substitute for playing a real guitar.  You are comparing apples to oranges.  Just like how DDR won't teach you how to dance.

Now what it might do is give you a bit more rhythm and prepare you for a little hand movement here and there.  But of course it won't make you a guitarist.

Plus, I don't know if this somehow escaped you, but real guitars cost much more than a game controller.  

I also challenge anyone who actually plays a guitar to sit down with Guitar Hero and play the expert songs, especially "Ready to Rokk," "Bark at the Moon," and "Cowboys From Hell."  Sure, you probably stand a good chance and picking it up, but the skill sets really aren't the same.

[EasyCure]

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Originally posted by: Strell
Anyone who is talking about "using real guitars" obviously hasn't played Guitar Hero.

It's not meant to be a substitute for playing a real guitar.  You are comparing apples to oranges.  Just like how DDR won't teach you how to dance.

Now what it might do is give you a bit more rhythm and prepare you for a little hand movement here and there.  But of course it won't make you a guitarist.

Plus, I don't know if this somehow escaped you, but real guitars cost much more than a game controller.  

I also challenge anyone who actually plays a guitar to sit down with Guitar Hero and play the expert songs, especially "Ready to Rokk," "Bark at the Moon," and "Cowboys From Hell."  Sure, you probably stand a good chance and picking it up, but the skill sets really aren't the same.

QFT. even a somewhat crappy guitar can cost you atleast 500 dollars, from a good brand guitar anyways. cheapest guitars i've seen are usually $100 and play like crap. then you have to add the cost of amps and/or pedals depending on how good you want your set-up to be. then the lesser items like cables, straps, pics, tuners, strings, and if you're like me and want to keep it in best condition, a good cleaning kit or two.

and dont even get me started on drums.....