Quote
Originally posted by: Ian Sane
The whole thing is kind of ironic because for years I would suggest things Nintendo should do to get back on top and tons of people accused me of wanting Nintendo to be too much like Sony and target the casuals. I didn't want that but the idea then of actually increasing the market share was sometimes seen as compromising what Nintendo was. Now they're on their way to being back on top by being even MORE casual then Sony ever was and by very obviously changing and any criticism of that on this board is now a minority opinion. Those who didn't want Nintendo to sell out before now support them for doing so.
I can't disagree with you more on this Ian. I've been argueing for Nintendo to abandon the high-tech wars and differentiate themselves since halfway through the Cube generation, whish is exactly what we're seeing now. As a Nintendo fan from practically birth (drawing Zelda maps for Mom when I was a wee kid... was I 3?) this is EXACTLY what I want Nintendo to be. I don't know how much cred you need to have to be the type of gamer you describe Ian, but I'm someone with an NES and SNES in my history who LOVES the fact that Nintendo is living up to its potential in innovation, in creating new experiences, and in not getting caught up in comparing e-peen lengths with Sony and MS.
Do I want hardcore games? YOU BET! I've been pining away for a GOOD Secret of Mana sequel for ages. I'm an RPG fan... who hasn't played an RPG he's liked in years. I want RTS' and Simulations and secretly pine away for Peter Molyneux's Fable (maybe I'll buy it on PC...). I want adventure games and arcade space flight sims... and I have NOTHING bad to say about the PS3 lineup (except the games that got delayed out of it). And there's a small, nostalgic part of me that asks "Why can't all golf games be more like Links?" That part also wants to design it's own Free Lancer universe.
... but that's only part of me. Above and beyond that I want to be entertained with new experiences. I DON'T believe in static gaming, or static interfaces. I miss the level of interaction that computer joysticks gave me back in the day when I could afford them. I DON'T believe that merely because things become prettier, they're all of a sudden new and exciting. Freelancer is the same thing Privateer... with a snazzy new mouse-flying system, but essentialy THE SAME. I accept the wonders of graphical excellence, but my relationship to the game itself remains paramount, not superficialities.
The Wii speaks straight to that within me. Now there are more games that can expand the experiences that the Superscope hinted to me back with the SNES, there are games that will inspire the same simple mindlink that I got when playing (Hot?) Coffee Break in Mario Paint, there are games that FINALLY don't use the dual analog control set-up that I HATEHATEHATE in FPS games that I dearly want to play (but not competitively). And... there's the possibility of cheaper games (I don't care how graphical you are, I'd prefer not to pay $60 if I can) and indie games (Blast Fighters? de Blob?) and for games from more zany, more unpredicatble small developers (Space Station Tycoon). Maybe we'll even get some sandbox experiences from Rockstar, a company I first latched onto after getting a taste of their world design in Body Harvest 64.
And with the Wii, the future is wide-open. The chiefest attraction is that it ISN'T a Gamecube 2, a PS-whatever, an XBox-yeah. I've always played Nintendo not only because they made the best games of their kind, but because their games were always different and unique in some fundamental way. This is why Zelda games are so hard to genre-fy, they're not simple action-adventure games. They're ZELDA games. Finally, after the disappointment of the Gamecube sequel era (Pikmin not withstanding) I can see that old uniqueness and individuality returning with a vengeance. And this time, not only from Nintendo, but possibly from an entire industry.
You think they're dumbing down games Ian? You think that Nintendo has gone more mainstream than Madden? I never hated mainstream (except when I was a flaming fanboi... but those are not times to be proud of). I enjoyed Sims. I enjoyed Halo... much like I ate up Perfect Dark's co-op mode, I beat Halo 2 in a night with my younger brother. I enjoyed Fatty Bear's Birthday surprise (a surprisingly good adventure game from my childhood!). Heck, believe it or not, I'm perfectly willing to PLAY Madden when I have some company, because cooperation is fun, and I actually find football to be a pretty neat sport! ... and for the first 6 months of my original Playstation's life, I played an NBA basketball game with my dad every night (and yelled about how the computer cheated on hard mode).
And you know what? I hear that
Hannah Montana: Music Jam is turning out BETTER than Ubisoft's Jam Sessions!!!
So you can go on hating what is essentially a gamer drift AWAY FROM YOU, but I can't help but see the possibility that Nintendo might have unlocked a hidden treasure trove where gaming, in all its senses, explodes all of a sudden in every direction, exploding with newness and uniqueness and experimentation, exploding with radically new experiences that I've always searched for in the past, whether it be through Syndicate, or Mario Paint. This isn't a Nintendo that's betraying me. This is a Nintendo that's fulfilling me.