Topic: Ninja Gaiden 3 Razor's Edge Confirmed as Wii U Launch Title

[TJ Spyke]

The NES did not launch with a bundle (either Japan or North America), it was only when Nintendo was getting ready to expand the NES from NYC/LA to national that they bundled it. So it depends on whether you want to look at the NES's first launch in the US or its national one, the former would mean that only  2 of their 5 consoles had bundled games at launch.

The market reacts to what people buy. If plenty of people buy "hardcore" games for the Wii U, then publishers will release more of them.

[Ian Sane]

I would like it if Nintendo found a sweet spot in a game that both audiences enjoy.  When the Wii launched there was some talk about easing casuals and non-gamers into videogames.  Didn't happen.  They got dumbed down wimp games and that's all they played.  It wasn't like Wii Sports hooked them in and then were playing Metroid Prime 3.  They got in with Wii Sports and then just played Wii Fit and Carnival Games and either casual titles.

I think Nintendo doesn't give casuals much credit.  I believe Wii Sports was a big mainstream hit because "Holy ****!  I swing the controller and the guy on the screen does it too!"  It was poor man's virtual reality.  They didn't come because the graphics were so basic or that you could only play three innnings in baseball and couldn't even control the fielders or move in tennis.  I think the dumbed down presentation was optional.

In the past Tetris attracted a wide audience and it was not dumbed down at all.  As you got futher in that game it got hard and it had the exact sort of options that any normal videogame from the time would have.  Tetris was indistinguishable from any other videogame.  It's massive popularity was the only hint that it would have "casual" appeal.  Guitar Hero and Rock Band are the same way.  Those aren't dumbed down casual games, they're "real" games that casuals also liked.  Wii Music is what a casual version of that game looks like.

The casual image comes from games that are STRICTLY casual and lack the sort of extra bells and whistles that a core game would have.  The Wii didn't invite casuals to play videogames but rather to play a dumbed down variation of videogames and the idea of just having easy mode didn't cross their mind.  "NO!  If we have a good game with depth available in there they'll get confused!"

The thing is Nintendo sort of gets this.  They came up with the Super Guide to let casuals have a dumbed down experience if they want while core gamers can still get a decent game.  If they take that approach, maybe they can actually have both groups playing the same game and not have any seperation at all.  And maybe then more casuals will play the Super Guide and move on to playing the game the "real" way if the option is available to them.  The Wii Series does not provide a way to step up to the next level.  You're stuck at Weenie Hut Jr's.

Nintendo has the ideal way to make their "everyone" games without alienating all but the lowest common denominator.  But do they realize that have that?

[Chozo Ghost]

Nintendo doesn't respect the casual market. They view casuals as a cash cow to be milked, and nothing else. One could argue that's true of any market, but the reason why casuals are being preyed on in particular is because it is easy to do so. Its hard to milk core gamers, because core gamers have higher expectations in a game. Core gamers demand good graphics, good quality, and depth, but casuals only play games for 10 minutes a day or whatever so why bother putting a lot of effort into games for them? And it shows. The Wii might not be an HD system, but it is capable of decent graphics nonetheless, but if you only ever played games like Wii Sports or Carnival Games you would never know that.

Why invest $100 million into making a 50 hour long game with amazing graphics for the hardcore crowd, when you can invest $1 million in making some glorified tech demo shovelware for casuals which will probably sell just as much? So Nintendo and companies like EA and Ubisoft have jumped on the casual bandwagon because its the easiest way to make a buck. You don't have to put a lot of money or effort into it to get results.

[Kytim89]

I read in the latest issue of Game Informer that Ninja Gaiden 3 will include a casual "hero mode" that waters down the difficulty so that gamers who can not measure up to the difficulty of this series can get into the game.

[Ceric]

I read in the latest issue of Game Informer that Ninja Gaiden 3 will include a casual "hero mode" that waters down the difficulty so that gamers who can not measure up to the difficulty of this series can get into the game.

I be fine with that as long as you can't see all the contents.

[Kytim89]

I read in the latest issue of Game Informer that Ninja Gaiden 3 will include a casual "hero mode" that waters down the difficulty so that gamers who can not measure up to the difficulty of this series can get into the game.

I be fine with that as long as you can't see all the contents.

Contents being blood and gore, right?