Author Topic: Grand Master Billy speaks on the Wii.  (Read 45967 times)

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Offline Infernal Monkey

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RE: Grand Master Billy speaks on the Wii.
« Reply #125 on: September 18, 2006, 10:13:09 PM »
Once again Ian pretends Nintendo has to make every game JUST FOR HIM. Ian is very special. <3

Offline Kairon

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RE:Grand Master Billy speaks on the Wii.
« Reply #126 on: September 18, 2006, 10:29:12 PM »
Quote

Originally posted by: Infernal Monkey
Once again Ian pretends Nintendo has to make every game JUST FOR HIM. Ian is very special. <3


Urgh. That's not what Ian said. At least not this time, lol.

This, I feel, exemplifies the position for Iansane and many oldschool gamers who feel uncomfortable with the "blue-er ocean" Nintendo.

Quote

Originally posted by: IanSane
This non-gamer stuff was something I never saw as a possibility. The idea that Nintendo would target people who don't play games at all was just so odd and unexpected. My thinking was limited entirely to the current game market. This creates the possibility of Nintendo regaining their marketshare and doing so in a way that excludes me. That's not a very comforting thought. In fact it's downright scary. How does one react to that?


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Offline Shift Key

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RE:Grand Master Billy speaks on the Wii.
« Reply #127 on: September 18, 2006, 10:51:59 PM »
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Nintendo has told us that what we like is broken and they're going to fix it. If someone told you your favourite band or TV show needed retooling how would you respond?


Retool? That word is right up there with synergy on the "Top Buzzwords that I Hate" list.

Your view of all this is so very skewed as someone else said. Its quite sad that you see it this way. For starters, it is not broken. You can still play games the way you want. But they bring out a controller that has a new way of producing input for games. They did not remove the old way of doing things, but gave developers the choice. And yet you wish to discourage this as you don't know what to expect.

I saw a gameplay trailer for Metroid Prime 3 and the comments on there by the player about feeling like he was learning how to play games all over again. That really excites me, because much like the quirkier titles that were seen from Nintendo in recent times, such as DKJB and the Wario Ware series, that different games are fun when done right. My only problem that I can see is that not many aside from Nintendo are doing it often enough. But the launch titles such as Red Steel and other games that I really can't be bothered listing off. To quote Tycho, who puts it better than I ever could:
Quote

Personally, I'm excited by the prospect - but I'm not the type of gamer who needs to assert their pwnership over the medium.


So drop the ego trip. Please. Its so easy to tune out to the same old argument when you've heard it a million times before.

As for the hypothetical question, I'd say go for it.  For those who know them, I originally heard RX Bandits on a Vegas Records compilation when they were doing their catchy ska tunes, and went looking for some of their later material and found "The Resignation" - possibly one of the best albums I've heard. Sure, there's a risk that you won't like it, but that comes from being a trailblazer of sorts.

And I guess that's what it comes down to. Do you want to get aboard and see where this leads, or are you happy to sit on the fence and comment on something without actually being involved? The industry has stagnated enough over the past few years as is, and this seems to be the only real innovation. I hope everyone gets behind it as there is a lot of opportunity to produce some fun games.

As for the article, I do see it as insightful. Good on Billy for posting how he sees things. He's a well-respected guy in the industry and I hope that everyone takes note of what he says here.

Offline Strell

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RE: Grand Master Billy speaks on the Wii.
« Reply #128 on: September 18, 2006, 10:56:30 PM »
Can someone explain to me how Metroid, Zelda, Warioware, Red Steel, Mario Galaxy, etc. are not games for the non-casual (ugh, I guess hardcore) gamer?

'Cuz I've heard this non-game business for a while.  And then I look at my DS collection.  The last two games I got from Nintendo were Star Fox and New Super Mario Bros.

Sure I've got things like Nintendogs and Brain Age.  But I've got a "hardcore" game every step of the way.

So can we PLEASE stop this nonsense argument?  The majority of the games in the latest Wii video are "hardcore."

As for the comment about "what would you think about retooling your favorite band?"  What an appropriate question to ask at the time.  See, my favorite band is Green Day (shut up, I don't care if you like/hate/love them, this is for sake of argument).  And for a while, their music didn't exactly have the punch Dookie had.  While I loved all the albums (and still do, and think Warning is horribly underrated), the second American Idiot appeared on the scene, it completely destroyed the interim albums between it and Dookie.   It not only went back to their roots, but it upped the entire ante ten fold.  

Same idea here.  I've said it before and I'm saying it again - Nintendo can do nothing right.  If they stayed the same this generation and pumped out another Mario/Zelda/Metroid/Pokemon/Pikmin with a traditional controller, everyone would call them stale.  And when they try something new, everyone says how it's so crazy that they can't handle it, and how they wish they'd just stay the course.

You can't have it both ways.  You can't move forward and backward.  Nintendo hasn't done any advancing for a while, and if they had continued down that path, they'd continue to lose marketshare.

Nintendo is tired of moving backward.  So they took an entirely different path to try and succeed.  And right now, they are running light years beyond what they've done since the SNES.  

I think a lot of the dissenters need to shut up and play the Wii before they badmouth it any longer.  It's been, now, over a year of nothing but bitching from people on the 'net who think this is too wacky and a gimm*ck.

Just try it out for god's sake.  I find it hard to believe that you'd STILL think it sucks when near 100% of the people who actually HAVE played it have LOVED IT.

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Offline Mario

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RE: Grand Master Billy speaks on the Wii.
« Reply #129 on: September 18, 2006, 10:57:57 PM »
Someone who plays Wii Sports for 200 hours is more hardcore than someone who spends 20 hours finishing a game then never replaying it because there's "no incentive".

Offline Deguello

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RE: Grand Master Billy speaks on the Wii.
« Reply #130 on: September 18, 2006, 11:03:19 PM »
Uhh Karion?  That is what Ian said.  He says it in the quote you selected.

Quote

This creates the possibility of Nintendo regaining their marketshare and doing so in a way that excludes me.


See?  Right there.  That's pretty crystal clear, IMO.  And then he follows up with this turd:

Quote

That's not a very comforting thought. In fact it's downright scary. How does one react to that?


He goes from speaking about himself to asking how others would react to his feeling.  And seriously, why is this "scary" to him?  I have had to put up with his complaints for years and his ever shifting opinion and suggestions for how Nintendo should gain marketshare and then when they finally look poised to do it, he throws a bitch fit because they are doing it in a way he disapproves of.  I mean seriously, it's borderline narcissism.  I bet he still thinks the DS is a worthless system with no good games, even though the rest of the people think he is loopy.  And I am tired of reading his NASCAR arguments that say the same things over and over and over.  It is seriously wearing pretty thin.  
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Offline GoldenPhoenix

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RE:Grand Master Billy speaks on the Wii.
« Reply #131 on: September 18, 2006, 11:16:04 PM »
Yeah for Strell, that is exactly what I've been thinking. I've grown up with Nintendo ever since they started and I still have tons of fun with their games. The only real difference between the old Nintendo and the new one is now they are creating a bigger variety of games IN ADDITION to the games that people like me fell in love with.
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Offline BigJim

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RE:Grand Master Billy speaks on the Wii.
« Reply #132 on: September 19, 2006, 04:09:47 AM »
Quote

Originally posted by: Strell
Can someone explain to me how Metroid, Zelda, Warioware, Red Steel, Mario Galaxy, etc. are not games for the non-casual (ugh, I guess hardcore) gamer?


Nobody has. The concern from my end is not the existance of core games, and has never even been the existance of non-games. It's the existance of enough AAA core games so that many of us are not just buying games seasonally or semi-annually, as has been the case for many people on GameCube for a good part of its life (ask even some PGC staff and many will say that's been the case).

What people have tried to do in this thread, and others, is try to knock the argument down at every point and in different ways... including ways that are completely off point.  GameCube game sales speak for themselves. Nobody buys 3rd party stuff, for example. Because they were ports and/or they sucked. It can't be defended away. Quality tanked and the sales demonstrate it, despite personal feelings of others here that are to the contrary.

People also cite games like Bwii (which is evidently the GCN game that has 77% on GameRankings) and argue that it's AAA and as universally "Nintendo fan" satisfying as, say, a Metroid or Mario. Not gonna happen.

In addition to citing such examples, they also push the notion that more of these types of games will always be coming out. That is obvious and nobody is arguing that. It's also not the point. It they aren't high caliber games, it doesn't matter to everybody if there are 100 of their type being released per month or 1.

My concerns call on Nintendo, 2nd, and 3rd parties to DO BETTER than GameCube. By which I mean more frequent AAA's as explained in the first paragraph. It's never been any more complicated than that. But I'm sure people will find snippets to argue with here too, manipulate context, or even try to forward-argue that "they are doing better" even though there are no products, sales, or finished games to defend yet.


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Offline Infernal Monkey

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RE: Grand Master Billy speaks on the Wii.
« Reply #133 on: September 19, 2006, 04:21:52 AM »
Nobody buys the awesome third party games like Killer 7 and F-Zero (OMG SEGA MADE IT THIS TIME, BETTER STAY AWAY) because they're too busy eating up any rubbish Nintendo throws onto the system ala Metroid Prime. A game on par with Superman 64.  

Offline Mario

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RE: Grand Master Billy speaks on the Wii.
« Reply #134 on: September 19, 2006, 04:24:17 AM »
So in the end it's all just anectodal evidence and opinions put together to form a non-argument. Who wouldn't want better games? Everyone does. It's not some kind of niche group that wants better games and everyone else is and bathing in mediocre games for non-fun. GCN had tons of AAA games that completely flopped, like Killer 7 and Donkey Kong Jungle Beat. People should buy those before wanting things that don't exist.

Offline BigJim

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RE: Grand Master Billy speaks on the Wii.
« Reply #135 on: September 19, 2006, 05:18:16 AM »
From my standpoint, I was never trying to argue. The problem is I say something, defenders put their own context to it, and ridiculousness ensues when called on to defend my fairly simple points.

So freaking what if I want more AAA hardcore games than what we got on GameCube? Who doesn't? Why the arguing? People get worked up just because I don't word every post in a rosey, Nintendo-fun-love happy fanboy context. If I say the GCN was lackadaisical, the reaction is OMFG!!! MURDER, MUST DEFEND MOTHERSHIP!!!!one!!!!

To which I say, pull the stick out already. Every reasoning in the book comes up as to why nothing more can be expected than what we get. It's ridiculous. They can take whatever part of "I want more AAA hardcore games" out of context that they want. I feel no guilt whatsoever, nor do I feel guilt if they get so damned worked up over it. I feel pity. Anyone that thinks nothing more can be done, that the GameCube was Nintendo's A-game, I feel extremely sorry for them.  

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Offline Mario

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RE: Grand Master Billy speaks on the Wii.
« Reply #136 on: September 19, 2006, 05:56:45 AM »
Nobody's getting worked up, and just because you haven't seen it in a while, doesn't mean everyone else hasn't. Saying "we" includes others with differing opinion who will want to respond and correct their own opinion.
Quote

From my standpoint, I was never trying to argue.

I never implied that, I said non-argument.

Offline UltimatePartyBear

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RE:Grand Master Billy speaks on the Wii.
« Reply #137 on: September 19, 2006, 06:13:42 AM »
I don't see why the forums are going down this route of "non-arguments" for "non-arguers."  I feel like traditional arguers like me are being abandoned.  Where are the AAA traditional arguments?  Is Nintendo teh kiddie or not?  Does Halo suck?  These are the arguments I remember from the site's glory days, not this "non-argument" nonsense.

Offline Khushrenada

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RE:Grand Master Billy speaks on the Wii.
« Reply #138 on: September 19, 2006, 07:17:53 AM »
I am a non-arguer. I was thinking of posting in this thread with a non-arguement. But all of you hardcore arguers have scared me away. It's too frightening me or my grandparents and toddler and sisters and my dog. That's right. Thanks to you my dog has been scared away from argueing.  
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Offline BigJim

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RE:Grand Master Billy speaks on the Wii.
« Reply #139 on: September 19, 2006, 07:22:06 AM »
Quote

Originally posted by: Mario
Nobody's getting worked up, and just because you haven't seen it in a while, doesn't mean everyone else hasn't. Saying "we" includes others with differing opinion who will want to respond and correct their own opinion.
Quote

From my standpoint, I was never trying to argue.

I never implied that, I said non-argument.


85% of the REAL market of h@rdcore gamers hasn't seen it, cuz kiddi3 Nintards teh suXXors!!!!11one1!


Yes, I think this thread has seen itself to its end. Yay. We got almost nowhere as usual.
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Offline Kairon

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RE:Grand Master Billy speaks on the Wii.
« Reply #140 on: September 19, 2006, 07:52:52 AM »
Quote

Originally posted by: Deguello
Uhh Karion?  That is what Ian said.  He says it in the quote you selected.

Quote

This creates the possibility of Nintendo regaining their marketshare and doing so in a way that excludes me.


See?  Right there.  That's pretty crystal clear, IMO.  And then he follows up with this turd:

Quote

That's not a very comforting thought. In fact it's downright scary. How does one react to that?


He goes from speaking about himself to asking how others would react to his feeling.  And seriously, why is this "scary" to him?  I have had to put up with his complaints for years and his ever shifting opinion and suggestions for how Nintendo should gain marketshare and then when they finally look poised to do it, he throws a bitch fit because they are doing it in a way he disapproves of.  I mean seriously, it's borderline narcissism.  I bet he still thinks the DS is a worthless system with no good games, even though the rest of the people think he is loopy.  And I am tired of reading his NASCAR arguments that say the same things over and over and over.  It is seriously wearing pretty thin.


Urgh. There's a difference between expressing your personal concerns and using those concerns as a springboard to dictate what other entities should do. Hardcore gamers have a RIGHT to be personally worried about the future of their gaming... and that's what Ian and Billy and others are. But that doesn't extend to being irrational, overly defensive and imperial about it, which Ian and Billy, are not in this thread or that article even though they are still very concerned and troubled and not in line with us kool-aid drinking fanbois.

Me myself? I'm worried that Nintendo will give us another Sunshine, another Mario KartD, another Wind Waker. I don't know about you guys, but I haven't played a REAL Nintendo game, a REAL piece of magic since Pikmin. ... or maybe that's my Miyamoto bias showing itself. But I, personally, have been concerned about the future of my gaming ever since 2002.

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A glooming peace this morning with it brings;
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Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things;
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Offline Ian Sane

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RE: Grand Master Billy speaks on the Wii.
« Reply #141 on: September 19, 2006, 08:18:10 AM »
"If they stayed the same this generation and pumped out another Mario/Zelda/Metroid/Pokemon/Pikmin with a traditional controller, everyone would call them stale."

No one is suggesting this.  Why is there this assumption that without the remote this is what Nintendo would do?  Okay actually that probably is what Nintendo would do but that's not what they had to do or what anyone was suggesting they do.  If Nintendo had released some killer new games with new concepts with a traditional controller they wouldn't have been called stale.

Any time people mention first party Wii or DS games that are "traditional" it's usually sequel, sequel, spin-off, sequel.  Sometimes we get a new game but it's made by an unproven developer that used to make Olsen Twin games.  Meanwhile the new first party franchises are stuff like Nintendogs, Brain Age, Electroplankton, and WiiSports.  The new stuff is all aimed at non-gamers while all the "traditional" stuff is all sequels.  Nintendo thinks that "hardcore" gamers just want the same old sh!t again and again.  We DON'T.  That stupid attitude is why "Who are you?" was a completely floparoo.  Traditional gaming does not mean the same old sh!t again and again even if that's what Nintendo is trying to tell you and seemingly tries to demonstrate.  Just because Nintendo's recent "traditional" offerings have been cookie cutter doesn't mean that ALL traditional games are or that Nintendo games even have to be.  Nintendo has chosen to be stale because somewhere along the way they thought that all we're interested in are franchises.

That's what I don't like.  Yeah I'll get traditional games from Nintendo on the Wii but it will be the same experiences I've had before because Nintendo isn't even trying to make new ones, unless they specifically target non-gamers.

Offline Kairon

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RE:Grand Master Billy speaks on the Wii.
« Reply #142 on: September 19, 2006, 08:18:31 AM »
Quote

Originally posted by: BigJim
Yes, I think this thread has seen itself to its end. Yay. We got almost nowhere as usual.


RAR! I'm a hardcore arguer and I REFUSE to let this thread die. Over my dead freakin' body, more like!

I say we should refocus this argument on the new, revealing REAL concern of hardcore gamers as BigJim discovered:

Put Nintendo aside for a moment, will THIRD PARTIES be back on the Wii to give us core gaming? Why or why not?

...On one hand we have Red Steel at launch
......but we also have tons of friggin' ports, good ports, but ports!
.........but aren't those ports typical of any console launch anyways? (see X360)
...Oh, but we also have a new control method that will attract development
......already we're seeing this because we've woo-ed Arika and Forever Blue from the PS2
.........and we've got Rayman Raving Rabbids primarily for the Wii
............and we've got Trauma Center and Cooking Mama Wii Games from smaller devs too
...............the DS got Ouendan, maybe the Wii will see similar breakout hits from smaller companies
...............that pursue a nintendo console?
..................and of course there's always Heroes from Grasshopper Manufacture and Suda 51
...but a quick comparison shows that third parties are still dominant on PS3 and X360
......the Wii still has lackluster support or just one or two games from Capcom, Namco, Konami
.........Konami just giving us Elebits? That game is sure to bomb and then drive all Konami support
.........away!
............Capcom is giving us Biohazard, but we all saw how that turned out for the GC: ported to PS2
............soon after, and this time we don't even have a (non-existent) Capcom 5!
...............Namco is giving us... uh... children's franchises? DBZ? Super Deformed children's Gundam?
...............Where's the hardcore Soul Caliber love? The hardcore Gundam love?
...but EA seems to have jumped on board impressively, they seem to know a mass market when
...they see it
......they're giving us Madden at launch, Need For Speed, and a near-dedicated studio in Burnaby,
......B.C. Canada to concentrate on controlers
.........they're also including the Wii with Spore, Sims Island, Godfather (?), NFS: Island, and stuff
............but what about final night? What about some ultra EA Boxingzors?
...unless the Wii performs a miracle, we're not getting Grand Theft Auto. That's a BIG THING
...and how about Nintendo fans, will they buy third party games? They need to because Nintendo
...fanbois have great buying power, just see Phoenix Wright, Trauma Center, Cooking Mama, Soul
...Caliber 2 etc., games where Nintendo fans have driven sales of third party games?
......some people's launch plans only include Zelda, isn't that bad?
.........third-party launch titles include games that are EXPECTED to sell well, like Madden, XBox360
.........bestseller Call of Duty 3, exclusive Red Steel, premiere character game Rayman RR, and more
............if Nintendo fans don't lead the charge on these quality third party titles, can we expect the
............other gamers to pick up our slack?
...............has that EVER worked before?
..................is this buying-only-of-zelda proofpositive that third-parties biggest problem on a
..................Nintendo system is Nintendo games that cannibalize their sales?

Now argue. Argue HARDCORE.

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A glooming peace this morning with it brings;
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Some shall be pardon'd, and some punished:
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Offline TerribleOne

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RE:Grand Master Billy speaks on the Wii.
« Reply #143 on: September 19, 2006, 08:32:02 AM »
Yea Kairon basically sums it  up...  but i think this argument will go on for the Wii's lifetime. basically quantity is not equal quality and what falls into quality is up to each gamer in himself. So now that nintendo has basically divided it's resources to please the "non-gaming" crowd... it shouldnt be a surprise to see the core gamer b concerned over not getttin enough AAA titles for the wii. and by the way not everything released by nintendo is good. And unfortunately being a nintendo fan means relying on nintendo for the AAA titles due to crappy ports which will be even crappier now for reasons i wont mention due to sensitivity around here, and because we simply don't buy thrid party games enough to get exclusives.

My question is to whoever is: how many teams of developers does nintendo have.. cuz getting a "system-seller" per generation is really NOT COOL.  
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Offline Strell

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RE:Grand Master Billy speaks on the Wii.
« Reply #144 on: September 19, 2006, 08:59:21 AM »
Quote

Originally posted by: Ian Sane
"If they stayed the same this generation and pumped out another Mario/Zelda/Metroid/Pokemon/Pikmin with a traditional controller, everyone would call them stale."

No one is suggesting this.  Why is there this assumption that without the remote this is what Nintendo would do?  Okay actually that probably is what Nintendo would do but that's not what they had to do or what anyone was suggesting they do.  If Nintendo had released some killer new games with new concepts with a traditional controller they wouldn't have been called stale.

Any time people mention first party Wii or DS games that are "traditional" it's usually sequel, sequel, spin-off, sequel.  Sometimes we get a new game but it's made by an unproven developer that used to make Olsen Twin games.  Meanwhile the new first party franchises are stuff like Nintendogs, Brain Age, Electroplankton, and WiiSports.  The new stuff is all aimed at non-gamers while all the "traditional" stuff is all sequels.  Nintendo thinks that "hardcore" gamers just want the same old sh!t again and again.  We DON'T.  That stupid attitude is why "Who are you?" was a completely floparoo.  Traditional gaming does not mean the same old sh!t again and again even if that's what Nintendo is trying to tell you and seemingly tries to demonstrate.  Just because Nintendo's recent "traditional" offerings have been cookie cutter doesn't mean that ALL traditional games are or that Nintendo games even have to be.  Nintendo has chosen to be stale because somewhere along the way they thought that all we're interested in are franchises.

That's what I don't like.  Yeah I'll get traditional games from Nintendo on the Wii but it will be the same experiences I've had before because Nintendo isn't even trying to make new ones, unless they specifically target non-gamers.


Sigh, here we go again.

No one is saying the controller is required to make new gameplay experiences.  On the same token, people like you shouldn't be saying it's unnecessary.  There's no way to tell right now in the first year if it's going to give us amazing new experiences.  It took a year on the DS, and it will take a year with the Wii.  So you need to give it some time instead of being so closeminded about how it's incapable of doing something based on the fact that the first round of games are sequels/semi-sequels.

As for new concepts, they've tried to do so with their franchises.  Metroid Prime 2 didn't sell because "it was too much like Prime," despite the fact that there's only two damn games in that franchise in 3D.  The waterpack, which was actually really damn cool, eventually got tons of negativity hurled at it.  Two racers on Double Dash likewise the same.  Mario Party with a microphone was hated from the getgo (I never found out if the game worked well or not, but the point stands).  Jungle Beat, despite being an amazing game, was a total flop.

So the innovation and attempts to be as such have been there, whether you like them or admit to them or not.

Do you own Chibi Robo?  Odama?  Mario DDR?  Battalion Wars?  Did you buy Viewtiful Joe and RE4 when they were exclusive?  Did you get Pikmin 2?

It's no wonder Nintendo doesn't make a partygame Tennis game with new characters, because no one would buy it.  And when they secure a few exclusives, no one buys them either.  All of those games up there aren't the best in the world, but they are all easily solid games, and easily comparable to PS2 and Xbox games.

So then Nintendo gets a lot of flack tossed their way about how they don't innovate, don't give us anything new, and eventually just throw us Mario Sports.  But they have tried, and everyone screams at how they are ruining franchises, how their new additions break the game, etc etc.

Well if you're not going to rent or buy the above, but you'll pay attention to Mario Sports, how is that Nintendo's fault?

Again, only N gets blamed for this to the degree they do, when Playstation has a new Daxter title every 6 months, followed by Daxter Sequel of the Year 2, which is just a Jak sequel.  Microsoft sees fit to release new maps to games that are 2-3 years old, or recreate it with Lizardmen, or rerelease it in an LE with a whole 10 minutes of new stuff, or just send tons of patches downt he line.

I mean, I listen to people bitch about wanting Mario 64 2.  They don't get it, but Sunshine appears.  Then people bitch about how it's not Mario 64 2 AND bitch about how they want another Mario Platformer.  So Nintendo offers up Galaxy.  BUT PEOPLE BITCH IT'S A SEQUEL.

Wtf.  You can't have it all 42 f*cking ways about how it's a sequel, but it's not a sequel you want, but it doesn't innovate, and if it does innovate the innovation sucks, or how it doesn't have this one exact small thing you want so bad, about how you wanted another sequel by now, etc etc etc etc.

It doesn't f*cking work that way.  If people would shut up and take a look back at Sunshine, they'd actually see that it is getting dogged mercilessly from the "hardcore" crowd.  And for what?  2 basic things - poor camera and some repetitive level structure.  But god damn, the last time I played it, it still was amazing.  Huge variety of things to do, absolutely incredibly level design, beautiful graphics, and silky controls.  I learned how to deal with the camera because, gasp, I've been playing 3D games for several years now, so that doesn't matter.  And the level design was more repetitive than I'd like, but it was eons further than all its competitors.

This is the sort of thing I'm talking about.  You can't make N fans happy.  They hate Wind Waker's graphics, but hate TP's as well.  They don't like Chibi Robo because of how simple it looks.  They say they love Pikmin, but they don't buy it or support the sequel.  They don't get new IPs like Drill Dozer or Batallion Wars, and then whine when Nintendo apparently doesn't care about making new IPs.  They refuse to buy Smash Bros because it lacks a certain character.  They call Project Hammer and Disaster terrible games without knowing a thing about them, despite the fact that they will definitely be new IPs designed for the hardcore crowd.

There's so many people sitting there talking about how they think Nintendo has forgotten the traditional gamer, when absolutely everything they've done in the last several years has been nothing but pure devotion to that subset of the gaming population.  The controller itself is proof of this - it is meant to simply AND immerse.  Do you honestly understand how DIFFICULT it is to reach that sort of sweet spot?  It hardly EVER happens in ANY industry.  And yet STILL people call Nintendo this clueless, oafish company that hasn't gotten a clue, DESPITE doing things like spreading their franchises around, trying to actively solicit exclusives, and worry more about gaming substance than flashiness.  They are the one company who has reevaluated themselves AND listened to ALL of their customers AND tried to help ALL of them, but STILL GET TORN APART LEFT AND RIGHT.  

As a company, they've heard one thing in the last couple of years, and it's that NO GAME is good enough at this point.

And they got f*cking tired of it.  

What else does Nintendo think about their so-called hardcore crowd when they refuse to touch half the traditional games they've brought out?  Or refuse to try sequels with innovations to their design?  

That group is nothing but a lot of talk and a lot of hot air.  And they make up such a small fraction at this point that Nintendo might as well abandon them almost fully.  And yet they won't.  There's going to be new IPs, there's going to be more third party support, and there's going to be hardcore games coming down the pipeline for a while.  And yet people will STILL find a way to spin it against that.  That's hardcore muthaf*cking devotion from the big N, who years ago could have just EA'd and Insomniac'd and Naughty Dog'd and Polyphony'd and Bioware'd and Bungie'd it up to the end of time.

You call Mario Baseball a weaksauce sequel and spinoff because you want to tell yourself its an okay excuse on why to avoid those games.  But they are incredible games.  Huge party games with amazing multiplayer potential, and decent, polished single player.  

That's just silly.

For as ungrateful as an audience as many people are, Nintendo could have just as easily made Mario expansion packs for the last 10 years.  Or they could drop it all and make nothing but Brain Age.

And yet neither of those things are happening.

This is such a stupid argument I can't believe it's been going on for the last several years.  
I must find a way to use "burninate" more in my daily speech.

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Offline Kairon

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RE:Grand Master Billy speaks on the Wii.
« Reply #145 on: September 19, 2006, 09:01:38 AM »
Quote

Originally posted by: TerribleOne
My question is to whoever is: how many teams of developers does nintendo have.. cuz getting a "system-seller" per generation is really NOT COOL.


First off, here's a decent in-depth examination of Nintendo's American NST development resources, and here's one that looks at Nintendo's fame EAD following a 2005 restructuring of EAD's divisions by Satoru Iwata. Keep in mind this doesn't include other Nintendo-affiliated divisions like Tokyo (which made Donkey Kong Jungle Beat and is now working on Mario Galaxies), Retro (which I would estimate at more than 120 people with two projects underway), smaller entities like Marigul(if they even still exist), or HAL.

You're making the assumption that Nintendo works like other developers. They don't. Nintendo always prototypes and builds internal technical demos and proof-of-concept demos first, then only later creates a team for a game. For example, Zelda: OoT had several small groups of people working on demos before they actually started making the game: one group did a swordfighting demo, another did a horse demo, etc. Only after all these demos had been done well did Nintendo seem to fully commit to making the game. Zelda: OoT officially featured a staff of 200+ people and was 2.5 years in development.

Likewise, Nintendo devoted energy to the 100 Mario's test on the GC that never became a game. But that tech demo (and the Mario 128 experiments which were never a real game) was a testing ground for concepts for games from Pikmin to Excite Truck to Mario Galaxies years later.

Why does Nintendo do this? Because this development process lets them create games that truly excel. These tech demos are the beginning concept and technical sketches that artists make before their one great painting. Davinci made endless studies and concepts and earlier versions before he finally sat down to make his masterpieces. You can't just sit down and paint the Mona Lisa, just like you can't gather 200 random people and just decide without any prior though that you'd make the most critically perfect game ever created (ZeldaoT). There's a lot of homework and trial and error and time and effort and sweat and blood and tears that goes into it even BEFORE that moment.

Now, EAD is believed to be 300 or 400+ people strong, and Nintendo has many other internal or close-to-internal groups within it. This is probably one of the largest companies in videogames. But it's evident that if they had to support a console all by themselves, we'd see Nintendo releases much like the N64 without Rare. Making games is seriously hard business, especially when Nintendo quality titles typically take 150+ people to do, when next-gen third party launch titles have anywhere from 80-100 people working full tilt for 1.5 years, and when at E3 developers are conceivably talking of in the future having teams of 400 people just to keep up with the pace of technology and graphics and artistic content. (incidentally, you've stumbled upon one of the major appeals of the blue ocean and long-tail non-gamer strategies: non-gamer games are easier to make and much more profitable: Brain Training sold 3 million copies in Japan alone, but took only 10 people 4 months to create) (you've also stumbled upon one of the reasons that Nintendo doesn't want to push the graphics envelope: great graphics take humongous teams plenty of time... unless you want to use the exact same engine that every other game is using (Unreal 3?) and pay another company licensing fees that cut into your profits.)

Nintendo has all the high quality employees you could ask for Terrible. Probably the only company with more game employees is EA. But they're in the business of making masterpieces, not ports. They're in the business of making great games, not ordinary ones. And with that in mind, I don't think Nintendo's great system sellers will ever come out frequently enough to suit your, or my, wishes.

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Offline Ceric

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RE: Grand Master Billy speaks on the Wii.
« Reply #146 on: September 19, 2006, 09:01:44 AM »
To many super long post throughout this whole thread.  Not very interesting...

Also Strell I've never seen you use the word burninate.
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Offline Artimus

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RE: Grand Master Billy speaks on the Wii.
« Reply #147 on: September 19, 2006, 09:02:59 AM »
Ian, Nintendo IS releasing killer new games with new concepts. They're using the remote to do so.

I hate the presumption that making amazing game is simply a matter of choice. It's so naive.

Offline Kairon

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RE:Grand Master Billy speaks on the Wii.
« Reply #148 on: September 19, 2006, 09:09:12 AM »
Quote

Originally posted by: Ceric
To many super long post throughout this whole thread.  Not very interesting...


Suck it up. We're hardcore arguers.

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A glooming peace this morning with it brings;
The sun, for sorrow, will not show his head:
Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things;
Some shall be pardon'd, and some punished:
For never was a story of more woe
Than this of Sega and her Mashiro.

Offline Kairon

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RE:Grand Master Billy speaks on the Wii.
« Reply #149 on: September 19, 2006, 09:22:17 AM »
Quote

Originally posted by: Artimus
Ian, Nintendo IS releasing killer new games with new concepts. They're using the remote to do so.

I hate the presumption that making amazing game is simply a matter of choice. It's so naive.


Yeah Ian, I also share this criticism. As a Nintendo/Miyamoto fanboi I liked, but felt disappointment with Sunshine, Wind Waker, and Mario Kart: DD. I don't know why some of us look back on these titles with wistful feelings(edit: used to read "glazed eyes"). These games were good, but they LACKED MAGIC. On the GC, I still feel like only the first Pikmin had that Nintendo magic. (or maybe I'm just Miyamoto-biased)

If it was as easy as choosing to make great games, then I wouldn't have been on the verge of falling out of fandom with Nintendo in 2003. Instead, I personally believe that the GC represented Nintendo ideologically stuck, philosophically blocked, stagnating because they had reached a plateua and had no where else to go. We all expected the magic of OoT and Mario 64. Unrealistic? Maybe, but Nintendo themselves also were unsatisfied with what happened instead. This is why I believe that Nintendo pioneered the DS and Wiimote. This is why I believe they took a left turn to revolutionize the industry instead of just cruising along.

Necessary? That's subjective and irrelevant, but you have mentioned before that perhaps Nintendo needed this themself more than anything else, and that I think that that would be true. My only corrolary is that in this case what's good for Nintendo is what's good for a lot of gamers and the industry as a whole. With a static industry, a shrinking Japanese market, a senior heavy demographic in every industrialized country, Nintendo's efforts to improve and inspire themselves will have beneficial effects elsewhere.

And besides, if Nintendo needed the Wiimote only for themselves, only so that they could be inspired again, if we dispensed with everything else and said that Nintendo only needed this new direction so that they could try to deliver the next quantum leap ala Mario 64?

In a way who the Wiimote helps is irrelevant. It seems to have re-energized the creative spirit behind the company, and be damned with where that takes us: an Nintendo that is inspired to achieve is better than one that feels creatively dead and is cowed to play it safe generation after generation.

If it takes a Wiimote for Nintendo to feel confident enough to reach for the stars again, then I as a Nintendo fan can see that only as good news.

~Carmine M. Red
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Edit: edited "glazed eyes" to wistful feeling to try to avoid misinterpretation, but probably just ended up confusing the issue some more. What exactly are wistful feelings?
Carmine Red, Associate Editor

A glooming peace this morning with it brings;
The sun, for sorrow, will not show his head:
Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things;
Some shall be pardon'd, and some punished:
For never was a story of more woe
Than this of Sega and her Mashiro.