An Open Letter to Nintendo

[Krylo]

Originally Posted by Loyal

I'm sure that modern-day Wii titles are just as magical for the newer generations, as games like Super Mario Bros and Legend of Zelda were for us.

I would both agree and disagree with this.

I'd agree that Twilight Princess and Prime are just as 'magical' for the newer generation as the original Legend of Zelda and Mario Brothers. However, those are not the majority of Wii games.

I highly doubt that AMF bowling pinbusters is as magical for this generation as games like Contra were for ours. There is a difference of depth and breadth (for the time) between the majority of Wii games and those NES games we still remember and/or those games which are currently coming out for the Wii's competition. I'm actually pretty sure that when tomorrow's generation of gamers looks back at what games were 'magical' for them, they'll be talking about Fable 2, Mass Effect, etc. as opposed to the majority of Wii games.

The Wii is simply not a system which sees 'core' gamers as it's core demographic. Unlike Setheris, I'm not going to say that's a bad thing. Getting more people into gaming is a good thing, even if that means the people who have been playing for ages are no longer the target demographic of a particular system--because once they learn to enjoy video games, many of these people will learn to enjoy deeper and better video games.

Besides--more money going into gaming means more people will attempt to create games, which means more games. Yeah, sure, that's going to mean more bad games, but it'll also mean more good games.

Originally Posted by Phil

And that's the article I was calling stupid in my last post. Because, geeze, coming out last year is not a valid argument against Prime 3 or Galaxy.

He wasn't arguing against them, at all. I suggest re-reading the article.

What he WAS saying is that a company pointing at games that came out a year ago as justification for their 'continued commitment to core gamers' is ridiculous. Nintendo hasn't put out a good core game in ages, while other systems have been putting out a number of good core games. Fallout 3, Fable 2, Mercenaries 2, the new WoW expansion, Gears of War 2, etc. etc.

In the meantime what has Nintendo done? A copy-pasta of Animal Crossing with a bare minimum of (if any) innovation. Great to help those casuals get more into core games, not so great for those of us that have already played Animal Crossing and don't need to play the same game on a new system.

Again: I don't see what Nintendo has been doing as a bad thing. They're doing a good thing, both for their business, and the business of making games as a whole: getting more people interested in games.

That, however, doesn't mean that Setheris/IGN's complaints aren't valid ones.

Nintendo has turned it's back on the 'core' gamers.

Also, I hate the term 'core' and 'hardcore' but I'm not sure what else to call them/us.

Oh, and RT: Next time someone says that all a company is offering is sequels, you shouldn't post animated gifs of a sequel.

No More Heroes would have been a much better argument.

P.S. You guys, if you have a Wii and have not played No More Heroes, go and buy it. Especially you Seth. Especially you.

Edit:

Originally Posted by phil_

Go play it again, like you did when you were 10 and life revolved around Super Mario World.

[...]

I guess what I'm saying is that I have fun with my games, and I actually play them more than once. I still (and I think it's rediculous that I have to use "still" there) play Brawl, and it's still awesome. I play through Rock Band, even though I've unlocked all the songs, because it's fun to play. Hell, I still occasionally play Wii Sports, because the tennis game is still fun, the golf game is still fun, and bowling's still fun. What I'm saying here is, yeah, there are good games out there, and if you play them like when you were a kid, you can have fun like when you were a kid. Except you won't die as much. .

This is pretty invalid to this argument as well, honestly.

Sure, you can go back and replay Mario Galaxy or whatever, but why should we when we can play amazing new games on other systems: or, if we ARE going to replay games, how about Resistance: Fall of Man, Heavenly Sword, Drake's Fortune, Eternal Sonata, Mass Effect, Bio Shock, Devil May Cry 4, Assassin's Creed, Lost Odyssey, Blacksite: Area 51, Portal, Beautiful Katamari, etc? Just because there are a couple of games for the Wii that might appeal to some 'core' gamers, that doesn't mean that they have anything resembling a real commitment to keeping our business.

IF Seth was talking about the gaming industry as a whole, I'd be right behind your argument, but instead he's talking about the Wii's lacking 'core' library specifically, and I just don't see how "Well go replay some games!" is at all a valid argument against a lacking library.

Also: My life never revolved around Super Mario World. I was more of an FF6 (which I'm replaying right now) and CT type of person.