Sure, Nintendo is struggling with how to position itself on this silly harcore/casual seesaw one thing needs to be said: it takes time to make great games, PERIOD. true nintendo fans KNOW this and don't mind the ridiculous "omigawdtheyahvenohardocregames!!!" fanaticism that pops up all too often, especially concerning the Wii. sure, they could shovel out a new Mario/Zelda/Whatever sequel to rake in some cash (see Yoshi's Safari on the SNES), but I find it hard to believe that the legion of so-called fanboys (and too many journalist-types) who are frothing at the mouth over the lack of "A" titles at E3 and other shows STILL can't understand that the company isn't going to be raining out the games on demand. Last time I checked, the Virtual Console has enough appealing titles for "hardcore" gamers (although it could use more import releases) and there are some intriguing third-party Wii games that aren't geared to the "kiddy/family" crowd, so I'd gather folks who complain should do a bit more research into these underhyped titles.
Yes, Nintendo really underestimated the success of the Wii (despite what, every media outlet in the free world going bananas over the system) and perhaps, this had led to in-house development moving at a slower pace. This may be due to the fact that Nintendo doesn't want the Wii to be a one-trick pony with every game playing the same (which would piss off the hardcore more than the causal core). On the other hand, given the near constant hype machine Microsoft and Sony have going, it occasionally looks as if Nintendo is ignoring part of its base when they really aren't.
Hell, I play my DS more than my Wii, but I don't see this as an issue - great Nintendo games are great Nintendo games be they first or third party on the DS, GBA or Wii. Hmmm... maybe a Wii redesign is in order with a DS/GBA slot or somesuch.... that MAY calm some folks down (right before they complain about having to buy an upgrade)... =^P
Of course, this is great news to those households who don't care about all the industry goings on and what have you. Having worked in retail a few years back I can safely say to these folks, cheap is cheap - they'll buy a Wii, PS3 or 360 if the price is right. Microsoft will move a bunch of units this Xmas to these folks as long as people can afford the games for it (and the accessories AND an Xbox Live account).
Additionally, no doubt this means a NEW Xbox is soon on the way (eyes roll like marbles on an oiled floor). I'm actually looking forward to the day Microsoft stops treating otherwise healthy consoles like they're old operating systems, thank you much.
indigo prophecy/fahrenheit was/is one of the really great games of the "last-gen" systems, so I'm one of those really looking forward to Heavy Rain pushing even more boundaries as its dev cycle continues. Some folks may gripe about it not being cross platform, but concentrating all efforts on the PS3's strengths will definitely make for a better game in the end, I say.
actually, why the hell does EVERY cg animated movie (no matter how great) need a blasted game tie-in anyway? besides the obvious cash-in reasoning, it's hard to justify shipping a generally fair to poor quality game within a film's release window unless you advertise it (maybe before the movie, duh?). then again, we are sort of in a recession these days, so perhaps a huge amount of folks who'd automatically drop full retail price on a licensed game can only afford the tickets to see the movie and no game (unless it's a rental).
it WOULD be nice to see licensed games like this retail for no more than $25, but i'd be lying if i thought that day would be approaching anytime soon...
then again, with DVD releases coming so quickly, why not move to doing licensed games to release with the DVD versions, perhaps bundled together in some markets?
Tomb Raider Underworld producer Eric Lindstrom talks about Lara Croft’s essential personality traits, and why they’ve helped her survive all these years.
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GeeLW's Comments
hi-larious. jaffe is as always, funny as hell. just hope he doesn't vote that way... =^P
Sure, Nintendo is struggling with how to position itself on this silly harcore/casual seesaw one thing needs to be said: it takes time to make great games, PERIOD. true nintendo fans KNOW this and don't mind the ridiculous "omigawdtheyahvenohardocregames!!!" fanaticism that pops up all too often, especially concerning the Wii. sure, they could shovel out a new Mario/Zelda/Whatever sequel to rake in some cash (see Yoshi's Safari on the SNES), but I find it hard to believe that the legion of so-called fanboys (and too many journalist-types) who are frothing at the mouth over the lack of "A" titles at E3 and other shows STILL can't understand that the company isn't going to be raining out the games on demand. Last time I checked, the Virtual Console has enough appealing titles for "hardcore" gamers (although it could use more import releases) and there are some intriguing third-party Wii games that aren't geared to the "kiddy/family" crowd, so I'd gather folks who complain should do a bit more research into these underhyped titles.
Yes, Nintendo really underestimated the success of the Wii (despite what, every media outlet in the free world going bananas over the system) and perhaps, this had led to in-house development moving at a slower pace. This may be due to the fact that Nintendo doesn't want the Wii to be a one-trick pony with every game playing the same (which would piss off the hardcore more than the causal core). On the other hand, given the near constant hype machine Microsoft and Sony have going, it occasionally looks as if Nintendo is ignoring part of its base when they really aren't.
Hell, I play my DS more than my Wii, but I don't see this as an issue - great Nintendo games are great Nintendo games be they first or third party on the DS, GBA or Wii. Hmmm... maybe a Wii redesign is in order with a DS/GBA slot or somesuch.... that MAY calm some folks down (right before they complain about having to buy an upgrade)... =^P
Of course, this is great news to those households who don't care about all the industry goings on and what have you. Having worked in retail a few years back I can safely say to these folks, cheap is cheap - they'll buy a Wii, PS3 or 360 if the price is right. Microsoft will move a bunch of units this Xmas to these folks as long as people can afford the games for it (and the accessories AND an Xbox Live account).
Additionally, no doubt this means a NEW Xbox is soon on the way (eyes roll like marbles on an oiled floor). I'm actually looking forward to the day Microsoft stops treating otherwise healthy consoles like they're old operating systems, thank you much.
g.
indigo prophecy/fahrenheit was/is one of the really great games of the "last-gen" systems, so I'm one of those really looking forward to Heavy Rain pushing even more boundaries as its dev cycle continues. Some folks may gripe about it not being cross platform, but concentrating all efforts on the PS3's strengths will definitely make for a better game in the end, I say.
actually, why the hell does EVERY cg animated movie (no matter how great) need a blasted game tie-in anyway? besides the obvious cash-in reasoning, it's hard to justify shipping a generally fair to poor quality game within a film's release window unless you advertise it (maybe before the movie, duh?). then again, we are sort of in a recession these days, so perhaps a huge amount of folks who'd automatically drop full retail price on a licensed game can only afford the tickets to see the movie and no game (unless it's a rental).
it WOULD be nice to see licensed games like this retail for no more than $25, but i'd be lying if i thought that day would be approaching anytime soon...
then again, with DVD releases coming so quickly, why not move to doing licensed games to release with the DVD versions, perhaps bundled together in some markets?
All GeeLW's Comments