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Posts tagged Nintendo
What have we learned here? Pt1
0977 days
So E3′s biggest events have come and gone. I am speaking, of course, of the big three’s press conferences, Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony. What can be learned from them, well a lot really.
The first and biggest thing that I came away with from watching the press conferences was that EVERYONE wants to do some sort of motion control and bit off piece of Nintendo’s money pie… even Nintendo themselves! What! Yeah I said it folks. Even Nintendo wants more motion control. Since I brought it up, let’s start with them first.
Nintendo two years ago was the under dog coming into E3. The other companies had released their big new machines or at least the specs and what not, and were ready to put Niddy out of the race, like they had done with SEGA. Nintendo shocked the world with the unveiling of the Wii, and making a firm stand that they weren’t going to do the flashy graphics of the other two and decided to just innovate on almost current technology they had been using in the Game Cube. Sure it had motion control, it was kiddie, and almost gimmicky, but no one could have expected the Nintendo Wii to sell as well as it did.
Flash forward two years and here we are at E3 09 and Microsoft and Sony are BOTH playing catch-up with the Wii. Quite the turn of events. Not content to sit on their ENORMOUS mound of money and be happy, Nintendo reveals more info on Wii Sports Resort. A game that will surely out sell pretty much any title in existence to date, and here is why. People will buy it for the simple fact that the original Wii sports is STILL probably the game that most people fall back on more than any other. It also comes with a packed in Wii Motion Plus. This little square dongle attaches to the bottom of the current Wiimote, and give the player a 1:1 ratio of movement. Meaning that it will match almost exactly every movement that you make outside the game, with in game movement. That may not sound like much, but to watch it in action it will make a world of a difference in games.
Again Nintendo still not happy with just that will also have another add on peripheral to the Wii. This one will work in conjunction with the Wii balance board and the new Wii Fit Plus. In basic terms it is a camera that will watch you work out and be a sort of “virtual trainer”. The camera sees you (creepy) and can tell if you are doing what the on screen trainer is telling you to do. Not trying hard enough fatty to touch your toes, and you will get scolded for it. In demonstration it seemed pretty intelligent, but the question remains how well will it be able to keep you from just not playing the game AT ALL.
- New Mario Brothers Demo
Nintendo also brought the fire with Mario. LOTS of Mario. The first game unveiled was The New Super Mario Brothers for Wii. Pretty much like the game of the same name on the DS with a slight twist. This version can be played with three other players simultaneously. It is sort of a competitive vibe but also has elements of Co-op play as well. You can help your friends get certain items, bring them back to life, or just sit back and watch em die. The next game featuring Mario was Mario and Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story. It’s the next in the line of the Super Mario RPG’s and sounds like something you would catch on the Biology channel. After that they revealed the next version of the Mario Vs. Donkey Kong series called “March of the Minis” and will only be available to those with the DSi, since it is a download only title. The final Mario game revealed was, Super Mario Sunshine 2… no wait, sorry. It was Super Mario Galaxies 2. That’s right its the follow up to last years award winning title on the Wii. Not much was said about it, other than you won’t get your hands on it until at LEAST 2010.
Other games were revealed like a Red Steel 2 (with pack in Wii Motion+), FF Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers (an “open world RPG”) a Kingdom Hearts for the DS called 358/2 Days, and A version of Golden Sun for Ds as well. The games kept coming and coming. Like “Women’s Murder Club: Games of Passion, based on the works of James Patterson, yeah I have no idea of his work either. What appears to be an on rails shooter game called Cop: The Recruit, Girls Mode that will apparently make me more “Style Savvy”. There was also a WarioWare game called WarioWare:DIY where as the title would lead you to believe, you get to make the micro games yourself, this will also be a DSiWare game. A few more titles of note… Dead Space: Extraction, and Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles, both are apparently on rails shooters for the Wii. Finally The Conduit which looks to be a high end FPS for the Wii, and one that I am looking forward to playing.
- Put your finger in it…
Next Satoru Iwata comes out to explain that he wants to know how we feel in games. He wants to know if games can relax us and if they excite us. How will he know that? Through in part, black magic, also through a new dongle that attaches to the Wiimote called the “Wii Vitality Sensor”. Basically you put your finger into it and it measures your heart rate and can tell the game if you are relaxed or freakin the hell out during a game. No mention of WHY that matters, or WHAT they plan to use this information for. Should be interesting if it gets used in more things that just Wii Fit Plus.
The closer for Nintendo needed to be BIG and I am pretty sure that they managed to deliver. No it wasn’t a reveal of the new Zelda game. It was however the a game that is that Team Ninja and Nintendo have been working together. On what… Metroid!! Metroid: Other M, to be exact. From the looks of the sizzle reel, it looks to be a return to the 3rd person Metroid of old, mixed with a generous helping of Ninja Gaiden. So long as it has the fun exploration of Super Metroid with out the frustration of Ninja Gaiden, this will for sure be part of my library.
*drool*
What a way to close out the show. The one time underdog just came out of its corner and put up one hell of a fight, just like Lil Mac. The next year or so will be what really tells if Nintendo has the staying power of first party games to keep the Wii on top of the sales heap.
A More Mature Nintendo
01094 days
With the recent announcement of Dead Space being ported to the Wii console, could it be true that the Wii and Nintendo in general is becoming more mature? Dead Space adds to the (slowly) growing number of mature titles that Nintendo has in there line ups. Also on that list is Dead Rising; Chop Till You Drop coming to Wii, Mad World also on Wii’s list, and Grand Theft Auto; Chinatown Wars.
Nintendo, it seems, is certainly trying to put more mature games into the already overstuffed line up that is aimed at kids. The Wii sells like hot soup in the middle of a blizzard let’s face fact, but aside from it being the fastest selling console out there, it doesn’t have a lot of staying power. I have a lot of friends that have a Wii (myself included) and don’t play them. If they are playing the Wii they are usually playing old school games that they downloaded through the Virtual Console. Is giving a game the “M” rating going to be the shot in the arm that Nintendo needs to get people playing again?
Shovel-ware is by far what is hurting the Wii the most. Parents faced with a decision of buying games strictly based on box art and price generally lean towards games that are cheaper and flashy-er. Parents that aren’t gamers like myself don’t know that what they are doing is necessarily a bad thing. They just think that the box looks pretty and the price is right, my kid will probably like this game. They don’t know that in essence they are only contributing to the problem of horrible games being pushed on kids. You can’t rightly blame the parents. They don’t know any better. That is why sites like What They Play.com were created. To educate parents so that they know the difference between a game like Mario Party and Family Party. As most people in the game media will tell you, if you stop buying really bad games and their sequels, they will stop making them.
The Nintendo DS, is another beast all together. It has sold well since launch, and doesn’t look like it shows any signs of slowing down. There are a TON of games on the DS that are wonderful, original, and fun all in one. There are still many shovel ware games on the DS but they don’t seem to stick out as much as the Wii. One major difference is that people are still playing their DS’. I see kids and adults alike playing the DS all the time. You can also read about great games coming out all the time. Why is the Wii so different then? In my opinion i think it is because the DS has been around long enough that the publishers that tried to take advantage of the systems supply and demand have started to dwindle. Due largely in part to the fact that people have stopped buying every game that comes out for the system. Now that doesn’t mean they have all gone away. That is horribly apparent when you look at all the “Petz” games that come out every month it seems like.
Mature games mean mature buyers, essentially, if you abide by the rules. Mature buyers usally means educated buyers. So this could possibly be the right course of action from Nintendo and their publishers to get better titles, and more long term franchises on board. The more you educate your public the more they will demand better quality product. As long as they nail the presentation and don’t try to shoe-horn in the use of the Wiimote or the touch screen controls for the respective systems things should pick up quickly. Gamers, true gamers, know what they like, and they don’t hesitate to tell you what should and should not exist in a game of a certain type. Developers and publishers just need to take into consideration the person that plays the game more than the person that is paying them to make it. I know that is a ridiculous concept but it’s true.
What is your opinion on the matter? Do you think that Mature titles belong on the Wii and DS? Do you think that this will help the Wii build an even larger fan base?
