Nintendo either doesn’t care or doesn’t understand “core” gamers any more

Before E3, undoubtedly hearing complaints that they didn’t care about the core gamer any more, Nintendo said that core gamers would be happy with their E3 showing.  Well, most of the gaming press was pretty disappointed with their press conference, so Nintendo then claimed that Animal Crossing was a “hardcore” title, and then also reversed positions and claimed that actually, they weren’t targeting the core with E3.  Still not satisfied, enterprising journalists followed-up with them again where they reiterated that the hardcore market is “critically important” to them and pointed to Super Mario Sluggers and the as of yet unseen GTA DS as proof.  Realizing that the community was still clearly unsatisfied, in a somewhat amazing development, Nintendo’s President Iwata finally issued an apology for the weak press conference.  But in his apology, he also reveals that he may not really understand core gamers any more:

 ”If there is any perception that Nintendo is ignoring the core gamers, it’s a misunderstanding and we really want to get rid of that misunderstanding by any means. We are sorry about [the E3] media briefings, specifically for those who were expecting to see Nintendo show something about ‘Super Mario’ or ‘Legend of Zelda.’”

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You’ll love it, we swear

Note to Nintendo: when you show a new peripheral, in this case the WiiMotionPlus, make sure we understand what it’s good for and why we need it.  It looks like they demoed just Wii Sports Resort with it, but no other announcements with it or what it really allows developers to do with it.

Incidentally, Wii Sports Resort would be even better if they put the original Wii Sports on the disc as well, sort of creating a “platform” as Rock Band is doing.  They could even add in support for the “WiiMotionPlus” to make the original games even better (if it actually does anything, since they didn’t really make the advantages very clear).

As for Nintendo’s conference overall… it was a bit of a bore.  I didn’t expect it to compete with Microsoft’s because Nintendo and Microsoft are quite honestly playing different games at this point. But I was hoping to at least see an interesting new franchise (for the “core” gamers they supposedly still care about) or at least an update to one of their popular franchises (and Wii Music and Animal Crossing don’t really count).  I really thought we’d at least see a teaser for a new Zelda, or didn’t they announce or strongly hint at a new Kid Icarus game at some point? Instead it seemed to be mostly numbers with a few games that I didn’t really care for, and then telling me that I should “disrupt my thinking” and escape the Matrix so that I care.  As with seemingly everything they produce, though, I’m sure they’ll sell a trillion copies.

E3 Sneaks Up Next Week

Kotaku was nice enough to point out that E3 was coming up next week and while I’m sure we’ll hear more about games like Gears of War 2, Resistance 2, Far Cry 2, Rock Band 2, and Killzone 2 (that’s a lot of 2’s), I’m actually more interested in seeing if we’ll get more information about games that we DON’T already have some decent information about.  So, here’s my list of things, divided by platform, that I’d like to see next week (and that I have no clue if they’ll be shown or even exist):

• God of War 3 (PS3)
• New Ico/Shadow of the Collosus team game (PS3)
• Heavy Rain (PS3)
• New Zelda (Wii)
• New Nintendo IP (Wii)
• Peter Jackson Halo collaboration (360)
• Amplitude 2 (Non-Rock Band Harmonix game, perhaps the name “Wavelength” would be more appropriate) (Multi)

Admittedly, there are other games I’d still like to see more about (including the ones listed before, and others such as Resident Evil 5), but these are ones that we basically have hardly any information on, or don’t even know if they exist, and would make great surprises for E3.  What does everyone else think?

Sweet, 8-Bit Mega Man

As much as I liked some of the later MM games, I always felt like Mega Man 3 was the pinnacle of the genre, and so I’m glad to see that Capcom’s ninth entry in the series looks like it’s getting back to its 8-bit roots.  Three cheers for Dr. Wiley, Dr. Light, and the classic style I remember so fondly.  Hope it’s good.

Game PTSD

Wow, I’m full of tiny, irrelevant posts today.  Everyone loves top ten lists, so here’s one of the most irritating old school Nintendo games.  I’m absurdly proud of the fact that I’ve actually beaten 3 of them honestly (Mega Man, Ninja Gaiden, and Contra) .

Ironically, many of these games have actually spawned sequels that are even harder than the originals - Contra and Ghosts n’ Goblins, I’m looking at you.  I would go so far as to speculate that the incredible difficulty was actually the main thing people remembered about these titles and so impelled designers to retain it.

I’ll conclude by noting that I think Battletoads may in fact be impossible.  Literally.  I cannot conceive of a human being who can beat this game without emulation, Game Genie-ing, or otherwise cheating.  The vehicle levels themselves were enough to make me hurl my controller across the room in rage.

Going through the motions with Mario Kart Wii

IGN wasn’t too thrilled with the Wii Remote “wheel” motion controls for Mario Kart Wii in their preview a few weeks ago:

“However, it’s much more fun with a GameCube or classic controller, I’ve found. The Wii remote makes an already loose control scheme feel even looser and it is particularly difficult to quickly switch from a right curve or a left one (or vice versa) using the peripheral. After some frustrating rounds in which my Kart became very friendly with the barriers surrounding the tracks, I plugged in the GCN controller and found a much tighter experience waiting. I immediately noticed a dramatic improvement in my rank throughout the courses, too.”

Ok, so, the motion controls, as I have feared, apparently don’t work all that great.  So, it’s a good thing that it supports the GCN and Classic Controller, right?  Well, according to Kotaku, the GCN and Classic Controller won’t really do, well, everything.  From the press release:

 • Classic Controller: Mario Kart veterans can let their thumbs do the driving with the Classic Controller. However, players cannot perform certain moves with this control scheme.

• Nintendo GameCube™ Controller: Experienced Mario Kart fans may also enjoy this familiar scheme, although some maneuvers cannot be performed.

Ok, so the question is… what exactly can’t be done, and how does it affect the racing? It sort of sounds like you may not be able to pull off the “tricks” that need a “shake” of the remote to pull off, that also give you a speed boost upon landing.  That would seem to be a major disadvantage for people using GCN and Classic controllers, so they couldn’t do that, right?  Well, according to IGN’s preview, they didn’t:

“I know that Bozon had mentioned in our podcast that he couldn’t find a way to perform tricks or wheelies in Mario Kart Wii using a GCN or classic controller. You can, though – the functionality is just mapped to the D-Pad. So when you go off a jump, tap up on the D-Pad and you’ll trick. Same for wheelies. That seeming omission was the biggest drawback to using the old controllers, which otherwise offer improved maneuverability mapped to the analog stick, but have no fear because it’s all good. It’s in there.”

Ok… so, if it isn’t the tricks, what is it?  Or if it is the tricks, then this would appear to be a recent change as the feature was available in IGN’s pre-release build.  Or, is this just a mistake in the press-release?

If it’s correct (and it actually refers to the tricks), I wonder whether this is a way to counter the “advantage” the traditional controller has over the motion controls.   So, if you use motion controls, you can get your boosts, but you may have trouble steering.  Use a GCN or Classic controller and you’ll probably steer better, but you won’t get your “trick” boosts.  Is that a fair trade-off?  I’m not convinced.

Why I haven’t played Smash Bros. Brawl in over a week

Super Smash Bros. Brawl’s launch last week was a huge success for Nintendo, selling a record breaking (for Nintendo) 1.4 Million units. I, myself, even went to pick up the game at Gamestop for their midnight launch and was amazed to see in the realm of 75 people lined up outside waiting for it. Clearly, there’s been a lot of enthusiasm for the game.

And now that it’s out, the reviews have also been glowing. So now that I finally have it, I should be playing the hell out of it, right?

Well, I haven’t. In fact, I haven’t played the game since the day after it released. What’s wrong with me?

Aside from my traveling this weekend (and actually trying to play the game on a Wii that unfortunately has the disc reading problem), I just haven’t felt all that motivated to play it. It’s not that I don’t like the game: it’s exceedingly well polished, a chock-full of content, and perhaps the most amazing celebration of (mostly) Nintendo gaming ever made available. But for me, the single player game is just not all that compelling. Yeah, the “story” mode is kind of fun, although there’s nothing particularly amazing about it. Playing it for more than 30-60 minutes is about all that’s interesting to me. It’s clear to me, as it sort of was with the previous games in the series, that this is a multiplayer game.

Perhaps this is a sad sign of just getting older, but other than a couple rounds and some coop with Megan, I’ve barely had a chance to play it multiplayer. It’s difficult for me to get all my (interested) friends together in one place for some Smash Bros. Everyone obviously has their jobs and obligations to attend to, they live in different places, and obviously Smash Bros. isn’t necessarily the only thing that people like to do on a social occasion anyway. Not only that, Smash Bros. has a somewhat specific target audience, and won’t necessarily appeal to all of your friends in the same way that a game like, say, Rock Band might. I think this is, in a way, why online multiplayer gaming has become so important, and why it’s become so popular via XBox Live. The Nintendo crowd that grew up with the great Nintendo multiplayer games like Mario Kart and Goldeneye are getting older and don’t have the ability to necessarily get together a gaming night with their friends so that they can play the latest multiplayer game. Instead, while not exactly the same, Xbox Live has still given the ability for friends to easily play together, chat, trash-talk, etc… almost as if they were playing with each other in person.

This is why I, at least, had a lot of hope for Smash Bros. on the Wii. At least in this generation Nintendo has some online gaming, so I’d still be able to play with friends and others online when I wasn’t able to in person. Unfortunately, as I detailed last week, I’ve had major problems with the online multiplayer. I’ll give it another shot this weekend, but even if it worked as intended, it’d still be severely flawed. As I ranted a long time ago, friend codes still suck, as does the lack of voice chat. I don’t expect the online Brawl experience to completely replicate the in-person experience, but as we all know, the best Smash games are the rowdy ones. Nintendo’s response to this is a complete joke. Not everyone has Skype readily accessible to them near their Wii’s, and even if they do, what an unnecessary pain in the ass. Online play with your friends, therefore, won’t be all that much different than online play with strangers. They’re both completely devoid of vocal interaction, removing the “personal” feeling that you’re actually playing with other humans, and the silence is deafening.

In any case, like I said, it’s not that it’s a bad game. I’ll be bringing it with me on an upcoming trip where it’s sure to get a lot of use for multiplayer, and I’m sure it’ll be a complete blast. Nintendo still dominates the hardcore, in-person multiplayer scene. It’s just sad that they’re still stuck in the minor league when it comes to online play.

The Difference Between Fads And Trends

The title of this post is slightly misleading, but I think that Microsoft and Sony may be on the verge of compounding a major strategic error with another strategic error.  The jumping-off point for this post is a New York Times article that reviews GDC speeches by the major manufacturers and developers, with the nominal topic being social gaming.

Naturally, there’s a hagiographic section on Nintendo’s prescience in identifying the gaming casual market, and highlighting how successful that strategy has been.  But I’d like to focus a bit more on the competition’s response.  Read the rest of this entry »

Mario Kart Wii won’t necessarily be an uncontrollable nightmare

I hope I’m not the only one that’s been skeptical about how well motion controls will work with the Mario Kart franchise. Unlike the “looser” feeling of Excitetruck, Mario Kart has always been more about precision steering, whether sliding perfectly around a tough corner, aiming a green shell with lethal accuracy, or lining yourself up properly for a shortcut.  Maybe Nintendo will prove me wrong, but trying to get this level of precision out of what seems to me like miming a steering wheel seems impossible.

However, like Super Smash Bros, Nintendo is apparently not being heavy-handed with forcing a motion-controlled setup on you.  According to 1up, there will be support for various control schemes, including a Nunchuk-Wii Remote setup, GCN controllers, and the classic controller as well.  I’ll be certain to try out each of the styles once the game is finally made available (which, I’m guessing won’t be until at least September despite what Nintendo says now), but I have a feeling that one of these alternative control methods will be my preference.

Now if they can just nail the online play…

Attack of the Imitators

Man, the amount of total crap on the Wii is truly amazing. Sure, you have publishers like Conspiracy Entertainment that release nearly a dozen shovelware products to turn a quick buck, but that’s not even the half of it.

Just now I searched for Endless Ocean on Amazon, and not only did it bring up that game, but just below it with similar cover art was “Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure”. Not only that, they were undercutting the price of Endless Ocean by $1 (at $28.99). I mean, why just go diving when you can BE a sea monster… and for a dollar less to boot!

Now, obviously the games are a bit different, as Sea Monsters (according to the description) lets you play as “Six different sea monsters”, but does this not seem like a cheap imitation to anyone else?

And the Wii (and DS for that matter) are just full of these kinds of imitations. Because of the success of Nintendogs, the Wii has both “Petz Dogz 2″ and “Puppy Luv”, as well as “Petz Catz 2″ and “Kitty Luv”, not to mention “Petz Horsez 2″ and “My Horse and Me.” The success of Wii Sports, Wii Play, and Mario Party have brought us such gems as Carnival Games, EA Playground, and perhaps the best name for a game ever, Game Party (it’s sequel, likely to be called “Party Game”, is also highly anticipated).

What is wrong with this picture? Suddenly the Wii library is looking like a PC bargain bins, where all you find is a bunch of second-rate hunting, card, and casino games, only the Wii also has pet simulators, party/mini game compilations, licensed crap, and other trash. Are people actually buying this stuff?

I guess in some ways, since I’ll never buy any of this stuff, I don’t really care that much except that it’s kind of scary to walk into the Wii aisle at Circuit City only to find a sea of trashy games you’ve never heard of. On the other hand, if people actually buy this crap, this will probably be mostly the kind of games we see on the Wii during its lifetime. If that’s the fate the Wii is doomed to I’m afraid it’ll receive less and less attention from me as time goes on. And if this is a trend that Nintendo is happy with, it’s quite possible that the Wii will be the last Nintendo console I own.

Does anyone else remember the Nintendo that promised “Quality over Quantity”? Maybe they really should consider this again.