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Re: Wii: A Threat to Gaming?

Quote:

Originally Posted by BreakABone (Post 256625)

But even still, the Xbox... arcade at least has been priced lower than the Wii for over a year, and the only way it has been catching up is that the sales of the Wii are slowing down.

I'm not saying price has nothing to do with it, but people don't seem to realize that the Gamecube launched at a cheaper price than the PS2 and the Xbox and didn't fare nearly as well.

Nintendo placed smart money on the latest graphics not always winning out, and they placed the proof in the box. If not for Wii Sports being a pack-in, I'm certain this generation would have taken on a slightly different shape.

And I can understand from most POV while having the least powerful console win would be a disappointment because you fear that next time around, everyone would take shortcuts, and that very well could happen, but I really don't see MS and Sony releasing the same hardware after such a long period or else they would have made motion controls for their current hardware if that was to be their big push next time around.

Nobody can deny that Nintendo was smart about how they handled things this generation. Its not that the 'least powerful' system winning is a problem, as I pointed out Ps2 and Psx were the 'least powerful' systems of the competitive systems in their generation. Its the fact that the that's 'least appealing to hardcore gamers' is going to win out that bothers me.

Re: Wii: A Threat to Gaming?

Quote:

Originally Posted by BreakABone (Post 256625)

And I can understand from most POV while having the least powerful console win would be a disappointment because you fear that next time around, everyone would take shortcuts, and that very well could happen, but I really don't see MS and Sony releasing the same hardware after such a long period or else they would have made motion controls for their current hardware if that was to be their big push next time around.

The industry will advance in the direction the market takes it. If that means that graphical enhancements stall for innovative gameplay, then I feel that is just as strong of a technical advancement as any. Is the Wii's motion perfect? Nope. But like it was said earlier, you gotta go through the bad period to perfect the technology (Motion+ is a perfect example). I hated the PSX because I thought all the graphics were crap and took me out of the game. But PSX eventually became what we have today.

Re: Wii: A Threat to Gaming?

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheGame (Post 256627)

I personally don't like the distinction between hardcore and casual. I love to play Call of Duty, Batman, Dead Space, Super Mario Galaxy, Wii Sports, Zelda, Street Fighter IV, Mario Party, etc, etc. Does that make me hardcore or does that make me casual?

We're all gamers. We all like different games. And the developers create games that appeal to every which type of person.

Re: Wii: A Threat to Gaming?

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And since you want more current examples I guess, Mario Party came out every year between 99 and like 2007, and in that time it was one of Nintendo's most popular franchises, but we still got the likes of 3 Smash Bros games, 2 Mario Karts, Mario Galaxy, Wind Waker and Twilight Princess, 3 Metroid Primes, 2 Paper Marios.

So...Mario game, Mario/typical Nintendo character centric game, Mario game, Mario game, Zelda game, Zelda game, Metroid game, Mario game.

Remember what I said about success having a lot to do with household names?

Quote:

The big budget, action movies are the more casual movies while the more intimate movies are dubbed "indies" So I know how the analogy works.

That wasn't my point.
My point was that in the mid-90's a lot of comic book/graphic novel movies started to be made, so others started to follow suit. About 8 (or so) years later, the movie industry explodes with a constant stream of crappy (and sometimes not crappy) superhero/comic movies.

The analogy is that superhero movies are casual games. We won't see the impact on the market right now, but years down the line, casual games will undoubtedly envelope the vast majority of the industry. I'm not saying every casual game is crap. I'm just saying soon they will flood the market.

Re: Wii: A Threat to Gaming?

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Originally Posted by Typhoid (Post 256652)

There were other successes, but people associate Mario, Zelda and Metroid as Nintendo's "hardcore" franchises" which is why I used the example.

There were a lot of games this generation that sold without household recognition though I guess a point could be made they were backed by big publishers, but stuff like Mass Effect, Bioshock, Dead Rising, Lost Planet and Assassin Creed.

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I get your point, but you don't look at the reasons.

Comic books movies died down near the end of the the 90s because the general public was no longer interested in them and then Spiderman came out and there was a new surge of interest.

And that fits exactly with your point, but it also works with my point. The industry will follow the leader until a new leader emerges.

You think if another string of movies prove successful, there won't be a bunch of those to replace the comic book movies?

But I completely understand your point, and to a lesser extent TheGame's.

Re: Wii: A Threat to Gaming?

Except for some rare cases like Beyond Good and Evil and Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath, if a game is really good, it will sell well. Mass Effect, Bioshock, and Assassin's Creed are good examples.

I don't see anything wrong with sequels and franchises, I actually quite like them. People become fans of certain series or games, so why not continue to please those fans if they comprise a large player base?

Not continue a formula or series that works just for the sake of not continuing it wouldn't make sense...it would be like if a band released an album that generated a huge fan base for them, then decided they would retire so that another new band could give it a go.

Would you be happy if your favorite band did that?

Re: Wii: A Threat to Gaming?

The thing I love the most about analogies, is that they can be used to prove anyone's point, and yet, they don't really prove any point.

Re: Wii: A Threat to Gaming?

I see no problem with sequels when done RIGHT.

See Gears, Mario (for the most part, we're keeping out Mario is Missing, etc here), Zelda, Metroid, Half-Life, most of the Final Fantasies (especially retro ones including 8-9 :P).

It's good for the consumer, good for the devs, good for profit, good in general.