Wii: A Threat to Gaming?

[BreakABone]

Well just gonna correct your facts, the Wii was actually the last console out of the gate this generation as the Xbox 360 was out a year before it, and Ps3 I believe was out 2 weeks before it.

...Wii can never get a competitive version of Oblivion, GTA games, MGS games, full Final Fantasy Games, respectable sports sims, respectable fighting games.. MMORPGs... or any of the games that really lifted the bar this gen. ..and new companies can't take a big risk on it, because its old hardware will make anything look bad when compared to Ps3/360...

I think you mean graphical competitive because it could do most of those games just fine since the majority of them worked on PS2 and Xbox and those were lesser hardware.... and also...

http://www.metacritic.com/games/plat...woodspgatour10 Respectable sports game
http://www.metacritic.com/games/plat...tionsoccer2009
Another
http://www.metacritic.com/games/plat...ii/maddennfl09
One more

http://www.metacritic.com/games/plat...ackhandedition
Respectable GTA clone and IMO the best version of the game.

Video Games | Tatsunoko vs. Capcom | E3 09: US Debut Trailer

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

A really respectable fighter.

Video Games | Final Fantasy CC: The Crystal Bearers | E3 09: Japanese Savior Trailer

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

What looks like a fine Final Fantasy game.

And things don't exist in a vacuum I understand that, but if this generation has proven anything is... well graphics aren't everything and they are probably far from the mind of the mainstream audience. So if you create compelling software, which is very much possible, people will buy it.

~Edit for your edit~

And I already know you're going to act like Wii's motion controls were the big advancement.. but that's when it comes back to personal game preference, and where you want to see things go. Look at ign, all the games that got scores of 8 to 10 on Ps3 and 360. How many of those can really be done on Wii? That's just proof that Wii is moving in a different direction... and you see Sony's already trying to copy the motion controls.

Though sixaxis always had the ability for motion controls, its just going to be something Sony works in more with more shallow games to compete with Nintendo... Just take that as a hint of why something that's too casual winning is not going to do any good for the industry. All of the next gen consoles are going to have motion controls, unless Wii dies down and is proven to be a fluke.

Well, I understand its personal preference, which is why this statement would sound redundant, but some people enjoy motion controls, and see how it is possible to enhance current genres and games.

My main beef with the Wii, as I'm sure it is with a lot of folks, is for all the potential that is hidden within in the Wii-mote it usually boils down to button replacement. Developers just substitute pressing A with shaking the controller in any which direction, which isn't the point of it. Or at least not the potential people saw at the end.

And I don't like it anymore, but can you go back to calling them cheap and arcadey or whatever, I loathe loathe loathe the division between hardcore and casual gaming. People make it sound like a plight that not everyone exists hundreds of hours into games a year, and somehow those people are worse off. At least with arcadey and cheap, you are defining the game and not the person.

[TheGame]

Bab I was talking from a technical perspective. Anyone can make games that look like last gen games that are 'good'.. It just doesn't advance the industry as much. And you're right Wii didn't come out before the competition.. In this case it was more about the lower pricing.

[BreakABone]

Originally Posted by TheGame

Bab I was talking from a technical perspective. Anyone can make games that look like last gen games that are 'good'.. It just doesn't advance the industry as much. And you're right Wii didn't come out before the competition.. In this case it was more about the lower pricing.

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.

[TheGame]

Originally Posted by BreakABone

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.

[Thespis721]

Originally Posted by TheGame

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.

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.

[Typhoid]

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?

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.

[BreakABone]

Originally Posted by Typhoid

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?

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.

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.

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.

[Thespis721]

Originally Posted by BreakABone

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.