[These Wii Remote-tans are sleeping, just like mine.]
It's been a while since I spent much time with my Wii to play anything besides my usual ritualistic zone-outs to Super Mario World, and I was hoping that this was the game that would renovate my fondness for Cute Little White, after I developed waggle fatigue and a lapse in patience for anything that wouldn't let me just sit still and push buttons.
But I think of Wii a lot, especially since it's become such a watchword to investors in those companies whose business I cover daily at Gamasutra. For example, EA in particular has invested heavily in Wii strategy; if you're an EA investor, wanting the publisher to grow its marketshare on the platform with the largest userbase is a reasonable desire.
And it's been successful; EA announced its EA Sports Active has sold 1.8 million copies since it launched in mid-May (you'll recall I meant to try that one, too, honestly -- but nope, tired of messing with Wii) and that its marketshare on Nintendo's platform is at a new high. In the UK specifically, the publisher's Wii titles like Tiger Woods and Harry Potter had the charts on lock for a while.
The primary complaint against Wii was that only first-party titles were successful on the platform; I'd argue that EA's been the company to prove in the biggest way that this isn't necessarily the case. Other companies are making strides, too -- you can bet Activision's just-announced Call of Duty 4 for Wii will sell well.
Or can you? Is it conceivable that CoD4 on Wii will only do about as well as, say, GTA: Chinatown Wars on DS? Which is to say with surprising modesty, given how those franchises rake it in on other platforms. What kind of games sell very well on Wii? Besides Nintendo's crown franchises, it's fitness and sports games, and that's usually about it.
And, y'know, that makes a ton of sense. It's a console that requires you to
move your body to play, so why shouldn't its bestsellers be those kinds of games? It just means that Wii is not the kind of game console we're used to -- and that it's heavily outsold core market hardware says a lot about our shifting audience.
That's why I polled you guys about how you're feeling towards Wii these days (right hand sidebar, vote vote vote!!) if you're reading this site, you're probably closer to a core gamer than not, even if you enjoy Wii's casual and physical fare too. It's really splintered away from the rest of the market into a product that's no longer "for" us, hasn't it?
You guys know I'm a huge fan of the Harvest Moon games, and the creator of that franchise, Yasuhiro Wada, is now in an exec role at publisher Marvelous. When you look at the games Marvelous does -- Harvest Moon, the upcoming Vanillaware gem Muramasa, and yes, my longed-for Little King's Story, you'd think they had the ideal recipe: family-friendly, universally-appealing themes with enough depth and gameplay sophistication to attract and sustain core players (Nintendo's own Pokemon is such a megafranchise thanks to similar traits).
You'd think if any game could bridge the schism between the Wii and "gamers", it'd be Marvelous'. But I bring this up to point you to an interview we recently did with Wada, wherein he highlights the challenges of being core-oriented on Wii. His thoughts make an interesting read.
How about you guys? Think there's a place for successful core market titles on the Wii (that do not have Mario, Zelda or Metroid in the title)?
So while I procrastinate mucking with re-syncing Wiimotes or lighting pairs of candles or whatever, I've been playing Fat Princess, which might actually be the game that lures me out of my anti-multiplayer cave. WILL THAT REALLY HAPPEN? We shall see...
31 comments:
I've said for a while now that the Wii is a games machine for those who are not typically into games.
The common misconception among plenty of those heavily involved in videogame communities around the web seems to be that either A) this means its games are rubbish or B) this means the console's rubbish. But I think the Wii's actually separate enough from anything else within games (save for, maybe, Nintendo's own DS) that it's impossible to make direct quality comparisons.
I think gaming is diversifying to the point where, in the reasonably near future, we're going to see hugely different audiences all flocking to their own little region of the medium. In one sense, the ongoing console wars between feverish fans are insufferably annoying, but then it's really the same with music. Consider, for example, how metal fans worship their chosen genre and dismiss everything else. Consider how teeny-bobbing-pop fans, girls in their teens or whatever, learn every single dance move to the latest single, or how your grandma says "oh, it's all just noise these days." This is a direct parallel to draw between film and music, and I think that, contrary to what it might seem to represent superficially, it's actually the start of a real age of maturity and diversity for gaming.
That went way off track.
The Wii has a couple of problems when competing for the next-gen core marketshare. Firstly, well, it's the Wii. It's already got its reputation nailed, and it's unlikely that much will come along to change that. It's also of substantially lower processing power than any of its competitors, which means it's no use for cross-format stuff -- one topic that was mentioned a few times at this year's Develop Conference was that the Wii simply wasn't on people's horizons because it isn't capable of running the games the industry wants to make.
Nintendo has found itself in an interesting position, though. Its stalwart series were what people once considered the core, elite titles. Now, genres and playing habits have moved on, and Nintendo have continued making what they were making, as well as diversifying and expanding into markets that were not previously interested in gaming. That's been a spectacularly smart move for them, and judging by the sales stats, they could do to continue down this route. I'm sure they will. I'm sure a few "elite gamers" being pissed off along the way won't be too much of a worry for anyone.
That is a disturbingly sexual image of a Wiimote.
With that said, my attitude to the Wii is sort of a mixed bag. On the one hand, I can appreciate the potential that a motion-controlled, not-focused-on-graphics, family-friendly console ought to have to change the industry for the better (by spearheading a move away from high-fidelity graphics and towards a bigger focus on gameplay and artistic uniqueness)...
...on the other hand, I'm a PC gamer and I just don't care (plus, I'm bitter about Nintendo's critical lack of support for the early-period GameCube considering I used to be a massive Nintendo fanboy and that I still think failing to release NGC remakes of GoldenEye and Perfect Dark was the particular bit of dropping the ball that signed the console's death warrant).
This is something which I feel is heightened by the fact that the aforementioned potential has yet to materialise in a positive (for the “core” PC gamer) way. Sure, the Wii has gone to show that there's massive potential in the non-core markets and that graphics aren't necessarily needed to sell well; however, that hasn't really translated into a slew of pretty-but-downscalable titles with interesting gameplay on the PC at all.
So yeah, to answer your actual question: I'm not sure. On the one hand, the Wii's broader userbase ought to make it possible for people to release more innovative games within the boundaries of the core genres; on the other, the fact that this has so far utterly failed to manifest (there's, what, three games that might be considered “core” on the Wii? Okay, so there's probably more of them out there than No More Heroes, Mad World and The Conduit) doesn't exactly prop my hopes up, especially the similar conditions that the DS suffers/benefits from.
"It's a console that requires you to move your body to play-"
Hmm, not sure about that bit, but agree with the general sentiment.
Making a core-friendly Wii game is... a problem I do not envy. I kind of expected Capcom or Namco or someone to have managed by now. An action RPG or something.
It seems to be less of a problem for WiiWare, which isn't drawing comparisons to boxed 360/PS3 games quite so much.
(Actually, GTA:CW Wii would be a no brainer seeing as they're doing a PSP version already.)
Also: N'Gai was right. "Core" and "casual" are fine for describing the markets, but not the games themselves.
I don't believe the Wii will ever be able to sustain third party "core" games in the traditional sense.
Judging from the sales charts, the Wii audience seems to favor sports/fitness, mini-game, and first party-oriented games. I think this is a pretty accurate breakdown of who we’re talking about when we’re taking a look at the “Wii audience.”
The first party big names doing well on the Wii suggest that there’s a strong core audience of Nintendo fans who are still deeply in love with Nintendo’s heavy hitters. The success of mini-game collections and sports games point to the audience loving games that promote playing together with friends in the same room, rather than the CoD or Halo experience, where the gamer is in a dark room, palms sweaty and fingers ready to twitch analog sticks at the slightest provocation.
From what I’ve seen, the nontraditional gamer demographic that Nintendo has successfully brought into its user base views it as more of a fitness “machine” rather than an entertainment platform. My stepmom, in her late forties, has just bought a Wii and EA Sports Active specifically for the workout and weight loss potential. She’s completely disconnected and disinterested in the gaming industry and couldn’t care less about what’s the hot new game coming out in “Holiday ’09.” That kind of consumer is not going to contribute to sustaining any kind of “core” game.
The online interaction on the Wii is also still infantile compared to the other two consoles, and that is a huge reason that the core franchises do well on other consoles. Wii owners have had to struggle with friend codes or have just not even bothered hooking up their Wii to the internet.
The Wii will not be able to support a traditional third-party core franchise because it just doesn’t appeal to the current audience. Not only that, but the console is just not capable of creating the same experience that a core game has on the only platform (I’m looking at you, The Conduit).
It almost feels weird to think about it, because while being the most "accessible" console, the Wii is the hardest for me to get started on.
If I want to play Fat Princess, I just grab my PS3 controller and press the button to activate it by remote. If I want to play Devil Survivor, the same. If I want to play a PSP game, I just load it off my memory stick using *ahem* custom firmware. But if I want to play Wii Play, Sports Resort, Rune Factory, or even very "core" games like No More Heroes or RE4, I've gotta pull out the remote, attach the nunchuck, sync the sensor bar, pull down the blinds so that the sunlight doesn't reflect off the floor and screw up the signal, insert the SD card with the WiiWare or VC games I want, and so on.
I mean, it's hardly a MAJOR issue, but people are always talking about eliminating as many steps between gamer and game as possible, so it could be a factor.
I've REALLY been enjoying Wii Sports Resort and of course still play Brawl with friends, and a few VC games...
To be honest, though, I don't get a ton of play out of ANY of the current consoles. Apart from Street Fighter 4, my 360 has been gathering dust (and GOD DAMN is xbla obnoxious these days! what am I doing paying $50/yr to be advertised to?) and I still haven't invested in a PS3 due to a lack of interest in long, story-driven single player games.
I think at this point 9/10ths of my gaming time is spent at the PC or on a DS. It's kind of a shame.
I aspired to accept what Nintendo is doing a couple of years ago...
It hasn't quite happened yet though...
I mean, I'm fine with what & how they're doing things now, but I haven't quite come to terms with where they're going. Yeah, that basically just means I'm kind of reveling in the fact that I'm pissed off at the uncertainty of the future, as I want to believe the Wii is going to help with shaping that.
I still don't take my Wii out of the trunk that often, but when I do, I'm surprised that I'm not filled with a bunch of reckless angst. Instead, I just feel a weird disconnect with the system now. Maybe that will pass, maybe it won't.
If you do get some time to waste, skim our first [http://is.gd/25cyn], and second [http://is.gd/25dzo], and RT entries [http://is.gd/25e6S] if you want a bit of amusement on a slightly related subject.
As much as things have changed, I
I still find myself roughly agreeing with Jana's response on the roundtable there.
~sLs~
I always felt accusations fired Nintendo's way for having forsaken 'hardcore' gamers have always been a bit naive and, in fact, ironic considering it's the core gamers who have abandoned Myamoto's company.
I've been hooked on the Wii's concept alone ever since its release but have only purchased one a couple of weeks ago. So far, only Wii Sports and Super Mario Galaxy have found their way into the console but this has more to do with lack of time than lack of interest. In a recent post on my blog, I did a quick round-up of games I've been playing and was stunned to realize just how true all those examples of casual or non-gamers feeling attracted to the Wii. My parents indirectly introduced me to gaming with a ZX Spectrum - their passion for its games made them hardcore gamers before I even knew the term or before I even considered myself a gamer.
Yet, with time, they stopped caring and ventured off into other things. My mother plays Solitaire and browser games, and my father - after amazing Sunday afternoons playing Virtua Racing and Contra with me - gave up entirely, even coming to hate the medium itself. The other day I couldn't help but put on a ^___^ smile when my mother saw me playing Wii Sports. She played for a while herself. It was wonderful. She had incredible fun.
Looking at her made me realize what I enjoy about the Wii. It's not the control method, although that's part of its appeal and once you get into it you can't think of playing games in any other way. It's not necessarily the games, although there are many strong titles on the console. It's not Nintendo's vision, even if it's a spectacular one, playing their own game rather than prancing about trying to "win" some pointless battle over graphics, franchise superiority and brand loyalty.
Playing the Wii actually reminds me of playing on the NES, when everything was still new and possible. Back in the day, the thrill of holding up a Zapper and shooting at ducks was infantile, but precious, fun. It was radical, it was crazy, it was potential, it was silly, it was fun. It was Nintendo. That's the same Nintendo I'm still seeing.
All this talk of not developing hardcore titles is misguided. Nintendo is still the same company as it always was. People forget peripherals such as the Zapper, the Power Glove or even ROB. Nintendo was *always* about a lifestyle, except back in the day, it amounted to nothing more than geeks in bedrooms imagining that their simplistic - but fun - games were something more than that. When the NES came out, we were not so old and mature as to avoid discussing videogames while making motions to explain them. I can't think of anyone back then who wouldn't talk to me about a racing game without simulating steering a wheel with their arms, or talking about Duck Hunt without holding up an imaginary gun, the thumb stuck outward as if to represent a cocked gun.
And then, what Nintendo - and other studios, like Sega - did was turn our dreams into reality. Not all of them, of course, but a window into what was possible. This generation crying how Nintendo is different miss the point - it's they who are different, who have grown disenchanted, dispassionate, about a medium they once saw with eyes open wide. Now that we have actual devices to fully live out these dreams, they're dismissed as a gimmick. Rock Band is not about holding a piece of plastic and looking like an idiot - it's to find validation for those days where you spent in your bedroom listening to whatever was 'hip', and you wish you could 'rock hard'. Likewise, the Wii Wheel is more than a cheap, plastic add-on: it's a gateway to further explore our connection to videogames, why we came to enjoy them in the first place. It was the thrill of being able to race, or pretending that you were racing. Games have always asked us to forget about our mundane lives and adopt a form of role-playing, of imagining we were incredible characters in incredible situations. The Wii is simply an extension of that.
(continued)
The only problem with Nintendo and the Wii is that they are a couple of generations late in convincing their flock of their good intentions. You can accuse Nintendo of that, but not of having forgotten their place and vision. Gamers, on the other hand, have developed a twisted form of hive mentality where they can't be bothered to be honest about games or why they play. They claim to miss Nintendo, or to support it in some way, but they actually don't. Even
through faltering sales, gamers on the Playstation and Xbox side of things have a higher tolerance for misshaps, experimental games or quirky ones. They still punish inovation or anything that strays too far away from the status quo (think back to how Jaws sold more copies than Psychonauts), but the so-called Nintendo 'hardcore' crowd will often not even give misshaps, experimental or quirky games a chance. "Oh, it's too casual". "Oh, it's too childish". Lest we forget, Wind Waker suffered a terrible backlash because of its cel-shaded graphics and it wound up probably being the best Zelda game to date. Yet, it remained criminally underrated. It was a shame Myamoto went for a more 'realistic' aesthetic in Twilight Princess. After such confidence in WW, it's as if he felt the need to guarantee players he would do his best to forget his vision and comply with frivolous expectations.
Indirectly, Nintendo 'fans' were expecting Nintendo to be just like Sony or Microsoft.
Core market titles on the Wii? Only if gamers realize they are part of the problem. Nintendo is still Nintendo. They still make quality games. They still make the games we enjoyed playing. And we would still enjoy them if we weren't hung up defending a vision of gaming we never understood ourselves. And if they don’t change developers minds, it’s not going to become any better.
I've always loved the concept of the Wii (and voted so on the poll!), as it brings a new dimension and action to gaming, drawing more people into our hobby. I loved the concept when it was announced, and I'm happy Nintendo has been rewarded for its big risk.
Even so, I hardly ever play games on the Wii anymore. Not that I dislike the games I have for it - Mario is obviously top-class, Boom Blox is a great party game, and I feel House of the Dead: Overkill has possibly the most subversive and underrated writing of any game on the entire system.
But interesting games don't come out often enough for the Wii to keep it front and center in my mind - certainly not the way that my 360 or laptop PC do. Furthermore, they have more non-game functionality that I use on a regular basis, as well.
So my attention stays focused on those platforms, playing games and browsing on my laptop while I watch a video on Netflix over Live, and the Wii sits quietly under my TV, waiting for me to remember it's there again.
Amusingly, this just landed on my browser: http://kotaku.com/5331417/
Which goes to show that Wii gaming isn't as casual as some people think, I guess.
Hey Leigh, you know Little King's Story does not utilize any waggle or IR pointer control, so you can (don't have a choice, really) just sit and push buttons.
I still think the greatest issue is that those who core games are meant to appeal to have other consoles in addition to the Wii. And so while MadWorld might be this great thing on the Wii its not really competing against games on the Wii for the core market, its competing across all platforms and as such isn't unique enough to make it.
It's interesting that this conversation came up around Little King's Story, as one of the reasons I like it is that it doesn't use the IR or waggle. I can just sit back, relax, and enjoy a really great game unfolding before me...like the good old days...Or the days that came back when my wife and I invested in a PS3 last Christmas :-)
I've been playing Wii Sports Resort all week and I can tell you right now that the later levels of Swordplay Showdon are "hardcore" if I've ever seen it.
I think the whole thing with "core" games on the Wii is just something invented by people who boast about being "hardcore." People have been misunderstanding Nintendo for more than a decade now.
Since at least the N64 era Nintendo has always been one to go their own way. Anyone expecting the same kinds of games from them that you get from Sony and Microsoft will always be dissappointed. I think developers in the beginning missed Nintendo's vision with the Wii.
Just go back and watch the Wii Remote unveiling video that was shown at the Tokyo Game Show in 2005. Look at the kinds of games the people in that video appeared to be playing. Only one guy was playing a shooter.
I think it'ts totally possible to create games within that realm that satisfy the parameters of "hardcore" gameplay, just a new kind of "hardcore" that plays to the Wii's demographic and interface. Along with parts of Wii Sports Resort, just try playing the Wii Trauma Center games and calling those casual.
I love the Wii becuase it is a machine for those not typically into games.
I grow tired of the PC:s, PS3:s and the 360:s that bring me (almost) the same thing over and over again.
Wii keeps gaming fresh for me, as it provides me with games that aren't like the others on the market. And I like being able to play something different.
Curiously, I guess that is also the reason for indie games doing rather well these days.
I’ve always been fascinated with how other areas of the media cover the niche field of Games Journalism, specifically the actual reviewing of games. From the vague generalisations of the tabloids to the expert fan-knowledge of specialist games magazines, Games Journalism is a mixed bag. With only the most mainstream of games - Halo, Mario, Tomb Raider - getting any real exposure from our national press, how can the general public be persuaded that games are as valid and stimulating a form of entertainment as cinema or reading?
The Wii, of course, has had unprecedented success in introducing the concept of gaming to audiences previously unresponsive to this form of recreation. In a genius move that would appeal to the techno phobic among us, Nintendo done away with the button-heavy joypads of previous console machines and steered towards more familiar territory. Styled on the standard remote controls we’ve all been using for decades alongside our TV’s, the Wii Remote became an instantly recognisable tool. Just like a TV remote, you simply had to point and click. And with this simple and familiar design ethic came an entirely new approach to the content Nintendo now produces for its machine. The Wii is not a console strictly confined to ‘games’. It now likes to think of itself as a multi purpose lifestyle machine with which to sharpen one’s mind (Brain Training) or perhaps as a health aid (Wii Fit).
In order to gain acceptance among a wider demographic Nintendo has had to replace its exclusive ‘Gamers Only’ crown with the humble ‘One Size Fits All’ cap. Some may argue that accessibility came at the expense of quality, that the beautifully tailored games of yore have been replaced by the bland uniform of universally appealing titles. News from past E3 events have only helped encourage this view. Nintendo President Satoru Iwata has said that the company had to focus on causal gaming:
"We had to focus on software for the mass audience and software that will be sold in this year or next. This is one of the rare opportunities to reach out to mass audiences around the world."
What with Wii Music, Wii Sports Resorts and Wii Speak it really seems as though Nintendo is pushing hard to harvest as many ‘casual’ gamers as it can. We mustn’t forget that Nintendo is a business after all and more punters mean bigger profits. But before we raise our nunchucks in anger we must remember the quality batch of games released for us ‘hardcore’ gamers: Super Mario Galaxy, Twilight Princess, Metroid Prime 3, No More Heroes. And let’s not forget the likes of Mario Kart Wii and Boom Blox which, although pitched at a younger, less discerning gamer, are still bloody great fun. While we’re on the subject, we may as well mention the Gamecube, which was, if you remember, pitched solely as a games machine for gamers. And just look how poorly that did.
I think what we are witnessing is the inevitable infiltration of gaming into the mainstream consciousness. There is no escaping the fact that a huge market has been identified and exploited: the non traditional gamer. Is this a good thing? Almost certainly. Consoles are no longer the exclusive property of gamers. They are now as standard and accessible as a DVD Player. Almost anyone can find something that will interest them, if only for a few hours.
And as the industry grows - even in this time of recession the videogames market is flourishing – we can expect a savvier, less intolerant approach to game consoles in the media. And that can only be a good thing. Right?
Alright, first of all, to everyone: TLDNR
Second, those images on the post are fucking creepy.
I'm still stuck in 2004 or so, trying to catch up with all the releases that I never got a chance to play. Once I finish all the old stuff, sometime around 2015, I'll see what this "Wii" thing is all about.
In other words, I'm this guy.
To be honest I've always considered the Wii to be a gimmicky system. Back when it was known as Revolution, I was thinking: yeah, right, taht will last about 6 weeks, then people will stick it under the TV and leave it there whilst they play on their 360/PS3/PC. It turned out that for many core gamers I know personally, this was pretty much the case. However, with other audiences such as older females, the allure is still very much alive and kicking. It seems that with the Wii fit board and the various fitness oriented games, the idea of playing games to lose that last few pounds before going on holiday is a better option that going to the gym. I know that the Wii is still selling, but I doubt it's sold many units to core gamers recently. Sure loads of us went and bought one on release day, but how many core gamers who don't have one want one. My friend sold his about a year after he bought it and hasn't looked back. It's pretty obviously a 'feel good about yourself' item. Less a console and more a fitness product.
Dan K.
On the other hand, I do play a lot of modern DS games, though. SMT: Devil Survivor is a lot of fun.
Now every time I hear about a Wiimote crashing into a TV, I'm going to think about that last picture. And I'm going to cry and apologize to no one in particular.
Hi Leigh,
You repeat the remark that 3rd party games don't sell on the wii, but I don't think these are fair comparisons a lot of the time.
Rock Band and Guitar Hero do as respectably as their HD counterparts from what I understand. Sonic games do better on the wii than anywhere else. The Lego games sell well. The Force Unleashed on the Wii outsold the PS3 version, fwiw.
The problem, I think, lies more in what's missing. What has come out on the wii that will equal the sales firepower of SF2, Fallout 3 or RE5, sure-thing franchises that have ignored the console? You can't expect a vacuum to outsell something that exists :)
Yes, the Conduit and Madworld are middling to poor, but Madworld was such a stylistic gamble that I don't think it would've had an audience anywhere. And the Conduit was sunk by a real lack of excitement... by anyone.
Then you get massively delayed and gimped versions of HD titles where the bloom is off. Dead Rising was a gross miscalculation, that should never even have been attempted.
What I find interesting is that no one is playing to the console's strengths with more JRPGs or other less technically demanding games. There's clearly a sort of market for it. Tales of Symphonia 2 outsold the far superior Tales of Vesperia in the US, despite extremely 'meh' reception. Rune Factory/Harvest Moon gets played a lot. And it seems like the other consoles have left this niche wide open for the moment.
I will be very interested to see how the upcoming wave of very Japanese, "outdated, though updated" games coming to the wii (starting with phantom brave's rerelease and Muramasa, and going through Tales of Graces) does on the wii, especially relative to any counterparts that exist on the other systems.
Also, I hope you give Little King's Story a try. As someone else said, motion control is not used at all, and it is really a great, charming game. It's not perfect, but it beats its own drum, which is a breath of fresh air these days.
I love the Wii Remote-Tans. The picture at the end was funny.
"It's really splintered away from the rest of the market into a product that's no longer "for" us, hasn't it?"
I hate this attitude... I'm sorry but this smacks of a misguided sense of entitlement and arrogance. Not to mention ignorance, since at the beginning of the piece you admitted to not even turning the thing on!
As far as I can tell, as a wii owner and a so-called "hardcore" gamer......
They are doing their damndest to make every game a breeze. It's not the waggle, the specs, or the finicky bullshit getting the remotes to work like they said (and they didn't work until motionplus). In their drive to make sure we can all play we've got stuff like:
-insufferably long tutorials/intros
-"puzzle"sequences where you're told what to do, then told how to do it, and then the camera pans to where you need to go to "solve" the "puzzle"
-games designed to let the loser win like... mario party (you got the star for sucking the most!!!), mariokart with it's item system that rewards you for being last (anyone hit by a blue shell 15 feet from the 1st place finish knows what I mean)
I can see how it could be fun for maw and paw, but when the games are soo easy and formulaic OH A BOSS! I need to either hit the huuuuuuge glowing red spot or reflect it's projectiles. Hit it 3 times to win! Every successful hit will make it move faster/turn redder. After a bunch of these standardized encounters, boss battles lose their impact. I have yet to shit myself at a boss encounter on the wii. Where did the magic go?
"Where did the magic go?"
It never left.
You're describing Nintendo as it always has been. And you're ascribing to Nintendo things every other studio does.
"Growing out" of Nintendo is an entirely understandable sentiment. Blaming them for it, however, is not.
Hi Leigh!
Little King's Story will be there when you're ready for it. It's funny how we learn to assume what our friends will like based on other games they enjoy. Having read SVGL for 2 years, I'm dead certain LKS is right up your alley, and you'll love it. Which means, of course, you'll probably hate it. :P
As others have noted, the *absence* of waggle and Wiimote pointing are welcome and wise choices, imo. From a design perspective, knowing when *not* to use a control is as important as knowing how and when to use it effectively.
I recently came accross your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I dont know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Patricia
http://onlinegamescom.net
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