Lack of glitz underscores low anticpation for Nintendo games
Friday, February 22nd, 2008 at 2:30pm by Blake
Remind me again why Nintendo gets overlooked by the gaming press (assuming you think they do) despite their surge in popularity? Is it a lack of glitz (HD visuals), the kid-friendly visual art, motion-sensing alienation, a lack of mature games, actual legitimacy, or something else altogether? No Mario Kart sequel mention in the above 10 most anticipated games of 2008 list is a shame. Additionally, not one handheld game made GT’s list. Not that there is one worthy — just sayin. Penny for your thoughts?
February 22nd, 2008 at 3:17 pm
looks like a reasonable list. No complaints about kart or handhelds missing the list from me. though I might change the order a bit- re5 seemed too high, SSB seemed too low, and Ninja Gaiden seemed like a dubious inclusion… Ill buy it without hesitation, but it looks dissappointingly similar to the first one, which dragged in the story dept. They need to change up the combat significantly, not just add blood. For the record, I only beat the first on Normal, but that being said, didn’t find it too challenging. Especially not after all the fuss of it being soooo hardcore. After all, I never even beat SMB.
Nintendo-inclusion wise, this looks accurate for me.
February 22nd, 2008 at 3:19 pm
OH- but I almost forgot- no Brothers in Arms? I’ve been waiting for Hell’s Highway for YEARS!!!!
February 22nd, 2008 at 3:57 pm
But what game would you put on the list that competes with these stellar entries? Mario Kart is really the only one, and that’s questionable.
February 22nd, 2008 at 8:37 pm
I liked the list would never have put RE5 at the number one spot and i think SSBB deserves higher then the 10th spot, a good list though.
Also it might be because this is an old top-ten but Square has put the FF release date in at 2009-2010 not any where near 2008 and thats why they haven’t put a release date or given that much info.
February 22nd, 2008 at 9:09 pm
A list make by hardcore people ill ask for hardore games. If you ask regular people… they won’t even have a list and even know what games are coming. Whatever gets more ads will be the next anticipated game. How at how many bought the Halo 3 game expecting to run on Wii…
February 22nd, 2008 at 10:22 pm
So-so list. No Gears of War? No Mario Kart? Mario Kart DD was one of the biggest selling titles EVER and will probably see more party and online playtime than GT, PGR, Dirt, and Forza combined.
SPORE?!?!?!?!?
February 23rd, 2008 at 12:41 am
yea…whatever did happen to spore? I also agree about Smash being to far down…But exactly the kind of list I’d expect from the “hardcore” crowd…
February 23rd, 2008 at 1:22 am
More attempts by the media to express veto power over Wii’s success.
During the Cube/PS2/Xbox days, the Cube also got this kind of treatment. No matter how hardcore or graphical the games were, they just somehow never made it onto big anticipation lists.
People who put a lot of stock into this list should ponder the Famitsu Most Wanted list in Japan. Routinely they are adorned with all manner of games, and they show what Famitsu’s readers and staff most anticipate. On this list were certified bombs such as Okami and Killer 7. Absent from this list were record breakers like Brain Age, Animal Crossing, Wii Play, and POKEMON of all things.
This is like a top ten list before anything has been released, and some games on this list are holdovers from last year. Who knows, maybe some things on this list will make next years Top Ten most anticipated?
February 23rd, 2008 at 7:31 am
jeff is right. some of those games are actually from 2006. HD brings delays galore, yet with no new gameplay. spiderman and a few other superhero games did in gamecube era what crackdown and prototype are doing now, they just didnt have great creators by them with the budgets to do higher quality work.
aside from these next 2 titles though, i think the list is fine.
little big planet is not only not unique, it has no hype with anybody but a few dedicated gamers and the media.
the fact is that game engines are not uncommon for the public as the PC has many in each genre.
this ones only popularity is in how much its visuals remind people of nintendo games with its cuteness and positive attitude.
how many people really want to spend hours making a level so they can run around on it for a half hour. or less.
prototype has only hype, and nothing else. no pedigree, and nothing new added to the mix to stand out except morphing and a cool trailer. because an overdose of testosterone never gets old. but the fact is that morphing your body to do new things also is not new. many games in the past have done morphing and pushing things around and killing people.
its very much true that its only popular because of the trailer and its in HD.
i am not saying a Wii or DS title should replace those 2 on the list, though DQ9 is highly anticipated in most parts of the world, as well as mario kart which will sell better then most of those games on that list over their lifetime.
still, if your going to make a list of anticipated games, shouldnt it be based on some evidence of its worth, not just hype, which has more often then not, proven a letdown?
February 23rd, 2008 at 11:44 am
Seems like most of these games were games that missed an 07 release date. I wasn’t very impressed with the list of course I am hanging out at infendo and not infenbox360.
February 23rd, 2008 at 12:25 pm
The gaming press is a lot like those guys who go see the bad action movies for the special effects only. The gaming mags have lost their way and are really only set up for certain gamers just like them. Pretty pictures sales more mags also. Give things more time and thing will turn around. Also all this hype is bad because if I’m sitting in front of a game and don’t want to play after seeing it in action then no amount of hype can help it.
February 23rd, 2008 at 3:03 pm
I really don’t see a problem with the list. What do you want on the list, half of it to be puzzle games on the Wii? Mario Kart Wii is the only other Wii game that would even have a shot at making this list, and as was said, that’s questionable.
February 24th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
wow. i realllly need to get a PS3
February 25th, 2008 at 5:51 am
The PS3 sure has some good games coming out this year.
But SSBB at number TEN?! That’s just insane, and in my opinion, that alone ruins the validity of the list. It’ll probably be one of the best selling games of the year, along with GTA IV and MGS4. What the hell is with the media and their thirst to crush the Wii’s success? I honestly don’t get it.
February 25th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
Keep in mind…from the Nintendo side of 2008, we know about Brawl, Mario Kart and Wii Fit. And each of those titles will be released in the first half of the year. We have no idea what Nintendo has in store for Q3/Q4 of 2008, and I would wager that there are some huge titles.
Kid Icarus? Pikmin? Animal Crossing? Not to mention third-party Wii stuff, like Factor 5’s title, another Zack & Wiki, etc.
I’d wager that from now to E3, we’ll see some pretty major announcements coming in regard to 2008 Wii titles. It’s only February, so the seemingly thin Wii line-up is exactly that…seemingly.
February 25th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
Oh, and as for the list…
I’d say this list is no better or worse than any other. I personally don’t care about PC games, so StarCraft seems a bit high for my tastes. And I’d probably place Ninja Gaiden higher. The Grand Theft Auto series is a gaming abomination, and on my list, it wouldn’t even appear. LittleBigPlanet would be a bit higher, too.
But Resident Evil 5 and Metal Gear Solid 4 are ace, guys. Those games could literally end up being two of the all-time greats, and they are the two best reasons for Wii owners to go multiplatform this year.
February 26th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
I skipped the above comments, so sorry if I repeat anything. Here’s my list:
10. Super Smash Bros. Brawl: I can’t believe I even put that number and title in the same line. I definantly saw it being on this list, but just barely? If you ask me, and I’m sure a good number of people agree with me, 10’s too low.
9. Ninja Gaiden 2: Actually looked pretty good from the video, haven’t really looked into it all that much however.
8. Prototype: Hm. Can’t make a solid opinion on this one, but the idea of the game looks a bit above average.
7. Grand Theft Auto 4: Okay, I never got an opporitunity to play any GTA, but I could tell by all the reviews on previous GTAs I’ve seen in the past that a lot of people want this.
6. Little Big Planet: Yay, a decent non-sequel. Definantly looks creative and I can see why people would want it.
5. Starcraft 2: Wow, looks pretty good, and considering the big convention Blizzard’s holding in France, fans must be on the edge of their seats wondering when this is coming out.
4. Final Fantasy XIII: Only stuff I know about FF is from Kingdom Hearts. I’m not a nut on the title, but I don’t hate it either. Looks like it’s pretty good though.
3. Fallout 3: I don’t know anything about this, so I don’t even have an opinion on this one.
2. Metal Gear Solid 4: Also don’t know much about this, but I’ve seen previous reviews and total fanatics about this game, so I guess I see why this got on the list.
1. Resident Evil 5: Same as the above. Looks pretty good though.
Okay, as said in the podcast, most of these are sequals, and I have not played ANY of the originals aside from Super Smash Bros. Granted that’s the only one I know a good deal about, sorry if my opinions seem a little unfair, but MGS, Fallout, and maybe another one or two on the list do not deserve to be above Brawl, in my thinking.
After looking at the full video in depth, I suppose I can see why people want some of these games, and some are just obvious as to why people want them. But I don’t think people are giving original games a chance.