Funny how some gamers get worked up over shovelware.
Have they forgotten about console lockout chips which limit the damage? Or trustworthy recommendations to help navigate the murky waters? And is there some video game Boogie Man I’m not aware of, forcing players to buy terrible games against their will?
On the surface, I can understand the concern. The Wii is home to more poorly-received games than other modern system, according to Metacritic. That can complicate the process of finding good games on Wii. But it’s not as bad as it was in the early ’80s, and there are modern tools to ensure you can avoid the stinkers.
To be clear, I don’t sympathize with game makers hoping to make a quick buck on cheap software. I despise them in fact. But I have rarely (if ever) gotten burned by said software. Here’s why:
Console control. You think the Wii is riddled with crappy games? The Atari 2600 was worse. Way worse. The majority of VCS games were so bad in the early ’80s that players wrote off video games entirely, causing the great crash of 1983.
Realizing this, Nintendo launched the NES in 1985 with lockout chips, so that the company could control, to a certain degree, the quality of games and their release frequency. Without Nintendo’s blessing, publishers couldn’t release a game. This instituted a layer of control to the approval process that hadn’t existed, one that continues today.
The system isn’t perfect. Shovelware can and does still exist. But its saturation today is nowhere near the levels experienced by Atari, thanks to closed consoles. I guess the “Official Nintendo Seal” has meaning afterall.
Critical and user reviews. Don’t listen to jaded or otherwise threatened gamers. The Wii has dozens of delightful games. You just have to separate the wheat from the chaff. To do this, it’s important to research a game before buying. Scanning dependable reviews, listening to online chatter, and talking with friends who share a similar taste in games are vital to your efforts.
Doing your homework, even if only for a few minutes, will ensure you find the games you can trust, as opposed to getting stuck with a stinker. Knowledge is power.
Freedom of choice. Bad games can’t hurt you unless you buy them. End of story. The above two items help avoid disaster. Regardless, you ultimately and freely decide what you want to play. No one is forcing you to buy anything. If a game looks suspect, or you’ve never heard of the publisher of developer listed on the back, skip it (or consult the reviews first). If it’s on sale for $10 and appeals to you, what’s there to lose?
The key is to focus your efforts on expensive games that can either leave a hole in your pocket or provide hours of fun. By staying smart, you can avoid the former while extending your gaming dollar.
Granted, occasional gamers like your uncoordinated uncle are more likely to get duped into buying a crap game, because they spend on a whim or don’t keep their ear to the grindstone like enthusiast gamers do. The price you pay for being out of the loop. But shovelware is not a problem so long as there are good games to be found. It can’t hurt you unless you let it.
I agree with one caveat. The Wii is a unique animal in that you really can’t gauge that much by game critics. They tend to judge Wii games more harshly based on their overburdened traditional expectations (which are completely misplaced on Wii) and if you listen to game critics, you’ll miss a large portion of what the Wii has to offer. Using metacritic colors as a reference, there are MANY games in the “yellow” that are well worth buying and playing, whereas with the PS3 and 360, you generally want to stay in the “green”.
The whole point of shovelware is to sell it to consumers who are the polar opposite of you, Blake.
Go play one of those myth-whatever racing games — there’s like 1500 of them on the Wii with a different box, and tell me what that seal still means.
You don’t give enough credit to your uncoordinated uncle, but every kid who’s not old enough to have their own cash supply from which to buy games has an uncle like that and they’re the ones giving the crap-makers their dollars.
Basically, everything you’ve said is spot on and explains why gamers don’t buy shovelware. Unfortunately, nobody that the shovelware makers aim their products at will ever read your guide, and the cycle shall continue on.
>.> More I thought of the “Quality Seal” from Nintendo; it makes me wonder if it is so good then why most games that AVGN did were from the NES.
and then there’s the gamer like me who sometimes finds great fun in a game that is dismissed across the board. I’m talking about Castlevania Judgment. I rented it and played it online and had a blast, yet I’m told indirectly at every website to stay far away. Maybe I’m just a weird hardcore gamer that is the exception to the rule, but I would have missed out on the fun this game gave me if I rested my laurels on all the game critics.
Very solid piece, chief.
Really, the jading of others is my only concern with shovelware. My family and friends who bought a Wii and don’t necessarily follow reviews or the whispers on the streets usually get suckered into buying poorly made Wii games simply because they’re cheap and mention a “party” in the title.
After a few of those experiences mount, they become jaded and start to think, “Wow, this Wii thing just isn’t that great.” And they miss out on the great experiences the system has to offer, which is really unfortunate.
Not anyone’s fault but their own, but still. Unfortunate.
@ Tylor
I agree with your point that what Blake describes is pretty much the opposite of many of the casual consumers who are buying games, but I still think he has a valid point.
Let’s use the same Uncoordinated uncle as an example. Let’s say that this uncle goes out and buys a 30 dollar piece of shovelware for the Wii to give to his nephew. The nephew gets the game, and realizes pretty quickly (thanks to being in tune with the gaming world), that this is indeed a piece of junk. What is the nephew going to do? Probably 1 of 2 things. Either he will keep the game (probably only play it once, before shelving it), and never tell his uncle what a bomb the game was. Or he might tell his uncle that it’s not the best game, and would he mind if he exchanged it for another game that he really wants. In both cases, the uncle either doesn’t know, or he doesn’t mind that the game was a bomb, because his nephew is happy (or at least he appears so). The same uncle will probably go ahead and buy another game for his nephew the next time as well. So basically, no harm is done.
Even so, someone buying a shovelware game for Wii and somehow writing off the entire system because of that bad experience is kind of a silly thing to do to begin with, right?
If I like Audis, but buy some third party floor mats that look absolutely terrible when I put them in, do I write off the entire Audi line? Do I abruptly try and sell my Audi, because of those terrible mats? Of course not, which only adds to the great points raised in the article.
Thanks Blake.
BTW Blake, you forget to mention one of the greatest review tools ever – Youtube. Reading what somebody says about a game is one thing, to actually see the game being played is an awesome advantage that wasn’t available too long ago.
And to add to the point, every system has its share of shovelware. The wii just stands out now because of user base size and (most importantly) it costs less to make a crappy game on wii than on ps360, a big discrepancy that is unique to this console generation (vs. say last gen when it cost about the same to develop across all console platforms.)
I can’t understand the reviews of games this generation. Family games or anything for the Wii has gotten horrible reviews. Contrast that with the “blockbuster” games that scored near perfect 10s. If it’s gritty or realistic it gets good reviews.
I’ve bought a few blockbusters based on reviews. The trailers released looked cool and there’s a lot of promise and hype. These games are fun for a few hours, but get dull quickly. They often are short on content, hoping to make money from downloadable content and are generally riddled with bugs.
Meanwhile, games that get little coverage I find myself spending the majority of my gaming time playing. These games are more family themed or lack the over the top violence of the blockbusters. Are games getting good reviews because of the violence/realism? Are reviewers being bought off?
All I can say is that with a name like Ninjabread Man, I so wanted it to be a good game.
Yes every system has it’s share of shovelware, but percentage wise you’d be hard pressed to prove to me the other 2 systems has anywhere near the amount that the Wii has. My eyes burn when I go to the Wii section of Best Buy, GameStop, or Target due to the amount of sheer crap that is there.
Personally I haven’t found reviews for the Wii that far off. There are some great games, but I don’t buy this notion that just because it’s a Wii game it’s automatically downgraded. I also don’t buy games get a positive review just because of “realism” or violence. There are plenty of games that have been called out as bad games that went that route.
To me both sides have turned into a bunch of stereotypes, assumptions, and frankly just things to say that sound good to the masses that agree with you.
@ Everyone here:
The reason Wii and DS are especially suspectible to shovelware, however, is because douchebag 3rd-parties can think their games will sell on motion controls and touch mechanics alone. Even freakin’ Babyz could benefit from removal of cheap gimmicks like that.