Games Radar nails it: Top Reasons to Stay Loyal to Nintendo
Friday, August 15th, 2008 at 7:46pm by Jack
If you focus on the negative, all you see is the negative. So says Games Radar writer David Houghton in this spot-on, he-nailed-it top 10 list entitled “10 Reasons to Stay Loyal to Nintendo.” I feel a certain kinship with my loyal UK Nintendo defender, because he see the forest through the trees, is able to look back and forward more than a month, and is completely right. Again, rational thinking trumps all.
A sample here and after the jump, then hit the link for an honest, level-headed assessment of Nintendo.
#5. Third-party developers are seriously getting their sh*t together
So Nintendo doesn’t have a huge amount of hardcore material on the way that we know of, but forget the old “Third-party Wii support sucks” cliche and look at the reality. Madworld, Fatal Frame IV, Dead Rising, Overlord, The Conduit, Mushroom Men, Deadly Creatures, Spore, Facebreaker, Sam & Max, Tenchu… They’re all coming to the Wii, more than a couple of them are exclusives designed specifically for the hardware. And none of them are mini-game collections. The tide, it finally does seem to be turning…
#9. Until recently, Nintendo hasn’t been skimping on the hardcore games.
Think about it. We’ve already had Zelda, Mario, Metroid, Mario Kart, Smash Bros and a new, vastly under-rated addition to the Excite franchise. And several of those titles have been the best editions of their respecive franchises we’ve ever had. If Nintendo hadn’t been banging on about the expanded audience at the same time, would we really have had such a problem with the company’s hardcore output?
August 15th, 2008 at 8:35 pm
HAHAHAHAHA number 4 and 10 are the best:
4: Nintendo happily employs a 55 year old man who acts like this (shows the picture of Miyamoto “cosplaying” Link)
10: Cammie reminds us of a Wallace & Gromit character. And we like Wallace & Gromit
August 15th, 2008 at 11:58 pm
Speaking of #9, they really need to mention BWii, Fire Emblem, and Strikers. All three games are for the core and all 3 games are fantastic intallments in their respective franchises.
August 16th, 2008 at 12:24 am
I’ve never amassed such a collection of games so quickly. I’ve already purchased 30 games for my Wii. It’s not even 2 years old yet. No other system has gotten me to purchase games for it as quickly as the Wii. I don’t see what the problem is. There really is a lot of great games for the Wii.
August 16th, 2008 at 8:15 am
@streetx,
There’s not TRULY a problem. The only “problem” is that THE most vocal and hardest of core gamers tend to be teen age boya and teen age boys absolutely DEMAND games with big badass protagonists killing big bad ass things (think Gears of War). They also tend to want the absolute shiniest graphics and have internal issues that make them loath to play a console with games on it for other demographics. Add to this the simple fact that they are the most active group in the web and you’ve got our present situation: The Wii is selling like gangbusters, nailing virtually every demographic, yet the “gamers” are in a panic about being abandoned. If you can stand back, and analyze the situation, it’s almost comical…….if it weren’t so sad.
August 16th, 2008 at 11:45 am
These are the reason why I still have my Wii and play it on a regular basis…and with the lineup of games coming out for the Wii it can only get even more fun.
August 16th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
@used cisco
You rock sir! The Wii rocks! Some people just seem to be crazy out of their minds over the fact that we have fun with this console. It doesn’t make sense to them, so something must be wrong with us. That’s the comical logic they have.
I was involved in an anti Wii war on another board last year and I heard the most foolish thing any of you will ever hear. This guy was totally slamming the Wii and talking about how it doesn’t have Bioshock and Halo and blah blah blah.
My reply was “The Wii is fun and that’s all that matters.” You won’t believe his reply. It was “Don’t start with the f@$*ing FUN argument. I get sick of hearing that.”
Now I ask you all. How dumb did this (grown man, by the way) sound?
Pretty silly, right?
August 16th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
cisco, i couldn’t agree with you more. you hit it right on the money. i have a ton of wii games. i could name them all, but i won’t. those that don’t find anything for them in the wii library, seriously don’t know anything about video games. i don’t want to stereotype, but i will anyway. those people will most likely be in the demographic, ages 15-23, where they only play FPS’. the wii is a true gamer’s console. and i’m glad its not a hardcore console, because the type of genres would be way too narrow for me. for people who have missed arcades (old enough to remember them) and are sorry that they’ve become extinct in the states, the wii truly is the home arcade we’ve been missing. i’ve been gaming since atari and i’m tired of all these self proclaimed hardcores who’ve only been playing since 5 or 10 years ago, and claim wii sucks.
August 16th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
@streex what is your age and your preference no what you play? Just wondering because I’m the same way. It’s like during the PS time they where making a lot of games I did not care about because they just where not fun.
What is cool is we are not dealing with PS2 graphics and the Wii has a new controller also. I’m a PC gamer also so there is no way in hell I can compare the Wii to those graphics it would just be silly.
It seems people just have a hard time treating the Wii like a console because they are use to DVD players. Console have always had lower graphics then the expensive kit systems.
The only people complaining are PC gamers in a console world. It’s like bizarrio hardcore are some thing. I mean you can tell when your system is not doing it’s job as a console when japan is not buying it. What do you expect from two new comers SONY and MS are yet to make 1st console titles that will keep pushing there system. Nintendo did it for 2 years straight and people can not find a game to play. Then they act like the 3rd party does not exist. Either these guys are paid to do this are they really are dense or uninformed which means blogs are not really doing their job.
No one does any articles on some of the other games but maybe because you guys are not trying to run a magazine. I’m not blaming you guys but IGN should be shot.
The gaming media as a whole sucks a lot more than it should. I think that why they where so mad at E3 because no one does any digging any more. Every one is just stealing stories left and right.
Oh well…. If your wondering why the desert is on fire then you might want to look around because your probably in a forest fire sand does not burn.
Some of you guys are not that great at problem solving. I mean is our school system getting this bad?
August 16th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
@brian and AC,
I also, want to be clear. I’m not necessarily insulting teen age boys. Afterall, about 15 years ago, I WAS one. I’m just recognizing the ingredients that have come together to create the recipe of “problem” on the internet. I don’t begrudge teenage boys or their tastes. I fully appreciate that those are the things they like and justifiably so. When I was 15, all I wanted to do was blow shit up and try to find upskirt bugs in games. At that point in my life, I was probably too cool to play a game like mario. Well, for me, those days are over and I’m not interested in playing “cool” games so much as I’m interested in playing ENTERTAINING games. And, IMHO, the Wii has those aplenty.
And, in full disclosure, I DO have a 360 for the 2-3 genres that are underrepresented on the Wii. It just so happens that those 2-3 genres are quite plentiful on the 360 simply because most of the catalog falls into those genres. That’s fine, but as an adult gamer I have pretty varied tastes and with each passing year, I’m less and less interested in running around with a machine gun killing alien invaders or even moreso, beating up hookers.
August 16th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
Man you guys hit the nail on the head. What these young gamers do not understand is as time went on more and more people stopped playing. I’f you’ve ever been to an arcade in the 80s then you know that there where tons of people playing. Those guys where 14-18 with kids like me up in there also. I remember it was great! These guys are not 10-30 years older than me. All of these guys grew up and left gaming and started families. It’s safe to say they also stopped gaming because the controls stop making sense.
So now you have all of these generations of hardcore players from the past playing. There is a reason why the Wii started shutting down arcades in japan. It did their job better than them. If you gamed in the 90s you can unserstand why people felt this way. The imagination in some of those games was crazy and the game play was even sweeter.
They didn’t need gimmicks to sell these games which is what the tech advances end up being. 3D is great and all but it just turned every thing into PC games even the arcade games. Every thing slowed down then when games came to the PS system they had to be even slower. Certain types of games just disappeared.
Basically the PS brand did not do a good job of teaching new gamers what gaming was about. It was more about re-imagining gaming into a more movie like experience. Hey for those who like and want that just know the point and click games did it way better. Yet they always lacked organic game play. It was more like playing a jigsaw puzzle rather than playing chess with bullets and fist.
Luckily nintendo is still around and they brought these older gamers back. If I remember the atari games started to suck because people got tired of their games maybe because they catered to what the hardcore wanted.
And arrogance made them create a whole lot of Et carts for no reason at all. I mean does any one know how to play and beat that game?
I had a similar experience with the HD gaming yet I could play them fine but the game wasn’t any more exciting. The FPS has ushered in a whole bunch of level editors and not enough artists thanks to the PC mod scene. I got into this stuff but really once you know it is like doing a web page and most level editors are not set up to make your own game so people kept making the same crap over and over.
That works fine for a FPS though. COD is fun but the level design sucks. The same goes for GTA and lots of other games. No wonder luc B though he could get away with just putting crap any where these guys don’t even play real 2d games. I would think a large amount of hardcore gamers haven’t even beat lots of the classics on the VC simply because they don’t have the skill to. Most of them just say the game was designed badly. Even though they simply can not make the jump or either just play sloppy.
I think the real gamers are going to buy MM9 and beat it the other are just going to own it. It’s just like most people that say they have beaten metroid LOL I have to ask how many times? And did you cheat? Yes you can cheat if you did not know. But beating that game is a true test in 3d. I’ve played lots of games and that was up there. I think most gamers can’t even get past the 3 or 4 orb boss.
I hope the later parts of conduit are like this. Other wise the online competition is going to get slaughtered. Part of the fun was the challenge and knowing how good you actually where. I’m all for including people but the PS gen newcomers are not different than the casual wagglers.
They take pride in their story games that have bad stories and forgettable art. Which is funny because no one else does unless they are having fun. it’s was never about the graphic unless the art rocks creatively.
August 16th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
typo: these guys are now 10-30 years older than me. Late 20s here.
Another thing is Have you guys played some of these Nintendo players online they are pretty good! Brawl is a totally differnet game in their hands, BWii is crazy and mario kart is the icing not to mention the nintendo soccer game.
I think a part of it is these hardcore gamers don’t like being beat by their mom in Wii sports LOL. The same goes for your girl friend.
August 16th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
I’m about to be a teen and I hate games like Gears of War.I’m sticking with Nintendo all the way.If I ever get a 360,it’ll be because the new katamari damacy game is on there.
August 16th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
@used cisco
I like all types of games and all systems also. I just hate the way people insult one console just because they aren’t capable of enjoying it. I like all types of games, but Nintendo has fulfilled my gaming desires more than anyone. That doesn’t mean I trash Sony or Microsoft. I think teenagers aren’t the only ones that do this. It seems like everyone has the same argument. “The Wii doesn’t have the best graphics so how can it be fun?” It’s so silly. I like to have peaceful coexsistance with people in the gaming community, but it’s hard when someone thinks the only fun games are the one’s that let you shoot people.
Ok maybe I do trash Sony now and then for arrogant attitudes and statements, but that’s another story.
Back to the Olympics.
August 16th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
@Brian,
“I think teenagers aren’t the only ones that do this. It seems like everyone has the same argument.”
That’s my point. It SEEMS like everyone has the same argument because the kids who are too cool for school make up a large majority of the gaming community on the web. I have lots of friends and co-workers who are gamers and no one bashes on the Wii, or any other console. They play what they have and generally enjoy them all, as it should be.
The ones bashing things are the kids and the immature adults. It just so happens that on the web, they are the rule and open minded gamers looking for variety tend to be the exception.
And yes, back to the Olympics!
August 17th, 2008 at 12:38 am
@used cisco and run line 10
I couldn’t agree more. I just cracked the 30 yr. bracket and I actually grow tired of the first person shooterrhea you get on the other consoles. I don’t want to bash but I just like the wider variety of genres available on the Wii. It is true a select few vocal hardcore gamers are the ones who are creating such a fuss over the Wii. I keep telling myself that it will all die down eventually once the haters realize they are just wasting their breath as they watch sales go through the roof month after month. Good job guys.
GAMEPLAY OVER GRAPHICS!!!
August 17th, 2008 at 2:11 am
nintendo gets respect. xbox is live and ps3 is ps3. the market is still open.
August 18th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
@ luigi kid - you’re ahead of the curve buddy
for a long time nintendo did lead the way and was the graphically superior machine. so for me it was a bitter pill when everyone started bashing the big N. then the wii came out and at first it was probably hard for everyone to understand why an inferior machine was doing so well, but things have changed to where graphics aren’t the main stay of a game anymore. it adds polish to the whole presentation, but if the game sucks it still sucks. nintendo recognized this and couldn’t compete with the other console’s hardware and moved to make games the way they should be and were in the beginning fun and innovative. if people played pong and enjoyed it at the time then it truly comes down to the game and not the looks, because pong was ugly even if it was the first game you had ever seen. don’t get me wrong i love great graphics, but i love great games more.
August 19th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=269