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You know today I argued with two people in relation to Nintendo, one defending the new style of Zelda and the other defending the point regarding absence of a DVD player. Really it boiled down to the fact that Zelda’s new style is hardly going to help it sell and the absence of a DVD function is hardly going to help sell the system. And yet the reasons why they are both like that are inexplicitly linked because they are both the same reason.
Nintendo are different.
Now many will scream this is a negative point, whereas the Nintendo difference has meant the company’s survival for a good while, many say it won’t last forever. And they may be right. Nintendo’s sales have never been that high, they are always hitting below target and Sony are always one step ahead… just when Nintendo do something that remotely resembles brilliance Sony just do a little tweaking to their near perfect strategy and everything’s back to normal with Nintendo on the back foot once again. Nintendo of Japan have to deal with the realism factor, developers pay thousands to go into depth about everything they are creating, look at The Getaway for example… yet Nintendo don’t. All their games defy physics, defy realism and just concentrate on the raw gameplay… but Mr. Smith doesn’t want that, and Nintendo fail to realize it. Nintendo don’t like to spend money, they skimp on advertisement, they don’t rush into any big online plans, they don’t spend millions on game production and they release games within quick succession in order to save on marketing strategies (look at March). Nintendo claim their games concentrate on innovation and new, brilliant experiences… then why is it we get some excellent experiences that last only a week? Believe it or not, it doesn’t sell!
But that’s just me being pessimistic; I’m a far more optimistic bloke…
Realism is consuming the world; the desire to create a Virtual Reality experience has been replaced by the desire to create a virtual world in which you can mess up. Western gamers are obsessed with violence, Hitman 2 outselling Mario Sunshine is proof… we want The Getaway, we want GTA, we want Metal Gear Solid, we want Hitman… it is realistic and it is violent. The Japanese are similar, although their desire for realism is extreme (but hey it’s the Japanese), the top ten games often include Gardening Simulators and games where you date high school girls! Violence and Realism in the west is replaced with Sex and Realism in the east, some small games that show the strange desires of the Japanese often surface in the west, Harvest Moon is a great example… run a farm… get married… you can tell it came from Japan. Dead or Alive: Beach Volleyball is a game that places gameplay second next to Sex and Realism, the game has been created in order to show off the DOA girls… it is worryingly Japanese and it is worryingly coming to the west. How can Nintendo compete with this? A war where two massive spenders like Sony and Microsoft are pushing realism day in day out. The Getaway got a premier for Christ’s sake! Nintendo don’t have this money, they don’t have the popular realistic 3rd party support… how can Nintendo compete in a war where realism rules supreme and Sony rules it by a mile.
Simple… don’t get involved.
How can a games console not fight in a console war? But offering something totally different. Nintendo appeal to two schools of people, those specialist fans who want something different and those looking for a second console. Microsoft and Sony are essentially the same experience… different games but the same experience, realism. Nintendo are different (I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again), their games consume a specialist area, they are simple to start with and by the end are more complex than any of these realistic games, yet the ingenious learning curve has meant you’ve hardly noticed how the game has successfully indoctrinated you into it. Nintendo games are stylized to the point that they don’t look realistic and yet you know they’ll immerse you to the point that you no longer exist. The Nintendo difference is this, no game is alike and each game follows the same basic rules: make it totally different, give it a critical acclaimed learning curve and make sure it works. It makes me laugh when 3rd parties attempt to create the Nintendo experience on the PS2 or X-box by producing a Mario or Zelda clone. This isn’t totally different; they NEVER have an ingenious learning curve (they throw so many new moves at you all the time a.k.a Banjo Tooie) and they still aren’t as good! But it isn’t that Nintendo style games don’t exist on rival formats because I can name one dominant example for each platform. Sony’s ICO is stunning, it plays totally different to any adventure game that is existing, it is frighteningly simple but the slow learning curve means that by the end that simple concept has become far more complicated… it uses special stylized visuals and it was hailed as a legend. It was far from perfect and yet it was an example of a Nintendo game on the PS2.
The X-box has its own far better Nintendo style game, SEGA’s Jet Set Radio: Future. How I pray this gets a Gamecube release because I love Jet Set Radio so much. It is astonishing, anyone who played the original to death will agree with me… Jet Set Radio is amongst the greatest games of all time. It uses an incredibly new idea, it starts off simple but then they slowly increase the baddies, the placing of graffiti and missions. This is a Nintendo game style through and through, which is why I’m slightly surprised SEGA opted to release it on the X-box… in my eyes this is the reason to own an X-box… and then again that is because I am a Nintendo fan.
But this brings me onto the PS2 and X-box style games that appear on the Gamecube… there is far more. Microsoft and Sony are almost (although not) a victim of their own success. PS2’s incredible sales mean that 3rd parties desire to release games on the system, they opt for the heavy selling games like Burnout, Hitman 2, Rainbow six, Timesplitters etc… and most of these games end up on the Gamecube as well. So because the 3rd parties follow Sony’s lead, Nintendo fans experience both. And yet the cream of the realistic crop Nintendo fans don’t see… we don’t see Grand Theft Auto, we don’t see Halo, we don’t see Metal Gear Solid. And then that doesn’t really matter, yeah they’re good, but Nintendoids play games for a totally different reason. Grand Theft Auto 3 had many Nintendo fans call its name, come to the Gamecube we pleaded… we didn’t get it… I don’t care. Metal Gear Solid is forever a topic of conversation; will the Gamecube get this game? No, Konami don’t mind releasing it on the Gameboy, Playstation, X-box and PC but not Nintendo’s home console.
It has led to a heavy load of criticism against Konami; why not release one of the world’s biggest games on Nintendo’s home format? Konami’s reason is simple, they don’t think it fits with Nintendo’s image and Nintendo fans are still not impressed, it makes Nintendo fans presume Konami are calling Nintendo a company for children. Well actually Konami are totally right. The Gameboy is a pure cross between the Playstation and Nintendo; it features the best of both worlds… Nintendo’s home console is a different story; Metal Gear Solid is an ultra realistic violent game… I’ve been through this already. Konami do not hate Nintendo, they support it rigorously throughout the NES and SNES eras and when nearly all-Japanese developers left Nintendo in the earlier years of the N64 (Squaresoft, Capcom, Namco etc…) Konami still stood strong besides Nintendo. Nevertheless there is a distinct lack of Konami in the new generation, whereas they are announcing the multi-format football and Disney games they keep confirming new Sony style games in the form of Metal Gear and Silent Hill. Konami’s Nintendo games that have been released on all other Nintendo platforms remain worryingly missing for the Gamecube, where is a new 3D incarnation of Castlevania (all we get is a third GBA game) and where is the return of Konami’s Mystical Ninja Goeman? These games are simplistic; use ingenious ideas and a good learning curve, I’d much rather see Castlevania and Goeman than Metal Gear Solid and Silent Hill. That’s why I’m a Nintendo fan. But Konami remain silent, we have yet to see either, maybe we will at E3 but I remained worried at Konami’s lack of support as every other Japanese 3rd party developer (SEGA, Capcom, Namco, Squaresoft) are rushing back to support the Gamecube in a BIG way.
Castlevania is a prime example though that just because Nintendo style games are simplistic, features an incredible pick up and play idea and don’t concentrate on realism doesn’t mean they have to be children games. Nintendo picked up Resident Evil, not a great thing to do, it is hardly very Nintendo like… but Eternal Darkness is. Eternal Darkness feels like a Nintendo game, it uses a learning curve to beat all learning curves and yet it is an adult game. Metroid Prime shows how a game ends up complex despite starting very simple. Metroid Prime gives you all your capabilities in the first zone, and then takes them all from you… most games start with small amount of capabilities, in Eternal Darkness you could fight but you couldn’t use magick and the concept of Sanity hadn’t started yet… as the game progresses it slowly introduces these new elements to you. Metroid Prime uses the same effect but just to prove to the world that Nintendo knows all along how to master the learning curve it shows you what it will end up like at the beginning. Sadly no matter how many times Nintendo show the world how to do it, they never listen.
The most recent list of Nintendo style games to be released comes from an unlikely source in Capcom. Production Studio 4 really knows how to make a Nintendo game. Viewtiful Joe looks typical Nintendo, a new style and a new gameplay idea with probably yet another great learning curve. It reminds me of Paper Mario and Zelda, it looks strange but brilliant. The other title that is set to join it is Killer 7… this heavily violent title is further proof that even a stylized Nintendo game can be violent. A new style, a new innovational gameplay twist through the storyline and will undoubtedly incorporate a good learning curve. Dead Phoenix is also fitting into that group especially in terms of innovation trying to create the feeling of flying. The only odd cookie is Product Number 03… it looks like a violent realistic game to me!
Squaresoft’s Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles has broken away from its RPG basics and goes down the road of innovation with traditional RPG mixed in. More and more 3rd parties are jumping aboard with these incredible ideas, and if a developer makes a non-realistic game that concentrates on revolution then they get produced on the Gamecube. Nintendo can still make a killing without having to fight Sony and Microsoft. Yes Zelda is strange but that is the point Nintendo are trying to convey… we are different, yes the DVD player doesn’t exist but that is the point Nintendo are trying to convey… we are different, we are here for the games and that is what we do. The good thing about Nintendo fans though is that despite enjoying Nintendo style games the most, they also love the realistic ones too and so Splinter Cell will probably go down a storm and if so I wouldn’t be surprised to see Microsoft and Sony’s pride and joy, Metal Gear Solid, join the ranks on the release list for the Gamecube.
Here’s to the future.
Dringo.
Nintendo are different.
Now many will scream this is a negative point, whereas the Nintendo difference has meant the company’s survival for a good while, many say it won’t last forever. And they may be right. Nintendo’s sales have never been that high, they are always hitting below target and Sony are always one step ahead… just when Nintendo do something that remotely resembles brilliance Sony just do a little tweaking to their near perfect strategy and everything’s back to normal with Nintendo on the back foot once again. Nintendo of Japan have to deal with the realism factor, developers pay thousands to go into depth about everything they are creating, look at The Getaway for example… yet Nintendo don’t. All their games defy physics, defy realism and just concentrate on the raw gameplay… but Mr. Smith doesn’t want that, and Nintendo fail to realize it. Nintendo don’t like to spend money, they skimp on advertisement, they don’t rush into any big online plans, they don’t spend millions on game production and they release games within quick succession in order to save on marketing strategies (look at March). Nintendo claim their games concentrate on innovation and new, brilliant experiences… then why is it we get some excellent experiences that last only a week? Believe it or not, it doesn’t sell!
But that’s just me being pessimistic; I’m a far more optimistic bloke…
Realism is consuming the world; the desire to create a Virtual Reality experience has been replaced by the desire to create a virtual world in which you can mess up. Western gamers are obsessed with violence, Hitman 2 outselling Mario Sunshine is proof… we want The Getaway, we want GTA, we want Metal Gear Solid, we want Hitman… it is realistic and it is violent. The Japanese are similar, although their desire for realism is extreme (but hey it’s the Japanese), the top ten games often include Gardening Simulators and games where you date high school girls! Violence and Realism in the west is replaced with Sex and Realism in the east, some small games that show the strange desires of the Japanese often surface in the west, Harvest Moon is a great example… run a farm… get married… you can tell it came from Japan. Dead or Alive: Beach Volleyball is a game that places gameplay second next to Sex and Realism, the game has been created in order to show off the DOA girls… it is worryingly Japanese and it is worryingly coming to the west. How can Nintendo compete with this? A war where two massive spenders like Sony and Microsoft are pushing realism day in day out. The Getaway got a premier for Christ’s sake! Nintendo don’t have this money, they don’t have the popular realistic 3rd party support… how can Nintendo compete in a war where realism rules supreme and Sony rules it by a mile.
Simple… don’t get involved.
How can a games console not fight in a console war? But offering something totally different. Nintendo appeal to two schools of people, those specialist fans who want something different and those looking for a second console. Microsoft and Sony are essentially the same experience… different games but the same experience, realism. Nintendo are different (I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again), their games consume a specialist area, they are simple to start with and by the end are more complex than any of these realistic games, yet the ingenious learning curve has meant you’ve hardly noticed how the game has successfully indoctrinated you into it. Nintendo games are stylized to the point that they don’t look realistic and yet you know they’ll immerse you to the point that you no longer exist. The Nintendo difference is this, no game is alike and each game follows the same basic rules: make it totally different, give it a critical acclaimed learning curve and make sure it works. It makes me laugh when 3rd parties attempt to create the Nintendo experience on the PS2 or X-box by producing a Mario or Zelda clone. This isn’t totally different; they NEVER have an ingenious learning curve (they throw so many new moves at you all the time a.k.a Banjo Tooie) and they still aren’t as good! But it isn’t that Nintendo style games don’t exist on rival formats because I can name one dominant example for each platform. Sony’s ICO is stunning, it plays totally different to any adventure game that is existing, it is frighteningly simple but the slow learning curve means that by the end that simple concept has become far more complicated… it uses special stylized visuals and it was hailed as a legend. It was far from perfect and yet it was an example of a Nintendo game on the PS2.
The X-box has its own far better Nintendo style game, SEGA’s Jet Set Radio: Future. How I pray this gets a Gamecube release because I love Jet Set Radio so much. It is astonishing, anyone who played the original to death will agree with me… Jet Set Radio is amongst the greatest games of all time. It uses an incredibly new idea, it starts off simple but then they slowly increase the baddies, the placing of graffiti and missions. This is a Nintendo game style through and through, which is why I’m slightly surprised SEGA opted to release it on the X-box… in my eyes this is the reason to own an X-box… and then again that is because I am a Nintendo fan.
But this brings me onto the PS2 and X-box style games that appear on the Gamecube… there is far more. Microsoft and Sony are almost (although not) a victim of their own success. PS2’s incredible sales mean that 3rd parties desire to release games on the system, they opt for the heavy selling games like Burnout, Hitman 2, Rainbow six, Timesplitters etc… and most of these games end up on the Gamecube as well. So because the 3rd parties follow Sony’s lead, Nintendo fans experience both. And yet the cream of the realistic crop Nintendo fans don’t see… we don’t see Grand Theft Auto, we don’t see Halo, we don’t see Metal Gear Solid. And then that doesn’t really matter, yeah they’re good, but Nintendoids play games for a totally different reason. Grand Theft Auto 3 had many Nintendo fans call its name, come to the Gamecube we pleaded… we didn’t get it… I don’t care. Metal Gear Solid is forever a topic of conversation; will the Gamecube get this game? No, Konami don’t mind releasing it on the Gameboy, Playstation, X-box and PC but not Nintendo’s home console.
It has led to a heavy load of criticism against Konami; why not release one of the world’s biggest games on Nintendo’s home format? Konami’s reason is simple, they don’t think it fits with Nintendo’s image and Nintendo fans are still not impressed, it makes Nintendo fans presume Konami are calling Nintendo a company for children. Well actually Konami are totally right. The Gameboy is a pure cross between the Playstation and Nintendo; it features the best of both worlds… Nintendo’s home console is a different story; Metal Gear Solid is an ultra realistic violent game… I’ve been through this already. Konami do not hate Nintendo, they support it rigorously throughout the NES and SNES eras and when nearly all-Japanese developers left Nintendo in the earlier years of the N64 (Squaresoft, Capcom, Namco etc…) Konami still stood strong besides Nintendo. Nevertheless there is a distinct lack of Konami in the new generation, whereas they are announcing the multi-format football and Disney games they keep confirming new Sony style games in the form of Metal Gear and Silent Hill. Konami’s Nintendo games that have been released on all other Nintendo platforms remain worryingly missing for the Gamecube, where is a new 3D incarnation of Castlevania (all we get is a third GBA game) and where is the return of Konami’s Mystical Ninja Goeman? These games are simplistic; use ingenious ideas and a good learning curve, I’d much rather see Castlevania and Goeman than Metal Gear Solid and Silent Hill. That’s why I’m a Nintendo fan. But Konami remain silent, we have yet to see either, maybe we will at E3 but I remained worried at Konami’s lack of support as every other Japanese 3rd party developer (SEGA, Capcom, Namco, Squaresoft) are rushing back to support the Gamecube in a BIG way.
Castlevania is a prime example though that just because Nintendo style games are simplistic, features an incredible pick up and play idea and don’t concentrate on realism doesn’t mean they have to be children games. Nintendo picked up Resident Evil, not a great thing to do, it is hardly very Nintendo like… but Eternal Darkness is. Eternal Darkness feels like a Nintendo game, it uses a learning curve to beat all learning curves and yet it is an adult game. Metroid Prime shows how a game ends up complex despite starting very simple. Metroid Prime gives you all your capabilities in the first zone, and then takes them all from you… most games start with small amount of capabilities, in Eternal Darkness you could fight but you couldn’t use magick and the concept of Sanity hadn’t started yet… as the game progresses it slowly introduces these new elements to you. Metroid Prime uses the same effect but just to prove to the world that Nintendo knows all along how to master the learning curve it shows you what it will end up like at the beginning. Sadly no matter how many times Nintendo show the world how to do it, they never listen.
The most recent list of Nintendo style games to be released comes from an unlikely source in Capcom. Production Studio 4 really knows how to make a Nintendo game. Viewtiful Joe looks typical Nintendo, a new style and a new gameplay idea with probably yet another great learning curve. It reminds me of Paper Mario and Zelda, it looks strange but brilliant. The other title that is set to join it is Killer 7… this heavily violent title is further proof that even a stylized Nintendo game can be violent. A new style, a new innovational gameplay twist through the storyline and will undoubtedly incorporate a good learning curve. Dead Phoenix is also fitting into that group especially in terms of innovation trying to create the feeling of flying. The only odd cookie is Product Number 03… it looks like a violent realistic game to me!
Squaresoft’s Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles has broken away from its RPG basics and goes down the road of innovation with traditional RPG mixed in. More and more 3rd parties are jumping aboard with these incredible ideas, and if a developer makes a non-realistic game that concentrates on revolution then they get produced on the Gamecube. Nintendo can still make a killing without having to fight Sony and Microsoft. Yes Zelda is strange but that is the point Nintendo are trying to convey… we are different, yes the DVD player doesn’t exist but that is the point Nintendo are trying to convey… we are different, we are here for the games and that is what we do. The good thing about Nintendo fans though is that despite enjoying Nintendo style games the most, they also love the realistic ones too and so Splinter Cell will probably go down a storm and if so I wouldn’t be surprised to see Microsoft and Sony’s pride and joy, Metal Gear Solid, join the ranks on the release list for the Gamecube.
Here’s to the future.
Dringo.
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LL Cool TT wrote:
> This reminds me of a Digitiser quote in response to some guy:
>
> Writer: The Getaway is far more realistic than GTA: Vice City
> Digitiser: Yeah, but Pearl Harbor is 'more realistic' than Star
> Wars.
Yeah, I remember that quote, last week it was, I think, and I thought, Yup.
> This reminds me of a Digitiser quote in response to some guy:
>
> Writer: The Getaway is far more realistic than GTA: Vice City
> Digitiser: Yeah, but Pearl Harbor is 'more realistic' than Star
> Wars.
Yeah, I remember that quote, last week it was, I think, and I thought, Yup.
ho ho ho
The End Star wrote:
> Your post reads like wood
I was unaware my post could read.
> Your post reads like wood
I was unaware my post could read.
Zarathustra wrote:
> There's no doubt in my mind that most SEGA games [especially games
> like JSRF] would be better received on the GameCube.
I really think JSRF should get a Gamecube release more than anything!
> There's no doubt in my mind that most SEGA games [especially games
> like JSRF] would be better received on the GameCube.
I really think JSRF should get a Gamecube release more than anything!
Dringo wrote:
> Now there's a good quote.
You couldn't be more right, Dringo
> Now there's a good quote.
You couldn't be more right, Dringo
You touched on SEGA and Jet Set Radio Future: I wish SEGA had sided 100% with Nintendo. I have the feeling that games like JSRF, Crazy Taxi 3, Toejam & Earl & Panzer Dragoon Orta are going to get buried [sales-wise] beneath the torrent of more "realistic" titles on Xbox.
There's no doubt in my mind that most SEGA games [especially games like JSRF] would be better received on the GameCube.
There's no doubt in my mind that most SEGA games [especially games like JSRF] would be better received on the GameCube.
Now there's a good quote.
This reminds me of a Digitiser quote in response to some guy:
Writer: The Getaway is far more realistic than GTA: Vice City
Digitiser: Yeah, but Pearl Harbor is 'more realistic' than Star Wars.
Good stuff, because the moral of the story is that you don't need realism for a good game. I prefer GTA over The Getaway because of GTA's tongue-in-cheek approach. The gritty stuff should stay in Guy Ritchie movies, if you ask me
Writer: The Getaway is far more realistic than GTA: Vice City
Digitiser: Yeah, but Pearl Harbor is 'more realistic' than Star Wars.
Good stuff, because the moral of the story is that you don't need realism for a good game. I prefer GTA over The Getaway because of GTA's tongue-in-cheek approach. The gritty stuff should stay in Guy Ritchie movies, if you ask me
cookie monster wrote:
> Oh and Goemon and silent hill 3 are cube bound.
Sadly they haven't been confirmed. Although the old castlevania games (the 2D ones) are all appearing in a PC collectors game.. I might get that.
> Oh and Goemon and silent hill 3 are cube bound.
Sadly they haven't been confirmed. Although the old castlevania games (the 2D ones) are all appearing in a PC collectors game.. I might get that.
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