I'm half-a-gamer. I used to be hardcore back in the days when it was just me, my NES and a shitpile of fun, accessible games that had replay value out the yin-yang. Over the years, as technology got better and games started to get built-in tutorials and infinite amounts of save points, and the market got flooded by ZOMG REALISTIC WAR games, well, the thrill was kinda gone. I still love video games at heart though, which is why Nintendo is my company of choice. I do have an X-Box 360 and PS2, but my Wii and my DS are both what tickle my fancy.
Nintendo is a huge seller, but they get a really bad rap from hardcore gamers for two big reasons. One is that it seems like they're marketed almost solely to kids. I can buy that, but I'm a huge kid at heart, so of course I'm gonna gobble up what they have to offer. I'll take Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros. over Gran Turismo and Tekken any day (although for the latter genre, I have a soft spot for both the Street Fighter and especially Mortal Kombat franchises). The other one is that they don't produce any new franchises. It's all the same, Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Kirby, Pokémon... hell even their most successful "recent" franchise, Super Smash Bros., is just all those franchises mushed together in a gamer's fantasy wet dream.
I'm not here to refute that latter criticism. Yes, Nintendo hasn't really come up with a groundbreaking new franchise since, well, Pokémon, actually. However, as a Nintendo fanboy and, as some might call me, apologist, I really don't care as long as the games they keep producing in their existing franchises are good. In my not so humble opinion, they have been.
Take for example the Super Mario Bros. franchise. Year after year, game after game, they keep topping themselves. I even wrote a big entry about it. For me, Zelda is even better. Judging from Nintendo's offerings at the E3 convention the other day, I don't think that's going to change. Check these trailers out:
Kid Icarus Uprising
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Metroid: The Other M
Goldeneye Wii
A Kirby game and a Donkey Kong Country sequel were announced as well. Anyway, those trailers looked pretty damn impressive. However, as with any game, they'll only be as impressive as their gameplay. For me though, I don't have all that many worries, as intuitive gameplay and Nintendo seem to go hand in hand.
A lot of people came out of Nintendo's E3 presentation with mixed feelings, or I should say, there were mixed reviews. Count me in the camp of people who loved what they showed us. I may be a fanboy, but I'm a fanboy who knows what he likes and for a gaming company that actually gives it to him.
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Honestly, the only thing that's kept me from caving in and buying a Wii is that damn gimmicky motion-control stick.
ReplyDeleteI always liked Nintendo's habit of having accessories... for example, the old-school system had the light gun for games like Duck Hunt and Hogan's Alley. I can understand motion controls for Wii Sports and other gimmicky games where player motions can conceivably be threaded in with gameplay... but instead, they try to implement the motion thing with EVERY game.
This isn't to say that Microsoft and Sony are doing much better with a new Call of Duty or Medal of Honor on the shelves every six months. I stray away from those games as much as possible, given how they're as repetitive and monotonous as your typical racing game. First time I played one was Modern Warfare 2, which was packaged with my 360. In the very first level, a squad of soldiers cheer as they see a building supposedly filled with insurgents get bombed and collapsed. It was a real "Woo-hoo! Blowing up those towel-head cities for the safety of 'MERICA!" moment. I got to the second level, and started killing innocent people in an airport. Fucked up.
I stick to games that can either be played hardcore or casually. The GTA series comes to my mind, although I suppose it's not without its faults.
You should check out some of Yahtzee Croshaw's Zero Punctuation game reviews on theescapistmagazine.com. That guy is like the Holzerman of video game opinions.
This is the first that i've heard of "mixed feelings" for Nintendo's E3 showing. Because all the word i'm hearing for is that Nintendo destroyed the competition this year. If the 3DS lives up on it's promises that they're giving us, this could be the greatest portable handheld system in the history of ever.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't help that i'm a Nintendo mark myself, I mean...I grew up on it, who didn't? I love video games just as much as wrestling, and it's one of the very few things in life that gives me a smile every now and again.
I still play the hardcore stuff. I'm into the Metal Gear series, I think the Uncharted series is one of the best currently. Not to say that i'm too hardcore, because i'm not. I don't like online multiplayer. If it works, then good for them. I've played a fair share of the Uncharted 2 multiplayer and had a blast. But then you get the crap like Modern Warfare 2. An online experience so broken, so cheap, so senseless that it pisses you off, yet...all the sheep flock to it. Whatever.
I'm a huge Zelda fan, so another Zelda game on the Wii is something to look forward too.
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