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Sticking up for Nintendo
Reader jasoncart wrote in to give us a heads up on an editorial over on Ferrago. In it, the author defends Nintendo from its numerous detractors. From the article: "I love Nintendo and make no apology for it. I admit still that they annoy me like no other company in the gaming world. They can be at times simply utterly frustrating, I know that too well, but how shall I put it? Love is true but comes at a price. It's the one that is closest to you that can hurt you most."
*Applause*
Fanboyism is lame. I have to admit that Nintendo does a good job of designing great games, but they also do allot of bad things and have some gamers that are just average (though no stinkers). Nintendo's biggest failures are, roughly in order:
0. All of the lame censorship starting with the NES.
1. Error-proned front loading NES when Japanese version was top-loading.
2. All of the evil empire crap surrounding Tetris at the time of the NES. Atari *cough* I mean Tengen's version was better.
3. Hell, all of the evil empire crap surrounding the NES and even the Gameboy.
4. Delaying the release of the SNES, allowing Sega to get a few breathes of air.
5. No blood in the first SNES Mortal Kombat, which further allowed the Genesis a little more legitimacy.
6. Virtual Boy: gimmic is not innovation. However, it would be innovative to have stereoscopic in today's world, where 3D can be done right. Make it color the next time around please.
7. Losing Square to Sony.
8. Most stuff related to the N64. A few good games is not enough.
Now Nintendo has had strong successes:
1. Great games and game franchises.
2. NES
3. SNES
4. Gameboy (Pocket, Color, Advance, SP)
Stuck in the past, huh? I'm sorry, but I have enjoyed every single Mario/Zelda/Metroid game that's been released. Each of them have their charm.
The cool thing about Nintendo games using these classic franchises is that almost each iteration introduces a new gameplay mechanic that's not gimmicky, but is actually relevant to the gameplay. That's the thing: with classic franchises, they almost always try to spice it up.
Take the Metroid Prime series (there's 2, so why not call it a series?) for instance. It could have simply been your standard FPS in a power suit. But they actually took everything that made Metroid what it is and converted it to a 3D world full of life and detail. They are easily some the best first-person console games I've ever played. Normally I shy away from FPS on the consoles because of their unnatural feel with a controller. These games were easy to pick up and just start playing.
That's something else Nintendo games are known for. You can just pick up a controller and start playing the game. You don't have to read a 5-pound manual first for all the key-mappings and whatnot. The accessibility of Nintendo games is second to none.
Just because some of their games might have bright colors and happy music does not -- I repeat, NOT -- mean they're just for kids. Super Mario Sunshine had some pretty challenging (in a fun way) moments, as did Mario 64, Super Mario World, and even Mario 3 before that.
Wind Waker was another game that got chastised for its "kiddy" look. If graphics are all you base a game's worth on (DOOM 3, anyone?), then I feel sorry for you. Wind Waker was incredibly fun, despite its cel-shaded look. It was done for a reason, and it fits in perfectly with the theme of the game. Besides, the new Zelda game features a mature Link, which I know I've missed since Ocarina of Time. Hell, since Adventure of Link, for that matter.
The kiddy argument just doesn't fly. I think a lot of people say that because Nintendo is almost synonymous with "growing up". I played the NES growing up, and I still buy every console Nintendo makes. Why? They make great games, and they have yet to let me down in that department, even if they do frustrate the ever-loving piss out of me.
"Apparently so, but suppose you throw a coin enough times. Suppose one day, it lands on its edge."
I can understand the desire for Nintendo to push for a more adult market, but I sort of view it like this - sometimes in art the more restrictions you put on yourself, the more free you actually become. I think theres a lot to be said for the company keeping its games accessible to most everybody. Most of their games aren't really kiddy in the sense that someone over the age of 12 wouldn't be interested - they just have a pretty decent all ages appeal. They might not always have the best graphics/sound/story even, but they certainly always meet at least a minimum level of gameplay fun. There have been PLENTY of recent XBOX and PS2 games that look great in the glossy magazine pages, and get hyped to death, that turn out to be difficult to control, clumsy, and end up feeling like a chore. Nintendo has been known to take some cool risks too - I remember mario paint being great fun, and something that parents gladly bought for their kids. I know if I had kids and I had a choice at that era I would have much rather gone with the nintendo options, that had some clever fun games that I wouldn't worry about my children dropping some serious time on, instead of just bashing away at Mortal Combat to get a flawless fatality. I also think it's good, from a social point of view, that a company like nintendo is willing to police itself. Vice City, for instance, is a fabulous, great, super-detailed game that is wonderful for adult gamers, but horribly innapropriate for children. Now, I know, and agree, that it is ultimately the parents responsbility to understand the content of the games their children are playing, but I see no problem with a company making a product that parents can feel safe to buy. Parents are terminally unhip, no matter the generation. If a company can convince them that they can be trusted, and never betray that confidence, it's a winning proposition for all involved. I know a lot of couples with young kids who have said as much. I think Nintendo has made a good choice in ducking out of the mature-only market and sticking with what they know, which is great gameplay that most people can enjoy.
And your not guilty of the same thing, calling the DS, gimmickboy? Millions of system sales and a huge lineup of mainstream games in development doesn't seem very gimmicky to me. I've said this before, the reason people bash other systems is because the want the one they chose to buy to succeed and have the most games, and they think bashing the other systems with every insult, rumour, lie, anything will make others think twice about thier choice of system to support. Personally, I'm the type that buys all systems, and has n empty wallet :(
True genius is grasping a situation like a peice of fruit, and peircing it just right so that it drains dry.
Slashdot... unbiased. Hahahahaha. That's funny... really, really, really funny.
Sony has had the most underpowered and lowest build quality console for their entire gaming history. The PS1 couldn't push as many polys or texture as well as the N64 could(and the N64 was the first console to support mipmapping), it just wasn't cart based and had enormously larger storage capacity. The PS2 is the lowest powered console of the current generation(yet is priced in the upper tier of console prices), even the Dreamcast, which was released prior to the PS2 generally looks better. For the first time, as they enter into the portable market, Sony has the more powerful console. Of course, having the more powerful handheld console means they also have battery life problems when that power is used.
Sony also doesn't produce many(if any) first/second-party console titles worth noticing. People tend to be more loyal to software publishers and franchises than to platforms. Almost everything decent on Sony's platforms are third party in origin, and you can't count on third parties to produce titles for a platform, as both former SEGA fans and Nintendo fans have learned oh so well.
FF:CC btw, was produced by Square. You also had to have friends(or you could pay the homeless), and a TV, and a house or appt, and have access to 4 handhelds which are more common than the playstation 2, and buy 3 $10 link cables in order to play it 4-player multiplayer. And, it turned out that there was no way in hell they could've done what they did any other way. Nobody made you buy the game, and I doubt you even did.
The DS uses an ARM 7 and an ARM 9, both underclocked for lower power consumption. I don't think the N64 used an ARM processor, much less an ARM 9. IIRC, it used a MIPS processor, and was designed in collaboration with SGI.
If you remember, half the time spent playing any Playstation game seemed to be waiting on shit to load, the best games for it, were imo, good in spite of this, but it happens to piss me off to this day. You don't have visible load times on Nintendo platforms(or on Microsoft's platform), except for shitty ports in the Gamecube era. Maybe you don't care, some of us do.
Nintendo also actually likes to at least break even on their hardware. Many industry analysts are pegging the loss Sony is taking on the PSP at upwards of $250. And the PSP has some problems, we have legitimate concerns about the thing. I would buy it in a heartbeat if it gets released here with Nintendo-level build quality/durability and a 6 hour battery life running at full clip, but that's not going to happen.
The key to the enjoyment of pop music is to replace any instance of "love" with "C.H.U.D."
I can't really explain it either - I just love the game. And I didn't like the Sims at all. Animal Crossing has this weird calming effect on me. Nothing is better after a stressful day than some fishing and bug catching in my town. Its kind of like that imaginary place with all the animals on Mister Roger's Neighborhood. For some reason, it just makes me feel like a kid again when I play it. Its just silly and relaxing and has a surprising amount of things you can do (though I wish there was more). And I really love the music.
I have eventually gotten sort of tired of it, and I haven't played it in months. But overall, I think its one of the most played game in my collection. And believe me, that is really saying something.
I'm really looking forward to the DS version. In fact, that is one of the main reasons I was an early adopter for the DS.
"as far as I know they use linux to code ps2 games didnt you knew that?"
First off, when did Linux become a programming language?
Secondly, what's the point of using open source software when you need to sell your soul to get the SDK? I've tinkered with a lot of homebrewed PS2 software and none of it involved getting Sony's SDK or even "Linux (for PlayStation 2)" as far as I can tell.
"and every geek I know has a soft spot for cool electronics and thats what sony is all about,"
Then I'm correct in assuming you own an HDTV? Either I'm not a geek, or geeks are more interested in fun toys more than they are in "cool electronics." The people who go after "cool electronics" seem to be the ones who slap stickers all over their Honda Civics.
"No offense guys but Nintendo is the Walt Disney of the videogames world"
If Nintendo were Disney, there would be no new games featuring these characters. Instead, they'd be locked in a vault somewhere with Nintendo sueing the crap out of anybody who even mentions their trademarked propeties, and their main source of profit would be from producing games with stories that rip off the public domain. The reason Mario is more recognizable than Mickey Mouse is because Mickey hasn't done anything for the past 50 years or so.
No, in reality we have people complaining that Nintendo is using their old characters in too many new games. Square Enix is the company that wants us to buy Final Fantasy Origins again barely 18 months later. That's Hollywood thinking.
"(in case you didnt knew family games are the ones who make the most money!)"
Which is why the GameCube is trouncing the PlayStation 2 in sales...
" you can even compare them and their business practices to MS at some point."
Which is why the GameCube is trouncing the PlayStation 2 in sales...
Heck, if Nintendo were so similar to MIcrosoft there'd be no point in Gates wanting to buy them. Why "embrace and extend" when you're already there?
"You cringed all over when MS tried to make all windows users pay an annual fee,"
How long ago did the GCN come out? Or the SP?
Again, Sony is the company that seems to be looking for annual fees. Want a PS2 that you can turn off with the remote? Buy a new PS2. Progressive-scan DVD playback? Buy a new PS2. A four-player adapter that works in both PS and PS2 games? Buy a new PS2. It's getting to the point where buying a second PS2 is less a luxury and more an upgrade.
"but you just smiled when Nintendo forced everyone to buy 4 gameboys for a four player game"
Sounds familiar...
Nintendo didn't force anybody to buy four Game Boys because everbody could bring their own, and everybody already owns their own Game Boy.
"when they could have made a cool multiplayer online game instead,"
Instead we got a game with a plot and a storyline, a game without camping, without internet fuckwads, without monthly subscriptions and a game we'll still be able to play in five years. Damn you, Nintendo!
"geek is cool"
War is peace! Freedom is slavery!
Geek is not cool, geek is liking what you like without thinking about whether or not it's cool. Game awards shows on Spike are cool, because they followed all the coolness rules.
"Just to beat some sense to you consider this the DS is a double screened gameboy with a nintendo 64 chip in it. the second screen is a cheap touchscreen from a palm, at the end you are just getting a cheap palm."
On the one hand, you say I'm getting a handheld version of a system I still love. On the other, you say I'm saving money compared to what Palm would be charging for a platform with far fewer games I'd be interested in. Where exactly is the downside in that?
"Why they didnt made a portable gamecube with a mi
but sony? other than evercrack what harm have they done to the geek open source community?
Slashdot is a lot more than the open source community. They did release a PS2 version of Linux, but they still made sure to keep their own proprietary layer running beneath it, which was missing the point.
The people who don't like Sony do it because:
A. They are a huge company and it's very easy to hate them (even rightfully) for that, and
B. They have worse games, on the average, than Nintendo.
Do not underestimate the importance of point B! Sony has good games, true. Even some great ones -- GTA, Ico, Katamari Damarcy. They're certainly ahead of Microsoft in this regard now. But they still have catching up to do with Nintendo.
Also... well, this is probably just me, but I kind of get a slimy feeling when I see a commercial for a game called "Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal." Say what you want about Nintendo, but you never get the feeling that they're pandering to their audience. (Well, except maybe in the case of the Mario Party games.)
From the article:
Which is more mature - GTA San Andreas or Animal Crossing? I bet that nearly every single one of you would say GTA but I disagree with all of you. Yes, even you. Animal Crossing is a far more mature game in many ways.
This is the most insightful thing in the article (which contains some errors -- Nintendo didn't develop the Power Glove, it was just available for their system).
The definition of maturity has become somewhat clouded, what with the MPAA's and the ESRB's ludicrous rating systems. They have caused people to equate violent and sexual content with maturity, which is foolish.
The point of those systems isn't to say that these elements are mature, but that the viewer/player should be of at least this maturity level before being exposed to them. Which itself is awfully condesending to the consumer, but is at least less stupid than the common assumption.
Maturity is not what kinds of objectionable content you put in your work. It is an outlook, a way of being sure of yourself despite what you see, a tendency to look out for others before yourself, the ability to behave rationally, respectfully, thoughtfully. Judge it this way, and I can name thirty-year-olds who might not be considered worthy of playing Grand Theft Auto.
But Animal Crossing rewards all those attributes listed above, while many things in the GTA games, despite all their considerable design strengths, do much to tear them down.
And that is why it's a much more mature game, cartoon animals and all, than GTA.
I suggest a truce.
PSP fanboys stop calling the DS "kiddie," "virtual boy," "a gimmick," and "ugly," and we DS fans will stop harassing the PSP about its "load times," "battery life," "price," and "defects."