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Mario to Shake His Groove Thing
After the news earlier this week that Mario would be shooting hoops in NBA Street, I decided that Nintendo had reached the end of its tie-in rope with Mario. I was wrong. The newest Dance Dance Revolution title for the Gamecube will be called Dance Dance Revolution with Mario. From the article: "As the title suggests, Dance Dance Revolution with Mario is a new installment in Konami's DDR dancing game series, featuring characters from the Mushroom Kingdom. Details on the game haven't been disclosed yet, but from the released images, DDR with Mario seems to play similarly to DDR, with familiar backdrops featured in the 3D installments of the Super Mario series." Ow.
I'm conflicted. On the one hand, this would seem to be a really dumb use of Mario. People already know what DDR is, and don't need a product tie-in to make the sale. In fact, if I was presented with two versions of DDR, one Mario-filled and one 'normal,' I'd go with the normal one.
That said, I'm really glad the GameCube is *finally* getting a version of DDR. For the most part I enjoy the games released on GameCube more than those released on PS2 or XBox. But one of the notable exceptions I wish GameCube had has been DDR, and it looks like this opens the door for future releases.
So, overall, I'm pleased with this announcmenet, because I've been wanting a GC DDR. At the same time, I wish they didn't have to make another Mario tie-in...
-Trillian
This is kind of a bummer. They really have nothing to gain by putting Mario in there. He adds nothing to DDR itself, no gameplay improvements, just a spreading of his familiar image on his home system. It's very useless.
When a company begins to attempt growth by spreading around it's existing content, instead of making new content, it's a sign of running thin. That really sucks.
If I want to play a game with Mario in it, I will load a 1st or 2nd-party game like Super Mario 64 or Super Smash Bros. Dance Dance Revolution has a recognizable look-and-feel, which this abomination will dilute.
Ugh, why do I even try to rationalize this opinion? I hate this I hate this I hate this.
... if Nintendo really is losing the console race so badly ...
Actually, it's not as bad as the Slashbots would have you think. The XBox just recently passed the GC in worldwide sales (based on the last sales thingy I read), and I think one of the reasons of that is because the cube doesn't play DVD/CD, which was not really the smartest thing to do.
When you look at the state of the world, how can you not become a radical, liberal anarchist?
PS: I like Mario Golf, etc, but this just seems like they are renting Mario out for money. Why not just make Mario Basketball if you want him to play?
This is how Nintendo is reaching out to third party developers. I think Nintendo is starting to understand that their game making prowess casts a shadow over other companies that want to make money on their system. So they are offering characters (NBA Street 3, DDR, and Soul Caliber) and entire franchises (Starfox to Namco, F-Zero to Sega) in order to share the spotlight and prove that they want others to profit making games on Nintendo consoles.
That's the way I see it anyway. Nintendo is in a precarious position. Because they are such a good game maker, they have to make some concessions to 3rd parties if they want others to develop for their systems.