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Mark Rein Sets The Record Straight
Eurogamer had a chance to sit down with Mark Rein, president of Epic Games. He says that many of his recent comments have been taken out of context, and need a little clarification. From the article: "I actually said Nintendo's going to make amazing games. I never really passed a judgement on the controller itself. I think the controller's cool! ... I wasn't bashing Nintendo, I wasn't bashing the controller, I was really just saying that a byproduct of having a device like this is that people are going to make games that possibly are just there because of the controller, as opposed to being great games of themselves, and I said it badly... I regret that." We've previously reported on some of these statments.
Stand behind what you said, dude! The Revolution controller IS obnoxious, and while there will be some great first party games from Nintendo, there will be lots and lots of third party crap.
If that controller is used well, it will be awesome. A lot of the games on the original EyeToy disc were great and worked well.
But did you ever play EyeToy Antigrav? Nicktoons Movin'? Operation Spy Toy?
This controller will create a few great games, but, like Rein said, it'll also create a lot of stupid games.
Not many people in a major industry would apologize and place themselves at fault for anything (especially if it was their fault) that they said.
Kudos to Mr Rein for taking responsibility and setting the record straight.
Uggg... This quote reminds me of some of the horrible gimmicks that are used the stlyus in DS games. Take Nanostray for example. They foce you to freaking change weapons using the stlyus. It's horrible and it actually makes the game worst/awkward by including the stylus feature. Now take for example Polarium where the concept of that game actually works with using the stylus. Don't force the use of the special features. Use the special features if the premise of the game actually warrant it or otherwise would not degrade gameplay.
Ooo man the floppy drive is broken. No wait. The computer is just upside down.
And this will be different from the other consoles how? For every good PS2 games, there's 7 pieces of trash. At least with the new controller, they may have momentary appeal instead of 0 appeal.
I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
While I'm sure that there will probably be a lot of obnoxious games for the Revolution (there are a lot of obnoxious games for EVERY console) I think that a lot of the games that he may have been referring to are not just obnoxious games, but instead the type of games that Nindendo hopes to have created to draw the casual gamers.
One thing to keep in mind is that a lot of the games that appeal to casual gamers are obnoxious to hard core gamers. A lot of this is that games that appeal to casual or non-gamers may, to hardcore gamers seem dull, repetitive, shallow, or gimmiky. That is not to say that no revolution games can appeal to both casual and hard-core gamers, just that I think the revolution might see a lot of games in the $20-$30 price range that resemble a lot of the rather obnoxious free java and flashgames that abound on the net.
Disclaimer: I've always been a fan of Nintendo, and will probably buy a Revolution along with one of either the PS3 or XBOX360 depending on what types of games seem to go to which console. (Where Capcom, Konami, Namco and Square-Enix go, so goes my $$$)
Famous Last Words: "hmm...wikipedia says it's edible"
...sorry that was quoted out of context. We where talking about lollipops.
No sig for now.
"This controller will create a few great games, but, like Rein said, it'll also create a lot of stupid games."
Edited for accuracy:
"The video game industry will create a few great games next generation, but it'll also create a lot of stupid games."
Mark has a history of shooting off at the mouth. The question is: does he do it on purpose to generate attention or is he just that conceited?
There are some really bright minds at Epic, but they really need to reign in Rein (pun intended). Why do you guys keep such an asshole on the payroll? Get a real tech evangelist with a higher IQ who is respected in the industry, not a laughing stock (and preferably a 'real' American not some half-baked Candadian wannabe).
I'm sure that happened here. They had to go tell Rein to shut it: Cliff likes Nintendo's Myamoto so he prolly had Rein issue a public apology. That's how it reads to me.
He did stand behind what he said. He just pointed out that he didn't say it very well.
The difference is that I don't think any console maker has actively encouraged developers to make gimmicky trash for its consoles since the Atari 2600. (Unless you count optional accessories like the Power Glove and the EyeToy, but those were never big parts of the industry.)
More likely, though, third parties just won't be making any games for the Revolution, period.
Rob
I recently purchased Donkey Konga for my non-gamer wife. Low and behold, SHE LOVES IT. I personally can't play it for more than ten minutes because I find it mind numbingly dull. And yet, she'll play it for an hour straight. I think we tend to forget that non-gamers want something that's simple to use, easy to learn, and instantly fun.