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Wii Tops E3 Game Critics Awards
Gamespot reports on the announced winners of the E3 Critics Awards. From the article: "Nintendo, which was nominated a show-high 13 times, took home the show's biggest prize for its Wii console. The system, in the running for the only two categories it could qualify for, was handed the coveted Best of Show award, as well as Best Hardware award. But the Japanese game-maker wasn't done there. The publisher grabbed three more awards for some of its games, including Best Handheld Game (The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass for the DS), Best Sports Game (Wii Sports), and Best Racing Game (Excite Truck for the Wii)."
do you mean people actually prefer playability and fun over pure performance and graphics, and here's me thinking that Sony and Microsoft listened to players opinion's
Don't Tell Me What I Can't Do!
This show what gamers really want: fun games. Not 10 Teraflops of boobs...did i say boobs? Hum...thinking about it, Xbox360's DoA might be a good choice :p
Sony's watching this, and the reaction of the people to the PS3 price and features.
You can bet they're scrambling right now and PS3 might turn out pretty different from what was presented at E3, at the hope to not screw it up. Thing is, attempting to not screw it up is how they screw it up all the time.
blah blah blah This is Nintendo's Comeback blah blah blah Sony is the Devil blah blah blah 360's are all sold out blah blah blah Sony is teh h4x0rzz!!! blah blah blah Nintendo is the only company that cares blah blah blah There are 360's EVERWHERE blah blah blah with the bundle PS3s will cost over 7 million dollars a piece blah blah blah 360 = Dreamcast blah blah blah Nintendo is for kids blah blah blah Microsoft is the Devil blah blah blah somthing about Root Kits and disassociation blah blah blah 360 is just .5 of a generational leap blah blah blah Nintendo is just repackaging the Cube blah blah blah Microsoft is teh h4x0rzzz blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah
There we go, that about covers this forum for the day!!
"God is a comedian playing to an audience too scared to laugh"
Some people prefer fun and playability, but mostly only people who either aren't hardcore gamers or people who have been gaming for over 20 years and have since become very jaded.
I was recently talking to a co-worker of mine who thinks he's an old school hardcore gamer because he has been playing games "Ever since back in the day of the old Playstation 1" as he said. He knows I have all of the systems, and including some obscure old ones from back when, as he says, "not many people really played video games."
While having our discussion, he asked me if there were any games I had that he could borrow that I thought he could play and perhaps get his girlfriend interested. She normally gets bothered by him when he plays games and he wanted something he thought they could both enjoy.
My first suggestion was Katamari Damacy. He asked what it was, and I told him. His next question really bothered me. "How are the graphics?"
I admit this almost took me by surprise. I tried my best to describe the graphics and he seemed to lose interest in it. He said he didn't want to play something "so cartoony". We went back and forth overy several more titles and he kept reminding me about his tastes in games and what he liked, and was hoping I had some ideas for something that they both might enjoy.
I said "Dude, trust me, women love Katamari." But he kept trying to shift my suggestions more towards games with realistic graphics and he wanted war and sports.
Is it any wonder his girlfriend hates it when he plays games?
Oddly enough, I'm slowly starting to suspect that his tastes in gaming reflect a large portion of the non-tech-savvy, average joe gamer of today that think they're hard-core. "The Playstation Generation". What bothers me even more is they're probably soon to be replaced with a new "Xbox Generation" of kids who think games not only must look realistic but have to be online play to be any good.
n00bs.
"Everything you know is wrong. (And stupid.)"
Moderation Totals: Wrong=2, Stupid=3, Total=5.
Actually, to be elible for any of the awards the product/game HAS to be in playable form (apart from the Best Cinematics category). Since Nintendo had 27 Wii games on the floor including Wii Sports and ExciteTruck I don't see where you say they "only exist in product brochures and in marketer's minds..." Oh, and DNF doesn't have a playable form let alone a video form that reflects ANYTHING of what the current game might even be.
C'mon, I was at E3, I played Wii Sports: Tennis and Baseball. At first, it was pretty fun, but then I realized that I would have absolutely no interest in playing a full game. Yes, the Wii controller is neat, but I have doubts about it's staying power, or the game's ability to keep you drawn in after the novelty of the controller wears off. I felt the same thing as I was playing Metroid Prime 3, at first, it was nifty and exciting, but as I got used to the wiimote, the game just seemed like another Metroid Prime game. Not that it's a bad thing - but the controller isn't going to save the day if the games just aren't engaging.
It actually is nothing about the graphics. He revealed it when he said that 'not many people really played video games'.
The big myth is that people like him believed gaming became 'mainstream' with the Playstation. The Playstation Generation believes that prior systems such as the NES, Atari, and computers such as the Commodore 64 had very few people playing them. But, behold, Sony appeared and suddenly gaming became 'mainstream'. This has been the most effective marketing technique I've seen in console gaming.
Gaming has never become mainstream when you account for population growth. Consoles have not penetrated past a third of households which was established during the NES days. Most of the growth in the industry has come from multiple console ownership. With Sony's introduction into the industry came huge marketing muscle. The huge marketing budgets keep telling gamers how 'cool' they now are. But sales numbers are stubborn things. If gaming is now 'mainstream', then why is Super Mario Brothers 3 still the best selling non-bundled game by a mile?
This myth is also believed by Xbox fans (or the Xbox Generation). They believe Halo and Halo 2 are some of the best selling games ever made. I sit them down and show them the numbers. Three games on the Gamecube practically matched Halo in sales: Super Smash Brothers Melee, Mario Kart Double Dash, and Super Mario Sunshine (which was seen as a disapointment). Goldeneye (for the N64) outsold Halo 2. Donkey Kong Country, Super Mario Kart (SNES and N64 version), Final Fantasy 7, all outsold Halo 2. In fact, Halo 2 doesn't even appear in the top 25 best selling console games. After seeing the numbers, almost every Xbox Generation member then says, "But Halo 2 had be biggest opening beating the movie Spiderman 2!" It's sad they don't realize that this doesn't show the popularity of Halo 2 but the power of Microsoft's marketing of super-hyped sales.
Xbox Live for the Xbox only had two million subscribers. Yet, the Xbox Generation believes that is 'mainstream'. Around 20 million Xboxes sold is an "amazing success". Around 20 million Gamecubes sold is a "horrible failure". Hilariously, the Xbox Generation thinks the Xbox 360 is much cheaper than the Playstation 3. But an Xbox 360 plus four years of Xbox Live costs the same as the $600 PS3.
Marketing has also been very effective with the word 'hardcore'. A 'hardcore gamer' is, essentially, a nerd gamer. (not mocking it, just saying what it is)
In their view, if you play games such as Civilization, Zelda, or even World of Warcraft, you are a 'nerd gamer'. But if you play realistic war and sports games, then you are 'hardcore'. They believe 'hardcore' is synonymous with 'cool' where hardcore used to mean 'dedicated, nerd-like, obsessed, and skilled'.
Gaming now has to be mainstream, after all, Sony/Microsoft said so! Nintendo and Sega also have marketing but nothing that approaches the budgets of Sony and Microsoft. Anyone remember during the 16-bit days of kids preferring the Genesis not because of its games but because of its 'rebellious image'? This is the same sad story going on with these self-declared 'hardcore' gamers.
Marketing works... only for a little while. Then reality appears. The reality, for Xbox Generation, is that the Xbox 360 is only selling around the same level as the original Xbox (flopped just as hard in Japan) and to the same exact demographic. The Halo franchise has reached the tipping point similiar to what happened in the middle of the Metal Gear Solid franchise. Halo 3 will most likely not sell as much as Halo 2.
The reality for the Playstation Generation is that $600 price tag (no console can be mainstream with that price tag). Gran Turismo 4 sold considerably less than Gran Turismo 3. Metal Gear Solid 3 sold less than Metal Gear Solid 2. Final Fantasy has been selling less. Animal Crossing DS has outsold Final Fantasy 12 in Japan. Grand Theft Auto 3 sold only two million on the PSP. The Playstation's exclusive franchises are in decline.
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