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Mainstream Audience 'Noticing' Games Again
In an interview with the San Jose Mercury News, Shigeru Miyamoto makes it plain that he's extremely pleased with the way the Wii has changed the face of gaming. He says that he gets the feeling that 'because of the Wii, people ... are finally taking notice of videogames again.' The interview goes on to discuss some ways in which Miyamoto hopes to capitalize on that 'notice', including the possibility of introducing new Nintendo characters sometime next year: "For characters, we came up with the concept of the Miis and that allows people to come up with their own characters. Maybe next year sometime, we may have new characters in the same way we came up with Pikmin when we introduced the GameCube."
...wrong. The mainstream has been noticing video games for quite some time now. Hence why all these juvenile violent crimes are being blamed on video games. The Wii had nothing to do with it. Jack Thompson put video games more under the spotlight than the Wii.
Summary takes one small point from interview and excludes the rest of the interview, most of which was much more interesting. Particularly the questions about the lack of new characters/franchises in the launch lineup and Miyamoto's response.
I think the main point of the article (and thus the summary headline) should've been "Nintendo still focused on fun" - Miyamoto stressed that they worry about making the games fun before focusing on a target market - because as every runaway success in the videogame industry has shown:
If it's fun and interesting, it's going to transcend the boundaries of any target market (e.g. GTA, Sims, Wii)
Even inside the US, an astonishingly small number of people know who even their own senators/reps are, let alone Jack Thompson..
For me the moment was there when I sat in the cafeteria and heard two people who are anything but geeks talk about WoW. Not as in "my son is playing this horrible game" but actually discussing strategies how to slaughter some boss.
That was when I realized that games broke out of the geek sphere, that it's no longer the pastime of teenagers and people who don't want to realize they ain't teenagers anymore. There were two usually quite sensible guys in suits, with ties, discussing the relative benefits of the racial differences of gnomes and elves.
It's not like they'd watch a second of a pro-gaming tournament. Nor would they waste a week of their vacation on a LAN party. But they're playing a game. Whether that game is good or a waste of time to a "true" gamer isn't relevant. They're playing.
The Wii certainly adds to this. A coworker who is anything but a gamer recently came in on monday with a severe case of a tennis arm, telling me he was at a party where they played Wii Sports all day (and according to the age calculator he's like 70 or something and he's asking the boss for retirement...). But I doubt the Wii is the mark of the start. It's more like something that adds to it.
Games aren't as "hardcore" anymore as they were years ago. Anyone ever played R-Type, Menace, Blood Money or Katakis? You simply couldn't play them as a "casual gamer". Made no sense. They were geared towards people who could and would waste months to get the sequences of enemies JUST right. This didn't appeal at all to people who actually had a life outside the silicon box.
Games today are more for enjoyment, less for "proving something". Sure, the latter kind still exists, but the game industry found the casual market. And the Wii (and Nintendo generally in the more recent time) is geared for this market, mostly. Personally, I think they will succeed with this strategy. After all, someone who doesn't spend his entire life sitting in front of a console must have some kind of job that enables him to buy more games...
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
I think that's the whole point: cartoon graphics are good enough. People watch anime, and don't need it to be photorealistic; people play Wii sports, and it's fine. Less complex, more approachable games have always been where it's at. I'd like to see someone market a cheap handheld, easy to develop for, and allow anyone to put games out for it. You probably don't even need the cool controller to make it work.
I used to carry a bottle of whiskey for snake bite. And two snakes. -Nefarious Wheel
"He who can destroy a thing, controls a thing." --Paul Atreides, Dune
The first stage of cinema was as a coin-operated novelty, with nickelodeons and zoetropes accompanying carnivals. It was associated with seediness and the demimonde, although a group of researchers (Melies, Lumiere, etc.) were very excited by its possibilities.
The subsequent phase of cinema was that of the movie house that should serials, to which young people would enthusiastically and uncritically congregate. These series might go on for years, but despite their scope, they were often aesthetically limited. A few auteurs worked to expand the form, but it was generally the provenance of people with a lot of spare time and not very much cultural capital.
The third phase was the "breakthrough" - the arrival of the film house as a place for everyone to go. This is the era of Cecil B. DeMille, Charlie Chaplin, and Buster Keaton, and the other early silent stars. What changes is the format: instead of long serials, there are 2 hour-long films that are meant to be enjoyed by busy, intelligent people.
This is where I see games going - into the era of DeMille, and out of the "Lone Ranger" phase. The one quirk I see is that the kids who spend all Saturday at the movies which the serials are considered the "hardcore" enthusiasts. I think this will change, when it becomes those who appreciate games like Flow who are identified as the more advanced gamer. Notice that the high age of film-as-art comes after the DeMille period (it varies to time and place: German expressionist film in the 20's and 30's, French new-wave film in the 50's and 60's, American New Hollywood film in the late 60's and early 70's, etc.)
But what happened to that enthusiast who spends all day watching Lone Ranger serials, but who could never really get a Bunuel, Godard, or Kieslowski film? He loses his status as a cinematic connoisseur, and is instead seen as kind of lowly figure. I imagine that could happen to the people we call "hardcore" gamers now.
That's actually strange to me.
I've not bought a new game for my Wii since February due to the lack of interesting games, and it's practically been collecting dust.
Since then I've picked up Crackdown, Command and Conquer 3, Dirt, Forza Motorsport 2, and Overlord for my 360. And heck, that doesn't even count my playing of games that came out in 2006.
All the men folk went outside for cigars (a good half hour), and when we went back upstairs, all the girls were engrossed in a game of mario party to the point when 11:45 rolled around and it was time to head to the bars, i had to drunkenly yell "Ladies, quit playing with my Wii!" to get them to look away. I cant see that happening with any other console ever. The Wii is a hit, nintendo has changed who a gamer is.
"Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
By voluntarily wearing a suit, you give up your geek license. Didn't you get the newsletter?
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.