True, but the point is that Nintendo is no longer producing games for those consoles or manufacturing the consoles themselves. The only purpose served by those games is to expand the libraries of those consoles. The PS2 isn't competing against the NES, regardless of the fact that the GameCube can emulate NES games. The Xbox isn't competing with the PS1, even though the PS2 is backward compatible.
His argument was that the PSP has to compete with five Nintendo handhelds. It doesn't. It may have to compete with the games of five other handhelds, but if we're going to compare game library, the PS2 has an unfair advantage over the Xbox and GameCube, due to its backward compatibility.
GameBoy Color sales tapered off years ago, soon after the launch of the GBA. GBA sales have begun to diminish since the DS launch, but it's still selling well enough to be acknowledged. The fact is that hardware-wise, the PSP is only competing with two pieces of hardware (and some variations of one of them). Unintentionally or not, he was bending the truth by exaggerating the amount of competition the PSP has.
Not easily. Most of those don't have microphones, shoulder buttons (or even seven face buttons, for that matter), or a D-pad. A few of them probably don't have the resolution to display two screens at once. I guess there are workarounds, but they'd all be compromising something. The thought of trying to play Metroid on a Palm Pilot makes me shudder at how painfully bad the controls would be.
A lot of the PSP's high-scoring games are sports games, though. Since they're not technically worse than current PS2 sports games, reviewers feel obligated to give them better marks, even though they're not really a big improvement. There really aren't any mainstream sports games that don't get a 80+ rating. But that's a different rant for a different day...:P
By your logic, the PS2 is directly competing with the GameBoy, GameBoy Pocket, GameBoy Light, GameBoy Color, GameBoy Advance, GameBoy Advance SP, and GameBoy Micro, all thanks to the GameBoy Player for the GameCube. That's seven consoles, and I'm not even counting actual consoles! And the PS2 is being completely outsold by the original GameBoy! And the GameBoy isn't even Nintendo's flagship product!
Your argument is horribly flawed. You can't just count every existing product as competition. For all intents and purposes, the PSP is competing against two consoles: the GBA line and the DS. Unless you want to count the Gizmondo, N-Gage, etc, but those wouldn't strengthen your arguments too much.
I think this is completely different. Rare isn't getting any inside info, they just have DS dev kits, which Nintendo probably gave them even before they actually announced anything. Microsoft isn't going to get any special tips on how to design a handheld simply because one of their studios develops for the DS.
In fact, Microsoft probably has very little involvement with this. MS only owns 49% of Rare, IIRC. There are a lot of guys at Rare that probably still have a strong affinity toward Nintendo, and developing for the DS is a way they can still work with Nintendo without directly competing against their biggest investor. In all likelihood, THQ will publish any Rare-developed software, just like they did for the GBA. Microsoft will have little or nothing to do with the whole ordeal.
"I actually don't understand why MS hasn't come out with a portable yet. With the populatrity of PocketPC for PDA's, and the fact that new PDA's are actually coming with 3D graphics accelerators, it would be very easy for MS to create and market their own portable. Time will tell."
It's pretty simple, really. Sony, the current home console leader and the only company to dethrone Nintendo in the past, is having trouble entering the portable market. If this experienced maker of personal tech (with ten years of video games under their belt) can't seem to break Nintendo's monopoly, there's no way Microsoft could.
What can MS do to trump Nintendo and Sony? Make it a media player? Hasn't really worked for the PSP. Give it souped up graphics? Not without losing even more money than they did on the Xbox. Portable Halo? Maybe, but the audience that made games like Pokemon and Nintendogs huge successes probably aren't going to think of Halo as a killer app. And there's no way Microsoft could ever beat Nintendo in innovative, quirky, fun games, which have always been right at home on the handheld.
Microsoft would undoubtedly use the same strategy in the handheld market as Sony, i.e. churn out console-like games for their portable. And as we've seen, it hasn't really worked too well. The PSP is being outsold by over 2 to 1 by a seemingly underpowered competitor with no media capabilities. If Sony can't keep up to the DS, Microsoft can't even stand a chance.
"Rare has craploads of Nintendo experience and can pump out titles quite easily..."
Are you thinking of a different Rare? This is the company that spent nearly three years developing a Zelda clone for the N64 that, after being moved to the GameCube, was widely considered to be a flop. This is the Rare that, after being owned by Microsoft for two and a half years delivered one sub-par kiddie ghost-hunting game. (Ironically enough, Rare has released more games for the GBA than the Xbox after being purchased by Microsoft.) Rare was never known for "pumping out titles", they were known for their quality games like Donkey Kong Country and Goldeneye. Those quality games have been strangely missing in the current generation, though.
The biggest thing I can see coming out of this is a WiFi Perfect Dark port for the DS, which would certainly be a hit. A while back a Rare employee claimed that they had the first level of PD running on DS devkits, but they weren't officially planning to develop it fully.
That's the thing: Christian games so far have always been about Sunday School messages tacked on to an already existing game. And in that case, you're right, people will probably choose the original.
But games like the "Left Behind" based game suggested in the article could be pretty cool if done properly. Not every Biblical theme needs to be Noah's Ark; a game set during the Apocalypse could be appealing to both Christians and non-Christians alike.
I think the best direction for Christian games would be to make solid, fun games without the gratuitous violence and sex that are so common in games today. The games don't necessarily need to preach a message, but they could simply feature characters who act more Christian-like in their adventure. Placing the game in a biblical setting might help, but it wouldn't be necessary. Designing a game like this would be a really risky move for any developer, but if the game had acceptable graphics, gameplay, and polish compared to other games of the time, I think it could work.
"I think that ultimately, the reason that there aren't a lot of Christian video games is that there's no need. The target audience doesn't buy video games, and non-evangelicals who do buy video games would buy mainstream games that don't actually suck."
I don't know how common this is, but my youth group (at an evangelical church) was pretty big into video games. My youth pastor was a self-proclaimed Halo fan, and they organized several Halo LAN parties to be held at the church. I just visited my uncle's church, a Southern Baptist church in Arkansas, and they had an entire room in the basement dedicated to gaming, decked out with an Atari, NES, Genesis, and SNES.
A lot of people here seem to think that all Christians are opposed to video games, simply because of the few outspoken people who make the news. From my experience, there's a huge market of Christians that play video games. Whether or not that translates to people who would buy "Christian video games" is a different story. I could see a small segment of games taking off if they were tastefully done, non-offensive, but not too preachy, and they'd have to be relatively high-quality. It would take some time, but I think one good development studio could make something work.
You haven't heard of Switchfoot, have you?
It may be rare for a Christian band to acheive mainstream popularity, but the odds of any band being a mainstream hit are slim. I would guess that you probably have a favorite band that's not regularly played on the radio.
Browsing the shared iTunes music folder at school, it was rare for me to find someone who didn't have some Christian music on their computer. Between Switchfoot, P.O.D., Jars of Clay, Five Iron Frenzy, Relient K, etc. etc., most every iTunes folder had at least a few songs by Christian bands.
And check out http://www.purevolume.com/. It's not a specifically Christian site by any means, but almost daily a Christian band is featured in the top 10 list, be it Thousand Foot Krutch, Anberlin, Relient K, Emery, and a number of others. Christian music has really grown in the last few years. You'd probably be surprised.
"I'd expect this trend to continue through to the 360 as well."
I don't. Microsoft goofed on the Xbox's piracy protection. The Xbox modding scene was never supposed to happen, if Bill Gates had his way. I imagine that they'll have much tighter security next generation. Every gamer using his Xbox for Linux, emulation, or software piracy was one more Xbox owner that Microsoft wasn't profiting from. Why do you think Microsoft is suddenly adopting all the features of popular homebrew Xbox software, but charging for them?
We might see some homebrew software for the PS3, with its Linux support, or for the Revolution, if the rumors of all-access game design tools are true. But I would be very surprised if Microsoft doesn't go to great lengths to keep the Xbox 360 as mod-proof as possible.
Hehe, maybe my previous comment did sound a little too troll-ish. I'm just trying to play the devil's advocate.;)
"But I wouldn't give mods the short shrift. The major advantage PCs have over game machines is that they are more versatile and PC Gamers should have a streak of the hardcore in them. With a decent game platform, the internet, a vision, proper direction and development, a serious mod group can put out a product that may not be economically viable to the big guys, but that addresses a niche."
I agree; mods cater mostly to the hardcore gamers, and for the most part, the average gamer isn't "hardcore". It's cool for average Joe gamer to be able to create his own game, but the majority of the gaming community would rather play a commercially-developed game by a known studio with known talent. Like you said, mods are a niche market, and it's going to take more than that to revive PC gaming.
I don't really understand what the problem is with consoles and their "DRM'd to hell design". I'm 100% positive that my PC could never run Resident Evil 4, even though it's supposedly several times more powerful than my GameCube. If the "lack of configuration issues" means "better looking and better playing games" than I'll take it.
And FWIW, it looks like the next gen of consoles is going to be more heavily focused on customization than the current gen.
Not yet, I had enough trouble with the normal boss. I haven't even attempted the secret boss yet. It amazes me how many secrets and sidequests this game has, though.
For any gamers looking for a fresh (freeware) 2D platformer with an old-school feel, look no further than Cave Story. It's an amazingly designed game by Studio Pixel, which is actually just one guy with a lot of talent. The game plays a lot like Metroid or Mega Man, but it has a unique weapon system. The graphics are very reminiscent of an SNES or DOS-based game, but the pixel art is spectacular and the story is very engrossing. I highly recommend it to anyone, as it's easily the best freeware game I've ever played.
I'll remember that next time I'm playing Ocarina of Time, Metal Gear Solid, Metroid Prime, or any other high-quality console game that wasn't cobbled together by a kid in his parents' basement.
Seriously, mods might be a fun diversion, but there are so few that are actually well-designed that it's hardly a significant advantage of PCs. If mods are the biggest advantage to PCs, it's no wonder PC gaming is dying. Counter-Strike is a joke compared to just about every commercial FPS.
"Oh, and while Nintendo may have been pioneers with wireless controllers during this generation, let's not forget that they used a pretty unscrupulous practice to encourage adoption. The cable length on the default Gamecube controller is PATHETIC."
If you think the short controller cables were meant to sell WaveBirds, you're kidding yourself. The wireless controllers were released almost a year after the launch of the system. WaveBirds sold because they are high quality and reduce cord mess (which, incidentally, is a bigger problem with long cables).
Complaining about cord length is pointless, since the chosen length is quite arbitrary. For any dorm room, bedroom, or average entertainment area, six feet is plenty of length. Nine feet isn't some kind of "magic number" when it comes to cord length. If your TV was ten feet from your sofa, you'd be complaining about the PS2 and Xbox cords, too.
The only reason that Casamassina's audience seems to be angry and deficient at spelling is because he fixes the mailbags to paint that picture. Lately he's only been printing letters that support his stance on the HD-less Revolution issue, and incidentally, most of them are angry, grammar-less rants. If he ever chooses to print a letter opposing his opinions, he picks the most moronic submission possible in an attempt to make his opponents look like idiots.
In my opinion, Casamassina deserves a spot on the list if only for his ability to rally thousands of rabid fans behind a pointless cause that he manages to blow way out of proportion. Although, his partner Craig on the DS channel seems to be pretty skilled in the same area, what with his recent complaints about Animal Crossing DS. IGN seems to be very good at hiring small-minded editors that pretend to like Nintendo, but in reality only like stirring up trouble.
The difference is that the PS2 had little or no competition, while Nintendo is expecting to sell 20 million DSs in the next year. It's a good strategy to create artificial demand, but only when you have no chance of driving consumers to your competitors.
An "easy mode" can't fix complex controls, difficult puzzles, or frustrating camera angles. In most games these days, easy means "enemies do less damage" and hard means "more enemies".
In addition, the two genres you mentioned are probably the two most "hardcore" genres in games today, besides possibly fighting games. Nearly every RPG and FPS is fairly difficult to learn unless you've had previous experience with the genre. FPSs controls are, by their nature, quite unintuitive for beginners, and RPGs have many levels of menus for items, spells, stats, and party members that can be intimidating to a new player.
Mass-appeal games aren't going to be FPSs (unless the controls are overhauled) or RPGs (unless developers start designing them to be more newb-friendly). The biggest untapped market is the Yahoo Games and solitaire crowd, who has little interest in shooting aliens or casting spells. Rather, I think the big appeal will be with games that follow in the footsteps of Tetris, Mario Kart, The Sims, Pokemon and other "simple" games. (Note that those are some of the top-selling games of all time.) Nintendo seems to be taking steps in that direction with games like Nintendogs, Electroplankton, and Animal Crossing. Of course there will still be a market for the Zeldas and the Final Fantasies, but if gaming is ever going to be a truly widespread form of entertainment, the hardcore might need to take a backseat to the general public. I, for one, am not too worried. I'm just as happy playing Tetris or Mario Kart as I am with Half-Life or Metal Gear Solid.
Still, there's no denying that the Warcraft franchise was a large factor in WoW's success. My roommate who had never considered playing an MMORPG in his life bought WoW simply because he was a big Warcraft fan. I'm positive that many others did the same. Maybe it would have gained popularity by word of mouth as time went on, but a large percentage of the initial surge of subscribers was probably long-time Blizzard fans.
I second that recommendation. Doukutsu Monogatari (Cave Story) is hands-down the best freeware game I've ever played, and one of the finest examples of game design on the PC. It's like Metroid crossed with an RPG, which might sound strange, but it turns out being awesome. Highly recommended.
And even though Super Mario 64 was a great game in its own right, it lacked the gameplay perfection that can only be done in 2D.
Oh, and as a warning: Super Mario Pac isn't really a full-fledged Mario game. It's a series of one screen "levels". I felt that it's more akin to Lunar Lander or Jetpack than a Mario game. The game is fun, but it's no Super Mario World by any stretch of the imagination.
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True, but the point is that Nintendo is no longer producing games for those consoles or manufacturing the consoles themselves. The only purpose served by those games is to expand the libraries of those consoles. The PS2 isn't competing against the NES, regardless of the fact that the GameCube can emulate NES games. The Xbox isn't competing with the PS1, even though the PS2 is backward compatible.
His argument was that the PSP has to compete with five Nintendo handhelds. It doesn't. It may have to compete with the games of five other handhelds, but if we're going to compare game library, the PS2 has an unfair advantage over the Xbox and GameCube, due to its backward compatibility.
GameBoy Color sales tapered off years ago, soon after the launch of the GBA. GBA sales have begun to diminish since the DS launch, but it's still selling well enough to be acknowledged. The fact is that hardware-wise, the PSP is only competing with two pieces of hardware (and some variations of one of them). Unintentionally or not, he was bending the truth by exaggerating the amount of competition the PSP has.
Not easily. Most of those don't have microphones, shoulder buttons (or even seven face buttons, for that matter), or a D-pad. A few of them probably don't have the resolution to display two screens at once. I guess there are workarounds, but they'd all be compromising something. The thought of trying to play Metroid on a Palm Pilot makes me shudder at how painfully bad the controls would be.
A lot of the PSP's high-scoring games are sports games, though. Since they're not technically worse than current PS2 sports games, reviewers feel obligated to give them better marks, even though they're not really a big improvement. There really aren't any mainstream sports games that don't get a 80+ rating. But that's a different rant for a different day... :P
By your logic, the PS2 is directly competing with the GameBoy, GameBoy Pocket, GameBoy Light, GameBoy Color, GameBoy Advance, GameBoy Advance SP, and GameBoy Micro, all thanks to the GameBoy Player for the GameCube. That's seven consoles, and I'm not even counting actual consoles! And the PS2 is being completely outsold by the original GameBoy! And the GameBoy isn't even Nintendo's flagship product!
Your argument is horribly flawed. You can't just count every existing product as competition. For all intents and purposes, the PSP is competing against two consoles: the GBA line and the DS. Unless you want to count the Gizmondo, N-Gage, etc, but those wouldn't strengthen your arguments too much.
My local Target has free life-size cardboard cutouts of the PSP. Does that count?
I think this is completely different. Rare isn't getting any inside info, they just have DS dev kits, which Nintendo probably gave them even before they actually announced anything. Microsoft isn't going to get any special tips on how to design a handheld simply because one of their studios develops for the DS.
In fact, Microsoft probably has very little involvement with this. MS only owns 49% of Rare, IIRC. There are a lot of guys at Rare that probably still have a strong affinity toward Nintendo, and developing for the DS is a way they can still work with Nintendo without directly competing against their biggest investor. In all likelihood, THQ will publish any Rare-developed software, just like they did for the GBA. Microsoft will have little or nothing to do with the whole ordeal.
"I actually don't understand why MS hasn't come out with a portable yet. With the populatrity of PocketPC for PDA's, and the fact that new PDA's are actually coming with 3D graphics accelerators, it would be very easy for MS to create and market their own portable. Time will tell."
It's pretty simple, really. Sony, the current home console leader and the only company to dethrone Nintendo in the past, is having trouble entering the portable market. If this experienced maker of personal tech (with ten years of video games under their belt) can't seem to break Nintendo's monopoly, there's no way Microsoft could.
What can MS do to trump Nintendo and Sony? Make it a media player? Hasn't really worked for the PSP. Give it souped up graphics? Not without losing even more money than they did on the Xbox. Portable Halo? Maybe, but the audience that made games like Pokemon and Nintendogs huge successes probably aren't going to think of Halo as a killer app. And there's no way Microsoft could ever beat Nintendo in innovative, quirky, fun games, which have always been right at home on the handheld.
Microsoft would undoubtedly use the same strategy in the handheld market as Sony, i.e. churn out console-like games for their portable. And as we've seen, it hasn't really worked too well. The PSP is being outsold by over 2 to 1 by a seemingly underpowered competitor with no media capabilities. If Sony can't keep up to the DS, Microsoft can't even stand a chance.
"Rare has craploads of Nintendo experience and can pump out titles quite easily..."
Are you thinking of a different Rare? This is the company that spent nearly three years developing a Zelda clone for the N64 that, after being moved to the GameCube, was widely considered to be a flop. This is the Rare that, after being owned by Microsoft for two and a half years delivered one sub-par kiddie ghost-hunting game. (Ironically enough, Rare has released more games for the GBA than the Xbox after being purchased by Microsoft.) Rare was never known for "pumping out titles", they were known for their quality games like Donkey Kong Country and Goldeneye. Those quality games have been strangely missing in the current generation, though.
The biggest thing I can see coming out of this is a WiFi Perfect Dark port for the DS, which would certainly be a hit. A while back a Rare employee claimed that they had the first level of PD running on DS devkits, but they weren't officially planning to develop it fully.
That's the thing: Christian games so far have always been about Sunday School messages tacked on to an already existing game. And in that case, you're right, people will probably choose the original.
But games like the "Left Behind" based game suggested in the article could be pretty cool if done properly. Not every Biblical theme needs to be Noah's Ark; a game set during the Apocalypse could be appealing to both Christians and non-Christians alike.
I think the best direction for Christian games would be to make solid, fun games without the gratuitous violence and sex that are so common in games today. The games don't necessarily need to preach a message, but they could simply feature characters who act more Christian-like in their adventure. Placing the game in a biblical setting might help, but it wouldn't be necessary. Designing a game like this would be a really risky move for any developer, but if the game had acceptable graphics, gameplay, and polish compared to other games of the time, I think it could work.
"I think that ultimately, the reason that there aren't a lot of Christian video games is that there's no need. The target audience doesn't buy video games, and non-evangelicals who do buy video games would buy mainstream games that don't actually suck."
I don't know how common this is, but my youth group (at an evangelical church) was pretty big into video games. My youth pastor was a self-proclaimed Halo fan, and they organized several Halo LAN parties to be held at the church. I just visited my uncle's church, a Southern Baptist church in Arkansas, and they had an entire room in the basement dedicated to gaming, decked out with an Atari, NES, Genesis, and SNES.
A lot of people here seem to think that all Christians are opposed to video games, simply because of the few outspoken people who make the news. From my experience, there's a huge market of Christians that play video games. Whether or not that translates to people who would buy "Christian video games" is a different story. I could see a small segment of games taking off if they were tastefully done, non-offensive, but not too preachy, and they'd have to be relatively high-quality. It would take some time, but I think one good development studio could make something work.
You haven't heard of Switchfoot, have you?
It may be rare for a Christian band to acheive mainstream popularity, but the odds of any band being a mainstream hit are slim. I would guess that you probably have a favorite band that's not regularly played on the radio.
Browsing the shared iTunes music folder at school, it was rare for me to find someone who didn't have some Christian music on their computer. Between Switchfoot, P.O.D., Jars of Clay, Five Iron Frenzy, Relient K, etc. etc., most every iTunes folder had at least a few songs by Christian bands.
And check out http://www.purevolume.com/. It's not a specifically Christian site by any means, but almost daily a Christian band is featured in the top 10 list, be it Thousand Foot Krutch, Anberlin, Relient K, Emery, and a number of others. Christian music has really grown in the last few years. You'd probably be surprised.
Homosexuals don't make up over half of the world's population.
"I'd expect this trend to continue through to the 360 as well."
I don't. Microsoft goofed on the Xbox's piracy protection. The Xbox modding scene was never supposed to happen, if Bill Gates had his way. I imagine that they'll have much tighter security next generation. Every gamer using his Xbox for Linux, emulation, or software piracy was one more Xbox owner that Microsoft wasn't profiting from. Why do you think Microsoft is suddenly adopting all the features of popular homebrew Xbox software, but charging for them?
We might see some homebrew software for the PS3, with its Linux support, or for the Revolution, if the rumors of all-access game design tools are true. But I would be very surprised if Microsoft doesn't go to great lengths to keep the Xbox 360 as mod-proof as possible.
Hehe, maybe my previous comment did sound a little too troll-ish. I'm just trying to play the devil's advocate. ;)
"But I wouldn't give mods the short shrift. The major advantage PCs have over game machines is that they are more versatile and PC Gamers should have a streak of the hardcore in them. With a decent game platform, the internet, a vision, proper direction and development, a serious mod group can put out a product that may not be economically viable to the big guys, but that addresses a niche."
I agree; mods cater mostly to the hardcore gamers, and for the most part, the average gamer isn't "hardcore". It's cool for average Joe gamer to be able to create his own game, but the majority of the gaming community would rather play a commercially-developed game by a known studio with known talent. Like you said, mods are a niche market, and it's going to take more than that to revive PC gaming.
I don't really understand what the problem is with consoles and their "DRM'd to hell design". I'm 100% positive that my PC could never run Resident Evil 4, even though it's supposedly several times more powerful than my GameCube. If the "lack of configuration issues" means "better looking and better playing games" than I'll take it. And FWIW, it looks like the next gen of consoles is going to be more heavily focused on customization than the current gen.
Not yet, I had enough trouble with the normal boss. I haven't even attempted the secret boss yet. It amazes me how many secrets and sidequests this game has, though.
For any gamers looking for a fresh (freeware) 2D platformer with an old-school feel, look no further than Cave Story. It's an amazingly designed game by Studio Pixel, which is actually just one guy with a lot of talent. The game plays a lot like Metroid or Mega Man, but it has a unique weapon system. The graphics are very reminiscent of an SNES or DOS-based game, but the pixel art is spectacular and the story is very engrossing. I highly recommend it to anyone, as it's easily the best freeware game I've ever played.
I'll remember that next time I'm playing Ocarina of Time, Metal Gear Solid, Metroid Prime, or any other high-quality console game that wasn't cobbled together by a kid in his parents' basement.
Seriously, mods might be a fun diversion, but there are so few that are actually well-designed that it's hardly a significant advantage of PCs. If mods are the biggest advantage to PCs, it's no wonder PC gaming is dying. Counter-Strike is a joke compared to just about every commercial FPS.
"Oh, and while Nintendo may have been pioneers with wireless controllers during this generation, let's not forget that they used a pretty unscrupulous practice to encourage adoption. The cable length on the default Gamecube controller is PATHETIC."
If you think the short controller cables were meant to sell WaveBirds, you're kidding yourself. The wireless controllers were released almost a year after the launch of the system. WaveBirds sold because they are high quality and reduce cord mess (which, incidentally, is a bigger problem with long cables).
Complaining about cord length is pointless, since the chosen length is quite arbitrary. For any dorm room, bedroom, or average entertainment area, six feet is plenty of length. Nine feet isn't some kind of "magic number" when it comes to cord length. If your TV was ten feet from your sofa, you'd be complaining about the PS2 and Xbox cords, too.
Many of the one-button demonstrations in their flash demos are used in Wario Ware games, so maybe it's an indirect reference.
The only reason that Casamassina's audience seems to be angry and deficient at spelling is because he fixes the mailbags to paint that picture. Lately he's only been printing letters that support his stance on the HD-less Revolution issue, and incidentally, most of them are angry, grammar-less rants. If he ever chooses to print a letter opposing his opinions, he picks the most moronic submission possible in an attempt to make his opponents look like idiots.
In my opinion, Casamassina deserves a spot on the list if only for his ability to rally thousands of rabid fans behind a pointless cause that he manages to blow way out of proportion. Although, his partner Craig on the DS channel seems to be pretty skilled in the same area, what with his recent complaints about Animal Crossing DS. IGN seems to be very good at hiring small-minded editors that pretend to like Nintendo, but in reality only like stirring up trouble.
The difference is that the PS2 had little or no competition, while Nintendo is expecting to sell 20 million DSs in the next year. It's a good strategy to create artificial demand, but only when you have no chance of driving consumers to your competitors.
An "easy mode" can't fix complex controls, difficult puzzles, or frustrating camera angles. In most games these days, easy means "enemies do less damage" and hard means "more enemies".
In addition, the two genres you mentioned are probably the two most "hardcore" genres in games today, besides possibly fighting games. Nearly every RPG and FPS is fairly difficult to learn unless you've had previous experience with the genre. FPSs controls are, by their nature, quite unintuitive for beginners, and RPGs have many levels of menus for items, spells, stats, and party members that can be intimidating to a new player.
Mass-appeal games aren't going to be FPSs (unless the controls are overhauled) or RPGs (unless developers start designing them to be more newb-friendly). The biggest untapped market is the Yahoo Games and solitaire crowd, who has little interest in shooting aliens or casting spells. Rather, I think the big appeal will be with games that follow in the footsteps of Tetris, Mario Kart, The Sims, Pokemon and other "simple" games. (Note that those are some of the top-selling games of all time.) Nintendo seems to be taking steps in that direction with games like Nintendogs, Electroplankton, and Animal Crossing. Of course there will still be a market for the Zeldas and the Final Fantasies, but if gaming is ever going to be a truly widespread form of entertainment, the hardcore might need to take a backseat to the general public. I, for one, am not too worried. I'm just as happy playing Tetris or Mario Kart as I am with Half-Life or Metal Gear Solid.
Still, there's no denying that the Warcraft franchise was a large factor in WoW's success. My roommate who had never considered playing an MMORPG in his life bought WoW simply because he was a big Warcraft fan. I'm positive that many others did the same. Maybe it would have gained popularity by word of mouth as time went on, but a large percentage of the initial surge of subscribers was probably long-time Blizzard fans.
I second that recommendation. Doukutsu Monogatari (Cave Story) is hands-down the best freeware game I've ever played, and one of the finest examples of game design on the PC. It's like Metroid crossed with an RPG, which might sound strange, but it turns out being awesome. Highly recommended.
Agreed.
And even though Super Mario 64 was a great game in its own right, it lacked the gameplay perfection that can only be done in 2D.
Oh, and as a warning: Super Mario Pac isn't really a full-fledged Mario game. It's a series of one screen "levels". I felt that it's more akin to Lunar Lander or Jetpack than a Mario game. The game is fun, but it's no Super Mario World by any stretch of the imagination.