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Video Game Chat / 360, the NXE, Avatars, and etc... VS Nintendo and the "Casuals"
« on: November 24, 2008, 07:44:08 PM »
With the onset of Microsoft's new plan to leech casual gamers off from Nintendo, it's really gotten me thinking. I like to consider myself to almost be a casual gamer. I'm content playing Mario Party or Bomberman over hardcore high technicaaal stuff from PS3. I don't agree with Nintendo's definition of a casual gamer. What they really mean when they say "casual" is people over 60 or under 6, or who don't know what a video game is. At first I was all for Nintendo going the friendly atmosphere route, I thought the Wii looked really neat.
Yet nowI find myself every day growing more disgusted with Nintendo's new philosophy on games. A lot of their games aren't really "casual" so much as they are just lazy. Originally I bought a 360 for the purpose of waiting through Nintendo droughts, however I never thought these droughts would become so extreme. Because of this, I'm starting to like my 360 more than my Wii now.
Now what really gets me though is how Microsoft is trying to embark onto this casual route too, in hopes to reclaim their position as Micro$oft. I love NXE, avatars, and the whole new feel they've given 360. In fact, it's funny because Microsoft is blatantly ripping off of Nintendo, however they're executing it over 9000 times better. Avatars are a great example of this. They still have that undetailed, simplistic look of the Miis however they deliver a better idea of what the Mii is supposed to be doing. Miis were originally meant to be a representative of yourself within games, and thats a brilliant idea. Miis are one of the few things I still like about Nintendo. However with the advent of avatars, I see how Miis could be so much better. Look at my avatar for an idea of this.
Avatar:
Me:
This is a great showing of just how much customization the avatars have, while still retaining the simple, friendly feel. My Mii looks pretty good, but it's nowhere near as great as this avatar.
Because of all this, I'm growing more and more intolerant of Nintendo. I remember a time when TMK's upcoming games list was steadily populated by 6 or 7 Mario games year round. Now we have... one. I'm not asking for Super Mario Galaxy to come out every year, but really. Nintendo's completely turned their back on what made them so good years ago: their ability to use their great franchises to make fun games. Nintendo's always been acclaimed for just how fun they are, and they're trying to take that to the extreme with the Wii. But all these attempts to be fun and casual and all that nonesense is all very lazy. Wii Sports I'll admit was incredibly fun. For about a month. One of the aspects of something being fun is that you can do it over and over and it stays fresh. But there's only so many times I could play WIi Bowling without it losing its novelty.
What are all their 2nd party studios doing right now? What's Intelligent Systems working on? Where's that Kirby game that got cancelled for Gamecube and moved to Wii? Things like Mario, Kirby, and Star Fox have never been viewed as hardcore, so why should they be now? I enjoy the grandiose, massive game like Metroid Prime 3 now and then, but at the same time I'd be happy if they just pumped out Mario shovelware over and over. Right now... I'm even looking back fondly on the good old days when each new year brought a new Mario Party.
As bad as it sounds, I really want Nintendo to fail this time around. I really do. I want them to do badly so that people will stop buying Wii Sports, Wii Play, Wii Sewing, and Wii Sitting games, and then they can go back to doing what they do best: NINTENDO games. (Star Fox must have starved to death by now)
So why did I make this thread? Maybe to let out a little steam. Maybe to see I'm not the only one. I don't necessarily want it to be a giant Anti-Nintendo Fest because I'd probably get flamed off the forums for that. I guess I just want people to come in, maybe reminisce about the golden age of nintendo. Perhaps talk about 360 in general. Anything pertaining to this subject.
Yet nowI find myself every day growing more disgusted with Nintendo's new philosophy on games. A lot of their games aren't really "casual" so much as they are just lazy. Originally I bought a 360 for the purpose of waiting through Nintendo droughts, however I never thought these droughts would become so extreme. Because of this, I'm starting to like my 360 more than my Wii now.
Now what really gets me though is how Microsoft is trying to embark onto this casual route too, in hopes to reclaim their position as Micro$oft. I love NXE, avatars, and the whole new feel they've given 360. In fact, it's funny because Microsoft is blatantly ripping off of Nintendo, however they're executing it over 9000 times better. Avatars are a great example of this. They still have that undetailed, simplistic look of the Miis however they deliver a better idea of what the Mii is supposed to be doing. Miis were originally meant to be a representative of yourself within games, and thats a brilliant idea. Miis are one of the few things I still like about Nintendo. However with the advent of avatars, I see how Miis could be so much better. Look at my avatar for an idea of this.
Avatar:
Me:
This is a great showing of just how much customization the avatars have, while still retaining the simple, friendly feel. My Mii looks pretty good, but it's nowhere near as great as this avatar.
Because of all this, I'm growing more and more intolerant of Nintendo. I remember a time when TMK's upcoming games list was steadily populated by 6 or 7 Mario games year round. Now we have... one. I'm not asking for Super Mario Galaxy to come out every year, but really. Nintendo's completely turned their back on what made them so good years ago: their ability to use their great franchises to make fun games. Nintendo's always been acclaimed for just how fun they are, and they're trying to take that to the extreme with the Wii. But all these attempts to be fun and casual and all that nonesense is all very lazy. Wii Sports I'll admit was incredibly fun. For about a month. One of the aspects of something being fun is that you can do it over and over and it stays fresh. But there's only so many times I could play WIi Bowling without it losing its novelty.
What are all their 2nd party studios doing right now? What's Intelligent Systems working on? Where's that Kirby game that got cancelled for Gamecube and moved to Wii? Things like Mario, Kirby, and Star Fox have never been viewed as hardcore, so why should they be now? I enjoy the grandiose, massive game like Metroid Prime 3 now and then, but at the same time I'd be happy if they just pumped out Mario shovelware over and over. Right now... I'm even looking back fondly on the good old days when each new year brought a new Mario Party.
As bad as it sounds, I really want Nintendo to fail this time around. I really do. I want them to do badly so that people will stop buying Wii Sports, Wii Play, Wii Sewing, and Wii Sitting games, and then they can go back to doing what they do best: NINTENDO games. (Star Fox must have starved to death by now)
So why did I make this thread? Maybe to let out a little steam. Maybe to see I'm not the only one. I don't necessarily want it to be a giant Anti-Nintendo Fest because I'd probably get flamed off the forums for that. I guess I just want people to come in, maybe reminisce about the golden age of nintendo. Perhaps talk about 360 in general. Anything pertaining to this subject.
