ZippyDSMlee
06-12-2007, 11:38 PM
http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/levelup/archive/2007/06/07/i-for-one-do-not-welcome-our-new-wii-overlords.aspx
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Perhaps its because I am a game nazi that sees the advent of graphics first a disgrace to gaming...prehaps its hard for my my lil brain to comprehend his big words..or prehaps he is merely a graphics/power nazi and is offended by the WII I dunno....but this perturbs zippy much...oh well...alas zippy is just zippy and will always ever be zippy...
--------------------------------------------
We made the acquaintance of SportsBlogNation president Tyler Bleszinski--yes, he's also the older brother, by three years, of Gears of War designer Cliff "Cliffyb" Bleszinski--after reading an eminently fair assessment that he'd written on his own blog Gearheads of War about our critique of the dialogue in Gears of War. Since then, we've emailed from time to time on subjects various and sundry. During one such exchange, prompted by our inaugural Monday Morning Quarterback post about the April sales charts, Bleszinski voiced his concern about the impact that the Wii--more specifically, the tidal wave of casual game-oriented newcomers that Nintendo's hit console was ushering into the market--would have on hardcore gamers like himself. Intrigued, we asked Bleszinski to tackle the following question, "Why do you feel threatened by the prospect of a dominant Wii?" Here is his reply.
.....You have the balls to claim "casual game/gamer" refrances when in fact the industry has been seeking to dull its ranks with zombie gamers who are happy eating the shiny new crap the indutry poos out without questioning WTH is going on ever since the late 90s and the 3D boom graphics has gotten all the detail with physics getting a piece of the pie leaving gameplay to rot and gameplay evolving slowly if at all.
My brother Cliff and I have been into games long before he ever created Gears of War. He and I played through the original Zelda together and I remember having tournaments with him where we'd play the original Nintendo Ice Hockey game. I liked to stack my team with the fat guys because they had a booming shot that could score from anywhere and were really good at checking. Cliff went the skinny guy route and tried to skate circles around me.
But the times, they are a-changing. If Nintendo has its way, young males will no longer be the dominant segment of the console audience--and this transition appears to be happening faster than I expected. The other day I was in Target looking to pick up some games when I saw an older woman--very likely a grandmother--waiting for the clerk's attention. She wanted him to get her a couple of games from inside the locked glass cabinet. When he asked her which ones, she stated Cooking Mama and Wii Play.
Your loseign me here when you were a kid games were abotu fun now there about drooling over shiny shallow graphics?
SO games are like film its not abotu fun but about plot? marketing? look?....oy.....
I could barely stifle a groan. Don't get me wrong; I think it's cute that someone who likely had no idea what a video game was would suddenly plunk down her Social Security money so she can cook virtual meals, play a rousing game of table tennis and shark her little grandchildren out of their milk money in billiards. But honestly, I had refused to believe that grandmothers were buying these things as so many news reports have claimed until I saw it with my own eyes. My story may be anecdotal, but the plural of anecdote is data, and there are more than enough news stories on this topic to suggest that this phenomenon is real.
What's more, Nintendo has the sales figures to back up its hype. The NPD sales figures since November have been troubling to me as a hardcore gamer who loves new IPs and in-depth experiences. The Nintendo Wii has built up a ton of momentum in 2007, and despite the fact that it features an internal architecture that maxes out graphically around where the original Xbox did, it has quickly become the darling of the non-gaming press. There have been umpteen stories about the scrappy little Wii wooing non-gamers and bringing in hordes of new converts to worship at the altar of Mario.
So brining in people to buy the games that would normally not sale is such a bad thing? what you seem to be saying is that is if they try and cater to the non dim wited zombie gamer and go for the non gamer that games will lose their "focus" again ...really hate to be the first to tell you this but between suits new marketing schemes and a lack of effort in polish and gameplay design focus is already lost and have been so for near 6 years now, it seems you are jealous Mario get a alter for game noobs and Halo remains only a elitists FPS.
BTW drop the power nazi line "graphics/power is everything" its really not if anythign fun is everything and marketing 2nd to it.
I'm not saying that the videogame industry shouldn't strive to bring in as many new people as possible. It most definitely should, because new gamers mean a nice, healthy business. My problem is what this new crowd appears to be drawn to. Games like Wii Sports, Wii Play and Cooking Mama have become some of the biggest sellers, and that is what has me worried. If these are the type of games that become blockbusters, then you can count on other gaming companies who cater to the more hardcore gamer--aka me and the milions of others who've been driving this business--to promptly change direction. If we've learned anything about videogame companies, it's that they all are quick to follow each other if one is successful with something. I mean, Sony already imitated the Wii a bit with their Sixaxis controller; Microsoft followed Sony with their own EyeToy-like camera, albeit far less successfully; and Sony is now trying to replicate some kind of online service a la Xbox Live. If Nintendo winds up outselling the 360 and the PS3 by a wide margin, how soon will it be before we gamers are using the Sixaxis to chop up onions with in Metal Gear Mama? How long before we're frantically swinging waggle remotes for tennis, bowling and golf in Halo Sports?
*sigh*
It seems you are lost in the hype drown from all sides and worry that games will suddenly be like movies with games catered to to the casual buyer... oh wait they have... with that said will this effect the industry in some ways yes as I stated before its about selling games that would have gone unnoticed before they are not going to noobfiy a MGS,Halo or Metroid Prime in oder to market it they will do what they always do play to their niches something Nintendo is god at and the others are jealous of it.
Also looking at the industry I do not see the WII placing its dreaded games on other systems nor do I see a spike in in devs flocking to it why? because the "non gamer" gamer niche is only about as big as the zombie gamer and "hard core gamer niche" BTW a hard core gamer is one who clings to the basic value of games that would be gameplay the fun factor that makes them want to play games graphics/power can be a part of but when it trumps everythign else you are deluded into the mainstream and that makes you a causal gamer, "non gamer" gamers are a odd lot potentially there are more of them but they are not goign to go out of their for it thus a tough niche to milk so again it all comes down to marketing to whatever niche you can fall into.
Will games like Halo and Gears of War ever go away? Hell no. But publishers aren't stupid. They're going to go where the majority of the money is and if people want to play the WarioWare mini-games more than the meaty experiences that hardcore gamers love, you're inevitably going to see a corresponding shift in development. Publishers are in the business of making money, so if they can spend six months or a year developing a mini-game package for five-year-old technology and make more profits than they would by spending 2-3 years crafting a long and detailed experience, you can bet your Wiimote that that's exactly what they'll do.
I feel for you on this but at the same time its like my own hate for holloywod because I hate the "products" they mainstream for the casual movie goer dose not mean the industry itself is a total waste the same can be said for the "change" thats "coming" but has already came and is now laying their smoking feeling good for itself what I mean is the changes you fear have already hit us you might not see it because you do not instigate and question things on the grounds of game play, I know I do it to much and the industry is seemingly happy with calling mediocre games "above average".
================================================== =======
Perhaps its because I am a game nazi that sees the advent of graphics first a disgrace to gaming...prehaps its hard for my my lil brain to comprehend his big words..or prehaps he is merely a graphics/power nazi and is offended by the WII I dunno....but this perturbs zippy much...oh well...alas zippy is just zippy and will always ever be zippy...
--------------------------------------------
We made the acquaintance of SportsBlogNation president Tyler Bleszinski--yes, he's also the older brother, by three years, of Gears of War designer Cliff "Cliffyb" Bleszinski--after reading an eminently fair assessment that he'd written on his own blog Gearheads of War about our critique of the dialogue in Gears of War. Since then, we've emailed from time to time on subjects various and sundry. During one such exchange, prompted by our inaugural Monday Morning Quarterback post about the April sales charts, Bleszinski voiced his concern about the impact that the Wii--more specifically, the tidal wave of casual game-oriented newcomers that Nintendo's hit console was ushering into the market--would have on hardcore gamers like himself. Intrigued, we asked Bleszinski to tackle the following question, "Why do you feel threatened by the prospect of a dominant Wii?" Here is his reply.
.....You have the balls to claim "casual game/gamer" refrances when in fact the industry has been seeking to dull its ranks with zombie gamers who are happy eating the shiny new crap the indutry poos out without questioning WTH is going on ever since the late 90s and the 3D boom graphics has gotten all the detail with physics getting a piece of the pie leaving gameplay to rot and gameplay evolving slowly if at all.
My brother Cliff and I have been into games long before he ever created Gears of War. He and I played through the original Zelda together and I remember having tournaments with him where we'd play the original Nintendo Ice Hockey game. I liked to stack my team with the fat guys because they had a booming shot that could score from anywhere and were really good at checking. Cliff went the skinny guy route and tried to skate circles around me.
But the times, they are a-changing. If Nintendo has its way, young males will no longer be the dominant segment of the console audience--and this transition appears to be happening faster than I expected. The other day I was in Target looking to pick up some games when I saw an older woman--very likely a grandmother--waiting for the clerk's attention. She wanted him to get her a couple of games from inside the locked glass cabinet. When he asked her which ones, she stated Cooking Mama and Wii Play.
Your loseign me here when you were a kid games were abotu fun now there about drooling over shiny shallow graphics?
SO games are like film its not abotu fun but about plot? marketing? look?....oy.....
I could barely stifle a groan. Don't get me wrong; I think it's cute that someone who likely had no idea what a video game was would suddenly plunk down her Social Security money so she can cook virtual meals, play a rousing game of table tennis and shark her little grandchildren out of their milk money in billiards. But honestly, I had refused to believe that grandmothers were buying these things as so many news reports have claimed until I saw it with my own eyes. My story may be anecdotal, but the plural of anecdote is data, and there are more than enough news stories on this topic to suggest that this phenomenon is real.
What's more, Nintendo has the sales figures to back up its hype. The NPD sales figures since November have been troubling to me as a hardcore gamer who loves new IPs and in-depth experiences. The Nintendo Wii has built up a ton of momentum in 2007, and despite the fact that it features an internal architecture that maxes out graphically around where the original Xbox did, it has quickly become the darling of the non-gaming press. There have been umpteen stories about the scrappy little Wii wooing non-gamers and bringing in hordes of new converts to worship at the altar of Mario.
So brining in people to buy the games that would normally not sale is such a bad thing? what you seem to be saying is that is if they try and cater to the non dim wited zombie gamer and go for the non gamer that games will lose their "focus" again ...really hate to be the first to tell you this but between suits new marketing schemes and a lack of effort in polish and gameplay design focus is already lost and have been so for near 6 years now, it seems you are jealous Mario get a alter for game noobs and Halo remains only a elitists FPS.
BTW drop the power nazi line "graphics/power is everything" its really not if anythign fun is everything and marketing 2nd to it.
I'm not saying that the videogame industry shouldn't strive to bring in as many new people as possible. It most definitely should, because new gamers mean a nice, healthy business. My problem is what this new crowd appears to be drawn to. Games like Wii Sports, Wii Play and Cooking Mama have become some of the biggest sellers, and that is what has me worried. If these are the type of games that become blockbusters, then you can count on other gaming companies who cater to the more hardcore gamer--aka me and the milions of others who've been driving this business--to promptly change direction. If we've learned anything about videogame companies, it's that they all are quick to follow each other if one is successful with something. I mean, Sony already imitated the Wii a bit with their Sixaxis controller; Microsoft followed Sony with their own EyeToy-like camera, albeit far less successfully; and Sony is now trying to replicate some kind of online service a la Xbox Live. If Nintendo winds up outselling the 360 and the PS3 by a wide margin, how soon will it be before we gamers are using the Sixaxis to chop up onions with in Metal Gear Mama? How long before we're frantically swinging waggle remotes for tennis, bowling and golf in Halo Sports?
*sigh*
It seems you are lost in the hype drown from all sides and worry that games will suddenly be like movies with games catered to to the casual buyer... oh wait they have... with that said will this effect the industry in some ways yes as I stated before its about selling games that would have gone unnoticed before they are not going to noobfiy a MGS,Halo or Metroid Prime in oder to market it they will do what they always do play to their niches something Nintendo is god at and the others are jealous of it.
Also looking at the industry I do not see the WII placing its dreaded games on other systems nor do I see a spike in in devs flocking to it why? because the "non gamer" gamer niche is only about as big as the zombie gamer and "hard core gamer niche" BTW a hard core gamer is one who clings to the basic value of games that would be gameplay the fun factor that makes them want to play games graphics/power can be a part of but when it trumps everythign else you are deluded into the mainstream and that makes you a causal gamer, "non gamer" gamers are a odd lot potentially there are more of them but they are not goign to go out of their for it thus a tough niche to milk so again it all comes down to marketing to whatever niche you can fall into.
Will games like Halo and Gears of War ever go away? Hell no. But publishers aren't stupid. They're going to go where the majority of the money is and if people want to play the WarioWare mini-games more than the meaty experiences that hardcore gamers love, you're inevitably going to see a corresponding shift in development. Publishers are in the business of making money, so if they can spend six months or a year developing a mini-game package for five-year-old technology and make more profits than they would by spending 2-3 years crafting a long and detailed experience, you can bet your Wiimote that that's exactly what they'll do.
I feel for you on this but at the same time its like my own hate for holloywod because I hate the "products" they mainstream for the casual movie goer dose not mean the industry itself is a total waste the same can be said for the "change" thats "coming" but has already came and is now laying their smoking feeling good for itself what I mean is the changes you fear have already hit us you might not see it because you do not instigate and question things on the grounds of game play, I know I do it to much and the industry is seemingly happy with calling mediocre games "above average".