| Kai_Mao said: I appreciate you took the time to bring all of this up with sources. I stand corrected. Though it doesn't necessarily change my stance or perception of Miyamoto despite that. I mean I get that he's not perfect, but who else is? Or maybe he suits my needs in gaming because In regards to the Mario and online source, he probably didn't see online platforming with Mario at the time. And with mobile, he seemed to embrace Mario Run and what it could provide. I mean sure you can share levels in Little Big Planet, but what else? Maybe it's just me, but besides Mario Maker and Run, what else could Mario do for online play that can enhance 2D and 3D platforming? Maybe Odyssey will solve that but who knows. And with online in general, it's not like he's completely resisted. He encouraged devs to make games like Splatoon and ARMS, games that have or will have online components. Heck, he thought Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon would benefit with online multiplayer. So he's come around a bit. And what's wrong with keeping local multiplayer for the Switch? Fans of Halo were critical of 5 not having couch co-op story campaign like the past games and having to instead have online co-op only. While online multiplayer is something important, you don't have to lose local multiplayer. Even in an online world, there's still value in playing Smash or Mario Kart with friends together in the living room or something. In fact, believe it or not, as long as I have being playing games, Mass Effect 3 was the first game where I attempted to invest in online multiplayer. Granted, probably not the best first game to try online (hearing players make bad comments about me and not even have a chance to catch up with them as a player). The only games I enjoyed investing in online play are Splatoon and Overwatch, accessible and fun. I'm sure there are those who are like that but don't show their presence often in forums like these. |
Miyamoto is a genius in his own right, in my honest opinion, my frustration with the man is mainly from his traditionalist attitudes towards the market. He represents an aging Nintendo who are slowly dying out and being replaced by a younger and more forward thinking one. Basically, him and some others have been behaving as if they still have their dominant 80's and early 90's position in the market, which they clearly don't, and have made choices based on that mindset.
He has come around but he's been slow, some would argue too slow. I think I would argue that, in fact. Jumping on the wagon after it has rolled for a long time makes it more difficult to get a good spot, it was the same with HD development, it caused no end of problems for them with the Wii U since they had no experience with it, and caused delay after delay where other developers had long since settled into the pace of higher res games with more effects. I think that what Nintendo need most of all is a new Miyamoto, one that's like he was when he exploded onto the scene and one more attuned with the modern market and its demands and needs.
There's nothing wrong with local multiplayer, I happen to love it myself and I also have many fond memories of it, especially on PC and N64 with 4 player sessions. But the market has changed and moved on, and with online having become the norm and Nintendo seemingly wanting to dip their venerable toes in the pools of the mass market once more, they need to look at what the mass market wants and needs and not what Miyamoto wants to keep primarily doing. They seem to have little emphasis on online, their paid service is sounding bleak, they have very poor support for apps, it seems, no voice chat built in, no Netflix, no browser and some pretty poor showings for incentive for paying for their services when this rolls around. Online seems like an afterthought, when the mass market is spending the vast, vast majority of their time online on the phones and tablets, this strikes me as a truly odd choice but very typical in the vein of people like Miyamoto. Releasing a tablet that focuses solely on games and mostly on local multiplayer outside the home seems like a pretty poor idea in such a market. It's not about jumping on trends (which they're heavily doing anyway with their tablet form factor...) but about adapting to the market in general.
Long story short; if the Switch fails to become what it could have become, I blame it on people like Miyamoto and his stubborness and refusal to read and respond to the market and instead injecting what he wants into the concepts. And I'm still far from sold on the whole concept and form factor of the Switch on top of this, I can't shake this feeling that making a tablet, one that has barely any actual tablet functionality, is a mistake and that the high number of pre-orders are not indicative of massive lifetime sales, but merely die-hard's fans tired of the Wii U. I guess time will tell, in the meantime, one can always hope that Miyamoto will learn how to tell time...
