Gamespot reviews Mario Super Sluggers. 6.5

[ameratsu]

Sullla said:

ameratsu said:

So what if they sell well? Crap/mediocre games sell well all the time. I'd argue that most people who buy games like Wii Fit, Mario and Sonic, Canival Games, Mario Party and Wii Play don't read reviews and buy what they think looks fun or buy off the recommendations of friends.

That's pretty much what I stated above, although without the angry/aggressive tone. I said that there was a disconnect between Gamespot (who believes that the expanded audience games are all garbage) and the (very large) numbers of people who are buying these products. Based on the Zucas quote your provided above, you suggested that these sales were due to "hype, brand, and marketing". It's an argument I've seen advanced many times before - the people who are not core gamers are idiots who can't appreciate *REAL* games - and it's always bothered me.

I think there are two ways you can look at this:

- These "casual" games are rubbish. Only idiots buy these games, people who have been "duped" by marketing into purchasing garbage. Gamespot deserves to slam these titles in reviews.

- Gamespot has completely missed the point. These games are selling well because they are easy, fun, and people like playing them. There is no tricking of the public taking place. Consumers are just buying what appeals to them, and it happens to be the simple expanded audience offerings.

Obviously I adhere more to the second point of view. To go back to the bolded quote above - is it bad that the expanded audience doesn't read reviews, and instead purchases games based on "what looks like fun"? Shouldn't that be the goal of any game purchase? (I know it is for me!) I will always believe that consumers know what they want better than reviewers, and if the consumers are buying games in droves that the reviewers detested - well, the fault is not with the consumers!

PS I still don't think Mario Sluggers looks like a good game. Not because of the reasons listed by Gamespot though - because it doesn't look nearly as intuitive or fun as offerings like Wii Sports and Mario Kart.

 

Good points. Casual games aren't bad by nature, it's just that casual games sell not because they are particularly good or original but because they have brand recognition (mario and sonic at the olympics) and/or are heavily hyped or marketed or simply look fun. There is nothing wrong with buying what looks fun and I see what people like about simple, fun pick up and play games. I really enjoy certain casual games, but it is frustrating to see rubbish like Cooking Mama/Mario&Sonic sell like hotcakes while gems like boom blox are ignored by the "expanded audience" because it lacks the brand recognition and marketing (and maybe name choice?) to really strike a chord with them. Boom blox is one of my favorite Wii games so to see it do poorly commerically despite being an impressive game makes me question the sales reify quality argument.

If anything, I see this as gamespot not accounting for this expanded audience when they write their reviews. They write it from the prespective of a core gamer and rightly so as those are the people who read video-game related media online (impressions, videos, reviews, etc). This leads me to believe that gamespot is really saying "if you are reading this, you are probably this type of gamer and this is probably what you'd think of it". Is that accurate? That's up for debate but that seems to be the approach they are taking.