| perpride said: 1 - If you want to speak about the subjectivity of art, then again, any piece of shit game can be called the best game of all time. I agree with you that art (music, games, whatever) is extremely down to the individual; but does this mean that we should have no way of actually measuring whether a game is good or not? Sales cannot be what you base your decision on. Wii Music will likely go on to sell more units than Gears of War, MGS4, Uncharted, Lost Oddyssey, Mass Effect....you name it! This does not mean it is a beter game. 2 - Agreed, but we are talking about video games...an art that is not even a century old yet. Wii Music will sell insane amounts simply because of the context in which it is being released. Like I said, add the name "Wii" to any game and it will sell millions. "WiiNinjabread" would have been a million seller had it not been a crappy port of a PS2 game. Wii music will not last this "test of time" we are talking about. You think we will look back at it in ten years and remember it as a classic? Screw ten years from now, my eyes tear up from sadness when I look at this game today! So much wasted potential! If you want to examine video games as an art form, what the "masses" support should have absolutley no bearing on how good a game actually is. 3 - How, in any way, could you call the people that are reviewing this game elite? I own a Wii, and I know there is absolutley no fucking way in hell I will ever buy this title. There are so many other places Nintendo could have been focusing their time instead of developing this. They really know how to stick it to their loyal fans. |
1. Measuring, no. Discussion and debate, very much so. To measure something you need a well made system to count whatever you're measuring, and there's so many people with so many different opinions on things like this, that any complex system you implement probably won't accommodate a lot of people. Judging from your most wanted games in your sig, you line of thinking is in-line enough with the current gaming media where their scale is at least somewhat helpful to you. It's not very helpful to someone like me whose interest in traditional gaming is lingering in recent days, and for entirely new gamers that started with the Wii Series (an obvious part of Wii Music's target audience), it's useless.
Critics should help people better understand things with thoughtful and thorough analysis, to better enable their audiences to make informed decisions for themselves. Not to make the actual decisions for their audience.
2. No one is arguing sales are a statement of quality, and I was arguing that people ultimately decides what'll be remembered. It's just as a likely something sells well, but isn't remembered particularly fondly, and goes forgotten. (Numerous Hollywood blockbusters would come to mind if I could remember any =P) And neither you nor I know what if anything will stand the test of time. Your eyes tear up with sadness at wasted potential, mine light with the idea of unlocking my own potential. You're not the world; I'm not the world. If you were to examine video games as an art form, and exclude the masses feelings, then examination is only to benefit yourself and the people similar to you, a big reason I don't like many critics.
3. I call them elite in that game reviewers do have a position of (petty) power in that their opinions carry more weight with many people, and they're given access to games before paying customers like us because they're valued as somehow being better judges of what makes good games. Entitled might have been a better word. I don't see them as elite in the sense they're any better at their job then any other random dolt on the internet. =P
Ultimately, it sounds like you're just mad that this is Nintendo's major release this Christmas season, and not something you wanted. (much like tuoyo really) But I think it would help if you realized that your feelings aren't everyone else's feelings and shouldn't expect them to be. Nintendo is a big company and can afford to produce sequels to games you like, and new kinds of games, for new players. In less then two years there have already been sequels for Mario, Metriod Prime, Smash Bros, Zelda Wario Land, Battalion Wars, Paper Mario, and Fire Emblem on the Wii alone. They’ll likely have more games for you next year as well. You’re certainly free to hate Wii Music all you like, that’s your right. Just don’t expect that feeling to be that law on how other people feel about this game.
