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ryu1976 on 27 December 2008
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HappySqurriel said:
ryu1976 said:

First, I have a Wii and a 360. They're both great. However, I think Nintendo could be walking a fine line in the near future. Also, to marginalize games with high production values does not elevate the art.

It is self serving and just plain dumb to say that the soul metric to judge the quality of Wii games is how well they sell. This is the logical equivalent of stating that the best beef dish is a Mcdonald's hamburger.

The thing I fear about lower quality titles on the Wii, and I have played a few, is that they may lead to a slippery slope for the entire industry. The Wii could become the Atari 2600 of this generation (think E.T.) -- mountains of shovelware and disenfranchised gamers of all types.

 

I own a Wii and an XBox 360 and I see things a little differently ...

For a very long time the single minded quest to elevate the narrow definition of "Games as Art" has marginalized more and more gamers; and when Sony and Microsoft decided to play a game of brinksmanship to capture the 20% of gamers who care about this quest, the 75% of existing gamers (and large untapped group of potential gamers) were left for Nintendo.

The sad thing is that the industry has decided that people who enjoy puzzle games like Tetris, want 2D versions of Mario and Sonic games, people who enjoyed old-school adventure games, or people who want to have fun with their real life friends were not worth targeting; this is made worse because there are so many so-called "Hard-Core" gamers (who grew up playing Tetris, 2D Sonic and Mario games, enjoyed old-school adventure games, and loved playing games with their real-life friends) who argue that abandoning these gamers (and games) is the only way to move the industry forward.

I agree with part of what you're saying, but you miss my point.  I played Boom Blox with family and friends last evening.  It's a great Wii game, and a good example at aiming at the casual audience.  But, weeks back I played something called, perhaps, 'Summer Games' at my in-laws.

The second title is aimed at a broader audience, and that is where its Wii merits end.  Unfortunately, it is not alone.  And, the number of these inferior titles are increasing on the system.  The danger I see is a historical one, as I stated, from the eighties.

Like the Wii today, the Atari 2600 and its games sold in great numbers.  Somewhere in its life-cycle developers misused the public's trust in what an Atari game was.  Shovelware was published left and right, eventually eroding consumer trust, and among other forces bringing the console to an ugly end.

Claiming that 'because a game sells well it is good' simply is not adequate.  And, unwillingness to fairly critique a title because it is 'casual' will be bad for all gamers in the long-term.

My point is that we need high quality games no matter what the console or audience.  Sub-standard software in the name of casualness (and publisher greed) will damage gaming.