Which current-gen console has the best games?

[Gnizmo]

Right so, my reasoning for the Wii. As alluded to earlier first party titles play into it in a huge way. I am not a fan of realism in games by any stretch of the imagination. Whether it be in art style or simply game mechanics. I prefer for someone to create a new world for me to experience. Occasionally there are exceptions to this rule, but they are few and far between. I shall cover them in a later section. For now I will focus on what typically draws me right into a game.

First and foremost I want to start having fun as soon as possible. I can't tell you the number of games that have been ruined for me by god awful tutorial that never seem to end. I don't want to have my hand held through the entire first level. Let me jump in the deep-end and figure out what is what. Nintendo by and large delivers this with their first party titles. I can think of very very few that don't let me get to the good part with a great deal of speed. This instantly puts the game up a notch on my entertainment meter. Sometimes I have an hour to play, and really hate to waste it because the game designers decided I was so stupid I needed to be spoon fed the games controls lest I make the terrible mistake of figuring it too quickly.

The second thing I really look for is great and addictive gameplay. This might sound slightly backwards, but it works in my head. The game might suck, but at least I can get to the best part of it sucking before I spend too long with it. Better to spend 20 minutes hating a game than an hour or two going through crap tutorials that ultimately dump you in a game that you will hate for 20 minutes. There is the bother of Nintendo not really being willing to throw you in the deep-end though, which is mildly annoying. Still they usually give you enough of the game to play with before dropping a handful of extra toys on you that you can play with while disregarding any instructions.

Next we have up my love of different art styles. Nintendo has shown a lack of interest in going the realistic route for graphics. I LOVE this. I though Twilight Princess was a huge step back from Wind Waker. Shiney sparklies are nice and all, but if I wanted something that looked just like a tree then I would go outside and look at a damned tree. I don't want my heroes moving around in all sorts of pseudo-realistic ways. I don't particularly care to hear their voices either quite honestly. The closer a game gets to real life, the more I am ready to just ignore it for the majority of games.

Multiplayer is also key. Online multiplayer seems to be getting more and more pervasive on every other system. The Wii has unintentionally fought this off with its terrible online set-up. For this I am grateful. I do not want online co-op. If I wanted to experience playing the game against someone else over the internet I would tape record myself screaming various racial slurs and play it back while playing against a low level CPU. This might not be your typical experience for everyone, but it is mine. Local multiplayer I love though. Have some friends over, order some take out, and maybe get drunk if you feel up for it. All the while knowing you can change games at will (since you only need one copy), have access to any possible system, and can just piss off and do something completely different together as well.

The last, but not least of the ways to really suck me in is to give it a weird spin. I am a sucker for a title with a quircky little twist. Kirby game where you draw rainbows? SOLD. Mario platformer where Peach is the hero and uses her PMS powers to kill bad guys (seriously could this game be more sexist) AND has a goomba eatting umbrella? Day one purchase. I love novel experiences. They might not be the best ever, but they don't have to be really now do they? Not really that likely to ever have a sequel, and it adds a ton to your geek cred to own it. The Wii due to combination of control scheme, and low cost of development gets a ton of these.

Combine the above together and it ends with me almost always prefering a Nintendo console as a primary console. Its not that I don't have faith in the first party titles of other systems, or that I dislike third party games overly but more than Nintendo is a deal breaker developer for me. If I had to choose one developer to get the game from it would be them (despite my blinding love for Treasure they just can't put out enough games) so all other consoles must be a secondary consideration. At least until the other two decide to appeal to the market occupied by me.