How the Videogame Industry Shot Itself In the Joystick--and Why the Wii Has Stopped the Bleeding

[Legend11]

The article is so flawed that it's hard to believe that N'Gai Croal actually called it "thoughtful", anyways here are some questions I have.

Would games like Grand Theft Auto 3, Halo 3, Bioshock, Street Fighter 3, etc have sold better and to non-gamers (like grandma and grandpa) if they had a vastly simpler control scheme/controller? Doubtful. The truth is that the game content is much more to blame in keeping non-gamers away from the systems than the controllers. Just look at Metroid Prime 3 on the Wii, it's obvious that it's just selling to the same crowd that bought Metroid Prime 2 dispite the use of the nunchuk and wii remote.

Also he talks about arcades in the 80s and 90s basically being filled with males between the ages of 16-34, well that's basically the same age group that dominates videogames today. So if that's the case what's the excuse for games in the 80's not appealing to a wider audience when many only had one or two buttons and a joystiq, hardly complicated controls. The truth is that the same age groups and gender that played and dominated games in the 80's and 90's are the same ones doing it now.

Also I don't get why he seems to believe that most reviewers don't know how to review games that don't have an ending because it goes against some kind of canon. Isn't that the case in online multiplayer games? They have no ending and yet reviewers don't seem to have a problem with them.

He also seems to equate the number of people who buy a game with what the review score should be. Well there are Hollywood blockbusters that make 200 million dollars or more, does that mean they should be given 8s or 9s or higher because of that?

I could go on but I think I've written enough for now.