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jarrod on 10 May 2010
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Mazty said:
jarrod said:

Speaking of assumptions... I addressed this before, but you're mistaking "quality" for what's "better".  Quality can certainly be a component in determining worth, but quality is inherently subjective, market performance isn't, and I'm speaking exclusively to the latter.

I'd also argue games don't get any more "traditional" than Nintendo this generation.  Deconstructed, the design of Wii Sports or Wii Play is about as gamey as you get, they're basically like mid-1980s NES games at their core.  Something like Halo, God of War or even Mario Galaxy is hugely abstracted and further complicated by comparison, and thus further from "traditional", even if they use mainly decades old interfaces.  The secret to Wii's success is in accessibility, but that's due just as much to software design as it is interface, and for as many people as it's brought into gaming, lapsed gamers likely account for just as many as legitimately new gamers.

"Better" has absolutely no link to market sales, that is where you are going completely wrong. Sales are sales and mean nothing about a game being good or not. If that is the case, then you think that the Micra is a better car than a Bently because of sales. That is ludicrous.

"Traditional" i.e. least innovative. Yes the Wii has been wildly successful because it is accessible, but to an entirely different market than the other two consoles, and for different reasons to the same audience that may buy a wii or an iphone. The wii is an easy christmas present for the kids, whereas the iphone and Mac products are fashionable accesories for anyone, not just the kids, a bored wife or nostalgic gamers.

Nintendo seeing Apple as the enemy is like Microsoft seeing AMD as the enemy. Same basic market, but two completely different products aimed at the same people but for totally different reasons.

"Better" can certainly be linked to market performance.  Which I was doing, talking about what the market thinks is "better".  "Ludicrous" would be your heavy handed and completely irrelevant car analogy. ;)

Also, in terms of design I wouldn't say Wii Sports or Wii Play is honestly all that innovative.  All that's changed from game designs near 2 decades old is character creation and interface.  I mean, is Wii Play really more "innovative" than something like Uncharted 2?

Trying to dismiss Wii as gift-for-kids platform is funny, given it's average age of ownership is actually higher than PS3 or 360.  "Nintendo is kiddie" will probably never die, even when they have more significantly adults using their platforms than the competition.

And your Nintendo/Apple to Microsoft/AMD analogy is also wildly off.  If anything, I'd argue Microsoft seeing PlayStation as "the enemy" is more in tune with what Iwata (purportedly) sees in their future against Apple..