| Killiana1a said: Malstrom much? Everything I read here sounds exactly like a blog post on Malstrom's blog. All I have to say is look at Nintendo's yearly sales from 2009 on. Their market is unreliable to the point where Nintendo trots out Reggie who says "Holidays = Nintendo's best selling time." If the company who created video gaming as we know lays all of it's eggs in the Christmas basket, then something is seriously wrong with their "strategy." I am not going to dispute the Wii's sales. Of course they are #1 for the reason of Nintendo appealing to a demographic who wants to game and who may have never gamed. Grandmas and Aunts are just as responsible for the 20 million Wii Play has sold just as much as your "core" Nintendo gamer. The question now is, do Grandman and Aunt buy just as much games as the "core" or will they only play Wii Play and Wii Play 2? If it is the latter, then Nintendo better be prepared to make Wii Play 2k12, Wii Play 2k13, and on just to keep them engaged. There is no going back to the NES days where games were light on the story, characters did not talk, and it as mainly 2D. Technology has changed, 3D graphics have been around 14 years, stories have gotten more complex, and players invest more of themselves in games than just a mindless, fun activity of getting from the start of the level to the end. The gaming developers in both Japan and the West will never lower themselves to NES standards because they see a heavily produced Hollywood-esque series like Modern Warfare 2 and Black Ops setting records. Zelda worked back in the 1980s, Modern Warfare 2 set records in 2009, and Black Ops has set records in 2010. Times have changed and people need to change with the times. |
Yes, it's no secret that I read Malstrom's blog quite a bit. But at the same time this is what I truely believe. It sounds similar because we are both right ;).
Yes, from 2009 on Nintendo's sales began to decline. In fact, if not for NSMB, the console would probably be in deep trouble. The sales began to decline because Nintendo started to lose touch with the mass market, with games like Other M and Galaxy. These games were the biggest releases for the console for the greater part of 2010. That's not a good thing, since neither of them are really hardware movers.
Reggie is only stating the obvious. Nintendo has ALWAYS done well around the holidays. Hell even the Gamecube had respectable sales then. Zelda Skyward Sword should keep the gap between holidays and non holidays at a minimum, provided it comes out before then.
Grandma and aunt are about as reliable as the core gamers, as long as they keep making games they would want to play. I love how people act like the hardcore are so reliable and will just buy games from now until the end of time, but look at the decline of the games industry, especially in Japan. These people are obviously getting sick of the same old games as well..
I find it funny how you mention Nintendo drifting from cinematic values like story and character developement as if that's a bad thing.. HELLO! That is part of what made the Wii such a hit! It denies games becoming movies and sticks with pure gameplay.
As for "people need to change with the times." That's fine if that's YOUR opinion, but if the games industry continues to have that mentalliy, they WILL decline into oscurity and eventual collapse. It is already starting to happen now. Why should people be forecd to change their tastes because the gaming industry wants them to?
Games as movies should NOT be what the industry strive for, because it is not was the mass consumer wants. And they go this route at their own risk. The very REASON Nintendo is so much more successful than the competition this gen is precisely BECAUSE they are doing the opposite of this Hollywoodification of games.
Edit: Oh, and Modern Warfare 2 and Black Ops? Those games were such huge hits because of the robust online multiplayer, which (not coincidentally) are absent of cinematic values like cutscenes, dialouge, character developement, etc. Do you honestly think most people bought these games for the 7 hour campaign mode? These games are perfect examples of how even the core gamers tend to drift away from the linear cinema heavy games you speak of and towards games that allow for greater freedom (similar to many retro games).
