Nintendo won’t be making Call of Duty-like games

[Mr Khan]

Kresnik said:

Mr Khan said:

See, it works the other way. I tend to view the Naughty Dog thing as a tragedy, because they remain a very skilled developer who is too wrapped up in the idea of what kinds of games are "cool." I still remember when someone from Naughty Dog said, regarding Jak II's darker direction, that "no one wants cutesy games anymore" or something to that regard. They used to be a paragon of how it doesn't take Nintendo to do all-ages games well, but now they're near the top of a much more crowded pyramid, making objectively great games, sure, but games of the type that everyone is making.

Were they a very skilled developer?  Honestly, I love Naughty Dog but I think people look on their past successes (especially Crash) with rose-tinted glasses far too often.

What I remember about ND in the early years was kind of different.  They were always seen as this very technically competent developer - a huge amount of praise was poured onto the graphics for Crash 1 & 2 thanks to Andy Gavin's GOOL engines.  Otherwise, they were certainly seen as nothing revolutionary and rode the wave of popularity at the time - which was squarely focused on mascot platformers (and indeed, mascot kart racers).  Crash was great fun, but it didn't really do anything new in the same way that Mario did.

By comparison, watching them develop into Uncharted territory (get it? tehe) has been an interesting process.  They've certainly kept the 'technically competent' part up with the gorgeous graphics of UC, but they moved games as a medium forward - even if only ever so slightly - by creating this cinematic, movie-esque experience.  Sure, a lot of the gameplay mechanics weren't original, but the game as a whole was fresh in its approach.  And if they're riding the wave of games that everyone is doing right now, then it's only exactly the same as happened in the fifth generation.

You're of course entitled to your opinion and if you see Naughty Dog as a great loss then that's fine, but I don't agree at all because I feel you're looking at it wrong - if anything, over-estimating ND based on a half-remembered view of the past.

Plus, I don't really understand that 'cool' part because again, you're remembering Crash Bandicoot wrong.  He was the 'cool' Sony version of Mario, who went to Nintendo HQ to taunt them, who wore trainers & shorts and had an oddball attitude with his own goofy dance.

Games for all ages are categorically uncool, from an "artist's" perspective.

And i tend to see the pursuit of making games more cinematic as an unproductive venture, though they are indeed doing a good job of it. The Last of Us is worth pursuing because perhaps it can do the job better, creating something more open-ended that is not an rpg, so we'll have to see if Naughty Dog can break big new ground in that direction.