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happydolphin said:
Veknoid_Outcast said:

If Nintendo was able to follow through with your advice and also RolStoppable's advice, they would make a pretty legendary system.

The problem is that I don't think we'll ever have a super console like we did with SNES and PS2, the two best consoles of any generation in my opinion.

The SNES was born at the perfect time. New 16-bit graphics and new ideas pushed Nintendo IPs to never-before-seen heights. Super Mario World, Super Metroid, A Link to the Past, Donkey Kong Country, etc. You could easily make a case for these being the best installments of their respective franchises.

Then there was third-party support. Final Fantasy II went a long way toward introducing dramatic storytelling into RPGs, and then Final Fantasy III perfected the formula. Add a host of other RPGs, racing games, fighting games, platform games, sports games, simulation, strategy, you name it.

And PS2 was just a perfect storm. The Playstation brand was super strong after PS1 won the fifth generation, and all the big third-party games landed on it. Grand Theft Auto, Gran Turismo, Final Fantasy, Metal Gear Solid, Kingdom Hearts, God of War, the list goes on. Plus it had backwards compatability, DVD playback, etc.

I just don't see something like that ever happening again. I do believe the Wii U will be closer to the SNES than the Gamecube or Wii, but I can't imagine it will ever rank among the SNES and PS2. Even if it does a good job copying what Sony did right.

I can't say I completely disagree, but we are seeing some exclusives flocking towards Nintendo platforms of late, especially j-games, which is a good thing. Is your post based on the idea that exclusives are no longer the norm and most games are going low-production-cost, multiplat or cash-in as much as possible? Follow-up question: is there a way to make a game low-production but top-top quality? How do you make a game minimalistic yet of utmost quality? Are there examples (I believe yes but I'll give you a chance to answer that)?

I think this is a super exciting time to be a Nintendo fan, really a fan of video games in general. The Wii U will be an excellent system. The best since Super Nintendo I believe.

To answer your first question, I do believe exclusives are no longer the norm. But this only helps Nintendo I think. Their IPs are the strongest and most profitable, and no one on the face of the Earth can support them outside of Nintendo.

As far as the second question, there are many ways to make a game low-production and top-quality. The problem is this: while it's easy to define low-production, it's tough to define top-quality. There might be people on this site that hate Colossus (I hope not!) and love games you or I think are garbage.

In terms of Ico and Shadow of the Colossus...in many ways those games are one-of-a-kind and can probably never be recreated. What you're looking for, I think, are games that are minimalist yet immersive, short on story, text, and music, but long on emotion and ambiance. And those are truly rare. I suppose Braid could fall into that category.

Team Ico and Fumito Ueda are miracle workers. They discovered something special with those two games. We may never see something like them again. Until The Last Guardian, of course :)