Zod95 said:
I totally agree with you on this and the OP doesn't say anything against it either.
You've made a very good point and I can't say you're wrong. Yet, I disagree with you. In my opinion, a shovelware environment (like the one generated around the Wii) is a bad thing because it concentrates incompetence at making titles and contempt for the gamer. This is everything we don't want to be successful because the moment AAA devs realize they can do more money with shovelware than with AAA titles, we're f***ed. On the other hand, PS2 was a platform for everthing (good and bad games from all genres) and nobody thinks about shovelware when thinking about the console, although it was there. This passes a very different message to developers (shovelware is the easy way but not a long-term viable option) and gamers (there is shovelware, but there is much more than that, you can find plenty of good games). Microsoft and Sony don't make any developer to spend millions. Look at the PS4 for example, it's full of indie titles. However, they do offer the possibility for devs to create AAA titles. And that's not a bad thing at all. |
I stand by my argument above that Shovelware is actually good for industry.
I would like to ask you, how exactly is this Nintendo's fault and what should they have done about it. Lets go back a while to the GC era. Third parties and gamers both said to Nintendo "we wont support your system even if it is powerful enough". So Nintendo try a different strategy, they try to innovate and they try to make money off of the hardware. They suceed with flying colors, moreso than anybody could have expected. Now what?
How can you blame Nintendo for any of this? If you want to blame someone, blame the 3rd parties who release the shovelware. nintendo does something that is arguable good for this industry and 3rd parties abuse it. Why throw all of the blame on Nintendo for the decisions other companies have made? You are making your point on why shovelware is bad (although I disagree with you) but not why this is Nintendos fault.
EDIT: Also, there are plenty of good, great or amazing games on the Wii. You are implying above that it is only shovelware on Wii when you say that with the PS2 "there is shovelware, but there is much more than that, you can find plenty of good games".
EDIT2: I would also like to add about your last point, where you say "Nintendo creates an environment that encourages shovelware", Sony and MS support an environment that encourages supremely high budget games that lead developers into bankruptcy. Neither are bad models but if you see all the evil in one, you have to see the evil in both...There is as much a possibility of making AAA games on Nintendo hardware as there is of making shovelware on Sony hardware. Once again, the blame is being misplaced and there is a clear bias...