| S.T.A.G.E. said: Nintendo spent years understanding "Disney Magic". The magic is similar...and made to draw the attention hearts of children and families. Its also for people who are children at heart and like fun loving games. |
This is fairly close to what I'd say, although I think Nintendo's appeal is also a little quirkier, where my experience of Disney films is usually that they aim for something more designed to suit the masses. Something like Pikmin has a very unique charm but it's not the same kind of people-pleasing charm I see in Disney films.
I'd describe it as a Japanese combination of charm, innocence and eccentricity. I've seen a few non-Nintendo games try to capture the same kind of charm with varying degrees of success. I loved Viva Pinata, for instance, but the voice acting in that felt like it pandered a little too much to children, which Nintendo games generally don't do. I think LittleBigPlanet aims for a similar kind of charm but does so less successfully; the production values almost feel a little too Hollywoodised, if that makes sense. It's cute but feels somehow soulless.
Then again, Nintendo don't always nail that charm, either. I wasn't a big fan of Super Mario Galaxy 2 because it just felt like it was trying too hard to imitate the magic of the first Mario Galaxy game.
