I posted this in another thread before I realized this one existed. I'll add to it a bit at the end. :P
Recycle001 said:
I partially agree with this. Maybe not annual, but biannual would be more reasonable. TBH I'd personally settle for twice per console generation(handheld or home), as long as they continue to be quality experiences I can replay at any time. A ton of modern games, especially the annual franchises, I play once and trade to a buddy or sell outright. The few I do decide to keep I find my self hardly replaying ever unless the mood strikes me and there's a game drought for things I'm interested in. A perfect example of this, over its lifespan, I bought and played somewhere over 100 PS3 games. Today I own around 15: TLOU, Deadspace 1-3, Borderlands 1&2, Two 'Tales of' games, Guided Fate Paradox, Mass Effect 2, Dungeon Siege 3, Demons Souls, Dark Souls, Sacred 2. Out of all of those, none of them are annual franchises. They just don't stand up to the test of time. All of the games I own for my PS3 havn't been touched in almost a year, with the exception of Borderlands 2 which I still play once a month or so with my wife on PC. My Gamecube on the other hand still get used, bare minium, weekly. I have less games for that console: Super Smash Bros. Melee, Mario Strikers, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, Metroid Prime, Mario Power Tennis, Super Mario Sunshine, Four Swords, Twilight Princess, Mario Golf. I'm not a huge sports game fan, but even the sports themed games get played a lot with buddies. My wife and I love Mario Tennis because its not as complex as Smash or a normal sports game and we can just have fun with it. My wife loves Zelda games(me as well), so she even likes to play our Gamecube by herself in her free time. The difference is, in my opinion, Nintendo franchises tend to be timeless masterworks crafted by a group of individuals who love what they do. The recent remake of Majora's Mask is a perfect example. A ton of good old fashion TLC went into the recreationtion of that game. Just as a quick example, they added a TON of easter eggs and throwbacks into that game that they just didn't have to. Honestly, it would have been easier if they didn't in the first place. While I don't necessarily disagree that not having annual entries in their most popular franchises is a positive, I wouldn't go as far as to say its a problem either. As I stated before, annual releases might not necessarily be the answer, but multiple entries per generation would most definitely be a step in the right direction. |
As far as the Wii U standing up to the test of time... I personally think it will. My Wii U library isn't huge, but one thing it has going for it is the endless replayability of most of the titles I own. Smash 4, W101, Hyrule Warriors, 3D World, Lego City UC, MK8, Wind Waker, and a few others, all quality games, all highly replayable. I could very easily see myself giving the Wii U the same love and attention that my Gamecube still gets to this day.
A huge part of what makes Nintendo games so special, at least to me, is the bonding experience you get when playing with others. I found out my best friend won't quit playing a game unless he beats you, my wife adapts quick and applies your own strategies against you better than you could, my mother enjoys a good story, my buddies girlfriend is the quietest person in the world until you put a controller in her hand.
All of these things are what makes a console special to me. Nintendo does an excellent job of leveling the playing field and bringing people together. There isn't a single game on the console that I could play and walk away being mad that I did, nor is there a single game that I could beat today and play again tomorrow. These are the things that makes Nintendo who they are and I could tell from the moment I first held the gamepad and was surprised how light it was that I had something truly special.
“What I say is, a town isn't a town without a bookstore. It may call itself a town, but unless it's got a bookstore it knows it's not fooling a soul.” - Neil Gaiman
