One of Spores developers says "Wii is a piece of..."

[mancandy]

jman8 said: Sieanr is pretty much the only one on this thread that I think understands what Hecker was trying to get at. Hecker's pissed that Nintendo games are simply about "fun" and have little artistic aspirations. Nintendo has set the precedent for the Wii (since they are the lead developer on the Wii) of making games appeal to a base sense of pleasure. Furthermore, they've managed to push this identity for the Wii through inferior graphical quality and general processing power that handcuff developers. Miis and Wii Sports also further this agenda. Sieanr, I'm sure Nintendo's execs would welcome artistic games as you say. However, Nintendo has fashioned their company and more importantly their console into a machine that represents, indentifies, and defines itself as something meant for just "fun." That's why Hecker mentioned wii.com's lack of references to art. It shows that Nintendo doesn't want their system to be viewed that way. They have a very specific and deliberate identity that they're trying to create for the Wii. And again, because they are the lead Wii developer, they are the ones who set the standard for everyone else. That's what Hecker is afraid of. That's what I'm afraid of. If the Wii does in fact dominate this generation and it becomes a "Wii Planet," the vast majority of games would be defined by "fun" because that is the way the console has been defined. Therefore the "games as art" movement would be threatened significantly by the Wii.

I don't know what you and Hecker are so afraid of. Nintendo has always had great artistic style and has always taken great risks just for the sake of their art. Take The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker for example. Nintendo decided to take one of their most famous and lucrative franchises redesigns its whole image based on a new artistic style. Even though the general gaming public was skeptical, Nintendo went with the changes anyways. Isn't art supposed to be "fun"? Meaning that art is supposed to be enjoyed. I'm not going to listen to music that I don't enjoy. I'm not going to stare at a painting that I think sucks. I don't see how the Wii's lack of power will make all the games on it unenjoyable and not artsy. I think that is the real art in videogames, making it fun. Hecker's whole arguement is the real piece of shit.