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Forums - Gaming Discussion - Why is "Nintendo" used as a qualifier for games?

 

TL;DR?

white knight harder, OP 32 33.33%
 
what's a Nintendo 17 17.71%
 
I prefer Ouya games myself 17 17.71%
 
heard you were talkin shi... 30 31.25%
 
Total:96
FayeC on 03 December 2014
the_dengle said:
FayeC said:
I don't see why someone saying they don't like Nintendo games is silly. Its not that they don't like Nintendo as a developer or as a publisher, but that they don't like Nintendo as a taste maker. The types of games they choose to highlight just are not appealing to them. People who like Nintendo games, just the opposite.

So when someone says they "don't like Nintendo games," they aren't saying they dislike the games Nintendo makes or that they dislike the games Nintendo publishes, but that they dislike... the games Nintendo "chooses to highlight?" And when someone says the Wii U is great if you like Nintendo games, they don't mean if you like the games Nintendo makes or that Nintendo publishes, but that the Wii U is great if you like the games Nintendo "chooses to highlight?"

What types of games does Nintendo choose to highlight? As far as I can see, Nintendo highlights all of the games they publish (which are far too broadly varied to narrow down to a specific type or "taste").

Thats exactly it. Its akin to not liking a certain disc jockey being on the radio because you are not a fan of their tastes. It doesn't matter that the DJ didn't create the music, it is their slections you agree or disagree with.

 

So yes, if your taste in games is similar to Nintendo's you'll like their selections. If not, you will not.



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curl-6 on 03 December 2014
the_dengle said:
curl-6 said:
the_dengle said:

But who would admit to disliking any of these things? It doesn't make much sense in the context of "if you like this then you should get a Wii U."

I'd actually say it does make sense to get a Wii U if you like polished, accessible games.

But that's not what people usually mean when they say 'the Wii U is great if you like Nintendo games.'

People who define "Nintendo games" as polished and accessible experiences would usually be content to just say "the Wii U is great" and leave it at that.

The former kind are often the kind of people who reckon Nintendo just = Mario, Smash Bros, and Zelda, and either neglect or are unaware of games like Xenoblade Chronicles X.



the_dengle on 03 December 2014
FayeC said:
the_dengle said:

So when someone says they "don't like Nintendo games," they aren't saying they dislike the games Nintendo makes or that they dislike the games Nintendo publishes, but that they dislike... the games Nintendo "chooses to highlight?" And when someone says the Wii U is great if you like Nintendo games, they don't mean if you like the games Nintendo makes or that Nintendo publishes, but that the Wii U is great if you like the games Nintendo "chooses to highlight?"

What types of games does Nintendo choose to highlight? As far as I can see, Nintendo highlights all of the games they publish (which are far too broadly varied to narrow down to a specific type or "taste").

Thats exactly it. Its akin to not liking a certain disc jockey being on the radio because you are not a fan of their tastes. It doesn't matter that the DJ didn't create the music, it is their slections you agree or disagree with.

 

So yes, if your taste in games is similar to Nintendo's you'll like their selections. If not, you will not.

You have not sufficiently explained your premise. You agreed with me and then made a statement which directly contradicts my own.

Also, if I (me literally, being as informed as I am) am in the market for a new console, why should I care what games Nintendo chooses to "highlight"? Why should I care what their marketing branch is doing? I'm fully capable of finding games I want to play on my own, I don't have to assume that all of the content available on the Wii U is limited to what Nintendo chooses to show me.



FayeC on 03 December 2014
the_dengle said:
FayeC said:
zorg1000 said:

I doubt it, take Metroid Prime and compare it to Mario/Donkey Kong/Kirby and most non gamers would probably think it's not made by the same company.

Any more so than LBP, TLOU and DriveClub? Or Child of Light, Assasins's Creed and Beyond Good and Evil?

First of all, we are not non-gamers here on this website. We do not have to pretend that any of us are so uninformed as to not recognize Metroid as a Nintendo game. OP isn't referring to a Walmart clerk recommending a Wii U if you like Nintendo games, it is referring to discussions taking place in this very forum.

I don't see what you're getting at. That's correct, other companies have fairly varied output (despite the fact that BG&E is over 10 years old... whatever). But people rarely group the works of Media Molecule, Naughty Dog, Sucker Punch, and Japan Studio under a single blanket term of "Sony games" when making broad generalizations about whether or not they like these games.

Hell, I wouldn't even generalize about the works of a single one of these studios. I like inFamous 2 but I'm not crazy about Second Son. Why would I make a generalization about Sucker Punch when I am sufficiently informed to be more specific?

Certainly we generalize "Ubisoft games" when discussing Ubisoft as a publisher. That is a different context from discussing Nintendo as a content-creator. It's common recently to say you don't like Ubisoft; not so much to say you don't like Ubisoft games.


We may not be non gamers on the forum, but the poster I quoted certainly suggested a situation where that was not the case. Thats what I was responding to.



the_dengle on 03 December 2014
curl-6 said:
the_dengle said:

But that's not what people usually mean when they say 'the Wii U is great if you like Nintendo games.'

People who define "Nintendo games" as polished and accessible experiences would usually be content to just say "the Wii U is great" and leave it at that.

The former kind are often the kind of people who reckon Nintendo just = Mario, Smash Bros, and Zelda, and either neglect or are unaware of games like Xenoblade Chronicles X.

I still wouldn't get it! Those are three drastically different franchises. Hell, the Zelda series alone offers a wide variety of experiences. There are plenty of fans who love certain entries but won't touch others. That goes for Mario, too, which is one of the most varied IP in the industry. Even different entries from the same studio differ greatly from one another -- 3D World and Captain Toad?



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the_dengle on 03 December 2014
FayeC said:

We may not be non gamers on the forum, but the poster I quoted certainly suggested a situation where that was not the case. Thats what I was responding to.

I followed that and was attempting to guide the discussion back on-topic. I think it was ka-pie who slightly derailed things.



FayeC on 03 December 2014
the_dengle said:
FayeC said:
the_dengle said:

So when someone says they "don't like Nintendo games," they aren't saying they dislike the games Nintendo makes or that they dislike the games Nintendo publishes, but that they dislike... the games Nintendo "chooses to highlight?" And when someone says the Wii U is great if you like Nintendo games, they don't mean if you like the games Nintendo makes or that Nintendo publishes, but that the Wii U is great if you like the games Nintendo "chooses to highlight?"

What types of games does Nintendo choose to highlight? As far as I can see, Nintendo highlights all of the games they publish (which are far too broadly varied to narrow down to a specific type or "taste").

Thats exactly it. Its akin to not liking a certain disc jockey being on the radio because you are not a fan of their tastes. It doesn't matter that the DJ didn't create the music, it is their slections you agree or disagree with.

 

So yes, if your taste in games is similar to Nintendo's you'll like their selections. If not, you will not.

You have not sufficiently explained your premise. You agreed with me and then made a statement which directly contradicts my own.

Also, if I (me literally, being as informed as I am) am in the market for a new console, why should I care what games Nintendo chooses to "highlight"? Why should I care what their marketing branch is doing? I'm fully capable of finding games I want to play on my own, I don't have to assume that all of the content available on the Wii U is limited to what Nintendo chooses to show me.

Let me clarify. By highlight, I'm not talking about games that get appropriated more marketing money, im talking about games that reach the market at all.  The games Nintendo determines worthy of release vs those not worthy of release. That is a act of critique all Nintendo games face no matter who developed them. That critsism is something you can be drawn to or something you can shun and disagree with.

A person liking any Nintendo game is going to depend on how compatible they are with Nintendo's own tastes. Bayonetta 2 and DKC:TP might not have much in common, but both were greenlighted by Nintendo.

I'm not sure I do agree with you if you feel its unreasonable for a person to say they dislike Nintendo games as a whole. You should be concered with what Nintendo chooses to highlight because its only from those games that you can choose from, capable as you may be. You'll likely never get a chance to play what they thought wasn't worthy of release.



curl-6 on 03 December 2014
the_dengle said:
curl-6 said:
the_dengle said:

But that's not what people usually mean when they say 'the Wii U is great if you like Nintendo games.'

People who define "Nintendo games" as polished and accessible experiences would usually be content to just say "the Wii U is great" and leave it at that.

The former kind are often the kind of people who reckon Nintendo just = Mario, Smash Bros, and Zelda, and either neglect or are unaware of games like Xenoblade Chronicles X.

I still wouldn't get it! Those are three drastically different franchises. Hell, the Zelda series alone offers a wide variety of experiences. There are plenty of fans who love certain entries but won't touch others. That goes for Mario, too, which is one of the most varied IP in the industry. Even different entries from the same studio differ greatly from one another -- 3D World and Captain Toad?

It's just a stereotype; they rarely reflect reality.



FayeC on 03 December 2014
the_dengle said:
curl-6 said:
the_dengle said:

But that's not what people usually mean when they say 'the Wii U is great if you like Nintendo games.'

People who define "Nintendo games" as polished and accessible experiences would usually be content to just say "the Wii U is great" and leave it at that.

The former kind are often the kind of people who reckon Nintendo just = Mario, Smash Bros, and Zelda, and either neglect or are unaware of games like Xenoblade Chronicles X.

I still wouldn't get it! Those are three drastically different franchises. Hell, the Zelda series alone offers a wide variety of experiences. There are plenty of fans who love certain entries but won't touch others. That goes for Mario, too, which is one of the most varied IP in the industry. Even different entries from the same studio differ greatly from one another -- 3D World and Captain Toad?


You see! You're looking at the situation from way to discerning a position. To you, 2D Mario is differenent than 3D Mario. OoT is fundamentally different than ALBW, but you aren't looking at if from the position of someone who has no interest in the elements common to both.

Its like the wine connoisseur trying to explain why one wine is different than another to someone who does not drink.



ijustlikegames:) on 03 December 2014
the_dengle said:
ijustlikegames:) said:
curl-6 said:
ijustlikegames:) said:
Nintendo=casual, light games that don't have a lot of story depth

Xenoblade. ;)

The exception that proves the rule, thanks:)  Besides that isn't even out yet. A vast majority of Nintendo games are games you can sit down and have a blast with for a short period of time. Nothing wrong with that, just the truth. Although Nintendo did say they wanted to win back more of the core audience so maybe we will see that change. The common perception right now though is that Nintendo is the more casual of the three, just like X1 is more for fps and competitive gaming and the PS4 is the all around go to system, no need to be upset by that.

There are enough exceptions to disprove your rule, and Xenoblade in fact came out several years ago. Fire Emblem is a casual game without much story depth? Metroid? Zelda? Kid Icarus? Pikmin? Mother?

Casual is an undefined term which I will ignore. "Light" is also not a term I'm familiar with with regards to defining video games, maybe you can help me out with that one. If lacking story depth makes a game a Nintendo game, damn son, why didn't anyone tell me Nintendo had gone third-party? There are so many Nintendo games on non-Nintendo systems it's blowing my mind.

Yes ignore the term casual because you know I'm right about that. Good tactic, if you can't argue it ignore it. Anyway you're clearly just going to be super defensive if anyone says anything that you disagree with so I'm done with you.