|
Once again as you predicted, it seems that with the revealing of Kirby Epic Yarn and Donkey Kong Country Returns and the highlighting of NBA Jam (one of few third party games mentioned in today’s conference), Nintendo is reaching out to the old school gamer that left gaming after the SNES era. I’ve had friends mention to me today their interest in buying a Wii “now that it has games” because they either grew up playing Donkey Kong Country and/or have fond memories of Kirby, and pumping quarters into arcade machines playing NBA Jam. I really didnt believe you the first time you said it, because I thought these sorts of “retro” inspired games like Mario 5 and Punch Out were at the bottom of the priority list for Nintendo (at least from the developer point of view). But, today confirmed that this retro revival on the Wii is on the upswing, so my question is how long do you think this glorious phase on the Wii will last (at some point the market seemed to turn it’s back on 2d games, I doubt Nintendo will stay asleep at the wheel when that occurs)? Is this phase a short stopgap for that next phase of amazing WM games youve mentioned, or is this just the beginning of a long “retro” revival? I’m referring to Old School Values as opposed to the actual gameplay itself. Think about the arcade games and Atari and NES games. What values did those games have? Well, they were very simple to play. They had quirky sound effects. They were hard to master. They were very accessible. The games were not very time consuming. They were infinitely replayable. And people wanted to play them in groups. Computer Space didn’t sell. But PONG did. When someone says ‘arcade games’, unfortunately too many people think of Robotron and Defender. Those are good games, but they weren’t the super big arcade hits. The games everyone was playing was Pac-Man and Donkey Kong. In Industry-Land (the fantasy-land of video games), they look at Wii Sports and Mario 5 and say, “Casual games!” But the reality is that these games have the Old School values that made the Atari and NES grow the video game market back in the day. So these Old School games are not just bringing back gamers who left the market, they are creating brand new gamers as well. It is much easier for someone’s first Mario game to be Mario 5 instead of Mario Galaxy. Console gaming used to look at arcades for inspiration. When the arcades declined, much of gaming lost those old school values. So then it seems games looked to other mediums for inspiration (like movies or PC gaming). And all we have seen is decline and disinterest across the board in ‘gaming’. Gaming ceased to be cool. Like yourself, I am seeing some non-Wii owners interested in getting a Wii for a game like Donkey Kong Country 4 (and they are warm to getting the new Kirby game as well). I think DKC series is good but inferior to the Super Mario Brothers line. But I’ve learned there are many gamers out there who the Nintendo type vibe doesn’t appeal to them for whatever reason. For example, they would be playing the Turbographx-16 with fantastic games like Devil’s Crush and Blazing Lasers and feel content on missing out on the SNES with its stable of Nintendo titles. Donkey Kong Country seems to get these type of gamers where Super Mario Brothers couldn’t. These type of gamers may not like Mario at all, who knows. Is there room for 2 2d platformers on a console? Of course. Looking at the SNES, initial momentum was set with Super Mario World. Sonic gave the Genesis serious momentum. But it was Donkey Kong Country that won the 16-bit console war for the SNES. When DKC came out, every single copy was sold out. DKC 4 could move some hardware that Mario 5 may not have done. But don’t think for a second DKC 4 will move more hardware than Mario 5. I expect analysts to say ‘Nintendo is doomed’ when December 2010 sales are lower than December 2009 sales. I don’t think there is anything Nintendo could do to sell more hardware that was sold in December 2009. But Donkey Kong Country 4 is a nice follow-up. Many Mario 5 gamers will buy it and, amazingly, some people will buy a Wii to get it. It is amazing how these ‘simpler’ games move hardware. I have noticed that game playing habits have changed since the Old School Era. In the modern game era, the gamer will stick in the game and leave it there until it is completed. Once completed, the game sits on the shelf for years before it is put back into the machine… if it is ever put back into the machine. But in the older times, such as the Atari Era, people would put in a game, play it, take it out and put in another, and keep swapping games during a game session. At the end of the play session, a mountain of cartridges surrounded the gamer. Today, a gamer will describe his progress in a game as ‘I am five hours in…’ In the Old School time, a gamer will describe his progress in a game as ‘I am on level 5.’ There is a fundamental difference there. Modern games seem like time sinks. And since we get older and time becomes more limited, these time sinks get lame. But the old school game would challenge your skills. You felt accomplishment not because of some achievement point but because you were able to get to the next level or get that high score. There are so many experiences that I feel sad for young gamers as they are missing them today. I could play Donkey Kong in a bar, smoking a cigar and drinking a fine adult beverage, and this would be considered normal. It was thrilling to play a game and to turn around and see people watching you, cheering you on. I miss the Vegas like neon lights and stimulation that these games and act of game playing had. Today’s games feel sedative where games in the past felt stimulative. I believe Old School gaming, at least its values, will be able to redefine markets. For example, Nolan Bushnell noticed PONG became fun when he could direct the direction of the ball depending on how it hit the paddle. Wii Sports Tennis “fun” is exactly identical to PONG. How the ball hits my paddle (depending on my swing and all) determines where the ball go. This made Wii Sports Tennis incredibly fun. PONG motion controls and you got the greatest hit since Super Mario Brothers. Pretty amazing. But there are other avenues to explore to by giving these simple games a simple twist. Below is one of my favorite video games ever made. It was called Subspace but unofficially it became Continuum.
It was nothing more than Virgin Interactive doing a public testing of MMO type space using a simple game. The game is very fun (though the modes that I really liked no longer appear on the server list). What amazes me is that, yeah, after all while, I get tired of the game and put it aside. But then I keep coming back to it. Damn addictive little game. It is like a MMO of Asteroids or Star Control. Look at how well Mario 5 did just by adding four player multiplayer. It was a simple change. But it made a big difference. Did you know that the game that defined the FPS, the very first FPS called Wolfenstein 3d, was id Software replicating the fast gameplay found in the old classic game called Wolfenstein? The invention of the FPS came from old classic gameplay with a new twist. What if there are other new genres to be born by ‘tweaking’ an old school classic gameplay? One cool thing is that experienced gamers will respond well to this and non-gamers also respond well to it because it is so simple and addictive. The game idea is not expensive to experiment. Everyone wins. One of my favorite games of the past is Yar’s Revenge. What is funny is how this type of game could not be made today. Imagine proposing this game to publishers and saying you want to be a ‘bug’ and ‘eat things’. But this little Atari 2600 game is so freaking epic, so addictive, and the aesthetics are surreal even today.
Anyway, Nintendo’s competitors are realizing the threat some of these old school games are (they must have looked up the sales numbers) and the viral marketers have been sent out with new marching orders. “This sucks! Nintendo is just remaking old games.” Sounds like “NSMB Wii is just a NSMB DS port!” prior to Mario 5 being released. Viral marketers will never succeed in turning gamers against Old School gaming. The classics are classic because it defined many people’s childhoods and turned them into gamers in the first place. Poor viral marketers. They are working harder this E3 than they ever have before! Vitality Sensor will likely be Japan only. It would not have been appropriate to show a Japanese only product in an American trade conference. |
|
Did you notice how the mood is weird during the Iawata Ask about Zelda ? Each time Aonuma talks, Myamoto is like “what does that guy says ?”.
In all the stories, Aonuma sayed he could not overcome the challenges he was facing, and Myamoto had to keep coming to the project to force him to solve the challenges.
It seems like there is nothing in the game now …. Myamoto seems to have taken the control from Aonuma, and the delay is to give Myamoto time to do what he have to do. I know there are some eagle eyed Zelda observers out there who know far more about the internal politics of the Zelda team. What do you guys think? All I know is that Miyamoto was busy with Mario 5 and Galaxy 2 and kinda let the Spirit Tracks do its thing. Now that both of those projects are done, he appears to have his attention more on Zelda Wii. |
|
This was said during the developer roundtable “One of our objectives was to bring the core gameplay back and not have all the focus on the amount of dungeons or what the story is.”
I’m quite optimistic after this, just need to wait for some content to emerge. I’m happy to see this quote too. Later Zeldas seemed more interested in style over substance. The games seemed somewhat hollow. It was like eating cotton candy. |
|
Nintendo bitchslapped all three so hard they need to wear shutter glasses to see straight. I’d agree with you that Nintendo “bitchslapped” Sony. But it appears Microsoft kicked its own ass. Talk about fail. |
|
Nintendo learned their lesson with Wind Waker, what the f*** is up with this visual style? It looks nothing like the picture they showed last E3. Zelda Wii was the lamest part of the Nintendo Conference. Though the entirety of the Conference was Ace. DKC4? Sign me up. Well, at least the 3DS is getting Ocarina of Time, the best 3D Zelda game ever made. I don’t think Zelda was presented well at all during the E3 conference. Check out the demo footage they have on the floor, and I think you might change your mind about it. My current problem with the graphical style, aside from Link’s cargo pants, is the enemies look lame. I am referring to the more moblin type guys. I want scary enemies. Iron Knuckles, for example, are scary. With this type of graphic style, they run the risk of making saccharine looking enemies, so sugary that they look like they are going to give me a kiss. The reason why I like nasty monsters and an ‘evil’ land (where I get scared) is because I feel like I am kicking ass when I win. In sugary land, where all the monsters do not look threatening, I do not feel I am ‘kicking ass’ if I beat them. If you replaced King Koopa with a lawyer, would you feel the same achievement when you took away the bridge and have him fall into the flaming pit of lava? Hmm, OK, that was a bad example… The way how Miyamoto and all are describing Old Zelda versus New Zelda reminds me of this:
Before with Zelda, with its glitzy story and number of dungeons, it seemed as if the developers were saying, “Buy this because we kick ass.” Now, with this new Zelda, it appears they want to say, “But this because we want YOU to kick ass.” |
|
Hello Malstrom, I’m sure you’re tired of hearing the Zelda chatter, but in the Still, a part of me hopes that they’re at least trying to re-capture The more I am finding out about the game, the more I like about it. I especially like how there are many ways to have ‘combat’. I really, really, like the idea of enemy AI being improved. Now maybe it will feel I am beating something other than a mindless automaton. I hope it will make me want to replay the game. I find the re playability of latter Zelda games to be sorely lacking. Once you see the story and solve the puzzles, those things are not fun to replay. PS: I never thought I’d see it, but I’ve convinced three people (one Interesting to hear you say that. I am hearing this come from other areas as well. |
|
Hello Malstrom. I hope you have enjoy the E3 excitement. And I must say, I thought exactly what you did about Sony’s conference. It felt very bloated, like it was long but nothing happened. So I have a question about something you said earlier. You mentioned that the only two games that would push momentum were DKC4 and Epic Mickey (which I didn’t like, but I wasn’t really interested in the game to begin with). But I’m surprised you didn’t think Goldeneye would push Wiis. There has been a lot of latent demand for a shooter. Why would you say that the game wont push Wiis (at least not to an amazing level)? Also, what do you think of Kid Icarus? After reading about content on your site, it was interesting to notice some of the stuff in the trailer (like Pit’s wings “burning up” and the two headed hellhound). Also, one thing I noticed is the change in E3. I really liked the E3 09 conference. It was very professional and everyone was dressed nice. This one seemed a lot like kind of like a show (for the lack of a better word). Miyamoto kind of came out in a funny way, not to mention Miyamoto and Iwata being sucked up into the 3DS. I also noticed Cammy wasn’t there (which I hope isn’t permanent because I though she’s done a great job and gives a different feel to Nintendo). So that’s what I thought of E3. Take it easy and I hope we can see “Endgame,” soon. I can’t wait to read it. Sincerely XXXX P.S. I’ve noticed that everyone has talked about the games shown except Mario Sports Packs. Interesting. I wasn’t around during the N64 time. I missed the ‘Goldeneye’ phenomenon. My reservation with it is that FPS games are so well represented on Nintendo’s competitors to the point of over-saturation. I am under the impression that Goldeneye did originally well because there wasn’t much of FPS games on home consoles. Goldeneye was before the Xbox, before Halo, and all. Kid Icarus looked interesting, but I hate the voice acting. I need to learn more about the game. I have been too busy answering emails to catch up on details and show room impressions on them. The gameplay seems fast which I like. I’m curious to see more about it. |
|
Malstrom, I must say that I was a little disappointed with the lack of motion Thanks and great work on the site, It is too early for motion plus software. Nintendo waited to see how motion plus would be received by the public. It takes around two years for software to hatch. It has been less than a year since Motion Plus was launched. But you can tell Nintendo is shifting towards that way as they are now giving away Motion Plus and Wii Sports Resort with new Wii systems. Nintendo would not be giving away Wii Sports Resort unless they wanted everyone to have Motion Plus. |
|
Hi malstrom, long time reader now, great articles/posts I think you might be on to something about miyamoto throwing his whip at aonuma, I watched the e3 iwata asks interview with aonuma and miyamoto and aonuma actually mentioned they gave up on motion for zelda wii at some point (can you believe this?), then it seems that miyamoto sent the guy that made sword play on wii sports resort to talk with aonuma, so aonuma ended up going with miyamoto (which apparently was miyamoto’s plan since aonuma wasn’t listening to him directly), so they kept working on it (now with miyamoto) and finally went with motion for zelda wii. that’s what I gathered from that iwata asks, so that massive transition might be what’s happening… hopefully, can you imagine a new zelda on wii that doesn’t use motion ?
Note the new core gameplay skeleton they putting into Zelda Wii. You use motion plus to do all these different things to the enemy, but the favorite thing I hear is the new enemy AI. This new core skeleton is to make the game more fun to play. What I’ve learned is that things that are fun to players are often things that are NOT fun for the developer (and vice versa). Putting in motion plus controls had to have been a pain. And you know that they don’t want to upgrade the enemy AI. What would ‘feel good’ for the developers? Probably putting in more ‘story’ elements and more ‘puzzles’. Puzzles are easy to put in which is why they are the most common element in many indie games. Remember when Aonuma said (in an earlier interview, I think it was an Iwata Asks) saying something like “Oh no! Zelda development is going to return to not being fun!” He was referring to the early Zelda games where it was a pain to make them! It may not have been Aonuma who said this but another developer. Now that I’ve seen the core gameplay from people on the show room, I am far more interested in trying out this Zelda. I found Wii Sports Resort to be very fun and that was just me doing swordplay with stupid Miis and archery against a dumb target. In a Zelda game, I think they will be insanely fun. also I still can’t believe that sony and microsoft actually made the same list of successful games from nintendo’s “casual” ones, I still can recover from sony having that weird ape/dog thing as a pet (who’s supposed to identify with this thing?) and the other extreme microsoft with 20 or 30 different pets including tigers with unnatural smiles on their faces, while nintendo just added cats to nintendogs and will probably sell more than both sony and microsoft of that particular game, you can really see the birdmen there.
I’m convinced that Microsoft and Sony cannot compete, on any level, with ‘Old School values’ (which is what games like Wii Sports and Mario 5 all have). Microsoft and Sony are not game companies. All they do is put out hardware that plays PC games with a controller on a TV in the living room. Contrast that to Sega who did know how to make ‘old school’ type games. Ask yourself, “Can Microsoft and Sony compete with Mario 5?” They can’t. They never will. None of the companies they own will even get remotely close to it. Sega was the only one who came close (with Sonic) and that was during Sega’s height. Microsoft and Sony do not have a thimble of talent that Sega had. And note that Nintendo loses when it tries to compete with Microsoft and Sony for PC centric games on the home console. Nintendo loses because that is not the type of company Nintendo is. Nintendo is a company whose games have roots in the arcades and with old school gaming. Note that the more Nintendo embraces this past and embraces the values of that past, the more invincible Nintendo becomes. Nintendo has a monopoly on this type of gaming. Microsoft and Sony will never come close to competing with it. anyway looking forward to that article you mentioned you were doing about the 3DS (are you? hehe)
3DS will be included, but it won’t be about the 3DS. I’m working on my own game right now so thanks for all that wisdom you have written, it really does change perspective, I always intended it to be 2d platform but now I’m more focused on what to add and what not to add
Whatever you do, do not try to compete with the ‘big games’ out today. First of all, you will lose. Second of all, even if you win you are entering a red ocean of diminishing returns. Many game developers will be jealous of you because you have the freedom to make whatever you want, and you have advantages the big studios do not have. Good luck! cheers and good luck with the flood of email, heh Each email I answer, five more come in. Woe is me! |
|
Some footage of the 3DS and the Nintenbabes. I’ve never before seen a more fool-proof security system. I mean, the only way to get a 3DS is for a game journalist to take one of those girls with him, and we know that will never happen. 100% security.
Not too many ‘reporters’ I care to listen to, but I always liked the ‘Classic Game Room’ dude. He acknowledges how the Atari 2600 hardware will last longer than the PS3 hardware and wishes he had every Atari 2600 game. He is more of a Sega fan than anything. So what is this old schooler’s response to 3DS?
|
|
Oh no! Nintendo is doomed! says this Reuters story. Check out how the story is written. Let us start with the headline: Nintendo sees life yet in the WiiCompany has talked internally about share buyback Reuters makes it appear Wii is dead or something and Nintendo is being stubborn by not putting out a new home console. And that things are ‘so bad’ that Nintendo has talked internally about share buyback. Nintendo Co Ltd (7974.OS), confident that its Wii will stand up against rivals Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) and Sony Corp (6758.T), says it feels no pressure to reinvent the pioneering motion-sensing games platform. President Satoru Iwata said that despite decelerating sales growth, there is life yet in the Wii and that updates of popular games like Metroid, Donkey Kong and Wii Party will keep it moving off store shelves. But Nintendo keenly understands the importance of getting third-party game developers on board early, much like the participation enjoyed by the 3DS — the 3D-capable mobile gaming device announced on Tuesday. Even if Nintendo controlled 90% of the market, the press would still write Nintendo as ‘doomed’. In fact, they have been writing the same exact story about Nintendo since the NES Era. Now, why on Earth would Nintendo fear Microsoft and Sony? Especially after E3 2010? “I do not think that there is an immediate need to replace the Wii console. But of course, at some point in the future, the need will arise,” Iwata said through a translator on the sidelines of the E3 video game conference in Los Angeles. Iwata’s quote sounds nothing like what the reporter wrote down. Iwata didn’t say “there is life in the system” as one would say over a dying animal. “We currently do not have an answer as to what point in the future that need will come.” And this is Reuter’s story for Nintendo at E3 2010: that Nintendo did not release another home console. Why not write about the software? Why not write about the 3DS? How is it that Nintendo NOT RELEASING a new home console, when there was no indication they would to the executives saying they wouldn’t, a news story? Where are the Reuters stories about Microsoft and Sony not releasing brand new succeeding consoles to their systems? The Wii — which employs a stick-like controller that doubles as everything from a tennis racket to a baseball bat in games — popularized motion gaming and has brought casual users into the gaming population in past years. But that success was hard-won, Iwata said. “When we first launched the DS and the Wii, very few people thought that we would have the success that we have had so far. Because of that, Nintendo had no choice but to try to create that market for those two platforms ourselves,” he said. Iwata is not saying the Wii success was ‘hard won’ in that quote. He is subtly saying that their competitors are dumb as logs. Stupid reporter is stupid. “So when that time comes (for us to release a new platform) and we are able to garner third-party support coupled with our own properties, we will be able to create a very healthy environment for that platform.” Nintendo on Tuesday took the wraps off a new version of its DS handheld device that can play games and show movies in 3D without glasses, as the hardware wars with Microsoft and Sony Corp heat up. If they keep heating up much more, Microsoft and Sony are going to exit the gaming market. On Monday, Microsoft said it will begin selling its “Kinect” motion-sensing game system on Nov. 4. [ID:nN14149623] On Tuesday, Sony announced that its Move motion-sensing platform — which will compete with the Wii and Kinect — will begin selling on Sept. 15. [ID:nN15104800] The Japanese company rode strong demand for the Wii and DS handheld game player to three straight years of record profits through March 2009, but growth slowed last year after Sony and Microsoft cut console prices and beefed up their software offerings. Sony and Microsoft cutting their prices and putting out whatever software has no relation to Wii slowing in growth. You know why? Because Microsoft and Sony have been cutting their prices and putting out ‘better software’ ever since 2006. And people wonder why American newspapers are going bankrupt. Microsoft’s foray into motion sensing is, like the Wii, targeted at casual gamers, and is aimed at bringing more of the household into the gaming population, broadening the market beyond the traditional core of young males. Oh no! Kinect is going to kill the Wii! Nooo! But some, like Signal Hill analyst Todd Greenwald, argue that blockbuster sales of games like Ubisoft’s (UBIP.PA) “Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction” or Take Two Interactive’s (TTWO.O) “Red Dead Redemption” prove the sustained momentum in sales lies more with hard-core players. That’s particularly true as the economy makes casual gamers think twice about buying a console, Greenwald said. “The reason to buy a Wii has changed dramatically over the past six months or so,” he said. “The people who are still buying games are the hardcore-type gamer, and that hard-core gamer is going to buy a 360 or PS3.” “I would say that Microsoft and Sony should get a pretty big boost over the next six months or so versus the Wii.” These analysts always say the same exact thing in every news story. Yet, they keep being reported as ‘experts’. Don’t they get tired of being wrong? Nintendo last month forecast a second straight year of smaller profits. [ID:nTOE64505P] This is the norm when new hardware launches. Costs increase in order to finish develop and launch it. To cheer shareholders, Nintendo has considered a share buyback, but only if a specific need arises. “(A buyback) is something that we do take into consideration and may do as the need arises,” Iwata said. Iwata never said anything about ‘cheering shareholders’. Why is the reporter inserting things that are never said? But the company would not discuss its plans in public. Translated: they won’t discuss their financial plans with this idiot reporter. Who would? According to consultants NPD, six of the top 10 games sold last year in the United States were for the Wii, and all were developed by Nintendo, which further boosts its coffers. The top Nintendo Wii game was “New Super Mario Bros Wii.” Now Nintendo has too much money and is greedily adding to it! Oh no! In response to a question about growing sales of Sony’s PlayStation 3, Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo of America President, said: “It is easy to talk about growth when you are working off of a very low base.” Reggie lays the smack-down. This is why his quotes are buried at the end. “The fact is that when you look at the absolute number for units sold, it is clear that the pace is dramatically better than either of our competitors,” he said. “The absolute level of sales has been widening in our favor.” Nintendo said new games for the Wii in coming months include updates to its own franchise hits such as “Legend of Zelda” and “Donkey Kong,” as well as “Just Dance 2″ from Ubisoft, and a new James Bond game from Activision’s “GoldenEye” series. Even game journalists are doing better reporting than Reuters. So where did Reuters get this idea to focus on a non-existent successor to the Wii console? I’ll give you one guess:
|
