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As if splitting videogames into "hardcore" and "casual" wasn't stupid enough, Nintendo has decided to throw another idiotic and ill-defined buzzword into the ring -- announcing that Mario Kart Wii is now a "bridge game." Yay for terms that further widen this nonsensical and mythical divide between "hardcore" and "casual" gamers. Apparently, Mario Kart Wii is a bridge game because it lets "novices and veterans play and have fun together." I always thought that most videogames could be enjoyed by novices and veterans, but I guess I was wrong. They need these special bridges to connect the dots, otheriwse people new to gaming just won't have fun! Ah, the heady world of videogame PR speak, where would we be without you? Well, we wouldn't be here reading moronic terms pulled from the ass of some executive in between lines of cocaine. I just wish we could go back to calling games what they are -- "games."
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Shouldn't it be a 'gateway'-game then?
play too mutch of this game and you'll become hardcore! :-)
@MISTIC it may be a good idea that they avoided the drug comarison
That's weird 'cause the system itself only has "mini-games" and "shitty games" on it. Only fitting that it now has a new genre.
Also, I own one. Just saying.
You would think that Nintendo would know that there is no such thing as a casual or hardcore game, only gamers.
Is someone who plays Bejeweled for 8 hours casual?
Is someone who plays C0D4 for half an hour hardcore?
Its the gamers that define the difference, not the game they play.
there are no Hardcore, Casual, or Bridge games.
there are fun games, and not fun games.
I've heard the term thrown around before. It's all about PR and marketing.
I don't think I know a single developer that gives much of a shit if you are hardcore, casual or whatever. Most of them just wanna make a good game. Most developers just don't have that freedom.
Bridge. Nice. Hope to see that POS term brought up countless times in blogs.
Friend codes are what tear down bridges.
If it isn't one thing with Nintendo, it's another. :<
I'd like to "bridge" the gap between my foot and Nintendo's ass! Ya!... eh.
originality points -20
I just wish we could go back to calling games what they are -- "games."
Yes, this.
the ultimate Bridge game:
What the fuck? I already coined a term for this.
Wait, Nintendo is releasing a bridge game? Awesome!
Who the fuck cares what they are called, just play the bloody things and be happy.
I completely agree with Jim. All these community diving is completely dumb. Games are games.
Yea you're right, it's pretty dumb.
I don't really see Mario Kart as a "hardcore" game in any sense. It's a casual racing game.
Mario Kart Wii is called a "bridge" game because Nintendo knocked it out in about half an hour, knew that gamers who have been fans of the series since the Super famicom days would recognise it for the watered down, snail paced, half assed piece of shit that it is, and sought to avoid deserved criticism by trying to label it as an entirely new beast.
If you cut the corporate jargon, what Nintendo are actually trying to say is that Mario Kart Wii looks like crap deliberately, "Hey it's a bridge game and we're not trying to make it look good, we want it to appeal to everyone which is why everything about it screams mediocrity". Sorry Nintendo I don't buy it.
Mario Kart Wii is Nintendo at their absolute worst and I'm qualified to say that because i'm a lifelong Nintendo fan. I remember the day i knew the N64 was toast, I walked into Game and saw Mario Kart 64, it was slow, boring and looked as if it as made with the arrogance of "Hey it's Mario isn't that enough?"
On the TV screen right next to Mario Kart was Wipeout on the PS1, it was fast, fresh and exciting. Nintendo had missed the Zeitgeist by a huge margin, Wipeout was confirmation that the CD storage medium allowed more dynamic games.
What's my overly long point? Nintendo are at their absolute worst when they go through the motions and just assume they can get away with producing lazy crap beacuse it contains their classic 'fun' gameplay. It's not enough Nintendo.
HarrassmentPanda: That's exactly what I thought of, and Nintendo: If you're trying to pitch this to older people, here's a hint: That may be what they think of too. ;)
damn labelling
HarassmentPanda beat me to it....
@B-radicate:
And which of those does SSB Brawl fall under?
Yeah, that's what I thought. (Not saying there *aren't* crappy games on the Wii, but come on... Rig Racer 2?! are they f***ing serious?!)
I know DarkTetsuya, where the fuck is my Rig Racer 1?
I totally made this term up a year ago or so. No one ever listens to me making up terms but Nintnedo comes along and now we all listen!
It's a gateway game. It leads to more hardcore games, and a life of selling your children for money to buy more games.
As I said before, there is absolutely nothing wrong with labeling this sub-genres. It helps marketing and categorization, which is how the human brain functions. The problem occurs when idiots try to define themselves by these categories and limit themselves to it. I have no problem calling myself a casual gamer.It doesn't mean I only play pick up and play casual type games.
Inversely, it doesn't mean that casual games will only appeal to casual gamers. But the fact remains that there ARE different types of games and different types of gamers.
My mom actually bought this for herself. Never did get much use.
Shouldn't a bridge game be a game where bridge is played? Now I'm all confused. Can you play bridge in Mario Kart Wii? Is it an unlockable mini-game or something? What's next? Uno? Oh... wait.
Anyway, I don't give a shit about "bridge games" other than that I think the term is as entirely useless as "hardcore" and "casual", but that picture is totally relevant to my interests.
So, a hardcore game is a hyper splatterfest, and a hardcore gamer is a person who plays games a LOT.
A casual gamer like simple minigames and puzzle games, and plays only occasionally.
A bridge game is a little of both but not enough of either. So how do we define bridge gamers?
I thought Nintendo's marketing team would come up with something a bit better than this. Not like they really need marketing at this point.
Dear God, make it stop.
I'd like to coin the term "soda and pizza roll gamers". I'm sure there are enough of us out there that prepare a plate of pizza rolls and mountain dew before settling into a game, and we are totally misrepresented by the media. I AM SO MISUNDERSTOODZ!!1!
This has probably been said before, but it seems to me this ongoing discussion is very out-of-place on a site which advertises itself as a "hardcore gamer community".
@Niero
How do you think us "Heroin and Hookers" gamers feel?
That guy in the picture is actually really tiny.
I would like to take the PR halfwits who thought of 'bridge' gaming and throw them from the highest one I can find. That one in France that sits above the cloud layer should do...
I'm annoyed with the way Nintendo has been recycling the same mario kart race tracks for the past few games now. I don't even really like those levels.
'gateway' games? LoL!
Okay now children, drugs are bad. Mmkay? And, if you like some games, they'll make you like other games. Mmkay? Ya see, drugs are bad.
I agree with Kapkomi
Fun Games
not fun games
Fun game and not fun games is one thing, but some games require more than that. Have a noob play a vet in virtua fighter 5 and see how well that goes. Brawl is *shudder* a "bridge" game because it has handicaps and other options in place that can let the noobs hang with the vets. Last time i played with my best friend and his girlfriend i had an auto-handicap 90% damage handicap but we all had fun and enjoyed it nonetheless.
I still think it's a stupid unnecessary term though.