[E3 community blogging contest winner: For the final E3 C Blog, y0j1mb0 talks about Nintendo's major focus on the casual market.]
If you were to take a look around the World Wide Web, one of the most talked about highlights now isn't the coup that Microsoft sucker punched Sony regarding Final Fantasy XIII, instead it's this topic: Nintendo and Miyamoto have left us hardcore gamers down. They only had Animal Crossing and some fruity music game that the Man-Child genius Miyamoto unleashed on a stunned lethargic video press. Let's ridicule them. Offer our unique insight at what we think of a music game clearly not catered to your demographic.
It boggles my mind that people are shocked, surprised and shell shocked that Nintendo, the company that built Mario, Zelda, and Metroid, are stunned that they didn't have titles geared to the hardcore gamer out there. I mean c'mon, these hardcore gamers are the same ones that buy games like Zach & Wiki, Bloom Box, No More Heroes, Beyond Good & Evil and Psychonauts by the truckloads, right? The same ones that still say Wii is a fad. The ones that ridiculed the Nintendo's DS when it first came out, right? Are you kidding me? Seriously, are you?
Nintendo has put out more quality first party titles in the Wii's two year lifespan than both Xbox 360 & PS3 combined on theirs. Super Mario Galaxy, Mario Kart, Twilight Princess, Metroid Prime and Super Smash Brawl are bona fide AAA games. I won't even count the smattering of really good third party software that's unique to the system but doesn't sell (though I did mention some of them in my last paragraph). What did you expect? Oh yes, that Kid Icarus game, and what else? Some other supposed hardcore game that was rumored? The fact of the matter is Nintendo can afford to take their time creating a new game. Which is probably what they are doing. More developers should take note of taking their time before unleashing a bug riddled game.
Pikmin's been confirmed as well as other mysterious games that they, at this point are not entitled to reveal. What's wrong with that? Would you have preferred an all CG trailer, like God of War III, teasing you of a new Kid Icarus or possible new IP? If you don't think they're making more games for the Wii that you're going to like, you're crazy. And while we're at it, these E3s of late you're getting confused with the pageantry and excess of the E3s of the past. They're not the end all and be all of the videogame industry anymore. That's why this year's show was a letdown all across the board. The days of shocking revelations (aside from a porting of FF XIII) of upcoming games being debuted at E3 are over folks. With this thing called the Internets we're plugged into game developers more than ever and get our news daily, if not by the minute.
But did Nintendo really have a poor showing at E3? Even though you may trash Animal Crossing, that game will sell a mess load of games. I'll be buying one of them, day one guaranteed. Even though it wasn't in the presentation, MadWorld looks crazy cool with it's Frank Miller style visuals and excess over the top violence. That Wario Land Shake It! for the Wii looks amazing with it's 2-D environments of old and cartoon like characters. I know I'll pick up Wii Resort just to try out that sword fencing like game, as will many others.
And finally Wii Music. The game that everybody is dissing. Mark my words, this game is going to sell like hotcakes, hotcakes with large amounts of bacon and sex with an ice cold beer. Why the hate? This is for the kiddies. You do realize that, right? That's like ridiculing a Bratz or Barbie game. It's not for you. It's not even for the casuals (even though they'll fall in line). It's mainly for the kids. A music game that wont frustrate them like Rock Band or Guitar Hero will. My God, there's no skill involved because of a lack of inputs on display and that's the point. It's got Yankee Doodle Dandy for crying out loud. Is it mild interactive software at best? Probably. Will you play it with your kids and have a laugh or two with them? I'm sure you will. And so will a horde of parents and grandparents come this Christmas.
If you really want to focus your all encompassing gaze at companies that may endanger your hardcore way of videogame light, may I suggest Sony or better yet, Microsoft. Their whole Dashboard upgrade was a knee jerk reaction to Nintendo's strategic wooing of the young and casual crowd. Nintendo got it from the beginning. Now others are emulating it. But with Nintendo, this has always been the case, for others it feels reactionary at best and retarded at worst. I like the clean look of the Dashboard but the Avatars on the 360 stick out like a crackwhore in a convent. This from the company that was clowning Sony for Home and they are doing a hybrid of Nintendo's Miis and Home Jr now.
Ask yourselves this: Didn't this E3 seem like a show to see who could be more like Nintendo?
Has the mainstream videogame media been too harsh on Nintendo?
The answer to that is of course is that they are being too harsh. I mean, let me get this straight; they are blowing away their competition by a stupid factor and yet we are still telling them what to do? I don't know about you, but there's something wrong with that picture. It's almost comical in a way. Stop doing what is lining your pockets full of dough to cater to us core gamers, that really associate ourselves with the hard hitting consoles that feed our more adult tastes of violence, mayhem and online shenanigans, so we can ignore most of your stuff unlike the demographic that's buying now. Yeah that makes sense.
I don't know about you, but I bought a Wii for Nintendo's first party games. They delivered. But more is coming. I'm patient. A lot of the hardcore Nintendo loyalists apparently aren't. I'm going to throw my Wii away...Boo hoo. Grow up. Stop throwing a tantrum because you didn't get your way. Silliness abounds.
The REAL Hardcore are Nintendo fans. Know why? Because they know Nintendo strives to be different in a videogame landscape of me toos. They brought the rumble pak, they pushed 3D into your living room, the greatest games of all time have resided on a Nintendo console. In ten years from now, on whatever handheld we'll have then, what do you think you'll be playing on it? Super Mario World or Halo? Nintendo to me have always seemed either demented or just genius. Time seems to cement the latter for them.
Are the mainstream videogame media too full of themselves and out of touch?
The too full of themselves query is subjective, I leave that open for you to contemplate. The out of touch one may be a different story. We, as gamers everyday get older. No newsflash there that's for sure. But just as there's really, in actuality not that big of a divide between hardcore or casual, there is a very significant one between young and old. Or for lack of a better analogy, between twenty cents and twenty dollars.
According to the ESA:
Sales of "family entertainment" video games more than doubled in 2007, making it the fastest growing segment of the video game market.
Eighty-five percent of all games sold in 2007 were rated "E" for Everyone, "T" for Teen, or "E10+" for Everyone 10+.
With Ninety-four percent of game players under the age of 18 report that their parents are present when they purchase or rent games.
And the most staggering figure here:
According to a PricewaterhouseCoopers report:
*$48.8 billion — The amount of revenue expected to result from “Family Entertainment” portable software sales by 2011.
Out of touch? That might be a real possibility.
Contest:
5:39 PM on 07.27.2008
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I can remember the days when I loved nintendo and there was nothing else for me. But now, times have changed and they seem to not care... releasing tired IP after tired IP.
Please, just make another 2d mario (your NEW super mario brothers for DS doesnt cut it... at 30 mins of gameplay).
I'll still pick up things like Viva Pinata, but I noticed the price plummeted after just 2 months...that sort of stuff catches my attention...so maybe thats why Wii appears to have failed, but really has just stuck with its own strengths?
Also, Nintendo is cocky, but still. They seem to be doing okay with sales, its just selling to the younger generation, the next generation of potentially hardcore gamers...
Maybe we're just getting old? ** puts her dentures back in **
In short, I agree with this blog.
Though, if they deliver a new StarFox or F-Zero I will love them regardless.
PS The Conduit will definitely kick up some dust if they deliver 16 person multiplayer, WiiSpeak, mappable controls, WiiMotion Plus and a modified way to add and track friends.
I'm serious guys, who wants to buy my Wii? After that abortion, I'm ready to get rid of this thing.
And honestly, I completely agree with the other companies trying to be like Nintendo. If everyone actually hates what Nintendo's doing, and it's a bad move, then why are the other companies trying so much to be like them?
That's not to say that Nintendo's conference was impressive, because it wasn't, and as a hardcore Nintendo fan, that hurts to say. But Nintendo seems to be setting the standard, and no one can see that.
boy was i disappointed...
You could probably show the Nintendo conference on primetime TV, and people will get it immediately.
Show the Xbox conference and I think it would confuse most news watchers.
I'm with J1mb0 on this one.
It seems to us that we're really important, because we all inhabit this positive feedback loop of game blogs, news sites, clans, etc., but there's a numerical limit on the number of 40-yr-old men who are not going to feel embarrassed playing at being space marines. That's a pretty adolescent fantasy, and all but the most hardcore gamer's priorities shift away from games as time goes on. It's a wasting demographic.
The issue I have is the manner in which they decide to make such announcements. I mean, despite E3 being scaled back from epic proportions of years past, for this specific week in time the E3 stage is the largest venue in the industry in which to make some big special bombshell announcements. That's why the backbone of the industry is either there or tunes in. It's the gaming media, general press, bloggers, et al that truly care enough to tune in AND report their findings to the world at large.
Now, notice I didn't say it's the "mainstream" or "majority" of the industry that does this. No, sir. I totally understand and agree with you that we "hardcore" gamers are pretty much fazing out of the industry's collective consciousness as everyone scrambles to attract the elusive "casual" market, because that is where the money is being spent these days (as per your handy factoids).
However, despite the fact we may not be companies' "target market" anymore, we are the ones listening to them talk at conferences such as E3. I mean, I know Wii Music is supposed to be for kids, but how many 8 year olds do you think were tuning into live blogs to get the scoop on the title? I'm willing to bet that number is between slim and none.
Casual games such as Wii Music don't need to be announced at giant press conferences to get people excited and sell units and consoles. All a kid or parent needs to see is a display at an electronics store where they can try it for five minutes and think it's awesome. Done deal.
Those of us that do tune in then need to be thrown a god damned bone, though. You may have a good loyal dog, but if you don't scratch him behind the ears every once in a while he'll run away from home. Know what I mean?
Because Nintendo is smart enough (god, I hope they're smart enough) to know that WE are their core demographic (for the length of E3, that is) is why I am pissed they did nothing to cater to us at all during their conference.
Otherwise, I agree with your points. This wasn't nearly as flame-filled as I anticipated. Good write up.
That's a good point though. People are lining up streams and some (Not naming names) are a little distracted at work following the spectacle. We're actually watching this thing. Target audience: Casual is getting the word second hand in big-kid news outlets, so they ARE just getting pics and video shorts. Nintendo definitely got their good photo op of people dancing around doing the Wii Seizure, but a little check-in, maybe even at length, regarding the core properties and interesting, game-culure things would have been nice.
But I guess then there's a point of inevitability. We all *know* good things are coming. The Wii isn't the GameCube: there's going to be content coming from all directions. Everyone wants a piece of the biggest US console install base, even if only a small portion are the previous "core" audience.
So we get MadWorld, Dead Rising, Shake it, "We are doing Pikmin", sluggers, "Mario Team/Zelda Team are working", Mega Man 9, Red Steel 2, Force Unleashed Wii and all these things for the "gamer" market that exist, but don't have dates.
I've rambled my way to the point of saying, dates would be nice, but they know we know things are coming.
However, E3's press conference was somewhat dissapointing. The moms and old people that will be clamoring for WiiMusic and WiiSports Resort don't keep up with E3 updates and have no idea something like this exists. They could have shown a few things to interest Wii Owners and those who are contemplating buying a Wii, not that demographic that's already clamoring for the system at every chance.
Bravo sir, bravo.
What people also don't get is that E3 really isn't for us anymore, it's for the investors, and an investor is far more likely to be interested in a casual game like Wii Music, then in Pikmin 3, because casual games are hot right now. It doesn't mean Nintendo isn't making Pikmin 3, but this isn't where they're going to show it.
But the thing is they really didn't impress the press and that what sorta sorta the point. It really doesn't matter though as people will stop expecting much if this continues but I think most company PR people for call that a tragedy. There are plenty of good core games and I am sure there will be more for the core gamers to enjoy but Nintendo didn't really give us a lot to be excited about(even when they had things to share Pikman Warioware etc). And I don't think this is a pure issue of hardcore press as Nintendo has got lots of love for the Wii in the past at E3(even with the core gamer hate). I personally feel they chose the wrong title to pimp cause hey the game media may not get it I know I don't.
But I don't think we can say press are completely wrong either.
Nintendo has had their own share of bird brain things such as no one wants disk media, or lets put a broadband and modem adapter out for the gamecube and not support it cause people don't want to play online they want to hook there GBA to there Gamecube(pacman vs was fun though). So it is possible Nintendo cana bad decision I don't know for a fact in this case but I have little doubt they will make them just like MS and Sony will.
PS: Psychonauts never came out for a Nintendo system, but I agree it was a title that was disgustingly overlooked. I picked it up for the Xbox the other week so I can play through it a third time.
Excuse me a moment.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Oh lord, I want what you're smoking dude cause that must be good shit.
The Wii thus far has around 10-12 titles worth buying for it vs around 30 or 40 for the 360 and I don't know the PS3 well enough to say how many it has worth buying.
Let's run down the AAA titles you mentioned.
Super Mario Galaxy:Agreed 100%
Mario Kart:Same thing I've been playing since Mario Kart 64 only with more cheap A.I this time, this is the only game in the world that penalizes you being in first place.
Twilight Princess: A port of a game that was supposed to be on the gamecube originally, tacked on waggle and they reversed the world instead of making a new link mode, its also the biggest Zelda game ever due to all the shitty filler you have to do, hardly a AAA title and it wasn't meant for the Wii in the first place.
Metroid Prime: Agreed on this one.
Super Smash Brawl: Never saw what was so interesting about this, I still don't, the shitty online alone keeps it from being a AAA title.
3rd party stuff?
Let's see, Boom Blox, No More Heroes, Zack and Wiki, Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles, Fire Emblem.
And that's it, perhaps you know of a bunch of invisible games I don't but this is all I can think off.
I don't care for labels, I don't care for the whole casual/hardcore crap, I merely look for things that interest ME, what I mentioned above is what I am interested in and their E3 was a total joke in my eyes.
I deal in marketing and Nintendo is doing is a huge mistake, you do not discard one group for another like this, and you don't do it the way Nintendo did, they offered up some content for their old fans and once the market they wanted was hooked, down the hill came the giant fuck you for the people that have been playing Nintendo consoles since the 80's.
That's why people are being so harsh on Nintendo, I would say a HUGE chunk of game journalists today grew with Nintendo and they are being treated like shit. It doesn't help that Nintendo has gotten a HUGE ego out of this.
I'm very happy my Wii was a gift, I wouldn't have been PISSED had I paid money for it and it seems I won't keep it quite as long as I thought would since in the future there is NOTHING that I want.
The statement that I said was in it's first two years Nintento has had more AAA games than PS3 & 360 combined in their respective two years..I stand by that.
Mxyzptlk :
I know Psychonauts wasn't.. I was pointing out, just like you noticed, the game was overlooked by many.
Furthermore, while motion controls have some real potential, I don't see Nintendo doing anything significant with them beyond what amount to simple tech demos (Wii Sports), tacking them on to existing games (Super Mario Galaxy would have worked on Gamecube, as amazing as the game is), non-games (Wii Fit), and now outright toys (Wii Music). Hell, they can't even name their games right anymore - if we allow "Wii Music," we might as well allow Halo to be "Alien Shooter" and Katamari to be "Ball Rolling."
So while what they're doing is obviously making them money, I don't think that their releases (beyond Zelda, MP3, Galaxy, and Brawl) are satisfying gamers or significantly advancing gaming as a technology or art form.
Past innovation and creativity in technology and franchises is no excuse for present laziness. The three best Wii games to me are Metroid Prime 3 (for actually advancing console control schemes), Super Mario Galaxy (for brilliant level design), and Brawl (because it's my favorite party game, cemented by 64 and Melee). The sad thing is, Nintendo has not announced anything that will seem to match up to even Brawl, much less an actual advancement like MP3. Pikmin is a start, so hopefully that manages to reinvent console strategy games, but there is so much more they could do, especially with true 1:1 control, that they haven't done yet.
If your into hardcore games, blood, violence or something more than your casual mario, smashbros, mario tennis, zelda, mario cojones, pigminkin, mario pin a donkey, wii sports, mario accounting, metroid, mario kart, Wiifit, Mario has sex with clothes on, then guess what... The Wii is not for you.
is for kids and adults and people who enjoy mostly dumb fun. Nothing wrong with that, the world needed that as no one was catering to them, this helped define sony to focus on more on the hardcore market, same with MS, but yet, now they are trying to mimic Nintendo? don't know whats up there but w/e.
I've got myself a wii for when friends come over, but I'd sure like some more decent "hardcore" games on it :)
I think at this point MS has the best balance, they got a small collection of titles that can appeal to everyone and content that appeals to a select crowd, that's how you do business.
Now MS is trying to appeal a bit more to Nintendo's group but they haven't discarded their previous group.
Nintendo is not gonna be able to carry the Wii as long as they think they will, everyone has a shelf life, every fad dies eventually, people will tire of the Wii eventually, the question is, what does Nintendo do then.
At this point, I could care less, to hell with them.
Then, last night, as I stepped out of the shower (yeah, sexy times!), I thought "you know what...maybe it wasn't so bad". Sure, WiiMusic is probably going to be more for the kids (what the hell was the trumpet player doing, randomly pushing buttons?), but you know what? It's going to sell system. And give Nintendo more money. Which will hopefully go towards stuff the rest of us want.
I had more to say, and was planning to blog it, but Yoj1mb0 put it much more elequently than I probably would have.
More peripherals than any 1 console should ever need. Links CrossBow game...Kart wheel (how fucking novel, a wheel to control a video game!), and tons of other shit to stick it in on and up into. I'm fucking amazed that the Wii is selling so well still...It almost seems like since you can control it by moving that they somehow hypnotized the people watching into spending and buying it. In 10 years we will see Myamoto in jail for subliminal messages in Mario...
Nintendo is getting zapped because they deserve it. God forbid we expect a game company to make games. Fucking people are killing Sony for pushing back games and not having a deep enough and diverse library...What the fuck does the Wii have? Trauma center? Fuck me.
Nintendo should have taken the opportunity to blast both Sony and MS and have something comming down the pike. They can shove Animal Crossing up their twats...The internet is just the same for MS and Sony...So let's not act like it is impossible for Nintendo to surprise us, or release more than 1 game every 4 years per franchise.
(I love how Mario Kart is so loved, yet it is the same fucking thing recycled, but now you have a wheel to drive with)
A movie scenario where a nerd gets in with the cool kids group, shuns his former friends, hangs out with the "cool" kids for a while, they eventually reject him, then forcing said nerd to crawl back to his former friends.
Yes Nintendo seems to be catering to the more casual group of gamers, forgetting their more hardcore users, but they are making money hand over fist doing it. Its hard to say if this trend will continue, maybe it will, but if/when their new casual gamer crowd moves on to something else Nintendo will be crawling back to their former friends. The question that comes up is will you let them back in?
I hope so. I thought NMH was fantastic, and I would love to see more games of that caliber on the Wii.
This was a great read, made me think.
WTF, are you saying Z&W and Bloom Box are hardcore games that hardcore gamers should be buying if they dare call themselves hardcore gamers? 0.o