Saturday, July 26, 2008
Thursday, July 24, 2008
funny first post for a blog called Donut Ghost House.
earlier this week, Nintendo president, Satoru Iwata, publicly apologized for the company's E3 presser's seeming ignorance of "core" gamers.
this whole situation makes me sad more than anything. ever since i was a child and played my very first game of the original Mega Man on my neighbor-friend's NES and made my folks buy me my own, i've felt like the fact that i purchased their consoles and games and any number of asinine accessories all this time meant more to them than this statement makes me realize. maybe it's naive or selfish or emo.
"core" gamers used to be the teat Nintendo suckled to grow and survive. now we're the nagging old mom who moved in down the street and comes over with out calling.
if it wasn't for all the people who loved them and were dedicated to them through the last three decades would they even be in the position they are now? they're making more money than god!
the reason they killed the competition in the 80's and 90's is because a section of the consumer market was dedicated to the industry. of those people a number became more and more dedicated to Nintendo because for one reason or another they stood out. there was a charm about them.
as pretty much any "core" gamer will confirm, as the industry grew, so did the people playing the games. however, i don't mean the average age of a bland cross-section of the general populous. i mean you, and me, and david from next-door when i was five-years-old. sure the roster name-by-name has changed, expanded. but essentially the point is there.
you think we were raised by games? games were raised by us!
we've been playing games all our lives and most of us have probably played more of their games and their consoles than any one single competitor. I understand the Wii has opened a wide ocean of potential for a new market and a new type of large-scale gaming crowd but Nintendo owes it to us to, at the very least, try harder to understand what we want.
it's not more Mario or Zelda. it's not nearly as hard as they think. we just want something original. new. Zelda wasn't anything before they took a risk and tried something that maybe hadn't been nearly as successful in prior attempts.
they used to understand. people liked Metroid, we got Super Metroid. we loved Super Metroid, we got Metroid Prime. people's expectations were matched and raised. they used to listen. and understand. and through that understanding they learned to innovate and created some of the most beloved series in all of video game history.
now that in this current generation they've made the decision to not compete with the likes of Sony and Microsoft but, instead, forge a new "casual" market, does that mean that has to be all they do? don't promise me something "hardcore" only to charge me to fix your fucked up controller and then show me Wii Sports 2. why isn't any of this money going to forming new teams to make new IPs and funding implementing hardware fixes like WiiMotion Plus for free to those of us who already paid for the functionality. the fact that WiiMotion has a price tag is already a slap in the face even to the new gamers. only most of them don't know enough to realize it because they can make Cooking Mama a cake faster. even another stab at Geist would be better.
i guess in short i feel as if Nintendo doesn't understand the definition of the term "core." hardcore? people who play nothing but team-based multi-player online shooters and combo based fighting games until they could kick your sorry ass to Hoboken till the cows come home...in his sleep?
wrong!
"core: ...a central and often foundational part usu. distinct from the enveloping part by a difference in nature..." -webster
Iwata's apologized. Nintendo needs to follow through.
this whole situation makes me sad more than anything. ever since i was a child and played my very first game of the original Mega Man on my neighbor-friend's NES and made my folks buy me my own, i've felt like the fact that i purchased their consoles and games and any number of asinine accessories all this time meant more to them than this statement makes me realize. maybe it's naive or selfish or emo.
"core" gamers used to be the teat Nintendo suckled to grow and survive. now we're the nagging old mom who moved in down the street and comes over with out calling.
if it wasn't for all the people who loved them and were dedicated to them through the last three decades would they even be in the position they are now? they're making more money than god!
the reason they killed the competition in the 80's and 90's is because a section of the consumer market was dedicated to the industry. of those people a number became more and more dedicated to Nintendo because for one reason or another they stood out. there was a charm about them.
as pretty much any "core" gamer will confirm, as the industry grew, so did the people playing the games. however, i don't mean the average age of a bland cross-section of the general populous. i mean you, and me, and david from next-door when i was five-years-old. sure the roster name-by-name has changed, expanded. but essentially the point is there.
you think we were raised by games? games were raised by us!
we've been playing games all our lives and most of us have probably played more of their games and their consoles than any one single competitor. I understand the Wii has opened a wide ocean of potential for a new market and a new type of large-scale gaming crowd but Nintendo owes it to us to, at the very least, try harder to understand what we want.
it's not more Mario or Zelda. it's not nearly as hard as they think. we just want something original. new. Zelda wasn't anything before they took a risk and tried something that maybe hadn't been nearly as successful in prior attempts.
they used to understand. people liked Metroid, we got Super Metroid. we loved Super Metroid, we got Metroid Prime. people's expectations were matched and raised. they used to listen. and understand. and through that understanding they learned to innovate and created some of the most beloved series in all of video game history.
now that in this current generation they've made the decision to not compete with the likes of Sony and Microsoft but, instead, forge a new "casual" market, does that mean that has to be all they do? don't promise me something "hardcore" only to charge me to fix your fucked up controller and then show me Wii Sports 2. why isn't any of this money going to forming new teams to make new IPs and funding implementing hardware fixes like WiiMotion Plus for free to those of us who already paid for the functionality. the fact that WiiMotion has a price tag is already a slap in the face even to the new gamers. only most of them don't know enough to realize it because they can make Cooking Mama a cake faster. even another stab at Geist would be better.
i guess in short i feel as if Nintendo doesn't understand the definition of the term "core." hardcore? people who play nothing but team-based multi-player online shooters and combo based fighting games until they could kick your sorry ass to Hoboken till the cows come home...in his sleep?
wrong!
"core: ...a central and often foundational part usu. distinct from the enveloping part by a difference in nature..." -webster
Iwata's apologized. Nintendo needs to follow through.
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