Tech Knaw Low Gee
By Jorge Figueiredo - August 5th, 2008
The buzz on the interwebs these days sounds an awful lot like bellyaching over the disappointing showing of at least two of the big three at E3 this year.
As technology evolves, it seems that our tolerance for what is available becomes smaller. I looked at the offerings of E3 (Mostly for Nintendo, as I am a Nintendo guy) and I thought that all of the things that were offered were pretty much in line with Nintendo’s plan. Of course, you wouldn’t know what to think if you heard the large masses booing Nintendo in their writings on the W3.
Honestly, if MotionPlus was not announced, I don’t think that anyone would have complained about the WiiMote as much as they are doing right now. Seriously, I’ve read about “how MotionPlus is going to allow Nintendo to finally live up their promises.”
Er…Whuh? What promises?
I checked the box that my Wii came in, and nowhere does it say that technology from the distant future is contained within. Nintendo delivered a solid product and did very well (just try to find and find a place that is NOT sold out of the Wii console). As far as I’m concerned, this was the second stage of development and is an extension of the original. Perhaps Nintendo could have packaged it better, but that’s about it.
There a lot of whining coming from the “hardcore gamers” as well as the “core Nintendo gamers”. Apparently games can be magically completed in a short space of time, and it is mandatory for Nintendo to tell us EXACTLY what they are doing at all times. Give me a break.
Hardcore gamers? There are some great games to be played on the Wii if you would just kindly remove your heads from your posteriors. Core gamers? Nintendo will ALWAYS carry core products. It’s the way it’s always been. They might not always be on time, or when we want them, but they will come.
Case in point: the Castlevania fighting game.
I think that this is an awesome idea, especially if it’s done well. How often have you played one type of game and wondered what it would be like as another (platform -> fighting, for instance)? Here is a chance to take an old favourite and make something new out of it. Kudos to the developers for doing this. As consumers, we certainly drive the market. Unfortunately, sometimes I wonder if we actually know what we really want from the folks that provide us with our entertainment.
I’ll admit that I’m excited about the Castlevania fighting game as well. If they make it so you can have your basic Castlevania gameplay, coupled with the ability to execute a multitude of unique skills that fighting games allow, that could make for one hell of a rockin’ game! I guess we’ll have to wait and see. E3 was disappointing only because we’re used to seeing so much more from these events. After seeing Microsoft’s keynote on day one, it was hard not to expect more from Nintendo and Sony. Day two flatlined.
It’s fair enough to say that Nintendo has made no promises, and that motion plus is exciting, but not strictly necessary.
However, I would also argue that Nintendo is not really that concerned with re-capturing the same market they’ve had since the early ninties. From a business stand point, this makes perfect sense: Johnny loves our products, let’s try and see if we can get his girlfriend/grampa/whoever envolved.
Still, you can’t please everybody, and this means that Johnny will only get one proper Mario title this generation, one Metroid, one Mario Kart and probably one non-DS Castlevania (and a billion mini-games). If I were a Castlevania fan, and it turned out my one “big” release would be a fighting game, I’d probably be pretty pissed off about it too.
Sure, I bet ‘core’ nintendo fans were thrilled to find series’ like Pikmen are still alive, but it’s easy to see how the lack of “return to form” could be disconcerting to some.