General Category > General Discussion
E3 2012 Discussion
TyrannicalFascist:
Well we already know from last night's Nintendo Direct that Nintendo is focusing almost exclusively on WiiU software at their presentation. http://www.nintendo.com/nintendo_direct/
I'm glad they explained the WiiU GamePad and system a little more in-depth in that, and I spied a new Mario game that has several SMW references. Also Iwata's english has gotten much better since the Vitality Sensor fiasco. I also like the WiiU Pro Controller, definitely some similarities to Classic Controller Pro and a 360 controller, which means porting games will be much easier. I'm liking where Nintendo is headed so far.
Agreed, Microsoft was underwhelming, and I was disappointed there was no "fistbump" worthy memorable moments. Just kinda bland.
Arseen:
I like older consoles because they don't do anything except play games, so developers did really concentrate on making the games.
I don't like consoles after PS2/Xbox that much.
Time for old person mini rant
Wii has manditory motion controlls, on many games the controls are just clued on and game would work fine without them.
PS3 and Xbox 360 don't have that many good games. Many look good but not many are actually good.
I admit online playing might be nice, but leads to less and less good single player games.
And developers don't bother to finish or test games before releasingthem nowadays.
TyrannicalFascist:
Yeah I have to agree with you Arseen, which is why my library of 360 games is so small, and most of my Wii games are first party, usually with less motion controls. I don't think every game needs to have online multiplayer, and personally I've had more than my fill of gritty first-person shooters.
wiggy:
--- Quote from: sheep2001 on June 04, 2012, 01:48:30 PM ---But if one does it all, and another doesn't, which one is gonna sell more units? I don't need another DVD or Blu ray player - but I do want my next console to be able to play them.
--- End quote ---
I don't need/want it to personally. I mean, does the fact that the Wii doesn't play DVDs really bother you at all? It's not like disc players of any sort are pricey. I hate fiddling with a controller to watch disc-based movies on a console, not to mention having to deal with the cumbersome UI every time I just want to pop a movie in and watch it.
I do like that I can use Netflix on the current crop of systems. But, unless Netflix finds a way to significantly step up the streaming content, I'm gonna cancel in the next couple of months anyway, so that feature won't be of any value to me for much longer.
--- Quote from: Arseen on June 04, 2012, 02:24:22 PM ---I like older consoles because they don't do anything except play games, so developers did really concentrate on making the games.
I don't like consoles after PS2/Xbox that much.
Time for old person mini rant
Wii has manditory motion controlls, on many games the controls are just clued on and game would work fine without them.
PS3 and Xbox 360 don't have that many good games. Many look good but not many are actually good.
I admit online playing might be nice, but leads to less and less good single player games.
And developers don't bother to finish or test games before releasingthem nowadays.
--- End quote ---
Preach on! I'm with ya.
Buuuuut, I don't agree about the 360/PS3 libraries. I feel that all 3 of the current consoles have a great selection at this point (and they better, they've been out for 5+ years now).
--- Quote from: TyrannicalFascist on June 04, 2012, 02:29:55 PM ---Yeah I have to agree with you Arseen, which is why my library of 360 games is so small, and most of my Wii games are first party, usually with less motion controls. I don't think every game needs to have online multiplayer, and personally I've had more than my fill of gritty first-person shooters.
--- End quote ---
My 360 library is my biggest of the current gen and I don't play ANYTHING online. There are gobs of great single player titles, they just aren't as easy to track down as they would be on the Wii. On the Wii, you just look for Nintendo franchises and you're pretty much good to go. It's not that they have more single player titles, it's just that they're almost all the old tried-and-true franchises that we know and love. On the 360 you've got to do a bit of research, especially since the great single player titles on the 360 aren't the biggest sellers like they would be on the Wii. Plus, I don't have to be frustrated by waggle controls on the 360. I would KILL to play Skyward Sword with a 360 controller. I'm beyond done with frantically shaking my controller to swing a sword.
I've spent hundreds of hours playing Forza 4 and BK: Nuts and bolts. I personally feel that titles like those have WAY more re-playability than almost any 1st party Wii game. That's what I'd like to see from Nintendo with the Wuu; customizable items, add-ons, or any other reason to go back into the game once I've played it through. Mario in outer space and Link trudging through the same old routine were great fun, but I would love to see both pushed a lot further than they have been in the last 10 years. Waggle controls were technically "innovative", but I sure as fuck can't stand 'em. I want more game, not more exercise.
Either way, I'm still pretty amped for the Wuu. I really hope that 3rd party developers embrace it. It's been well over 15 years since we had a Nintendo home console that was embraced by 3rd party developers/publishers. Nintendo seems to find a way to alienate them in some way or another with every console since the N64.
As far as Microsoft goes and their insistence on adding more and more features that I don't particularly care about goes, well, they're a software company before anything. I expect them to do what they're doing. As long as it doesn't bog their machines down or interfere with my ability to just play a game, then they can add whatever silly features that they want IMO. I really, REALLY hope that they have some info on their next console in 2013. If they can squeeze their next box out a few years before Sony like they did with the 360, then I really feel that they'll be able to absorb a huge portion of the market.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not campaigning for a monopoly over the market or anything, but having watched them evolve as a game company, I feel really confident in their ability to keep gaming on a track that appeals to me more so than Nintendo who seems to be pulling further and further away from what I think of as traditional gaming (me, on a couch, with a controller in hand). And, unlike Sony, Microsoft seems more than willing to listen to feedback from the gaming community.
Sony insists on telling us what we want (which has proven to be a very flawed method). Sony says: "Fuck physical media, take this DL-only POS because it will help us prevent pirating! That's a 'feature', or at least that's how we'll spin it."
Nintendo does essentially the same thing, but not in an oppressive way like Sony. Nintendo is the sole innovator in the gaming market IMO. For me, it's a good thing and a bad. I LOVE rumble controllers, analogue sticks, shoulder buttons, ergonomic sound controllers, and I even like motion control when it's appropriate (Bowling, Golf, Boom Blox, etc). Nintendo says: "Hey, we made this wacky new (insert wacky Nintendo idea) and we think you guys will really dig it and all it can do for your gaming experience!"
OK, I better stop. I'll go on forever if I don't tell myself to shut up.
In summation, I'm excited for the upcoming year in gaming ;D
TyrannicalFascist:
Fair enough, we all have different tastes in games. I'm not really into a lot of the types of games on 360 or PS3, which isn't really a shortcoming on their part, they just have a different target. But as an example, I really didn't enjoy BK: Nuts and Bolts. I found it kind of tedious and clunky. I enjoy games you can pick up and play for a bit, put down, then just jump back in days, weeks or even years later. But again, different people like different games. I've played through New Super Mario Bros. Wii 3 times now, once on my own, and twice with groups of friends or family. Design-wise and style-wise, it's a relatively unimpressive bland game. But it's a great game to pick up and play a while, or have a lot of laughs with your friends as you trounce each other just to get a power-up. I find myself wishing that all the Mario games had simultaneous 4-player now.
Now I'm not saying that BK: Nuts and Bolts is terrible. In fact, as you say, there is a lot to do. But for me, replayability is more about re-experiencing the game if I enjoyed it, rather than going around collecting things or getting upgrades. I have a lot of games that I've played and beaten, but there's more to unlock - Sonic Adventure 2: Battle for example - but I just don't really care to go to levels and complete missions or collect things. In Sonic Generations, I enjoyed the levels (some of them anyways), but hated the missions. I don't personally care about Xbox 360 achievements, and back in the early NES/SNES days, I wasn't much into playing arcade games just to get high scores. But to each his own. I have a friend who can sit and play Fable or Borderlands for 6 hours straight, or beat Gears of War 3 in a day, go back and get all the achievements. It's probably just a lifestyle difference - I don't really spend a lot of time playing straight through a game, just here and there for a little bit.
One thing I think everyone can agree on is that there is a wide, diverse library of game genres for everyone. I didn't much care for the casual Wii games, but I really appreciate that they now exist. I mean, there's now video games that my parents love to play that are newer than Atari 2600! I never could have imagined that before. And now I enjoy playing some of them with friends and family when we are together. I'd agree Nintendo definitely is the primary innovator, and like any attempts to shake things up, sometimes it works (Super Mario 64), sometimes it doesn't (Virtual Boy). I think I just appreciate the fact that they try new things and the legacy they have. I like how they are willing to try totally new things and take risks. The Nintendo Direct was insightful, in that it showed that Nintendo has always wanted to create something unique. Of course Microsoft and Sony also try new things, and they all learn from each other. No one is better or worse in my mind.
I think what bugs me though about Microsoft and Sony is that they are trying to force their system as the exclusive and ultimate one-stop place for everything media. And I just don't think that's really going to happen for a long time. I like having physical games and DVDs/BluRays and I imagine most of us here do to, based on what we are on this site for in the first place. They want you to spend your money buying movies, music, apps, games and everything for this one system, using their accounts or cloud system, but it's frustrating because you can't take it outside the system. Isn't the point of "the cloud" to have all your media in one place so you can access it anywhere? Yet you have to re-buy music for every kind of music service, or find ways to convert them to work. And some of the business practices like on-disc DLC really bug me for other, unrelated reasons. Nintendo keeps it simple and says "we make games", and that's what I appreciate about them. Maybe I'm just old fashioned.
I love being a Nintendo fan because they always surprise me, and like Reggie said last E3, they give us something old and familiar, that is at the same time new and different. And I'm certainly excited to see what everyone has in store for E3. And no matter who creates what, we all win. 8)