The surging influence of casual gamers in the video game industry is a mixed blessing. While it has expanded the public's appreciation of video games and helped to lift the oppressive social stigma often associated with them, it has also led to a rising deterioration of Nintendo's creative qualities. For past generations, Nintendo has produced iconic video games that challenged the video game industry standard. Now, while Microsoft and Sony continue to cater mostly to mainstream console gaming fans, Nintendo games are often virtually interactive forms of television shows, rehashes of old classics, or strangely retro games that are cheap and accessible.
"To be fair, all three of the big wigs had this game under their belts.
We we we so excited."
I'm not saying that casual gaming is a bad thing. I'm definitely no hardcore gamer. I tend to float in a happy medium between competency and panicked ignorance when I stumble my way through the minefield of enemies that inhabit the majority of today's games. Therefore, I can appreciate when a game is fun, even if it's not challenging and unique. However, there is a limit to how much a video game can ask of its audience before rotten tomatoes and confused Bob-ombs get thrown at the stage. In my opinion, casual gaming is embodied by a person from any social background who can sit down, pick up a controller, and have some fun before heading off to work, school, or bed. Casual gaming should not signify the departure of creative genius and hard work or its substitution by famous brand names that alone are enough to sell the product.
"Though I admit that if Nintendo made this,
I would HAVE to buy it.
Everybody's playing video games nowadays. I think that's great. But I also think that the console video game companies, particularly Nintendo, should take a step back and analyze the image it displays not only to its newfound casual audience, but to its loyal diehards as well. Video games are meant to be fun and imaginative, not tired and bland. The popular advent of casual gaming is not in itself a negative trend, but the effect it has had on modern console gaming needs to be reassessed.
While I see what you're saying and agree to a point, I take issue with the assertion that creative quality has taken a slide since the 'casual uprising'. If we are dissing Nintendo, the only fluff people have really accused them of this generation are WiiMusic/Fit/Play/etc. Nintendo themselves have had little to do with actually making most of the crap you're talking about. Are you suggesting that Nintendo STOP developers from releasing mindless cash-in's on the Wii? Seems silly, because the good ol' x'bawks and preystashin get tons of crap themselves. If you want an example, try the new Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2-The Game which is on all the major platforms. Maybe that's too recent. How about Superman64? E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial for the Atari2600. Crappy games are a part of the industry, and I, for one, love a lot of the new IPs we've gotten, as well as the reboots and sequels. Mass Effect, Assassin's Creed, Portal, Bioshock, No More Heroes, Borderlands, inFamous, Red Dead Redemption, LA Noire, Halo, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Super Mario Galaxy, Kirby's Epic Yarn and on and on and on. I don't think creativity has taken a slump, I just think the ratio of good-to-bad is being magnified because there's a new scapegoat in town.
ReplyDeleteAs for Project Rainfall, and getting Nintendo to publish some damn good looking games in our country, yes please!