The games that Nintendo fans want don’t include “kiddy” and “port”
A storm of huffs and puffs have been flooding forums with complaints about third-party games coming for the Wii. As mentioned in N’Gai Croal’s column, Nintendo fans are being picky about their games, and they’re not happy about Wii games just being ports of older platforms or being created as too “kiddy.”
In fact, it seems that the criticism is aimed directly at third party games, even if each game is rated E (for Everyone) just like first party games that come straight from the Japanese giant. It’s a “want all, want nothing” dilemma that many developers like THQ, Ubisoft, Electronic Arts and most especially Konami, must face every time they set out to work on a new title.
Ports are the biggest concern for most Nintendo gamers, as they don’t want the Wii to become a metaphorical dumping ground for last year’s games. In fact, it could be that most games already appeared on a former generation of Nintendo’s line of consoles, and probably is just as fun and a lot cheaper, too.
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A storm of huffs and puffs have been flooding forums with complaints about third-party games coming for the Wii. As mentioned in N’Gai Croal’s column, Nintendo fans are being picky about their games, and they’re not happy about Wii games just being ports of older platforms or being created as too “kiddy.”
In fact, it seems that the criticism is aimed directly at third party games, even if each game is rated E (for Everyone) just like first party games that come straight from the Japanese giant. It’s a “want all, want nothing” dilemma that many developers like THQ, Ubisoft, Electronic Arts and most especially Konami, must face every time they set out to work on a new title.
Ports are the biggest concern for most Nintendo gamers, as they don’t want the Wii to become a metaphorical dumping ground for last year’s games. In fact, it could be that most games already appeared on a former generation of Nintendo’s line of consoles, and probably is just as fun and a lot cheaper, too.
Most other games that do sport an original idea are often dismissed as too childish, and not worth their time. While this is may look like overblown choosy (and prissy) attitudes, it’s excusable. After all, the segment that the Wii does tap into were the non-gamers from the start. They lead actual lives with little spare time for gaming: they go to work, sort out their home, and spend time with the family and friends.
So when they do get to spend what time they have left on the Nintendo Wii, they don’t want it to be some mediocre game with absolutely no charm aside from that it’s Wii-friendly and kills time. Most die-hard Nintendo fans actually pick games that they know they will want to finish, from start to end. It’s no suprise, actually, as most avid gamers do the same thing on their favorite platform, too.
Wii fans want mature games, players want actual exclusives on the Wii. Why is Super Paper Mario highly anticipated? Because it’s only available on the Nintendo platform, and who didn’t persevere for months on end to finish with great power-ups and oodles of lives in Super Mario Bros. 3?
It’s about capturing the audience with that amazing concept – that single idea – that Nintendo fans want. Fighting a new-found war against “gamer drift,” Nintendo is working overtime to bring third-party developers to ship games to the Wii. But without something really special coming for the Wii, Nintendo fans will always find an excuse to shun other big name developers.