Why Nintendo Don't Deserve 90% of the Backlash (And Why 10% is Probably Justifiable)

I should mention now, that I’m pretty unbiased. I just think it’s amazingly stupid how much hate Nintendo is getting at the moment. Momentarily, I believe this article is more focused on the Hardcore Gamer, so the majority of it will be directed at them.

Mario, Zelda, Punch-Out!!!, Pokemon, Metroid, Kid Icarus, F-Zero, Pilotwings, Excitebike, Contra and Goldeneye. Mention any of these games to a self-classified ‘Hardcore Gamer’, and his eyes will glaze over, as he is transported to days gone by. Days where he loved Nintendo consoles, Nintendo software and everything released for Nintendo’s platforms. Days where he would spend the entire weekend huddled around his 10” TV screen, along with his three friends, endlessly blasting each other in Goldeneye. Days where Nintendo could do, and would do, no wrong.

‘Wii Fit, Wii Sports, Wii Music and Zelda: Twilight Princess’ has entirely the opposite effect. Mention any of these to a ‘Hardcore Gamer’, and he will proceed to tell you how Nintendo has lost their soul, given up their pride, and forgotten the core gamer. Failing that, he’d laugh at the idea that ‘Wii Fit’ is a videogame, and will say something along the lines of “I want a proper game, not a set of bathroom scales.”

First and foremost, remember this. Nintendo is a business. They are not your personal friend, nor do they give a damn whether you like them or not. Of course, they would prefer it if if you liked them, because you’d be inclined to spend more money on their products. They do not, however, get out of bed each morning and say “What would *Name* like for me to make? I’ll get it done!”, rather they say “How can we make money today?”

Secondly, no matter how fond you may think you are of the Gamecube era, it sucked. Worldwide, since its release, the Gamecube sold just under 22 million. To put that in perspective, the PS2 sold over 136 million, and the Xbox 27 million. This means that, by the end of the Gamecube’s lifecycle, Nintendo were dead last.

They had one shot. One final chance to save face, and pull themselves out from under the massive weight of the Sony Playstation brand. And so the Wii was born. Now, don’t get me wrong, when the name was first announced, I too, was sceptical. ‘Why? Wee? Wy-aye? Why not just call it the Revolution?” But thinking about it, after all the childish giggles had boiled down, it’s easy to understand why the simplicity of the name was so important. Because otherwise, people wouldn’t get it. The name is short, simple and inclusive, much like the console itself.

This, in particular, is one of the major reasons for the backlash against Nintendo. “It’s such a small, stupid console. The graphics are poor, and it feels like a toy.” Whilst I don’t disagree that the majority of Wii games are terrible to look at, this comes back to Nintendo being a clever business. The Wii was the only console that, at launch, was making money on every unit that they sold. It’s been speculated that the Wii hardware only costs £100-120 to manufacture, leaving £60-80 profit on every single console. You might feel annoyed that Nintendo are making such a large profit, but you have to think about where that money goes.

First off, that money will be going towards making more consoles, which in turn, will be making more money. Secondly, that money will be going to fill up the giant hole that the Gamecube left in its wake. Finally, it will be going towards making more games.

No matter how much you may dislike it, you can’t deny that every title that Nintendo puts out is of the highest quality. The production values are easy to see in Mario Galaxy, Twilight Princess, Wii Sports and Wii Fit. Even if you think they aren’t tailored towards your audience, surely you can appreciate their merits.

You might think that Wii Fit is a two-fingered salute from Nintendo, but look at it from their point of view. Wii Fit has sold 18 Million copies since its release last year. That’s almost as much as the Gamecube sold in its entire lifetime. And, contrary to popular belief, Wii Fit is pretty fun to play. It’s no Zelda or Mario, but people enjoy it. “But it’s a casual game!” So? It doesn’t require you to spend 5 hours in front of your TV, nor does it involve you in a deep, involving narrative, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad. A ‘Hardcore’ gamer complaining about the audience ‘Wii Fit’ is aimed at is like a Japanese man complaining about the audience ‘Gears of War’ is aimed at. Just because you don’t like it, doesn’t mean it’s not giving a lot of people enjoyment.

Next, there’s the misconception that every game on the Wii is casual, a minigame compilation, or more usually, both. This is not true, of course. Plenty of great games are being made for the Wii (although I do not deny 2008 was a dry year), but unfortunately they are not getting bought. It’s funny how so many people seem prepared to complain about the Wii’s lack of hardcore games, but when it comes to putting their own money on the line, they’re unwilling to help. Even if you believe that Nintendo have let you down, what about Sega’s ‘Madworld’? What about Capcom’s ‘Okami’? Sega’s ‘House of the Dead: Overkill’? THQ’s ‘de blob’? Rising Star Game’s ‘No More Heroes’? If these games don’t get bought, they won’t get made anymore. Simple as that. If you care enough to complain, then care enough to pull your finger out, and buy a copy.

Remember, Nintendo are just one company, and their system does not sink or float entirely on their output. According to Wikipedia, of the 648 titles released for Gamecube, just 20 were made by Nintendo. That’s a whole 3%. And who can forget such classics as ‘The Legend of the Quiz: Tournament Champions’, or ‘Legend of Golfer’? That’s right, everybody can. Can you guess which company made both these games?
Recently, I’ve heard people say “Viewtiful Joe was awesome”, “I loved Beyond Good and Evil”, “Boy, wasn’t Super Monkey Ball fantastic?” and of course “Resident Evil 4 was the best game of the last generation, in my opinion.”

Can you guess what these titles all have in common? No?

None of them had anything to do with Nintendo. Of course, they were all released on the Nintendo platform, but apart from that, they were all independently made in their own studios.

In the Gamecube’s lifespan, Nintendo made about 20, which, considering the lifespan of the Gamecube was 5 years, averages out to about 4 games a year. In the Wii’s 2 ½ years, Nintendo have made 48 games available for the platform, averaging at 19 games a year. For those of you who aren’t that strong at Maths, that’s 5 times the number of games per year. Does this not show that Nintendo is fully backing the Wii? That they are putting a lot of effort into making software for their system? In the past two and a half years, we’ve already received;
- A Brand New Mario Title
- The Final Part of the Metroid Prime Trilogy
- A New Super Smash Bros. Game
- A Zelda Title
- Fantastic Racing Games in Excite Truck / Excitebots
- Epic RPGs with Fire Emblem
- A new Mario Kart title
- Revivals of classic NES/SNES games in Punch Out!!!
Considering that this generation is likely to last much longer than the last, it’s safe to say that we’ll be getting much stronger support from Nintendo in this generation.

A few more points I’d like to address, before I post this, and inevitable get tons of hate mail.

“Nintendo are just being lazy with their re-releases in the ‘New Play Control’ lineup. Why don’t they spend the money on creating new games?”

– I see entirely where you’re coming from, but again, think about it a little deeper. The Gamecube sold poorly. The Wii is selling like hotcakes. A completely new audience has been opened up by the Wii, an audience that never had a chance to experience ‘Pikmin’, ‘Chibi Robo’ or ‘Metroid Prime’. Of course, it would be cheaper for them to simply buy a copy of the Gamecube version, and play it in their Wii, but how would that benefit Nintendo? It’ll suddenly make all the ‘Casual’ audience ‘Hardcore’, and Nintendo will stop creating ‘Wii Sports’ and ‘Wii Fit etc? Of course not. The ‘New Play Control’ series is designed for just one thing – To bring in money. It doesn’t take up as much time to port a game from Gamecube, nor does it cost anywhere near the same amount of money as a new entry in that franchise. Using simple figures, a brand new game costs £10 to make, and may hopefully bring in £13-14. A Gamecube port will cost £3-4 to make, and still bring in £13-14. Can you guess where the £10 profit will go next? To creating a new entry in the franchise. It just takes time.

“I can't take Wii's library seriously, tbh. I find that there aren’t enough games that I would play and a lot of the ones that do come out and are considered 'core' are pretty weak.”

- The Wii has some gems, it’s not all doom and gloom. The problem is that the truly fantastic games don’t get the attention they deserve. The PS2 (which many consider to be the best system of all time) had a huge selection of utterly dire games, but the ones which were outstanding, where usually marketed as such. Nintendo has missed a huge trick in not spending some of its money advertising ‘No More Heroes’, ‘de blob’ and especially ‘Zack and Wiki’. All these are great games, but without attention, nobody realises they’ve been released and/or buys them. As for the idea that the ‘core’ games are not as strong as previous iterations, it’s simply because every game series goes through peaks and troughs. Many argue that ‘Super Mario Galaxy’ is stronger than ‘Super Mario Sunshine’, does this mean that the Gamecube/Nintendo were crap when they made Sunshine? Of course not, it just means that Galaxy is a stronger game. People also argue that ‘The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess’ is weaker than ‘The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker’. Does that mean ‘Twilight Princess’ is a bad game? No, it doesn’t. It just means that people preferred ‘Wind Waker’.

“The graphics: Nintendo must be looking backward, thinking that history is going to repeat itself, over and over again. Sorry guys, the rest of us are looking for improvement. Hence why the other two 7th generation systems are so visually appealing with improved graphics and HD/Blu-Ray options. Colorful bubbly shaped characters are for little children and cartoons.”

– Good Graphics =/= Good game. Of course, I think Nintendo missed a trick having lower quality graphics, but we need to refer back to understand why. It’s cheaper. Simple as that. The core point to my entire argument is that the ‘Wii’ is a reaction to the ‘Gamecube’. Usually, companies tend to react to the other major platforms (The PS3 is competing with the 360 and vice versa), but Nintendo simply couldn’t afford to do that. Even with the motion controls, and Wii Fit etc, if Nintendo had installed a better graphics chip, the Wii would’ve been priced higher, and would’ve sold far less. STEAM has proved that cheaper prices sell games, for example, they recently reduced one of their titles to just 25% of its RRP. That game saw a 4000% boost in sales. Simple business, no?
The graphics are fine. They’re obviously not up to PS3/360 standards, but Super Mario Galaxy is clean and crisp. You might say ‘But that’s just one game!’, but it proves that it’s possible on the Wii to have clean, crisp and pretty graphics. It’s 3rd party developers you want to get pissy at, not Nintendo.

“The games: If you’re stuck in LaLa-Land following Nintendo’s character saga, then sure, you might enjoy playing these games. However, how many more mushrooms can you watch the italian plumber eat? This system’s game selection is horrid, and the ratings even dropped from the Gamecube!” and “Juvenile Themes: The plan to make a system geared for everyone backfired when they spent too much time focusing on the younger crowd. Maybe they forgot that little kids aren’t able to afford a $200+ system.”

– Why is it that it’s suddenly the Wii’s fault for Nintendo’s software lineup? Nintendo have always made Mario, Zelda, Metroid etc. (Refer back to the beginning for a slightly longer list), so why is it that it’s suddenly the Wii’s fault?
Mario was always a ‘cute’ games character, Link was never imposing, and many of Nintendo’s characters have always been depicted in a ‘cartoony’ style. What has this got to do with the Wii?
The reason for the ratings drop is that, suddenly, there’s an awful lot more games on the Wii in comparison with the Gamecube, and a huge number of them are simply pushed out the door far too quickly to make a quick buck. Of course, you expected me to say that. However, what if I were to say that the reviewers aren’t the ones who these games are aimed at? Sit down a hard-edged, moody, 40 year old reviewer to play a copy of ‘Barbie Horse Adventures’, and obviously the game will receive a low score. Place the same game in front of an 8 year old girl however, and the chances are she’d enjoy it far more, and ultimately score it higher.
Nintendo themselves aren’t focusing on a younger audience. Forgive me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think many <10 year olds are interested in getting fit on their own. ‘Wii ...’ software such as ‘Wii Sports, Wii Fit and Wii Music’ are clearly aimed at an all-round demographic, not just at children, so I definitely disagree with those statements.

“It’s Dangerous: If some butterfingers forgot to use the wrist-strap in Wii bowling, say goodbye to your 52″ plasma TV.”

– This, ladies and gentlemen, is called being desperate for an argument.

And so we reach the final two points that seem to get everyone annoyed. The controls and the online.

First up, the controls. Yes, they’re different. Is different always bad though? No, it’s not. There’s been complaints that it’s uncomfortable to lie down and play Wii games. Hardly so. The majority of Wii games ask for a flick of the wrist, and that’s about it. At least with this control scheme, Nintendo and other developers have choice to make it conventional, or different. With other consoles, you have the gamepad, and that’s it. The pointer on the Wii remote is slowly helping to bring back dead genres such as the Arcade Shooter (House of the Dead, Ghost Squad) and the Point ‘n’ Click Adventure (Broken Sword, Zack and Wiki), something that wouldn’t be possible on the Xbox 360 or the PS3. Now, with the Wii MotionPlus add-on coming out soon, it seems that the Wii’s control scheme was the way to go. Many reputable gaming figures are stating how much better the games ‘Tiger Woods 10’ and ‘Grand Slam Tennis’ are made by the add-on. It’ll be interesting to see how Red Steel 2, the ‘Wii Motion-Plus only’ game will fare, but if the controls work, why complain?

Next, the online. This is where Nintendo seriously dropped the ball; “Gamers do not want to play online” Miyamoto once said. Boy, was he wrong. Online gaming severely extends the replayability of a game, as proved by ‘Call of Duty 4’ and ‘Halo 3’, and Nintendo have lost out by not making the online functionality of their console stronger.
That being said, however, can you not just accept it, and move on? The Wii has some fantastic singleplayer experiences (Look at my list below for the games that I enjoyed), and as long as you don’t go in expecting the world, then you can be extremely pleased with the enjoyment you get out of the singleplayer experience.

So then, I think I’ve pretty much covered all of the points I wanted to. I’m not asking you to fall in love with the Wii, nor am I asking that you declare it the best console of all time. All I’m trying to say here, is that the Wii is not the worst console ever created (as some of you seem to think), and actually, there’s a large selection of fantastic games available on the system. You just have to look past all the crap to find them.

To finish up, I figure I’ll post the list of Wii games that I own, with a positive or negative sign next to it, as to whether or not I think it’s a good game and/or should be bought.

Battalion Wars 2 +
Call of Duty 3 –
de blob +
Excite Truck ++
The House of the Dead: Overkill ++
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess ++
Mario Strikers Charged Football +
Madworld ++
Mario Party 8 –
No More Heroes ++
Okami ++
Super Paper Mario +
Little King’s Story ++
Super Mario Galaxy ++
SSX Blur +
Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam ++
Wii Fit ++
Zak and Wiki: Quest for Barbaros’ Treasure ++


Thanks for reading, I hope I gave you something to think about. Please don’t hesitate to comment and tell me how wrong I am!

Peggle, Popcap and Where the hell did my evening go?

They say that great things come in small packages, and whilst some members of the male readership may believe this, it doesn’t always hold true. If we listen to Cliff Bleszinski, everything should be ‘bigger, better, and more badass’. Again, this isn’t always the case. Sometimes, you need to find a mix between the two. Something that, whilst being tight and perfectly formed, is also big and badass.

One such mixture is found in the game ‘Peggle’. Affectionately dubbed ‘Videogame Crack’, Peggle is perfectly formed, great fun to play, and incredibly addictive. It’s premise is simple. On the screen, there are a collection of ‘pegs’, some blue, and some orange. The aim of the game is to eliminate all the orange pegs, and in doing so, amass the highest score possible. Having cleared all the orange pegs on one map, you move onto the next.

You can be forgiven for thinking that Peggle sounds like an incredibly boring game. “Hitting orange pegs with a little ball? Where’s the first person levels? Where’s my guns? Where, for Christ’s sake, is the princess?” Fortunately or otherwise, Peggle does not boast a Princess in a castle, nor does it involve shooting aliens from a first person point of view. It’s pure escapist fun.

There are those who argue that videogames should be more like films, and should all aspire to be compared to ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ or ‘The Green Mile’. But for every ‘Batman: The Dark Knight’ there exists a ‘Kangaroo Jack’. Whilst ‘The Dark Knight’ is a fantastic film, does that mean that ‘Kangaroo Jack’ (being completely the opposite in terms of narrative and story etc.) wasn’t enjoyable? Of course not. ‘Kangaroo Jack’, or Peggle, if you will, did not need an engrossing storyline, with believable characters. Nor did it entirely need a script, as the premise was ridiculously simple. A Kangaroo had stolen a jacket with a large amount of money in it, and the two main characters were trying to get it back. Simple, right?

This, we find, is the case with Peggle. Deceptively simple, but outrageously addictive, Peggle pulls you in with its bright colours and doesn’t let go until you’ve completed the entire game, and graduated as a ‘Grand Peggle Master’. Even when you’ve left your PC, you’ll be thinking “Hmm. If I blasted a ball against that wall there, it would rebound to hit that lampshade, before falling right into that vase. That would have to be worth 50k points.”

Peggle has achieved the one thing that many casual games of its nature seem to fall short of, the ‘One Last Go’ factor. Boot up a level of Peggle, shoot your 10 balls, and find you’ve fallen short of the 25 orange pegs the game asked you to hit. Never mind, just restart the level, and try again. Before you know it, it’s 5:00 in the morning, and you’ve still not written the essay due for 11:00 that same day. But damn it, it’s only one peg! Eventually, with your eyes barely open, you aim perfectly, and BAM! You’ve beaten the level. As ‘Ode to Joy’ comes blaring out your speakers, you cry with satisfaction, feeling that you’ve accomplished the impossible.

This too, is a testament to Popcap’s Genius. Ever rewarding the player with extra points, delightful sounds and quirky messages, the player feels a true sense of reward, essentially, after every shot. “Never mind you didn’t hit that Orange peg,” The game tells you, “you got an EXTREME SLIDE!”

So there you have it. Peggle is the most fun you can have with your clothes on, and is definetely worth your money!

And so we raise the immortal question, Should videogames simply be escapist fun, or should they be something more? I feel that’s something that deserves it’s own post, and should be looked at in more detail. Stay tuned for that.

An Introduction.

Hello there. If you're reading this, it's most likely you already know who I am, and what I do. On the off chance that you've stumbled upon this site by the recommendation of a friend, here's the lowdown.

My name is Phillipe Bosher. I'm 16 years old, and an avid gamer. I love watching videogames, playing videogames, and heck, hand me a VHS and a Monopoly board and I'll be amused.

The purpose of this site is for me to hone my writing skills. I'll need to start looking for a job soon, and if I can show prospective employers this site, perhaps I may be in with a chance.

I'm also the host of a small, but well received, podcast, called 'Aerial Block: A Gaming Podcast'. You can find it on iTunes, or at http://www.gcast.com/u/aerialblock/main .

Thanks for reading.