06-12-2013, 10:31 AM
The only conference that I managed to watch was the Nintendo Direct even though I heard (and watch clips of) the well deserved Sony beaten Microsoft to a bloody pulp thingy.
![[+]](images/collapse_collapsed.png "[+]")
SpoilerWhile Super Mario 3D World interests me on the grounds that I can't play 3D Land and get to play a similar feeling to all the people who played the 3DS game as well as Donkey Kong Country Wii U so that's Christmas sorted, I can't help but feeling that a lot of non-Nintendo fans and some Nintendo fans too were actually disappointed about the Direct. I mean that the Nintendo is bringing out is safe and not risky games when looking away from the fanbase, you are left with an improved 3DS game but with a new powerup (meow) and multiplayer mode when people expected a game as big as Galaxy, a HD remake of a Gamecube game [HD remakes aren't nothing new, they go as far back as God of War and even then it is usually a double/trilogy pack] with a couple of needed changes, a karting game that is coming out next year losing any possible Christmas sales with also a chance of Nintendo blanking out F-Zero [I'm sure sideways and upside sections of tracks appeared in games before Mario Kart 8, there's Rollcage for one and even then other karting games had it too], a party game that Nintendo is struggling to release, a fitness game that they are struggling to release and many expected a Metroid game or a new IP from Retro but instead got more Donkey Kong.
Apart from Bayonetta 2, X and maybe Smash Bros [even then the new characters that are there apart from the unexpected and possibly balance broken Mega Man are marketing characters from their latest games just as I predicted], yeah I can see why people are disappointed. I mean I like Nintendo [not as much as the diehard fans though] and two possibly 3 games that they showed I smiled but Nintendo was suppose to be this creative company that even though they release Mario and Zelda, they also release new games and even then twists of games to make them different or advances to Mario/Zelda e.g. Super Mario 64 -> Super Mario Sunshine, A Link to the Past -> Ocarina of Time but it looks like they are struggling to cope with the Wii U and the 3DS at the same time so they are recycling ideas more now either by ports or by releasing a handheld title to go with the console version and vice-versa with easier to make games on the side. For business, it is logical since it would mean more money for less work but in terms of the player, Sony right now is more creative due to the larger studio output plus having many Western studios (Nintendo by comparison only have like 2 first party American studios, one that is badly treated, one second party and a 2nd party Canadian studio) even just like Nintendo they have their fair share of ports and releasing a handheld title to go with the console version too.
I also laughed when Iwata mentioned 3rd parties and all that came up were mainly from Ubisoft and Warner Bros games since they support any system even the just as bad in terms of sales Vita, some games that the young kiddies will like, a re-release of a recent game that is now on other systems with the same features and the new Sonic game. None of the other big 3rd parties (EA, Take 2/Rockstar/2K, ZeniMax) since they pulled out or didn't come in the first place and even the few Japanese 3rd parties aren't there. Square-Enix, Capcom and Activision have given them minimum support and not sure about Namco. I think this wouldn't have been as bad if THQ is still around but they might have done the same as EA. While I really don't think Nintendo is going down and out [in future they might just stick to handhelds if the worst happens] since if it wasn't for the fans and the brand for the kids they would have been like Sega a company that is barely there anymore, its going to be a 3rd place Gamecube all over again only this time without the support of 3rd parties that it had. Don't mind me wrong, I want Nintendo to succeed unlike executive Microsoft (unless they change their ways), it's just that you have to be realistic. The last main console that had little 3rd party support was the TurboGrafx-16 in America [Japan had support from Namco and Konami] or a better example the Master System and what happened to them? The Turbo was the only successful console that NEC released but was still a distant 3rd place in the US [it wasn't released at all in Europe but was going to and was no.2 in Japan] and left the gaming industry after the PC-FX flopped in Japan. The Master System strangely enough was successful in Europe and Brazil [didn't do too bad in the US, not great in Japan] and competed with Nintendo even though the NES had a ton of 3rd parties and Sega pretty much only had themselves and Tectoy in Brazil [which was pretty much Sega Brazil at the time], SIMS [2nd party], Aspect [2nd party], Virgin, TecMagik, US Gold, Acclaim and Taito, the later 7 pretty much Europe and Brazil only since it was the early 90s they came around and they supported the Game Gear too. So will the Wii U be a TurboGrafx or a Master System? Only time can tell.
Apart from Bayonetta 2, X and maybe Smash Bros [even then the new characters that are there apart from the unexpected and possibly balance broken Mega Man are marketing characters from their latest games just as I predicted], yeah I can see why people are disappointed. I mean I like Nintendo [not as much as the diehard fans though] and two possibly 3 games that they showed I smiled but Nintendo was suppose to be this creative company that even though they release Mario and Zelda, they also release new games and even then twists of games to make them different or advances to Mario/Zelda e.g. Super Mario 64 -> Super Mario Sunshine, A Link to the Past -> Ocarina of Time but it looks like they are struggling to cope with the Wii U and the 3DS at the same time so they are recycling ideas more now either by ports or by releasing a handheld title to go with the console version and vice-versa with easier to make games on the side. For business, it is logical since it would mean more money for less work but in terms of the player, Sony right now is more creative due to the larger studio output plus having many Western studios (Nintendo by comparison only have like 2 first party American studios, one that is badly treated, one second party and a 2nd party Canadian studio) even just like Nintendo they have their fair share of ports and releasing a handheld title to go with the console version too.
I also laughed when Iwata mentioned 3rd parties and all that came up were mainly from Ubisoft and Warner Bros games since they support any system even the just as bad in terms of sales Vita, some games that the young kiddies will like, a re-release of a recent game that is now on other systems with the same features and the new Sonic game. None of the other big 3rd parties (EA, Take 2/Rockstar/2K, ZeniMax) since they pulled out or didn't come in the first place and even the few Japanese 3rd parties aren't there. Square-Enix, Capcom and Activision have given them minimum support and not sure about Namco. I think this wouldn't have been as bad if THQ is still around but they might have done the same as EA. While I really don't think Nintendo is going down and out [in future they might just stick to handhelds if the worst happens] since if it wasn't for the fans and the brand for the kids they would have been like Sega a company that is barely there anymore, its going to be a 3rd place Gamecube all over again only this time without the support of 3rd parties that it had. Don't mind me wrong, I want Nintendo to succeed unlike executive Microsoft (unless they change their ways), it's just that you have to be realistic. The last main console that had little 3rd party support was the TurboGrafx-16 in America [Japan had support from Namco and Konami] or a better example the Master System and what happened to them? The Turbo was the only successful console that NEC released but was still a distant 3rd place in the US [it wasn't released at all in Europe but was going to and was no.2 in Japan] and left the gaming industry after the PC-FX flopped in Japan. The Master System strangely enough was successful in Europe and Brazil [didn't do too bad in the US, not great in Japan] and competed with Nintendo even though the NES had a ton of 3rd parties and Sega pretty much only had themselves and Tectoy in Brazil [which was pretty much Sega Brazil at the time], SIMS [2nd party], Aspect [2nd party], Virgin, TecMagik, US Gold, Acclaim and Taito, the later 7 pretty much Europe and Brazil only since it was the early 90s they came around and they supported the Game Gear too. So will the Wii U be a TurboGrafx or a Master System? Only time can tell.