Do You Have Any Unpopular Gaming Opinions?

[Gunstar Green]

I think that this is important to remember. Not every game is made for experienced gamers - like us - and a lot of people derive a tremendous amount of enjoyment from games many of us wouldn't consider playing. For example, I gave a loose copy of Mario Party DS to my 4-year-old son the other day. The game is, by all accounts, not that great, and playing Mario Party by yourself pretty much defeats the point. Nonetheless, he loves it, and he enjoys it drastically more than the critically-acclaimed racing game I gave to him with his system. Accordingly, I think we should avoid thinking that gamers like us are the intended audience for all games - and especially games published by Nintendo - and I think we should avoid judging (or pre-judging) the merits of a game that may not be intended fo us.

This is how I feel on the software end of things. Nintendo is doing plenty of great things. People expect a standard from them that would be pretty unrealistic for any other developer.

As for Nintendo as a hardware developer I don't know. Maybe it's time to hang up their hat or maybe they'll pull another Wii-like surprise out of their backsides.

[prfsnl_gmr]

This is how I feel on the software end of things. Nintendo is doing plenty of great things. People expect a standard from them that would be pretty unrealistic for any other developer.

I know. People expect biennial installments of games in their favorite series and they expect new IPs that are just as good as the greatest video game IPs of all time. Nintendo is a great publisher - and it sometimes meets people's expectations! - but it can't be expected to perform at the level all the time.

[isiolia]

So did Undertale in a sense, doesn't mean that Nintendo can't make a great original game that blows everyone away as well. Nintendo is too busy rehashing old formulas like Zelda and Mario instead of trying to invent a new game formula. That's all I'm trying to say. Yeah they need to keep making Mario and Zelda games to keep them afloat, but they also need to come up with something new, something no one else saw coming. If the developers of Undertale can do it with a limited budget and a 8 bit graphics style, so can Nintendo.

Eh, while I wouldn't really say it's Nintendo innovating per se, I would point at Super Mario Maker here. In that, Nintendo made something - to an extent - for the create-your-own crowd, and the Let's Play/Twitch type folks all in one. Novel? Well...no. LittleBigPlanet pretty much did it a generation back, if nothing else, and other games/genres have embraced to some level going way back (DOOM WADs for example). Still, for them, it's new, and it's current and relevant.

Rehashing isn't necessarily bad either, if by doing so they create a title that's relevant outside of nostalgia. It matters less that a new Zelda or whatnot resonates with the nigh-impossible to impress, jaded 30-something audience, and a lot more that it makes the IP something an 8-year-old cares about. Just like music and movies, there's some room for classics, but at some point or another kids are going to branch out from what their parents tell them is good. Nintendo, I'd agree, could be doing better to engage that audience.

That said, objectively, Nintendo publishes a lot of stuff, even if a lot of it is from third party studios. Granted, for Wii U games, it's probably because few others will...but still, they do.

[Exhuminator]

Sigh...

Nintendo releases as many new IPs each year as any other publisher. That many of us overlook them is our fault, not Nintendo's.

I said it before but it got overlooked so:

Games like Splatoon, Tomodachi Life, Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition, Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash, Style Savvy 3, Pokémon Art Academy, and Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival just do not appeal to me.

So tell me what Nintendo is developing themselves that does cater to older more experienced gamers. What is Nintendo internally developing right now to be released soon, that does appeal to hardcore gamers?

Also Nintendo chasing children and casuals is a dumb idea, because smartphone and tablets have those demographics locked down. That ship has sailed. Nintendo's idea to start making games for mobile platforms they don't own shows Nintendo is finally admitting this is the case.

[corn619]

Sigh...

Nintendo releases as many new IPs each year as any other publisher. That many of us overlook them is our fault, not Nintendo's.

I said it before but it got overlooked so:

Games like Splatoon, Tomodachi Life, Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition, Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash, Style Savvy 3, Pokémon Art Academy, and Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival just do not appeal to me.

So tell me what Nintendo is developing themselves that does cater to older more experienced gamers. What is Nintendo internally developing right now to be released soon, that does appeal to hardcore gamers?

Also Nintendo chasing children and casuals is a dumb idea, because smartphone and tablets have those demographics locked down. That ship has sailed. Nintendo's idea to start making games for mobile platforms they don't own shows Nintendo is finally admitting this is the case.

One of things I think Nintendo is known for is being able to develop a game that has universal appeal to both young and older people. They've done it many many times already. Not many developers can claim that.

[Exhuminator]

One of things I think Nintendo is known for is being able to develop a game that has universal appeal to both young and older people. They've done it many many times already.

Yeah they used to be pretty good at that.

[Snatch1414]

Sigh...

Nintendo releases as many new IPs each year as any other publisher. That many of us overlook them is our fault, not Nintendo's.

I said it before but it got overlooked so:

Games like Splatoon, Tomodachi Life, Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition, Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash, Style Savvy 3, Pokémon Art Academy, and Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival just do not appeal to me.

So tell me what Nintendo is developing themselves that does cater to older more experienced gamers. What is Nintendo internally developing right now to be released soon, that does appeal to hardcore gamers?

Also Nintendo chasing children and casuals is a dumb idea, because smartphone and tablets have those demographics locked down. That ship has sailed. Nintendo's idea to start making games for mobile platforms they don't own shows Nintendo is finally admitting this is the case.

I more or less agree. Of course they put out games that aren't Mario/Zelda/Donkey Kong. At that point it becomes a question of quality/appeal. I loved Animal Crossing in its early forms, but by no means do I think it's a legacy-type franchise. Chibi-Robo is a new iteration of a game some people kinda liked. That's it. I personally have never been interested in Pokémon. That doesn't leave me with much.

To be fair though, the other big companies aren't held to this type of scrutiny. I own an Xbone but look at Microsoft for God's sake. I don't think Halo or Gears of Wars have been very relevant for years and years, and that's about all they have to date.

[corn619]

Sigh...

Nintendo releases as many new IPs each year as any other publisher. That many of us overlook them is our fault, not Nintendo's.

I said it before but it got overlooked so:

Games like Splatoon, Tomodachi Life, Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition, Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash, Style Savvy 3, Pokémon Art Academy, and Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival just do not appeal to me.

So tell me what Nintendo is developing themselves that does cater to older more experienced gamers. What is Nintendo internally developing right now to be released soon, that does appeal to hardcore gamers?

Also Nintendo chasing children and casuals is a dumb idea, because smartphone and tablets have those demographics locked down. That ship has sailed. Nintendo's idea to start making games for mobile platforms they don't own shows Nintendo is finally admitting this is the case.

I more or less agree. Of course they put out games that aren't Mario/Zelda/Donkey Kong. At that point it becomes a question of quality/appeal. I loved Animal Crossing in its early forms, but by no means do I think it's a legacy-type franchise. Chibi-Robo is a new iteration of a game some people kinda liked. That's it. I personally have never been interested in Pokémon. That doesn't leave me with much.

To be fair though, the other big companies aren't held to this type of scrutiny. I own an Xbone but look at Microsoft for God's sake. I don't think Halo or Gears of Wars have been very relevant for years and years, and that's about all they have to date.

Ah the Xbox One. The only reason it even has a place in my living room is because I like Forza. If the PC offered a racing game as fun as Forza is my Xbox would be gone. It offers almost nothing that interests me.

[prfsnl_gmr]

So tell me what Nintendo is developing themselves that does cater to older more experienced gamers. What is Nintendo internally developing right now to be released soon, that does appeal to hardcore gamers?

Not counting eShop games...Codename: S.T.E.A.M., Fire Emblem, Super Mario Maker, Smash Bros., Star Fox, and Xenoblade Chronicles X to name a few. (Also, and believe it or not, Splatoon is probably the best new competitive, online shotting IP in years...and I can't think of a genre more associated with co-called "hardcore" gamers.) Not all of those games may appeal to you, but they are certainly intended to appeal to more experienced gamers.

Also Nintendo chasing children and casuals is a dumb idea, because smartphone and tablets have those demographics locked down.

Not as much as you might think...

.....

Also, I think that many of you are reasoning that, because new Nintendo IPs do not appeal to you, they must not appeal to anyone. I think that the logic behind this line of reasoning is flawed. ("Violent first- and third-person action games, otaku-bait JRPGs, 2.5D fighting games, sandbox games, and sports games do not appeal to me. Accordingly, the lack of innovation displayed by Microsoft, Sony, and pretty much all of their third-party publishers is astounding!")

[isiolia]

To be fair though, the other big companies aren't held to this type of scrutiny. I own an Xbone but look at Microsoft for God's sake. I don't think Halo or Gears of Wars have been very relevant for years and years, and that's about all they have to date.

They've published a ton more than that for the Xbox One, ranging from Killer Instinct, Sunset Overdrive and Ryse, to Rare Replay and Ori, to Forza or Kinect apps and Project Spark.