Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
I have to say that I am really excited after watching the Nintendo press conference today. From watching the feed, you can feel the energy and can tell that the audience was really into it and excited as well. I mean that opening with Miyamoto conducting the symphony is classic.
The new details about the wiimote are pretty cool (3-axis movement on both parts, speaker). One thing that I didn't undertand (at least from a business standpoint) is their decision to launch Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess on the Gamecube as well - if you are launching it with your new system, why launch it on the same day on your older system - doesn't that eliminate a lot of the incentive to update? I'm also looking forward to Starfox DS and Pokemon Mystic Dungeon - and picking up a DS lite.
But what was most interesting to me is Nintendo's new strategy and philosophy. Mr. Iwata's point was interesting about bringing in new people to gaming as well as bringing people back to it. I'm one of those people who have lost interest in console gaming - I haven't played a console regularly since the first Playstation. The DS is my first one since then, because of interesting games like Nintendogs and Brain Age. I haven't been this excited about non-PC gaming for a long time.
I'm not sure that its because they have somewhat lagged in the past two generations of systems that they are forced to do something new, but Nintendo is definitely are taking gaming into an entirely new frontier. They are focusing on the "experience" first, and the graphics only second. In my mind, this is revolutionary.
If you think about it, we have reached a point in gaming where it isn't that hard to make good graphics. Anyone can charge thousands of dollars for a system and give it the best graphics ever. But if it isn't fun to play, what's the point? In the end, who pays attention to all those little details? It is the experience that you remember.
For decades we have assessed games on their technology and graphical abilities, simply because that was the limiting factor. Companies had to squeeze out what they could from the past systems, because there wasn't simply a lot there. Now, technology is no longer the limiting factor. Now, the limiting factor is FUN. It is easy to throw a team of developers at a game and make it look beautiful, but if you don't spend time thinking about how to enhance the actual experience with new and creative approaches, it won't matter.
That is why I think Nintendo has taken a brilliant strategic move with its Wii. By focusing their resources primarily on the player experience, it is a lot more efficient way to maximize what a player gets out of each game. Because in the end, you can through billions of dollars down the graphics hole, but that doesn't increase "fun" at all.
As an example, just take the 3 companies' conferences as an example. Microsoft's had a lot of content - a lot of big announcements, a lot of flashy, good-looking gameplay videos. But it was still pretty much some dude lecturing you - very sterile and boring to watch. Nintendo, on the other hand, focused on the total experience. The music playing was upbeat and exciting, and the flow was controlled very well - The Regginator narrating the whole thing, and Iwata and others coming in at well-placed times throughout. They opened with the Miyamoto symphony thing, and it looked like the executives were actually having fun playing tennis. And while the in-game graphics looked pretty weak, no one cared - it was a good time. Notice another difference: In the Microsoft one, most of the video was to show good their graphics looked. At Nintendo's, most of the video was to show how much fun the players were having. I think that is very indicative of each companies' focus.
I do have to say that Gears of War and Viva Pinata for the Xbox 360 looks pretty badass. While Wii is cool, I still don't think Nintendo has more intense, adult-targeted titles as a priority. I saw Project HAMMER and Red Steel, but I guess we'll have to wait and see. I think maybe people will pick up a Wii for the fun and general gaming, and either get a 360 or a PS3 to supplement it wth more action, blow-shit-up type gaming.
But I guess the bottom line is that Wii is new, 360 and PS3 are more of the same.
Damn, I need to work on making my ranting shorter.
The new details about the wiimote are pretty cool (3-axis movement on both parts, speaker). One thing that I didn't undertand (at least from a business standpoint) is their decision to launch Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess on the Gamecube as well - if you are launching it with your new system, why launch it on the same day on your older system - doesn't that eliminate a lot of the incentive to update? I'm also looking forward to Starfox DS and Pokemon Mystic Dungeon - and picking up a DS lite.
But what was most interesting to me is Nintendo's new strategy and philosophy. Mr. Iwata's point was interesting about bringing in new people to gaming as well as bringing people back to it. I'm one of those people who have lost interest in console gaming - I haven't played a console regularly since the first Playstation. The DS is my first one since then, because of interesting games like Nintendogs and Brain Age. I haven't been this excited about non-PC gaming for a long time.
I'm not sure that its because they have somewhat lagged in the past two generations of systems that they are forced to do something new, but Nintendo is definitely are taking gaming into an entirely new frontier. They are focusing on the "experience" first, and the graphics only second. In my mind, this is revolutionary.
If you think about it, we have reached a point in gaming where it isn't that hard to make good graphics. Anyone can charge thousands of dollars for a system and give it the best graphics ever. But if it isn't fun to play, what's the point? In the end, who pays attention to all those little details? It is the experience that you remember.
For decades we have assessed games on their technology and graphical abilities, simply because that was the limiting factor. Companies had to squeeze out what they could from the past systems, because there wasn't simply a lot there. Now, technology is no longer the limiting factor. Now, the limiting factor is FUN. It is easy to throw a team of developers at a game and make it look beautiful, but if you don't spend time thinking about how to enhance the actual experience with new and creative approaches, it won't matter.
That is why I think Nintendo has taken a brilliant strategic move with its Wii. By focusing their resources primarily on the player experience, it is a lot more efficient way to maximize what a player gets out of each game. Because in the end, you can through billions of dollars down the graphics hole, but that doesn't increase "fun" at all.
As an example, just take the 3 companies' conferences as an example. Microsoft's had a lot of content - a lot of big announcements, a lot of flashy, good-looking gameplay videos. But it was still pretty much some dude lecturing you - very sterile and boring to watch. Nintendo, on the other hand, focused on the total experience. The music playing was upbeat and exciting, and the flow was controlled very well - The Regginator narrating the whole thing, and Iwata and others coming in at well-placed times throughout. They opened with the Miyamoto symphony thing, and it looked like the executives were actually having fun playing tennis. And while the in-game graphics looked pretty weak, no one cared - it was a good time. Notice another difference: In the Microsoft one, most of the video was to show good their graphics looked. At Nintendo's, most of the video was to show how much fun the players were having. I think that is very indicative of each companies' focus.
I do have to say that Gears of War and Viva Pinata for the Xbox 360 looks pretty badass. While Wii is cool, I still don't think Nintendo has more intense, adult-targeted titles as a priority. I saw Project HAMMER and Red Steel, but I guess we'll have to wait and see. I think maybe people will pick up a Wii for the fun and general gaming, and either get a 360 or a PS3 to supplement it wth more action, blow-shit-up type gaming.
But I guess the bottom line is that Wii is new, 360 and PS3 are more of the same.
Damn, I need to work on making my ranting shorter.
posted by jon at 12:59 AM
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