Nintendo: The Wii Was Never Meant to Be "Casual"

[lovest harding]

My nephew didn't need a kid console to like games. My sister got a PS2 and the first real game he ever played (outside of those cheap one game handhelds that McDonald's give out for free) was GTA: San Andreas. He loved running and driving around town. And now (at 8) he and I play Borderlands together and he's quite good at it.
I really don't think Children need to be catered to by a console (other than in terms of difficulty). Sure, my nephew now plays a wide variety of family friendly games (Pokemon, Lego Star Wars) but he didn't need something like that to get into games.
The future game designers will like games no matter what's in front of them (as long as it's fun). The people that casual and family games (which I have no problem with and play myself) draw in are people who don't already game.
Keep in mind, that's not to say I don't want family games or casual games or even games specifically catered to children. Just that we don't need a kid console as a community to keep the community alive for the future.

Well if it's true for your nephew then I'm sure it's true for everyone else...

Also, what you're not looking at is that you're directly interacting with your nephew and guiding him through gaming, which is brilliant. I do the same with my girlfriends younger brother(he's 11, I'm 24) and we play LBP and Wipeout together.

But a lot of younger kids aren't getting guidance from anywhere but the internet, and the Wii is a console more geared toward family multiplayer, rather then competitive online multiplayer with a headset full of people either talking shit or shouting obscenities.

Besides, I never said we needed the Wii, just that there is a gap in the market for family inclusive gaming, and while consoles can certainly include that(although mainly in arcade games I find), the mainstream console experience is geared to one gamer, on one console, interacting online.

I was using an anecdote to prove that we don't NEED a console made exclusively for children. I didn't say it wouldn't be useful, I'm simply stating we don't need to cater to children to secure the next generation of game makers. The people who like games will like them whether or not they have a family friendly game or not.
And I wasn't playing with him. I wouldn't have allowed him to play San Andreas (he was a bit too young at the time to get the difference between games and reality, I'd had waited a year or two and let him play games with a more fantasy tinge). My sister used to let them play it (as she owned the game and the PS2).

What's the difference according to the next generation of game makers? I don't get it? How does a family friendly Wii game make a better example than an online multiplayer game for future game makers?

I'll quote what I quoted before:
"I for one hope they do well with whatever they want, because Iwata san is spot on. There is definitely a gap in the market for 'kiddies first console' shit, back in the day it was ONLY kid consoles. I don't have any want or need for their products, but we need more kids to have a love of gaming and not just a love of multiplayer, because that right there ladies and gentlemen, is the next batch of game designers, and things aren't looking good."

That is what I was responding to. All I meant to say (and give an anecdotal example to) was that there isn't a requirement for a family friendly console to get kids into games. I'm not against a family friendly console or casual games or any of that. Just that I don't see how not having a family friendly console adversely affects the people who will make games.

 

[antipunt]

This is basically the downfall we were all expecting. It was all a matter of time.

Now it's just deny, deny, deny. And spray and pray.

Expecting since the GC or N64...
It's like the end of the world visionaries. It's always tomorrow, and never is...until it is...
You'll be right someday but for now you've been wrong so many times

??
I don't recall saying anything about the GameCube or N64. Also, the downfall I'm referring to has -already happened- so the analogy you've put together regarding EotW 'visionaries' is confusing at best

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

"Every avid game player was once a beginner, or in other words, there are no born advanced players," Iwata said.

I wish more people would accept this as truth. Thats one of the biggest things in multiplayer gaming I see today, people downing on "noobs".
Everyone was once a noob.

Well think of it this way. People who have been gaming for a while grew up with Doom, Quake, Wolfenstien, and Goldeneye. I remember being 10 years old when Counter Strike came out. There was no real casual marketback then besides Mario Party. I think what people are most mad at Nintendo for is its lack of 3rd party support. Remember when the N64 had Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, and other 3rd party games that many core gamers loved? That died with the Wii. It was kind of lacking on the Gamecube to be honest.

People are mad about the lack of choice for the kind of game they want to buy for their Nintendo console these days. For example, why play the Goldeneye reboot on the Wii when it will be in HD with extra content on the other two consoles now?

Bad example, Goldeneye is a shooter, so different gameplay, I'll pick Wii Mote over the classic controler 100% of the times(only mouse+keyboard wins).

You missed the point completely. Thank you for not paying attention to the point of the conversation...

And besides you'll be able to use the PS Move on the PS3 version of Goldeneye Reloaded anyways. Not that anyone was talking about controllers in the first place...

Didn't miss the point. You said :"For example, why play the Goldeneye reboot on the Wii when it will be in HD with extra content on the other two consoles now?"
And I justified the Wii remote is a motive to buy the Wii version since has diferent gameplay.

Well the PS3 version has the ability to use the Move controller so my point still stands. And besides, not everyone wants to use motion controls for their gaming experience.

 

[CK76]

Okay Nintendo, then prove it by releasing Xenoblade Chronicles, Last Story and Pandora's Tower outside of Japan.

Bingo babycakes.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

"Every avid game player was once a beginner, or in other words, there are no born advanced players," Iwata said.

I wish more people would accept this as truth. Thats one of the biggest things in multiplayer gaming I see today, people downing on "noobs".
Everyone was once a noob.

You hit the nail on the head with that one. Nobody starts as a "hardcore" gamer.

That said, the comparison of capabilities of the Wii to the Xbox and the PS3 is your fault Nintendo. You'll have to lead with performance as well as your exclusive titles. But besides the Wii's abilities, the whole casual/hardcore split over the Wii is entirely a gamer community perception.

 

[Rodrigo Girao]

Unless we create a flow from beginner to expert by offering an entrance for beginners and the processes for a beginner to become an intermediate user and from an intermediate to an advanced player, the video game industry will gradually shrink.

Bullshit. Back in the NES age, there was no such flow. You didn't start with casual kiddy games and gradually moved to more challenging games. No, *****, you started with Contra or Ninja Gaiden. Too hard? Man up and try again!

 

[Signa]

I'd have believed him a year or two ago, but not now. I never labeled the GBA, DS, NGC or Wii as "kiddy toys" as so many others have, but now that the Wii and DS are just festering shitholes for shovelware, I have no reason to believe that Nintendo cares about anything but the casual.