A Miserable Podcast of Secrets

How do I do that?

Honestly, it's the same kinda argument I try to make that doesn't get far around these parts, so I thought it was dumb after the fact.

I won't be home til noon PST, but I'm up for Peace Walker then.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ShinMyk

Chux still needs to help me beat peace walker.

---

Join us then!

Nintendo controllers are fucking terrible.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Nick

Hero, when it comes to casual versus advanced gamers, I think there's a bigger divergence of opinion among the podcast regulars than your post implies. In fact, in next week's episode, which is about video game difficulty, I propose that games - all major releases - have measures built in to make them more accommodating to a wide gamut of skill levels, including the segment most attracted by Angry Birds.

Also, we do talk a lot about iOS games in "What We've Been Playing." I think almost everyone on the show has Tiny Tower or something similarly entry-level on his phone.

Our reservations in episode 9 had more to do with Nintendo in particular not making the most of its talent. To borrow your comparison, the current console wars make it so the art-house darling and the blockbuster are not only different products, but some are made available only in distinct places.

Why do you need a Wii to play a family-friendly masterpiece like Skyward Sword then another console entirely to play a grittier masterpiece like Gears of War?

And, as I asked in episode 9, don't you wonder whether a software-only Nintendo would be revitalized and maybe have more resources for a) more frequent releases and b) new franchises?

Nintendo is peerless when it comes to making classic games and innovating controllers. Microsoft knows its networking. Sony makes fairly reliable hardware and publishers some stellar exclusive properties. How does it benefit the consumer to ask him to spend $800 to $1000 just for consoles each new generation so he can play all the good games?

If we had one console standard, the price of admission to a consistent steam of A, AA, and AAA experiences would be lower and we'd have even less of an excuse to divide the market into the babies and the bad-asses.

---

But to me it reeks of this insistence that there's no value in anyone other than "our" choice doing what we want it to do. Sony makes higher end hardware and charges accordingly. Even then, that inflated cost still doesn't manage to recoup the expense. So how is this a superior form of product design to anyone other than those with the self-interest to continue spending top-dollar on high end hardware?

Maybe it's because I also look at it from the business standpoint. Like...I know what I like, but I also think I know what's commercially viable. Sometimes those are the same thing, some times they aren't. But I won't pretend like they are - or that my interest in Scott Pilgrim means the book and movie deserve to be popular and because they aren't the market is "wrong" - it just means my tastes skew from the mainstream in some ways.

So when it comes to hardware, I think it is necessary to have different platforms for terms of value not just on what software is available, but to match one's own vested interest and how it ties to their wallet. For a snob like Yoshi, having only Sony or high-end PCs be the be-all of gaming is ideal. For someone who just wants to break something out when friends come over, a Wii or 360 is fine. They wouldn't adopt a high-ticket Sony platform if it was the only game in town. They would just find something else to do.

Although I agree that the skew on games and platforms is unfair. Having one be more dude-bro while another one more family friendly is the fault in developers though, not the platforms in and of themselves.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Hero

I won't be home til noon PST, but I'm up for Peace Walker then.

---

I can play a bit in the evening after gym (CST).

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dave is ok:1064696376

Nintendo controllers are fucking terrible.

---

Point is: everyone copies their controllers, so this isn't a quality judgment, it's a pragmatic observation.

:wtf:

No one was dumb enough to copy the N64 or GameCube messes, and Sony had prototypes of a Wii Remote long before the Wii Remote, so what have they copied in the last 20 years?

The Saturn analog controller came out a month after the N64 so really all they have is the NES controller and the four button + shoulders layout of the SNES, which are both pretty huge but it really hasn't been an ongoing thing since then.

The SNES was probably the last decent controller they did. Shoulder buttons were a pretty big innovation, but I wouldn't credit the dual analog thing to Nintendo - especially since they never actually did it correctly.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Yoshi

:wtf:

No one was dumb enough to copy the N64 or GameCube messes, and Sony had prototypes of a Wii Remote long before the Wii Remote, so what have they copied in the last 20 years?

---

Off the top of my head:

Rumble, analog sticks, wireless controllers are all integral parts of modern controller design, and all were introduced and/or popularized by Nintendo.