N'Trouble

[Tracer]

Originally posted by MechDeus
Only for single-player. And a mute button. I swear to God those fucking mosquitos are the most annoying-sounding enemy in the history of videogames... and if there's anything worse I don't want to know about it.

Fetishes from the 3rd Stage of Diablo 2 are THE most annoying thing to ever happen to games ever. Ever.

[MechDeus]

Originally posted by Tracer
Fetishes from the 3rd Stage of Diablo 2 are THE most annoying thing to ever happen to games ever. Ever.

Hmm... I made it pretty far in Diablo 2, but I don't know if I reached that part. I'm pretty sure I made it to the third or fourth stage, and I don't remember anything being nearly as bad as Daikatana. Not even close to the robot frogs.

[edit] Actually, I can't exactly remember what I played last. I'll check later on.

[GameHED]

"Maybe Nintendo just doesn't care about being number one, or how it is ranked. Maybe Nintendo just wants to make games for people who like Nintendo."

Nah. Think back to the days of thier 8-bit monopoly. Anything they did, they could do, because nobody could rival them. What company wouldn't want a total monopoly of the industry? Secretly they probably want to control everything and know they can't, but just have to deal with it anyway like the other companies. (do you think nintendo would have been happy during the genesis/snes days having to share 50% of the market to sega? Get real.)

The handheld market will be increasingly important to them as this is where I see lots of "adult 2d fans" and "kids who like old nintendo games because they weren't around to play the classics" buying up, because they have total control of all the developers and are the only one on the market currently.

There was even a recent speech/announcment by nintendo themselves about how a majority of gamers are getting older and how a lot of the success of gba may in fact have been due to the older market wanting the latest handheld machine (think in terms of trendiness to have the latest thing) more than because kids were beggin parents to get them gba.

..So even nintendo acknowledge the importance of the "aging gamer" problem. And in japan, isn't the interest in gaming waning (not by hardcore gamers of course) due to the fact they are an aging population and games are something little kids do mainly? I see a different future for the company in the long term unless they make some efforts to adapt.

Also I'm not denying that some of the best developers are from japan, just trying to illustrate that the industry has changed a little and lots of US EURO companies are spending big to develop games so they'll stand out and compete for the masses attention.

Back in the ps1 days, for example final fantasy 7 was pretty much the only game to have almost a movie budget backing it, today its common with almost any game. Plus with the death of the arcades (mainly dominated by japanese companies) mere conversions of games have less impact then they did when ps1 first came out. (technology in the homes has leap-frogged arcade hardware)

These changes are enough to affect how people spend money. Machines are now capable of more, (you have to have BETTER than arcade quality graphics not just level with it like in the past) more money must be spent to develop games to utilise the machines power, (big budget backing or just highly-skilled teams with 100s of testers like we saw with MGS2) and people do not just follow the japanese market like in the past console generations when the western developers only were just gettting started. (and you didn't see such big budgets and the need to obsess over the details like having the faster 3d polygon engine, best lighting, longest playing game in total hours logged and many other stats that appeal to the masses)

What does this have to do with nintendo? Well traditionally they haven't aimed or cared much for the western taste of game styles (ie stylistic violence, a cool image, non-fluffy, non-primary-colourful character designs, epic mature stories, (remember when yaumuchi bashed square for thier "dark and depressed" rpgs during final fantasy 7's success?) highly detailed models etc that western audiences expect to see in games.) ....and because of all this, it has had an impact on sales. The masses want more of this and sony seemed to play to the demand and continue to dominate because developers feel as if they have more freedom and a larger audience to create for.

Now today we are seeing them slowly "wisen up" by getting capcom onboard and getting MGS back to the platform it originated on and getting square to make rpgs for the cube... and this is only as a result of the market and demand by gamers not because nintendo "just wants to make games for people who like nintendo". If they did, then why would they need to pay capcom to make some original games for cube or need to get vital square rpgs made to cube? Answer: Market demand and the need to adapt to adult gamers (aging gamers) and the larger majority of masses. (whose expectations only grow with each new release. Unlike hardcore enthusiasts and nintendo loyalists who would be quite happy to play something that doesn't push a system's limits and only judge on depth of gameplay alone and not the themes, characters, stats etc.)

[Scourge]

Originally posted by GameHED
And in japan isn't the interest in gaming waning (not by hardcore gamers of course) due to the fact they are an aging population and games are something little kids do mainly? I see a different future for the company in the long term unless they make some efforts to adapt.

Yep, there was that one article we had a thread on a while back that cited a Business man who works 12 hour days, probably spends the next couple of hours after work at the karaoke bar, then goes home to his family as saying 'Gaming is just not as important anymore.' And the full time college student with the full time job at a noodle joint who said 'I just don't have time to game anymore.' And:

"A survey by Bandai, one of Japan's largest toy firms, found that video games slipped from fifth place in 1995 to ninth place in 2000 in a survey of favorite activities among children up to age 12 -- with play-acting as action heroes, mini-cars, bicycles, balls and blocks ranking higher."

Definitive proof if there ever was. I mean, most people would rather play-act as action heroes, wouldn't they?

But seriously, yeah, gaming in Japan probably has slipped from being the monstrous industry that it was to being just a 'pretty' monstrous industry. The article in question said that between '95 and 2002, the industry declined 2.4%. It's on it's last leg! Of course, the article neglected to mention the horrible state of the Japanese economy over the past several years.

So many of the major Japanese developers are or were major players in the arcade market. SEGA, Nintendo, Namco, Capcom, and so on... And their choices of game styles to develop are fashioned from that. Only Capcom recently ended their trend altogether for that. And of course, Nintendo mostly ended it with the success of the NES. Arcades have been on the major decline in Japan and haven't been in much fashion in the US for going on twenty years now. The Japanese market may be shook up some, but it's damn near irrelevant over here. You do have your Square Enix rpgs and Tecmo t & a, along with Konami's Metal Gear, but Japanese developers on the whole would do well to concentrate their attention on consumers outside of Japan, like I said in one of my earlier long posts. Nintendo should really circle the wagons with those developers and come up with a strong plan on conquering the west again, this time together. And that means spending some of that pile they're sitting on.

--Scourge .

[DarkCrow676]

Even with Nintendo beginning to slowly change and wisen up, will it really make a difference? It seems that so many people have already made their minds about Nintendo and they're not going to change them. Overall, these people will not cause Nintendo to colapse, I doubt that will ever happen, but I'm sure it will cause Nintendo to somewhat fall behind. The people who want more mature and complex games don't think they can get that from Nintendo and get it in their head that they will never get that from Nintendo. At least for now, Nintendo is in the main and only source for the hand held industry which can give them an advantage. My only fear is that more and more people will start to believe that Nintendo cannot offer high quality games that the next system will only sell to the hardcore Nintendo fans.

[Josh]

Originally posted by diffusionx

NEVER did anyone take the fact that the GameCube "only plays games" as a plus... it was always a mark against the system.

Why the fuck would they?
"So you mean this system does less than the other two? Well fuck! I'll take two!!"

[AaronChance]

Originally posted by DarkCrow676
My only fear is that more and more people will start to believe that Nintendo cannot offer high quality games that the next system will only sell to the hardcore Nintendo fans.

They already did. It's called the Gamecube.

[Tracer]

Mech: They were those really little things that would stab you for 1/4 of your health and then ren away REALLY REALLY fast. It was in the Jungle/Swamp area. They were pretty much your only enemy and though Hell was the stage after it, there was nothing more tormenting in the game than Fetishes. I never finished Diablo 2 myself because of them. I just let my friend play through. Poor ol' 'Sings-the-Blues' the Barbarian... never got to shout at Diablo :/

ºTracer

[gamevet]

Originally posted by DarkCrow676
At least for now, Nintendo is in the main and only source for the hand held industry which can give them an advantage. My only fear is that more and more people will start to believe that Nintendo cannot offer high quality games that the next system will only sell to the hardcore Nintendo fans.

The handheld market is actually starting to get interesting. With cell phones capable of downloading games and the possibility of some sort of online gaming as well, Nintendo could have their hands full. A major factor for GBA's success in Japan, is that business men could play it while riding the rail system. Now take that same business man and offer him a cell phone that can do the same thing. That's one less item to carry and he can download whatever game he wants to play, instead of carrying around a dozen carts. Nintendo knows this market is'nt going to be just thiers for long. It is for this reason, that they have to be aware of all markets and keep a foothold in both, if they are to be a viable contender in say 10 years.

[Scourge]

Originally posted by gamevet
A major factor for GBA's success in Japan, is that business men could play it while riding the rail system. Now take that same business man and offer him a cell phone that can do the same thing.

Now imagine that same business man having been able to do this for the past few years. And yet, the gba is still a huge success. It's not as though that cell phone ability has only been available in Japan for the past few months, ya know?

--Scourge .