The Other Worlds Shrine

Your place for discussion about RPGs, gaming, music, movies, anime, computers, sports, and any other stuff we care to talk about... 

  • E3: Nintendo announces 1:1 control addition for the Wiimote

  • Because playing them is not enough, we have to bitch about them daily, too. We had a Gameplay forum, but it got replaced by GameFAQs.
Because playing them is not enough, we have to bitch about them daily, too. We had a Gameplay forum, but it got replaced by GameFAQs.

 #124353  by Julius Seeker
 Mon Jul 21, 2008 8:44 am
kali o. wrote:That's the really sad part I guess...in your universe, you really believe either Sine or myself actually care whether a given console is "winning", lol.
You sure could have fooled me based on both of your posting histories; especially Sine's of late. If you really didn't care, then I am sure there wouldn't be dozens of posts around defending the Xbox 360 from you guys; but the fact of the matter is that there are.

 #124354  by SineSwiper
 Mon Jul 21, 2008 8:45 am
Well, I'll just end this conversation by saying that anybody who defended the N64 as being a great console is definitely a Nintendo fanboy. Also, posting sales numbers is just another indicator that you need them to justify that the Wii is somehow a great system.

My console allegiance has shifted depending on which console *GASP* has the best games. The NES and SNES had the best games in the first generations, but Sony dominated with the PSX and PS2. Now, the 360 is the main console for this generation. I don't need sales figures. All I need are a list of the exclusive games that are on it that don't suck, and compare them with the exclusive game lists on the other consoles.

(Even if it had the worse sales for any console, I would buy it based on the number of excellent games on it. That's what it means to "win", not sales numbers.)

As far as the bickering, I've banned people for less, and stuff like this happens once in a while. I take it you weren't here for WolfSamurai's departure, or G-Man Joe's constant berating (and departure... and comeback), or Mental's breakdown. Shit happens, friends leave, but the forum still exists.

 #124355  by Julius Seeker
 Mon Jul 21, 2008 8:50 am
SineSwiper wrote: I don't need sales figures.
You just posting sales numbers trying to defend the Xbox 360 in this thread.

 #124383  by kali o.
 Tue Jul 22, 2008 12:56 am
M'k'n'zy wrote:Ok, I'm going to go out on a limb here and probally end up pissing off everyone here, but I can't just sit here and be quiet anymore. Am I the only one who thinks this constant bickering is just getting out of control. Am I the only one who remembers the days when people at this place respected the opinions of others, even if they didn't agree with them? I mean yes, there were big arguements, and sometimes threads had to be locked, but this is just getting out of control at this point.

I am saying this not being on anyones side. But if I dont speak up here, this stupidity will just keep going and going. Honestly it probally will even with me speaking up, and to me that is very sad. I know I am not exactly the most frequent poster here out of the long time members, but all this constant fighting is starting to ruin my enjoyment of a community that I have long been proud to be a part of.

I am not trying to say you all have to agree with each others opinions. I see some things here I agree with, some I don't, and some I see on both sides. Am I asking too much to hope, just a small part of me, that we can stop acting like kids? From what I know, the majority of us are adults here. Some of us are married, most have professional carrers, and some of us have even started families. Why don't we try acting like it again.

Like I said, I'm not asking you to just agree with people you don't agree with, and I am not asking you not to argue. All I am asking is that we act like adults and keep things civil. Is that really too much to ask?

I hope not.
Yes it's too much to ask and no, I won't abide.

These "bickerings" have endured since this place existed (and if you've forgotten that, you've never been in ruminations) and some of the arguments provide the best laughs you'll find on tOWS.

If you are under the impression I'm plotting to kill Seek in a frothing-at-the-mouth blind rage or some shit, you got it all wrong. Me and him get along fine, and often meet up in Web-based games (since I obviously have no love for the Wii, lol).

His fanboyism requires a counterweight. It actually used to be a lot worse because he had zeus acting as his wingman.

 #124384  by M'k'n'zy
 Tue Jul 22, 2008 12:57 am
kali o. wrote:
M'k'n'zy wrote:Ok, I'm going to go out on a limb here and probally end up pissing off everyone here, but I can't just sit here and be quiet anymore. Am I the only one who thinks this constant bickering is just getting out of control. Am I the only one who remembers the days when people at this place respected the opinions of others, even if they didn't agree with them? I mean yes, there were big arguements, and sometimes threads had to be locked, but this is just getting out of control at this point.

I am saying this not being on anyones side. But if I dont speak up here, this stupidity will just keep going and going. Honestly it probally will even with me speaking up, and to me that is very sad. I know I am not exactly the most frequent poster here out of the long time members, but all this constant fighting is starting to ruin my enjoyment of a community that I have long been proud to be a part of.

I am not trying to say you all have to agree with each others opinions. I see some things here I agree with, some I don't, and some I see on both sides. Am I asking too much to hope, just a small part of me, that we can stop acting like kids? From what I know, the majority of us are adults here. Some of us are married, most have professional carrers, and some of us have even started families. Why don't we try acting like it again.

Like I said, I'm not asking you to just agree with people you don't agree with, and I am not asking you not to argue. All I am asking is that we act like adults and keep things civil. Is that really too much to ask?

I hope not.
Yes it's too much to ask and no, I won't abide.

These "bickerings" have endured since this place existed (and if you've forgotten that, you've never been in ruminations) and some of the arguments provide the best laughs you'll find on tOWS.

If you are under the impression I'm plotting to kill Seek in a frothing-at-the-mouth blind rage or some shit, you got it all wrong. Me and him get along fine, and often meet up in Web-based games (since I obviously have no love for the Wii, lol).

His fanboyism requires a counterweight. It actually used to be a lot worse because he had zeus acting as his wingman.
I don't know, to me it seems to have gotten worse of late, but you are right in that I didn't frequent ruminations all that much. I was just in kinda a crabby mood last night, and I guess the bickering pushed me over the edge.

 #124385  by Chris
 Tue Jul 22, 2008 1:04 am
M'k'n'zy wrote:
kali o. wrote:
M'k'n'zy wrote:Ok, I'm going to go out on a limb here and probally end up pissing off everyone here, but I can't just sit here and be quiet anymore. Am I the only one who thinks this constant bickering is just getting out of control. Am I the only one who remembers the days when people at this place respected the opinions of others, even if they didn't agree with them? I mean yes, there were big arguements, and sometimes threads had to be locked, but this is just getting out of control at this point.

I am saying this not being on anyones side. But if I dont speak up here, this stupidity will just keep going and going. Honestly it probally will even with me speaking up, and to me that is very sad. I know I am not exactly the most frequent poster here out of the long time members, but all this constant fighting is starting to ruin my enjoyment of a community that I have long been proud to be a part of.

I am not trying to say you all have to agree with each others opinions. I see some things here I agree with, some I don't, and some I see on both sides. Am I asking too much to hope, just a small part of me, that we can stop acting like kids? From what I know, the majority of us are adults here. Some of us are married, most have professional carrers, and some of us have even started families. Why don't we try acting like it again.

Like I said, I'm not asking you to just agree with people you don't agree with, and I am not asking you not to argue. All I am asking is that we act like adults and keep things civil. Is that really too much to ask?

I hope not.
Yes it's too much to ask and no, I won't abide.

These "bickerings" have endured since this place existed (and if you've forgotten that, you've never been in ruminations) and some of the arguments provide the best laughs you'll find on tOWS.

If you are under the impression I'm plotting to kill Seek in a frothing-at-the-mouth blind rage or some shit, you got it all wrong. Me and him get along fine, and often meet up in Web-based games (since I obviously have no love for the Wii, lol).

His fanboyism requires a counterweight. It actually used to be a lot worse because he had zeus acting as his wingman.
I don't know, to me it seems to have gotten worse of late, but you are right in that I didn't frequent ruminations all that much. I was just in kinda a crabby mood last night, and I guess the bickering pushed me over the edge.
I think in a lot of ways it has gotten worse but it's also sort of tradition. it never really gets much further than the classic insults.....Seek is a nintendo whore who fellates himself with a wiimote.....zeus has amazingly shitty taste in moview....rent whle new is a total troll who I've actually kinda grown to like. Don talks way too damn much, I'm a bi idiot who says things that are either gay, stupid, or both. at this point I think it's more having fun with each other than anything I know when I flip shit none of it is serious. I also know that after comic-con I'm getting back to teaching rent how to write comics since hopefully barring gettng a job....I'll have time again...YAYA. shit brak...we're all friends....even seek..

 #124390  by RentCavalier
 Tue Jul 22, 2008 6:03 am
If I must be a troll, I would like to be a "professional " troll.

 #124394  by Julius Seeker
 Tue Jul 22, 2008 9:24 am
kali o. wrote: His fanboyism requires a counterweight.
Actually, your hostility has more to do with the fact that you're an Xbox "fanboy". Even when I am not the one to post Nintendo related stuff, you still post hostile posts. Sine admitted in his last post with this whole "console allegiance" post that he is also a Xbox fanboy. I post about what games I like on any console I have had in the past, whereas you two pick one system and bash everything else.

 #124400  by Kupek
 Tue Jul 22, 2008 11:15 am
SineSwiper wrote:That's what it means to "win", not sales numbers.
That's what matters to the individual, of course, but I still think it's valid to talk about sales numbers because that's what drives the industry. So while you may not see any reason to purchase a Wii, it's still worthwhile to talk about Wii sales because Nintendo may permanently change the videogame industry.

 #124408  by kali o.
 Tue Jul 22, 2008 1:00 pm
Dutch wrote:
kali o. wrote: His fanboyism requires a counterweight.
Actually, your hostility has more to do with the fact that you're an Xbox "fanboy". Even when I am not the one to post Nintendo related stuff, you still post hostile posts. Sine admitted in his last post with this whole "console allegiance" post that he is also a Xbox fanboy. I post about what games I like on any console I have had in the past, whereas you two pick one system and bash everything else.
Haha, please. I don't give a shit whether MS "wins" anything, except in the larger sense that I'd like Sony to have competition and would probably simply quit gaming if Nintendo ruled the roost.

If you want to call me a fanboy of anything, then you simply need to go back to what I said pre-Xbox release. I am a FAN of western games. They are more relevant (to me), I enjoy the gameplay more often and if any portion of the game industry is going to push videogames into a mainstream accepted entertainment position (with proper writers, content and actors), it'll be western devs.

Given that, is it really so hard to see why I prefer my 360?

Sony is a close second, but they have a lot of catching up to do thanks to butchering every good decision they made on the PS3 with something stupid.

And Nintendo? Well Nintendo has historically championed LOW production value games (and anything else that helps maximize their profits by reducing expenses). Voice actors? Forget it. Writers? Huh. Graphics? Low specs baby! Marked-up periphrials? We got those by the dozens!!

They may make good business decisions and their fans will continue to eat their drek up...but as long as Nintendo is considered as occupying the same market as Sony/MS, the entire industry will continue to be retarded by Nintendo's mere presence.

PS - don't gimme that "but the Wii is finding a whole new segment of the population and introducing them to gaming!", because the reality is these 2-games-per-console casual gamers will play bullshit like WiiSports, enjoy the novelty of swinging their remote until it wears off and then write off gaming as little more than the childish, shallow entertainment they always believed it to be.

 #124410  by Julius Seeker
 Tue Jul 22, 2008 2:12 pm
kali o. wrote:PS - don't gimme that "but the Wii is finding a whole new segment of the population and introducing them to gaming!", because the reality is these 2-games-per-console casual gamers will play bullshit like WiiSports, enjoy the novelty of swinging their remote until it wears off and then write off gaming as little more than the childish, shallow entertainment they always believed it to be.

The numbers already prove you wrong, according to the website Sine posted, while Wii has not caught up to Xbox in North America in software, it has exceeded Xbox 360 on a worldwide scale. In addition, taking into account the first 18 months on the North American market, not only did Wii software sales vastly exceed Xbox 360's, but Wii owners also owned more games per system. If you are, as you imply, interested in seeing videogames become mainstream, Nintendo has already achieved that on a worldwide scale with the Wii and the DS; that is reflected in the sales numbers and continued high demand for the products.

As or your fanboyism, it is easily demonstrated as a result of the fact that most of your posts about the Xbox 360 are actually primarilly bashing the competition.

 #124413  by kali o.
 Tue Jul 22, 2008 4:44 pm
Dutch wrote: As or your fanboyism, it is easily demonstrated as a result of the fact that most of your posts about the Xbox 360 are actually primarilly bashing the competition.
I'll mostly ignore the fact that you just proved yourself a retard by making that comment (I won't point out why, anyone who reads your comment and then rereads the post you replied to can figure it out :))...

If it makes your asshole feel a little less sore to think I'm all over a console companies shaft too, go nuts. In fact:

GO MICROSOFT! You are the BEST!

 #124414  by Flip
 Tue Jul 22, 2008 5:09 pm
Dutch wrote:If you are, as you imply, interested in seeing videogames become mainstream, Nintendo has already achieved that on a worldwide scale with the Wii and the DS; that is reflected in the sales numbers and continued high demand for the products.
I also dont see where Kali mentioned that he wants video games to go mainstream. What he said is that he wants games with graphics, story, voice, and non marked up odd peripherals... and the 360 fits.

I cant see how people would want video games to go mainstream and become the norm in every household. Having moms play The Sims and every retard out there buy a Wii doesnt do anything for the games i like to play, which are similar to Kali's tastes. In fact, i would say that it hinders progress on the games i want to play since all the developers will be busy making the next Bejeweled as opposed to the next Shadows of the Colossus.

 #124418  by Kupek
 Tue Jul 22, 2008 5:55 pm
Flip wrote:I cant see how people would want video games to go mainstream and become the norm in every household. Having moms play The Sims and every retard out there buy a Wii doesnt do anything for the games i like to play, which are similar to Kali's tastes. In fact, i would say that it hinders progress on the games i want to play since all the developers will be busy making the next Bejeweled as opposed to the next Shadows of the Colossus.
That's certainly possible. But you're assuming a zero-sum game. That is, if a developer is working on the type of game you don't want to play, then he's doing it at the expense of one you would want to play. And that may be the case.

But if the industry is truly expanding - not just its market and overall sales, but the industry itself - then that won't hold true.

There's a lot of possible outcomes. We could have videogames as a mainstream thing, with the hardcore games still forming the core of the industry. This whole mainstream experiment could fail and hardcore games could remain the only ones. And the other outcome which some of you really fear is mainstream gaming takes over the industry. I find that unlikely, though, as the chances are too high that someone would fill the niche and make the games hardcore players want.

 #124419  by Zeus
 Tue Jul 22, 2008 6:09 pm
Kup's got the right idea. There's no reason to dread the new wave of "casual" games, it ain't gonna affect the "hardcore" stuff. Do you think companies that have made a fortune off of the umpteenth FPS are going to suddenly abandon them just to make Imagine: Basket Weaving? No chance. It's just another possible revenue stream. Has Ubisoft abandoned Tom Clancy games just 'cause they're making a killing off of the Imagine series?

Like I was trying to argue with Sine before, Nintendo is the perfect example. Sure, they're making WiiFit, WiiMusic, WiiPlay, WiiSports, etc., but at the same time, in the first two years of the system's release, we'll have seen an entry in every single "hardcore" franchise they have, and even other smaller ones that are geared towards the hardcores.

Let your mom play Wii Sports Resort, you're still getting Gears 3 and MGS5 regardless.

 #124420  by kali o.
 Tue Jul 22, 2008 7:06 pm
First, I mentioned mainstream, but as usual, Seeker got the context/usage incorrect.

Second, any loser that uses the word hardcore should be ignored for the rest of this thread. What the hell does Hardcore mean? What Nintendo games are "hardcore"? Does it mean the same as nostalgia factor (kinda like Alien vs Predator movies are for the HARDCORE fan!)? Non-waggle wand controls? I'm confused - and so is anyone that uses that stupid fucking term without solidly defining it first.

So define it, or stop using it.

 #124421  by Kupek
 Tue Jul 22, 2008 7:17 pm
I thought it was well defined. A casual game requires little initial investment and little prior experience playing videogames. They're targeted at people who don't usually play games. A hardcore game is basically everything else: from FPSes to RPGs.

It's not a value judgment, but a distinction based on how the market is dividing.

 #124422  by RentCavalier
 Tue Jul 22, 2008 7:35 pm
Is it just me or does Kupek form the SOLE voice of reason on this board?

 #124423  by Andrew, Killer Bee
 Tue Jul 22, 2008 7:48 pm
what in the hell is going on in this thread

 #124434  by Zeus
 Tue Jul 22, 2008 9:15 pm
kali o. wrote:First, I mentioned mainstream, but as usual, Seeker got the context/usage incorrect.

Second, any loser that uses the word hardcore should be ignored for the rest of this thread. What the hell does Hardcore mean? What Nintendo games are "hardcore"? Does it mean the same as nostalgia factor (kinda like Alien vs Predator movies are for the HARDCORE fan!)? Non-waggle wand controls? I'm confused - and so is anyone that uses that stupid fucking term without solidly defining it first.

So define it, or stop using it.
I have many times define what I think is the difference between "hardcore" and "casual", but since no one other than Kup seems to remember any previous posts/conversations, I'll point it out again.

Essentially, like Kup said, it's basically a time commitment thing. A "hardcore" gamer is one who spends a significant portion of their free time and, often, a significant portion of their luxury money on gaming of some sort. Thus, by extension, a "hardcore" game is one which requires/demands a significant time commitment. I don't think anyone would argue against an MMO, RPG, or an FPS being a "hardcore" title in their current forms.

Generally, games which are do not have any "hardcore" time requirements are classified as "casual". WiiSports, Solitaire, crossword games, WiiFit, etc., are perfect examples of defining "casual" games. But because it's used as a catch-all phrase, kinda like the movie genre "drama", it will also include games which do not ~require~ large time commitments but from which the player will feel compelled to or become addicted to and play "hardcore" type hours. A perfect game would be The Sims. You don't NEED to play it a lot to play it but it don't hurt if you do.

BTW, I actually agree with you on the terms "hardcore" and "casual". I don't really like them and think they can cause confusion since they're not universally defined. If you notice, I always put them in quotations in an attempt to use a very broad definition.

The two terms seem to also be more opposites and people try to group into one or the other but they don't really segment the market properly (ie. is The Sims a "hardcore" or "casual" game? It's probably a bit of both, we need a new term for it). There has been some attempt to extend the number of categories to try and capture the difference in the market but nothing's caught on. For instance, I'm what is now considered to be a hardcore gamer, but if you're trying to analyze demographics, I'm nothing like an MMO player.

Ultimately, we'll need more terms to capture the differences in the demographics so that the business analytics can start having more meaning.

 #124435  by Zeus
 Tue Jul 22, 2008 9:18 pm
Kupek wrote:I thought it was well defined. A casual game requires little initial investment and little prior experience playing videogames. They're targeted at people who don't usually play games. A hardcore game is basically everything else: from FPSes to RPGs.

It's not a value judgment, but a distinction based on how the market is dividing.
I've been trying to use them that way but hopefully this pretty straightforward and dead-on distinction will try to get people away from the console war-like mentality people have towards the distinction

 #124439  by RentCavalier
 Tue Jul 22, 2008 9:24 pm
In ten years, I feel, the distinction between "hardcore" and "casual" games will become very blurred, and by the next generation or two of consoles, we're going to be seeing a hybrid of both--games that are easily picked up and played, yet can, if one wants to, be a sizable time and content commitment.

Super Mario Galaxy is the best example of this--you can play it for five minutes or five hours, and you'll still have the same feeling of satisfaction.

 #124448  by SineSwiper
 Tue Jul 22, 2008 10:09 pm
Andrew, Killer Bee wrote:what in the hell is going on in this thread
Seeker stopped talking and productive conversation started.

Also, I vote to use the term "core" instead of "hardcore" to describe us. I don't like being compared to a form of porn or an idiot who killed himself by eating a shitload of drugs.

 #124450  by kali o.
 Tue Jul 22, 2008 10:31 pm
Zeus wrote: I've been trying to use them that way but hopefully this pretty straightforward and dead-on distinction will try to get people away from the console war-like mentality people have towards the distinction
Who is war-like? It's just a silly term. What defines time investment? Is it subjective to inherent intelligence? After all, it isn't rocket-science to figure out moving a stick does one thing and button presses do another. Madden is one of the more complicated control schemed games out there, but no one can deny it's one of the most casual gamer played games out there.

Besides which, control schemes are irrelevant. Easy control inputs (or devices) do not dictate simplistic, shallow and unevolved gameplay. And that's basically all Nintendo provides (hence the hate). You could incorporate a Wii-mote style scheme for Gears of War pretty simply (again, I fail to see how this is 'easier' and not just different) and still have a solid well-done game, something Nintendo could never do and will never do.

 #124466  by Zeus
 Wed Jul 23, 2008 9:45 am
Kali, give it some time. I agree with you that many of these 'casual' games are very shallow. By nature, they almost have to be right now considering the history of the industry and the very recent introduction of a new control scheme. It's not perfect (the introduction of the MotionPlus is an admittance by Nintendo) and developers have to change the way they think to start developing motion-control enabled gaming. They're just trying to fit them into established genres, often with a forced feel.

Now, some of them work well. Games like Metroid 3, Medal of Honor Heroes 2, and Boom Blox work quite well IMO. It's just the beginning. Wait for the next gen of controllers when all three of them have it with their new systems and they're far more sensitive and the developers have had years to figure out how to use it properly. Then it'll start to be more than shallow shovelware which makes the most use of the motion controls.

Innovation don't happen overnight. The Wii is just the start of what will soon become the norm. It's starting with the casual, shallow stuff. It'll be a bit before it's fully incorporated into the established genres

 #124468  by Julius Seeker
 Wed Jul 23, 2008 10:01 am
kali o. wrote:
Zeus wrote: I've been trying to use them that way but hopefully this pretty straightforward and dead-on distinction will try to get people away from the console war-like mentality people have towards the distinction
Who is war-like? It's just a silly term. What defines time investment? Is it subjective to inherent intelligence? After all, it isn't rocket-science to figure out moving a stick does one thing and button presses do another. Madden is one of the more complicated control schemed games out there, but no one can deny it's one of the most casual gamer played games out there.

Besides which, control schemes are irrelevant. Easy control inputs (or devices) do not dictate simplistic, shallow and unevolved gameplay. And that's basically all Nintendo provides (hence the hate). You could incorporate a Wii-mote style scheme for Gears of War pretty simply (again, I fail to see how this is 'easier' and not just different) and still have a solid well-done game, something Nintendo could never do and will never do.
Another post reeking with fanboy ignorance and venom by Kali; why do I not find this surprising? With Mario Galaxy not only getting better reviews than Gears of War, but winning with the masses and selling more copies, I don't see how even you can believe such a ridiculous declaration as this post of yours.

Speaking of ignorance, I am still waiting for you to respond in this thread.
Last edited by Julius Seeker on Wed Jul 23, 2008 12:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.

 #124472  by Kupek
 Wed Jul 23, 2008 11:17 am
kali o. wrote:Who is war-like? It's just a silly term. What defines time investment? Is it subjective to inherent intelligence? After all, it isn't rocket-science to figure out moving a stick does one thing and button presses do another.
I didn't think term definitions would be in question so much.

I think your perspective is off. You're right, if a person wants to play a game, even a complicated control scheme won't deter them. But that's not the set of people we're talking about with "casual." We mean people who ordinarily don't want to play games. If they have no a priori desire to play, then any barrier to entry is going to reinforce that. Simple control schemes, however, remove that barrier, and someone with no prior desire to play might be willing to try it out.

Hence why a game like Madden still falls under hardcore.

 #124475  by kali o.
 Wed Jul 23, 2008 11:59 am
Kupek wrote: I didn't think term definitions would be in question so much.

I think your perspective is off. You're right, if a person wants to play a game, even a complicated control scheme won't deter them. But that's not the set of people we're talking about with "casual." We mean people who ordinarily don't want to play games. If they have no a priori desire to play, then any barrier to entry is going to reinforce that. Simple control schemes, however, remove that barrier, and someone with no prior desire to play might be willing to try it out.

Hence why a game like Madden still falls under hardcore.
Well, I don't know why you'd think that...I mean look, you just randomly added another criteria to the term "hardcore" (desire to play/desire to learn controls).

You should all stop using the term...because as near as I can tell, pretty much every game is hardcore, with the exception of games like You don't know Jack, Scene It, etc....
Zeus wrote:Kali, give it some time. I agree with you that many of these 'casual' games are very shallow. By nature, they almost have to be right now considering the history of the industry and the very recent introduction of a new control scheme. It's not perfect (the introduction of the MotionPlus is an admittance by Nintendo) and developers have to change the way they think to start developing motion-control enabled gaming. They're just trying to fit them into established genres, often with a forced feel.

Now, some of them work well. Games like Metroid 3, Medal of Honor Heroes 2, and Boom Blox work quite well IMO. It's just the beginning. Wait for the next gen of controllers when all three of them have it with their new systems and they're far more sensitive and the developers have had years to figure out how to use it properly. Then it'll start to be more than shallow shovelware which makes the most use of the motion controls.

Innovation don't happen overnight. The Wii is just the start of what will soon become the norm. It's starting with the casual, shallow stuff. It'll be a bit before it's fully incorporated into the established genres
Motion control technology has been around for years. As have shallow simple games in your local toy store (tic tac toe, football, classic arcade ripoffs, hockey, TV periphrials w/ games, edutainment, etc). None of them have succeeded in pulling in more than toddlers and dudes that drink and fish on a boat all day.

If this is the Wii's selling point (shallow software and gimmick easy controls), then I fail to see a reason why they will attract non-gamers or change thier view that games "are for kids" anymore than the previous trash at toy stores have done. It'll sell as a fad but ultimately do nothing positive longterm for the industry.

 #124478  by Kupek
 Wed Jul 23, 2008 1:20 pm
It's hard to talking meaningfully about the future of the videogame industry without using these terms. You can further subdivide "hardcore" and "casuals" indefinitely, but the important point is the divide between people who seek games out, and people who don't, yet play them incidentally.

It seems you're not objecting to the terms themselves, but the idea that the distinction exists. We'll find out in the future if it's a meaningful one, but for now, I don't know how else to discuss the industry.

 #124488  by kali o.
 Wed Jul 23, 2008 10:45 pm
Kupek wrote:It's hard to talking meaningfully about the future of the videogame industry without using these terms. You can further subdivide "hardcore" and "casuals" indefinitely, but the important point is the divide between people who seek games out, and people who don't, yet play them incidentally.

It seems you're not objecting to the terms themselves, but the idea that the distinction exists. We'll find out in the future if it's a meaningful one, but for now, I don't know how else to discuss the industry.
No, I'm 100% objecting to the terms themselves. I don't care if you make intelligent distinctions along the way...see:

"but the important point is the divide between people who seek games out, and people who don't, yet play them incidentally"

You've also just further muddied the definitions by transfering the terms from the games themselves to the player...at this point, I have no idea how to define a casual/hardcore game or a casual/hardcore (non)player. I'd be willing to bet nobody here would uniformly agree what the hell the criteria for either is...

Drop the term, leave that dumb shit for the gamefaqs posters who need to reduce their jumbled opinions into one generic term.

 #124490  by SineSwiper
 Wed Jul 23, 2008 10:52 pm
Kupek wrote:It's hard to talking meaningfully about the future of the videogame industry without using these terms. You can further subdivide "hardcore" and "casuals" indefinitely, but the important point is the divide between people who seek games out, and people who don't, yet play them incidentally.
So, people who play games only incidentally, by the very definition, will be bad for software developers. If they only play once in a while, they will only BUY once in a while, even if they all buy the hardware.

Wii is looked on as a success story, but just because they latched onto a bigger audience (with bigger hardware sales numbers), doesn't mean that the audience is proper for the market. Make a game that even an idiot will play and only an idiot will play it.

 #124553  by Zeus
 Sat Jul 26, 2008 9:21 pm
kali o. wrote:
Kupek wrote:It's hard to talking meaningfully about the future of the videogame industry without using these terms. You can further subdivide "hardcore" and "casuals" indefinitely, but the important point is the divide between people who seek games out, and people who don't, yet play them incidentally.

It seems you're not objecting to the terms themselves, but the idea that the distinction exists. We'll find out in the future if it's a meaningful one, but for now, I don't know how else to discuss the industry.
No, I'm 100% objecting to the terms themselves. I don't care if you make intelligent distinctions along the way...see:

"but the important point is the divide between people who seek games out, and people who don't, yet play them incidentally"

You've also just further muddied the definitions by transfering the terms from the games themselves to the player...at this point, I have no idea how to define a casual/hardcore game or a casual/hardcore (non)player. I'd be willing to bet nobody here would uniformly agree what the hell the criteria for either is...

Drop the term, leave that dumb shit for the gamefaqs posters who need to reduce their jumbled opinions into one generic term.
Fine, come up with your own term to segment the market or potential market and the games that appeal to these different segments and we can debate the validity of such a term. If it's better, we'll use it. Like it or not, "hardcore" and "casual" are the best acceptable terms which are defined well enough to be used.

And technology ain't nothin' without design. Sure motion control technology's been around forever, but the Wii's the first system to put some relatively old technologies together in a way that is appealing to a wide portion of the population (of which you are obviously not). And we're still very much in the infancy of this new wave of game development. Sure a lot of the games early on have been very, VERY basic, simple movements, but as time goes on, that'll develop. As I mentioned before, there have been some rather well-received inclusion of such controls in games that appeal to long-time gamers (there, ain't usin' "hardcore", happy?) such as Metroid Prime 3 or Medal of Honor Heroes 2. Those games have an excellent FPS control scheme with only the mouse/keyboard being more accurate. And don't sit there and tell me those are appealing to toddlers or drunk dudes.

Give it time. You're asking developers, most of whom are under insane time pressure, to basically re-learn how to make games or to invent new ways (ie. genres) to use a new input scheme. This is the first time since the NES introduced the directional pad and multiple buttons that we've seen a significant change in the control schemes. And nothing this big. The NES took the whole arcade stick from the Atari to a new level. The stick with the N64 was just more precise directional pad. But never to a change to such a degree.

And even Nintendo has, in a roundabout way, admitted the control scheme is a little primitive/limited, hence the introduction of the MotionPlus. I think once all three companies take this to the next level with the next gen of systems in 3 to 5 years is where you'll really see the change in games. Nintendo's just doing good business right now by expanding the market and making a fuckload of money. Once the other two have put their spin on this new idea (now that it's proven to be very, very viable) and all three release a much-improved take on it, then you can start to say whether or not motion control is good or bad.

Right now, you're basically sayin' that a kid is stupid because it's 7 months old and it can't talk.

 #124554  by Zeus
 Sat Jul 26, 2008 9:25 pm
SineSwiper wrote:
Kupek wrote:It's hard to talking meaningfully about the future of the videogame industry without using these terms. You can further subdivide "hardcore" and "casuals" indefinitely, but the important point is the divide between people who seek games out, and people who don't, yet play them incidentally.
So, people who play games only incidentally, by the very definition, will be bad for software developers. If they only play once in a while, they will only BUY once in a while, even if they all buy the hardware.

Wii is looked on as a success story, but just because they latched onto a bigger audience (with bigger hardware sales numbers), doesn't mean that the audience is proper for the market. Make a game that even an idiot will play and only an idiot will play it.
So, yo momma who may only buy 2 or 3 DVDs a year is bad for the DVD market? C'mon, Sine, it's just a normal business cycle. I don't care what business you're talking about, you can even apply it to fashion.

In the beginning, it's for the "hardcores" (Kali, read the post above before you comment). Then as it expands more and more, you capture more and more of the "casuals" who purchase a fucklot less, but they're still a market segment nonetheless.

 #124562  by SineSwiper
 Sat Jul 26, 2008 10:08 pm
Zeus wrote:So, yo momma who may only buy 2 or 3 DVDs a year is bad for the DVD market? C'mon, Sine, it's just a normal business cycle. I don't care what business you're talking about, you can even apply it to fashion.

In the beginning, it's for the "hardcores" (Kali, read the post above before you comment). Then as it expands more and more, you capture more and more of the "casuals" who purchase a fucklot less, but they're still a market segment nonetheless.
But, what we've been arguing for the past several months is that Nintendo is NOT targetting the core gamer audience. They are occasionally tossing a bone to them, but their main audience is now the casual gamers. It's not an "embrace and extend" marketing move. It's shifting to a bigger audience at the risk of alienating the old one. To quote your DVD example, it would be like dropping most of your hardcore DVD collectors and videophiles in favor of the moms that buy 2-3 DVDs a year. (Funny you give out a video example, when the Wii is the one without HD capabilities.)

I'm not going to constantly argue over and over again about how the Wii does or doesn't respect the core gamer audience. Just know that there is plenty of evidence there and there are a lot of gamers who feel the same way about how that VGCats comics illustrates the situation.

 #124564  by kali o.
 Sat Jul 26, 2008 11:22 pm
SineSwiper wrote: I'm not going to constantly argue over and over again about how the Wii does or doesn't respect the core gamer audience. Just know that there is plenty of evidence there and there are a lot of gamers who feel the same way about how that VGCats comics illustrates the situation.
I like "core" as a term better than "hardcore", at least I know what the hell we are talking about that way. Now what about the other...? "non-gamers"?

Both those terms make (more) sense.

 #124579  by Zeus
 Sun Jul 27, 2008 11:02 am
SineSwiper wrote:
Zeus wrote:So, yo momma who may only buy 2 or 3 DVDs a year is bad for the DVD market? C'mon, Sine, it's just a normal business cycle. I don't care what business you're talking about, you can even apply it to fashion.

In the beginning, it's for the "hardcores" (Kali, read the post above before you comment). Then as it expands more and more, you capture more and more of the "casuals" who purchase a fucklot less, but they're still a market segment nonetheless.
But, what we've been arguing for the past several months is that Nintendo is NOT targetting the core gamer audience. They are occasionally tossing a bone to them, but their main audience is now the casual gamers. It's not an "embrace and extend" marketing move. It's shifting to a bigger audience at the risk of alienating the old one. To quote your DVD example, it would be like dropping most of your hardcore DVD collectors and videophiles in favor of the moms that buy 2-3 DVDs a year. (Funny you give out a video example, when the Wii is the one without HD capabilities.)

I'm not going to constantly argue over and over again about how the Wii does or doesn't respect the core gamer audience. Just know that there is plenty of evidence there and there are a lot of gamers who feel the same way about how that VGCats comics illustrates the situation.
This is where I disagree. Judging by their releases, they're actually giving the core audience exactly what they want while, at the same time, paying a shitload of attention to the non-core audience. Thus, they're doing both. Nintendo's a big enough company to be able to do that....and they are

 #124580  by Zeus
 Sun Jul 27, 2008 11:02 am
kali o. wrote:
SineSwiper wrote: I'm not going to constantly argue over and over again about how the Wii does or doesn't respect the core gamer audience. Just know that there is plenty of evidence there and there are a lot of gamers who feel the same way about how that VGCats comics illustrates the situation.
I like "core" as a term better than "hardcore", at least I know what the hell we are talking about that way. Now what about the other...? "non-gamers"?

Both those terms make (more) sense.
Fine, I'll use "core" and "non-gamers" for you. It's the same shit to me, just semantics

 #124583  by SineSwiper
 Sun Jul 27, 2008 11:42 am
Zeus wrote:This is where I disagree. Judging by their releases, they're actually giving the core audience exactly what they want while, at the same time, paying a shitload of attention to the non-core audience. Thus, they're doing both. Nintendo's a big enough company to be able to do that....and they are
You and Seeker are the only two who think that, and I have to say that you're both a bit biased (being Nintendo fanboys and all).

 #124587  by Julius Seeker
 Sun Jul 27, 2008 2:13 pm
SineSwiper wrote:
Zeus wrote:This is where I disagree. Judging by their releases, they're actually giving the core audience exactly what they want while, at the same time, paying a shitload of attention to the non-core audience. Thus, they're doing both. Nintendo's a big enough company to be able to do that....and they are
You and Seeker are the only two who think that, and I have to say that you're both a bit biased (being Nintendo fanboys and all).
Wouldn't that make us Nintendo's core audience then?
I would say the bias is more on your part considering you have bashed Nintendo frequently for the last 10+ years. The only people who seem to be upset with Nintendo are the Xbox fanboys who don't even own Nintendo systems.

Looking back at Nintendo's history, on the Wii in a year and a half for their more traditional games, there has been: Legend of Zelda, Super Mario, Fire Emblem, Wario Ware, Mario Kart, Super Smash Brothers. On every other system Nintendo has released it has taken more than three years to match that calibur line-up; and that's only their traditional games.

 #124592  by Zeus
 Sun Jul 27, 2008 3:04 pm
SineSwiper wrote:
Zeus wrote:This is where I disagree. Judging by their releases, they're actually giving the core audience exactly what they want while, at the same time, paying a shitload of attention to the non-core audience. Thus, they're doing both. Nintendo's a big enough company to be able to do that....and they are
You and Seeker are the only two who think that, and I have to say that you're both a bit biased (being Nintendo fanboys and all).
I actually provided empirical evidence, not just an opinion.

And yes, I do like Nintendo's stuff and am a fan of them, but in each of the last 3 generations, I own more games for non-Nintendo systems than for Nintendo ones (handheld not included). I'm just a games fan. Just 'cause I like Nintendo's stuff and argue against what appears to be a pasttime of gamers to bash them, don't make me a fanboy.