Is it the end, or just the beginning? Nintendo claims that the industry is going to end if we don’t change our ways, but somehow the industry is growing well despite their market share dwindling more and more it seems each year. Maybe that’s why this controller was introduced, because somehow they felt the industry was going down because of the lack of innovation, the elimination of simplicity or "fun" disappearing from gaming, and the idea that many games nowadays require a good hour or so to commit to. Is that a great thing, complexity? The fact that game controllers have 8-10 buttons when back during the NES days we really only needed two buttons to function with a select and start for other options? Or is it necessary that we not change the ways things are going and rather just improve what is already there, while increasingly creating complex and multi-faceted experiences that require more tutorial and reading and less of a natural progression of difficulty and creativity? I can’t speak for anyone but myself, but I don’t mind if they both continue to exist in harmony.
A good example is World of Warcraft. A game easily broken down and played within half hour segments, but can be enjoyed in 3-5 hour engagements, and it’s slow progression towards that kind of play gives options not only to those new and very casual to the game, maybe progressing from a half hour to an hour and half, to those who meld with the hardcore nature of it’s endgame process, netting themselves a day of play within a weeks period and progressively engaging them in the instances and amazing quests that drive them to keep playing for just another 15 minutes, which in the end results in another hour instead. This is the kind of market Blizzard knew was available, and they not only drew in the casuals who have never touched, or thought they would never touch MMO’s, but they brought over hundreds of thousands from other MMO’s with a world with more life and creativity pursing throughout it’s world and a smattering of fun quests to boot.
Microsoft, a software giant hated by many, gambled on a hard drive and initial huge loss on systems to get their foot in the door. They originally only had Halo as their lineup killer app( although I still like PGR better), but other games kept coming and eventually they had a winner, and despite their losses and still a considerable lead by Sony, they managed to get a very large foot in the door with their well built console, myriad of features, good controller design for bringing FPS to the mainstream console audience, and a great brand in the Xbox live service and features, setting forth a revolution of online gaming that began with PSO on the Dreamcast, and took a fully fledged dive and scored with the Xbox.
Sony took a huge gamble entering the console industry with little to no experience, only having their talks with Nintendo, which soured obviously, but they took a superior medium into the industry and worked to crack the shell of many companies and brought forward what is one of the most popular gaming systems ever created in the Sony Playstation, and created a brand-name that is now associated with gaming almost anywhere, and a successor to the original psx that is still doing incredibly well despite two able bodied competitors at their tail(although VERY far behind). Sony is responsible for essentially bringing gaming into the mainstream, even more so than Nintendo did in the 80's and early 90's, and gaming has definitely exploded since their entry into the realm of gaming.
I guess my examples and point is that maybe Nintendo is trying to make a difference, kind of like what they did back in the 80's when they basically revived what seemed, at the time, to be an industry that was going to die. I don’t think they are just doing this for the sake of being different, because you have to KNOW what you are doing to survive in this industry, as we have seen in many failures before by many companies, Nintendo and their Virtual Boy included. The easiest way to see things is to look at the controller, lack of buttons, and the "nuchaku" and say "wow, they are going to lose all their third party support, no real game is going to work on that, what were they thinking, how am I gonna play Street Fighter on that" and be said and done with it, ignoring the transmitter idea or *gasp* actually taking in all the information about how it functions, the examples, and the idea that this isn’t the set in stone design yet and the console is still a good half a year to year away. I guess it’s just easier to make a quick judgement on a company that seems to be slowly dying a bit each year, losing market share, ignore their profits, and just say they are doing this to throw out gimmicks and change things. I guess it’s just easier to make the quick judgement, rather than actually taking a step back and thinking critically for a moment, that this isn’t just different, it’s going to change the kinds of games we play, how we play them, how we play the games we already have learned to love and adjusting to how we might play new genres in the future. It’s amazing that Nintendo may have found a way to essentially create a "third hand" you could have access to, allowing movement on the screen in direct contact with the positioning of the controller, something you are already forced to handle, and allowing your other hands to access more controls, buttons and such, and simplifying the overall experience for some, while creatively allowing more complex and stimulating titles to come forward for those who desire and have a want for it. The possibilities something like this can create seem endless when you allow yourself the chance to explore your mind and possibilities, not just looking at the games you see in front of you or the ones leaving the shelves in droves, but the ones that have never been fathomed, or even come to fruition.
I will admit, when I first saw the design, I was a bit put off, but after reading a ton of info, some interviews, and various posts throughout the forums, I can’t say anything other than I can’t wait. Nintendo is really taking a monumental risk here, and maybe it’s their turn. Sony has, MS has, I guess the ball really is in Nintendo’s court, and it’s their turn to take all that money they brag about being in their bank and putting it to good use like everyone says they should. I always said I wouldn’t mind if Nintendo was at some point to go third party, because I don’t have these silly loyalties to systems like I had back when I was a kid, I just have a loyalty to good games and developers. Guys like Blizzard, who put their all into their games and give back to their fans day in and day out with tech support and fantastic online services that cost nothing other than your standard internet connection. People like Capcom and Konami, who continually throw us sequels of every franchise they have but always try to throw some new stuff into the mix to get us riled up, only to throw more sequels that we eat up like great food. I can’t wait to see what the developers throw at us with an innovation of this proportion. I just hope they are up to creating some entirely new content instead of throwing us the same old stuff that they seemingly insist we buy, and it seems we always do. Can’t say I don’t enjoy many of the sequels, but at the same time I have avoided many franchises and haven’t purchased games as a result because I am just tired of the same old song and dance sometimes, and a fresh experience can really make me walk away from a game feeling more satisfied and appreciative. The same way I felt after having finishing Resident Evil, or Metal Gear Solid, or Final Fantasy I on the SNES. I guess it’s a fine line, and going the route of just slightly improving gameplay with an established series is a much easier and safer route than placing the development time and creativity behind abusing a piece of hardware like the Revolution's controller. The payoff for something successful such as this, however, could prove to be monumental if it breaks open the industry like many might expect it to. While it certainly would certainly be incredibly beneficial to Nintendo for something like this to take place, I can’t see anyone but the gamers benefitting more from what could easily be the freshest and most creative experiences to come around quite possibly since the advent of 3-D games like Super Mario 64, Metal Gear Solid, and the like.
Maybe that’s why all of us are so critical, because we are all so very protective of one of our favorite hobbies, that takes up a tremendous amount of our time, because it’s something so new, so different, that it has the possibility to drastically alter and change everything we play or have played for the past 5,10, or 20 years. We are so stuck in our conventions that our brains can only seem to operate within them and aren’t allowed to wander and elaborate beyond the fine lines, let alone go light years beyond them. Maybe that’s why we can’t accept it and are so quick to criticize or ridicule. Maybe we all should just take a step back, do some reading, and just daydream and wander about what this could really mean on a much higher level for us as gamers. It’s not like our favorites are going anywhere, we are still going to have a PS3 with MGS and Socom and likely Jak and Final Fantasy, and the Xbox360 is still going to be here with our PGR’s and Halos. Nintendo can just sit on the side, and maybe with some more creative work find a way not only to appeal to those interested in it’s new concepts, but bring those more traditional ones along as well. What’s the harm, really, outside of Nintendo’s market share, which we already determined is at an all time low anyways. They didn’t remain incredibly profitable in times of troubles like this by making stupid mistakes, and I don’t see them doing anything but placing their all into an incredibly creative product and taking a risk that everyone else has asked them to for years now, since it seems they really haven’t been competing all too well in the industry these past years anyways. Let them do their thing, let them try and show us again why we chose video games over tv, over sports, over whatever it is we may have done when we were children but chose them instead. Maybe, just maybe, the biggest surprise won’t be the controller but how many different ways the games and gamers find to use it.
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