Update-Well, it appears that my wish is granted. There is an excellent article on Wired's Game|Life blog about a hands-on playtime of the Japanese version of Metroid Prime for the Wii. A US release date has not been announced yet, although as the article states, it's "a shoo-in". 11 March 09
That, most assuredly, is the question. As you all know (all 3 of you that have read my blog, wife included), I own a PS3, a 360,a PSP and a DS. What you may not know is that I really do want to pick up a Wii. Why wait? Yes, I know that Wiis have been seen in the wild everywhere and there are a ton of new games announced all the time, shouldn't this be the right time? Maybe, maybe not. In my opinion, I honestly don't think that Nintendo had gamers like me in mind when they designed their latest offering and I've been waiting for something for me, the hardcore gamer. History shows that the Wii has never really been marketed to my demographic, and that's worked for Nintendo up to this point. I do think that Nintendo needs to embrace the core gaming community, which I don't consider the casual gamer to be. But to be fair I do think that Nintendo has been changing its focus lately. Well, they haven't done a 180 away from the casual market, but they are making progress.
Since the introduction of No More Heroes I've been seeing a shift by Nintendo of including more than just the standard kid friendly fare to the Wii line-up. I think it's good that the Wii has been including games that you typically wouldn't think to see on the Nintendo console. February saw the release of a couple of games geared toward more mature and hardcore gamers. Both The House Of The Dead: Overkill and Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop came out last month for the Nintendo Wii and show that mature games do have a place on this console. In the coming months there are several other popular games and series coming to the Wii. Starting with the very unique and interesting MadWorld later this month ,continuing to The Conduit in May and Dead Space: Extraction later this year. It doesn't sound like much in the line-up right now, but there are plenty of rumored or unannounced games coming out in addition to these.
Another announcement that has me excited about the Wii involved the re-releasing of Gamecube games to Nintendo's next gen system. That's cool, right? Yes and no. It's cool that the possibility exists that some of the better last gen games are coming to the Wii with possible graphical updates and motion controls added. Who wouldn't want to see the older Zelda games revamped for this generation? Or maybe have the Metroid Prime series ported over so you can play them all on the Wii? How about seeing (one of my personal favorites) the Rouge Squadron series updated and available today? The bad news is that only a couple of games have been announced for re-release so far and there has not been any news of new titles being added for quite a while, but I'm not concerned. Nintendo has always been slow to adopt changes, so I am going to be patient and hope for the best. At least for now.
Nintendo, hey Nintendo! It's me. GlossGreen. Remember me? We used to play together as kids. Remember the time we used to play Zelda? No? How about Metroid? You don't remember that either? I know, it was a long time ago, but you seem different these days. It seems like you're trying to be someone else these days. What happened to you? I remember first meeting you way back in grade school. You were there to pick up the pieces after the whole Atari thing. Damn E.T., why did it have to be that bad? Luckily, you were there to swoop in and pick up the pieces. Seeing you in the store for the first time, I think it was a Sears, I remember being excited (as only a grade schooler could). I used to spend hours looking at the box art of games, heck, I even thought R.O.B. looked cool. I know, I was young and didn't know better. Playing the games were great, I could actually tell the difference between my character and a rock. That was a huge improvement over the other guys stuff. We spent hours and hours having fun, and then things got better.
A few years later, you got a slight bit more mature and grew a tad bit bigger. You got smarter and became able to do some pretty cool things. Zelda looked better, Mario could do more things, and Samus had more toys. Those were the good old days, some say the best. I have many good memories playing through those years, but changes were on the wind. A new media for games was on the horizon and you tried to join in. CDs were going to be the next big thing for games. They were cheaper, had more storage, and hell, people just thought they were cool. Too bad you made the wrong choice.
I still stuck by you...for a while. I didn't care that you still used cartridges while the other systems started using CDs. You still had some great games. All the usual suspects were there, and some new ones too. I spent many, many hours playing Rogue Squadron, my favorite Star Wars game to date. Unfortunately, all was not well. At the time, I was starting a family and had a job that didn't pay so well, and there in lies the rub. New games for you ended up costing nearly $70. I couldn't believe it. Why the heck were you so expensive? I know things weren't going well for you against your former partner, but did you really have to cost so damn much? Were you trying to alienate all your friends? Let me tell you, price gauging is not cool. After that things got worse.
I didn't even recognize you the next time you hit the spotlight. You went from a cherished family friend to...a toy. That's what I thought. Sure, Resident Evil looked pretty good, but a cube shape? With a handle? Let's get one thing straight, you were not a portable system. The handle was just stupid. What really got me was the fact that you didn't learn your lesson from the last time. Hello, remember the CD fiasco? Anyone? Why the miniature discs? That's just like a racehorse on the track with a broken leg. You can get some mileage out of it, but it won't go far. I an not ashamed to admit that I turned my back on you then. I thought you'd be done for sure.
Revolution. Now that was a cool name and it showed that you were going to try something new. I was interested, even though I'd sworn you off the last time. You had some big plans and ideas that really impressed me. But you let me down again. What did you choose instead? Wii. What the hell were you thinking? Underwhelming hardware with a stupid name. Looking back at it now, I'd say you were in it for the money. Go cheap with the hardware and take advantage of everyone with garbage software. Even with the occassional Mario, Zelda, or Metroid game you have still lost me. I know you are making money hand over fist these days, but let's be honest. How long do you think this can possibly last? I can see it now, death by shovelware. With games like Gingerbread Man, who needs enemies?
Things aren't over yet, I know you are only half way into your second year and there is still plenty of time to fix things. First, get quality back. Remember the Nintendo Seal of Quality? I took heart knowing that you actually looked at the games that developers were trying to get on your system. Sure, the occassional bad game made it through, but nothing like the old 2600 days. Nothing like an E.T. to be seen. Second, get some games that people like me would actually play. Wii Sports? No. Cooking Mama? Hell no. Ging...Stop right there. You see my point? Remember the old days. Strive for excellent, fun games. Don't just do it because you can. I know Nintendo could slap the Wii name on a rock and sell millions of them, but it doesn't mean they should.
That, most assuredly, is the question. As you all know (all 3 of you that have read my blog, wife included), I own a PS3, a 360,a PSP and a DS. What you may not know is that I really do want to pick up a Wii. Why wait? Yes, I know that Wiis have been seen in the wild everywhere and there are a ton of new games announced all the time, shouldn't this be the right time? Maybe, maybe not. In my opinion, I honestly don't think that Nintendo had gamers like me in mind when they designed their latest offering and I've been waiting for something for me, the hardcore gamer. History shows that the Wii has never really been marketed to my demographic, and that's worked for Nintendo up to this point. I do think that Nintendo needs to embrace the core gaming community, which I don't consider the casual gamer to be. But to be fair I do think that Nintendo has been changing its focus lately. Well, they haven't done a 180 away from the casual market, but they are making progress.
Since the introduction of No More Heroes I've been seeing a shift by Nintendo of including more than just the standard kid friendly fare to the Wii line-up. I think it's good that the Wii has been including games that you typically wouldn't think to see on the Nintendo console. February saw the release of a couple of games geared toward more mature and hardcore gamers. Both The House Of The Dead: Overkill and Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop came out last month for the Nintendo Wii and show that mature games do have a place on this console. In the coming months there are several other popular games and series coming to the Wii. Starting with the very unique and interesting MadWorld later this month ,continuing to The Conduit in May and Dead Space: Extraction later this year. It doesn't sound like much in the line-up right now, but there are plenty of rumored or unannounced games coming out in addition to these.
Another announcement that has me excited about the Wii involved the re-releasing of Gamecube games to Nintendo's next gen system. That's cool, right? Yes and no. It's cool that the possibility exists that some of the better last gen games are coming to the Wii with possible graphical updates and motion controls added. Who wouldn't want to see the older Zelda games revamped for this generation? Or maybe have the Metroid Prime series ported over so you can play them all on the Wii? How about seeing (one of my personal favorites) the Rouge Squadron series updated and available today? The bad news is that only a couple of games have been announced for re-release so far and there has not been any news of new titles being added for quite a while, but I'm not concerned. Nintendo has always been slow to adopt changes, so I am going to be patient and hope for the best. At least for now.
