Prepare for a longer than usual read
I realize I won't get a response from this guy but I want people with the same perspective to get the message.
Hereafter is a summary of the thoughts that have been bouncing through my mind of late, that I finally decided to put into an organized rant. (That my friends, is a classy first sentence)
Over the past few years, Nintendo has really been struggling. Sony with Playstation, and now Microsoft with X-box, have been strong competitors, repeatedly outselling them, and buying developers left and right.
I will cede that the X-box and Playstation2 consoles are superior to the Gamecube. PSP does have better graphics hardware than the DS. But a console is only as good as its games. And that, is why Nintendo will succeed.
Nintendo has lasted through the ages. It has survived gaming greats like Sega, and Atari. And it has for one reason, and one reason only, its games.
And of course you are saying, "But Jon! Look at Halo! Look at GTA! Those games are way better than anything Nintendo has!"
To which I can only reply, "Better by whose standards?" Sure, they sold better, but only because they had two things that for some reason, most people find the only important things in a game: Senseless violence, and good graphics.
And a little something called 'fun'. If you wanna go back to Atari or anything from the 1st gen be my guest.
Graphics mostly can be blamed for the downfall of gaming. If we continue to pay companies for games based soley on their graphics quality, then gaming will continue on it's downward trend. If good gameplay continues to be overlooked because of graphics, then gaming will eventually collapse into movies and pornography controlled by a controller instead of a remote.
In the words of the wise sage, Brian Clevinger, "Using 3D graphics just because the console can process them is somewhat like having a voice say 'Keep on gamin', soldier!' every five seconds just because the console can produce CD quality sound."
This is a good point, the only problem is you make it sound lke every game would be better if they were still 2D with monophonic tones.
There is one thing that makes Nintendo games better than all the rest: Originality. And I'm not just some Nintendo fanboy shooting his mouth off, I have legitimate proof. In several different genres.
The biggest and most important example is:
Fighting Games
Fighting games have not progressed in the last two decades at all. The new ones may be covered in flashy graphics, and hot girls, but really, you are just playing the same washed up Mortal Combat. Fighting games still have not progressed out of their Mortal Combat stage. Two fighters stand in a ring, and punch and kick each other until one is dead.
And then to fool you into thinking it is really a new game, they add great graphics and scantily clad female characters bouncing around and poking through their tops. It's pathetic how low gaming has sunk, just to sell.
So anyway, to the point. To counter this pathetic monotony, Nintendo unleashes the greatest fighting game series of all time: Super Smash Brothers and Super Smash Brothers Melee.
These two are the first original fighting games of this gaming generation. They combine the same great elements of fighting games, using individual characters with unique abilities and different styles, and combine it with a brand new way to look at fighting games. They actually use levels to change the gaming experience. Levels are bigger than 30 foot rings, they now contain an enormous enviroment, which drastically effects the game.
They also take on a platforming element, with the advanced jumping and arial attacks. Suspended platforms and uneven levels make battles so much more than Punch 'em Kick 'em action. And plus, 4 players. Can't go wrong with that.
So next time you are playing Soul Calibur 2, and making Taki run back and forth just so you can see her bounce, think of how pathetic fighting games have become.
SC2 and 3 are better than most. Mortal Kombat is junk, and some other ones either aren't even good enough to be remembered or don't exist. Which means fighting games aren't a dime a dozen, as you make them seem.
SSBM is NOT a fighting game. Sure you fight, but that doesn't automatically make it a fighting game, SSBM is in it's own genre.
My next point lies within the ever popular:
First Person Shooters
This potentially good gaming genre has reached sick levels that make me embarrassed to be a gamer. These games stoop so low it is disgusting. Just the thought of how these monstrocities are poisoning the young impressionable minds of gamers is sickening.
Games like GTA, Hitman, and Halo, that glorify senseless violence and killing, making them seem like a harmless passtime, inconsequential normalities of life, make me retch. In GTA for example, most of the game centers around running around and commiting heinious crimes, repeated murder, drug distribution, and most namely: Grand Theft Auto. This game series makes these things seem fun! And people wonder why the crime rate is going up.
I was watching a friend play vice city. He ran outside with a baseball bat. Seeing two pedestrians walk by, he ran up and swung his bat at them, killing them both. When the Police arrived to arrest him, he ran up and beat their heads in too. Then the ambulance showed up. He ran up and killed the EMTs as they came for the bodies.
Maybe that just sickened me a little more because my dad is an RN. I don't know. What I do know is at the sight of that horrible, heartless act, and the fact that the game designers allow you to do that, I dumped the contents of my lunch on his floor.
Halo is not as bad as the other two, but it is still awful. Brutal murders are commonplace, and violence is extremely graphic.
The worst of these three is the joy called Hitman. Hitman influence has been linked to several teen murders. This game centers behind, not surprisingly, an asassin. In this game, you take down a series of heavily guarded targets. These murders are extremely brutal. Weapons featured in these games include a variety of guns, fiberwire, meathooks, shovels, pool cues, tazers, swords, and plastic bags. Other methods of killing involve drowning, smothering, beheading, and slicing throats. The game encourages you to get creative with your killing, and awards extra points for brutality.
My point is, shooters have gotten old ever since James Bond, and attempts to make somthing original have given gristly results.
From this point, it's not hard for Nintendo to make something better than this filth, but they do an amazing job with Metroid Prime. It's a refreshing break from the same old shooter we have seen, loved, and eventually gotten sick of. It combines the great adventure elements of Item collecting and problem solving with classic shooting elements. The bold single player mode is a never before seen advance in video gaming.
Here's where you shoot yourself in the foot:
GTA is not a FPS.
Hitman is not a FPS.
FPS = First person shooter
First person = From the character's point of view, i.e. through their eyes.
And Metroid isn't a FPS, it's a first person adventure. The focus is less on guns than in most FPS.
For the sake of it, I'll defend GTA [I know nothing about Hitman but at least the concept is orignal].
GTA is just a bunch of bad games mixed together to make 1 great game.
It's a bad RPG [body building, gun skills, driving skill etc.]
It's a bad Racing game [cars handle poorly]
It's a bad flight sim [planes handle too easily]
It's a bad shooter [targetting, 'nuff said]
Mix those in with a good free roam element and a couple of interesting missions and you have GTA, 1 of the best games/series created [top 100 imo].
Don't like all the violence and freeness? That's too bad, not all of us can withstand making friends [Sims] and doing chores in a game. In GTA you can do whatever the hell you want, whenever the hell you want [picking up whores for some comedy, drive bys with some fellow gang members].
It keeps the game fresh, you know, one of the most important things that separate good games from the bad ones.
Oddly enough you said nothing about Halo, but then again it's better than most, your fanboyism is really blinding you beyond belief, you sound like a parent or Jack Thompson.
Now, for the next of the three most popular genres:
Racing
Racing is probably the oldest and most generic genre of gaming. I'm sorry, but I will go from playing need for speed, and play, say grand tourismo 3, and say, "What's the difference?" Aside from different cars and courses, we're all playing the same game here. But somehow, game developers have tricked us into thinking these are different games. That, and that their game is better, despite it being the same.
Racing is a way overused and overrated genre. I'll admit I enjoy a quick race with a friend every once in a while. But we don't need 10 different racing games, that all handle pretty much the same. This is getting old.
Then here comes Nintendo, with another line of originality, Mario Kart. These games are very innovative, combining a racing game with a whole new element of using items to defeat opponents. That, plus 4 players.
I agree with this to some extent. I think Burnout is different than all of the above. Midnight Club is a nice change from the usual as well but all of the NFS are more of the same, GT is too realistic for me to even have fun with, I spin too much and it's just not fun at all.
Now, for the last, and strongest example:
Role Playing Games (RPGs)
This is where Nintendo really sticks it to Playstation. X-box does not really do much with RPGs, so I will mostly focus on Playstation. Or, most namely, Square. You guys should have stayed with Nintendo, because they are really kicking up a storm.
(Note, do not try to yell at me for using Square, instead of Squaresoft, or the Enix part of square, because I know which parts make what games, but Square is easier to type than SquareEnix)
Case in point, Final Fantasy. I have posted several times the rant by Brian Clevinger about Square's decline, but in case any readers have not seen it, here is the link:
http://www.nuklearpower.com/oldvsnew.php
That summarizes the problems with Final Fantasy better than I could, so I won't go into detail.
Mainly, I would like to focus on the fact that Square's decline started after they moved to Playstation. Big surprise there. Ever since then, they have only cared about graphics. Their games are all the same, just with a new story, throw in a new weapon or summon system and there you go, new game.
And yet, with Nintendo, they made several amazing innovations. Remember all the greats in games? FF1, FF3, FF6, Chrono Trigger, just to name a few. And then they go to Playstation. Umm. . . Well, FF7 was great as far as story and characters went, Kingdom Hearts was amazing. . . and. . . umm. . . that's about it. All I can think of for now.
Well guess what, even without Square, Nintendo has done great. Great games on the Gameboy Advance such as Golden Sun, Fire Emblem, Advance Wars, and of course, Pokemon, have given a new outlook on RPGs, besides the basic FF style.
If this should be considered Spam, go ahead and close this. I am just becoming sick of the trend games are taking, and felt the need to express my voice.
EDIT: Upon further thought, I realized that this probably should not go here. I'm sorry, but I am also unable to move this after it has been made.
You shot yourself in the foot again. Gamecube is just as bad as Xbox [and now Xbox has FF11 and Oblivion, how ironic] when it comes to RPGs. I'll be leaninant [sp?] with the listing of worthwhile RPGs for the cube.
Tales of Symphonia
Paper Mario [not sure of accuracy]
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles
.... that's about it?
So unless you go way back when to get some decent Nintendo RPGs, you aren't going to get anything worth playing for a while. Also, Advanced wars and Fire Emblem are strategy games.
Another thing you are wrong about is originality.
Right now we have:
8 Mario Parties
4 Mario Karts [5 if you count the GBA one]
2 Super Smash Brothers [3 if you count Brawl]
Mario Football
Mario Tennis
Mario Basketball
Mario dancing
Mario Pinball
5 Metroids
Over 3 Kirbys
Over 7 Fire Emblems [correct me if I'm wrong]
Over 4 Donkey Kongs
Over 15 Pokemon games [I don't want the stress of counting the 64 and GC ones]
And those are the best things we have, 3rd party support is nowhere to be found, yet you call Nintendo orignal?
. Metroid Prime is also an excellent series. But apart from them, I don't see much in FPS games except for alot of blood and mindless killing.
