Gaming in the Media Blog

I am a franchise freak.  I love seeing my favorite characters return to the screen, game after game.  Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest…hell, Rachet & Clank! Seeing the mix of the familiar and the new still tends to excite me. 

Unfortunately, a good series has to walk a very thin line.  Fans have very strict expectations for a series, but also want new innovation and new challenges in every new installment.  It must be difficult for the game designers to satisfy what fans want without allowing the series to stagnate. 

The people over at Microscopic are wondering about the innovate/stagnate balance with Metroid. In “Where Now Samus? Metroid’s Next Revolution,” they ponder:

You’d think I’d know how to feel about Metroid Prime by now.As one of the few first person shooter heroines that’s more brains than bustline, Samus Aran is certainly to be applauded. And the triumphant transition of the Metroid franchise from 2D to 3D is still unsurpassed. Couple that with Metroid Prime 3’s tight armchair FPS controls and a world that’s full of beautiful, tactile touches that use the Wiimote just right and it’s paradise, no?

Well, kinda. And that’s where I always get stuck. Because in Metroid, you’re playing detective — exploring burned out space hulks and abandoned planets — a kind of future archeologist trying to piece together what happened after the fact. When Metroid is at its best, you feel the elation of an outer space Indiana Jones dusting off the Lost Ark (like in steampunk Skytown). When it doesn’t, you just feel lost — in a maze of beautifully different but functionally identical rooms, tracking and back tracking ad nauseam (find the energy cells, Indy!).

That’s when the ugly questions come out: Just how many times can Samus lose all her powers before she gives up getting them back again?And it’s in those moments that you have to worry; worry about whether all the rust coming off Metroid Prime 3 means that the series really doesn’t have another go-round in it — at least not a very interesting one.

[...]

 I wonder if Samus hasn’t become a prisoner of expectations. A perfect example is fan reaction to the biggest departure in MP3: the not-so-solitary G.F.S. Olympus segments. “That’s not Metroid!” they screamed, and they were right.

I remember feeling the same way about Tomb Raider.  While I credit Tomb Raider with being the stepping stone game that introduced me to RPGs, the years were not kind to Lara Croft.  I remember becoming more and more frustrated before finally laying Tomb Raider to rest a few years back.  I have heard other reports of this with Final Fantasy - but since I missed the first eight games of the series, I think I have a while to go before the plots and settings start feeling old hat to me. 

 VideoGamesBlogger celebrates some of the new abilities in the upcoming Nintendo release Super Smash Bros. Brawl:

Another new feature for Super Smash Bros. Brawl has been revealed! The game will allow you to send three-minute replays that you have recorded from the game to friends on your friend list via the online Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection support built into the game. Although it’s unclear whether you can record at any time, or if the game does it for you at the end of fights. What it will do is record automatically replays of your Time in modes like Target Mode, which makes it’s return in Brawl.

I love it!  Not only do I get to pwn people in the actual game, it means I also get to record it and play it for hours of endless amusement.  [Evil, I know.  A graceful winner, I am not...] Along with this cool announcement, VGB also reiterated a new fact about the game that I missed:

It was revealed last month that Super Smash Bros. Brawl would feature online play and this is a much requested feature that will definitely be welcome (the ability to record fights).

I am also excited about the online play component.  However, for me, it kind of takes away from what made the game so fun in the first place - dropping by a friend’s house and going a few rounds.  I am well aware that the internet play is an add-on to the game and does not take away from the human component in the least…but as my life is becoming increasingly gchat/AIM/email based (and my friends are moving farther and farther away) I find myself hesitating a bit about the new online features pushed by all three platforms.

I kind of feel like it will be yet another reason for me not to see my friends - we can always just hook up online.

Does anyone else feel that way?

Why am I salivating over this?

 Kotaku offered their take on the Wii Fit, mentioning:

Given our experience with WiiFit, it’s a lackluster product bordering on 99% marketing gimmick. So our guess is that the 300+ pounders among us will be better off going for a walk anyway. And besides, that Nike iPod integration is way more impressive than this whole WiiFit thing, and just about as fun (because it’s not really at all). And you won’t trip over the pea-sized device every time you walk in the room. Just our two cents.

Maybe it’s just my Pavlovian response to anything that goes with yoga, but the Wii fit looks like the hotness.  And it just might make people more active…or become another gaming add on that collects dust in the entertainment center.

Guess I’ll have to try it to see!

Okay, I’ll admit I’ve been viewing the spin placed on the Wii with some amusement.

Family friendly?

So what does that make other consoles, like the PS3 and X-box 360? Teen friendly? Disgruntled cube worker who wants to frag people in Halo to deal with corporate stress friendly? Whatever.

A console is the tool you use to play games. You, the gamer, select what you want to play. Simple right? I can play family friendly games on a Sony. I could exclusively play Metroid on my Wii.

I’ve been ignoring the “family fun” label that Wii receives in the media, but this article from USA Today almost made me roll off the bed. (Hat Tip to GamePolitics).

Check the headline: Nintendo Wii takes a murderous turn

(Say it with me now: dun dun DUN! *dramatic music crescendo*).

The article opens:

In a video game universe, the pairings do not get much stranger than this: family-friendly Nintendo and controversial video game developer Rockstar.

The horror title Manhunt 2 ($30-$40) will hit stores on Halloween for Nintendo Wii and Sony’s PlayStation 2. Since the Wii version uses the motion-sensitive controllers, it literally gives players the hands of a killer. Manhunt 2 was originally rated Adults Only — equivalent to an X in films — and now carries an M for mature audiences (17 and up).

Interesting how they compare the Adults Only to an X rating (which was phased out in the 90s in favor of the rating NC-17). X ratings tend to carry a pornographic connotation …so what is USA Today trying to insinuate here?

The article goes on to say:

“It is a technological fit, and the gameplay works,” says Newsweek’s N’gai Croal. “But culturally, it’s not a fit.”

Nintendo doesn’t need to expand its user base to help the Wii continue to outsell its pricier and technologically superior competitors. Since launching in November, Nintendo has sold 4 million Wiis; in the same time, Microsoft has sold 3 million Xbox 360s and Sony 1.75 million PS3s, according to market tracking firm The NPD Group.

Uh…what about maintaining the market of gamers that grew up with Nintendo? You know, those of us who are over 20 years of age that still have Mario memories but more developed more mature tastes?

Manhunt 2 is simply the most radical example of Nintendo’s ongoing strategy to provide “a breadth of games of all story lines and all genres,” she says.

A flood of new Wii titles is on the way, including Super Mario Galaxy (Nov. 12), horror game Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles (Nov. 13) and Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Dec. 3).

But Manhunt 2 goes the furthest. Players take the role of a psychiatric escapee who has murderous rages as he tries to uncover his past. On the Wii, players physically make killing motions with the controllers — slashing for stabs and lifting to strangle — rather than simply pushing buttons. Rockstar’s goal is to put players in the horror genre in ways that films like Saw or Hostel cannot.

“It’s a different level of engagement in video games,” says Rockstar’s Rodney Walker. “You can literally experience the emotional responses of the character.”

Since the last paragraph probably has concerned parents already dashing off letters to their Congressional representatives, I am pretty sure that the next two paragraphs will be ignored:

The Entertainment Software Ratings Board tagged Manhunt 2 with the Adults Only rating in June, essentially banning the game. Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony do not permit AO games to be made for their consoles, and many retailers will not stock AO titles. Rockstar changed the game and resubmitted it to earn an M rating.

Walker concedes that some might be turned off by the game. “But what about other people who should have a choice whether or not to play it?” he says.

 

Thank goodness for common sense. The Wii can be a family friendly console. Here’s how: do not buy your 9 year old a copy of Manhunt. Buy all the other age appropriate games. But do not buy them that.

Personally, I am outraged at the parents in this case. You control your child’s consumption. Even with teenagers who may be earning money independently, parents still can exercise veto power over things they feel are inappropriate. So why is there such a strong push for game markers/legislators/console designers to reign in children?

Parents: can you leave my games alone please?

Police your children - not the gaming industry.

GameDailyBiz published some interesting findings from Nielsen last week, which provided a direct correlation between income level and console purchases:

Nielsen today released its first round of data from its new GamePlay Metrics service used to measure PC and console video game usage. There were a number of interesting findings and tidbits, but perhaps the most interesting was that despite all the hype surrounding the new consoles, the PS2 remains the most played system today. Sony’s aging console accounted for 42 percent of video game console usage during June. This was followed by the original Xbox at 17 percent, the 360 at 8 percent, GameCube at 5.8 percent, Wii at 4 percent, and PS3 at 1.5 percent. Nielsen also found from a demographics standpoint that Wii households are typically “upscale” with incomes of $100,000 or more – ironic, considering that Nintendo’s console is the cheapest of the new systems.

I would call that way ironic. How is the cheapest system the one who lands in the most affluent households?

However, thinking about it a bit more, the Wii is breaking records in terms of usage. Maybe affluent people who do not recognize themselves as gamers want to use and play the Wii. The diverse line of titles and the lower dollar investment to play is enticing to many people. Maybe the affluent are just more money savvy and want a console system that will not break the bank?

Suddenly, the findings do not look so strange after all.