Topic: Another Gaming Rant. This One's Mostly To The Devs!

It's been a long time since my last rant (This: https://www.nintendolife.com/forums/other_gaming/gamers_are_so... ). I got quite a bit of attention from that, haha. I got to thinking, so here's my next rant. I a posting this here because the NintendoLife forums have the most civilized posters out of any other forum I've ever been to. This one is aimed a little more at the developers than gamers.

Thanks, everyone! Now, without further adieu...!

1: The Definition of "Hardcore" games:
What is a hardcore game? A hardcore game is NOT a game with a crapload of shooting and blood, gore, cursing, etc. Hardcore means the game is DIFFICULT. Let me clarify something. A game is not hardcore if you can make the difficulty rediculous. Hardcore games are ges like Megaman and Contra, which are difficult right off the bat. Halo is a great game. Legendary difficulty is simply insane. Does that make it a hardcore game? Not really, because generally, people have already mastered the easier difficulties. Most NES games are true hardcore games. Ninja Gaiden was incredibly brutal. It punishes you right from the start. Did it have different difficty settings? No. This is generally something I don't really care about, but it should be something that all gamers know. Does being great at Call of Duty or SSBB make you hardcore? Nope. It make you good at those games. If you can get through the NES/SNES Megaman games and Ninja Gaiden games? Yes, of course. There are many that complain games are too easy these days. That's wy we look back to the old days. Luckily, there are a few games that still bring the heat (Demon's Souls, Bayonetta, Ninja Gaiden). Hopefully developers will take this to mind. I'm not very great at hard games, but I do enjoy them. Higher difficulty doesn't mean that you have less health and the enemies have more. I'm not saying that every game NEEDS to be rediulously insane with only a select few people ever beating it (IWBTG), but give the gamers a little more of a challenge, devs.

2: Not enough core games from Nintendo (obviously, but here's my take):
Ah, Nintendo. I've loved you since I was but a mere child. Many do. You almost always make awesome games. But at E3 09 I noticed something. You showed off a couple of Mario games (great, so what's new and awesome). after some long demos and short trailers for 3rd party games, Regie said something along the lines of, "Yes, but I want more. Can Nintendo make an edgier game? The answer is: absolutely." We were then given an amazing trailer that left my jaw on the ground for Metroid: Other M. After that trailer, my faith was restored in Nintendo. I wanted more! More core (notice I am using the term describing action-packed games, not "hardcore" as mentioned above) games! Then, the conference ended. Wait. That's it? You're trying to bring core gamers back with ONE game? C'mon, Nintendo! We always complain for more core games from you, and then you respond with only one? Other companies are constantly working to make sure gamers are satisfied with their lineup, but you expect us (core gamers) to be satisfied with one game? You just can't do this. I'm not saying I didn't jump for joy for the new Mario games, but when other developers had so much to offer, then you have only that to back you up, problems arise. Nintendo, we can't just be satisfied with one game everytime te core Wii game lineup goes down. Please realize this.

3: For developers too afraid to work on the Wii:
Many times, I've heard that the Wii is around a PS2 1.5. The PS2 had some games with AMAZING graphics. Black was easily the best-looking game on the platform, followed by Killzone, Shadow of the Colossus, and the God of War franchise. Each of those games had many enemies (or large ones) on screen. Look up footage! It's beautiful! You're too afraid because the graphics won't look photorealistic. Dead Space Extraction, Resident Evil: DC, The Conduit (art was okay, graphics were great), The Grinder, Monster Hunter 3, and many others are great indications that graphics can be fantastic on the Wii, and that is has more processing power than you'd think. Do some research! If the PS2 or XBOX can pull it off, so can the Wii! Don't be afraid. Put enough work into it, and it can be a great title!

4: FPS Overload!
Ah, first-person shooters. Not many people hate these, and I love them as well. First of all (even though this doesn't have to do with the topic), FIRST-PERSON SHOOTERS SHOULD NOT BE HELD AS THE STANDARD OF EXCELLENCE! People always put FPS's above everything else JUST because they are FPS's! DONT'!
Anyway, back to my main point. There are simply too many FPS's. I know they are popular, and I know many of them are great. Some of my favorite games are FPS's. But there is simply too many of them. It's one reason I'm reluctant to buy a 360. There's just simply not enough variety, which is why I'm perfectly fine with my Wii (which needs more FPS's, ironically). That's not to say the 360 is ONLY shooters. Games on XBLA such as Shadow Complex, Bionic Commando ReArmed, Castle Crashers, and Geometry Wars, a long with a bunch of HD remakes of old games are just fantastic! Developers, learn from the varitey! Cut down on the FPS's! Not just those, but shooters in general! There are so many great games out, but since most of them are shooters, it can get a little boring! Once I've played Halo or Call of Duty for enough, I'd like to find something different in my house, not just MORE FPS's!

Again, I love ranting. If you liked this, show some love. If you didn't, don't be a jerk about it. Comment away! If you want me to rant about something, just ask or PM me... (EDIT:Whoops!).

Okay, I won't.

Done. Let me know when you get my PM. It's kind of long and I didn't save it, so I hope you got it.

Yeah, I want more than FPS's too. Only one I've ever liked is Lost Planet: Colonies. Plan to get sequel next year. (hopefully)

I don't care to go past part one, so I won't.

Hardcore only means difficulty when it's a hardcore level of difficulty. Hardcore is more about things that are more excessive than the average person would care for.

...Hehe. I forgot...

great rant you should do a column for nintendolife.

EDIT: also the 360 has variety.

The V8 Ninja's Take On This Rant:

Part #1: Hardcore games are (in my opinion) for the gamers that know things going back to the Atari/NES era. They're not about difficulty.

Part #2: Nintendo's aiming to bring a new generation of gamers so that video games won't implode like comics in the 90s. Making lots of extremely hardcore games would only appeal to hardcore gamers would make video games implode since the PS360 area of gaming is only catering to the older and casual gaming crowd. And P.S., most game companies that are "constantly working to make sure gamers are satisfied with their lineup" are making FPS games, which will be touched on a little later in this butchering/opinion giving editorial.

Part #3: Developers are more worried about their game SELLING on the console rather than the graphics. You see, if something like No More Heroes was on a "mature" game console (which it is going to be), it would (and WILL) sell more than if it was on the Wii. The PS360 area of gaming is more open to anything violent and crude, while the Wii is more about family get-together and Nintendo moments.

WARNING: RANT CONTENT IS PRESENT IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPH. READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

Part #4: Totally agreed. There are WAAAAAAAAY too many FPSs on the game market that are considered "The New Best Game in The Universe". However, my complaint is more about context than amount. FPSs have blood, violence, and killing, which is what sells, and that's why they're considered "Amazing", even though all of them are EXACTLY THE SAME. Also, for people trying to defend the FPS genre, FPSs are MEANT TO BE A MASS MARKET PRODUCT, they aren't the underdogs, they aren't what you laughably call "Hardcore", and they are NOT %100 percent "original in every way"!!!

RANT IS OVER. ALL CAPS IS FUN !!!

you should do one big epic rant on the state of the industry as a whole i was planning on doing it for school but it seems too time consuming.

@ point 3: Developers and publishers see a Wii demographic that is all over the place and other than established Nintendo franchise instalments there doesn't seem to be enough "core" games will high enough sales to make them feel it's worth a risk for a big-budget title. I cannot say I fault them, but possibly they should STOP SPENDING SO MUCH TO DEVELOP NEW GAMES! That's my little rant over.

@ point 2: Nintendo is one company and the folk that are most dependent upon the Wii for the future. If they put out new franchise instalments for all their big titles like Kirby, Metroid, etc. in the first couple of years, what would the core base have to look forward to? If they want this machine to keep them going for the next four or five years they need big titles to release; they're not going to blow their wad tomorrow -- think about it!

@shing_70:
That'd be nice, but I can't relly think of any other topics, haha.
Also, I'm not really one who keeps up with sales in the industry and all that financial stuff. I just call it how I see it.

@V8 Ninja:
Point #1: I totally agree, I just didn't quite know how to word my rant.
Point #2: I know what you're saying, but still. It's only one game tha thy're putting out and I'm sure we all expect a tad more than that.
Point #3: I think it's also about the advertising. Not many maturegames get advertised on the Wii. But the Call of Duty games have sold well so far.
Point #4: Very true, but that's not to say they aren't fun. The things that mostly differ are the story and setting. They're usually dependent on gimmicks.

@Sean Aaron:
Point #3: As I said above, it should be due to advertising at the very least. Many people own Wiis and many (including me) can not afford an HD console.

Point #2: I'm not telling them to throw everything outthere at once, but they rarely make any big announcements outside of big gaming events (E3, TGS). I'd just like more than one core game a year from them. Luckily, we have the awesomeness of [some] third parties!

I can't begin to explain how much I disagree with the "rants" here, but considering in the post above Javet just admitted that he's got no basis for the rants, I don't need to.

>_>

Reply to #1: The definition of "hardcore" is very hard to pin-point to an exact definition, so I can also see how difficulty can be mixed into there.

Reply to #2: I definitely agree, but making sure the continuity of gaming continues is first priority in my opinion.

Reply to #3: %100 true for game that are already on the Wii. However, I was talking about if NMH WASN'T out on the Wii already and it got a console shift.

Reply to #4: I kinda overreacted/didn't clearly get my point across. I do like some FPS games (currently hooked on the free Halo demo w/ multiplayer), but the market is stockpiled with them, making me ANGRY JOE ANGRY (!!!) when it comes to this subject.

@V8 Ninja:
I see your points. I agree with number 2 whole-heartedly(?), and I'm not saying Nintendo isn't giving us games. I'm just saying, a little less "Wii --" titles and sales bragging, and a little more classic Nintendo. They're focusing too much on this whole "tween" gaming thing.

@Javet Completely agreed, but replace "tween" with "6-9 year-olds" (unless tween is 6-9 yer-olds, in which case I'm not so smart on 90s terms ).

Haha, we'll just go with "pre-teens" for now.

1. I don't really think that there is such thing as a "hardcore" game. I hate the term. I do think that there is such thing as a "hardcore" gamer, though. It is someone who will play games on max difficulty, long periods of time, BUT without losing a social life.
2.Completely agree
3.Sort of agree.
4.Blame Halo. Great games, but Halo: Combat Evolved really proved that FPS games can be fantastic on consoles. Before that there was just Goldeneye, and that is great, but Halo definitely beat it out of the console FPS thrown.

No, they really aren't the same. Call of Duty is nothing like, oh lets say, Republic Commando. Sure, you shoot things, but there are different weapons, environments, actions (melee attacks, commands), and objectives.

Yeah none of them are EXACTLY the same, but they are mostly the same concept (SHOOT STUFF!). Each game has its own way of making it so it doesn't get old, but after a while, you get the feeling of repitivity UNLESS It's a Metroid Prime (console) game or the Modern Warfare games. Both do a very good job of changing things up.

They are, but eachone relies on something that makes it fun to play for hours on end. Sometimes it's a gimmick, sometimes it's a major gameplay element.

Don't forget theres accually two core games, the others Sin & Punishment 2.