Topic: Let's Talk Nintendo: Good Old Gameplay

I remember watching E3 last month. Such an amazing time of the year for gamers. Games are unveiled, trailers are shown, and a multitude of people gather together to see a spectacle on stage.

Back in the day, games used to be about gameplay. It was exciting. What is this game doing different from the rest? What is the new mechanic or concept that will set this game apart from the rest?

Back to E3, the stage goes dark, and the atmosphere sets in. The Order 1886 is getting a ‘gameplay’ trailer, the main character is walking through a hallway which then leads to a cutscene. A monster soon pops out, our hero is randomly shooting, a quick time event happens and the player has to press triangle. Followed by more cut scenes and the demo ends.

Another dark and gritty shooter? Check
Forced walking? Check
Random quick time event? Check
95% cut scene 5% gameplay? Check.

And the crowd cheers in excitement and the people on youtube videos claim this is one game to be on the lookout for.

Another example, Uncharted 4 only got a couple of seconds of Nathan Drake waking up, standing, and walking away. Yet cheers and applause were everywhere. I have no doubt it will most likely be a good game, but even then, is that all it takes for us as gamers to be excited? Next, Rainbow Six. While it was playing, everyone was completely silent until the end. No cheering, applause or awe, but then something magical happens, the Rainbow Six logo splatters on the screen at the very end and the crowd goes wild - getting excited over a brand and not the game itself

What is wrong with this picture? How do people get excited over stuff like this? Why are gamers so eager to see a ‘cool’ cinematic moment? We expect it, but worse than that, we want it. We want to see that CGI Assassin’s Creed trailer to ‘wow’ us even when we are aware that it has nothing to do with actual gameplay.

Our brains are hardwired this way. We need to disconnect and get wired again.

Nintendo won E3 2014 for me not just because of the great amount of content, quality of games, and the way they delivered the message. But mostly because we got to see games, some real gameplay, as they are meant to be seen.

What a concept.

Gameplay is by far one of the most important things, if not the most important thing about a game. This used to be the general consensus but that has recently changed with time. Games could at times not be so visually impressive but have amazing gameplay and be a must have, now it seems a game must be visually striking first to decide whether it is good or not and then gameplay comes second. However, sometimes these concept of ‘visually impressive’ usually comes first in a trailer, or teaser that has nothing to do with the how good looking a game really is, since many times we are first introduced with CGI spectacles that do not communicate what a game really is like. The idea is to give the player a good first impression of the game, but how can we get impressed when we have not been shown the actual package; its like wrapping a gift with the most luxurious and beautiful wrapping paper but never see what is actually inside. Regardless, this is usually all it takes for modern gamers to be blown away.

I saw the first ever Monolith Soft X trailer (now called Xenoblade Chronicles X) back then in January of 2013. Even though this game was probably in its earlier stages, more so than now obviously, we got to see the game with a view of what seemed to be the main character and the massive and beautiful world around him. Exciting stuff, we were shown a live world and we saw right in front of our eyes what it REALLY looks like. This is an actual taste of what it is to come, an actual introduction to the game, not some CGI battle of mechs and mosters fighting in dubstep. The best part is, that this type of stuff is what is really exciting about a game. Seeing a game in all its glory and what it is trying to achieve. Being excited for a game because of its premise in the gameplay department, not in the spectacle department.

Every Nintendo game at this year’s E3 followed on this formula of gameplay > everything. From games we knew about like Hyrule Warriors and Bayonetta 2, to new IPs like Splatoon and S.T.E.A.M., even Miyamoto’s 2 quirky concepts Project Giant Robot and Project Guard. We got a look to game after game with gameplay in mind, during their Digital Event and even after with their Treehouse Event, something very refreshing to see after a giant dose of explosions, music, and cinematic moments from the previous day.

I don’t know about you but a giant dose of gameplay is what really excites me about a game.

And so, I am pro gameplay. Let me see what a game really is like and don’t try to fool me with vague promises and outlandish trailers that does not represent the final product. Let’s get excited over what really sets a game apart.

Good old gameplay.

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Not everyone will agree with you some might say graphics are the most important,i say story and gameplay that makes me love the game and get hyped for it.If the game does not have that well i'm not going to get interested,but hey that's me.

@jorgejjvr

very subtle way to plug your tumblr, I commend you on it

The majority of gamers don't care about gameplay, they just want cheap spectacle. This is exactly what the majority wants. Sad, isn't it? Good taste is hard to find among gamers, and the games coming out reflect that.

I'm sorry, thats not the idea, I post my threads in other sites and dont put my tumblr because they allow for pictures and such, I only put it here in case you want to read it the way it was meant to be. I usually use many pictures along my posts

I agree with you fully on that one. Most times people boost about how realistic and/or artsy the graphics are but dont question the gameplay as much. Not that graphics are inferior in games as a whole. It's just that if you were to sell me on something, my first question would be how does it work. Reminds me of all the Nintendo commercials I seen where they show alittle gameplay compared to Ubisoft, Sony, and Microsoft where it more on the cinema side.

I like shiny graphics with cool cutscenes but I'm not dumb enough to get a game for that. But at the same time, I appreciate it at least sometimes if it actually gets you PUMPED for a game. But if you can't do that with gameplay...that's a problem...

But yes, anyone who is excited for The Order should feel bad as a person. There is NOTHING going for it, as far as a video game at least.

I think in a way though, some people are starting to see past this, since you are far from the first person to point this out.

I feel like most popular games have been like that for the last 10 years. I guess that's why I ended up getting a Wii U for the family. If I want AAA disappointment, I can always try a new top-rated game on my PC first, get annoyed at being on rails, and then delete the piece of crap. It seems that's why the indie scene has exploded recently — people want to get back to what makes games fun.

I am amazed you do not mention how for a lot of people, the highlight of Nintendo's E3 was actually the Zelda U reveal, which was Link being chased by a giant monster. Not unlike Uncharted 4's reveal, just with more action and color. And yes, that was the only Nintendo game that did not show actual gameplay, although everything was taken from the game engine itself.

I feel I will always be biased towards gameplay. I play games, if games were meant to be watched only, I would go to youtube instead of wasting $60.

I agree with the order, but Uncharted is different, people don't get excited because of what they showed, they get excited because its Uncharted..... Nintendo fans also do the same thing, you could show just a Zelda logo and people would still get excited because its Zelda.

Reminds me of what some guy said as a response to this video:

The Twilight Princess reveal is probably the most talked about Nintendo E3 moment ever, and it was a trailer. We can't play these games ourselves until they come out, the job of things like E3 are to get you excited, so I don't think it really matters at all wether you're watching someone play through the game or seeing a trailer. In fact, I find watching someone else play a game to be pretty boring, and it doesn't matter if that's a Nintendo game or anyone else's.

I'd be quite happy if every game was announced with a trailer and then not shown again until they let people do video review. I mean, when we're waiting for a new movie to come out, nobody is saying, hey, they should show us 10 minutes of uncut footage, just like it will be when we're watching it in a theatre.

Also, it's starting to get really cringeworthy constantly reading that owners of other consoles only care about graphics and not gameplay. This from a community where a worryingly large amount of people won't buy the new Phoenix Wright game, despite loving the series, because it doesn't come with a box for them to admire on their shelf. Yeah, that sounds like a community that puts gameplay first.

I feel EXACTLY like you do. I like the MGS series...I "played" the first three games on PS2 hoping that would wrap up the story...it didn't. They released the next one on PS3. Sooooooo, I was going to have to pay around $660 to finish the story T_T. It was at that moment that I realized Youtube was the answer to my problem If I'm going to be watching most of a game, then I want to just watch it like a movie (and PAY the same price as a movie. Just imagine, MGS4: The movie, would have cost me $10-$15 at a movie theater...not $660).

@Peach64

I am pretty sure the people who don't want a digital only PW won't tell you that the problem is the box, but that they won't be able to trade, sell, lend, etc. the game after they are done. I sometimes think Capcom does it on purpose, as that is a series with zero replay value, besides being somewhat niche.

For me the problem with the movies comparison is that in a movie trailer everything is taken from the movie itself, while in a game trailer they can only show cinematics so you have no idea of even the genre or how it plays. I love Kamiya and his games, but still that Scalebound trailer showed absolutely nothing about the game itself. Knowing Kamiya it will probably be an action game, but I want to see actual gameplay instead of (or in addition to) a cutscene.

Nintendo are usually pretty good with good and/or innovative gameplay. However they have shown on occasion that they're willing to sacrifice that just for the sake of selling a game based on the franchise brand cough Sticker Star cough. Lets not also forget the recent failures of Yoshi's New Island and Island Tour.