Fans of films, TV shows, books and video games like to think their influence is significant in determining the general creative direction of a brand, especially in this era of social media and the very loud internet. To a degree they're right, too - when any IP becomes popular creators are under pressure to deliver what the presumably sizeable fan-base wants. Keep the good times rolling, please the fans and everyone's happy.
Of course, sometimes fans have less influence, for various reasons. Perhaps a particular franchise has a stubborn and revolutionary creative lead, determined to take a brand in their direction regardless of what angry people tweet about it. Or a series just isn't particularly lucrative - there may be a vocal fanbase, but if the real-world numbers are modest then the creators and their overlords in the boardroom may decide it's more important to pitch for a bigger audience, even if it angers a hardy but small group of fans.
There have certainly been notable examples in recent years where these factors, likely a mix of both, have led to two beloved Nintendo franchises going off in directions that leave fans uneasy. We have the strength of feeling that Metroid: Other M engendered on Wii, and the pre-release chatter around Star Fox Zero and its focus on a GamePad-driven control scheme. In both cases franchises have experienced creative leads with a history of success, and sales numbers that mean a stretch for a bigger breakthrough is always on the minds of senior management.
Let's consider Metroid: Other M first of all. The Metroid series has never been Nintendo's most lucrative, certainly not compared to Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda, for example. Metroid Prime performed particularly well on GameCube, but in the majority of cases the series seems to hover between one and two million sales per 'main' game, based on ball-park figures. That's hardly disastrous, but it's also a reminder why it's not a franchise at the top of Nintendo's to-do list in each passing year. It's an IP that brings variety and even prestige to Nintendo's game library, but it's not a guaranteed blockbuster hit, especially in this era of inflating developing costs.
Ironically, Metroid: Other M - despite ultimately selling less than the Prime games - could be considered a pitch for a new audience. Its glossy cinematics were accompanied by what was - by Nintendo standards - an ambitious and expensive marketing campaign. The story, for all its flaws, aimed to provide some history around Samus, with the intention no doubt being to encourage players to then explore the series in more depth. Team Ninja was also employed to develop it, not because of its enjoyment of well-endowed female characters, but because of its track record in developing 3D action games. Nintendo thought it would work, to the point that Reggie Fils-Aime referenced the fact the company would need to figure out why it didn't take off. Somehow the combination of expensive real-life ads and others designed to target nostalgia (below) didn't do the trick.
It's important to note that complaints around Other M were varied - it wasn't the case that fans were uniting around one issue, but rather seemed to have multiple areas they didn't like. One was in the controls and 2.5D approach, where you run around in a 3D environment with the D-Pad, and occasionally point the Remote at the TV for a first-person perspective. For some the problems were story-based, with objections to the plot, specific scenes and the portrayal of Samus all cited. Even getting beyond Team Ninja doing what it does with character models, for some the representation of Samus was all wrong and poorly executed.
A fun fact is that when I applied to be a DSiWare reviewer here on Nintendo Life back in January 2011, for my application I included an opinion piece defending Metroid: Other M. I enjoyed it, albeit considering the absurdities it has - the way it locked weapons while waiting for 'authorisation' was goofy, for one thing. I was also a little fed up, at the time, with belly-aching over the plot and script, hence the application article. My attitude was that a) it wasn't that bad by video game standards, just mediocre, and b) that it's Yoshio Sakamoto's toy and he can do with it as he pleases.
Another point is that this portrayal of Samus wasn't new, it was just the first time it had been fully realised courtesy of improved technology. Sakamoto-san's love of space-opera writing was evident in Metroid Fusion, and we published an opinion piece (before my time here) that eloquently highlighted the similarities between the two, in terms of the writing and the way Samus thinks. Sakamoto-san was both the Director and Scenario Writer on Fusion - read the screencap below in the Other M voice, and you'll see what I and the article linked above are getting at.
Having played Other M again recently I still quite like it, for my sins, even if I think the writing is poor. The fact is that a lot of video game writing, certainly until recent years, was mediocre, as narrative was often secondary.
I wrote above about the key factors that seem to cause experimentation in franchises - a small-ish fanbase and a headstrong creative director. Metroid: Other M was the result of both. Sakamoto-san seemed to have a limited influence on the iconic Retro Studios games, and they certainly adopted a different story-telling device - the plot for each game largely came through visor scans and exploring the environment, at least until Metroid Prime 3: Corruption went a little more Hollywood. Other M came after the Prime Trilogy was done, and Nintendo may have reasoned that with the brand name at a high it was the time for the co-creator of the series and leader of the non-Prime adventures to make a grab for a major hit.
Sakamoto-san was clearly not influenced or swayed by the approach of the Prime games, and much of Other M's design shows how keen he was to produce a dramatic, unique experience. The lengthy cutscenes - which you can view as a 'movie' when you beat the game - are combined with action-based gameplay and controls only possible on Wii; these show that he wanted to make an impact. The number of dollars spent on making that a reality showed that Nintendo believed in it, too.
Ultimately it didn't pay off, and since Other M Sakamoto-san has been producer on projects such as Tomodachi Life, Game & Wario and, intriguingly, Miitomo. When many talk of the next Metroid they want, the words Metroid Prime IV are often uttered; we imagine that stings for the series co-creator. What stings for some fans, of course, is that Metroid Prime: Federation Force is our next entry on 3DS, a co-op shooter with cute visuals.
And so to Star Fox Zero. This time Shigeru Miyamoto is the lead figure imposing his will on the project, also as part of an initiative kicked off with the late Satoru Iwata. The following was stated by Iwata-san in his presentation to investors in January 2014.
Our top priority task this year is to offer software titles that are made possible because of the GamePad.
We have managed to offer several of such software titles for occasions when many people gather in one place to play, but we have not been able to offer a decisive software title that enriches the user's gameplay experience when playing alone with the GamePad. This will be one of the top priorities of Mr. Miyamoto's software development department this year.
We saw that progress at E3 2014, in which Shigeru Miyamoto showed off Project Guard (now Star Fox Guard) and Project Giant Robot, while teasing what would become Star Fox Zero. The fact that the Star Fox titles are only arriving now, as eyes already turn to E3 2016, show that longer-than-expected development has harmed the GamePad revival project. That same January 2014 briefing also emphasized the quick-start menu, DS on the Virtual Console and teased amiibo (at that point just NFC as a concept) as key uses of the controller, but the Miyamoto-led projects designed to show the controller changing games for the better are arguably coming too late. The talk and focus around Nintendo is on the future and NX, with the Wii U being somewhat sidelined.
Many that are expressing hesitancy around Star Fox Zero are likely doing so without having played the game at all, or outside of brief expo demos. For some it doesn't matter how much the likes of me and others defend it and the GamePad controls, there's simply frustration that Zero is an experimental game. Why introduce new controls when the old ones worked fine?
At the heart of the issue is that Star Fox skipped the Wii, and we only got Star Fox Command on DS. We then had Star Fox 64 3D on 3DS, but there was a sense that the series had been left to stagnate. The excitement around the semi-reveal of E3 2014 gradually seemed to become disappointment when the flashy HD Star Fox of some fan's dreams made way for a two-screen concept game. Even the involvement of PlatinumGames doesn't appease everyone, and plenty have complained about the relatively simple visuals, especially as the strain of rendering the GamePad view likely made simplicity a requirement for it to run on Wii U.
Star Fox Zero seems to represent bad timing in some respects, a game that tries to show off a controller and console concept that's already being pushed into the background. As a franchise it's also seemed to lose steam in terms of sales, and so it's considered rife for new ideas and approaches. Shigeru Miyamoto has been vocal in expressing his love of the series and the fact he wants it to succeed, but from a business perspective it's not a winning IP. The blame for that can perhaps be pinned on Nintendo and its erratic releases, but that doesn't change the reality.
Balancing real-world sales and profits with the passion of franchise fans, like many of us here, is a tough business. We may want enhanced current-gen variations and sequels for the Metroid and Star Fox game styles we love, but Nintendo's eye is on wider concerns. Star Fox Zero began as part of a rescue mission for the GamePad concept, which delays and events since it started development have blunted. Metroid: Other M was Yoshio Sakamoto realising his story-telling vision that could quite easily be traced (at least) to Metroid Fusion. Then there's Federation Force, which is miles off what many Prime fans wanted and became embroiled in negativity when revealed at E3 2015; that's a pitch for the sizeable 3DS audience.
The cold reality is that franchises with a million or less hardcore fans are ripe for experimentation and dalliances, and it's almost unreasonable to complain. Nintendo wants its brands to be hugely successful, but if they're not it'll look at alternatives. Sometimes the creative minds behind these franchises will also want to go their own way, producing the game they think best represents the series. Fans won't always agree.
Nintendo, due to its nature, is often pushing its hardware to change core gaming experiences. It extensively dabbled with gravity in Super Mario Galaxy and put motion controls front and centre in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, for example. Aside from those releases there have also been plenty more 'template' releases, which evolve rather than revolutionise their franchises. For some series, however, like Metroid and Star Fox, the experimentation is occasionally a tad more revolutionary; let's not forget that Metroid Prime was also hugely experimental by virtue of being first-person, but many fans fell in love with it.
Perhaps the best approach for fans is to accept these uncertainties and strap in for the ride. Nintendo is never going to stop reaching for new ideas.
Further Reading:
Comments (170)
I feel like I'm many ways, Starfox is the least consistent franchise. 64 is a rail shooter, Adventures was a Zeldaesque quest, and Assault had some 3rd person shooter mixed in from the ground... Command is probably the closest to a 'typical' Starfox game there is!
I'm actually stoked for this since it goes to its roots in many ways, but integrates the controls in a way that seems to really compliment the system!
I want Other M 2. I don't want Prime IV.
Other M is a great game! Granted the grating voice over can get one ones nerves, but the games is soo well put together with amazingly fluid/responsive controls, and great level design. Honestly fans can ruin a franchise if a developer only appeals to the hardest of core gamer. And a gamer that is willing to scoff without even getting their feet wet should just stay in the past, where they seem content.
Nothing is perfect when a developer tries something new, but it's in these games that great new ideas come forward.
I think we can live in a world that does a little bit of both oldschool and new.
"It's important to note that complaints around Other M were varied - it wasn't the case that fans were uniting around one issue, but rather seemed to have multiple areas they didn't like."
Thank you for acknowledging this. There are lots of assumptions in both sides of the argument whenever this game is brought up.
"it's Yoshio Sakamoto's toy and he can do with it as he pleases"
Obviously enough. Doesn't mean people have to buy it, or shut their dislike.
@Achoo Sounds about right. For me, I will give them one last E3, then, I'm probably jumping ship because my hopes for anything decent and world-moving have been pretty much dashed.
@abbyhitter Yup, a controversial view but one I agree with. I like the Prime games but I also have not felt driven to complete them. The glossy production of Other M pushed me to the end of the game. I rather liked it despite some shortcomings. More please!
"Perhaps the best approach for fans is to accept these uncertainties and strap in for the ride. Nintendo is never going to stop reaching for new ideas."
I would leave out "perhaps" and people not liking that, should seriously wonder why they would want Nintendo to turn into just another generic game console maker. True, it may be a bumpy ride sometimes, and lately the hit and miss ratio is seriously tipping towards the latter, but Nintendo is still the only party that is always actively trying to give you new experiences.
With taking risks comes the inevitable potential failure, but in turn, success will be all the greater if something resonates with your target audience, and something tells me that the NX might just be the ticket...
Luckily, it's not too long now before we will FINALLY know.
I loved other m one of my favourite wii games
I'm excited for starfox
I've never understood the desire from fans for nothing but a retread of what came before, be it in games, music, film or any other art form. The original will always be there and you can choose to embrace the new, or not, once you've tried. Personally I really liked Other M, because it wasn't Prime 4. I loved the Prime games, but a change was welcome. Retro were innovating with the original anyway and I seem to remember a few nervous voices then. I for one can't wait to try out the new Starfox controls.
If Nintendo didn't experiment with their "tried and true" formulas, we would never have gotten Ocarina of Time or Super Mario 64 which paved the way for these franchises to become what they are today.
So I'll happily give a try to any "experimental" direction Nintendo wants to take with their games because I realize that sometimes when you're on the road to greatness, you're going to hit a couple of bumps along the way.
There are plenty of other franchises that release vanilla carbon-copy games every year. I think Call of Duty 26: Ouroboros is set to release this year.
Years ago we used to buy a game cos it's Nintendo and starfox now we criticise before we try the game because of social media
I'm excited to try both this and the Metroid Federation Force. Metroid's scenario has never focused on anyone other than Samus, so i wouldn't mind seeing where they go with in terms of world building.
As for Star Fox, i am interested in the dual control concept because it makes some sense to me. It feels like a combination of standard Star Fox stuff mixed with authentic jet piloting, which seems interesting.
I don't want Metroid: Other M "2", and I don't want Metroid Prime IV (though I wouldn't complain if we got it).
What I really want is a 2D-Metroid game that feels like a Metroid game. I enjoyed Metroid Fusion, and I want to see how the story continues. The atmosphere was amazing in Fusion; I'd like them to build upon that.
@Yorumi Developers don't 'replace' the original games that you fell in love with. They are still there to be enjoyed time and time again.
Great article! I just want to point out that everyone enjoyed gaming when we weren't force fed cut scenes and story at every turn. The more Samus got a back story, the less gameplay we all received.
Nintendo, keep it simple.
Metroid, Star Fox, F-Zero, these 3 games had their day and are fondly remembered for it, but unlike Mario and Zelda, Nintendo hasn't dealt with them consistently enough over the years to ensure that any future releases of these games are fully explored in the planning stages, and for implementing modern development so to meet the expectations fans have that set these games against other more well developed Nintendo franchises, and modern gaming in general.
If Nintendo can't put the time into these games with their best teams and budgets, they are always going to be experimental type experiences or simply smaller scale that won't live up to the hype and imagination people want to have.
Simply put, these games have fallen behind, not just compared to modern gaming but also in Nintendo's own development expertise, so to speak
@Vandy Ocarina of Time is a very poor example, considering all the similarities it has with A Link to the Past. That's a discussion for another time, though.
@Yorumi "People are not looking for literal CoD style retreads and yearly releases"
Can't agree with that, since games that are playing it safe are most of the time bestsellers, either be it CoD, Far Cry, or even Dark Souls 3 being best seller in the entire franchise and not bringing that much new to the table and at times being downright rehash.
Anyway, back on topic, PG only did artwork/designs of characters, some producing and little directing (both with Nintendo main guys) and OST with other 3 or 4 companies, with programming done by Nintendo themselves, so it's not PG title that people expect, really.
Sadly, Star Fox Zero won't be that awesome title that you must own or reason to buy the U. Even though it was made probably as cheap as possible (with it rumored to started it's life as Wii prototype), it will still get shelved for years, blaming people for not buying game this bare bones and short.
@Yorumi
What are you talking about?
"People are not looking for literal CoD style retreads and yearly releases. OOT for example still played a lot like a zelda game. Mario 64 is arguably the biggest change but it still had powerups, platforming, and all the familiar characters. It didn't feel like some random IP with mario shoehorned in."
Using your logic then, outside of StarFox Adventures, no other game was that much of a "departure from the series".
StarFox Command
StarFox Assault
StarFox Zero
They had the same characters, same ships, same focus on air-based gameplay. They just happen to have tried different things with the controls.
Then there's
Metroid: Other M
Metroid Prime
Same idea behind the gameplay, different perspective. Same characters, you still get power-ups, you still fight the same kinds of enemies.
Your arguments are largely baseless. They're grounded in the fact you don't happen to like the new control style.
@Yorumi This. Experimentation is fine, but if they reinvent the wheel and completely throw out the core gameplay, then they start to turn fans off. If Nintendo wants to experiment, they should do so in ways that complement the core gameplay. But in general the fans want Nintendo to give them what they want before they give them what they didn't even know they wanted.
@Yorumi Well, that may be a personal thing, but for me playing Ocarina of Time for the very first time was also an amazing step up from the 16-bit game I used to play before that, and between you, me and all the other members on here, we will probably be able to name a couple more...
@Marce2240
I agree, it is a discussion for another time, but it's certainly not a poor example in relation to Yorumi's points. He's talking about such surface-level changes that Ocarina of Time is absolutely applicable in this situation since the visual gameplay was such a departure from what we were used to.
Nintendolife comments section:
We hate when you don't change anything but we hate change!
I bought Other M a couple of years ago but still haven't played it, mostly b/c the thought of using the Dpad to move when I have 3 nunchucks sitting there irks me.
Starfox Adenture is one of my favorite Nintendo games, it was my favorite until Xenonblade Chronicles. Sunshine was pretty good too, and the Galaxy games were up there.
Nintendo is all about innovation, and innovation is hit and miss. Wii Sports, in tandem with the Wiimotes, is probably the biggest hit in video game history and may have single handily sold 50mil Wii consoles to casual gamers. Maybe even 70m-80m based on N64 and GameCube sales. Wii U is one of the biggest flops in video game console history as the Game pad was a bust and Splatoon and Super Mario Maker were to late to save it, forget SFZ. Maybe if those 3 were first year games, instead of Nintendo Land and the usual 2D Mario. Pikmin 3 made use of the Game pad but it was broken at release.
So now NX is coming. Whatever innovative gimmick it's planning to show off better be good. But if Nintenfo wants to sell more NX than Wii U it better get EA on board, b/c no Madden and FIFA probably hurts them more than anyone wants to admit.
@Yorumi
You really think any of the Star Fox games I listed are nothing at all like a Star Fox game just because it had a different control style and it was 3D?
@Vandy I don't think the jump from 2D to 3D is worth mentioning, since mostly every franchise had to experiment or die trying. It's best to look at the difference from one 3D game to another, like the differences between SM64 and Galaxy, between Ocarina and Wind Waker or between Prime and Other M. Adding the 2D entries is opening a whole new can of worms.
The problem is establishing the style in the first place. I agree with your logic on Star Fox, but I still think each game is different enough from another to consider the franchise fragmented. Nobody has dobts about what another F-Zero game should include, the identity traits of that franchise are solid as hell. Others, well, not so much.
As others have said, I don't think radical departures of the more or less established formula are bad per se, but they're certainly easier to screw up. Prime and Other M are the perfect example: people are willing to give new things a chance (no matter what initial reception might say) if the final product turns out to be good. I think that's what it boils down to: quality. People want good games, and sticking to the formula is a safer bet overall.
Change is scary, as they say.
@rjejr "Nintendo is all about innovation, and innovation is hit and miss"
The article and comment section summed up in a sentence.
@Bolt_Strike
If fans are really thrown off by one or two deviations from the norm, then perhaps they're not really fans in the first place and no one is going to miss them anyway.
Maybe you just happened to like one or two games in the franchise and that's it. But that's you. You're not speaking for fans like me who happen to own and enjoy every single StarFox game ever released (and even not released in the case of StarFox 2). So perhaps you aren't the voice of "the fans". I'm completely comfortable with experimental games.
I attended an event where a speaker talked about company success over time. He focused on companies in the S&P 500 over a period of 50 years. His research indicated that the companies that remained effective in that time period changed 20%. The companies that changed 0% and the companies that changed more than 20% failed and many went bankrupt.
I think Nintendo needs to experiment, but I think they have been playing with the formula too much recently. I feel too often they do something different because it's different and not because it's better. I think the easiest thing to do would be to have companion games. People have been waiting for a traditional Metroid game for a long time. Why not do a traditional Metroid on Wii U and then bring Federation Force on 3DS?
@Yorumi
I actually have no idea what your base argument is. You give so many fragmented pieces of things you're trying to establish that you end up just muddling your point completely.
Please clear this up for me, what is your issue with StarFox Zero?
@Vandy That's ridiculous. You don't have to like every single game to be a fan of the series. In fact, if you do, that means that you have no standards and they can get away with any crappy game and still sell. I guess you must think games like Sonic 06 or Sonic Boom are acceptable. There has to be some kind of limit on what a franchise can get away with.
@Yorumi While I appreciate the applause, I don't think I have missed your point. You make it quite clear you feel any deviation from the original game seems to be a negative. You are already shooting down Zero, based seemingly on its control scheme alone, yet stating OOT is just like any other Zelda game, when one of the biggest changes to that franchise came at that time with a radically different control scheme from the previous games, necessitated by the move to 3D. Prior to OOT, Zelda had no analogue control, context sensitive actions or z-targeting, all innovations to control methods I would argue are at least comparable to the changes to Starfox. Yet you appear to view the innovations of OOT fondly, perhaps with the aid of hindsight, yet are ready to critique the fake that hasn't yet been released, presumably before you try it.
So my point earlier, relating to Nintendo not 'replacing' the old games (your choice of word), still stands. You don't like it, go play the original.
May I suggest that if you want to respond this time, you try and formulate a stronger argument than a slow clap, it looks petty.
@Yorumi
Ok, so it all boils down to your ridiculous idea of what you're entitled to and your own callous opinions on what constitutes a "good" game.
I'm out. I don't engage with people who aren't at all willing to consider both sides of an argument.
There's nothing wrong with experimentation. However, that doesn't necessarily mean that it'll be an improvement, and it's fine for people to complain if a franchise is changed in a way they don't like.
@Bolt_Strike
And I also agree with that. You don't have to like every game in the series to be a fan of the series.
But if you only like Mega Man 2 and Mega Man 3 out of all 6300 Mega Man games, I would not consider you a "fan" of the Mega Man series. You just happen to like a game or two.
I liked the first four Tony Hawk games, but that certainly doesn't mean I consider myself a fan of the series beyond that point.
@crimsontadpoles Pretty much. Don't blindly attack what you haven't tried, don't eat up everything they throw at your feet. It's ok to have opinions about things.
Except Other M. Screw Attack that game.
I think that Metroid Fusion was about as much plot as the series is really able to handle. Other M was okay as a game, but the plot really is horrible from concept to execution. The stuff with Samus having PTSD from Ridley killing her parents (or something similar) makes no sense considering how often they've fought. The overt sexualization of Samus was also a huge misstep. Smash does that too, but it also doesn't have a scene of her crying with the camera ogling her from every angle.
I'm in the minority but that's ok. I really had a good time playing Other M. One of my favorite Metroid games. It was old-school, and I appreciated it.
I absolutely love Metroid Other M. I'm a fan of the entire series but that's one of my favorites. Yes it's different but that's not a bad thing. I understand the complaints about the story but for the most part I really enjoyed it. People shouldn't take sci-fi plots too seriously. You can criticize Star Wars just as easily.
Hopefully Star Fox Zero will be a similarly great but new experience.
I liked Other M, never finished it though since I hate all Wii controls that I never bought into it so I played maybe a half of the game on Wii U. I made it to the last boss in the first Prime game, then my bro erased it if I remember right. I never got around to trying 2 and 3 of that. I think I preferred my Metroid as a third person game though or the best, 2D of course.
I like most of the Metroid games (Other M, Prime, Hunters, Super & Fusion) I also like all the Star Fox games (except Command, turrible game!)
Nintendo has always been about innovation both consoles and games wise, this is nothing new really. Mario 2 Zelda 2 Metroid 2 even Mario Sunshine was a game that tried to be different from the series' core gameplay.
Other M/Federation Force and Star Fox Adventures/Assault/Zero are just recent examples of how Nintendo is always exploring new styles of gameplay. Metroid and Star Fox never met huge sales like Mario or Pokemon which is why Nintendo loves to outsource these ips.
Basically, Nintendo is really out of "fresh" ideas for these games so they let other developers come up with a game concept and later turn it into one of Nintendos games. I think this is one of the main reasons why Metroid and Star Fox are still around these days... The sales don't cut it, the fanbases don't help so thats why were getting another Star Fox reboot and no new F Zero game in sight.
@abbyhitter Agreed! I'd much rather have Other M2 than Prime 4.
Other M had such great ideas that just leave room for improvement. It shouldn't be abandoned just because it had flaws.
You guys realize that Star Fox remains to be one of the few shoot em up games to actually sell well right?
I'm not a big fan of this article to be honest. Comparing Metroid and Starfox is like comparing F-Zero and Fire Emblem.
Other M failed because of the way it focused too much on the story than on the gameplay side and that it was developed by Team Ninja. You can't compare their experience to that of Platinum because they just started compared to Ninja.
Look, the Wii U isn't the best seller out there and if Star Fox Zero isn't going to sell despite its attempts of marketing, that's not the game or the system's fault. Its just that the franchise itself was meant to exist when new technology exists and the Wii U is the perfect idea to put Star Fox in it. If the game fails to sell, then its most likely at the fault of the Wii U's install base and not the game.
Metroid on the other hand is a series that existed on systems that performed very well and many of them sell well. The only ones that didn't do well was the prime series but that didn't matter because the trilogy itself did well for them. As much as I want a 2d Metroid game for the 3DS, its just too late to happen.
All Nintendo can do right now is satisfy the Wii U owners and Zero is one way of doing that.
People on here seem to forget it what last generation showed.
Almost every game that sold 1 million on PS3 were very similar to the point you could call them all retreads.
The 4 main categories of games that sold that well were:
1) Ubisoft the game (All their best sellers are practically retreads of AC series)
2) Shooters, mainly Call of Duty
3) GTA type games
4) Realistic Sports
The few exceptions were Sports Championship, LBP1, Minecraft and FFXII.
Practically everything else bombed to the point of being lucky to sell 100k.
Xbox 360 mirrored PS3 fully, with Minecraft and Kinect games being the exception to the million seller rule.
This is a huge reason for the mass contraction of developers last gen.
PS4 and Xbox One are exactly the same as their predecessors in terms of what is selling and charting, especially in the West.
Mid Tier and down are struggling to sell on PS4 and Xbox One, while doing better on Vita, 3DS, Wii U and sometimes Steam.
Though ironically Nintendo is the only one who has ever gotten flack for "rehashing" and "retreads" it shows in sales.
Though to be fair every major advancement in gaming to date came from hardware advancements.
This is either in the form of new inputs, more RAM, better CPUs, better GPUs etc...
@Socar
Actually that's not true...
Each Star Fox game has sold more than 1 Million (with most struggled to hit the 1 Million mark), but only Star Fox 64 sold 4 Million (best selling game) because it was the launch game for the Rumble Pak (bundled).
Each Star Fox game has been divisive at launch by the press and gamers, with Star Fox and Star Fox 64 being included.
Other M is in my Top 10 list of favorite games. People might not like the story. But I enjoyed it. I think overall it had some amazing gameplay though. A true evolution of Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion. It took that 2D gameplay and put it in a 3D world quite well.
@abbyhitter I too would prefer an Other M 2.
I'm getting the star fox zero day one but I am a bit grouchy over the controls. Some times I just want to lay on the couch and play and not have to move around the gamepad.
I love the original Star Fox, but this is retelling the same story a third time. That's why I'm not onboard, along with the out-of-cockpit bits that were tedious to me in Assault. I loved Adventures, but that was fine as a one-off. The problem for me is the series basically is a retread where there's plenty of story they could explore. They just don't, instead treating it as a test bed. That's why I'm skipping it: not because of Gamepad controls.
@Project_Dolphin
I enjoyed the Windwaker backlash (I also love the game).
@Vineleaf
That's because Star Fox Zero is rebooting the whole franchise again.
Every game that has ever advanced the story, has been met with huge resistance and backlash from fans and gamers.
I loved the characterization of Samus the most in Other M. I loved her voice and backstory. I could relate to her on so many levels. I also loved the idea of exploring a giant ship floating through space with the suspense of trying to find survivors and learning about the Federation's use of Metroids as bioweapons.
Good article, but 3/4 of the way through it I thought this article is gonna turn the comment section into a warzone.
@Xenocity um....that's what I said. Its one of the few shoot em up games that sell well. A million is a lot no matter how big of a game company Nintendo or anyone for that matter turn out to be.
@Yorumi
Star Fox Zero is an expanded version of the original story to a much larger degree according to Miyamoto.
They did this to make it more acceptable to everyone, so they don't get a huge backlash for ruining Star Fox or Abandoning Star Fox, or Changing the root story too much.
They are purposely playing it safe character wise, to prevent a divisive reception again.
Maybe Nintendo would be more willing to do something different if they didn't get a massive backlash for every little thing.
@Socar
Most publishers and developers would disagree with you there.
Sega, EA, Activision, Ubisoft, Square, Konami, Sony and Microsoft (there are more companies) don't want to bother to make games that sell less than 3 Million.
They are heavily focused on having huge sellers in the realm of 5-10 Million if not more.
Everything else is viewed as a failure and waste of resources.
@Yorumi The laying down and relaxing thing is big for me. I play Nintendo to relax not to swing my arms around or hold a large game pad in the air.
Other M was fantastic. I remember 100%-ing it over a long weekend, enjoyed every minute. Those who didn't like it had already decided to not to when it was announced. Yeah some corny dialogue but when is that genuinely uncommon. Got my first print preorder of star fox on the way, can't wait to master a new way to play!
@Xenocity SEGA barely makes games that sell more than 1 million.
Sonic for example is a series that can barely reach a million and yet SEGA milks the series.
They then have Shin Megami that can't sell over a million and yet the games are still being milked.
The only ones that want more than 1 million are the ones making games that are very expensive to make and for that, yes. 1 million isn't a satisfactory amount.
But you can't expect something like Fire Emblem to sell over 10 million copies because of how much of audience it currently has now despite its attempts to get more audience.
Same goes for Metroid and Star Fox as the audience for those games aren't really that big compared to Zelda and Mario....or even pokemon.
Slow news day, huh?
I think one of Nintendo's issues is that they tend to simply wrap new ideas into familiar packaging. I think we see that with Project Guard, which could have easily been created as its own game and/or series, but instead was absorbed into Star Fox to get more attention.
I hope with the success of Splatoon they'll start to see that if they took a game like, say, Metroid Prime: Federation Force, and created a new IP for it, it might be more successful (or at least less toxic in terms of fan response).
Then again, they did have Codename STEAM fall flat on its face in the same year as Splatoon from what I recall, so it may well be the case that something like MP:FF got absorbed into the Metroid universe to try to guarantee sales from that sales base?
I guess they can't really win, as slapping their IP onto things has helped some of them to sell better, but seems to rub folks the wrong way.
@Yorumi
What are you rambling about?
Star Fox Zero looks like the true successor to Star Fox 64 that people have been asking for, for over a decade and it comes bundled with a fun looking second game.
Remember the biggest complaint about Star Fox 64? Reviewers complained it lacked gameplay diversity and was too dependent on vehicles.
The biggests complaints about Star Fox Adventure was the lack of gameplay diversity, lack of Arwing missions, and the game being a boring Zelda clone.
The biggest complaints about Assault was the lack of gameplay diversity, lack of first person shooting, lack of good controls.
People complained that they wasted time on a multiplayer mode that no one wanted or asked to be in the game.
Star Fox Command (DS) biggest complaints was the touchscreen usage and story.
Star Fox 64 3D was celebrated as the return to form for the series. The biggest complaint was the game being on 3DS.
The reviewers and people who played it demanded the next Star Fox game be the true successor to Star Fox 64 in gameplay.
I bet reviewers will lambaste Star Fox Zero for being too dependent on vehicles and featuring bright and color graphics with animals instead of being dark a gritty.
You can go read all the reviews for reach Star Fox game and see all rabbid complaints about each Star Fox game.
@Socar
Actually Sonic games normally do over 1 Million in their first year with Boom and Lost Worlds being the two exceptions.
Sonic Dash 2 (mobile) was downloaded over 100 Million times in the first month.
Atlus is operated as a separate company legally from Sega.
Atlus thrives on being Niche.
@Xenocity The dark and gritty trope is rather over, at least a year or two out of date.
@Xenocity Sony is not about that. From where did you get that idea?
Demon's Souls and Until Dawn are opposite to what you said - expected to bomb even by them (Demon's Souls was predicted to sell around 100k copies), and yet they released those anyway.
Actually, I can't remember Sony focused on selling 5-10 mln as their main goal. Maybe with Uncharted 4 they expect to ship as many as possible, since it looks like they put a lot of money into that, but even with The Last of Us 5 mln wasn't their goal.
"I bet reviewers will lambaste Star Fox Zero for being too dependent on vehicles and featuring bright and color graphics with animals instead of being dark a gritty."
The game will also get slammed for it's lenght, probably.
@MarioPhD
Project Guard wouldn't sell as a stand alone game or even as a standalone Star Fox game.
That's why it's bundled.
Metroid Federation Force is the answer to the long standing demand for a full online multiplayer Metroid game that is Haloish.
@Vineleaf
Not really, since the best selling games on PS4 and Xbox One are violence and darkish games or Sports.
Samus was turned into anti Samus. The real Samus doesn't cow to some idiot male. It was insulting to the silent protagonist that she is. The writing and dialogue was poorly done. And the cut scenes you couldn't avoid. That is why it wasnt good.
@LegendOfPokemon. This site isn't just about news. No need to be negative in response to a well written article.
I'm happy to buy any franchanise/Ip owned by Nintendo but only if they bring it inline with current needs!
Motion control is not a current need...you could say it's last gen (Wii).
Online voice chat, online battles dog fights, online FPS mmo is current and this is what they should be working into these franchises
@Xenocity If it sold so much as one copy as a standalone game, it'd technically generate more revenue than it will by being lumped together with Star Fox Zero as they essentially make nothing back on the development costs.
The only way I imagine it'd balance out is if they thought it worked better as a value proposition for those who would be unsure about grabbing SFZ for not being "long enough." I was planning to get it anyway, but maybe they're hoping for that to push some SFZ sales over the edge, and will get their money back that way. Or maybe SFZ would have otherwise been a $50 title (like Wind Waker, DK:TF, and others I can't think of), and they figure that adding in SFG justified the jump to full retail price at $60?
Still, I think Nintendo hamstrings itself sometimes by bundling these ideas together with known IPs for short-term gain. I just hope to see them take more risks and create more worlds and ideas we all come to love. It's obvious that their third and fourth-tier developers aren't making many games that're setting the world on fire (Rusty's Real Deal Baseball, for one), but those titles nonetheless have the potential to have their own fanbase start to grow. Would Rusty's have been better if they threw it into a familiar skin? Probably not. Would it have gotten more downloads and revenue? Probably. Doesn't inherently make it a better idea.
Nintendo's experiments will always be hit or miss. What's important though is that they continue to experiment and not rest on their laurels. For every Mario Galaxy, there's Mario vs. Donkey Kong. For every Metroid Prime, there's Other M, for every Ocarina of Time, there's Tri-force Heroes. All games of various quality, fun to some, loathed by others. I would never want them to remain stagnant. I rather them have misguided ideas than no original ideas at all.
The only issue I have with some of their gimmicks personally is that at times it's like they don't believe in them themselves. It's like we have motion controls here's a FEW games for it. Here's 3D. We have nothing to take advantage of it, but hey, it's cool right? Here's a system with a second screen, why aren't people buying it? We have Nintendo Land!
If Nintendo wants us to buy their experiments, they should leverage and believe in their own experiments. They're their own worst enemy. They cause their own potentially good ideas become the gimmicks that the outraged, and honestly quite unimaginitive apparently, people on the internet already believe them to be.
It's like when Cliff Blezenski defended the Wii and then once Wii U came out he had to admit that Wii was just a gimmick after all.
A great example: What does Deus Ex, Rayman Legends, ZombiU, Batman: Arkham City, and Affordable Space Adventures have in common? They're all on Wii U and leverage the GamePad to great results and NONE are created by Nintendo. Come on Nintendo, I know you can do better. Oh well, maybe with your next "gimmick."
Phew, I guess I'm done now (end rant)
@brandonbwii Very well said, and I agree, especially with your first paragraph there. It'd be nice for all the experiments to be a resounding success, but their experimentation rarely stands to cause any true damage. I wonder if titles like the last Chibi Robo game did anything to improve the fate of that franchise, but it's good to see them not forget entirely, or do the same thing to death.
@MarioPhD
I will be the first to admit though, I am a touch worried about the fate of Metroid with the rest of them at this rate. Not because of the experiments. In fact, I want them to take MORE risk with Metroid. It's just that FF looks slow and clunky to me, even as a Four Swords style side game. I'd love to be proven wrong though.
Nintendo had a chance to right the Metroid series and then they go and ruin the franchise more with federation.. what the hell is going on at Nintendo?? No Wii U game and a half baked 3DS game. They could have made a 3DS remaster version of Super Metroid and it would have done more for the franchise than what they are releasing. I'm really applaud at what they have done!!
@sketchturner I'm just joking. I personally liked the article.
@Project_Dolphin LOL, what good and innovative ideas? There's Splatoon and that's pretty much it for the last 6 years or so.
Another franchise I find funny that people beg for is F-Zero because I know that if Nintendo brought it back that would add something new that upset a lot of people. Of all franchises though, that probably needs the biggest shot in the arm not because it's not a great franchise, but because it would need to be tweaked to reach the largest possible audience.
A lot of fans would be upset simply because they'd add features to make it more mainstream, even if it's for the best.
@Bolt_Strike
Innovative doesn't necessarily mean new franchises. True Wii U may have the fewest new ideas from Nintendo but innovation can still be found with 4 player co-op in Mario 3D World, the amazing DIY stuff in Mario Maker and even asymmetrical gameplay in Nintendo Land. Oh, and lets not forget the reason for this whole editorial, Star Fox Zero.
Also wasn't in less than 6 years ago when the Pushmo franchise started? I could go on.
@Socar What you mean with ''Platinum just started''? The devs have been around for decades. They all started sometime in the early 90's at Capcom.
@brandonbwii 4 player co-op was a thing in NSMB Wii and NSMBU. 3D World didn't invent that, and it's not fundamentally different enough to be considered an innovation. Mario Maker is pushing it, you can do a lot of weird things with the level elements but there's nothing really new there. And there's not much in Star Fox Zero that they couldn't have done on the Wii.
I'm not saying that it has to be an IP, but there aren't any revolutionary new ideas being put worth. We don't have games like Galaxy, which takes the main gameplay in a bold new direction and expands on it, or any game that clearly demonstrates what the 3DS and Wii U are capable of that the DS and Wii were not.
2010-2011 is what I consider to be the age when 'Nintendo wanted to be story driven'
As a result, we got Metroid: Other M, Pokemon Black and White, and Zelda: Skyward Sword, at the end of the day all those games were pretty mixed, though they definitely leaned more to the positive side.
2012 was a bit of downtime for Nintendo, since they were holding back a bit for Wii U. I like Kid Icarus Uprising, though.
Now we have 2013-Now, which I like to think as the 'Let's add a gimmick' age. Gimmicks aren't bad, but they shouldn't be mixed with innovation either.
Mario 3D World's Multiplayer, Fire Emblem's Dating Simulation, Pokemon's Mega Evolution, Mario Kart 8's wall driving, change ups in NES Remix, Yoshi's Woolly world, Star Foxes Motion Controls, along with other things are what I considered to be template games with a gimmick added on. Not calling them unenjoyable games, or even bad ones at that, they just don't have the innovation a lot of Gamecube and even Wii games are commonly loved for.
Metroid Other M is another Nintendo game trying to innovate by creating an unnatural control scheme that doesn't feel right at all.
@Octane Yeah but they were very few at the time and that limited resources they had is also something to consider.
@MarioPhD
Nintendo has gotten over 10 years of negative feedback for "experimenting" and innovating games.
Many remember the Gamecube for being filled with new ideas that "forsaken" what made the games great on Nintendo 64 and previous.
Super Mario Galaxy 1&2 were well known for being polarizing games. Many reviewers and people wanted a returned to form for 3D Mario aka another take on Super Mario 64 instead of what Galaxy 1&2 delivered. Many thought they were a great take on Mario.
Others still stick to their views that they are another round of rehashing of the Mario formula.
Though those who liked Mario Galaxy 1&2 weren't nearly as vocal as those who took issue with them.
If you read the majority of the reviews for Metroid Prime 3, it was Nintendo/Retro rehashing the Prime formula for instead of doing something new.
Skyward Sword was hated by many reviewers for sticking to the Zelda formula too closely and being too "fetch questing" Others hated it for being too story driven. while others claimed it wasn't cinematic enough.
DKC:R was mixed because large portion of reveiwers and people didn't want another Donkey Kong game, especially not one from Retro.
Wii Sports was disliked by many gamers for being too gimmicky and ruining sports games.
Sin and Punishment 2 mixed because many thought it was too focused on being on rails.
Animal Crossing City Folk was famously decried by major outlets as the ultimate DS port in order to save money.
Smash Bros Brawl was hated for being too innovative and not sticking to the established template while adding too many characters for the "casuals".
Xenoblade Chronicles was mixed when it came to the U.S. by reveiwers, citing it as being too linear and too Japanese.
etc...
The Wii/GC era was horrible received in mix context as a lot of people were put off by the changes to those games and others who thought they didn't go far enough.
Now on Wii U we have the issues of people and reveiwers claiming the games are too safe after spending a decade whining about Nintendo straying too far from the established templates.
Even Smash 4 was made the way it was according to Sakurai, after all the hate he received for trying to take the series in a different direction with Brawl. In his many interviews since both versions of 4 came out, he doesn't understand why gamers and fans are "unhappy" with the games.
I do contend there is no way in hell a tower defense game can sell on a console this day in age (Star Fox Guard).
Since every Star Fox game is typically a mid tier budget game or as some put it "lazy" and with Star Fox Guard using Star Fox Zero assets, they are making some profit on both.
Star Fox Zero will be hailed by many as the return to form, others will hate it for being too "rehashy" and "lazy". Others will avoid it for being too colorful and kiddy/casual looking.
Miyamoto and Platinum will be left scratching their head on why the game was highly divisive.
At least I'll be enjoying Star Fox Zero on Friday and all the backlash it receives.
@Xenocity Umm....no. If you look at all the Sonic games with the exception of the mobile games, Colors and Generations, they sell around a million.
Also, whether Atlus is niche or not doesn't matter because right now, their IP isn't as big as SEGA even nor do they have that many IPs that they own.
Other M was a pretty fun game, my only major complaint was not being able to use the Nunchuk with the Wii Remote for a game that has 3D movement.
@Project_Dolphin
Actually every Nintendo console has sold less than it's predecessor, except for Wii.
NES sold ~60M
SNES sold ~50M
N64 sold ~35M
Gamecube sold ~22M
Wii sold ~105M
Wii U ~10M
The difference here is Wii actually did something radically different and made games that appealed to the general public aka "casuals"/kids/women and Nintendo fans.
SNES, N64, and Gamecube tried too hard to appeal to the "hardcore" gamer who in the West moved on to M-rated games, AAA Blockbusters, sports games and shooters.
This is why PS1, PS2 and PS4 outsold the competition combined that a new media format.
These 3 systems are narrowly tailored for the "hardcore" Western male gamer taste aka 15-35 males who prefer to play M-rated games, AAA Blockbusters, sports games and shooters.
Sony has been banging the drums on how they succeeded in taking the "hardcore" and adult gamers away from Microsoft and Nintendo, while leaving Xbox One and Wii U for "casuals", kids and fans of those systems.
PS4 according to NPD, EEDAR, and others is very popular with the 15-35 males who exclusively play M-rated games, AAA Blockbusters, sports games and shooters.
This is driving the fast paced PS4 sales that should in the end match PS1 sales.
They aren't attracting the other demographics in any real form.
Wii U and Xbox One casts a wider demographic net only to mostly other group and some of the Western "hardcore" gamer.
@Project_Dolphin "That's easy to say and difficult to accomplish with finite resources." I think this gets at the core of people's concern with Nintendo over the last few years. They have been supporting two entire platforms almost singlehandedly since the departure of the third parties, in a time when development costs are ballooning like crazy. Therefore, when they release games, they need them to sell as well as possible. Thus, a lot of more recent IPs are smaller projects on 3DS (with the notable exception of Splatoon) and larger projects have played it pretty safe this generation (with the possible exception of Star Fox... we'll see).
This is a big part of the effort to attract and promote indie developers, who fill in that third party gap somewhat. And it's the reason I believe that the next handheld/home hardware will run essentially the same platform, a lot like iOS on iPhone/iPad. This way they can consolidate development costs to a single platform and basically give twice the game support to each system.
@abbyhitter I second that. Other M is my fav, along with Fusion.
Nintendo customer feedback shows that people weren't satisfied with Splatoon's single player campaign or the couch multiplayer, but people did respond well to the inklings and the clothing. So Splatoon 2 is going to be an online multiplayer only fashion design catwalk sim.
@3MonthBeef Can I be released from the "throw Nintendo under the bus" comment? I didn't do any such thing, so I think you meant to direct that at someone else...
@Yorumi @Bolt_Strike
In consideration to the previously released 3D Mario games, 3D World's 4-player co-op should be considered an innovation for the franchise and for 3D platformers in general. When was the last time you played a 4-player co-op, 3D platformer that required no split-screen?
@Bolt_Strike
StarFox Zero isn't doing anything that couldn't be done on the Wii? Seriously, I don't think you understand Zero's controls. You can shoot... independent of your aircraft's flight direction outside of your TV's perspective.
I'm sorry, that's not something that could have been done on the Wii. Now if you don't think that change is meaningful, that's another story. But how can that statement possibly hold weight if you haven't played the game?
@Project_Dolphin You have to take install base into account though. Nintendo's established IPs overall didn't sell more than around 5 million because the Wii U as a whole wasn't selling. 4 million on the Wii U is actually quite impressive, which puts it into the top tier along with 3D Mario, Mario Kart, Smash, etc.
@Turbo857 It doesn't work like that. You can't just label something an innovation because you applied it to another category of games, that only counts if there's something fundamentally different when you translate it to the other game. And in 3D Mario's case, it doesn't, 4 player co-op functions the exact same way as it does in 2D games.
As for shooting independently in Star Fox, that's pretty much the only thing that couldn't be done and even that's not something that significantly changes the way the game is played. You're still just flying and shooting, same as ever.
@Bolt_Strike
LBP and Ratchet and Clank have both done those things before, but Nintendo has done them better in some respects. I'm not at all undermining the impact and greatness of the progenitors but Nintendo put them in a more inviting and light and, yes, makes it feel fresh and new again.
Mario Maker is far more intuitive and gets people of all ages into game design while the interaction of 3D World brings life to casual get togethers.
I don't completely disagree with you because Wii U has had the fewest unique ideas of recent Nintendo platforms. Also you can't undermine the greatness of 3D World just because the idea was done in a 2D Mario game. If you were to tell me after NSMBWii that the next step would be to have local multiplayer in a 3D Mario game I would have laughed and said, "yeah right." Unlike the aforemention Ratchet and Clank, 3D World kept all the crazy interactive highjinks from the 2D games intact (yes I know there was no 2D R&C but I hope you still understand what I mean).
Also I hate to pull this card as it's been said to death by fanboys, but you can argue that not of the recent open world games, cover shooters, and DIY stuff are not original since they are genres that have been done to death anyway. Like you said they take the same formula and apply it to a different variation. Not much different than a Nintendo platformer is it?
The can change whatever they want as long as i can buy whatever i like.
Its really that simple.
The biggest issue with this system lies in the fact, that many developers dont care to listen to critique.
If sales drop, everything is at fault but themselves more often than not. Its rarely that they acknowledge that they made a bad decision down the line or ignored fan demands.
Take Capcom for instance.
DMC 3 had a huge spike in sales when it came out, it sold about 3mio. copies.
DmC on the other hand made it to roughly 1.7mio.
Sadly, Capcom hasnt released defacto numbers about the DMC4 Enhanced Edition, but several sources say it did in fact outsell DmC.
They ignored fans and suffered a steep dive in sales numbers.
And fans got blames all across the board.
Opposite example:
Monster Hunter, all across the board, produces phenomenal sales numbers and pretty makes up half of Capcoms top selling games list. 4U is only outsold by F3 (4,1 and 4,8mio respectively). How is that ? The series stayed very consistant.
Instead of experimenting with the core formula, they only added subtle additions to the game, ultimately improving on an already strong foundation.
Lets take Starfox.
Starfox has been on the decline ever since SF64, which outsold the SNES game even though its install base was way smaller.
But with each reimagination, the series lost customers.
You know when the next sales spike happened ? Star Fox 64 3D.
Ironic, that a re-release of the best selling title in the franchise can bring back fans to the series.
For me, thats a pretty clear sign of whta people actually want.
A classic StarFox experience.
@Clownshoes I think that is up to our own interpretation, though: they have always done this and being the only true console/game designer left in the business (to prevent misunderstandings: as in them having this as a core business, contrary to the competition) they more or less HAVE to do something different, but they always try to make it worth your while. It is like I said before: it also involves taking risks and that comes with failure too, but in the end the successes will be greater for it.
And we gamers in general most of the time don't know what we want at all. We want to play games from all systems, but a lot of us don't want to buy a system from the "competition" because they have an unnatural aversion to anything not of their favorite brand.
And a lot of us also seem to think that they can run a company, and make the decisions to make that company great again, which is preposterous and completely delusional, to say the least.
I've been running my own one-man company for a month now, working together with other one-man companies bundling our efforts and let me tell you: even that takes a heck of a lot of work, let alone run a multi-million dollar company...
I truly believe that they can't come out with bog standard HD console nr.3, since that will leave only the unique IP as the deciding factor, and although that may be good for Microsoft and Sony, it will not be good for Nintendo. They've always had much closer ties between the hardware and their games and they want to get people engaged in new experiences, and they want to move the industry forward with more than just power.
And it so happens to be their belief that this can't be done with standard offerings, and I have to agree with them.
But maybe all of our musings and clamoring over all the crazy rumors will all be laid to rest pretty soon...
@3MonthBeef Or bears on the road...
I'll just throw this out there because it gets so much hate. I feel Skyward Sword is one of Nintendo's best experiments in recent memory. It's not my favorite Zelda but it's control didn't feel tacked on like so many people say it is. It was quite exhilarating. It was enough to make me look forward to the next Zelda gimmick which was of course 3D. That was utilized to great effect as well.
@Vandy
Alright, now you're just arguing for the sake of arguing.
What defines a "true fan" of a series, huh? The fact that you mindlessly HAVE to enjoy every entry made in that particular series, regardless of how much it deviates from the core concepts that originally made you a fan of said series?
Here, let me throw you an example;
A game developer comes out with a new game that is part of a brand new series, and you happen to like that game. Fair enough. The game in question gets followed up by a sequel, which contains a few small changes here and there, but most of the core concepts that made you love the original game are still there, so the few small changes implemented in this sequel aren't that irksome to you and maybe even welcome, since they compliment the core mechanics of the original.
Now the same company produces a third game in the series, and messes up too much of the core mechanics to a point where the game is almost unrecognizable in terms of gameplay, in a vague bid by the company to "innovate" on what exactly?
My question to you is; am I, as a fan, not allowed to dislike these changes and maybe even the entire game as a direct result?
And let me follow that up with; why is it that I am suddenly not a "REAL fan" anymore if I happen to dislike this particular entry in this franchise that I love?
Also
"-perhaps they're not really fans in the first place and no one is going to miss them anyway"
Jokes on you, since a sequel to a game, more often than not, hinges on the sales numbers of the prequel. You might think that you won't miss these "so-called fans", but the reality of the matter is that, at the end of the day, those extra few bucks matter when the time comes to ponder a sequel to your beloved franchise.
"Perhaps the best approach for fans is to accept these uncertainties and strap in for the ride. Nintendo is never going to stop reaching for new ideas."
Given that involves fans handing over their hard-earned cash for these experiments they may not be willing to 'strap in'.
"it's Yoshio Sakamoto's toy and he can do with it as he pleases"
Any director can experiment with any franchise as they wish. But they can't then complain if it doesn't sell. The franchise may pick up new fans or it may fail to do so and lose the old ones. What's more annoying is when a failed experiment is used as the reason to mothball a franchise because the fans didn't buy what they never asked for.
@G_M
I'll give you a break this time, but the fact that you didn't even bother to read through the rest of the comments before choosing one of mine completely out of context reflects very poorly on that text wall you're trying to introduce.
It was made specifically in response to people who claim that they are fans of the series in spite of the fact that they openly admit they only really enjoyed one or two of the games and hate the rest. I will copy and paste the relevant subsequent post of mine for you:
"You don't have to like every game in the series to be a fan of the series.
But if you only like Mega Man 2 and Mega Man 3 out of all 6300 Mega Man games, I would not consider you a "fan" of the Mega Man series. You just happen to like a game or two.
I liked the first four Tony Hawk games, but that certainly doesn't mean I consider myself a fan of the series beyond that point."
If you like Star Fox 1 and hate all the rest, then you cannot claim to be a "fan of the series". You may like the idea and concept of Star Fox or the character itself, but that's a whole different thing. You simply like one or two games FROM the series.
@Vandy Give me a break? Well, aren't you a saint? I have already read through your walls of text, but the one that I chose especially reeked of frustration.
Also, that still doesn't detract from my arguments as to why your arguments were, in my opinion, invalid. You're not really helping your case here. Not in the slightest =/
@G_M
What is it with this site that attracts elitist dicks who think that the way to win an argument is to just yell the loudest or be the most sarcastic until the other person gives up?
I'll add you to my ever-growing list of people who I refuse to engage. Have a good one.
@Xenocity Good to see you're still up to throwing around make believe facts to fit your fanboy agenda. Keep on giving Nintendo fans a good name.
@Project_Dolphin
How is the problem with 'them gamers'? How do you know 'them gamers' aren't the ones who went out and bought the games they asked for which would make them the opposite of the problem?
"Which Nintendo console video games do you think gave the fans what they asked for?"
Did you mean to quote me there? Because that doesn't seem relevant to what I put.
@Bolt_Strike
Oh really? And who made you the leading authority on how the word "innovation" should be interpreted, Webster's Dictionary? As far as 4-player co-op in Mario 3D World is concerned, yeah, it was innovation for 3D Mario games. Before Mario 3D World, there was never a multiplayer 3D Mario. It was an innovation for that sub series.
The point is you're saying Zero, as it is, could've been made on the Wii... Which is just wrong, and is the only point I'm willing to argue regarding the game since it isn't out yet. Any opinions on gameplay should be reserved until the game's released.
See, this 'experimental vs. traditional' divide is why I love the Kirby series; they keep the two types distinctly separated. Games like Canvas Curse and Mass Attack keep things fresh, bring in great review scores and attract new fans, while games like Triple Deluxe and RtDL appease the existing fanbase. I don't really get why other series can't do this too, as I'm pretty sure Kirby isn't one of Nintendo's biggest sellers, or at least doesn't sell enough to justify having so many games released (not that I'm complaining about that... I'm a huge kirby fan. ). It just seems like if they can afford to do that with Kirby, then why not with Metroid or Starfox too?
@RIC616 @RoomB31 @ThomasBW84
Why Other M is a terrible game has already been thoroughly investigated. The article "Mother, May I See Other M" on TVTropes is the most complete and detailed essay on the game, going through every part of the game and explaining exactly why that specific part was bad or could have been done better.
Every Metroid fan owes it to themselves to read it with an open mind and come to a conclusion based on the facts. The essay has never been sufficiently challenged ever, and effectively proves it's case.
All that said, I personally liked parts of Other M myself, though mostly the gameplay.
@Project_Dolphin
Rude aren't we? Answer mine. Or explain how yours is relevant. I made the point I wished to make, I don't have time to waste on a diversionary discussion of something unrelated.
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"Answer this point!"
"I'd rather say something only slightly relevant but more-so a deviation from a small point taken out of context of the rest of your post!"
"Nintendo sucks! Here are a bunch of baseless reasons I am providing as evidence but they're really only here-say and my own personal bias!"
"Scoffing and calling you names will surely have me declared as the winner of this argument!"
@Turbo857 Authority? This is straight logic. Copying an innovation something else has done isn't innovating, you're not creating something new and game changing, you're just following what other games have done.
And if there was anything better than what we've seen so far in Zero, we'd know about it by now. They'd have advertised an even more game changing feature by this point in the news cycle.
@Vandy That's pretty much the entire internet.
@Vandy
"We hate when you don't change anything but we hate change!"
The Nintendo Life comments section isn't a thing, it's the opinions of a large number of people that unsurprisingly differ. On any given subject people will want different things.
The same problem arises when people attempt to generalise about what 'gamers' want. 'Gamers' is an awful lot of people.
@Zibene999 Gameplay was all I was talking about, I don't care much fore lore (I don't have time for it) so if that's the reason people mainly dislike it , that's fine I guess, but I stand by why I believe the game is great.
@Zibene999 @RoomB31
I'm in the same boat. I don't care about a manifesto that some pretentious neckbeard wasted their time on. I read through the entire thing and want my afternoon back.
At the end of the day, I played a game called Metroid: Other M. Did I have a good time playing it? Yes. Do I feel I got my $30 worth that I paid for it? Yes.
Case closed.
@brandonbwii
The way Nintendo have locked F-Zero in the cupboard is frustrating because, like Metroid, it's a franchise that while not bring the biggest seller has the potential to reach people not attracted by Mario and co.
Given the untimely demise of Sony Liverpool the future racing niche is wide open too. Hopefully somebody at Nintendo is looking at Fast Racing Neo selling well (I don't know if it is, I just hope so) and thinking 'hang on a minute, we've got a game like that'.
@electrolite77
No no, this place is actually quite special. It has a handful of the least-receptive-to-differing-opinions people I've seen. I won't name names, but it's very obvious as you scroll through every comments section on every article.
@Xenocity
"Sega....(and) Sony don't want to bother to make games that sell less than 3 Million"
You really think the companies who put out Tearaway Unfolded, Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, Until Dawn and endless Sonic games only bother with games that will sell 3 million?
1st of all, I love playing games with different control schemes. I like other m and prime series. 2 different games with 2 different controls. Skyward sword was amazing. Nintendo knows how to make a new way to ntersct with games. I'm looking forward to star fix this weekend.
Now, in metroids defense, they are all great games. Other m only did 1 thing wrong, you couldn't skip th cutscenes. If you could, I don't think as many people would be complaining about bad voice acting. I've 100% % many times and it's one of the best action games on wii period. It's just not super metroid either.
I personally believe Other M had very solid gameplay and visual flair as one would expect from Team Ninja. From what I have read they also were not huge fans of having to make it work with just the standard Wii-Mote. Sakamoto was the man who wrote the story and was the guy put in charge of directing the game. I do not fault Team Ninja one bit for that travesty.
As for Star Fox Zero I have faith this one will turn out just fine. Platinum Games have yet to make a bad game in my books and Miyamoto is still like a mad child who looks like he legit wants to make this game the best he can. I mean sure he can make a few bad decisions here and there, but he is still human after all. I also think his track record even in today whenever he is in the directors chair still consists of more hits than misses.
Aggregate website Metacritic declares Metriod: Other M to be a "generally favorable" game according to critics and a "mixed to average" game according to users.
So anyone who argues that the game is bad or a "fail" is wrong, as proven by the rule of the majority. You can write all the essays you want, but you are not the voice of the people. You are simply stating your own bias and your own opinions which have been disproved by factual evidence.
"Perhaps the best approach for fans is to accept these uncertainties and strap in for the ride. Nintendo is never going to stop reaching for new ideas."...Okay. It is okay to experiment every now and then and try new things. I am okay with that. But that doesn't mean that fans have to eat up everything that is presented to them. If you do not like the changes that are being made, that is fine. You are allowed to express your opinion. you do not have to be this mindless sheep who follows Nintendo's every command. It is okay to experiment, but not every new idea is a good one, and in cases where Nintendo might screw up, it is our job as the consumers, the people who are supposed to be giving Nintendo our money, to let them know that they screwed up.
Other M's biggest problem is that Sakamoto is a hack writer. I won't argue that it couldn't have been better with analog controls, though.
Star Fox Zero looks awesome. Did anyone actually praise Other M's weird controls around the time of its release? Yet I've heard several members of the video game media say they love SFZ's controls.
@Dr_Corndog
"Yet I've heard several members of the video game media say they love SFZ's controls."
And just as many neckbeards complaining about them without even having tried the game yet.
@KoopaTheGamer How about Nintendo just releases three or four new Metroid games of varying styles over the next few years? I won't complain...
@Project_Dolphin You never asked me anything.
@electrolite77
I'd love a new F-Zero. It's just that knowing Nintendo they'd give it a twist that wouldn't sit well with fans. It would at the very least be polarizing. No matter how people look at it, if Nintendo were to revive the franchise they would need to make changes to try to invite new players as well as please the old ones and sometimes that can come across as misguided. Not saying they'd make it easier, but they'd definitely do something gimmick related in an attempt to make it more accessible and truthfully, as a business they'd have to.
@Vandy
If you can't make an argument against something, might as well insult it. Makes sense. But it is why no one takes the defenders seriously..
But if you liked the game, great. No sweat off my back. I liked it somewhat as well.
I'd much rather have a more retro 2D Metroidvania game personally, though. That'd be great.
NoA, put Other M on the eShop so I can try it. I will gladly purchase it. While you're at it, do the same with Xenoblade: Chronicles. And people wonder why others pirate games...
@Project_Dolphin
Super Mario Sunshine
Super Mario Galaxy
Metroid Prime
Metroid Prime 2
OoT
Why do people even argue with folks who use the term "neckbeard" unironically ? For me, thats the fist sign of a mind that has been long lost to the abyss.
@JTMnM Arent both on the WiiU VC ? Or is that just a europe thingy ?
Every video I see of this game looks like it plays so slow.
Nice article.
While I understand all the issues people had with Other M from a story perspective, it always kinda made sense to me. She just committed genocide single handedly and then blew up an entire planet for the second or third time. It makes sense to me that she'd have a touch of PTSD. While I do think they took it a bit far at times especially the Ridly scene. I think Dex the Swede has a fair review of it on his channel.
Change can be good, change can, however, also be bad. This constant need for innovation from Nintendo often makes them turn a blind eye to tried and true concepts and the reasons why fans fall in love with the games. Simply put, in the Nintendo fandom, I think innovation is absolutely Overrated.
With the constant experimentation, you'd think that change would culminate into something greater but no. This is Nintendo. In the sequels, Nintendo will just abandon a concept they've worked on and go chasing the next shiny concept they come up with. It's like Paper Mario. You have PM64 and PM:TTYD. But then we take a turn for SPM and then once AGAIN take a sharp turn with Sticker Star. It feels like Nintendo just intoxicate themselves with all the praise they get for being innovative and rush concepts to keep that praise coming but rushed concepts are hardly good.
Hell, now that I mention Paper Mario, let's keep talking about Paper Mario. What used to be a series reffered as RPG which had great writing, plot, characters, interesting setups, dynamic Turn based combat and took steps into territory normal Mario games will never go to, we have this game which is devoid of personality and good writing in favor of poor combat mechanics, generic character design and lazy world building. This brings me to 2 points that Nintendo need to pay attention to.
1) STOP SACRIFICING CONCEPTS THAT WORK FOR EXPERIMENTAL CRAP THAT ISN'T BACKED UP BY A CONCRETE STRUCTURE THAT WORKS. For instance, Animal Crossing Amiibo Scam. Paper Mario Sticker Star. The reason Super Paper Mario doesn't get the hate it could get was because, even though the gameplay was different, the heart of the series was there, it still had clever writing, it still had good plot, it still had good characters. That's why I love the game
2) YOU SET YOURSELF A STANDARD, DON'T IGNORE IT. When you set your series to have a standard of great stories, great settings, great characters, you CAN'T just shrug it off and act like all that never happened and opt for generic toads, poor writing, generic plot. That's something Nintendo keeps doing. Star Fox Adventure wasn't a bad game but it did not live to the standard of Star Fox being Nintendo's Flying simulator franchise. Like it or not, when you make a great game, you set yourself a standard that you have to respect in order to keep fans happy.
Honestly, I don't think I would consider myself a Nintendo fan anymore due to how much disrespect they show to the series and the great memories they provide. It feels more like they treat they're series as lab rats instead of beloved and established franchises. It's like a never ending cycle of experimentation that culminates into nothing.
@NintendoFan64 This comment needs more love.
@Project_Dolphin Don't blame me for that. I buy good video games, the rest of the industry doesn't.
Anyway, back to what I was saying earlier, Splatoon sold the same as games like 3D World and Mario Kart 8, so it's safe to say that it's a success.
@Einherjar They aren't on the NoA store, so either exclusive to Europe and/or released in other territories excluding NA.
Star Fox has never been consistent since SF64, and I'm okay with that. Assault and Adventures are personal favorites of mine due to their uniqueness compared to the rest of the series. Zero still looks like it'll be great imo.
With Other M... I hated it with a fiery passion mainly due to Samus' characterization, and still don't think highly of it; but I found the gameplay itself pretty fun. In recent years I've come to wonder how different the reception might've been if the game took place much earlier in the timeline, possibly before even Zero Mission. Samus would be a more inexperienced bounty hunter and her trials through the game (confronting Ridley for the first time since she was a child and such) would help mold her into the character we all know and love. With a few tweaks to the story to show that, I think Other M would've been a better received game overall.
If Federation Force was in development for Wii U as a hardcover realistic space shooter (Halo-esque even )then everyone would love it.
@Michael_JF
I encourage you to read "Mother, May I See Other M" if you want to know why people disliked it's story, but I'll outline a few big reasons.
It introduced two major plot points that never concluded. More than half the reasons you as a player are doing the things you are doing in the game were thrown away instead of resolving and maybe adding character development. I mean The Deleter and the Ridley subplot, which were thrown away like yesterday's garbage.
Plots usually work like this: Intro/Start - Conflict - Resolution. Neither of them concluded. spoilers Ridley was defeated by a bigger monster in a small cutscene, preventing Samus from gaining any character development by facing them, or even do anything. The Deleter was a faceless red shirt who's death was hardly mentioned. Even though these take up a huge portion of the game's plot, they were disposed of and ultimately handled terribly.
It awkwardly portrayed the relationship between Adam and Samus, causing much debate in the fanbase. I chalk it up to bad writing and translation, myself.
The 'final boss' (I say that but the player literally never fights them), came out of nowhere and was explained by a large infodump at the end instead of throughout the story.
And it completely changed key, famous moments of the Metroid series, as an example, the infamous Super Metroid Mother Brain final boss battle, where the scene was very much a different beast in Other M than it was in Super Metroid, directly contradicting the beloved SNES title's version.
The game had bad sales. It's performance was, in a commercial sense, extremely poor. Reggie mentioned they'd have to look into why, and hopefully they've done that.
I will mention I liked the combat, and the graphics, and would love to see more Metroid games with Other M's graphical capabilities.
@firstnesfan Not without classic Metroid exploration elements they won't.
Yeah. This article ignores the elephant in the room. There are good ideas and bad ideas. Being apologetic about bad ideas, and basically saying "they aren't that bad," isn't a winning argument.
Other M, Federation Force, and Star Fox Zero are all bad ideas, evident to their reception.
@LUIGITORNADO
Wow now that is a BOLD claim.
Federation Force and Star Fox Zero haven't even reached the hands of gamers yet, so the only people giving them a bad reception are the kinds of people who rage when they slightly alter the t-shirt of their favorite cereal mascot.
Star Fox to me was always supposed to be a series that utilized new and interesting technology, anyway. Star Fox is a lot like Pilotwings in that regard, created to showcase what the SNES console was capable of, mainly the Mode 7 graphics, and the original Star Fox was used to showcase the new Super FX chip and bring polygons to the 16-bit console.
PilotWings 64 was very much the same, showcasing what the N64 was capable of graphically in the era of early 3D games on PlayStation and Saturn, and Star Fox 64 was the first console game to incorporate force feedback with the bundled rumble pack.
After that, Star Fox didn't really innovate again aside from being an example of what could be accomplished graphically on Gamecube with Adventures, and attempted innovation with the DS' touch screen with Command.
Star Fox Zero goes back to those roots of showcasing new technology in a way no other Wii U game before it has done. I haven't had a chance to play the game yet, but my pre-order is already making my mouth water. It's not going to save the console, but it may just bring me a new exciting experience I have yet to have, and that is what Nintendo is all about.
@Vandy it's a bold statement but I don't care. I'm tired of people saying I can't be disappointed, but no...I can be.
Nintendo applying different and downright odd techniques to the game design is just something fans like us have to get use to. Nintendo rarely seem to make straight sequels in their franchises, instead putting a new spin on them to keep them interesting, whether it be from the way you play the game or the mechanics of the game itself. I am okay with their experimenting but I can understand why some people just want bigger and better instead of changes like we have seen with Starfox but I know I will become adept at the control scheme and will likely end up loving the game but some people won't accept it for what it is like I have, and will likely end up passing on the game as a result, which is a shame judging by the footage I have seen because it looks like a lot of fun!
@LUIGITORNADO
Legend of Zelda: The Windwaker was at one time announced to be a "bad idea" and had "fans" up in arms raging and crying.
How'd that one turn out?
@Vandy does wind waked have broken controls? A broken narrative? Does it stray far from the Zelda formula? I get what you're trying to do, but it's not going to work. Star Fox Zero is filled with bad ideas, Other M was filled with bad ideas. Roll your sleeves back down.
@LUIGITORNADO
Does Star Fox Zero have broken controls? All of the media we've heard from so far have said the controls are just fine.
Does Star Fox Zero have a broken narrative? We have no idea yet because the game hasn't been released.
Does Star Fox Zero stray too far from the Star Fox formula? Seeing as how it's a re-imagining of Star Fox 64 and the only "issue" seems to be the controls, one would think it does not. But again, we don't know yet!
Does Federation Force have broken controls? We don't know yet.
Does Federation Force have a broken narrative? We don't know yet.
Does Federation Force stray too far from the Metroid formula? We don't know yet. It could play very closely to Prime. Even then, it's a spin-off.
Reading this it feels like Zero should have been released as a Wii U launch game rather than now (with Zelda likely being the Wii U swan song).
Other M would've been a fantastic game if they scrapped te weird look they gave Samus, the AWFUL voice acting and the horrible story. If you look past that BS you can see its somewhat of a cool evolution of the old Metroid games.
@FJOJR The moment they showed us the launch games I knew it would be a struggle to sell the concept of the gamepad. Nintendo Land is fun but not a game changer. And launching with another New Super Mario Bros two months after the last one with no real benefit of the gamepad? Yeah...
Should've launched with more games like Star Fox Zero.
The thing with Nintendo's experiements is that if they succeed people will act is if they weren't experiments at all even when they create things there was never a demand for with their series until they made it.
Even the jump to 3D for Mario was very different. The iconic Super Mushroom didn't even appear, Mario healed with coins. Powerups were timed, Mario's moveset including punching and kicking.
When the Wario platformers almost completley dried up and were replaced with Wario Ware, series a game series all about minigames. Wario Ware's great.
Even though I like it I sure know I didn't ask for Wario Ware though. If the current attitude of some Nintendo fans going around now existed back then, they'd be calling Wario Ware would be a failure and a sign Nintendo not knowing what the fans wanted...before it even released.
As Starfox Zero goes I am at this point now: Okay, its the same old story, some remixed planets and some new ones. And the graphics could have been better (though the music is good from the little I have heard of it). But the game seems fun and has some new ideas (like the walker and the Gyroplane). As for the controls: I guess I will get used to it after a while, I never had any problems with Kid Icarus uprising. Overall I think it will be quite a good time, just not the blockbuster we hoped for.
Life is too short to sympathize and hang out with Other M apologists.
I really enjoyed Other M. If I were to say one thing about it though, it felt a little too easy by Metroid standards.
@brandonbwii
Thats always my worry. That they'd try something 'quirky', it wouldn't sell and the series would disappear again. It's my worry with Starfox now. If it flops I worry Nintendo will take that as 'nobody likes Starfox' and ditch the series when it could be down to the controls putting people off. That it'll go the same way as Advance Wars, put on the naughty step because Dark Conflict didn't sell even though that could have been because of the hackneyed B-Movie storyline rather than the mechanics of the series. I have the same concerns with Paper Mario.
As long as they remember they're experimenting and effectively gambling they can do what they want. It's a shame to see good series sidelined because of failed gambles.
@Project_Dolphin
I'm still waiting for you to ask me one that is relevant to what I posted, and is answrable. The one you keep going on about is equivalent to asking me to herd cats or nail jelly to a wall.
Also, is that a reply to my post about Sony and Sega? Because it doesn't make sense.
No matter what, the games are going to change. If they left the games as the same as the others, the franchises would simply vanish. Super Mario 64 was a step up for the Mario games, turning them from 2D side scrollers, to a 360 experience. Zelda even did different things...starting with part 2. Metroid did different, star fox, mario party and even donkey kong did different. It's not just nintendo that tries different ideas with their franchise either. Jak and Daxter from Sony even tried something different. No matter what, the formula has to change or someone would complain about the series staying the same. No matter what, there will always be someone to complain about something, but it seems nintendo is always the ones to get blamed and get sarcasm towards them.
I honestly can't wait for Star Fox Zero, Metroid Prime Federation Force and even Paper Mario Color Splash, and I can't wait to see the new formula for Zelda U (the open world that really wasn't with the previous titles). I'm still waiting to see if a new Startropics or Faxanandu will ever come out.
The only franchise that I felt like the experimentation ruined was Pikmin. By removing the ability to control the pikmin with the other analogue stick, they over simplified it. They transformed a real time strategy game into a cutesy exploration game where the pikmin just kind of become ammo more than anything.
@electrolite77
I guess their mentality is if they can't keep it fresh, why keep making it? That's a horrible way to look at things, though. I love the fact that they experiment with new ideas, but if those ideas don't work, why don't they take just as big a gamble by going back to the way things were. It seems like if they'd just do that, R&D can better learn what worked and what didn't so they can later add ideas that are fresh new to a franchise while still leaving what made the original games so great.
They do this a bit with the Mario and Zelda series, taking risks while maintaining what people like about those games, but they don't do it with other properties for some reason.
I also find it rather odd that the last racing series they exploited was the Excite series. I love the risks they took with such a dormant franchise without much of a fanbase. Now, however, they only care about the Mario Kart series for some reason. I guess it's just the higher development costs these days.
@AugustusOxy
Interesting. I'm not too familiar with the Pikmin franchise. When did this change start?
@Bolt_Strike and @Yorumi
Based on your various comments I take it you've never heard the old saying that everything is a variant on the same seven stories. Using that argument, there aren't any innovations anyway, so no need to put it all on Nintendo's lack of creativity.
"it's Yoshio Sakamoto's toy and he can do with it as he pleases."
That pretty much sums up my opinion on the matter. This generation of fans drives me crazy when they think that they can tell a creator of a franchise that they need to create it the way they want. Whether it's Nintendo or Bioware (demanding to change Mass Effect 3's ending) or even George Lucas. They created their franchises and they get to decide what they want to do with them.
Of course, we have the right to not like it and express that, but we don't have the right to demand a change just because we don't like it.
Also, like you said, Metroid Fusion's writing was equally heavy-handed but no one seemed to mind.
This drives me crazy!!
Priority 1 is make use of single player game pad?
Priority One should always be make a good game comma this is where Nintendo has been stalled for quite a few years.
Still can't believe we have a Mario Kart that does not have a proper balloon battle arena.
@sr_388 "They created their franchises and they get to decide what they want to do with them."
Pretty much this. It's their vision. If it backfires it's on them. Sometimes you have to take risks and try new things. The thing to do is vote with your wallet, these companies aren't holding a gun to anyone's head.
Anyway, 3 days to go until Starfox comes out. I reckon reviews will start to go live very soon.
@brandonbwii
Agree with pretty much all of that. I'll add that it's odd how Nintendo are obsessed with reinventing the wheel when it comes to some series but the likes of Mario Party, NSMB they're happy with straightforward sequels. Whereas the Excite series gets all sorts of suffixes but then Bots (a pretty good game) doesn't even get a European release. I suppose when you've been a Nintendo fan for a long time you get used to their seemingly arbitrary and confusing way of doing things!
@Yorumi
True, I'm just saying that Nintendo isn't any more prone to a lack of innovative ideas than any other major publishers. I don't feel they should be singled out as the console manufacturer and software developer that has no original ideas.
It's obvious that Nintendo hasn't learned from the criticisms of their "experiment." They know Samus's characterization was poor in Other M, but they seem to be too lazy to fix their mistakes. This is one of the reasons why Samus isn't even gonna be playable in FF. And Other M is nothing more than a Ninja Gaiden game disguised as a Metroid game if you look at a gameplay standpoint.
@Yorumi
I see where your coming from, but adding these gimmicks is what excites me most with Nintendo these days. Sure the last couple of ideas, 3D and a two screen home console were misguided efforts, but I still find the Wii and DS fantastic.
Shoot, even with Wii U there are great games that use the controller like SMM, Splatoon, and a decent number of early gen 3rd party games and a few eshop games that kept the gimmick from becoming a total waste.
Whether what they come up with regarding an input device is good or bad, I love it because it keeps the industry on their toes and causes developers to think outside the box, even if the gimmick is underutilizied by Nintendo themselves. Sure it's no replacement for raw power but I rather have both a powerful unique system than just a powerful PS4/XBONE clone.
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