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Because there are a hell of a lot more parents who want to give their kids a distraction than there are people who want to buckle down and play a serious game. Nintendo's been making a killing by selling games to people who specifically aren't gamers, which is why their main-franchise titles are starting to careen headfirst into tutorials that explain basic shit that anyone who's ever played a game before in their lives can figure out without any trouble -- because they're trying to tap people who actually haven't.
The quality of their more focused games hasn't really gone down (save for occasionally forgetting to bother making a harder difficulty or a way to skip progressively overbearing tutorials), so much as what little third-party support they have is more interested in cashing in on the casual market.
And I can't really say that's a bad thing.
It's...usually a problem. Nintendo specifically is doing a good job of putting out a serious game every once in a while as a treat despite their new priorities, but most of the smaller developers are basically just going full-out shovelware because they know parents who don't have an experienced eye will buy anything that looks cartoony enough to shut up their little hellions for a few hours.
I've seen little kids happily play nintendogs for hours on end. I can't see developers focusing on making games for non-gamers as a bad thing.
The oversaturation of such games is a problem, yeah. The existence of the games themselves, not in the least.
Shovelware isn't really Nintendo's failing, though. While the Nintendo seal of approval was a cool thing back when it was a thing, it didn't exactly stop games from sucking or failing on a technical level even back in the day. In any case, the audience for shovelware will always be far outstripped by the audience for higher-quality games; even the most ignorant parent is getting Wii Sports off the bat.
Hell, my mother hardly knows a thing about gaming, but somehow worked out that Ocarina of Time was the awesome thing back in 1998 when I got it for Christmas (disguised within a shoebox). The essential learning curve of giving custom to proven products isn't a large one. If there's a significant problem, it's in parents using game consoles as daycare, in which case shovelware is just a cash-in on a much more significant problem.
I think Nintendo's biggest issue is third-party support. The Wii's library is full of games that compete for casual consumption with much, much fewer games aimed at an audience of established gamers with a firm grasp on their own tastes. Nintendo's first-party games are excellent, as expected, and their grip on the casual market is as strong as steel, but there's not much in-between. There's also evidence to suggest that the initial waves of casual gamers are becoming more interested in "hardcore" games -- at least, "traditional" video game releases.
One interesting element of this is how unpredictable any given game consumer can be, and my friend group in meatspace is an excellent example of that. My best friend is comparable to myself in terms of game consumption and diversity of taste. His brother doesn't play many games today, but put over six-hundred hours into Oblivion. Given his current gaming habits, I can't call him a "hardcore" gamer -- but what other kind of gamer slams hundreds of hours into a fantasy RPG? Another friend of mine is a "dudebro" gamer without being an actual dudebro himself, primarily playing stuff like Modern Warfare and sports games on the X-Box 360. Another friend is a huge fan of traditional WRPGs. A few don't play games at all.
Every major demographic of gamer has a representative in my group of friends, so hanging out with them (and talking games) can be like looking into a microcosm of the gamer consumer base. It's pretty interesting, since only about three of us (including myself) line up with the traditional "hardcore" consumer habits, whereas the rest exist on varying degrees of the continuum. I think the next step in bringing "hardcore" games to the general public will be bridging the gap between things like Modern Warfare and a greater degree of console releases. I'm not sure how that will be done, because the relevance and popularity of Modern Warfare is heavily dependent on the image of the modern soldier as a hero, plus its suitability as a role model for young men in the mind of wider culture. Getting people who play Modern Warfare to try out a greater diversity of games isn't going to be easy.
TITLES FOR THE 3DS
really, dude
that's your argument?
really?
seriously?
like...for real?
Are you serious? (^^Basically that)
To play the same game
Titles for the 3DS
For the Vita
-a freaking OCARINA OF TIME/STAR FOX 64 remake
-Super Mario 3D Land
-upcoming Shin Megami Tensei 4
-Kid Icarus Uprising
VITA-
-Ridge Racer
-Resistance Burning Skies
-Asphalt Injection
-Little Deviants
am i doin it rite
To be honest, Final Fantasy has always been rather lacking depending on who you ask. And really, each game is pretty self-contained and unique, so everyone has their favourites and their "Ruined the franchise, man" games.
Personally, the only one I've ever come close to enjoying was FFXII and I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that it's Star Wars.
^7/10, would chuckle again.
Am I the only person who thinks it's really, really silly when people use remakes of SNES games as evidence that there are good new games for whatever console?
Are you?
Except that some of the 3DS games being released in the near future include:
Not to mention the excellent eShop titles already released:
You can hardly call a weak launch a failure by any standard. The Nintendo 64, considered a great console by many, only had two launch titles, and only one worth actually playing (Mario 64.)
Btw, is there an argument that Ninty's game quality is slipping or what?
If it has been dropping then I must live in an alternative reality because I really loved Skyward Sword (the latest Ninty game I have played).
how am I only just learning this now oh my god
...yeah, you guys are right.
To be honest, I started acting like that to be proven wrong. To be proven that the 3DS wasn't a total waste of my money. I know now that that wasn't the way to do it, and am now (very very begrudgingly) swallowing my pride and saying that I should've really just asked you guys for good games for the 3DS.
Well if we impose the dollar per hour test, the 3DS should be worth your money for total hours spent playing it within a year or two.
Discounting remakes and PSP games, the 3DS is doing better in both creative and overall quality of games right now (And probably the near future).
I don't think the game being recent matters, as not everyone has played the aforementioned SNES games. Sure, the game loses by default the people who played the original and didn't like it, but it easily wins those who can't acquire the original in the first place.
And out of the games you guys picked out:
Might get this.
Was never into starfox, but it has become a recurring joke for my friend to bring over his copy of Majora's Mask and lend it to me whenever he comes over just so that we can laugh at how bad I am at it.Paper Mario 3D
Whoa didn't see that coming
Will probably get this.
Heard that it physically hurt someone to play this. Not getting it.
ooh yes that's nice
This was my first 3DS game and I had like multiple orgasms playing it.
It's bundled. It leaves no room for error.
I feel terrible for giggling at those two in that order.
As for the 3DS, what bugs me isn't the casual stuff, it's that a huge chunk of it is just ports of N64 stuff that was already on the Virtual Console.
Btw, whats wrong with Wii sports anyway?
Meh. It's decent as far as casual gaming goes, even if the controls are sketchy in places (looking at you boxing).
There's nothing wrong with Wii Sports -- it succeeds at being exactly what it sets out to be. It's a casual title that can be used as a singleplayer time-waster, a party game or anything in between. Not exactly the high point of the medium, but it's a decent game overall, well-polished and serves as a good entry point for new gamers.
What bothers me about eelektross argument is that the PS VITA titles are all PSP games, and in the case of Megaman X maverick hunter. the port of a remake.
^ Dude, I've already admitted that my logic was really, really shaky.
Doesn't make his complaint any less valid.
Can we just please drop it? I already know that I was acting idiotic.
What do you mean by this exactly?
What is a high point for the video game media anyway? Is it fun or is it critical acclaim?