This would hardly be worth mentioning if it wasn't for the trainwreck that was e3. Yeah I know what you're saying, "E3 sucked but get over it, Nintendo will announce the games when they're done, blah blah blah." Shut it.
Anyone who watched that conference last Tuesday will know that show had nothing to do with 'hardcore fans/gamers'. However since then, Nintendo has not stopped promoting the "Core Gamers are Important" spin that only a PR spokesperson could put on that show.
- Joystiq interview: Nintendo spins 'core' gamer appeal, more -
Some choice quotes:
We hear Nintendo talking about the importance of core gamers in the company's strategy, but to be fair we're not seeing much announced that reflects that stance. What's Nintendo doing to appeal to the core gamer market?
The core, when they first heard about the motion sensing capabilities of the Wii remote and Wii Sports, were skeptical. But when they tried it, they liked it. Like most people do. Whether you consider yourself in the core or expanded audience, it's just universal that people like great games. There are games here, like Wario Land Shake It! and Mario Super Sluggers that some people consider to be core games, but if the game's good it doesn't matter. If you're new to gaming or a veteran gamer, it's something you're going to like.
- If Wario Land Shake It and Mario Super Sluggers are such fun core games, why couldn't Nintendo have spared five minutes to talk about it, instead of the fifteen minutes we got snowboarding with Shawn White.
Speaking of games for the core audience, do you have any update on either Project H.A.M.M.E.R. or Disaster: Day of Crisis?
I don't have any status update, no.
But does Nintendo have any specific plans to address the need for extra storage on the Wii?
We don't have anything to announce now on that, no.
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And then we have this other interview with the sensational Cammie Dunaway. You remember her right? She was the one showing vacation photos during the conference.
- Nintendo's Cammie Dunaway: I'm Not Faking It -
Some choice quotes::
...But as a hard-core gamer who bought a Wii for Zelda and Mario, where's the content for me?
Well, you heard [Nintendo President Satoru] Iwata's commitment, that the Zelda and Mario teams are hard at work. And you know us, Chris, we don't talk about things until we are confident that they are in a place where we're going to be able to deliver on them in relatively short order (empasis mine) after talking about them.
- Almost all of the Core games Nintendo has ever announced at e3 have been delayed to varying degrees. Super Smash Brothers Brawl and Twilight Princess are good examples of this. Why should that fact stop them now?
At the same time, isn't E3 the time to do this? Aren't you really addressing the hard-core gamer crowd when you come to E3, even now?
I think we're addressing both. Absolutely the hard-core gamer crowd is critically important to us.
- An excellent way to answer the question without answering anything
Because there are kids at home watching this press conference on TV. Or glued to their monitors, popcorn in hand. And they're waiting for, here's the new Zelda, the new Mario, Kid Icarus, whatever.
So we announce what we have. And we're really proud of what we have coming in to this holiday season. Animal Crossing with WiiSpeak, which is a completely different take on the social experience, being able to have a room full of people talking to another room full of people. And Animal Crossing is a franchise that's been really enjoyed and embraced by a lot of serious gamers.
- Alright fine, I agree. Animal Crossing is a fun game, and I'm sure this new take on it will make it more enjoyable. But almost immediately you have this gem.
So the WiiSpeak microphone is not packed in with Animal Crossing. Why sell it separately?
Because it's not essential to fun gameplay, to have the microphone.
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Just...UGH! I wish this was a satire, because it sounds like something I would have written after a good e3 conference, or at the very least, an April Fools day joke. Nintendo, I know you have people combing fan sites, so here it is plain and simple. If you want to use e3 to show off your casual market games, fine. If you want to use it to show how people of varying demographics can get into gaming, fine. If you want us to wait a little longer so you can announce the next Mario/Zelda at PAX or Leipzig, fine. Just stop pretending that conference was all about your longtime fans, because it wasn't. We know it wasn't, you know it wasn't, and all the crying in the world isn't going to change that. |